Cleveland Barons (NHL) - Merger and Aftermath

Merger and Aftermath

After the season, the Gunds tried to buy the Coliseum, but failed. Meanwhile, the Minnesota North Stars were facing financial difficulties similar to those weighing down the Barons. Fearing that two franchises were on the verge of folding, on June 14, 1978 the league granted approval for the two teams to merge. While the North Stars were the surviving team, the Gunds were the majority owners and the North Stars assumed the Barons' place in the Adams Division. Thirteen years later, in 1991, the merger would effectively be undone as the Gunds assumed ownership of the expansion San Jose Sharks (occupying the same market as the Seals did prior to their move to Cleveland) and the two teams split the players on the North Stars at the time. The North Stars would move to Dallas as the Dallas Stars in 1993. (Incidentally, the Sharks formed their own minor-league team in Cleveland, and named it the Cleveland Barons, from 2001 to 2006.)

The Barons remain the last franchise in the four major North American sports leagues to cease operations, and as a result the NHL fielded only 17 teams during the 1978–79 season. The NHL would not return to Ohio for 22 years, when the Columbus Blue Jackets began operations in the fall of 2000.

Dennis Maruk was the last Baron (and last Golden Seal as well) to be active in the NHL, retiring from the North Stars after the 1988–89 season with 356 goals in 888 games.