Indianapolis Racers
The Indianapolis Racers were a franchise in the former World Hockey Association. They competed for five seasons, folding after 25 games in the 1978-79 season. They played at Market Square Arena. They are best-known for being the first professional team to secure the services of the player often considered hockey's all-time greatest player, Wayne Gretzky. The presence of the young Gretzky helped to force the merger with the NHL for the 1979-80 season, including four WHA teams. At the beginning of the final season of the WHA, 7 teams remained with the Racers being one of them. After selling Gretzky after only 8 games to the Edmonton Oilers (also of the WHA), the Racers bowed out 17 games later. The other six teams finished the season, but after the Winnipeg Jets won the Avco World Trophy, the league agreed on a merger with the NHL. The four best teams, the Edmonton Oilers (the only one of the former WHA teams still located in the city they represented whilst in the WHA), Winnipeg Jets (now the Phoenix Coyotes), New England Whalers (now the Carolina Hurricanes), and Quebec Nordiques (now the Colorado Avalanche), merged with the National Hockey League while the other teams, the Cincinnati Stingers and Birmingham Bulls were paid large sums of cash to fold.
Mark Messier also began his career with the Racers in the 1978-79 season, playing five games and failing to register a point before being released. He was picked up by the Stingers for the remainder of the season, before being selected by the Oilers in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. Unlike Gretzky, Messier's time in the WHA was not indicative of his future NHL success. Messier retired in 2005 as the last active player to have played in the WHA, and thus the last active player to have played for the Racers.
While the NHL accepted four WHA teams into its fold, the WHA's records were not accepted by the NHL. Resultantly, Gretzky's official records, as amazing as they are, in fact somewhat understate his accomplishments. (see www.whaRACERS.com for complete franchise details)
See also
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