1975–76 Cleveland Crusaders season

The 1975–76 Cleveland Crusaders season was the Cleveland Crusaders 4th and final season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Crusaders finished 2nd in the Eastern Division and lost in the Preliminary Round to the New England Whalers 3 games to 0.
==Off-season==
The Crusaders jerseys underwent two minor modifications from those they had worn since the 1972-73 season. First, the sleeve numbers were moved to the shoulder yolks. Second, the three stripes on the arms and body were changed to a single stripe.
==Regular Season==
It was the last season of the franchise in Cleveland, Ohio as they would relocate to Minnesota for the next season.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results 	Regular Season Results
No. 	R 	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	L 	October 11, 1975 	0–1 	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	0–1–0
2 	W 	October 15, 1975 	8–4 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	1–1–0
3 	L 	October 19, 1975 	5–6 	Houston Aeros (1975–76) 	1–2–0
4 	W 	October 25, 1975 	5–2 	Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) 	2–2–0
5 	L 	October 29, 1975 	1–3 	Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) 	2–3–0
6 	W 	October 31, 1975 	6–2 	Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) 	3–3–0
7 	W 	November 2, 1975 	5–2 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	4–3–0
8 	T 	November 4, 1975 	2–2 	@ Denver Spurs (1975–76) 	4–3–1
9 	L 	November 7, 1975 	2–5 	@ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) 	4–4–1
10 	L 	November 9, 1975 	1–4 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) 	4–5–1
11 	W 	November 11, 1975 	3–2 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76) 	5–5–1
12 	L 	November 13, 1975 	1–3 	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	5–6–1
13 	L 	November 15, 1975 	4–5 OT 	@ Denver Spurs (1975–76) 	5–7–1
14 	T 	November 16, 1975 	4–4 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	5–7–2
15 	W 	November 19, 1975 	4–3 OT 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) 	6–7–2
16 	W 	November 22, 1975 	6–3 	Winnipeg Jets (1975–76) 	7–7–2
17 	W 	November 25, 1975 	4–3 OT 	@ Toronto Toros (1975–76) 	8–7–2
18 	L 	November 26, 1975 	0–3 	Denver Spurs (1975–76) 	8–8–2
19 	L 	November 28, 1975 	1–3 	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	8–9–2
20 	W 	November 30, 1975 	10–9 	Toronto Toros (1975–76) 	9–9–2
21 	L 	December 2, 1975 	2–9 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) 	9–10–2
22 	L 	December 3, 1975 	3–5 	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	9–11–2
23 	L 	December 6, 1975 	2–3 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	9–12–2
24 	L 	December 7, 1975 	1–3 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	9–13–2
25 	L 	December 9, 1975 	3–6 	@ Denver Spurs (1975–76) 	9–14–2
26 	W 	December 12, 1975 	1–0 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) 	10–14–2
27 	L 	December 13, 1975 	4–5 	@ New England Whalers (1975–76) 	10–15–2
28 	L 	December 14, 1975 	3–4 	Houston Aeros (1975–76) 	10–16–2
29 	L 	December 17, 1975 	2–3 	Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) 	10–17–2
30 	L 	December 19, 1975 	4–5 OT 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	10–18–2
31 	W 	December 20, 1975 	5–3 	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	11–18–2
32 	L 	December 22, 1975 	1–4 	New England Whalers (1975–76) 	11–19–2
33 	W 	December 27, 1975 	5–0 	Toronto Toros (1975–76) 	12–19–2
34 	L 	December 28, 1975 	0–4 	@ New England Whalers (1975–76) 	12–20–2
35 	W 	January 2, 1976 	5–4 OT 	Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) 	13–20–2
36 	L 	January 3, 1976 	2–3 	@ New England Whalers (1975–76) 	13–21–2
37 	W 	January 4, 1976 	3–2 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	14–21–2
38 	W 	January 7, 1976 	8–3 	San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	15–21–2
39 	L 	January 9, 1976 	5–6 	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76) 	15–22–2
40 	W 	January 11, 1976 	4–3 	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	16–22–2
41 	W 	January 15, 1976 	3–1 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	17–22–2
42 	W 	January 16, 1976 	4–3 	New England Whalers (1975–76) 	18–22–2
43 	L 	January 17, 1976 	4–5 	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	18–23–2
44 	L 	January 21, 1976 	2–8 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	18–24–2
45 	T 	January 23, 1976 	2–2 	New England Whalers (1975–76) 	18–24–3
46 	L 	January 25, 1976 	2–4 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	18–25–3
47 	W 	January 28, 1976 	6–4 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	19–25–3
48 	T 	January 30, 1976 	4–4 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	19–25–4
49 	W 	February 1, 1976 	6–5 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	20–25–4
50 	L 	February 4, 1976 	1–5 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	20–26–4
51 	L 	February 5, 1976 	2–3 	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	20–27–4
52 	T 	February 7, 1976 	4–4 	Winnipeg Jets (1975–76) 	20–27–5
53 	W 	February 8, 1976 	6–1 	@ New England Whalers (1975–76) 	21–27–5
54 	W 	February 11, 1976 	4–2 	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	22–27–5
55 	L 	February 15, 1976 	2–3 	New England Whalers (1975–76) 	22–28–5
56 	W 	February 18, 1976 	4–0 	Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) 	23–28–5
57 	L 	February 19, 1976 	3–5 	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76) 	23–29–5
58 	W 	February 21, 1976 	3–2 	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	24–29–5
59 	W 	February 22, 1976 	2–1 	Houston Aeros (1975–76) 	25–29–5
60 	L 	February 25, 1976 	2–5 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76) 	25–30–5
61 	L 	February 27, 1976 	4–5 	@ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) 	25–31–5
62 	W 	February 29, 1976 	5–2 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) 	26–31–5
63 	L 	March 3, 1976 	3–4 OT 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	26–32–5
64 	W 	March 6, 1976 	5–4 	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76) 	27–32–5
65 	W 	March 7, 1976 	5–1 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	28–32–5
66 	W 	March 10, 1976 	5–2 	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	29–32–5
67 	L 	March 12, 1976 	2–8 	@ New England Whalers (1975–76) 	29–33–5
68 	L 	March 14, 1976 	2–3 OT 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	29–34–5
69 	L 	March 16, 1976 	0–6 	@ Toronto Toros (1975–76) 	29–35–5
70 	W 	March 19, 1976 	6–5 OT 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	30–35–5
71 	L 	March 20, 1976 	5–6 	Toronto Toros (1975–76) 	30–36–5
72 	W 	March 21, 1976 	4–1 	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	31–36–5
73 	W 	March 23, 1976 	3–1 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) 	32–36–5
74 	L 	March 24, 1976 	2–3 	Houston Aeros (1975–76) 	32–37–5
75 	L 	March 26, 1976 	2–3 	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	32–38–5
76 	W 	March 31, 1976 	5–1 	New England Whalers (1975–76) 	33–38–5
77 	L 	April 2, 1976 	2–5 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	33–39–5
78 	W 	April 3, 1976 	4–2 	San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	34–39–5
79 	W 	April 4, 1976 	6–3 	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	35–39–5
80 	L 	April 6, 1976 	2–3 OT 	San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	35–40–5
==Playoffs==
===New England Whalers 3, Cleveland Crusaders 0===
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	April 9 	Cleveland Crusaders	3–5 	New England Whalers	0–1
2	April 10	New England Whalers	6–1 	Cleveland Crusaders	0–2
3	April 11	New England Whalers	3–2 	Cleveland Crusaders	0–3
==Player Stats==
Regular Season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
# 	Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
24 	 	C 	75	32	50	82 	24 	14 	11 	2 	2
15 	 	C 	59	34	38	72 	62 	4 	9 	2 	5
22 	 	C 	79	36	22	58 	76 	7 	8 	2 	6
7 	 	LW 	79	21	30	51 	118	-8 	8 	3 	2
23 	 	LW 	80	26	24	50 	72 	9 	5 	0 	4
3 	 	D 	70	6 	44	50 	101	16 	4 	1 	2
14 	 	RW 	80	23	22	45 	19 	1 	4 	0 	1
28 	 	RW 	72	23	15	38 	122	-7 	5 	0 	2
18 	 	D 	80	7 	28	35 	62 	15 	3 	0 	0
12 	 	LW 	69	16	17	33 	22 	-4 	1 	0 	1
17 	 	LW 	79	12	21	33 	43 	-3 	0 	0 	3
9 	 	RW 	65	7 	14	21 	0 	-8 	2 	0 	0
26 	 	D 	73	3 	14	17 	177	-13	0 	0 	1
21 	 	D 	23	2 	15	17 	18 	-21	2 	0 	0
2 	 	D 	68	3 	10	13 	44 	-8 	1 	0 	1
10 	 	LW 	33	4 	7 	11 	33 	10 	1 	0 	1
17 	 	C 	42	2 	9 	11 	15 	-2 	0 	0 	0
4 	 	D 	67	3 	7 	10 	201	-7 	1 	0 	1
8 	 	D 	44	1 	8 	9 	28 	-7 	0 	0 	0
16 	 	C 	35	5 	3 	8 	6 	-16	4 	0 	2
 	 	C 	12	5 	2 	7 	4 	-1 	3 	0 	1
6 	 	D 	35	0 	7 	7 	22 	-8 	0 	0 	0
27 	 	RW 	40	1 	5 	6 	32 	-15	0 	0 	0
5 	 	D 	27	0 	5 	5 	12 	-7 	0 	0 	0
20 	 	RW 	15	1 	2 	3 	6 	-1 	0 	1 	0
 	 	LW 	4 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
35 	 	G 	15	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
29 	 	D 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	 	G 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
31 	 	G 	18	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
1 	 	G 	21	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
30 	 	G 	28	0 	0 	0 	15 	0 	0 	0 	0
Playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	C 	3 	2	1	3 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	3 	0	3	3 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	3 	2	0	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	2	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	3 	0	2	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	3 	1	0	1 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	3 	1	0	1 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	3 	0	1	1 	9 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	1	1 	12 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	2 	0	1	1 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	1 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	0	0 	10 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	3 	0	0	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	0	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	3 	0	0	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	3 	0	0	0 	18 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	1 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	2 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts 
==Awards and Records==
*Dennis A. Murphy Trophy (Best Defenseman): Paul Shmyr
*Paul Shmyr, Defense, WHA First Team All-Star
==Transactions==
==Draft Picks==
==Farm Teams==
*Syracuse Blazers, NAHL
==Gallery==
1975-Dec9-Bowles-Liddington-Whidden.jpg|Brian Bowles, Bob Liddington, Bob Whidden, December 9, 1975.
1976-Mar6-Howe-Newton-Ruskowski.jpg|Gordie Howe, Jim Harrison, Cam Newton, Terry Ruskowski, March 6, 1976.
==See Also==
*1975–76 WHA season
==References==
Cleveland Crusaders season, 1975–76
Cleveland Crusaders season, 1975–76
category:Cleveland Crusaders seasons