World Hockey Association

The World Hockey Association (WHA) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926. Although the WHA was not the first league since that time to attempt to challenge the NHL's supremacy, it was by far the most successful in the modern era.

The two leagues merged in 1979, which resulted in four WHA clubs joining the NHL. The WHA officially folded on June 22 and the remaining franchises that did not join the NHL folded as well.

Teams

Franchise	Locations	Venues	Years	Fate
Alberta Oilers Edmonton Oilers	Edmonton, Alberta	Edmonton Gardens Northlands Coliseum	1972-79	Joined the NHL in 1979.
Chicago Cougars	Chicago, Illinois	International Amphitheatre Randhurst Ice Arena	1972-75	Folded in 1975.
Houston Mavericks Carolina Cougars Spirits of St. Louis	Houtson, Texas	Sam Houston Coliseum	1967-1969	Folded in 1976 after a merger with the NBA failed.
	Greensboro, North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina	Greensboro Coliseum Charlotte Coliseum Dorton Arena	1969-1974
	St. Louis, Missouri	St. Louis Arena	1974-1976
Indiana Pacers	Indianapolis, Indiana	Indiana State Fair Coliseum Market Square Arena	1967-1976	Joined the NBA in 1976.
Denver Rockets Denver Nuggets	Denver, Colorado	Denver Auditorium Arena McNichols Sports Arena	1967-76	Joined the NBA in 1976.
Kentucky Colonels	Louisville, Kentucky	Louisville Convention Center Freedom Hall	1967-1976	Folded in 1976.
Minnesota Muskies Miami Floridians/The Floridians	Bloomington, Minnesota	Metropolitan Sports Center	1967-68	Folded in June 1972.
	Miami Beach, Florida	Miami Beach Convention Hall	1968-72
	St. Petersburg, Florida	Bayfront Arena	1970-72
New Orleans Buccaneers Memphis Pros/Tams/Sounds	New Orleans, Louisiana	Loyola Field House Tulane Gym Municipal Auditorium	1967-70	Relocated to Baltimore in 1975 but folded without playing a game there.
	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum	1970-75
New Jersey Americans New York Nets	Teaneck, New Jersey	Teaneck Armory	1967-68	Joined the NBA in 1976.
	Commack, New York	Long Island Arena	1968-69
	West Hempstead, New York	Island Garden	1969-72
	Uniondale, New York	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	1972-76
Oakland Oaks Washington Caps Virginia Squires	Oakland, California	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena	1967-69	Dissolved by the league in May 1976.
	Washington, D.C.	Washington Coliseum	1969-70
	Norfolk, Virginia Hampton, Virginia Richmond, Virginia Roanoke, Virginia	Norfolk Scope Hampton Coliseum Richmond Coliseum Roanoke Civic Center Old Dominion University Fieldhouse Richmond Arena	1970-76
Pittsburgh Pipers Minnesota Pipers Pittsburgh Pipers Pittsburgh Condors	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Pittsburgh Civic Arena	1967-68	Folded in 1972.
	Bloomington, Minnesota	Metropolitan Sports Center	1968-69
	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Pittsburgh Civic Arena	1969-72
San Diego Conquistadors San Diego Sails	San Diego, California	Peterson Gym Golden Hall San Diego Sports Arena	1972-75	Folded in November 1975.

See also

WHA League Publications