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Cleveland Crusaders

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Cleveland Crusaders
CityCleveland, Ohio
LeagueWorld Hockey Association
Operated1972–1976
Home arenaCleveland Arena (1972–74)
Richfield Coliseum (1974–76).
MediaWUAB
WHK
Franchise history
1972 (did not play)Calgary Broncos
1972–1976Cleveland Crusaders
1976–1977Minnesota Fighting Saints

The Cleveland Crusaders were a professional ice hockey team from Cleveland. They played in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1976. Their home ice was the Cleveland Arena from 1972 to 1974, and the Richfield Coliseum from 1974 to 1976.

The team was owned by Nick Mileti, who had been the founder of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, and also owned Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians. He had also owned the nine-time American Hockey League champion Cleveland Barons, but moved them to Jacksonville, Florida to make room for the Crusaders. The first coach for the Crusaders was Bill Needham, a mainstay of the Barons. Needham coached the Crusaders to winning records in the first two seasons, but failed to advance past the second playoff round. In the 1974–75 season, John Hanna took over as coach, to be replaced mid-season by Jack Vivian. Cleveland finished second in the east division despite a losing record, but fell in the first round of the playoffs. Johnny Wilson led the team for its final season, also losing in the first round of the post-season.

Mileti sold the team to Jay White in 1975, but White sold it back to Mileti in 1976. However, not long after Mileti closed on his repurchase, the National Hockey League's California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland and became the Cleveland Barons. Mileti knew he could not hope to compete with an NHL team and decided to move the Crusaders elsewhere.

Initially, the team was going to relocate to South Florida and become the Florida Breakers,[1] going far enough to have a logo designed.[2] After the proposed move fell through,[3] the Crusaders relocated to St. Paul, Minnesota, becoming the second incarnation of the Minnesota Fighting Saints.

Players

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Main article: List of Cleveland Crusaders players

Gary Jarrett was the Crusaders top scorer in their four seasons, playing in 298 games, scoring 104 goals, 119 assists, totalling 223 points. Gerry Pinder played the most games in a Crusader uniform, 304 in total. Other notable Crusaders players included Paul Shmyr (538 penalty minutes in four seasons), netminder Gerry Cheevers (99 wins in four seasons), and defenseman Wayne Hillman.

The last active Crusaders player in major professional hockey was Paul Baxter, who last played the 1986-87 NHL season.

Season-by-season record

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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 Avg. attendance
1972–73 78 43 32 3 89 287 239 1095 2nd, Eastern Won quarter-final (Blazers)
Lost semi-final (Whalers)		 5,287
1973–74 78 37 32 9 83 266 264 1007 3rd, Eastern Lost quarter-final (Toros) 6,212
1974–75 78 35 40 3 73 236 258 1273 2nd, Eastern Lost quarter-final (Aeros) 6,931
1975–76 80 35 40 5 75 273 279 1356 2nd, Eastern Lost preliminary round (Whalers) 6,356
Totals 314 150 144 20 320 1062 1040 4731 6,197

References

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  1. ^ "Florida Breakers Press Conference". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  2. ^ http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/assets/4759336/Breakers1.png [bare URL image file]
  3. ^ "Breakers go looking for new team to buy". The Miami News. July 26, 1976. p. 2C. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
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