Toronto Toros vs Winnipeg Jets, Rare WHA Photos


Steve Cuddie, Norm Beaudin, Carl Brewer, Gilles Gratton
Time for a few more rare photos from the collection of photo journalist Doug Petepiece. These ones show another exhibition match at the Ottawa Civic Centre prior to the 1973/74 WHA campaign. The first shot is a great one of legendary goaltender Gilles Gratton. Yes, the guy who believed he was a re-incarnated Spanish Conquistador. 

Norm Beaudin had a few cups of coffee in the NHL, 13 games with St. Louis in 67/68 and 12 with Minnesota in 70/71 all toll collecting 3 points in the 25 games. He jumped to the WHA in 72/73 and exploded for 103 points, then was even better in the playoffs. Beaudin had one of the greatest playoffs in professional hockey history as the Jets lost the inaugural WHA championship in five games to the New England Whalers. Beaudin collected an amazing 13 goals and 28 points in teh 14 playoff games. This upcoming season of 73/74 however, he plummeted to 55 points. 
Brit Selby, Ab McDonald, Carl Brewer
The above shot has in the foreground, former NHL rookie of the year Brit Selby. He won the award for the Maple Leafs in 1965/66 and is the last Leaf to win the Calder Trophy (thanks to Gary Suter beating Wendel Clark in 85/86). Standing over the fallen Carl Brewer is Ab McDonald. A veteran of 762 NHL games, this would be his last professional season.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHA Ottawa Civics, The Two Week Franchise

Image
Tom Earl, Daryl Maggs, Mark Lomenda, Gary MacGregor, Garry Swain "Please let the fans make up their own minds," Henry Feller told a press gathering. "Let them decide if they want pro hockey here. We have to average 7,000 or 8,000 in the remaining 19 home games for a break-even point." Feller was a director of the Founders Club who had interest in buying the WHA's Denver Spurs club. Ivan Mullinex, owner of the Spurs had brought his team to Ottawa in an attempt to drum up interest and save his investment. The date was January 2, 1976 and Mullinex was in debt to a Denver bank to the tune of $1 million dollars. This same day, the newly christened Civics lost their first game under the new moniker by a score of 2-1 at Cincinnati. Star of the team, Ralph Backstrom said after the game, "Our first official notice of the move hit us when we entered the Cincinnati rink and the names on the big scoreboard read: Stingers and Civics. Until that moment we were un
Read more

Team Canada 1972, What Might have Been

Image
Guy Lafleur, if he had played in the 72 Summit Series "No way. Can you imagine what our fans would say if we allowed Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito to play for Canada in that series and either...suffered an injury that might prevent them from playing with us for a year or more?" This was the concern of Weston Adams Jr, president of the Boston Bruins as quoted on April 20, 1972. After being speculated and discussed since February 1972 at the Olympics in Sapporo Japan, the series was set to go. Early on however, controversy stirred as to who exactly would be representing Canada. Bruins GM, Milt Schmidt agreed with his boss saying, "My only interest would be to see the Russians play the Bruins for the world championship...or whatever team wins the Stanley Cup." In the Vancouver Sun a few days later, the legendary Jim Coleman responds to the American naysayers suggesting that Team Canada should be made up strictly of players from Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal
Read more

Ron Hextall and the stolen Conn Smythe Trophy

Image
Ron Hextall did not deserve the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1987....there, I said it. I recently caught game seven of the '87 finals on ESPN Classic, where the Oilers beat the Flyers 3-1. Hextall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy to the disdain and boos of the Northlands Coliseum. Hextall was (and remains) the fourth player to win the trophy in a losing cause. Even as a teenager following these playoffs as they happened, I thought this was an injustice. Upon further inspection, I believe he only won because he was a rookie, and was the "sexy" pick as opposed to the proper pick. When looking at his numbers, it's hard to figure why he won. Hextall finished with 15 wins, 11 losses and a GAA of 2.77. Oilers, Grant Fuhr went 14 and 5 with an average of 2.46. I realize that stats cannot tell the whole story, but even if we dig further the award doesn't seem justified. His .908 Save Pct was the same as Fuhr's and tied for third behind Ken Wregget and Kelly Hrudey. Also,
Read more