Denver Spurs - Spurs in The WHA

Spurs in The WHA

In June, 1974, Ivan Mullenix, owner of the CHL Spurs, was awarded a "conditional" Denver NHL franchise for the 1976-77 season. With the McNichols Sports Arena already complete by 1975, he looked to enter the NHL a year early, and the league attempted to broker an arrangement by which Mullenix would acquire the California Golden Seals (then under league ownership) and move them to Denver in lieu of an expansion team. At the same time, the bankrupt Pittsburgh Penguins would be sold to a Seattle group who held the other conditional franchise that had been awarded.

The proposed arrangement fell through, and with the continuing franchise difficulties, the NHL called off the 1976-77 expansion. Mullenix then opted to move the Spurs to the WHA for the 1975-76 season.

The WHA Spurs are sometimes considered as a continuation of the Chicago Cougars, who had folded following the 1974-75 season, as most of the team's players were claimed from the Cougars in a dispersal draft, combined with some players from the CHL Spurs.

A Sports Illustrated preview on the upcoming WHA season noted that it was stalwart Gordie Howe's 28th year in major league hockey, and the Spurs' first. The magazine picked the expansion team to finish last in the WHA's Western Division. It also said that unless the Spurs drew well immediately, "Denver's stay in big-league hockey could be exactly 27 years shorter than Gordie Howe's."

Fans had been banking on an NHL team after three years of advertising, and did not consider the WHA to be a major league. As a result, fans stayed away in droves. The Spurs' first exhibition game, against Howe's Houston Aeros, proved to be a microcosm of their brief stay in the WHA. No beer was available because Mullenix was unable to get a liquor license, there was no flag to face during the national anthem, and the scoreboards didn't work. Only 5,000 fans showed up. The situation didn't get much better during the regular season; they only averaged 3,000 fans in a 16,800-seat arena.

The situation wasn't much better on the ice either. Veteran Ralph Backstrom was one of the Spurs' few experienced players, but at 38 his career was in decline. Still, he wound up leading the team with 50 points in 41 games. The rest of the roster was filled with cast-offs and career minor-leaguers, such as Don Borgeson, who had played for the WHL Spurs from 1971–73; he finished second to Backstrom in points scored with 41. They could never find an answer in goal; one of their goalies ran up a staggering 15.00 goals-against average.

The Spurs played their first regular season game at home against the Indianapolis Racers. Before only 5,000 fans, the Spurs scored the first goal, only to give up seven unanswered goals en route to a 7-1 loss. By December 30, they were in the Western Division cellar with a 13–20–1 mark, despite an overtime win over the Racers that night in Denver. It would turn out to be the last game the Spurs would play in Colorado.

Rumors had abounded even before the Spurs got on the ice that the NHL was planning to move either the Seals or the Kansas City Scouts to Denver. Knowing he couldn't hope to compete with an NHL team, Mullenix began the process of selling the team to a group of Canadian businessmen on New Year's Eve. Without any announcement, the team was quietly moved to Ottawa on January 2, 1976, where it was renamed the Ottawa Civics. The players, who were on the road reportedly only learned of the move to Ottawa when they stood on the ice for their next road game (in their Denver colors) and suddenly heard O Canada being played. Negotiations for the sale were called off on January 15, and the team folded for good two days later.

Ultimately, NHL hockey did come to Denver the following season with the relocation of the Kansas City Scouts as the Colorado Rockies.