Vancouver Blazers

Vancouver Blazers
City	Vancouver, British Columbia
Home arena	Pacific Coliseum
Colours	Yellow and burnt orange
Franchise history
1972 (did not play)	Miami Screaming Eagles
1972–1973	Philadelphia Blazers
1973–1975	Vancouver Blazers
1975–1976	Calgary Cowboys

The Vancouver Blazers were a professional ice hockey team that played in the World Hockey Association from 1973 to 1975. The Blazers played at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, sharing the facility with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League. The Blazers were owned by local businessman Jim Pattison. The franchise moved to Vancouver after a single season in Philadelphia. Unable to establish a strong fan base in Vancouver, the team was moved again in 1975 to become the Calgary Cowboys.

History[]

The Blazers were one of the founding members of the World Hockey Association. Originally the team, called the Miami Screaming Eagles, was to be based in Miami, Florida, but due to financial problems and a lack of a suitable arena, the franchise was moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and debuted as the Philadelphia Blazers. After only one season in Philadelphia, the team relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia and became the Vancouver Blazers in 1973–74. After two seasons, the team was again relocated to Calgary, Alberta as the Calgary Cowboys for 1975–76. Two years later, the franchise folded.

Vancouver Blazers[]

After the 1972–73 WHA season ended, the Philadelphia Blazers' owners sold the team to Jim Pattison who moved the team north of the border to Vancouver, British Columbia where it was named Vancouver Blazers.

Pattison knew that in order to compete with the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL, who shared the same arena, he needed to attract a major star to the team, as Andre Lacroix, who had led the league in scoring the previous year, left to join the New York Golden Blades, while the team's (and league's) highest-paid player, Derek Sanderson, had been forced out at the end of the season in a major embarrassment to the team and league. Pattison tried to sign Boston star Phil Esposito, offering him $2.5 million over five years. Esposito decided to stay with the Bruins for less money.

The team performed poorly in their first year, finishing with a record of 27-50-1; despite this, Vancouver was such a strong hockey town that the Blazers actually led the WHA in attendance, drawing 9,356 a night, more than 50% above the average of the other eleven clubs in the league. The next season, 1974–75, the club improved to only two games below .500, only to see attendance slip to 8,014 a game, sixth in the 14-team WHA. It wasn't enough to keep the team in Vancouver; after only two seasons on the west coast, the team made its third franchise shift in three years, this time to Calgary, Alberta, where they were renamed Calgary Cowboys. The Cowboys would be the WHA's second attempt in Calgary, as the Calgary Broncos were slated to start playing there for the inaugural WHA season. However, after Broncos' owner Bob Brownridge died, the franchise was placed in Cleveland instead.^[1]

The last active Vancouver Blazers player was Pat Price who retired in the NHL during the 1987-88 NHL season.

Season-by-season record[]

See 1973–74 Vancouver Blazers season

See 1974–75 Vancouver Blazers season

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

See also[]

• List of Vancouver Blazers players
• List of ice hockey teams in British Columbia

References[]

• [1]
• [2]
• [3]
• [4]

External links[]

• Philadelphia Blazers History
• Unofficial Home of the Philadelphia Blazers
• NHL.com article about the Philadelphia Blazers