Philadelphia Blazers

The Philadelphia Blazers are a defunct professional team that existed for one single season in the World Hockey Association. Founded in 1972, the team was moved to Vancouver after the 1972-73 WHA season to become the Vancouver Blazers.
==History==
In June 1972, Bernard Brown and James Cooper were granted the rights to the Miami Screaming Eagles along with the players (namely Bernie Parent) that were under contract with the team, from Herb Martin, previous owner. 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.
==Season-by-season Record==
Blazers' season-by-season record	Blazers' season-by-season record	Blazers' season-by-season record	Blazers' season-by-season record	Blazers' season-by-season record	Blazers' season-by-season record	Blazers' season-by-season record	Blazers' season-by-season record	Blazers' season-by-season record	Blazers' season-by-season record	Blazers' season-by-season record	Blazers' season-by-season record
Season 	Team Name 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	PTS 	GF 	GA 	PIM 	Finish 	Playoffs
1972–73 	Philadelphia Blazers 	78 	38 	40 	0 	76 	288 	305 	1260 	3rd, Eastern 	Lost Quarterfinals (Cleveland)
==All-time Scoring Leaders==
Blazers' all-time scoring leaders	Blazers' all-time scoring leaders	Blazers' all-time scoring leaders	Blazers' all-time scoring leaders	Blazers' all-time scoring leaders	Blazers' all-time scoring leaders	Blazers' all-time scoring leaders
Player 	POS 	GP 	G 	A 	Pts 	
André Lacroix 	C 	78 	50 	74 	124 	
Danny Lawson 	RW 	78 	61 	45 	106 	
John McKenzie 	RW 	60 	28 	50 	78 	
Bryan Campbell 	C 	75 	25 	48 	73 	
Don Herriman 	LW 	78 	24 	48 	72 	
Ron Plumb 	D 	78 	10 	41 	51 	
Don Burgess 	LW 	74 	20 	22 	42 	
Don O'Donoghue 	F 	74 	16 	23 	39 	
Irv Spencer 	D 	54 	2 	27 	29 	
Jim Cardiff 	D 	78 	3 	24 	27 	
==Gallery==
1972-Oct12-Green-Sanderson faceoff.jpg|Ceremonial face-off between former Boston Bruins teammates Ted Green and Derek Sanderson at the Whalers first game, October 12, 1972.
1972-Oct12-Williams scores Parent.jpg|Tom Williams scores on Bernie Parent, October 12, 1972.
1972-Oct12-Pleau Parent.jpg|Larry Pleau scores the winner in the first WHA game for the Whalers and Blazers, October 12, 1972.
1973-Harrison-Mosdell-Parent.jpg|Jim Harrison, Wayne Mosdell, Bernie Parent in 1972-73 season action.
BParentBlazers.jpg|Goalie Bernie Parent.
Category:American ice hockey teams
Category:Established in 1972
Category:Disestablished in 1973
Category:World Hockey Association team
Category:Philadelphia Blazers