January 1st 1976 - Cincinnati Enquirer Article

CINCINNATI ENQUIRER

Thursday, January 1st 1976

By David Fuselier

Stingers' Hoganson Hopes Hartford Gets The Word

Paul Hoganson still bears a bump on his forehead, as a symbol of defeat and triumph, and points to it proudly. It was there the concussion began, and even though he is well now, the shock waves are still rippling outward in ever widening circles. He hopes some day they reach as far as Hartford Conn., to shake everyone there who rejected him. Paul Hoganson grins. "I guess I'm pretty bitter," he says.

Paul Hoganson As goalie for the Stingers Hoganson has given up a total of three points in 166 minutes. That's a goals-against average of 1.08 an impossible figure to maintain over any period of time, but an appropriate punctuation for what he is trying to say. "I can play in this league," he declares. "There's no doubt in my mind." He says this for the benefit of those who tried to send him to the minors. He hopes they hear this in Hartford.

Hartford is where Hoganson started the season, playing for the New England Whalers. He was No. 1 there. "I had I felt a very good training camp," he explains. "I felt good about being there. Then in the first game I got hit in the head." He points to the lump. "I had a concussion. I missed about a month. While I was out, their two other guys were doing pretty well. They couldn't keep well. They couldn't keep three. On the second day after I got back, they told me they were sending me to the minors."

Hoganson almost chokes over this part of the story. "I knew I was good enough to play in the WHA," he fumes. "I told them I wouldn't go. They told me I'd be suspended if I didn't report. So I asked them to give me my release and I'd find my own job. Finally they did. "Immediately his lawyer was contacted by Jerry Rafter, Stingers' player personnel director. Hoganson was signed.

By the time he arrived in Cincinnati, fellow goal tender John Kiely was hot, and still is, so Hoganson sat. "That's all right, though," he says. "I'd been off the ice a long time. I needed to get myself back in shape." He got his first start with Cincinnati barely a week ago - to be exact, 166 playing minutes ago. You know the rest. "I', bitter about the way things worked out with New England." he says again. "I had earned the job. I didn't think they treated me fairly and I was discouraged. So I feel good about the way I'm playing here. I'm waiting for the next time we play New England."

There is a problem in all this, a happy problem for coach Terry Slater. He now has to pick between two reliable goal tenders for each game, the opposite of his earlier troubles. "I feel comfortable with both," Slater says, "But I'm going to go with 'Hogie' for awhile. You have to respect him. He wouldn't let himself be sent to the minors. he cut himself loose instead and there's some risk in that. And he had the bad injury. But he's come back and now he's got the hot hand. You have to go with a guy like that."

* * *

Speaking of Slater, the Stingers' coach was upset Wednesday about remarks made by Indiana Racers general manager Jim Browitt. The fury surrounding last Sundays game between the two division rivals may never end it seems. The game was marred by two fights between Stinger Pierre Guite and Racer Kim Clackson. Both benches emptied onto the ice for one of them. Browitt charged that Guite his Clackson with the end of his stick and that Slater has a history of building especially "physical" team.

"Clackson leads the league with 220 minutes in penalties," Slater points out. "That's more than anyone had all last season. He's just going after everyone and one of these days he;s going to run into the wrong guy. I never said we were going after him. He might get it in Denver or Houston. But someone like Clackson is going to fight one guy too many. It's ridiculous to paint him as a fine little hockey player who everyone pushes around. He;s going for the penalty record. He wants his name in the books."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Thursday, January 1st 1975

Estimated Stingers Loss: $400,000.00

TORONTO (AP) - The Toronto Globe and Mall says 10 of the 14 teams in the World Hockey Association will incur losses adding up to $7.25 million this season. The newspaper says the Toronto Toros will be the bug losers, dropping more than $2 million if their attendance maintains its present average of 6,600. The Toros must average 10,000 to break even. Seven of the 26 NHL teams will be in the red, including the Detroit Red Wings, one of the six pre-expansion teams, according to the newspaper. It said losses for those seven teams will total $4.4 million. The losses forecast by the newspaper.

NHL - California Golden Seals, $1 million: Kansas City Scouts, Washington Capitals and Minnesota North Stars, $750,000 each: Pittsburgh Penguins, $500,000; Atlanta Flames, $400,000; Detroit, $ 250,000.

WHA - Toronto, $2 million; Denver Spurs and San Diego Mariners, $1 million each; Cleveland Crusaders, $750,000; Phoenix Roadrunners, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Cowboys $500,000 each; Minnesota Fighting Saints and Cincinnati Stingers, $400,000 each; Indianapolis Racers, $200,000.

NHL president Clarence Campbell said in Montreal he wasn't going to comment on conjecture. "The Globe and Mall doesn't know what it's talking about." Neither Ben Haskin, the WHA's chief executive, Nor Bud Poile, vice president in charge of hockey operations, was available for comment. They both are in California, apparently to check further with the San Diego Mariners franchise.

A spokesman at the WHA's head office said he has no idea where the newspaper got its figures because the only two WHA officials allowed to discuss the subject - Hatskin and Poile - have been traveling since before Christmas. Cincinnati, a WHA expansion team, has indicated it expects to lose money at least two seasons. The other expansion club, Denver, admits it is in serious financial trouble.

Fighting Saints Fail To Meet WHA Payroll

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association failed to meet their $140,000 semi-monthly payroll Wednesday. But the club avoided folding when its players voted to keep playing without pay while attempts to raise new funds continued. The Fighting Saints, who have lost $4.9 million in the last three years, had to borrow $200,000 to meet the two previous payrolls. This time, they were unable to produce the needed funds and would have folded without the agreement of their players to forego pay and keep playing.

Team captain Ted Hampson, appearing at a news conference here said, "We believe in the potential of this franchise and would like to grow with the team and the community. We expect to be here for the rest of this year.....or as long as it takes. Therefore, in spite of the fact that we did not receive our paychecks today, and don;t know the prospect of future pay, we intend to continue playing as we work out our financial problems," he said.

Spurs Hit With $47,000 Lien

DENVER (UPI) - The city sales tax office has filed a $47,000 tax lien against the Denver Spurs of the World Hockey Association. The lien coincided with a report from the city auditor's office which showed the team owed more than $48,000 in taxes. The audit, released late Tuesday, covered the Spurs operations through November 30th. At that time, the audit showed the team owed $80,275. Since then, however, the Spurs have paid $31,500, leaving a balance of $48,775

1975-76 WHA Finals Standings

WHA East
	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
-
New England Whalers	17	16	3	37	110	105
Cincinnati Stingers	16	19	1	33	140	161
Indianapolis Racers	14	18	2	30	103	109
Cleveland Crusaders	12	20	2	26	108	123
-
-
WHA Canadian
-
Quebec Nordiques	24	14	2	50	178	159
Winnipeg Jets	25	14	0	50	157	110
Calgary Cowboys	20	14	2	42	148	121
Edmonton Oilers	15	24	2	32	141	173
Toronto Toros	12	22	3	27	155	182
-
WHA West
-
Houston Aeros	21	13	0	42	138	119
San Diego Mariners	16	14	4	36	133	113
Minnesota Fighting Saints	16	13	3	35	105	109
Phoenix Roadrunners	15	15	3	33	117	117
Denver Spurs	13	20	1	27	110	142
-