Leagues of the WHA Years (1972-1978)

When it kicked off, the National Hockey League (NHL) called it the World Home for the Aged because the new World Hockey Association (WHA) took in so many legends at the end of their careers. Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Frank Mahovlich and Jacques Plante were a few of the names that moved on to the WHA when if first formed

A pair of American lawyers and Edmonton Oilers’ founder Bill Hunter founded the league with the idea to change the face of professional hockey in North America. The WHA was everything the NHL was not.  The WHA challenged the draconian NHL reserve clause, which helped increased player salaries. The league also tried a series of innovative rule changes in order to attract more fans to the game, and long before the NHL began an ambitious expansion across the Sun Belt, the WHA had placed teams in non-traditional hockey places like Phoenix, Arizona, San Diego, California and Birmingham, Alabama.

The WHA was about rebellion against the NHL, and this section explores the roots and the impact the rogue league made.

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