Kansas City Scouts
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| Kansas City Scouts | |
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| Founded | 1974 |
| History | Kansas City Scouts 1974 - 1976 Colorado Rockies 1976 - 1982 New Jersey Devils 1982 - present |
| Arenas | Kemper Arena |
| City | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Team Colors | Blue, red and yellow |
| Stanley Cups | none |
| Conference Championships | none |
| Division Championships | none |
The Kansas City Scouts were a team in the National Hockey League (NHL). In 1976 the franchise relocated to Denver, Colorado and became the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies would later relocate to New Jersey where they are now known as the New Jersey Devils.
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[edit] Franchise history
Kansas City was awarded an NHL franchise on June 8, 1972. The first choice for a nickname was MO-Hawks, an attempt to appeal to both Kansas and Missouri residents (the Kansas City metropolitan area spills across both states) and incorporating Missouri's postal abbreviation, but the name was vetoed by the Chicago Blackhawks. The second choice, the Scouts, was then chosen.
Along with the Washington Capitals, the Scouts joined the NHL as an expansion team for the 1974-75 season. With a combined 30 teams between the NHL and the rival World Hockey Association, the talent pool available to stock the new teams was extremely thin. In their first season, the Capitals would set an NHL record for futility, losing 67 of 80 games, and only winning one on the road. The Scouts fared only marginally better, and the expansion was widely seen as having been a mistake.
They played their home games at Kemper Arena. The team was not a particular success either at the gate or on the ice. Rising oil prices and a falling commodity market made for hard going in the Midwest during the 1970s. Scout Steve Durbano led the league in penalty minutes during the 1975-76 season. For a time in late 1975, the team looked like it could actually make the playoffs -- after a 3-1 win over California on December 28 they stood just one point behind St. Louis in the weak Smythe Division -- but hopes were dashed when the Scouts could win only one of their remaining 44 games (1-35-8). Efforts by management to save the franchise by selling 8,000 season tickets failed, and the club only sold 2,000.
After two seasons, with its owners $900,000 in debt, the franchise was relocated to Denver where it became the Colorado Rockies, who in turn became the New Jersey Devils after 1982. The Scouts (along with the California Golden Seals who moved to Cleveland and became the Cleveland Baron the same year) were the first NHL teams since the 1934-35 NHL season to relocate. Denver, along with Seattle, were to have been granted franchises in an aborted 1976 NHL expansion, and the Seals were also reported to have been considering relocating to Denver.
Wilf Paiement was the last active player in the NHL to have played for the Scouts. He retired in 1988, ending his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
[edit] Season-by-season
- 1974-75 - 15 wins, 54 losses, 11 ties (41 pts., 5th Place Smythe Division)
- 1975-76 - 12 wins, 56 losses, 12 ties (36 pts., 5th Place Smythe Division)
[edit] Team captains
- Simon Nolet 1974-76
[edit] First round draft picks
- 1974: Wilf Paiement (2nd overall)
- 1975: Barry Dean (2nd overall)
[edit] See also
- List of Kansas City Scouts players
- Head Coaches of the Kansas City Scouts
- List of defunct NHL teams
- New Jersey Devils
- Colorado Rockies
- List of NHL seasons
