Read a Book, Buy Some Cards

Throughout the years, I've occasionally read a book about sports—be it a biography of a specific player, story about a legendary sporting event, or summary of a certain time period in the game.

This past year, one of those books documented an entire league. The title?

The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association

If you're not much of a hockey fan, you'll get a micro-summary from the title alone. The WHA was a professional hockey league that existed for only a few short and unstable years in the 1970s, but still made quite a bit of noise and provided the NHL with some angst.

The "rebel league" managed to poach some big-time NHLers (like Bobby Hull), and also controversially signed quite a few teenage phenoms (like Wayne Gretzky). Their teams started up, dissolved, merged, moved cities, and caused all sorts of legal knots and other general ruckus. It seems like the only stable thing about the league was its instability.

But were there some bright spots?

Oh, absolutely.

The team names were fantastic. Houston Aeros. Minnesota Fighting Saints. Cleveland Crusaders. Cincinnati Stingers.

And the stories? Memorable. 

For a time, the Aeros had brothers Mark and Marty Howe in their lineup—as well as their father, Gordie!

And the Winnipeg Jets found a couple of Swedish stars to play with their big man, Bobby Hull.

Ulf Nilsson (center) and Anders Hedberg (right wing) were those Swedes, and together with Hull formed what was known as the "Hot Line".

Now, before I started reading the book, I knew the names Nilsson and Hedberg from the few years they spent in the NHL during the 1980s. But I didn't know they put in so much WHA time before that. I also didn't know how incredibly talented they were, or how dominant the Hot Line was in the mid-to late-1970s.

 

There they are on their 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee WHA cards. Pretty snazzy, don't you think?

So let's talk about just how good those three guys actually were. We'll take 1974-75, their very first WHA season together as a forward line.

Hull led the league in goals (77) and power-play goals (27). Hedberg was nominated Rookie of the Year, based on the merit of his 53 goals and 47 assists. Nilsson had a fantastic year as well, putting up 26 goals and 94 assists. And the heat would continue over the next few seasons, when the two Swedes really came into their own. Hedberg led the league in goals for the 1976-77 season (70), while Nilsson led in assists (85). Ultimately, the Jets would win the Avco Cup in 1975-76 and 1977-78, thanks in large part to the Hot Line. 

They were so hot, in fact, that some folks in the hockey world were wondering how the WHA team would do against the NHL's equivalent at the time: the Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal won the Stanley cup six times in the 1970s, and one of their forward lines also had an appropriate nickname: The Dynasty Line.

Here they are on their 1976-77 Topps cards.

 

 

That season, Shutt led the league in goals (60), Lafleur led the league in assists (80) and points (136), and Lemaire was a point-per-game player who balanced out the line by providing solid defensive play. 

Well, the discussion on how the two lines (and two teams) would fare against each other in a game kept on going until after the finish of the 1977-78 season. That's when the WHA actually proposed the idea!

The NHL declined, but there's plenty of evidence to suggest that it would have been a great match. To provide one example, the book mentions how the Canadiens and Jets both faced off against those unstoppable Russian Red Army teams of the era. In 1975, the Canadiens managed a 3-3 tie. In 1978, the Jets defeated the Soviets by a score of 5-3. The Hot Line provided all the offense, and at the same time completely shut down the top Soviet forward line. 

That story—and most of the book—impressed me enough to purchase those three WHA cards you see above. If you're a fan of hockey, and hockey history, I recommend giving The Rebel League a read.

And that leads me to a question for you readers and collectors:

Have you ever read a sports book that inspired you to make a card purchase?

If so, share in the comment section.

Thanks for reading!