Cowboys / Blazers The Blazers / Cowboys were a franchise in the World Hockey Association ( WHA ) from 1972 – 1977 . Originally in 1972 , the franchise was to be based out of Miami , Florida , called the Miami Screaming Eagles . But due to money problems and a lack of a suitable arena , they never played a game in Miami . Instead , they moved to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania and debuted as the Philadelphia Blazers the same year . After only one season in Philadelphia , the team relocated to Vancouver , British Columbia and became the Vancouver Blazers in 1973 – 74 , then two years later relocated to Calgary , Alberta as the Calgary Cowboys in 1975 – 76 . Two years later , the franchise folded . History . Miami Screaming Eagles . The Miami Screaming Eagles were a charter franchise in the World Hockey Association , and the team was a major part of the WHA ' s master plan to place teams in areas without a National Hockey League ( NHL ) team . Herb Martin , the owner of the Eagles , knew that he needed to boost interest in the newly formed WHA and in the Miami area if his team was to successfully compete against the NHL . He believed he could do this by luring major stars away from the NHL with huge contract offers . The Eagles thus became the first WHA team to sign a notable NHL player when they inked Toronto Maple Leaf goaltender Bernie Parent . The Screaming Eagles also pursued Derek Sanderson of the Boston Bruins , but before they were able to sign him , the team – citing money difficulties and a lack of a suitable arena – withdrew from the league on April 28 , 1972 . The Screaming Eagles are arguably the most famous major professional sports team never to actually play , and its projected jerseys sell in replica format along with those of actual WHA teams . Some have speculated that their relative notoriety stems from being the first WHA club to sign a major NHL star – Parent – others on the audacity of attempting to establish a major league hockey team so far south , when at the time the NHL had no teams further south than Los Angeles , and no teams , nor any plans to form teams , in the southeastern U . S . Philadelphia Blazers . In June 1972 , [ Bernard Brown and James Cooper were granted the rights to the Miami Screaming Eagles along with the players ( namely Parent ) that were under contract with the team , from Herb Martin . Brown and Cooper then relocated to Philadelphia and renamed the team the Philadelphia Blazers . Shortly after the relocation to Philadelphia , they came to contract terms with Derek Sanderson , signing him for $ 2 . 6 million over 5 years , at the time the highest salary ever paid to a professional sports player . The signing caused a great deal of publicity , but controversy as well , as many hockey pundits asserted that Sanderson was nowhere near enough of a preeminent star to warrant such a payout . The Blazers had high hopes going into the inaugural WHA season with such stars as Parent , Sanderson , and fellow ex - Bruin John McKenzie , who was named the team ' s player - coach . But their hopes were soon dashed as McKenzie suffered an injury in a pre - season game and Parent and Sanderson also suffered from injuries . The team ' s first home game was also a disaster . The Zamboni malfunctioned and took a chunk of ice out of the playing surface , forcing the game to be rescheduled . The team started out with a 1 - 6 record ( after which McKenzie was replaced as coach by Phil Watson ) . Philadelphia went on to drop a scarcely better 10 of their next 13 games , by which time Parent and McKenzie returned . By that point Sanderson was long gone . After only eight games ( scoring three goals and three assists ) in Philadelphia and considerable controversy , the owners paid Sanderson one million dollars to void his contract ; he promptly returned to the Bruins to finish out the season . Despite a rough early season , things actually improved for the Blazers towards the end . Ex - Philadelphia Flyer Andre Lacroix led the league in scoring , and ex - Buffalo Sabre Danny Lawson scored 61 goals ; they would prove over the years to be two of the WHA ' s brightest stars , and Lacroix eventually was the league ' s all - time leading career scorer . Coupled with Bernie Parent ' s goaltending , the team made the playoffs with a record of 38 wins and 40 losses . However , a discontented Parent left the team during the playoffs and the Blazers were swept in four by the Cleveland Crusaders . After the season ended , owners Brown and Cooper sold the team to Jim Pattison and he promptly moved the team north of the border to Vancouver , British Columbia . The team was renamed the Vancouver Blazers . Vancouver Blazers . Pattison knew that in order to compete with the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL , who happened to share the same arena , he needed to attract a major super - star to the team as Lacroix , who had lead the league in scoring the previous year , left for the New York Golden Blades of the WHA . Pattison tried , to no avail , to sign NHL star Phil Esposito offering him $ 2 . 5 million over 5 years . Esposito decided to stay with the Bruins for less money . The team performed horribly in their first year with a dismal record of 27 - 50 - 1 . The next season , 1974 – 75 , brought back some respectability to the team as they finished only two games below . 500 . But that wasn ' t enough to keep the team in Vancouver . After only two seasons in Vancouver , the team once again packed up their bags and moved to Calgary , Alberta , and were renamed the Calgary Cowboys . The Cowboys would be the second WHA team to attempt Calgary as the Calgary Broncos were slated to start playing there for the inaugural WHA season . The Broncos , though , never actually played a game before folding . Calgary Cowboys . The first season in Calgary netted them a 41 - 35 - 4 record . During a match in the playoffs , between the Cowboys and the Quebec Nordiques , Cowboy forward Rick Jodzio attacked Nordiques superstar Marc Tardif . This attack provoked a bench clearing brawl and proved one of the more infamous attacks in professional hockey history ; Tardif suffered major head injuries and missed the remainder of the playoffs . In one of the first cases of its kind in hockey history , Jodzio later pled guilty to the attack in a court of law , and was fined and suspended . Without Tardif to lead Quebec , Calgary was able to beat the Nordiques in five games , but were themselves stopped in the second round by the Winnipeg Jets . Attendance was poor in the second season , leading to rumors of a move to Ottawa , but because of past problems with WHA teams in Ottawa , the Cowboys decided to stay in Calgary . This second season in Calgary would be the last season and it was a tumultuous one as well . In one infamous game , as a protest against a disputed call , Calgary ' s coach , Joe Crozier , dumped the team ' s spare hockey sticks onto the ice . The team also missed the playoffs with a dismal 31 - 43 - 7 record . Because a satisfactory number of season tickets weren ' t sold by May 31 , 1977 , management elected to abandon the franchise . It wouldn ' t take long for Calgary to be granted its next professional hockey team . For the 1980 – 81 NHL season , the Atlanta Flames of the NHL moved to Calgary and became the Calgary Flames . It was the only time in NHL history that an American team has moved north of the border . 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 "