realignment of the four divisions was deemed manager-coach Glen Sather resulted in a team that won unnecessary for 1979-80, and the four ex-WHA clubs five Stanley Cups from 1984-90. Among his 1979 draft were placed in three of the divisions essentially at choices was Cincinnati’s Mark Messier, whose one-goal random. Québec went to the Adams Division, Edmonton campaign for the Stingers in 1978-79 hid the enormous and Winnipeg to the Smythe Division, and Hartford talent the teenager held. (New England) to the Norris Division. Meanwhile, some Many of the other teenagers from the WHA’s 1978- NHL clubs were moved to other divisions to keep a 79 season had respectable to outstanding inaugural NHL semblance of balance. The NHL realigned geo- seasons in 1979-80. Mike Gartner scored 36 goals, the graphically and dropped the balanced schedule in time first of 18 consecutive seasons of scoring in excess of 30 for the 1981-82 season. goals, an NHL record. Rob Ramage went to Colorado where he starred for the Rockies and other teams before retiring in 1993. Michel Goulet went to the Nordiques The Merging of Two Leagues before moving on to Chicago, retiring in 1994. However, The Newly-Expanded National Hockey League some of the WHA’s scoring stars found the NHL defenses harder to manage, and saw a drop in their output. Québec’s Real Cloutier and Marc Tardif hovered around the 80-point range, far off their usual WHA For years, hockey fans in Edmonton, Québec, production. Robbie Ftorek never neared the 100-point Winnipeg and Hartford longed to pit their respective plateau in the NHL that he accomplished four times in teams against those in the NHL. As the quality of play in the WHA. On the other hand, Mike Rogers, who had the WHA rose considerably over its final seasons, many never had more than 83 points in five WHA seasons, fans felt that the best teams in the WHA could succeed exceeded 100 points in each of his first three seasons in well against regular competition from the NHL. The the NHL, playing for Hartford and later, the Rangers. 1979 merger of the two leagues seemed to offer the opportunity for these much longed-for battles to take place, but the many drafts of June 1979 effectively knocked the talent of the incoming clubs down a level. Epilogue The Winnipeg Jets lost forwards Kent Nilsson, Rich The War Is Over Preston and Terry Ruskowski, and the gutted Jets suffered from a terrible offense (shut out 13 times) and won just 20 games during 1979-80. Québec won just 25 The decision by the NHL to accept the four WHA games and finished last in their division, while Hartford teams proved to be one of the wisest moves the elder and Edmonton won 27 and 28 games respectively, both league ever made. By taking in the four clubs and eligible for the 1980 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Unfort- effectively ending the WHA, the NHL was free of the unately, the Whalers and Oilers were both swept in the constant battles for talent and salaries that it waged with Preliminary Round, by Montreal and Philadelphia the WHA for seven years. The four WHA teams now respectively. made for a 21-team NHL, and aside from a couple Still, 1979-80 was an interesting season as many franchise shifts (Atlanta to Calgary in 1980, Colorado to former NHL stars returned to the NHL after years in the New Jersey in 1982), a strong and stable league. In many WHA. Bobby Hull, retired for most of the 1978-79 ways, the WHA achieved what it originally set out to do season, returned to play for the Jets for their first NHL from its inception. The WHA gave players rights and season. Hartford featured Gordie Howe, returning nine leveraging power that they never had before in the days years after his last NHL game, along with his sons Mark of the reserve clause. The ensuing salary wars pushed the and Marty. The Whalers also featured 39-year old center average player’s salary to a level comparable to those of Dave Keon, back in the NHL after his five-year hiatus in the other major sports. the WHA. Later in the season, Hull was traded to the The WHA also proved to quite a visionary league. Whalers where he played alongside Gordie Howe and In signing European players, the WHA showed Dave Keon as perhaps the oldest forward line in NHL conclusively that top talent did not have to necessarily history. Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky immediately come from Canada or the handful of United States along established himself as the best player of the NHL when the Great Lakes. The graceful European style of play he tied for the league scoring title with Los Angeles’ became trademark for some of the WHA clubs, a fact not Marcel Dionne with 137 points, though he lost out for lost on the NHL, which began pursuing European talent the Art Ross Trophy due to scoring 51 goals to Dionne’s after absorbing the WHA. The WHA also succeeded in 53. The Oilers did not distinguish themselves in 1979- cities that the NHL historically overlooked. The WHA 80, but shrewd drafts in the upcoming years by general showed that hockey could draw a following in the 12