Denver Spurs
Spurs/Civics-in-brief
- Home Ice: McNichols Sports Arena (16,800) 1975, Ottawa Civic
Centre (10,500) 1976
- Colors: Orange, Black and White
The Denver Spurs were probably the least successful team in the
World Hockey Association to ever take the ice.
They were a "hurry-up" franchise to join the league in 1975. After the
Chicago Cougars and Baltimore Blades folded in 1975, the league was
left with an awkward 13 clubs; the remaining survivors and expansion
Cincinnati Stingers. So, the WHA granted a
franchise to St. Louis
businessman Ivan Mullenix in May 1975. The franchise would be located in
Denver and adopted the Spurs nickname. Stocked primarily with ex-Cougar
players, the team played at McNichols Sports Arena. For the team to
survive, they needed to win fast and fill the stands.
Denver lost its first eight home games, and attendance lagged near
the 3000 mark. So, on January 2, 1976, the Spurs became the Ottawa
Civics.
Ottawa Civics
The Civics, who never formally adopted a new logo, were the WHA's second
go around in Ottawa. Upon seeing the Civics, many fans wished the Ottawa Nationals were still around. The idea was to
move the club, and then it would be sold to an
Ottawa group known as the Founders Club. The Founders Club was unable to
meet its down payment, however, and the Civics folded on January 17,
1976, playing its last game at home on January 15th, losing 5-4 in
overtime to the Houston Aeros. The WHA decided
against taking over the club to play out the schedule, instead allowing
it to fold. The WHA dedided it was a bad decision to begin with, and
placed its hopes on the remaining clubs. Several weeks later, when the
Minnesota Fighting Saints folded, the league
was left in a bad position, and it decided to never expand again, instead
placing its hopes on a merger with the NHL. All Spurs players were declared
free agents upon the club's demise.
Spurs
year-by-year
Year W L T pts. Finish Playoffs
1975-76 14 26 1 29 folded
Information on this page is from The Complete Historical
and Statistical Reference to the World Hockey Associaltion
1972-1979; by Scott Adam Surgent.