SKU: whabook

The World Hockey Association burst onto the hockey scene in 1972, icing 12 teams and aiming to be the first true competitive major hockey league to challenge the National Hockey League since the 1920s. For seven seasons, the WHA managed to survive, by hook and by crook, often on the verge of utter collapse, before folding and having four of its teams absorbed into the NHL in 1979. Yet its legacy is profound, and it changed completely the landscape of professional hockey in North America. It was the first league to aggressively draft and sign American-born players, college players and European talent. Its wide-open style of play attracted fans and contrasted sharply with the NHL's conservative defensive game. Scott Surgent's The Complete ... World Hockey Association recounts this renegade league in full detail, with an eye toward a complete historical and statistical review. This 340-page, full size book includes: • Complete game-by-game scores and running standings for each team, each season, • History of the league from its inception to demise, and its after-effects on the NHL, post 1979, • Complete standings, playoff results and game summaries for the championship AVCO Cup finals, • Complete player and goaltender statistics, by season and by team, • Complete player and goaltender register, • Complete player and goaltender biographical information, • Over 200 player and coaches headshots, • Complete draft lists including the 1972 General Player Draft, • Detailed accounts of the WHA against international competition, including the 1974 USSR series, • Game summaries to many significant games, • Complete coaches statistics and registers, • Player transaction lists, • Anecdotal stories, • And Much, Much More!!