1976-7 INDIANAPOLIS RACERS PROGRAM SAN DIEGO MARINERS

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YOU ARE BIDDING ON A GAME PROGRAM FROM DEC 10TH, 1976 WITH PAT STAPELTON ON COVER INDIANAPOLIS RACERS VS SAN DIEGO MARINERS Indianapolis Racers From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search Indianapolis Racers City Indianapolis, Indiana League World Hockey Association Operated 1974–1978 Home arena Market Square Arena Colors Blue, white and red Championships Division Championships 1975–76 (East) The Indianapolis Racers were a franchise in the former World Hockey Association from 1974 to 1978. They competed in five seasons, folding 25 games into the 1978–79 season. They played at Market Square Arena . They are best-known for being the first professional team to secure the services of Wayne Gretzky .The WHA began the 1978–79 season with seven teams, and the dying league would go to almost any length to try to stay afloat. The NHL had rules regarding the age of players that could play while the WHA didn't. Nelson Skalbania , the owner of the Racers, signed 17-year-old future super-star Wayne Gretzky to, at that time, a whopping personal contract worth between 1.125 and 1.75 million dollars over 4 to 7 years. Skalbania, knowing that the WHA was fading, felt owning the young star was more valuable than owning a WHA team. Just eight games into the season, though, Skalbania needed cash and liquidated his greatest asset to his old friend and former partner, Peter Pocklington , owner of the Edmonton Oilers . Pocklington purchased Gretzky and two other Indianapolis players, goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll , paying $700,000 for the contracts of the three players, although the announced price was actually $850,000. The Racers folded 17 games later on December 15, 1978.The other six teams finished the season, but after the Winnipeg Jets won the Avco World Trophy , the league accepted the terms of a merger with the NHL whereby Edmonton, Winnipeg , Quebec and New England would enter the NHL as expansion teams the following season, and the WHA itself would cease operations. Cincinnati and Birmingham , the other surviving WHA teams, were paid to disband. Mark Messier also began his career with the Racers in the 1978–79 season, playing five games and failing to register a point before being released. He was picked up by Cincinnati for the remainder of the season, before being selected by the Oilers in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft . Messier retired in 2005 as the last active player to have played in the WHA, and thus the last active player to have played for the Racers. [ edit ] Season-by-season record Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes Season GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs 1974–75 78 18 57 3 39 216 338 970 4th, Eastern Did not qualify 1975–76 80 35 39 6 76 1st, Eastern Lost Quarter-final ( New England ) 1976–77 81 36 37 8 80 276 305 880 3rd, Eastern Won Quarter-final ( Cincinnati ) Lost Semi-final ( Quebec ) 1977–78 80 24 51 5 53 8th, WHA Did not qualify 1978–79 25 5 18 2 12 78 130 557 DNF Folded December 15, 1978 Totals 344 118 202 24 1373 4897 [ edit ] See also List of Indianapolis Racers players List of WHA seasons [ hide ]v · d · e World Hockey Association Teams Alberta Oilers · Baltimore Blades · Birmingham Bulls · Calgary Broncos · Calgary Cowboys · Chicago Cougars · Cincinnati Stingers · Cleveland Crusaders · Dayton Arrows · Denver Spurs · Edmonton Oilers · Houston Aeros · Indianapolis Racers · Los Angeles Sharks · Miami Screaming Eagles · Michigan Stags · Minnesota Fighting Saints · New England Whalers · New Jersey Knights · New York Golden Blades · New York Raiders · Ottawa Civics · Ottawa Nationals · Philadelphia Blazers · Phoenix Roadrunners · Quebec Nordiques · San Diego Mariners · San Francisco Sharks · Toronto Toros · Vancouver Blazers · Winnipeg Jets Trophies and awards Avco World Trophy · Gary L. Davidson Aw... read more

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