Go to our FACEBOOK page starting now!

Rather than post some updates here and some on our Myspace page, we'll now post all the WHA Hall of Fame updates on our Facebook page. So please visit that page for all the WHA HOF news & updates!

more WHA HOF site updates

Our statistician, Curtis Walker, has added many new improvements to the WHA HOF statistics database, including an on-ice officials page. An off-ice personnel page of team executives, etc will be coming next. If you haven't looked through the extensive data section that Curtis has created, I invite you to. It's impressive, accurate and a great resourse for fans and researchers alike. Thank you again, Curtis!

lots of new WHA HOF media online

Check out the WHA Events page for a complete re-cap of our recent WHA HOF induction events in Hartford, Winnipeg & Cleveland and also New Jersey. I've rounded up some of the web links to various media reports, plus have posted a couple of our own new video features, including a museum tour of WHA Jets artifacts.

Still to come are longer video features on the first WHA HOF game, official photo galleries for all the induction events, and the cutting of the hour-long video interview in Winnipeg with Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg & Ulf Nilsson!

There are also some reviews of our new WHA HOF hockey card set and many new updates at our Facebook page. What was that I wrote about grabbing a nap in one of my recent posts, lol?

WHA HOF summer tour recap

We are finally home after our 20,000 mile 2010 WHA Hall of Fame summer tour! A WHA jersey show in the NYC area, the WHalers FanFest with Gordie & 4,700 fans in Hartford, the enormous reception for Bobby Hull and the Hotline in Winnipeg, and out first WHA Hall of Fame game in Cleveland this past weekend. Oh, and the film premieres for our new WHA documentary films!

I'm busy accumulating media from all the events -- if you were at any of them and have any photos or video to contribute, please contact us. In the coming weeks I'll load a LOT of it online to share the excitement.

I'll also write stories soon for each event -- but I can tell you now that we are overwhelemed with the support and enthusiasm of the fans. They want the WHA Hall of Fame to succeed, and they want more events, documentaries and a factually accurate museum displayf or the WHA.

After I get a few hours of sleep I'll get right back to work on giving the people what they want! ;)

-- Timothy Gassen

On the road!

A million details to finish for the tripds, but we're excited about seeing Gordie and the boys in Hartford this weekend -- and then Bobby & The Swedes in Winnipeg for our WHA HOF events!

If you are in the midwest US or Southern Ontario, you will want to get to Cleveland for Andre Lzcroix's August 28 induction and WHA Exhibition game! I'll gladly travel 3,000 miles to see All-Star Whitey Stapleton skate, and I hope you will, too!

Check the Facebook page for updates from the road, and remember that any online orders for WHA HOF merchandise will be shipped on our return @ August 23...

Wish us luck in Hartford and The 'Peg!

one week to Hartford, & get well Jacques!

We'll see you in Hartford next weekend for the Whalers FanFest, including Gordie Howe and a WHA HOF induction ceremony, plus more WHA vintage jerseys courtesy of the MeiGray group. Then we'll head straight to Winnipeg for Bobby Hull & The Swedes for the world premiere of our new WHA Jets film...

Perhaps you know that former WHA coach (and WHA HOF Board member) and all-around great guy Jacques Demers has been recovering from surgery lately. He won't be able to attend our summer events, under doctor's orders not to travel. We send our sincerest wishes to Jacques for a speedy recovery, and we look forward to honoring him soon at a future event when he's up to it.

600 new photos at the WHA HOF !

After much effort and expense we have now added more than 600 vintage photos to WHAhof.com -- including galleries of all the 1970s WHA hockey cards plus color action photos and a selection of WHA team portrait photos.

We'll turn next to a substantial black-and-white photo collection and also more color photos -- when we catch our breath after the month of WHA HOF events in August.

So -- if you view this free web site and appreciate our efforts, we invite you to support the volunteer WHA HOF by donating any sum to us through the PayPal link on the main page or contact page.

Or -- please support our efforts and buy some of our brand new DVDs and other WHA HOF items.

The WHA HOF can only continue with the support of the real hockey fan. We know from the web statistics (and e-mail from fans) that WHAhof.com is being viewed by MANY fans. To keep this site free and to pay for its cost we need your support.

OK, I'm off the soap box now, and back to work for the August events in Hartford, Winnipeg & Cleveland! See you there...

WHA (new) jersey Expo recap

Engines are full steam ahead for the 3 remaining WHA HOF events, but I wanted to recap the great experience we had kicking off the Summer 2010 tour at the MeiGray Jersey Expo on July 17 in, appropriately, New Jersey.

It was the public debut of the new WHA HOF DVD series, which literally arrived days before the event. The MeiGray Group kindly played the documentaries all day on their big screen video display, and we had them on a portable DVD player at our booth, too.

Also debuting was the new WHA HOF game jersey, which we'll use in the August 28 game in Cleveland. Check out the photos on our Facebook page -- the embroidered crest especially looks great! We might make these also available for sale to fans -- we'll see.

Barry Meisel and Stu Oxenhorn from the MeiGray Group welcomed us at the Expo with the finest collection of WHA game jerseys I've ever seen. The display, set behind our WHA HOF booth, brought a continual crowd to us and we were busy talking with fans for the entire day. I only managed to get away for a few minutes to see more WHA jerseys at other collector's tables and conduct some interviews -- I'll finish a video clip soon showing much of these colorful jerseys!

NJ Devils defensive great (and 3-time cup winner) Ken Daneyko was a special guest at the show, and he came by the WHA HOF display and said he enjoyed seeing all the WHA jerseys again. You see, Ken is from Edmonton, and he told us that the WHA Oilers was the team he grew up with in the 1970s. Ken talked about the great teams that he saw in the WHA, and he was very gracious.

6,000 miles is a long way to go in 72 hours for a one-day event like this, but the day was fabulous, and we lost count of how many times fans told us something like, "thanks for doing this -- it's about time the WHA history was celebrated."

Those sentiments make all this hard work worthwhile. Thank you to the MieGray Group and to New Jersey!

New WHA HOF event: August 28 in Cleveland

Andre Lacroix WHA Hall of Fame Day
Set for August 28 in Cleveland
with Exhibition Game
At the Pond in Chagrin Falls

The World Hockey Association Hall of Fame is proud to announce a day of celebration for major league hockey All-Star Andre Lacroix in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday, August 28, at the The Pond ice complex, 9999 E. Washington Street (in Chagrin Falls, Ohio).

WHA Hall of Fame President Timothy Gassen will travel from Arizona to Cleveland and emcee an induction ceremony for recently elected WHA HOF member (and Chagrin Falls resident) Andre Lacroix. Documentary films from the new WHA Hall of Fame DVD Series, an autograph session, and an exhibition hockey game will also be featured.

Following the Andre Lacroix Day, The Pond will host on Sunday, August 29 its kickoff for the fall back-to-skating season. The Sunday kickoff includes a $5 pass to enjoy skating, skate rental, bounce house, clowns, balloons and face painting from 1:30-4:30 pm. There will also be free skating lessons provided throughout the afternoon.

The World Hockey Association was a major hockey league in the U.S. and Canada from 1972-1979, and Lacroix is the WHA all-time scoring champion, and is one of a handful of players to play in all seven years of the league’s existence. The Cleveland Crusaders was a member of the WHA from 1972-1976, and the WHA merged with the NHL in 1979.

The Andre Lacroix WHA Hall of Fame Day will start with a screening of new WHA films (starting at 11:30 a.m.), then feature an autograph session (12:30-1:30 p.m.) with Lacroix and other hockey luminaries. An on-ice induction ceremony and exhibition game featuring Lacroix will conclude the day (1:30-3 p.m.). Other former WHA stars are also expected to attend and skate – check www.WHAhof for updates on the developing lineup.

The WHA Hall of Fame will also have a limited supply of pucks, T-shirts, hockey cards and DVDs available for sale – please bring cash for WHA HOF purchases.

Event information and tickets are available at www.skateatthepond.com

The August 28 Cleveland festivities will be the final stop on the WHA HOF Summer 2010 tour. The WHA HOF started the tour as a featured guest of the major vintage WHA jersey exhibit on July 17 at the MeiGray Expo in Newark, New Jersey, will travel to Hartford, Connecticut on August 14 for the Whalers FanFest, then head to the World Premiere of the new WHA HOF Jets documentary film with Bobby Hull and other WHA stars on August 20 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Complete information is at www.WHAhof.com

Andre Lacroix WHA Hall of Fame Day
Saturday, August 28
11am-3pm (see web site for event schedule)
at The Pond Family Friendly Ice Rink
9999 E. Washington St. (Chagrin Falls)

Phone: (440) 543-3884
www.skateatthepond.com

back in AZ, Phoenix is next!

You only realize how far NYC is from Tucson once you go there and back within 72 hours! Though a blur, we kicked off the summer 2010 WHA HOF show in NJ this past weekend with great success. I'll have lots of photos, stories and video online later this week when I catch my breath.

This next weekend we hope to meet with former WHA-ers in Phoenix, in preparation for our next public event, the big Whalers reunion and WHA HOF induction ceremonies in Hartford on August 14.

And the new Jets-Aeros DVD set has arrived, and I''l try to get the order form online at the site by July 20. The WHA league DVD set is @ 2 weeks away from being available, too.

OK, I gotta go unpack my bags now and get some sleep!

See you in New Jersey & new DVDs!

Don't miss your opportunity in the NYC area to see the major exhibit of WHA jerseys and the public premiere of the new WHA documentaries this weekend, July 17. This kicks off the Summer 2010 WHA HOF tour, and as we travel from Arizona we only hope the weather has broken in NJ and is cooler than here, lol. So much to do before we head to the east coast...the press interviews are picking up, for one. check out of events page for details!

Upon our return, on July 19, the new WHA DVDs will be available for sale! We'll also have some special new items, available only here...

AND a very special event announcement should be ready for next week. Stay tuned, and wish us luck in NJ. We'll post updates from NJ on the WHA HOF Facebook page; the link is on the main page here.

Facebook for the WHA HOF

So I've followed the pied piper called Facebook and will post there shorter updates for the WHA HOF (see link), and use this blog for more article-like musings. Except for these thoughts...

Thanks to Shawn Lavigne for putting me on the "Hockey This Morning" show with Mike Ross this morning...

My best wishes and thoughts to Jacques Demers for a speedy recovery in Ottawa. Hard to believe it's been 35 years since I first met Jacques in Indianapolis with the WHA Racers! I like the detail in one report that Jacques has a hard time keeping his oxygen mask on because he's talking so much, lol...

Our first WHA HOF visit to NYC is next Saturday (July 17) for the game jersey Expo. It's hotter there than here in Arizona, and I'm praying for a weather break before we go, or I'll sweat myself away!

The new WHA DVDs ship next week, and will go on sale on the site @ July 19, upon our return from the east coast...

Cheers to Whitey Stapleton

I've had the discussion with fellow WHA & Indy Racers fans for years: who was the franchise's most valuable player from 1974-1979? Many immediately claim Wayne Gretzky, who played his first major league games in Indy. Or there's Mark Messier, who also debuted with the Racers. How about Dave Keon? Surely a legend like that is the franchise MVP.

Yes, they are all fine candidates, but defenseman Pat "Whitey" Stapleton outshines them all combined. Whitey played two full seasons with Indy, their finest years, and even returned to coach the Racers in their 1978-79 swan song. On the ice he brought the stability, committment and a winning confident attitude the new team never had before. Off the ice he insipred fans wit his dignity and kind spirit, and made the future in Indy seem bright, indeed.

I was one of those young fans in Indy enraptured with "The General," and I didn't know yet that Whitey had already been a hero for Team Canada in the 1972 USSR series. I didn't know he has started his major league career among the "Original Six" as a very young man, then played in the Stanley Cup finals along side Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull in Chicago. I knew him first as an Indianapolis Racer, a WHA All-Star who contorlled the blueline and the pace of the game unlike any other defenseman I've seen since.

Now, all these years later, I've gotten to know Whitey as a person. He is the most positive, encouraging peerson I have ever come across in hockey. He is a gentleman, a loving person, a warm and intelligent man of the higest caliber. To say I hold Pat Stapleton in high regard doesn't do him justice -- he deserves far greater praise.

But back to the WHA and the 1970s and his play with the Racers. Anyone who was there will agree -- based on what he helped the city achieve, through the caliber of his play, there was never a better Indianapolis Racer than #12, Pat Stapleton. He is my franchise MVP.

Pat Stapleton turned 70 years of age this past Sunday. Cheers to you, Whitey. We are blessed to know you.

---------
PS: Remember that the July 17 MeiGray WHA jersey Expo is July 17 in New Jersey...and a new event will be announced soon!

NEW: July 17 & August 14 WHA HOF Events!

Fans in Winnipeg are already excited about the WHA Jets reunion and film premiere August 20 in Manitoba -- and we've added two more opportunities for fans to see the new WHA films and support the WHA HOF: Saturday, July 17 in New Jersey at a major WHA hockey jersey exhibit, and Saturday, August 14 at the Whalers FanFest in Hartford, Connecticut.

Here are the press releases below, and we hope to see you in person soon!

WHA Hall of Fame
Featured at July 17, 2010
MeiGray Jersey Expo

The World Hockey Association Hall of Fame is proud to announce its participation as an invited guest to the Seventh Annual MeiGray Game Worn Jersey Expo, Saturday July 17 at Raritan Valley Community College Conference Center in North Branch, New Jersey.

WHA HOF President Timothy Gassen will travel from Arizona with his new WHA documentary DVDs to New Jersey and meet with hockey fans at the MeiGray vintage WHA jersey collection exhibit. The Meigray Group, formed by partners Barry Meisel and Bob Gray, is the game worn jersey industry’s preeminent authenticator and reseller, providing authentic jerseys to the collector’s market since 1997.

Barry Meisel is also a WHA fan, collecting the major league’s hockey jerseys since his days as a firsthand WHA fan in the 1970s.

“We believe the MeiGray WHA jersey collection could be the finest and most complete in the world,” WHA HOF President Timothy Gassen says. “We are excited to partner with them at this major exhibit, which will be a rare opportunity for fans to see WHA jerseys in a historically accurate way.”

The WHA HOF has also been invited to host a booth at the MeiGray Expo, where a limited supply of WHA pucks, shirts, jerseys and DVDs will be available for sale. (Fans should bring cash only for purchases from the WHA HOF.) All WHA HOF merchandise, including the new three-part WHA Hall of Fame DVD series, is also available online at www.WHAhof.com

Admission to the Seventh Annual MeiGray Game-Worn Jersey Expo is $25. Former New Jersey Devil and current MSG hockey analyst Ken Daneyko will meet with fans and sign free autographs, and a wide array of hockey jersey and memorabilia dealers and exhibits will also be available. Each attendee will also receive a free blank NHL jersey and a tour of the MeiGray facility.

Complete registration information is at www.meigray.com
________________________________________________________

WHA Hall of Fame
Featured at August 14, 2010
Hartford Whalers Hockey Fest

The World Hockey Association Hall of Fame is proud to announce its participation as an invited guest to the Whalers Summer Fan Fest and Reunion, Saturday August 14, 2010at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.

WHA HOF President Timothy Gassen will travel from Arizona with his new WHA documentary DVDs to Hartford and emcee an induction ceremony for recently elected WHA HOF members Gordie Howe & Howard Baldwin, among others. Elected WHA HOF member Andre Lacroix will also visit with fans at the WHA HOF booth, where a limited supply of WHA pucks, shirts, jerseys and DVDs will be available for sale. (Fans should bring cash only for purchases from the WHA HOF.) All WHA HOF merchandise, including the new three-part WHA Hall of Fame DVD series, is also available online at www.WHAhof.com

The August 14 Whalers Summer Fan Fest and Reunion is the first major public event launching Howard Baldwin’s Whalers Sports and Entertainment group, which is working to re-establish the Whalers hockey heritage in Connecticut.

The Whalers Summer Fan fest will feature a reunion of former WHA and NHL Whalers players, an array of Whalers merchandise, and a world premiere of the WHA HOF’s new league documentary films. The admission price to the day-long event is a $5 donation to the Whalers Alumni Foundation.

Complete information is available online at www.whalerssports.com/FanFest.html

new WHA HOF cards & more!

We are delighted to announce that the new WHA HOF hockey card set is now available! The exclusive 10 card set was made with the permission and cooperation of the players themselves, who we thank greatly for their support. A WHA HOF puck and T-shirt have also arrived! Support the WHA HOF and snap uff the goodies!

Next up will be Volumes 2 & 3 of the WHA DVD series -- coming very soon.

And in the next day or so we'll announce new WHA HOF summer events -- stay tuned!

See you in Winnipeg!

We're all so excited about the announcement of our WHA film premiere in Winnipeg on August 20. (See the main page at WHAhof for allt he details.)

The reunion at the event of the Jets "Hotline" -- Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson -- was one of my greatest goals, and seeing it all come together will be so great for hockey fans, especially in Winnipeg. The fact that the WHA film premiere will be for the benefit of the Amadeus Steen Foundation makes it so more meaniniful, helping children in Winnipeg.

Other WHA stars will be coming to Winnipeg as well, from all over the world, and we'll share those details as they are confirmed.

One thing is clear -- this could be our greatest WHA-related event yet!

DVD news coming next! :)

WHA HOF stuff soon

We hope to make avaialble in early June the new WHA HOF hockey pucks, T-shirts and the first installment of WHA HOF hockey cards.

We'll also meet soon with one of the founders of the WHA, Dennis Murphy, and will share excerpts of that video interview online...

And WHA fans should get ready to pack their bags for a very special event in Winnipeg -- official announcement coming soon!

big week for the WHA HOF

Just got off the phone with WHA All-Star Robbie Ftorek. Robbie was one of the most explosive offensive stars of the WHA, one of my first American-born hockey heros, and was a WHA league MVP, too. Hockey fans would recognize him, of course, behind the bench over the past decases as an NHL head coach. Robbie is another of the WHA stars who is helping us with the WHA HOF, as we'll announce soon!

We're finalizing another big event for the WHA HOF this week. After months of behind-the-scenes work, in the next few weeks we hope to launch a slew of new developments publicly. It'll seem this all has happend at once, but it's been many months in the works.

Many thanks again to all the former WHA players and staff who are making this possible!

more WHA Hall of Famers

We've been lucky to find more WHA players recently, including some recently elected in to the HOF. Andre Lacroix. of course, is the all-time WHA scorer, and Ron Grahame, one of the finest goalies in league history. We're delighted to find them and thank them for their help.

Andre Lacroix wrote to us this past week, "The WHA has done so much for hockey and many individuals who have gone on to the NHL as players, coaches, managers, trainers, scouts need to thank the WHA for giving them the exposure and opportunity that they would have never had otherwise. I am very happy to be elected with the rest of the players. They were not only great players but also great individuals."

Congratulations Andre and Ron!

We're very close to announcing some big projects -- this should be a big summer for the WHA HOF!

We're also working on creating a WHA hockey card section for the site, with hundreds of vintage WHA card images. Stay tuned! :)

more WHA news soon

Hi all, I haven't been around here much lately because we are in the final stages of creating some exciting news for the WHA HOF. I'll be able to post details here soon, so hang tight...

more new WHA hockey cards!

The "In The Game" copmany has released a new set of WHA goaltender player cards -- their third year in a row with their "Rival League" series. There are 10 cards in this year's set, including one of my personal faves -- Gary Inness from my Indianapolis Racers. Several newly elected members of the WHA Hall of Fame are also included in the various sets...

While the first two years of these cards were better designed, ITG should be applauded for releasing these new WHA cards at all! One of my only complaints is a teeth-grinder -- the company spells incorrectly the city name "Indianapolis" on this year's Racers card! ARGHHH! (You can see the card on the whaRACERS site link in the above headline...)

If any fans see new WHA cards, posters, photos or other materials, lplease et us know!

seeking WHA artifacts

We're hard at work locating more WHA artifacts for museum displays being designed for locations in Canada and the US -- so all former WHA players and fans are urged to contact us about any materials you could be willing to loan or donate to our displays. Many great WHA HOF developments to announce publicly soon!

more stats database upgrades

WHA stats guru Curtis Walker has created even more stats features on our free WHA HOF site (click on headline above for the web link) -- there are now team franchise pages for each 1972-1979 WHA team, and pdf downloads for some game searches, and some additional photos for the player stats pages and lots of ther details.

We'll continue to develop this research resource as time goes on, but I tip my hat to Curtis for the massive amounts of data he has already made possible for all to see!

thanks to FSN & Dennis Murphy

Back from Phoenix and the TV announcement for the WHA HOF on the Coyotes TV broadcast. I'll have a piece about that and the NHL Coyotes season done soon. Thanks to Todd Walsh and FSN for having me on his show and for treating the WHA with such respect...

I'm just now off the phone with the original WHA co-founder Dennis Murphy, who kindly shared more stories about the founding of the 1972-1979 league. Dennis also voiced his strong support for the WHA HOF, and is delighted that efforts are being made to secure the WHA's place in hockey history.

Dennis, off course, has been involved in many major league start-ups: the ABA, WHA, World Team Tennis, Roller Hockey International and on and on. His latest new league in development: The International Hockey Association, a proposed 4-on-4 summer pro league. Don't think it could fly? Anyone who bets against Dennis Murphy does so at their own risk!

WHA HOF media updates

A few recent media bits for the WHA HOF...

Saturday, March 27 TV: See the public announcement of new WHA Hall
Of Fame on the Phoenix Coyotes pre-game TV telecast on the Fox
Sports Arizona network at 5:30pm (AZ time). We'll try to have this clip online soon...

Friday, March 26 radio: WHA HOF President Timothy Gassen was a guest
on "Sports Night Saskatchewan"' on CJME/CKOM in Regina/Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; you can download the show HERE:
http://www.newstalk980.com/audio/sports-night/20100326-sports-night-march-26-2010-hour-2

Read about the WHA HOF in a March 2010 piece at The Hockey News HERE:
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/32300-THNcom-Blog-WHA-stars-receive-a-Hall-of-their-own.html

Winnipeg support for WHA HOF location

A fan in Winnipeg has started a Facebook group to muster support for bringing the WHA HOF exhibit to Winnipeg. You can see at the link above. If you are in Winnipeg and want the WHA HOF in your beautiful city, voice your opinion there and let the powers-that-be know!

new Hockey News WHA HOF article

Brian Costello, a fine journalist and WHA HOF Board member, wrote a new column about the new WHA HOF for The Hockey News -- click the title above to go there to see it...

Thank you, Brian!

Here is an excerpt from a newspaper piece on the announcement of the WHA Hall of Fame. (Editor's note: I've also corrected a couple minor factual mistakes). Many thanks to Paul Friesen for taking the time to talk with us...

------------

WHA stars get due
Nine Jets head up list of Rebel League Hall of Famers

By Paul Friesen, WINNIPEG SUN

What if we told you a film documentary of the WHA’s Winnipeg Jets was going to premiere here this summer, and that Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson and Bobby Hull had agreed to show up for it, as part of a Jets players reunion?

The documentary will include long-lost footage of the Jets in action against the Russians in Japan, somewhere around New Year’s, 1978.

And if all goes according to plan, the WHA Hall of Fame will have a permanent home in the city that gave hockey one of the most entertaining teams of any era, any league.

It’s all the brain child of Timothy Gassen, a film producer once from Indianapolis, of all places, who grew up a huge fan of the WHA.

“What’s best about the WHA was embodied in the Winnipeg Jets,” Gassen said yesterday from his home in Tucson. “Those Winnipeg Jet teams are still among the greatest of all major league hockey, and I don’t care what initials of league you put in front of the name.”

Gassen waited for years for some institution to properly document and preserve the WHA’s legacy. When nobody did, he dove in five years ago, first turning out a book and documentary on the Indianapolis Racers and their 17-year-old phenom, Wayne Gretzky.

As more and more ex-players, managers and fans came forward with artifacts, photos, even video, Gassen put together an 11-man advisory board, which included WHA alums Hedberg, Jacques Demers and Pat Stapleton, sent out and received ballots from another 30-plus former players, broadcasters and hockey historians and produced the lineup for the WHA Hall of Fame.

The list, to be officially unveiled later this month, includes nine former Jets players, led, of course, by the Hot Line — Hull, Hedberg and Nilsson — and including goalie Joe Daley.

“Wow. I didn’t know that,” Daley said. “That’s nice to know. It’s wonderful news.”

A Winnipeg native, Daley is one of just a handful of people who played all seven of the WHA’s seasons, from 1972 through ’79, joining the renegade league after four years in the NHL.

What the WHA gave players like him was a choice, and suddenly the NHL’s monopoly and resulting iron-fisted rule over players was broken.

When Chicago’s Golden Jet jumped ship, all Hull broke loose, and when No. 9 was paired with a couple of soft-spoken but hard-skating Swedes, the game was changed, forever.

“It really opened up Europe,” Daley said. “We filled a team with them, when it was against the ideals of building a team. They thought we had way too many. We proved that wrong.”

Watching this new hybrid of a game storm his home town, Gassen, then 17, was instantly hooked.

More than three decades later, all his scrounging through the basements of TV stations and the garages of retired producers has helped preserve a chapter in hockey history that was on the verge of being lost forever, as much of the film and videotape wouldn’t have lasted much longer.

If Gassen winds up breaking even on sales of his DVDs, he’ll take it.

“But obviously this is a labour of love,” he said. “No one got into this and no one jumped on board with me because they thought this was a money-making proposition.”

No, this is more about giving a league its due.

And if you ask me, it’s long overdue.

But why someone from a place where they don’t even have pro hockey anymore?

“Maybe it makes some kind of sense that a kid from Indianapolis came up with this idea,” Gassen said. “That spirit ... that’s what the WHA was all about.”

WHA HOF public announcement

Here is the official press release announcing publicly the WHA HOF. It has taken us a long time and more work than we ever could have imagined -- but we haven talen many major steps toward our goal of recognizing those who helped change the history of major league hockey through the WHA...

--------
For Immediate Release
March 15, 2010

WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION
HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
ANNOUNCED MARCH 27

Tucson, AZ – The one-time induction class for the new World Hockey Association Hall of Fame will be announced publicly on March 27, 2010 during the Fox Sports Arizona pre-game telecast for the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday, March 27 in Glendale, Arizona.

WHA Hall of Fame President Timothy Gassen will announce the new hall, honoring the players, coaches and builders of the 1972-1979 major hockey league. Gassen is also producer and director of the new three-part WHA Hall of Fame DVD Series, and will announce soon the release dates for the 12 hours of new historical video productions.

The WHA Hall of Fame also launched on March 15 an extensive new Web site at www.WHAhof.com – This free site includes video clips, vintage photos, extensive statistical databases and complete information on the 1972-1979 World Hockey Association and the 2010 HOF inductees.

The WHA HOF will stage 2010 film debuts throughout North America for the new DVD series, and negotiations are under way for several WHA HOF museum displays.

Prominent hockey people involved in the creation of the WHA HOF include Stanley Cup-winning coach and Canadian Senator Jacques Demers, 1972 Team Canada star Pat Stapleton, Fox Sports VP Jack Stanfield, Swedish superstar Anders Hedberg, and prominent hockey historians and media figures.

---------

The World Hockey Association Hall of Fame is an independent volunteer organization of hockey historians, journalists and former WHA coaches, players and management who are dedicated to honoring the 1972-1979 major league.

Media Contact: Timothy Gassen
www.WHAhof.com
info@WHAhof.com

Nordiques back on the ice!

I want to encourage WHA fans to write to me and share their thoughts about the WHA, and any news about WHA players and events.

Here is a great example: Stephane Harvey, a hockey historian and WHA Quebec Nordiques authority, shared this with me today (March 11, 2010):

"This Saturday I will go to Quebec city to see the old-timers game between the Nordiques and the Montreal Canadiens at the historic Quebec Colisee. Some ex-WHA players will play: Michel Goulet, Real Cloutier, Alain Côté, Louis Sleigher for the Nordiques and also Peter Stastny who played with his country, Czechoslovaquia against WHA team will be there. For the Habs, Mark Napier.

Here is my list of the 10 most memorables or important games played at the Colisee de Quebec during the 7 years of WHA:

1. Fisrt WHA game oct. 13 1972 Nordiques shutout the Oilers 6-0
2. First game of Bobby Hull in the WHA Nov. 8 1972
3. First All-Star game of the WHA, January 6 1973
4. The first game of the 1974 summit between Team Canada and USSR Sept. 17 1974
5. The Houston Aeros won their second AVCO cup, May 12 1975
6. The infamous Rick Jodzio-Marc Tardif incident April 11 1976
7. The Nordiques beat USSR 6-1, January 8 1977
8. The Nordiques won the Avco Cup in the 7th game, May 26 1977.
9. The WHA all-star game of 1978, January 17
10. Bobby Hull scored his 1000th goal, March 8 1978

So it's always a pleasure to see a hockey game at the Colisee!"

Thank you again Stephane for your support of the WHA HOF and for keeping alive the memory of the WHA Quebec Nordiques!

WHA HOF is now online!

It's taken years of hard work, but we have finally launched the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame online. In this blog I'll share "backstage" stroies of putting together this mammmoth effort, give you HOF updates, and tell you what we're working on for the future.

There's a lot of new things that will launch all at once in 2010, so check back here often.

The first cool thing I'll metion is the official public announcement for the WHA HOF, on March 27, 2010. It'll happen during the pre-game TV show for the Phoenix Coyotes, on Fox Sports Arizona. Those of you with satellite or digital cable that includes the NHL broadcasts should be able to pick it up. Those of you in Arizona, of course, can tune in on regular cable TV.

This will be out third appearacne on a Coyotes broadcast, and more about that later. ;)

Welcome to the WHA HOF

This is where I'll talk about the new World Hockey Association Hall of Fame and our efforts to honor the generation of players, coaches and management that made the major league WHA from 1972-1979. Check back soon!

--Timothy Gassen