Your favorite defunct team (for whatever reason)?

[Pantokrator]

... while I liked the Whalers revised politically correct jerseys.... actually preferred the WHA "Harpoon" version. I'd also completely overlooked the Minnesota North Stars, with the Wild & the NHL's return to Minnesota likely many do, and their jerseys I always loved as was the case with the Seals... I like green..... green doesnt get enough love... automotive manufacturers... clothing.... they all go light when producing anything green as its just not a hot seller as the primary color like blue, red, browns & yellows and so on..... How did you like the Birmingham Bulls color scheme, logo?... Miss them?

I was given a Toronto Toros jersey (almost identical to the Bulls) when I was a kid and I had no clue what it was - no context was given and the WHA was already defunct. I couldn't tell what the red was on the Bull - I thought the red were some sort of gloves that the Bull was wearing....

 

[Killion]

I love the idea of a team in Kansas City existing for 2 years. It was a bust, of course, but it's very interesting.
The team won only 26 games in their time in Kansas with next to no talent, yet it's super intriguing to think of a team being in kansas. Kansas, just Kansas. Also imagine being drafted to a team in Kansas, it would be so weird yet so awesome at the same time. The fact that they are in Kansas are the only reason they are my favourite defunct team.

... ya, thats an interesting angle as well, being Drafted by an Expansion Team.... in 74, 1st Round, KC with the 2nd pick they grabbed Wilf Paiment, a great player who went on to have a decent & lengthy career, tough as nails Right Winger who'd scored 50 Goals, 78 Assists in his last year of Major Junior, racking up over 100 PIM's. From a family of 16 believe it or not who's Old Man was an Arm Wrestling Champion... a brother, Rosaire, who like Wilf didnt shy away from the tough stuff but without Wilf's scoring touch at the NHL level. Rosaire bounced around the Minors, WHA & NHL.

Wilf (and Rosaire for that matter) was a bit of a psycho, hair trigger, hot tempered, and one night in the late 70's slashed the Red Wings Dennis Polonich right across the face, beyond nasty, major damage done, receiving a major Suspension. Polonich then sued in civil court & was awarded $850,000 (huge money back then) however luckily for Paiment it was covered by insurance..... So if your interested in the "Original Kansas City Scout" as he's sometimes referred to as... thats your Man. Wilf Paiment. Had a number of excellent seasons, played just shy of 1000 career NHL games.

.... oh, and the 1st pick that year, 1974?... that was Washington, opting for Defenceman Greg Joly.... You ever hear of Greg Joly BlueBull?................ No?.................. Nor have very many others...... He'd been named Memorial Cup MVP that Spring, a Rushing Defenceman, billed as "The Next Bobby Orr"... gets Drafted by the Capitals... Washington.... Central Scouting etc had him ranging from #1 to a #7 rating but the Caps, High on Greg Joly; the next #4...... and arguably, the Biggest #1 Draft Bust of All Time.... Poor Kid, never really had a chance with the Sad Sac Caps. Young Greg there posting a -68..... Up & down in the Minors, eventually traded to Detroit. Again, up & down.... Did play close to 400 NHL games, plenty more in the Minors but it goes to show you, cant be rushing Defencemen into the League & thats exactly what Washington did. Some guys can recover but Greg Joly, never really did recover, come close to his potential.

 

[BlueBull]

.... oh, and the 1st pick that year, 1974?... that was Washington, opting for Defenceman Greg Joly.... You ever hear of Greg Joly BlueBull?................ No?.................. Nor have very many others...... He'd been named Memorial Cup MVP that Spring, a Rushing Defenceman, billed as "The Next Bobby Orr"... gets Drafted by the Capitals... Washington.... Central Scouting etc had him ranging from #1 to a #7 rating but the Caps, High on Greg Joly; the next #4...... and arguably, the Biggest #1 Draft Bust of All Time.... Poor Kid, never really had a chance with the Sad Sac Caps. Young Greg there posting a -68..... Up & down in the Minors, eventually traded to Detroit. Again, up & down.... Did play close to 400 NHL games, plenty more in the Minors but it goes to show you, cant be rushing Defencemen into the League & thats exactly what Washington did. Some guys can recover but Greg Joly, never really did recover, come close to his potential.

I actually looked at greg joly once before when looking for the first Washington capitals draft pick. I looked at him....

Over all these years, we have been saying guys like Gord Kluzak, Brian Lawton, Alexander Daigle, Patrik Stefan, Rick DiPietro, and recently Nail Yakupov as contenders for the worst number one picks in NHL History. Here is my list:
7. DiPietro
6. Kluzak
5. Lawton
4. Daigle
3. Yakupov
2. Stefan
...Who is #1? Well, in the Post-Forget the Draft Era (1969 and beyond) at least, It's Greg Joly. .266 points per game, Stefan and Yakupov have .413 and .389 respectively in lower scoring eras. the most points he had in a season was 27 in the 1978 season. minus 46 in 54 games in 1976. Moved between the Majors and Minors on two awful teams.

....yeah, he was pretty awful.

 

[El Cohiba]

Thrashers since I loved the powder blue unis, Kovalchuk and Kozlov. I really think they could have lasted had they had a competent GM and decent owners. People seem to forget that no one in ATL cared about the Falcons prior to the Vick era. Had the birds been decent, I'd bet they would still be in Atlanta.

Also loved the Blue Nords jerseys, though they moved to Colorado when I was young.

 

[DowntownBooster]

Of course, you would know the Jets 2.0 almost went the same route in choosing a name. Unfortunately, two terrible owners had left Minnesotans with a love-hate relationship with the old North Stars franchise: they loved the team, but hated the management. Cynicism set in, so the new franchise thought they needed a complete new start with their branding, going so far as to adopt a nickname that was singular (Wild), as opposed to a tradtional name like Saints or North Stars. In retrospect that probably wasn't necessary, as long as the new owners earned the respect of the fans.

But with the Wild's huge attendance success compared to the later years of the North Stars, it seems Marc Chipman in Winnipeg wanted to emulate that idea of a complete departure from the branding of the old team, wanting to call the relocated Thrashers the Manitoba Polar Ice, with a cartoon logo of a polar bear, if I remember right. Fortunately, Jets fans spoke up and insisted on the heritage of their old team name, and now it seems a foregone conclusion that Quebec will be called the Nordiques when they get a team. Hopefully, there are 2.0 Aeros and Tigers and Whalers (or at least Whale, as Howard Balwin wants) in the future when those cities get teams, too.

I'm so thankful that Winnipeg Jets was chosen as the team name when the franchise relocated from Atlanta. To me it's the fans that make the team relevant moreso than the players and that's why it was appropriate that the Jets name be revived here. I don't mean to downplay the importance of the players by saying that but only to point out that they come and go over the years but the fans remain. An owner should never be able to take the name of the team with them when a franchise moves. I feel bad that Minnesota lost the North Stars name when Norm Green moved the team to Dallas.

I really was worried what our team was going to be called at first since there was a minority of fans that wanted something different than Jets. I could have accepted Manitoba Moose as the name had been around for 15 seasons and they did have a cool logo. However, I was ecstatic when TNSE went with Winnipeg Jets. I know it's hard for some outside of Winnipeg to understand the connection we have to the name. The name ties all our memories of past players like Bobby Hull, Dale Hawerchuk and Teemu Selänne together with our current players like Dustin Byfuglien, Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler and Patrik Laine. It doesn't matter to us that the original franchise relocated to Phoenix. We all remained here.

Not only has it been the fans here that have embraced the Winnipeg Jets name but also the ownership (TNSE). They created the Winnipeg Jets Hall of Fame a couple of years ago and inducted Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson in October 2016 and then Dale Hawerchuk in October 2017. Banners with the name and number for each of those players hangs in the rafters of BellMTS Place as do three more for each of the Avco Cup championships the Jets won in the WHA. The Winnipeg Jets alumni can also continue as an ongoing entity as current players retire to join those of the past. I'm glad it all came together for us Jets fans.

 

[jj cale]

Killion, great take! And you are so right about the Scouts and Rockies. I feel the same way about the Barons... my God were they AWFUL!!! haha. There was nothing romantic about them whatsoever IMO, except for Meloche. Their uniforms were neat though. But they were hopeless! The Seals were so much fun - recently got a book on them - and there is a documentary about them on itunes.

As for the Scouts - when I think of them, I immediate think of... THE HEADBAND!!!!

Used to have that card, really like those uniforms too.

 

[jj cale]

Quebec Nordiques. Never saw a greater rivalry than the Canadiens and the Nordiques.

My pick too.

As a Habs fan they are both my most hated team(along with the bruins) and also most favourite to come back and whom I miss the most because of the hatred involved in that rivalry. I can't even imagine an N.H.L without the Boston Bruins as much as I loathe them.............I think I would stop watching if it ever happened. Losing the Nords was a big blow that still rankles me to this very day.

God I despised the Nordiques, but if there was anything I could possibly do to get them back in the league again I would do it, it would be so great for the league and hockey watching to have them back.

Really, really want Quebec City back again someday, the sooner the better.

 

[WildGopher]

Really, really want Quebec City back again someday, the sooner the better.

Agree that the Nordiques HAVE to come back if the NHL has credibility as a hockey league. It's time for Quebec to get their pro hockey history and tradition back the way Downtown describes Winnipeg getting theirs back, above.

 

[jj cale]

Agree that the Nordiques HAVE to come back if the NHL has credibility as a hockey league. It's time for Quebec to get their pro hockey history and tradition back the way Downtown describes Winnipeg getting theirs back, above.

Yep, like you said, HAVE to come back.

Cmon N.H.L...............make it happen.

It's just the right thing to do and good for hockey.

And then things can get back to normal and I can hate their guts again, i truly miss that.

 

[Lukin1978]

 

[ICM1970]

Interesting to hear comments about the Quebec Nordiques. The organist at Le Colisee was among the better ones to listen to, IMHO. Also, I recall reading comments from a number of years back that discussed how the food, particularly the chien chauds (hot dogs) and popcorn, that you could get at the Nordiques' home rink was among the best in the league and that's kind of interesting given that they were the smallest market in the NHL during their day.
As a further note, what could be bought at Maple Leaf Gardens (when kindly H Ballard was boss) was reputed to not be particularly good and ranked among the lowest in the league concerning food and concessions.

 

[jj cale]

I was given a Toronto Toros jersey (almost identical to the Bulls) when I was a kid and I had no clue what it was - no context was given and the WHA was already defunct. I couldn't tell what the red was on the Bull - I thought the red were some sort of gloves that the Bull was wearing....

Do you still have that toros jersey?

 

[sabremike]

On the 21st anniversary of their passing I would give ANYTHING to have my beloved Whalers back. When they died it left a gigantic hole in my heart that I know will never heal.

 

[EpochLink]

I'm so thankful that Winnipeg Jets was chosen as the team name when the franchise relocated from Atlanta. To me it's the fans that make the team relevant moreso than the players and that's why it was appropriate that the Jets name be revived here. I don't mean to downplay the importance of the players by saying that but only to point out that they come and go over the years but the fans remain. An owner should never be able to take the name of the team with them when a franchise moves. I feel bad that Minnesota lost the North Stars name when Norm Green moved the team to Dallas.

I really was worried what our team was going to be called at first since there was a minority of fans that wanted something different than Jets. I could have accepted Manitoba Moose as the name had been around for 15 seasons and they did have a cool logo. However, I was ecstatic when TNSE went with Winnipeg Jets. I know it's hard for some outside of Winnipeg to understand the connection we have to the name. The name ties all our memories of past players like Bobby Hull, Dale Hawerchuk and Teemu Selänne together with our current players like Dustin Byfuglien, Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler and Patrik Laine. It doesn't matter to us that the original franchise relocated to Phoenix. We all remained here.

Not only has it been the fans here that have embraced the Winnipeg Jets name but also the ownership (TNSE). They created the Winnipeg Jets Hall of Fame a couple of years ago and inducted Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson in October 2016 and then Dale Hawerchuk in October 2017. Banners with the name and number for each of those players hangs in the rafters of BellMTS Place as do three more for each of the Avco Cup championships the Jets won in the WHA. The Winnipeg Jets alumni can also continue as an ongoing entity as current players retire to join those of the past. I'm glad it all came together for us Jets fans.

Anyone from Winnipeg relates to ONE team name and that's the Jets. My dad who immigrated to Winnipeg in 1972 was right there when Bobby Hull came to the WHA. I was born a Jets fan, still remember the old Winnipeg Arena and their slopped upper decks and yellow interior walls..cannot forget the Queen's portrait high in the rafters.

Even when people leave the city, they still take their sports teams with them. I cheer for the Bombers, even during their 28 year and counting Grey Cup drought.

 

[greyraven8]

There was a Morris Mott fan club started by Ranger fans but I didn't join because I thought it was too contrived, sort of making fun of him. I saw him score against the Islanders at the Coliseum.

A few years ago while I was doing some research on some 19th century Manitoba baseball history, one person I emailed and got a reply from was a history professor at Brandon University. Didn't realize it at the time that he was the one and the same Morris Mott who played for the Seals.

Morris K. Mott | History

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

In terms of teams I saw in my own lifetime, I'd say the Whalers take top billing here, ahead of the Nords and North Stars. A place like Hartford - a medium city halfway between New York and Boston - having a pro team seems like such an underdog story to begin with. It really felt like a minor league team having joined the NHL that way, but their uniforms were great and they had some cult players. Definitely a favorite choice on those early NHL video games.

Now, historically, I'd say the Montreal Maroons. The idea of an anglophone Montreal team there to rival the more francophone Canadiens seems really cool, and I'd bet that rivalry would have become a both beautiful and terrifying thing in the 60s and 70s.