WHA Teams: Phoenix Roadrunners

By Patrick Mondout

The Phoenix Roadrunners were a professional ice hockey team in the short-lived World Hockey Association (WHA).

At a glance... Franchise Facts Established 1974 Disbanded April 6, 1977 Located Phoenix, Arizona Purchase Price $2M (1974) Owner(s) Bert Gaetz Karl Eller Postseason/Titles NONE   Nicknames Phoenix Roadrunners (1974-1977) Arena Veterans Memorial Coliseum (12,800)

Major league hockey finally came to the desert in the form of the WHA's expansion Phoenix Roadrunners. The city was "awarded" the franchise in 1973 (along with Indianapolis) and began play in the 1974-75 season.

Coach Sandy Hucul led the expansion Roadrunners to a 39-31-8 record and received the Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy as coach of the year for 1974-75.

The star of the Roadrunners was center Robbie Ftorek, who won the Gordie Howe trophy as the association's MVP for the 1976-1977 season. It was the first time an American-born player had won an MVP award in a major hockey league. Sadly for Roadrunner fans, it was also only the second time that a player from a last place team won the award.

Rumored to be losing $2M a year, the Roadrunners were unable to outrun wily creditors. Team owner Karl Eller searched for new investors throughout the 1976-1977 season before announcing the April 6, 1977 season finale would also be the swan song for his desert birds.

The Roadrunners had replaced an existing minor league team by the same name and was replaced multiple times by subsequent teams before the until former WHA entry Winnipeg moved the NHL into the Valley of the Sun as the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996.

Season-by-Season Record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

WHA Bibliography
The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association by Ed Willes
The Complete Historical and Statistical Reference to the World Hockey Association by Scott Adam Surgent
WHA Pro Hockey '75 - '76 by Dan Proudfoot
WHA Media Guides (each team published one each year)

These and many other WHA items can be found at eBay - check our links on the far right of this page!