The proposed league's logo |
|
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 |
| Country(ies) | Canada and United States |
| Ceased | 2009 |
The World Hockey Association was a proposed professional hockey league intended to compete with the established National Hockey League during the 2004–05 NHL lockout. Noteworthy for instability and failed plans, its organization operated several minor and junior leagues thereafter.
Seeking to capitalize upon the original World Hockey Association of the 1970s, Allan Howell and Dr. Nick Vaccaro announced in 2003 the formation of a new professional hockey league calling itself the "World Hockey Association." Original WHA superstar Bobby Hull was named its commissioner. The league was regarded by many as an attempt to fill the void that loomed as the NHL's serious labour problems, which led to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, became apparent. Most hockey commentators felt that the league's best hope was to operate while the NHL players were locked out and try to develop enough of a following to survive once the NHL labour problems were resolved.
It was projected that the league would begin operation with teams from Dallas, Detroit, Halifax, Hamilton, Miami, Toronto, Vancouver and Quebec City. Five teams went so far as to acquire nicknames: the Detroit Gladiators (who planned to play at the Pontiac Silverdome, a venue that had never hosted hockey before); the Dallas Americans (who introduced Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ed Belfour as goalie/co-owner); the Quebec Nordiks (a tweaking of the old Quebec Nordiques nickname); the Toronto Toros (adopting the nickname of the original WHA team of the same name); and the Halifax IceBreakers.
After being pushed back from June 2, a WHA draft took place on July 18, 2004 [1] in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Future superstar Sidney Crosby was the first pick; he turned down the league's three-year, $7.5 million offer. By August, however, things began to unravel: the WHA pulled the Quebec franchise [2] and Toronto, unable to find an arena, dropped out soon afterwards. The Florida-based franchise, apparently headed for Miami, then Jacksonville and finally Orlando, quietly expired. By September, the new WHA was down to four teams and had pushed its debut back to November.[3] By October, Dallas had folded and an announced "restructuring" never took place.[4]
In the spring of 2005, the league announced the "Bobby Hull Invitational Tournament," for which 50 NHL players had purportedly showed interest.[5] The tournament, scheduled to begin May 20 and award $2 million to the winning team, was dropped without comment by the organization and never held.
When that and other plans failed to materialize, the rights to the WHA's name and logo were sold to Richard Smith, a British Columbia investor. Further plans to operate either a similar Tier II junior league or a professional loop in the Pennsylvania-Midwest area in 2007-2008 were dropped without comment by the organization, in addition to financial problems that led to the company's stockbroker calling for a legal investigation and subsequently filing a lawsuit against the WHA.[6][7]
The organization operated three now-defunct leagues, two playing a single season each before folding and the third playing two seasons; the minor-league World Hockey Association 2 and the WHA Super Junior League in Florida, the latter which was abandoned with little to no warning to players and the communities involved.[8] It operated an unsanctioned Tier II developmental league in British Columbia called the WHA Junior West Hockey League between 2006 and 2008, marked by financial and franchise instabilities that saw the WHA's stock price drop to a fraction of a penny per share.[9]
The last post to the league's website was on September 15, 2008 - which as of July 2009 was shut down for lack of payment - addressing the possible suspension by Hockey Canada of any player suiting up for a WHA team.[10]
On January 16, 2009, the WHA was successfully sued by Global Developments Inc. for $4.3 Million USD in losses in a District of Nevada courtroom for purposely diluting the worth of Global's interest in the company.[11] In addition, the WHA was ordered to repay $277,386 in loans provided to them by Global.[12] Under Smith, the share price of the WHA fell from $3.45 to less than one cent, before being taken off the trading market. [13]
In September 2009, the Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended trading in the stock, specifically for "usurp[ing] the identity of [a] defunct or inactive publicly traded corporation, initially by incorporating new entities using the same name as ... the defunct [entity]" and the league's website is no longer active.[14]
On November 24, 2009, Ricky Smith filed a lawsuit in British Columbia against Hockey Canada, the Pacific International Junior Hockey League, BC Hockey, former WHA Coach Matt Samson, and Squamish Manager of Recreational Services Janet Gugins. The charges stem from Smith's belief that Hockey Canada and BC Hockey maliciously targeted the WHA in the summer of 2008 with a series of bulletins targeted at keep players from joining the WHA. The charges put against Samson, Gugins, and the PIJHL revolve around allegations that Samson and Gugins were in breach of a contract between them and the WHA when attempting to secure a PIJHL franchise.[15]
Since walking away from the WHA, Ricky Smith - whose wife is wanted by Interpol - has also founded an already legally troubled professional baseball organization in the United States.[16]