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| Gary Croteau |
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| Wilf Paiement |
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| Michel Plasse |
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| Randy Rota |
All my best stuff is stolen from Puck Daddy or Uni Watch...
• March 27th brought the first mention of Denver as a potential landing spot for the Scouts. “We have also been contacted by representatives from Cleveland and Miami, Florida,” said Edwin Thompson. (3/27 Times)
The Bruin in the middle is of course Bobby Orr. Peter McDuffe is recognizable as the Scouts goalie, which means the picture had to have been taken on October 27, 1974. McDuffe was with the Scouts for the duration of the ’74-’75 season only, and the Scouts played in Boston just twice that year. In the other game, Denis Herron manned the Scouts net (pulling off an unlikely 3-2 win). The October 27th game from the picture was just the eighth Scouts regular season game, and came at the end of the eight-game road trip to kick off the franchise, meaning they still hadn’t played a home game or enjoyed a win. The exhausted Scouts lost that night 2-8, and finally got to head to Kansas City afterwards. The two Scouts defensemen pictured are Mike Baumgartner (on the left) and Jim McElmury. The two Minnesotans have the unenviable task of trying to contain Orr’s Bruins. The puck denting the twine tells the story of how that worked out.
• On the 4th appeared the last article in which team president Ed Thompson tried to put a happy face on the shaky status of the Scouts. He claimed that “we (the team ownership group) knew it would be five years before we had the attendance we needed. This year is less than what we hoped for. But the partners are still enthused and so am I.” (2/4/76 Star) Thompson was either lying or something radically changed in the following week.
• On the ice, the month opened at home against the Blues on the 4th. 5,938 came out on poster night to see the two Missouri clubs skate to a 3-3 tie. It was the second straight tie for the Scouts, after having lost their previous 14.
• It was announced on the 6th that forward Henry Boucha had finally signed with the Scouts. It was well known that Boucha had been trying to get out of his contract with the WHA St. Paul Fighting Saints, and that the Scouts had acquired his NHL rights from the North Stars in November ’74.
Boucha had a fairly short but colorful career. A Chippewa Native American from Warroad, Minnesota, he spent much of 1969—72 playing on the United States National and Olympic teams, most notably at the 1972 Olympics. He had six points in six Olympic games on the way to earning a silver medal. Boucha put up big numbers throughout his tenure with the U.S. team, and earned induction in the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995. Boucha went on to play for the Red Wings and North Stars between ’72—’75. In January of ’75, Boucha was on the receiving end of one of the uglier incidents in NHL history. Michael Smith describes it thusly in his essay “What Is Sports Violence?” in the book Sports Ethics:“…an altercation occurred between David Forbes of the Boston Bruins and Henry Boucha of the Minnesota North Stars. Both players were sent to the penalty box, where Forbes repeatedly threatened Boucha verbally. As they left the box at the expiration of the penalties…Forbes skated up behind Boucha and struck him with the butt end of his stick just above the right eye. Boucha fell to the ice stunned and bleeding (with a badly damaged eye, it turned out). Forbes jumped on him, punched him in the back of the head, then grabbing him by the hair, proceeded to pound his head into the ice.”Boucha’s eyesight never fully recovered. He managed to comeback with the Fighting Saints and Scouts in ’75-‘76, but retired after just nine games with the Colorado Rockies in 1976. He received an undisclosed settlement in a lawsuit he brought against Forbes, the Bruins and the NHL. Boucha is one of the more recognizable players in NHL history thanks to the bright headbands he wore on the ice.
• Edwin Thompson was not sole owner of the Scouts. In fact, he wasn’t even the majority owner. From a Steve Marantz column on the 12th: “Most of the investors, who number approximately 30, are from the area…The largest single stockholder, however, is Murray Newman, an Omaha businessman, who holds about 24 per cent of the total issue.” As president of the club, Thompson became the face of Scouts ownership, while the others stayed largely anonymous and behind the scenes.
• This group of four letters to the editor from the February 22nd Star provide a sample of what some Kansas Citians were thinking about the Scouts crisis:
• A McGuff column on the 26th (“Scouts Are Now Scrambling Just For Survival”) contains a couple of interesting nuggets: The NBA Kansas City Kings, co-tenants of Kemper Arena, had expressed an interest in purchasing the Scouts. This quote drives home just how bad things had gotten for the Scouts: “Adding to the confusion surrounding the hockey operation are persistent reports that the team is so close to bankruptcy that it might not be able to continue beyond Monday, when the next player payroll comes due. The National Hockey League reportedly has an emergency plan to proceed with 17 teams should the Scouts be unable to finish their schedule.” Crikey!
• On the 27th came a story in the Star that the Scouts were two months behind on payments to the city for Kemper Arena rental fees amounting to $65,000. The next morning’s Times revealed that the Scouts would indeed meet the next payday. Edwin Thompson said:
“The crisis certainly hasn’t changed. Our partners and myself are making the payroll as we have the last few, out of our pockets, certainly not from gate receipts. We are willing to do this as long as we see some hope, some light that the season ticket drive will get off to a successful start. So far we are encouraged by the Mayor and civic leaders who are participating in the drive and hopefully it will go along as planned. There isn’t anyone in Kansas City that is more enthusiastic and will give this franchise as much support as myself and the partners have and will continue to do so. As you know we have $5-million in this venture and this certainly isn’t the end. We want to know that somewhere along the line we have a chance to get even.”In the same paper was an article stating the NHL would not be giving the Scouts any financial aid, even if it meant the Scouts couldn’t finish out the current season. “We have an emergency plan to finish the schedule in case Kansas City folds,” said president Clarence Campbell. The league had recently propped up the Pittsburgh Penguins financially, but Campbell said they didn’t “want to go through the same financial headaches” again. Kansas City was on its own.
I finally scored a ’74-’75 media guide/yearbook on eBay recently. They rarely show up, and the ones that I’ve seen have gone for ridiculous amounts ($30+), but I managed to get mine for $6. I’m glad I didn't overpay for it, because there’s not a lot to it. The Scouts had of course not yet played a game when the guide was put out, so there was not much to write about and no action photographs. (The photos in the ’75-’76 guide a make it a much more interesting artifact.)
And for whatever it’s worth, I learned that the Scouts’ Port Huron, Michigan training camps took place at The McMorran Arena, which is in use today as the home of the CHL Port Huron Hawks.
• January 1976 proved to be a tumultuous and tortuous time for the Scouts. In doing research on the first year and a half of the Scouts existence, I’ve been somewhat surprised by the number of bright spots. The losses were never far apart when the Scouts played, but a nice victory here or individual performance there seems to have kept things from getting too bleak. Throughout the ’74-’75 season, there was reason to think the Scouts could take a large step forward the next year, and in the first half of ’75-’76, it appeared the Scouts were taking that step. They even had the playoffs in their sights halfway through the year.
• Appropriately, the month started off with a couple of Scouts getting clubbed by the Philadelphia Flyers. Guy Charron received a seven-stitch gash above his eye and Craig Patrick a broken nose, both courtesy of high sticks from the Broad Street Bullies. “What we need is a couple of guys in here to do the same thing,” said coach Bep Guidolin. “It should be tit for tat. We ought to bring in a couple of butchers who can’t even skate.” (1/2/76 Times) There was a small bit of good news as Denis Dupere returned to the lineup in limited duty after separating his shoulder in practice the day after the first game of the season.
Fans were treated(?) to a Freddy Fender concert after the game.
• After dropping their fifth straight game on the 7th, Bep said, “We can’t sit back and wait too long to make a move. And we better do it quick while we still got a shot at the playoffs. I can still hear people in the stands who are sticking with us.” (1/8/76 Times) Bep didn’t have to wait; Simon Nolet, the prize of the ’74 expansion draft, captain of the team from day one, and the previous season’s team MVP, was shipped to
Bep said Durbano would “fire up the whole team and a whole building full of people.” (1/9/76 Star) Management no doubt hoped that adding a goon to the roster would stimulate ticket sales.
Arnason and Durbano debuted with the Scouts on the 10 th against the Rangers. Both got their names on the score sheet by assisting on a Denis Dupere goal in an 8-4 loss.
• Guy Charron was named captain on the 12th.
• GM Sid Abel wasn’t done trying to shake the Scouts out of their miserable play. On the 14th, while in
• After the game against the Red Wings, a group of eight players or more missed Guidolin’s curfew. Guidolin apparently singled out (D) Larry Johnston, and slapped only him with a fine and one-game suspension, served in the next night’s game at home against the Maple Leafs. Seven players came forward in
“Guidolin’s ultimatum to Abel (on the 21st) was either defenseman Larry Johnston be sent to
Joe McGuff did a great job summarizing events leading to Guidolin’s resignation:
• While the coaching mess was unfolding back in
• Abel was forced to step behind the bench the very day that Guidolin resigned, as the Scouts hosted the Blues and ran their losing streak to ten. Abel didn’t feel too comfortable behind the bench, despite having coached 961 NHL games between 1954 and 1972. “‘I never did feel adjusted,’ he said. ‘I lost my voice. I was really afraid I’d have too many men on the ice or something. One time we didn’t have enough.’” (1/22/76 Times)
Abel was behind the bench for just two more games, both losses. The second game he coached was on the 23rd in
• After Abel’s final game as a coach, he said, “I kind of enjoyed myself tonight.” (1/26/76 Star) Nevertheless, new coach Eddie Bush stepped in on the 28th in
Of Bush’s first game in
The Scouts dropped their 14th straight in
• The Scouts returned for Bush’s KC debut on the 31st, another game against the Penguins. The Scouts managed a tie, their only point on the month. Despite the losing streak, Tanya inspired a season-high turnout of 12,471 fans.
• The brutal month ended with a 0-13-1 (.036) record, and drew an average of 9,250 in the eight home games. The press had gotten no wind of it if owner Ed Thompson had begun searching for a way to get the rid of the team.
• The month opened with what may have been the finest win in Scouts history, as they managed to beat the mighty Canadiens 6-5. Wilf Paiement recorded the only hat trick in team history. The Canadiens entered the day with a six game winning streak and an imposing 18-4-3 record. They would cap their season with a Stanley Cup while going 12-1 in the playoffs. Ken Dryden had been the goaltender for the six straight wins, and coach Scotty Bowman decided to rest him for what he must have thought would be an easy win at Kemper Arena. So Michel Larocque got the start for the Habs, and was blitzed for goals from Robin Burns, Craig Patrick and Paiement in the first eight minutes. The Canadiens managed to right the ship after that, but the damage was done, and the Scouts hung on for the win. The two wins the Scouts enjoyed in Boston rank right up there with this one, but the fact that this one came at home and with the bonus of Paiement’s hat trick make it arguably their finest night. Robin Burns thought so: “This has to be the biggest win we’ve had in our two years. For the players, fans, everybody.” (12/4/75 Star) Coach Bep Guidolin got a little excited on the bench: “I didn’t know how to change lines. It was like being high on something, it was like, well, I don’t know, like out of sight.” (12/5/75 Star)
• Defenseman Gary Bergman was the grizzled veteran of the ’75-’76 Scouts. Ken Rudnick had this piece in the December 11th Times on Bergman fighting through one last year:
• On the 16th, Rudnick had this to say about the Scouts’ netminding stalwart Denis Herron:
• After a 4-1 win against the Red Wings on the 19th, the Scouts had an impressive 7-6-2 record at home for the year, but would manage only one more victory in the remaining 25 home dates.
• On the 28th, the Scouts visited one of their favorite foes, the California Golden Seals. The Scouts skated to a 3-1 victory. Here is what the standings looked like the next morning:
The top three teams in each division made the playoffs, and the Scouts where just one point behind third place
• Alan Eagleson was the head of the NHLPA at the time, and made waves by proclaiming six NHL franchises were “shaky” in terms of viability. He named
• The Scouts went 5-9-0 (.357) for the month, and drew an average of just 7,809 for the six home games.
