1974-75 Houston Aeros Wayne Rutledge Jersey

July by the Numbers makes it's way down to the Lone Star State for jersey #30.

The Houston Aeros of the WHA were originally slated to play in Dayton, Ohio, but never got off the ground, so owner Paul Deneau moved the club to Houston, Texas in time for the inaugural World Hockey Association season of 1972-73.

The Aeros, led in scoring by Gord Labossiere's 96 points in 78 games, had a cast of inexperienced journeymen players with an absolute minimum NHL experience, unlike other teams like the Quebec Nordiques, who could boast of long-time Montreal Canadien J. C. Tremblay or the Winnipeg Jets star Bobby Hull. Still, the Aeros finished second in the West Division and qualified for the playoffs and won a round before their season ended.

The 1972-73 Houston Aeros

Things changed, and in the biggest way possible, for the 1973-74 season. The Aeros had signed brothers Mark and Marty Howe to a pair of four-year, $400,000 contracts in early June of 1973 and two weeks later, they lured the boys' father and NHL legend, the 45-year-old Gordie Howe, who had already been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame following his retirement from the Detroit Red Wings after 25 seasons. It's safe to say that Howe's 1687 games of NHL experience was greater than the rest of the Aeros roster combined.

"My only regret is I'm sorry I'm not the Gordie Howe I was ten years ago to fulfill the goals the Aeros have in store for me. It's not too often an individual gets a second chance and that's what the Aeros have given me," Howe said. "A chance to play with my sons."

Gordie had surgery to improve his bad wrist and relished the opportunity to play with his sons. The elder Howe's well-earned reputation for toughness ensured that his son's would have plenty of time and space to learn their craft professionally, as any player who laid a big hit on Mark or Marty was sure to be paid back with interest by Gordie at the first available opportunity!

Gordie immediately led the team in scoring with an even 100 points, good for third place in the league, as the Aeros had the best record in the league by 11 points. Additionally, Gordie was also named the league's Most Valuable Player in 1974, a trophy that would be renamed in his honor in 1976, while he was still an active player! In the playoffs that season Houston swept the Jets in four and survived an all out war with the Minnesota Fighting Saints in six games to advance to the Avco Cup Finals.

Ted Taylor and Gord Gallant battle it out during the

memorable Aeros/Fighting Saints 1974 playoff series

Once in the finals, the Aeros swept the Chicago Cougars in four straight, giving the Aeros their first WHA title and Howe his first championship since 1955 with Detroit.

The original expectation in 1973 was that Gordie Howe, who also signed a four-year contract, would play one year and then move into the team's front office. That was not to be however, as Gordie returned for a second WHA season. While Larry Lund led the club with 108 points, Gordie duplicated his output from the season prior with 99 points while Mark Howe contributed 76 points from the blueline after 79 the year before.

The Aeros again won the West Division with the league's best record by 14 points and dispatched the Cleveland Crusaders in five and the San Diego Mariners in four prior to sweeping the Nordiques in the finals to defend their title and become the first repeat winner in WHA history.

Howe would once again lead the Aeros in scoring in 1975-76 with 102 points, 26 clear of his son Mark and Frank Hughes, but would only place 10th in the scoring race in the now wide-open WHA. Still, the Aeros were a solid all around team and once more led the league in regular season points with 106 points. The gap was narrowed to the rest of the league however, as Winnipeg tied them with 106, coming on one less win, and the Nordiques just two back at 104.

The battle tested Aeros knocked out the Mariners in six and the New England Whalers in seven, the first time anyone went the distance with Houston, to return to the finals for the third consecutive season in a row. The high powered Jets won a pair of one goal games in Houston and pulled away to win a pair of games back at home in Winnipeg to end the Aeros reign as league champions.

The following season saw Gordie Howe limited to 62 games and 68 points, yet once again the Aeros had the best regular season total for the fourth year in a row. After defeating the Oilers in round one, the Jets once again ended the Aeros championship aspirations in six games in the semifinals.

Prior to the 1977-78 season, with their four year contracts having now expired, all three Howes moved en masse to the Whalers and the high scoring Andre Lacroix now led the Aeros offensively. The Aeros finished third in the regular season standings and fell to the Nordiques in the first round four games to two.

Their loss in Game 6 at Quebec would be the final game in Aeros history, as the Aeros, who were included in merger talks with the NHL in 1977, were left out of the 1978 proposal and elected to fold on July 6, 1978.

While the Jets, Nordiques, Oilers and Whalers all survived to join the NHL for the 1979-80 season, the Aeros certainly can be viewed as one of the most successful clubs in the WHA, having finished with a winning record in each of their six seasons, four of which saw them with the best record in the league, and a pair of championships. The addition of the Howes gave the league a huge boost in credibility and exposure while allowing the legend of "Mr. Hockey" Gordie Howe to continue to grow.

Today's featured jersey is a 1974-75 Houston Aeros Wayne Rutledge jersey. This classic jersey combines a vintage font running diagonally across the front in the time-honored manner paired with a simple striping pattern topped off with a star on each shoulder proving less is more when it comes to an effective and timeless hockey jersey.

Today's video section has plenty of great footage and begins with Gordie discussing his coming out of retirement to join Houston with baseball great Tom Seaver.

Were very excited to share this rare footage of the Aeros winning the 1974 Avco Cup over the Chicago Cougars.

Here is some classic WHA game action between Houston and Winnipeg with Gordie scoring a goal and later getting ejected from the game!

Don't miss the exciting, miraculous conclusion of the same game between the Aeros and Jets on December 5, 1975.

Here is footage from the 1979 WHA All-Star Game, when Gordie famously played on a line with Wayne Gretzky.

Here is Gordie, along with Mark and Marty making an appearance on the game show "What's My Line?"

Finally, Gordie shows the kids how it's done.

1979-80 Hartford Whalers Gordie Howe Jersey

A charter member of the World Hockey Association in the 1972-73 season, the New England Whalers actually started out life in Boston, Massachusetts in the backyard of the mighty Boston Bruins, who were fresh off a Stanley Cup winning season.

The Whalers gave it their best shot and not only finished with the best record in the new WHA with a 46-30-2 record that year, but also captured the inagural Avco World Trophy by winning three rounds of the playoffs by identical 4 games to 1 totals.

The Whalers lasted 2 1/2 seasons in Boston, but sagging attendance led the owners to relocate the team to Hartford - in mid season! The Whalers were successful in Hartford, still playing as the "New England" Whalers, never missing the playoffs in it's seven years in the WHA.

Easily the most recognizable names to play for the New England Whalers in their WHA days were hockey legend Gordie Howe and his sons Mark Howe and Marty Howe.

With the "merger" of the WHA and NHL, the Whalers were one of the four teams to survive the end of the WHA, but because of lobbying by the Boston Bruins, one of the conditions of the Whalers being allowed into the NHL was the dropping of "New England" from the team's name.

The move to the NHL was a rough one for the Whalers and they only had three winning seasons for their eighteen years in the NHL. While they did manage to qualify for the playoffs eight times, including seven in a row from 1986 to 1992, they only won a single playoff series in their NHL history, knocking out fellow WHA refugee the Quebec Nordiques in an opening round best-of-five three games to none in 1986.

One reason for the Whalers failure to improve was a history of horrible trades, including Mike Rogers (5th in NHL scoring in 1980 and 7th in 1981), Mark Howe, Gordie Roberts, Chris Pronger, Brendan Shanahan, Paul Coffey and worst of all, fan favorite Ron Francis.

Following their run of playoff appearances, they sunk back down in the standings and missed the playoffs for their final five seasons in Hartford.

The demise of the Whalers in Hartford began in 1994 when the club was purchased by Peter Karmanos, who quickly grew frustrated by the corporate support in Hartford and mediocre attendance. Karmanos began to make demands, including the sale of 11,000 season tickets and the desire for a new arena.

The negotiations for a new arena disintegrated when Karmanos demanded that the state of Connecticut reimburse the Whalers for up to $45 million in losses during the three years the new arena would be under construction. When the team gave up on getting a new arena, they announced on March 26, 1997 that they would be moving but had yet to pick a destination!

The Whalers final game was played on this date in 1997, a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning, with Kevin Dineen scoring the final goal in Whalers history.

Many factors worked against the team in Hartford, including Hartford being the smallest market in the NHL, it's arena having the smallest capacity in the league and few private suites, and being located in between long time hockey cities of Boston (102 miles) and New York (122 miles).

The Whalers statistical leaders for their time in the NHL include Francis, who holds the record for Most Games (714), Goals (264), Assists (557) and Points (821) and goaltenders Sean Burke, who has the most Games Played (256), and Mike Liut, who holds the marks for Most Wins (115) and Shutouts (13).

Today's featured jersey is a 1979-80 Hartford Whalers Gordie Howe jersey. This is the first style of jersey worn by the Whalers franchise when they entered the NHL. Their original green road and white home 1972-73 WHA jerseys featured a "W" with a harpoon in a circle, which was simplified to just a larger "W" and harpoon, with the addition of gold trim to their green and white colors, for 1973-74. Those jerseys survived relatively unchanged for the remainder of their days in the WHA.

Upon entering the NHL, and undergoing their name change from "New England" to "Hartford" they club modernized their jerseys, debuting a clever new logo of a "W" topped off by a whale tail, with the negative space creating a subtle "H" for those clever fans who studied it long enough. The addition of blue trim made for an attractive set of jerseys, still topped off by the "Pucky the Whale" shoulder patches, worn since day one in the WHA.

That set of jerseys underwent some minor changes in striping, plus an experiment with the controversial Cooperalls in 1982-83, and the elimination of "Pucky the Whale" in 1983-84, but remained essentially the same basic jersey until the 1992-93 season, when a radical redesign saw the road jerseys no longer green for the first time in club history, as blue was the new main color.

Today's video section begins with the final goal in Whalers history, scored in this date in 1997 by Whalers captain Kevin Dineen.

Here is a report showing the end of that final Whalers game, although it is in French, the images capture the moment and there is also some good historical footage and photos of the Whalers.

No post about the Hartford Whalers would be complete without a mention of the Whalers theme song, "Brass Bonanza", also known as the "Whalers Victory March". Adopted by the Whalers as their theme song during their days in the WHA, it remained so through their years in the NHL. Gordie Howe was once quoted as saying that he loved to hear it as a visiting player for the Houston Aeros, but hearing it every night with the Whalers "began to drive me nuts."

1974-75 Houston Aeros Gordie Howe Jersey

The Houston Aeros were originally slated to play in Dayton, Ohio, but never got off the ground, so owner Paul Deneau moved the club to Houston, Texas in time for the inaugural World Hockey Association season of 1972-73.

The Aeros, led in scoring by Gord Labossiere's 96 points in 78 games, had a cast of inexperienced journeymen players with an absolute minimum NHL experience, unlike other teams like the Quebec Nordiques, who could boast of long-time Montreal Canadien J. C. Tremblay or the Winnipeg Jets star Bobby Hull. Still, the Aeros finished second in the West Division and qualified for the playoffs and won a round before their season ended.

Things changed, and in the biggest way possible, for the 1973-74 season. The Aeros had signed brothers Mark and Marty Howe to a pair of four-year, $400,000 contracts in early June of 1973 and two weeks later, they lured the boys' father and NHL legend, the 45-year-old Gordie Howe, who had already been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame the previous year following his retirement from the Detroit Red Wings after 25 seasons. It's safe to say that Howe's 1687 games of NHL experience was greater than the rest of the Aeros roster combined.

"My only regret is I'm sorry I'm not the Gordie Howe I was ten years ago to fulfill the goals the Aeros have in store for me. It's not too often an individual gets a second chance and that's what the Aeros have given me," Howe said. "A chance to play with my sons."

He had surgery to improve his bad wrist and relished the opportunity to play with his sons. Gordie ensured that his son's would have plenty of time and space to learn their craft professionally, as any player who laid a big hit on Mark or Marty was sure to be paid back with interest by Gordie at the first available opportunity!

Gordie immediately led the team in scoring with an even 100 points, good for third place in the league, as the Aeros had the best record in the league by 11 points. Additionally, Gordie was also named the league's Most Valuable Player in 1974, a trophy that would be renamed in his honor in 1976, while he was still an active player! In the playoffs that season Houston swept the Jets in four, survived an all out war with the Minnesota Fighting Saints in six games to advance to the Avco Cup Finals.

Once in the finals, they swept the Chicago Cougars in four straight, giving the Aeros their first WHA title and Howe his first championship since 1955 with Detroit.

The original expectation in 1973 was that Gordie Howe, who also signed a four-year contract, would play one year and then move into the team's front office. That was not to be however, as Gordie returned for a second WHA season. While Larry Lund led the club with 108 points, Gordie duplicated his output from the season prior with 99 points while Mark Howe contributed 76 points from the blueline after 79 the year before.

The Aeros again won the West Division with the league's best record by 14 points and dispatched the Cleveland Crusaders in five and the San Diego Mariners in four prior to sweeping the Nordiques in the finals to defend their title and become the first repeat winner in WHA history on this date in 1975.

Howe would once again lead the Aeros in scoring in 1975-76 with 102 points, 26 clear of his son Mark and Frank Hughes, but would only place 10th in the now wide-open WHA. Still, the Aeros were a solid all around team and once more led the league in regular season points with 106 points. The gap was narrowed to the rest of the league however, as Winnipeg tied them with 106, coming on one less win, and the Nordiques just two back at 104.

The battle tested Aeros knocked out the Mariners in six and the New England Whalers in seven, the first time anyone went the distance with Houston, to return to the finals for the third consecutive season in a row. The high powered Jets won a pair of one goal games in Houston and pulled away to win a pair of game back at home in Winnipeg to end the Aeros reign as league champions.

The following season saw Gordie Howe limited to 62 games and 68 points, yet once again they had the best regular season total for the fourth year in a row. After defeating the Oilers in round one, the Jets once again ended the Aeros championship aspirations in six games in the semifinals.

Prior to the 1977-78 season, with their four year contracts having now expired, all three Howes moved en masse to the Whalers and the high scoring Andre Lacroix now led the Aeros offensively. The Aeros finished third in the regular season standings and fell to the Nordiques in the first round four games to two.

Their loss in Game 6 at Quebec would be the final game in Aeros history, as the Aeros, who were included in merger talks with the NHL in 1977, were left out of the 1978 proposal and elected to fold on July 6, 1978, missing out on the final WHA season, which was played with just seven teams, one of which folded before Christmas, less than a third of the way through the schedule.

While the Jets, Nordiques, Oilers and Whalers all survived to join the NHL for the 1979-80 season, the Aeros certainly can be viewed as one of the most successful clubs in the WHA, having finished with a winning record in each of their six seasons, four of which saw them with the best record in the league, and a pair of championships. The addition of the Howe's gave the league a huge boost in credibility and exposure and allowed the legend of Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe to continue to grow.

Today's featured jersey is a 1974-75 Houston Aeros Gordie Howe jersey. Playing with both his sons, Howe's jersey featured his full name across the back, leaving no question as to who was wearing the iconic #9, despite the fact "G. HOWE" would have been sufficient.

Today's bonus jerseys are the trio of Mark's #4, Gordie's #9 and Marty's #3 jerseys all pictured here together.

Today's video section has plenty of great footage and begins with Gordie discussing his coming out of retirement to join Houston with baseball great Tom Seaver.

Were very excited to share this rare footage of the Aeros winning the 1974 Avco Cup over the Chicago Cougars.

Here is some classic WHA game action between Houston and Winnipeg with Gordie scoring a goal and later getting ejected from the game!

Don't miss the exciting, miraculous conclusion of the same game between the Aeros and Jets on December 5, 1975.

Here is footage from the 1979 WHA All-Star Game, when Gordie famously played on a line with Wayne Gretzky.

Here is Gordie, along with Mark and Marty making an appearance on the game show "What's My Line?"

Finally, Gordie shows the kids how it's done.