Bobby Hull's WHA lives on

nksports
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Post by nksports » Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:31 pm

A league that failed on its promised help with transportation????? Can't be. Has Joe Newman found his way to hockey????

Stock stays steady at .0005

Shootmaster_44
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Post by Shootmaster_44 » Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:25 pm

This league has been full of problems since day one. Last season on another board there would be a thread much like the ABA board here with a he said/she said argument about the league. Unlike here, the mods would periodically delete the thread and discussion would die for a day or so and then it started up again. Eventually, I think the mods either banned or told them to stop and it disappeared.

From what I know of the WHA this season, it sounds like things are on an ever so slightly better footing. As a league, the WHA is on more solid footing, but Fort Vancouver was not. Last I heard they had folded or were kicked out of the league (sounds familiar to the ABA followers hey?) However, the other teams seem to be doing fine.

The one problem I'm surprised hasn't cropped up from my very cursory search is that the city of Hartford, the NHL and the Los Angeles Kings have not gone after the league for trademark infringement. If you go to their official site (http://www.officialwha.com/) you will notice that they are using the LA Kings logo to represent the Barrhead River Kings, which may be alright since the Saskatoon Royals of the NSJHL and now the PJHL have been using the Kings' logos for many years.

However, they are using the last Hartford Whalers logo for the Vancouver Whalers logo. Even the NHL can't use or sell merchandise with the Hartford Whalers logo. In previous years the WHA has used the New England Whalers logo, to which they own the rights, as a logo for the various Whalers teams. This year they went with the last Whalers logo before the move to Carolina, which belongs to the city of Hartford. I'm assuming the city didn't license the Whalers logo to the WHA, unless its some sort of vindictive strike against the NHL. Either way since Hartford is so protective of the logo, I'm surprised they haven't launched a law suit against the league.

I'm wondering what the Greater Metro Junior Hockey League (in Ontario) thinks about this mess? Since the WHA and GMHL are members of the National Junior Hockey Alliance (as Hockey Canada considers them rebel leagues), if the WHA goes under that leaves the GMHL out on its own. I'm thinking that since they were branded as a rebel league, they won't have the designation removed if the WHA died.

Overall, the concept is interesting with junior aged hockey being expanded by a year on one end to allow 15 year olds and expanded 3 (only 2 in some provinces) years to 23 on the other end. It allows players to play earlier and extend their careers. However, I'm guessing most 23 year olds would only play in this league if they were unable to crack a NCAA, ACHA, CIS or ACAC team. In other words, they would have to be pretty bad to have to keep playing in junior, past 20/21. But I won't knock someone who plays for pure love of the game, as this league must be higher caliber than playing senior men's beer league hockey.

I wonder if the WHA is still thinking pro? I remember this league was to be the feeder league (along with the traditional leagues) for a pro league. In other words, the idea was you'd start in the WHA Junior West League (or the Eastern league if it ever gets going), age out of that league at 23 and move into the WHA's minor league (WHA2 sort of idea), hone your skills for a year or two and by 25 be playing in the WHA. The idea for each level would be the cities would be bigger. The Junior West League would play in small towns like Barrhead, Alberta, the minor league in places like Red Deer and Lethbridge and the WHA would be in places like Winnipeg, Hamilton and Saskatoon.

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Pounder
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Post by Pounder » Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:55 pm

http://oliverjets.blogspot.com/2007/11/ ... n-law.html

Apparently, there's been another merger, and, well, charges are piling up.

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