Houston Aeros (WHA)
The Houston Aeros were an ice hockey team, which was from 1972 to 1978 the North American World Hockey Association (WHA ) active.
History
Beginning of the seventies came to North America in the idea of building a competitive league for the NHL as the World Hockey Association. In 1971, Paul Deneau from the league awarded the contract to build a WHA franchise. He settled there in Dayton, Ohio, and called it Dayton Aeros. But when the plans had burst to build a new ice rink clear that the team in Dayton would have no future. The team was to Houston, Texas, relocated and renamed Houston Aeros and was one of the ten founding members of the WHA. There they played in the 9,300 -seat Sam Houston Coliseum.
The team of coach Bill Dineen was the first season of mostly unknown players. But thanks to the defensive alignment could win a lot of games and just finished at the end of the season second in the Western Division. In the summer of 1973 the team achieved a major coup. You could with Gordie Howe commit the most successful at this time scorer of the National Hockey League, who used two years after his retirement the chance to play together with his two sons Mark and Marty. Led DC in their first season in 1973/74, the Howes, the team of Aeros to win the Avco World Trophy, the championship trophy, awarded to the winner of the playoffs. In the final they defeated the Chicago Cougars. Almost unchanged, the team went into the 1974/75 season and remained spared from further injury. So they repeated their success and this time defeated in the finals, the Quebec Nordiques.
In the summer of 1975 we moved to the 14,906 -seat The Summit. Led by Gordie Howe who reached for the second time in three years, over 100 points scorer and one of five players the Aeros was that achieved more than 30 goals, they could occupy 1st place in the Western Division again. In the finals they failed at the favorite Winnipeg Jets, who had been reinforced with many players from Europe. After the Aeros had with a revitalized team in the 1976/77 season won the Western Division were again the Jets, on the one had already met in the semifinals, final stop. In the summer there were disagreements between management and the Howes, who moved to the New England Whalers therefore. To compensate for this they picked André Lacroix of the aufgelöstenen San Diego Mariners. Coach Dineen put the team well and Lacroix brought it to 113 points. So the crash was from and one was third in the Western Division.
The Aeros were one of the top teams in the WHA, but the audience in Houston remained behind the league average. The owners changed almost every year. In 1974, Deneau from the team at Irv Kaplan. In 1975 George Bolin, 1977 Harrison and Vickers in the same year Kenneth Schnitzer. As early as 1977 a merger with the NHL was negotiated the Aeros of the sixth teams were who sought the change, but the NHL refused. Schnitzer got the right alone for his team with the NHL to negotiate. The Aeros Christmas 1977 were already almost broke. Schnitzer wanted to join his team in the NHL or move an existing team to Houston under his possession either. At times, believed Schnitzer the Colorado Rockies to Houston to get but the team eventually remained in Denver.
When the Winnipeg Jets announced in July 1978, the commitment of 13 players the Aeros the end of the Houston Aeros was officially sealed.
The new Aeros
In 1994, a new team under the name Houston Aeros has been established. It is a tribute to the team of the seventies. The new team played from 1994 to 2001 in the International Hockey League and is a member since 2001 of the American Hockey League.