Īs a result, the WHA ceased operations, and four teams joined the NHL for the 1979–80 season: the Edmonton Oilers, New England (renamed Hartford) Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets. NHL owners voted down a 1977 plan to merge six WHA teams (the Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Cincinnati Stingers, Houston Aeros, and Winnipeg Jets) into the NHL before a 1979 merger was approved. In spite of this, merger talks began almost immediately. It had an acrimonious relationship with the NHL, resulting in numerous legal battles, as well as competition for control of players and markets. The WHA was chronically unstable, with franchises occasionally relocating or folding in the middle of the season. The WHA took the initiative to sign European players, ushering in a new era in North American hockey. Sixty-seven players jumped from the NHL to the WHA in the first year, led by star forward Bobby Hull, whose ten-year, $2.75 million contract was a record at the time. The WHA successfully challenged the NHL's reserve clause, which had bound players to their NHL teams even without a valid contract, allowing players in both leagues greater freedom of movement. The WHA tried to capitalize on the lack of hockey teams in a number of major American cities and mid-level Canadian cities, and also hoped to attract the best players by paying more than NHL owners would. Although the WHA was not the first league since that time to attempt to challenge the NHL's supremacy, it was by far the most successful in the modern era. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926. The World Hockey Association ( French: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. Septem 51 years ago ( September 13, 1971) For the defunct minor professional hockey league, see World Hockey Association 2. For the 2000s defunct proposal for a major league of hockey, see World Hockey Association (proposed). This article is about the 1971–79 North American professional ice hockey league.

The Rebel League by Ed Willes