Cincinnati Stingers
The Cincinnati Stingers was an ice hockey team from Cincinnati, which in the North American World Hockey Association (WHA ) was active from 1975 to 1979 and was disbanded the following year.
History
Founding and achievements
Almost two and a half years between the award of the franchise and the first game of the Stingers.Brian Heekin III and Bill DeWitt Jr.. were the first to offer an expansion were awarded on May 6, 1973, shortly after the first finals to the Avco World Trophy franchise in the WHA. The construction of the stadium had been delayed, and only for the 1975/76 season, the 15,820 -seat Riverfront Coliseum was completed. In the meantime, the Stingers had been active in the player market, and took diligent players under contract. Some of the players were meanwhile loaned to other teams, such as the fetched from the Regina Pats Dennis Sobchuk who helped the new team, the Phoenix Roadrunners in their first season, good to survive.
At the start of the 1975/76 season brought you together the players and some stars were under the direction of coach Terry Slater yet committed. Among them was Rick Dudley, who was brought from the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL. Dudley had already played from 1971 to 1973 in the American Hockey League in Cincinnati. In the Eastern Division, the team finished last and missed the playoffs, but with 71 points was to just five points behind the First Division, the Indianapolis Racers.
For the 1976/77 season the team has been further strengthened. We undertook inter alia, the Toronto Maple Leafs the winger Blaine Stoughton. Well managed and the way into the playoffs, but there were the Indianapolis Racers in the first round last stop and turned on the Stingers 4-0 games from.
There followed a turbulent 1977/ 78 in the one reinforced with Robbie Ftorek of the Phoenix Roadrunner, who had set the game mode and with goalkeeper Michel Dion and coach Jacques Demers both ais Indianapolis were brought. However, at the middle of the season you had to, because of the great loss to the team had earned, disconnect from numerous players. Even if Ftorek played an outstanding season, you could prevent with difficulty the last place in the league.
In the summer of 1978, the Stingers were close to bankruptcy, but the great demand for tickets saved the team. Ftorek was with 116 points the second best scorer of the league, even before the young Wayne Gretzky. For this, the rookies Mark Messier and Mike Gartner and Mike Liut came as a goalkeeper. So they reached the playoffs once again, but was again in the first round deadline.
In a league that had numerous questionable club owners and not very stable team, the Stingers were a model of caution. The two owners were her team the entire time faithful over and built the franchise from the ground up solid on. The only thing that failed was enough to inspire spectators for ice hockey in Cincinnati. In the negotiations with the NHL on a merger, they tried also to get a place in the NHL, but the crisis in 1978 and the low number of audience prompted the owner Heekin and DeWitt, time settlement payment in cash and the change in the NHL without. When the merger was decided that the two were $ 3,150,000.
The franchise took in the 1979/80 season on league operation of the Central Hockey League in part, but left after only 33 of 80 games and the league was disbanded in the sequence.
Club Records
- Most games: Rick Dudley 270 Games
- Top goals: Rick Dudley 131 goals
- Most assists: Rick Dudley 146 assists
- Most points: Rick Dudley 278 points
- Most penalty minutes: Rick Dudley 516 penalty minutes
- Most games played by a goalkeeper: Normand LaPointe 77 games
- Most wins by a goalkeeper: Mike Liut and Michel Dion 31 victories
- Most shutouts: Michel Dion 4 shutouts