| CALGARY,
Alberta - Tonight the Stingers play what's left of the Screaming Eagles who are flying
lower now under Coach Joe (The Crow) Crozier, and screaming less. Telling the story of
this ill-fated franchise, which started in a Miami shopping center and ended here in the
Calgary Stampede Rodeo Corral, is enough to put Stinger coach Terry Slater in an all day
good mood. "They've sure had their share of growing pains," Slater chorles. It wouldn't be funny, he figures, except that the Eagles, now called the
Cowboys, are on the right track finally. So all those past problems can be looked on with
amusement. "It's a good team with good young talent and they're going to make it
here," he declares. Being the third person the World Hockey Association ever hired -
when he became coach of the Los Angeles team - Slater has been around to watch the funny
happenings from the beginning.
"The Screaming Eagles," he says slowly, savoring the
sound. "That's right, the Screaming Eagles. Do you believe it? A guy down in Miami
got the franchise and said he was building a rink for it to play in...in a shopping
center. He was going to use a race track across the street for parking. Oh Jeez, he had
some great plans. He went right out and signed Bernie Parent, which you know is like
signing Csoka or someone like that. He drafted Derek Sanderson, Bryan Campbell, Andre
Lacroix...Then they picked up John McKenzie. It looked like it was going to be a heck of a
club. Then there was some problems with money," Slater continues. "People
started asking where this team was going to play. The league sent someone down there and
this guy's rink turns out to be nothing but a shell. There's nothing inside it. There
isn't even a roof on it."
"The league decided Miami was no place for an outdoor ice rink,
so the franchise was moved to new ownership in Philadelphia where the name Screaming
Eagles was abandoned, happily, in favor of Blazers. But other problems were not so easily
solved. In accumulating an expensive array of talent, the team had created a fiscal
monster. The payroll was probably about as large as any sports team in history,"
Slater judges.
The team, stayed in Philadelphia just one year, hopelessly draining
two different owners. "Then a guy in Vancouver decided he wanted a team there."
Slater says. "It looked like a good move at the time because the Canucks of the
National League were playing badly and not drawing very well."
In addition, former Cincinnati Swords coach Joe Crozier was brought
in along with his solid reputation. New enthusiasm bubbled. "But wouldn't you know
it," Sighs Slater, "after one year the Canucks start winning like crazy."
Run out of business, the Blazers were sold again (fifth owner in four years) to a Calgary
group and Crozier was ordered to put the team on its feet and in the black. After all, the
corral only seats 8,500 - for rodeos and hockey.
The first demand was not accomplished and the Cowboys are still
defending doormats of the Canadian Division. But Crozier has made great strides in
returning sensibility to the ledger sheet. McKenzie and most of the high priced
heavyweights have been discarded, including Campbell who now centers for the Stingers. in
exchange, the Cowboys have acquired lesser known and cheaper people, but in many cases
people who've played for Crozier before and know his style. Among them are former Swords
Butch Deadmarsh and Hugh Harris. |
