San Diego Mariners

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San Diego Mariners
founding 1st November 1973
resolution 1977
history New York Raiders
1972 - 1973
New York Golden Blades
1973
Jersey Knights
1973 - 1974
San Diego Mariners
1974 - 1977
Stadion San Diego Sports Arena
Location San Diego , California
Team colors blue red
Avco World Trophies no
Division title no

The San Diego Mariners were an ice hockey team from San Diego , California that was active in the North American World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1974 to 1977 . The team was originally founded in New York . The last stop before San Diego was New Jersey, where the team played as Jersey Knights .

history

Joseph Schwarz had bought the Jersey Knights on January 3, 1974, which was owned by the WHA. After the 1973/74 season , the team was relocated to San Diego. Here, the San Diego Sports Arena was a hall that offered 13,039 spectators. They started the 1974/75 season as the San Diego Mariners . After many years of uncertainty in New York, the team now benefited from the calm environment. André Lacroix , who was the team's top scorer even before moving to California, topped the WHA scorer list with 147 points. In the Western Division they finished second behind last year's champions, the Houston Eros . In the playoffs, the team reached the semi-finals by beating the Toronto Toros , where Houston proved to be an insurmountable opponent.

The 1975/76 season was not as good as the previous year. It was mainly thanks to the very strong goalkeeper Ernie Wakely that they qualified again for the playoffs. Again the Mariners reached the semifinals and again Houston was the final destination. During the season, the owner, Joseph Schwarz, went bankrupt. The team was temporarily without an owner and the wages were not paid. The crisis ended when Ray Kroc , the founder of McDonald’s , who also owned the San Diego Padres , bought the team.

After calm returned to the club, the 1976/77 season was again successfully contested. Lacroix was among the top scorers again and Wakely gave the team the necessary support. So you got into the playoffs in the third year in San Diego. This time they lost just under seven games against the Winnipeg Jets in the first round .

An average of over 6,000 spectators, which they had consistently achieved over the past three years, was not enough for Kroc. He wanted to sell his franchise in the summer of 1977. A group that had taken over the team wanted Melbourne , Florida, as their new location. When that failed, the franchise was dissolved in the summer of 1977.

Team records

Surname number
Most games André Lacroix 239 (in three seasons)
Most goals Norm Ferguson 112
Most templates André Lacroix 260
Most of the points André Lacroix 362 (102 goals + 260 assists)
Most penalty minutes Kevin Morrison 267
Most games by a goalkeeper Ernie Wakely 148
Most wins by a goalkeeper Ernie Wakely 77
Most shutouts Ernie Wakely 8th

Known players

Web links