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Migration West. Fans loved the new game—those who had a chance to see it. At its best, in the N.H.L., it was still played in only six cities, the southernmost of which was New York, the westernmost Chicago. And just try to find a ticket. Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens (capacity: 15,591) has not had a single unsold seat for an N.H.L. game since 1946. In Montreal, scalpers demand—and get—as much as $30 for a pair of $5 tickets to Canadiens' home games. Despite six cellar finishes in seven years, the Boston Bruins consistently outdraw pro basketball's nine-time World Champion Boston Celtics.
With all that money rolling in (the Toronto Maple Leafs alone have turned a profit of $6,000,000 over the past six years), the N.H.L. was in no particular hurry to chance the risks of expansion. That attitude hardly pleased hockey-hungry Western fans, who had got a taste of the game with minor-league teams and now wanted to see some big-league action; it also did nothing for the morale of up-and-coming young players, hundreds of whom languished in the minors, waiting for somebody to retire or be sent down so they could get their crack at the N.H.L. Finally, the league owners relented, and this year there are not one, not two, but six new franchises—doubling the size of the majors in a single stroke.
Cynics talked sourly of impending catastrophe. The expanded league, they insisted, was too big, financially shaky (think of all those extra travel bills), badly unbalanced in the quality of play. Stocked with castoffs, minor leaguers and even non-Canadians (four Americans, one Scot, one Pole), the new West Division teams in St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Los Angeles and Oakland could hardly be expected to furnish much competition for the established East Division clubs. And when they were slaughtered by scores of say 15-0, who would come out to see them play? Auditoriums would empty, franchises would fold, and the N.H.L. would be the laughingstock of U.S. pro sports.
No one is laughing now. Quality? In the last 34 games between East and West, the East has won 17, the West has won 13, and four have ended in ties. Finances? Four weeks ago in Pittsburgh, 12,563 fans turned out to watch the fledgling Penguins tie the old Toronto Maple Leafs 3-3—although the seating capacity at Civic Arena is only 12,507. The Philadelphia Flyers have been averaging 9,000 paid admissions per game; General Manager Bud Poile beams happily: "This game has really arrived in Philadelphia. The fans have started to boo us and the refs." In St. Louis, Blues Vice President Sid Salomon III says: "We were prepared to wait three years before making any money—but we stand a good chance this first season." In Bloomington, Minn., the North Stars play their home games in a brand-new, 14,400-seat auditorium, dress in a carpeted locker room that is equipped with a sauna bath and pool table. The Los Angeles Kings are drawing 7,600 paving customers per game, and the only expansion club that is experiencing any real financial woe is the Oakland Seals. The Seals discovered the cure for that last week, when those 12,025 fans turned out to welcome Bobby Hull to town. "I wish," sighed General Manager Frank Selke Jr., "that we had him all the time."