Minnesota Fighting Saints
An original WHA franchise, the Minnesota Fighting Saints started play at the St. Paul Auditorium for the 1972-73 season. The team ingratiated itself to Minnesota by trying to field a team with as many American and Minnesotan players as possible, unusual at the time for WHA or NHL teams. In their first season 10 of the 24 players to play for the Saints were Americans.
The team was always successful on the ice, winning 38, 44, and 42 games out of 78 in each of their first three seasons. They also made the playoffs all three times, although they were never able to get past the second round. For the 1975-76 season, the team's fourth, they signed up future Hall of Famer Dave Keon, who would notch 64 points in 57 games. However, the team wasn't a financial success and would fold midway through that season.
Prior to the 1976-77 season, the Cleveland Crusaders bolted from Ohio when they learned that the NHL would be relocating to CLE. The Crusaders picked up and moved north to Minnesota and became the second coming of the Fighting Saints. However, this new Saints franchise didn't adopt the traditional blue, white, and gold colors of the original. This new one swapped out blue for red. The New Fighting Saints wouldn't last either, as they would fold 42 games into the 76-77 campaign.
