World Hockey Association ( proposed ) The World Hockey Association was a proposed professional hockey league intended to compete with the established National Hockey League during the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout . Noteworthy for instability and failed plans , its organization operated several minor and junior leagues thereafter . History . Seeking to capitalize upon the original World Hockey Association of the 1970s , Allan Howell and Dr . Nick Vaccaro announced in 2003 the formation of a new professional hockey league calling itself the " World Hockey Association . " Original WHA superstar Bobby Hull was named its commissioner . The league was regarded by many as an attempt to fill the void that loomed as the NHL ' s serious labour problems , which led to the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout , became apparent . Most hockey commentators felt that the league ' s best hope was to operate while the NHL players were locked out and try to develop enough of a following to survive once the NHL labour problems were resolved . It was projected that the league would begin operation with teams from Dallas , Detroit , Halifax , Hamilton , Miami , Toronto , Vancouver and Quebec City . Four teams went so far as to acquire nicknames : the Detroit Gladiators ( who planned to play at the Pontiac Silverdome , a venue that had never hosted hockey before ) ; the Dallas Americans ( who introduced Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ed Belfour as goalie / co - owner ) ; the Quebec Nordiks ( a tweaking of the old Quebec Nordiques nickname ) ; and the Halifax IceBreakers . After being pushed back from June 2 , a WHA draft took place on July 18 , 2004 in Niagara Falls , Ontario . Future superstar Sidney Crosby was the first pick ; he turned down the league ' s three - year , $ 7 . 5 million offer . By August , however , things began to unravel : the WHA pulled the Quebec franchise and Toronto , unable to find an arena , dropped out soon afterwards . The Florida - based franchise , apparently headed for Miami , then Jacksonville and finally Orlando , quietly expired . By September , the new WHA was down to four teams and had pushed its debut back to November . By October , Dallas had folded and an announced " restructuring " never took place . In the spring of 2005 , the league announced the " Bobby Hull Invitational Tournament , " for which 50 NHL players had purportedly showed interest . The tournament , scheduled to begin May 20 and award $ 2 million to the winning team , was dropped without comment by the organization and never held . When that and other plans failed to materialize , the rights to the WHA ' s name and logo were sold to Richard Smith , a British Columbia investor . Further plans to operate either a similar Tier II junior league or a professional loop in the Pennsylvania - Midwest area in 2007 - 2008 were dropped without comment by the organization , in addition to financial problems that led to the company ' s stockbroker calling for a legal investigation and subsequently filing a lawsuit against the WHA . The organization operated three now - defunct leagues , two playing a single season each before folding and the third playing two seasons ; the minor - league World Hockey Association 2 and the WHA Super Junior League in Florida , the latter which was abandoned with little to no warning to players and the communities involved . It operated an unsanctioned Tier II developmental league in British Columbia called the WHA Junior West Hockey League between 2006 and 2008 , marked by financial and franchise instabilities that saw the WHA ' s stock price drop to a penny per share . As of September 2009 , the Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended trading in the stock , specifically for " usurp [ ing ] the identity of [ a ] defunct or inactive publicly traded corporation , initially by incorporating new entities using the same name as . . . the defunct [ entity ] " and the league ' s website is no longer active .