Hockey Trivia: NHL Franchise Relocations Of The 1970's, 1980's and 1990's

The 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s brought expansion to the National Hockey League. With the rapid growth, poor economy and lack of proper planning, there was quite a bit of movement among franchises in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Test and broaden your hockey knowledge with the following four trivia questions.

Q. The franchise that is now known as the New Jersey Devils came into the NHL in 1974-75 as what team?

A. The Kansas City Scouts are the origin of the New Jersey Devils. The Scouts lasted just two seasons in Kansas City before a short stint in Denver as the Colorado Rockies before moving east to become the Devils.

Over the two years, 1974-75 and 1975-76, the Scouts won a total of 27 of 160 regular season games. In the first year, they were second last in the NHL, ahead of only their expansion partners, the Washington Capitals. In 1975-76, Kansas City once again finished ahead of only the Capitals.

Simon Nolet served as team captain until midway through the second season when he was replaced by Guy Charron. The Scouts drafted Wilf Paiement second overall at the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft. NHL legend Sid Abel had a brief three game stint as the team’s head coach.

Q. In 1976-77, what franchise moved to Cleveland and became the Barons?

A. The California Seals were a product of the first expansion boom in 1967-68. They left California to become the Barons and then merged with the Minnesota North Stars after just two seasons. In both those years, the Barons placed fourth in the Adams Division and did not qualify for the post season.

Despite having an arena that would seat 18,500 in Richfield Coliseum, the Barons averaged around 6,000 fans per game over the two years. At the time, Richfield Coliseum had the largest seating capacity of any National Hockey League venue.

Q. The Calgary Flames were born into the NHL as what team?

A. The Atlanta Flames joined the league in 1972-73 along with the New York Islanders. The deep south wasn’t ready for hockey and the Flames made the move to Calgary for the 1980-81 season. The Flames were a decent team, on the upper end of mediocrity.

Over their eight years in Atlanta, the team reached the post season in six, including their last five. However, they were never able to win a series in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

While in Atlanta, the Flames drafted some good talent in Tom Lysiak, Brad Marsh and Paul Reinhart. The four captains in Atlanta Flames history include Keith McCreary, Pat Quinn, Tom Lysiak and Jean Pronovost.

Q. The franchise currently known as the Dallas Stars originally was located in what northern U.S. city?

A. The Stars franchise was born in the 1967-68 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars. The team uprooted and headed to the Lone Star State for the 1993-94 season. The move was not made due to a poor on-ice product. The North Stars reached the Stanley Cup finals twice in their time in Minnesota. In 1980-81, the team fell to the mighty New York Islanders 4-1 in the finals. In 1990-91, they reached the finals again but fell in six games to Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins.