Kraken Almost-Ancestors
A half-century before the Seattle Kraken brought the National Hockey League here, Seattle was promised an NHL expansion team. Or the transfer of an existing NHL team. Or a World Hockey Association team.
Of course, none of those happened. How it all fell apart is a fascinating mid-1970s tale of broken promises, missed payments, egos, lawsuits and backroom maneuvering. This is the thrd of five stories retrieved from the dusty archives of the Seattle Times (ST) and Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I).
February, 1975: Locals Optimistic, NHL Not So Much
Seattle Times columnist Hy Zimmerman covered the pro-hockey-to-Seattle saga as closely as anyone.
“It is beginning to look more and more like Seattle will ice an ensemble in the NHL next October. The NHL, it now develops, has built up an appetite for Seattle.” (ST 2-23-75)
Dueling statements from Vince Abbey and league VP Don Ruck.
Ruck: “The Totems hockey club has advised us it would not be prepared in the near future to implement its previous offer to acquire an NHL team for the 1975-76 season.'” Abbey: “It’s exactly the opposite. I said we would be prepared in the near future. We want to get the thing organized properly.”
More Ruck: “Abbey’s group is continuing to work on fulfillment of conditions relating to Seattle’s conditional (expansion) franchise for 1976-77.” More Abbey: “I don’t think they are going to solve the problems in Pittsburgh. We’re still ready to step in.” (ST 2-27-75)
“Asked if the league might purposely have given him an impossible task, Abbey said, ‘I don’t like to posture it that way.’ But then he postured it that way. ‘It took several years to create the problems in Oakland and Pittsburgh, and you don’t resolve it in seven days. One one person ever did that, and on the seventh day he rested.'” (P-I 2-27-75)
“Abbey said the NHL deadline was unrealistic in view of the complexity of the arrangements he must make. They including repurchasing Seattle Totem stock from the Vancouver Canucks and arrangement to merge the Totems and Crawford Hubbell’s Des Moines Capitals, an International League team.” (P-I 2-28-75)
March, 1975: Land Of Disenchantment
“The Vince Abbey-Crawford Hubbell consortium, met in Vancouver, BC, with Bill Hughes, president of the Vancouver Canucks, to negotiate a buy-back agreement of Vancouver-held stock in the Seattle Totems Hockey Club.” (ST)
“Ken Heim, Totem vice president, said he believes if the NHL does not come here next fall, there will be severe pressure from the World Hockey Association to move a team into the Coliseum. He pointed out that Jim Pattison, owner of the Vancouver Blazers of the WHA, still holds territorial rights in Seattle.” (ST)
“The NHL expansion committee, headed by William Jennings, has operated in strange ways. First, Jennings announced February 17 that Seattle had two days to come up with a $1 million letter of credit. Jennings later extended that one week. Neither deadline was met.” (ST)
“‘It’s fairly obvious the league has grown disenchanted with Vince Abbey,’ a source said.” (P-I 3-17-75) “Abbey’s local group of investors has eroded several times. Irving Clark said, ‘I don’t think Vince has the money.’ Abbey insists he not only has the money, he’s oversubscribed.” (ST 3-17-75)
“If the Seattle bid for the Penguins fails, the league will refuse to grant Abbey his wish for an expansion team this fall. Instead, he will be given one final deadline toward purchase of a 1976 expansion team. If that final deadline were missed, Seattle would be out of the NHL picture possibly until 1980.” (PI 3-18-75)
May, 1975: NHL Gives Seattle Cold Shoulder
“Vince Abbey said he made a cash offer of $6 million to the National Hockey League Board of Governors for a 1975-76 team and was refused any consideration by the league.
“‘We had a cash proposal to the Pittsburgh Penguins and said in the alternative we will give the money to the NHL by June 15th for an expansion team. Bill Wirtz of Chicago said, “We’ll discuss your proposal.'” The next thing we knew, the owners were heading for their planes to go home. I don’t think we have any chance for Pittsburgh now.’
“Abbey said he had been offered the chance to buy a WHA team, the Vancouver Blazers, for $2 million, two months ago. Abbey turned it down.” (ST 5-2-75)
Times columnist Zimmerman: “Vince Abbey, longtime Seattle Totem official, has been stiffed and sandbagged. Two reasons bolt forward. The NHL hesitancy to expand and (expansion committee head Bill) Jennings’ antipathy toward Abbey. Jennings keeps intimating that he has another group in mind for the Seattle franchise. It is time they stood up for counting.
“Seattle has been cross-checked.” (ST)
Tomorrow: Seattle tries to “Seals” the deal.
Earlier Seattle:
— Big Time Kraken – NHL Talk With TV’s John Forslund
