Remembering those that were Flames and Cowboys

Way, way back in the 1980s, the Calgary Flames came to town from the scenic climes of Atlanta. But prior to the arrival of the Flames, the World Hockey Association’s Calgary Cowboys spent two seasons in the Stampede Corral.

Five players suited up for both franchises.

First, a small amount of history.

The WHA was a competitor league to the NHL. Founded in 1972, its expansion itself led the NHL to rush to get into markets before the WHA could gain a foothold – the Atlanta Flames were founded in 1972 as part of the NHL’s rush into key American markets.

The WHA wanted to be in Calgary from the beginning, owing to the market’s size and the success of the WHL’s Calgary Wranglers at the gate. The Calgary Broncos were to be one of the first 12 WHA franchises in 1972-73, but their owner died and the team was moved to Cleveland instead. Eventually, the Vancouver Blazers moved to Calgary in 1975 to become the Calgary Cowboys.

The Cowboys played in the Stampede Corral. They drew decently, but the WHA was losing the war against the NHL and it became clear that a merger was in the offing sooner or later. Unfortunately, plans for the Olympic bid and the Olympic Coliseum weren’t very far down field and it was abundantly clear that the Corral wasn’t an NHL caliber building.

Faced with the choice of limping along until the merger, knowing they likely wouldn’t be a part of it, the Cowboys folded following the 1976-77 season. (In a tragic irony, the Olympic bid heated up the following year and the prospect of a new NHL building and a well-heeled ownership group lured the Flames to town from Atlanta a couple years later.)

In a bit of a commentary on the quality of the two leagues, the five players here have two things in common: all of them played for the Atlanta Flames and then the Cowboys, and none of them ever played for the Flames after their relocation to Calgary (or in the NHL after their time with the Cowboys).

Bless him, but Deadmarsh was always kind of a fringe NHLer. Originally a Buffalo draft pick, he was traded to Atlanta and played there briefly before being claimed by Kansas City in their expansion draft. His WHA rights similarly bounced around: he went from Vancouver to Calgary to Minnesota to Calgary to Edmonton to Cincinnati. [Flames: 61 games (1972-74); Cowboys: 117 games (1975-77)]

Leiter was a more prolific NHLer than Deadmarsh. He was one of the original Atlanta Flames and suited up for them for parts of four seasons. His WHA rights went from Winnipeg to Calgary and, when he became a spare part for the Flames, he joined the Cowboys for the back half of the 1975-76 season. [Flames: 234 games (1972-76); Cowboys: 51 games (1975-76)]

A fringe player at best, Mercredi didn’t really stick around either the NHL or WHA for very long. He played a handful of games for Atlanta, then a handful of games for the Cowboys. Then he kept bouncing around minor pro for awhile. [Flames: 2 games (1974-75); Cowboys: 3 games (1975-76]

We’ve profiled Lemieux as one of our One Game Wonders, but here’s the gist of his experience: he played one game for Atlanta after a trade from Kansas City. The next season, he went to the Cowboys where he hung around until the team folded at the end of that season. [Flames: 1 game (1975-76); Cowboys: 33 games (1976-77)]

Not just a guy with a fun name to say – try it! – St. Sauveur was a fairly prolific depth piece on several WHA teams (Vancouver, Philadelphia, Calgary, Edmonton, Indianapolis and Cincinnati) over six seasons. He was basically the WHA’s Mike Sillinger. In-between, he joined Atlanta for a season. He played well but likely didn’t feel there was a ton of opportunity there as the team’s youngsters matured, so he returned to the WHA. He bounced around the minors for a bit, ending his career with Yukijrushi Sapporo of the Japanese league in 1980. [Flames: 79 games (1975-76); Cowboys: 17 games (1976-77)]