Cleveland Crusaders
Cleveland Crusaders | |
---|---|
Cleveland, Ohio | |
League | World Hockey Association |
Operated | 1972–1976 |
Home arena | Cleveland Arena (1972–74) Richfield Coliseum (1974–76). |
Media | WUAB WHK |
Franchise history | |
1972 (did not play) | Calgary Broncos |
1972–1976 | Cleveland Crusaders |
1976–1977 | Minnesota Fighting Saints |
The Cleveland Crusaders were a professional ice hockey team from Cleveland. They played in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1976. Their home ice was the Cleveland Arena from 1972 to 1974, and the Richfield Coliseum from 1974 to 1976.
The team was owned by
Mileti sold the team to Jay White in 1975, but White sold it back to Mileti in 1976. However, not long after Mileti closed on his repurchase, the National Hockey League's California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland and became the Cleveland Barons. Mileti knew he could not hope to compete with an NHL team and decided to move the Crusaders elsewhere.
Initially, the team was going to relocate to South Florida and become the Florida Breakers,
Players
Gary Jarrett was the Crusaders top scorer in their four seasons, playing in 298 games, scoring 104 goals, 119 assists, totalling 223 points. Gerry Pinder played the most games in a Crusader uniform, 304 in total. Other notable Crusaders players included Paul Shmyr (538 penalty minutes in four seasons), netminder Gerry Cheevers (99 wins in four seasons), and defenseman Wayne Hillman.
The last active Crusaders player in major professional hockey was
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Season | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM | Finish | Playoffs | Avg. attendance |
1972–73 | 78 | 43 | 32 | 3 | 89 | 287 | 239 | 1095 | 2nd, Eastern | Won quarter-final ( Whalers ) |
5,287 |
1973–74 | 78 | 37 | 32 | 9 | 83 | 266 | 264 | 1007 | 3rd, Eastern | Lost quarter-final (Toros) | 6,212 |
1974–75 | 78 | 35 | 40 | 3 | 73 | 236 | 258 | 1273 | 2nd, Eastern | Lost quarter-final (Aeros) | 6,931 |
1975–76 | 80 | 35 | 40 | 5 | 75 | 273 | 279 | 1356 | 2nd, Eastern | Lost preliminary round (Whalers) | 6,356 |
Totals | 314 | 150 | 144 | 20 | 320 | 1062 | 1040 | 4731 | 6,197 |
References
- ^ "Florida Breakers Press Conference". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
- ^ http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/assets/4759336/Breakers1.png[bare URL image file]
- ^ "Breakers go looking for new team to buy". The Miami News. July 26, 1976. p. 2C. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
External links
- season statistics www.hockeydb.com
- List of NHL players www.legendsofhockey.net