The Cincinnati Stingers were an ice hockey team based in Cincinnati that played in the World Hockey Association from 1975 to 1979 and in the Central Hockey League during the 1979–80 season. Their home arena was Riverfront Coliseum . They are the only major league hockey team to have played in Cincinnati.
7-525: The Stingers franchise was awarded in 1974 as part of the WHA's ill-conceived attempt at expansion. They entered the league for the 1975–76 WHA season along with the Denver Spurs . Most of the league's existing teams were not financially stable, and franchise relocations were commonplace. The Stingers achieved enough stability that they were the only one of the WHA's five expansion teams that lasted through to
14-664: A Canadian-based All-Star team vs a United States-based All-Star team, with the game taking place in Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland, Ohio . The Canadians won the game 6–1, with Real Cloutier and Paul Shmyr being named MVPs. The New England Whalers , Cleveland Crusaders , the Phoenix Roadrunners and the San Diego Mariners participated in preliminary rounds, with two teams advancing to
21-782: The Baltimore Blades and Chicago Cougars folded, the league stayed at 14 teams by adding the Cincinnati Stingers and Denver Spurs. In addition, the Vancouver Blazers franchise moved to Calgary and became the Cowboys. Midway through the season, the Spurs moved to Ottawa and became the Civics, though the team folded shortly thereafter when the sale of the franchise fell through. The Minnesota Fighting Saints became
28-627: The end of the league, but they were left out of the NHL–WHA merger in mid-1979. The WHA insisted on including all three of its surviving Canadian teams, though below-average attendance made it unlikely that the Stingers would have made the cut. The Stingers, along with the Birmingham Bulls , were paid to disband when the WHA ceased operations. The Stingers were the first professional team of long-time NHL stars Mike Gartner and Mike Liut , and
35-553: The season. The last Cincinnati Stingers player active in North American major professional hockey was Mark Messier, who retired in 2004. Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes 1975%E2%80%9376 WHA season The 1975–76 WHA season was the fourth season of the World Hockey Association . After
42-490: The second pro team for Mark Messier , who scored one goal on a line with Robbie Ftorek , one of the league's top scorers. After the WHA shut down, a minor professional version of the Cincinnati Stingers began the 1979–80 season in the Central Hockey League (CHL). The CHL team included only three players from the 1978–79 WHA Stingers; Dave Debol , Byron Shutt and Paul Stewart , but disbanded 33 games into
49-1005: The second team to fold mid-season when the franchise was not financially successful, despite having a winning record at the time. Theoretically, fourteen teams would play 80 games each, but only twelve teams finished the season, with cancelled games involving the Civics or Saints being rescheduled on the fly, and four of five Canadian Division teams played 81 games, as a result. +team started season in Western Division when playing in Denver; transferred by league to Canadian Division shortly after moving to Ottawa. GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes Bolded numbers indicate season leaders GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage ; GAA = Goals against average The 4th annual WHA All-Star Game featured
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