Mark John Douglas Messier is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. His playing career in the National Hockey League (NHL) lasted 25 years (1979–2004) with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks. He also played professionally with the World Hockey Association (WHA)'s Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati Stingers. He also played a short four-game stint in the original Central Hockey League (CHL) with the Houston Apollos in 1979. He was the last WHA player to be active in professional ice hockey, and the last active player in any of the major North American professional sports leagues to have played in the 1970s. After his playing career, he served as special assistant to the president and general manager of the Rangers.
The 1978–79 WHA season was the seventh and final season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Prior to the start of the season, the Houston Aeros folded leaving seven teams to start the season. Only six would finish however, as the Indianapolis Racers folded after 25 games on December 15, 1978. The remaining six teams each played 80 games, including one game each per team against a Soviet All-Star squad and the Czechoslovak National Team, the second consecutive year for this arrangement. The Soviet team won four of their six games and tied another; the Czechoslovak team only won once and tied once against four losses. In addition, because the Racers had folded after playing an odd number of games, the Edmonton Oilers played the Finnish National Team once at home so as to allow each of the six surviving WHA teams to play 80 regular season games. The Oilers won by a score of 8–4, a result which in itself made no difference by the end of the regular season which Edmonton won by an 11–point margin over the Quebec Nordiques.
The 1974–75 WHA season was the third season of the World Hockey Association. Fourteen teams each played 78 games. The Houston Aeros won the Avco World Trophy for the second straight year in dominating fashion, losing only one time in the playoffs.
André Joseph Lacroix is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association, and is the WHA's all-time leading career scorer.
Blair Neil Joseph "B. J." MacDonald is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association between 1973 and 1983. He featured in the 1979 WHA Final with the Edmonton Oilers and the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals with the Vancouver Canucks.
Robert William Brown is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger.
Kenneth S. "The Rat" Linseman is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. He also played one season in the World Hockey Association for the Birmingham Bulls. He featured in four Stanley Cup Finals, notably winning the 1984 Stanley Cup with the Oilers.
Shaun Patrick Price is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the Vancouver Blazers and the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Quebec Nordiques, New York Rangers and Minnesota North Stars. He reached the NHL playoff semifinals four times, three times with the Islanders and once with the Nordiques.
Ronald James Chipperfield is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who served as the Edmonton Oilers' first National Hockey League (NHL) captain. He played for the Oilers in both the World Hockey Association (WHA) and the NHL, as well as the Vancouver Blazers and the Calgary Cowboys of the WHA, and the Quebec Nordiques of the NHL. Chipperfield was born in Brandon, Manitoba.
Norman Gerard Ferguson is a Canadian former ice hockey player and coach. Ferguson was a forward who played right wing. He is the father of former NHL player Craig Ferguson. In 1982, Ferguson was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame.
Barry James Wilkins was a professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association during the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for scoring the first-ever goal for the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL on October 9, 1970. Wilkins was born in Toronto, Ontario, and died at the age of 64 from lung cancer.
Alec Mansfield Tidey is a former professional ice hockey right wing. He was drafted in the eighth round, 143rd overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft. He was also drafted by the San Diego Mariners in the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft, and he began his professional career in the World Hockey Association with San Diego. He then moved to the National Hockey League, playing four games in two seasons with the Sabres and five in 1979–80 with the Edmonton Oilers.
Gregg Allan Boddy is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who spent five seasons with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League between 1971 and 1976. He also played briefly in the World Hockey Association for the San Diego Mariners and Edmonton Oilers. Boddy concluded his hockey career with two seasons in the Japan Ice Hockey League, retiring in 1979.
Gary Raymond Veneruzzo is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played seven games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues during the 1967–68 and 1971–72 seasons, and 348 games in the World Hockey Association (WHA) with the Los Angeles Sharks, Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades, Cincinnati Stingers, Phoenix Roadrunners, and San Diego Mariners from 1972 to 1977. Veneruzzo was born in Fort William, Ontario.
Kenneth Richard Block is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 455 games in the World Hockey Association (WHA) and one game in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Douglas Alan Berry is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, a centreman in the World Hockey Association (WHA) and the National Hockey League (NHL).
The expansion era of the National Hockey League (NHL) began when six new teams were added for the 1967–68 season, ending the Original Six era. The six existing teams were grouped into the newly created East Division, and the expansion teams—the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Oakland Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues—formed the West Division.
The 1977–78 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques sixth season in the WHA, as they were coming off of a 47–31–3 record in the 1976–77 season, finishing in first place in the Eastern Division. Quebec defeated the New England Whalers, Indianapolis Racers and Winnipeg Jets to win their first ever Avco Cup.
The 1978–79 Indianapolis Racers season was the Racers' final season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The team folded after only 25 games.
The Long Island Cougars were a minor league professional ice hockey team that played at the Long Island Arena in Commack, New York, from 1973 to 1975. The Cougars were a member of the North American Hockey League, and were runners up for the Lockhart Trophy to the Syracuse Blazers in the 1973–74 season.