AH Timeline: The NHL-WHA merger: A different story

[WB18]

Sports news from 1985-86

NFL: The Miami Dolphins upset the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX 31-28. Dan Marino was named Super Bowl MVP for the second straight year, throwing for three touchdowns and had a clutch drive to set up the game winning field goal as time expired.

MLB: For the second time in five years, the Montreal Expos have won the World Series, beating the upstart California Angels in six games in the 1986 World Series. Gary Carter won series MVP for hitting 12 hits in the series, 4 of which were home runs. (Unlike IRL, the Expos don't break up that 1981 team that had Carter, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines and more)

NBA: This years NBA finals featured the Milwaukee Bucks (who upset the Celtics in the Conference Finals) and the young Dallas Mavericks team lead by up-and-coming star Clyde "The Glide" Drexler who defeated Portland, Utah and Los Angeles to get there. In the end, however, Sidney Moncrief and the Bucks defeated Dallas in five games to capture their first NBA Championship in fifteen years. After the season, it was leaked the NBA was looking to expand. Miami, Charlotte, Toronto and Orlando appear to be front-runners for expansion spots.

CFL: For the second time in four years, the Toronto Argonauts are Grey Cup champions, crushing the cinderella Calgary Stampeders 50-0.

USFL: The first USFL season as a minor league was a surprising success, both on the field and with fans. The USFL championship was contested between the Birmingham Stallions and the Sacramento Gold Miners. The Stallions would add their first championship to their trophy case.

Rumor Mill: The St Louis Cardinals (NFL) are looking to get out of the Gateway City. Potential locations include Phoenix, Baltimore, Charlotte and Los Angeles. The Philadelphia Eagles are also for sale.

As always, feel free to comment on your thoughts on these events.

 

[TheMatthew25]

After the season, it was leaked the NBA was looking to expand. Miami, Charlotte, Toronto and Orlando appear to be front-runners for expansion spots.

Toronto Huskies, please do it if you can. Also Orlando Magic could help set up the NHL expansion to Orlando in the future. Hint: Quack Quack Quack

CFL: For the second time in four years, the Toronto Argonauts are Grey Cup champions, crushing the cinderella Calgary Stampeders 50-0.

Stop, stop! The team is already dead! Seriously though, very happy to see the Argos being dominant.

USFL: The first USFL season as a minor league was a surprising success, both on the field and with fans. The USFL championship was contested between the Birmingham Stallions and the Sacramento Gold Miners. The Stallions would add their first championship to their trophy case

Awesome! So happy the USFL survive the 1985 season. With them becoming a minor league, that would help the NFL have better quality control on players and coaching staff. Something that OTL NFL needs to learn and not be stupid about. Oh well...

Rumor Mill: The St Louis Cardinals (NFL) are looking to get out of the Gateway City. Potential locations include Phoenix, Baltimore, Charlotte and Los Angeles. The Philadelphia Eagles are also for sale.

Los Angeles Cardinals sounds good, to be honest. Would help add an expansion team to St. Louis during the 1990s and would bring NFL football back to the LA Memorial Coliseum. Sad that now the LA Express may move, maybe move them to Portland or even have them swap places with the Cards and become the St. Louis Express would work.. Actually, I love this idea! The logo can be updated to be like the Pony Express and have the rejected Stallions logo from the OTL NFL St. Louis Stallions proposal be used during the 90s. Makes sense and I actually really love the idea.

 

[stratonapba]

So If the Cardinals could be moved to Los Angeles, Phoenix could either get the Eagles from Philadelphia or claim an Expansion Team along with St. Louis to the NFL.

 

[TheMatthew25]

So If the Cardinals could be moved to Los Angeles, Phoenix could either get the Eagles from Philadelphia or claim an Expansion Team along with St. Louis to the NFL.

But with Phoenix getting the Eagles (if they get to keep the name?), people and lawmakers in Philadelphia would be upset and demand an Expansion team first before St. Louis. I mean, Philadelphia a bigger city than St. Louis.

 

[TaintedTamt]

Is the NBA going to take off soon like in OTL? Hockey will always have the cost to play barrier that will prevent people from playing that basketball doesn’t.

 

[WB18]

Taking all your recent comments into consideration, I'll answer this in parts.

@TheMatthew25

A. Toronto Huskies is defiantly a good option for Toronto, the only reason the Raptors didn't go with it is because the owners feared the logo would look to similar to the Timberwolves logo. Also, Mighty Ducks of Orlando is in my 90s expansion plans.

B. Glad you liked that! I was nervous about public reception on the USFL beyond 1985. I'm also planning to put in promotion and regulation for the NFL and USFL at some point to. For example (this will not actually happen) the Birmingham Stallions and Sacramento Gold Miners would be promoted to the NFL for 1986 while the two worst NFL teams from the previous season (Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers) would be regulated to the USFL.

C. The more I think about Los Angeles Cardinals, the more I like it. The only problem is that they would have to move to the NFC West, as the LA Rams are in that division. But I figured out a solution. The LA Cardinals move to the AFC West and the Seattle Seahawks swap divisions with them. As for the Express, they could go to Louisville, Albuquerque or even Hawaii.

@stratonascar

The Eagles nearly moved to PHX before some owners from Philly stepped in and bought the team. But if the Eagles end up moving, Philly could try to lure a USFL team to the city and hope they play well enough to make it in to the NFL once promotion-regulation starts.

@TaintedTamt

Basketball will take off eventually. Once MJ, Charles Barkley, Hakeem, Clyde Drexler, John Stockton, Karl Malone and David Robinson start to become stars. But for now, the NBA is kind of in limbo with the NBA Finals winner always coming out of the East.

 

[TheMatthew25]

A. Toronto Huskies is defiantly a good option for Toronto, the only reason the Raptors didn't go with it is because the owners feared the logo would look to similar to the Timberwolves logo. Also, Mighty Ducks of Orlando is in my 90s expansion plans.

B. Glad you liked that! I was nervous about public reception on the USFL beyond 1985. I'm also planning to put in promotion and regulation for the NFL and USFL at some point to. For example (this will not actually happen) the Birmingham Stallions and Sacramento Gold Miners would be promoted to the NFL for 1986 while the two worst NFL teams from the previous season (Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers) would be regulated to the USFL.

C. The more I think about Los Angeles Cardinals, the more I like it. The only problem is that they would have to move to the NFC West, as the LA Rams are in that division. But I figured out a solution. The LA Cardinals move to the AFC West and the Seattle Seahawks swap divisions with them. As for the Express, they could go to Louisville, Albuquerque or even Hawaii.

Have the Milwaukee team be called something else, then it can work for the Huskies. The Raptors' name always sounded silly to me.

The USFL and NFL could work something out with it. Only one problem, the fanbases wouldn't understand very well. Unlike Soccer (and in the UK Rugby) which always had promotion and relegation until the NASL broke that mold. The issue is that NFL fanbases would have a fit with it and would cry foul. It's something that mostly is an American issue. I would love to see Promotion and Relegation in US Sports. (MLS needs to adopt it)

But would be an uphill battle. It's something that my CFL story is challenging with TTL MLS Championship and MLS-2 thing that's going on. It can be done but the right care and people's understanding are key to making it work. Also the right investment too.

LA Cardinals sounds awesome.

But if the Eagles end up moving, Philly could try to lure a USFL team to the city and hope they play well enough to make it in to the NFL once promotion-regulation starts.

That would be a good way to start. Promotion and Relegation can work for teams looking to impress the NFL to say "Hey, these guys deserve a spot."

Look at OTL Orlando City S.C. for example. Or in the UK, AFC Wimbledon is a really good example of a relocation that led to a new club forming from the ashes of the old. (MK Dons were Wimbledon F.C. before relocating to Milton Keynes) It can work, just takes time.

But for now, the NBA is kind of in limbo with the NBA Finals winner always coming out of the East.

That needs to be solved before the NBA can gain more of a following. Maybe have the Lakers or heck the Portland Trailblazers and Seattle Sonics win the title to help balance the NBA back to normal.

 

[King_Arthur]

and in the UK Rugby

Relegation is actually quite a new thing in Rugby and only the English league has it (though they got rid of it a few years ago and then brought it back)

 

[TheMatthew25]

Relegation is actually quite a new thing in Rugby and only the English league has it (though they got rid of it a few years ago and then brought it back)

Which one, Union or League? I used to watch both back when I could find games easily on YouTube.

 

[WB18]

I agree with you Matthew, promotion and regulation would take some work for it to succeed in the NFL. But I'm sure after a while, fans would get used to it and understand. It just sounds like a cool idea to me.

 

[kinnikuniverse]

Yeah, but what about the draft? How's it gonna work in a promotion-relegation system? In soccer and rugby, there is no college to develop talent and there is no draft. Teams develop players through their own academies. They sign youth players as early as 12-years old, which means that they could skip high school entirely, which would be a huge no-no in america.

 

[Pyro]

West Division: BC Lions, Calgary Wranglers, Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers

I believe you mean the Calgary Stampeders.

 

[WB18]

Yeah, but what about the draft? How's it gonna work in a promotion-relegation system? In soccer and rugby, there is no college to develop talent and there is no draft. Teams develop players through their own academies. They sign youth players as early as 12-years old, which means that they could skip high school entirely, which would be a huge no-no in america.

We could have the draft be a complete lottery, were every team is entered and your odds get worse for the number one pick if your record is better. For example, a 14-2 team would have much worse odds at that number 1 pick than say, a team with a 3-13 record.

 

[WB18]

I believe you mean the Calgary Stampeders.

Fixed it.

 

[WB18]

1986-87 NHL Regular Season standings
Playoff teams in BOLD

Adams Division
Hartford Whalers 107 points
Quebec Nordiques 105 points
Detroit Red Wings 91 points
Toronto Maple Leafs 87 points
Buffalo Sabres 87 points
Boston Bruins 66 points
Montreal Canadiens 59 points

Patrick Division
Washington Capitals 103 points
Cincinnati Stingers 91 points
Philadelphia Flyers 85 points
New York Islanders 82 points
Atlanta Flames 73 points
New York Rangers 68 points

Smythe Division
Seattle Thunderbirds 104 points
Los Angeles Kings 89 points
Edmonton Oilers 86 points
Vancouver Canucks 79 points
Calgary Wranglers 75 points
San Diego Penguins 62 points

Norris Division
Houston Aeros 111 points
St Louis Blues 110 points
Colorado Rockies 103 points
Winnipeg Jets 84 points
Chicago Blackhawks 61 points
Minnesota North Stars 55 points

In the Adams Division, Quebec and Hartford would battle it out for the division title. The Nordiques looked like they would they would win it for most of the season, but Ray Bourque put the Whalers on his back, having a point in the last 12 games of the year to help the Whalers reclaim the Adams division crown. After their inspiring playoff run last season, the Red Wings finished third thanks to a great year from Pat LaFontaine. The real focus in the Adams, was on the fourth place spot between Buffalo and Toronto which came down to the final day of the season. The Sabres were hosting the last-place Canadiens with the tie-breaker, leading the Maple Leafs by 3 goals. Buffalo defeated Montreal 3-1, meaning Toronto had to score 7 goals to get in the playoffs against an already determined Quebec team, looking for first place. Toronto would fall behind 5-2, but Mario Lemieux would score a hat-trick within 5 minutes and 22 seconds to tie the game. Quebec would score with 58 seconds left to give them the lead. Toronto pressed the net hard, but could not solve goalie Richard Brouder. Finally with .6 seconds left in regulation, Al MacInnes scored to tie the game. Just 33 seconds into overtime, Lemieux would score his fourth goal of the game to send Toronto to the playoffs for the first time since 1978.

The Patrick Division would go to the Capitals once again, but the Cincinnati Stingers were a team to watch. Future stars like Larry Murphy, Luc Robitaille and goalie Bob Essena propelled the team to a second place finish and the most points in team history with 91. Philadelphia and the Islanders finished 3rd and 4th while the Rangers and Flames once again missed the postseason.

Seattle would take the Snythe Division again, thanks to a declining Kings team that dealt Marcel Dionne to Quebec in the hopes he can win a Stanley Cup before he retires. The rest of the division wasn’t much to talk about either, as Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and San Diego were both too young to be a contender.

The Blues-Aeros rivalry continued to be one of Hockey’s premier rivalries. After Chris Chelios took a shot at Wayne Gretzky, Mike Gartner went after Cheilos and the two teams got into a bench-clearing brawl in St Louis. The two teams fought tooth and nail for the Norris division championship until Houston pulled away and also finished first in the league. Colorado and Winnipeg once again finished third and fourth. As the playoffs began, it looked like the Aeros, Blues and Whalers were favorites once more to take home the Cup.

comments appreciated as always!

 

[Unknown]

NFL: The Miami Dolphins upset the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX 31-28. Dan Marino was named Super Bowl MVP for the second straight year, throwing for three touchdowns and had a clutch drive to set up the game winning field goal as time expired.

Have the Bears be undefeated--that would be so ironic...

 

[WB18]

1987 would be a big year for upsets once the post-season began. The Seattle Thunderbirds, after another series of big off-season moves, hoped to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions. The T-Birds won another division title but shockingly lost to Vancouver five out six times that season. It would prove to be extremely costly. Seattle faced those same Canucks in the first round. The teams were tied 2-2 after the first four before disaster struck for the Thunderbirds. Patrick Roy was chased from the net in an ugly 8-4 win for the Canucks to give them a 3-2 series lead. The T-Birds were simply unable to withstand Vancouver’s grit and tight-checking style, and that continued right through game six as Brain Leetch and Jeff Beukeboom each scored twice in a 6-3 win as the Canucks completed the upset and moved on. The Houston Aeros also got quite a scare in their first-round series with Winnipeg, as the Jets jumped to a 2-0 series lead. The Aeros managed to win two games on the road, however, before winning two more to take the series in six. Houston avoided being the second contending team to be upset in the first round, the St Louis Blues, however, were not so lucky, losing a stunner to Colorado in four straight. Edmonton also advanced in a extremely tight six-game series against Los Angeles.

In the Wales Conference, the Washington Capitals were a confident team entering their first-round matchup against the Islanders, a team that was getting older and older. But the Isles quickly shattered that confidence with two big wins at the Capital Centre to take an unexpected 2-0 series lead. Back at Nassau Coliseum, the Capitals scored early in game three, only to give up three fast goals early in the third period as the Islanders won the game 3-1 to take a chokehold on the series. “We didn’t expect to be in this position” said captain Mark Messier. “Hardly any team has ever come back from 3-0 before but that doesn’t mean we can’t do it” In game four, Messier backed up his words with a two-goal performance in a 2-1 Washington victory to salvage the series. The Capitals were still alive and had a chance to extend it to six when game five went to overtime. Through two extra periods in game five, goaltenders Vladislav Tretiak and Chris Terreri turned the contest into a goaltending duel. Early in the third overtime, Sergio Momesso finally ended the marathon when he knocked in a rebound to complete the upset for the Islanders. In other Wales Conference action, Hartford took six games to eliminate Mario Lemieux and Toronto, Detroit upset Quebec in five games, while the Stingers took out Philadelphia in five games.

In Round two, the Vancouver Canucks entered their series with Edmonton determined to carry the momentum from their first round upset. After Vancouver won game one, the Oilers managed to get their act together in game two, tying the series with a 4-3 win. In Vancouver for game three, Bill Ranford was the hero in net, stopping 42 shots in a 2-0 shutout. After a 4-2 win in game four, the Canucks held a commanding 3-1 series lead. Back in Edmonton for game five, Steve Yzerman scored early to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead, but it would be the final goal of the Oiler season. Goals from Brian Leetch and John Tucker gave Vancouver a 2-1 win and a 4-1 series victory. Meanwhile in the Norris Final, Houston dispatched Colorado in another close 5 game series with 4 out 5 games going to overtime.

In the Wales Conference, the Cincinnati Stingers struggled to stay a step ahead of the surging New York Islanders. After just edging out the Isles in game one 1-0, the Stingers were embarrassed on home ice in game two as the Islanders took a 7-2 victory. After the teams split the two games on Long Island, they headed back to Cincy tied 2-2. Game five ended in controversy, Cincinnati led 2-1 when Sergio Momesso's shot beat Bob Essensa and appeared to roll across the goal line for just a split second. The goal was reviewed and ultimately disallowed due to lack of evidence that the puck actually crossed the line. The Islanders were irate, especially when TV replays all but confirmed that the puck had crossed the line. Cincinnati sealed the win with an empty-net goal to lead the series 3-2. New York had to quickly get over the hard feelings from game five, now facing elimination at home. Mike Bossy opened the scoring and Kevin Maxwell scored just minutes later to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead. Halfway through the third period, Larry Murphy brought the Stingers to within a goal but it would be the closest they would get. The series would go to a game seven at the Riverfront Coliseum. As if to redeem himself after the disallowed goal, Momesso opened the scoring for the Islanders, but unfortunately it wouldn’t be enough. Cincy exploded for four goals in the second period and never allowed New York back into the game. The Stingers were headed to the Wales Conference Finals for the first time in team history to face the Hartford Whalers, who swept Detroit in four straight.

Hartford certainly had an uphill battle against a powerful Stingers squad playing in the Wales Conference Final for the first time in their brief history. Hartford took control of the series early on, winning the first two games at home. Back in Cincinnati, however, the Whalers struggled while the Stingers rode the enthusiasm and noise of their fans to a pair of wins of their own to tie the series including an emotional overtime win in game four where Luc Robitaille, playing a great post-season, scored the winner. Game five would be pivotal, as the winner would have an opportunity to close out the series two nights later. Cincinnati appeared to have the upper hand, carrying a 3-2 lead into the third period. Late in the third, however, Ray Bourque tied the game for the Whalers, sending it to overtime. Larry Murphy had an incredible chance to end the game just minutes into OT, but Grant Fuhr stood tall. Finally, Boruque came up big once again, winning the game with his second goal of the night. Game six back in Cincinnati was a must-win for the home team. A capacity crowd of 17,556 packed into the Riverfront Coliseum as fans from all over Ohio showed up to support their desperate team. Murphy, Robitaille, Dirk Graham, and Dave Simpson each scored in a big 4-2 win to force game seven. The Houston Aeros were now awaiting the winner, having won a hard-fought series with Vancouver in six games. In Hartford, the Civic Center was packed nearly to capacity. In Cincinnati, thousands of fans gathered at a watch party in downtown Cincy to watch the game on a projector. The game was a tight one, tied at two through two periods. In the third, Ron Handy beat Bob Essensa to give the Whalers their second lead of the game. Cincinnati pushed hard for the tying goal, pulling Essensa for the extra attacker. The move backfired as Mark Howe scored the empty-netter to make in 4-2. With only 13 seconds to go, Larry Murphy scored for the Stingers to bring it within one, but it was too little too late, as Hartford advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the third time in the 1980s, where they would face the same team as last time, the Houston Aeros.

Would like some comments. It feels lonely without them.

 

[Unknown]

Hope Hartford doesn't move ITTL...

 

[TheMatthew25]

Hope Hartford doesn't move ITTL...

Doubt it, might get a new arena ITTL.

Hartford advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the third time in the 1980s, where they would face the same team as last time, the Houston Aeros.

This gonna be good!

 

[OldNavy1988]

The Aeros share the Summit with the Rockets, right?