1975–76 Cleveland Crusaders season

The 1975–76 Cleveland Crusaders season was the Cleveland Crusaders' fourth season of operation in the World Hockey Association. It was the last season of the franchise in Cleveland, Ohio. It would relocate to Minnesota for the next season.

Regular season

Final standings

Schedule and results

|1||L||October 11, 1975||0–1 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) ||0–1–0

|2||W||October 15, 1975||8–4 || align="left"| @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) ||1–1–0

|3||L||October 19, 1975||5–6 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1975–76) ||1–2–0

|4||W||October 25, 1975||5–2 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) ||2–2–0

|5||L||October 29, 1975||1–3 || align="left"| Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) ||2–3–0

|6||W||October 31, 1975||6–2 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) ||3–3–0

|7||W||November 2, 1975||5–2 || align="left"| Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) ||4–3–0

|8||T||November 4, 1975||2–2 || align="left"| @ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76) ||4–3–1

|9||L||November 7, 1975||2–5 || align="left"| @ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) ||4–4–1

|10||L||November 9, 1975||1–4 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) ||4–5–1

|11||W||November 11, 1975||3–2 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76) ||5–5–1

|12||L||November 13, 1975||1–3 || align="left"| @ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) ||5–6–1

|13||L||November 15, 1975||4–5 OT|| align="left"| @ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76) ||5–7–1

|14||T||November 16, 1975||4–4 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) ||5–7–2

|15||W||November 19, 1975||4–3 OT|| align="left"| Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) ||6–7–2

|16||W||November 22, 1975||6–3 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1975–76) ||7–7–2

|17||W||November 25, 1975||4–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Toronto Toros (1975–76) ||8–7–2

|18||L||November 26, 1975||0–3 || align="left"| Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76) ||8–8–2

|19||L||November 28, 1975||1–3 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) ||8–9–2

|20||W||November 30, 1975||10–9 || align="left"| Toronto Toros (1975–76) ||9–9–2

|21||L||December 2, 1975||2–9 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) ||9–10–2

|22||L||December 3, 1975||3–5 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) ||9–11–2

|23||L||December 6, 1975||2–3 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) ||9–12–2

|24||L||December 7, 1975||1–3 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) ||9–13–2

|25||L||December 9, 1975||3–6 || align="left"| @ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76) ||9–14–2

|26||W||December 12, 1975||1–0 || align="left"| Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) ||10–14–2

|27||L||December 13, 1975||4–5 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1975–76) ||10–15–2

|28||L||December 14, 1975||3–4 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1975–76) ||10–16–2

|29||L||December 17, 1975||2–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) ||10–17–2

|30||L||December 19, 1975||4–5 OT|| align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) ||10–18–2

|31||W||December 20, 1975||5–3 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) ||11–18–2

|32||L||December 22, 1975||1–4 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1975–76) ||11–19–2

|33||W||December 27, 1975||5–0 || align="left"| Toronto Toros (1975–76) ||12–19–2

|34||L||December 28, 1975||0–4 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1975–76) ||12–20–2

|35||W||January 2, 1976||5–4 OT|| align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) ||13–20–2

|36||L||January 3, 1976||2–3 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1975–76) ||13–21–2

|37||W||January 4, 1976||3–2 || align="left"| Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) ||14–21–2

|38||W||January 7, 1976||8–3 || align="left"| San Diego Mariners (1975–76) ||15–21–2

|39||L||January 9, 1976||5–6 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1975–76) ||15–22–2

|40||W||January 11, 1976||4–3 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) ||16–22–2

|41||W||January 15, 1976||3–1 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) ||17–22–2

|42||W||January 16, 1976||4–3 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1975–76) ||18–22–2

|43||L||January 17, 1976||4–5 || align="left"| @ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) ||18–23–2

|44||L||January 21, 1976||2–8 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) ||18–24–2

|45||T||January 23, 1976||2–2 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1975–76) ||18–24–3

|46||L||January 25, 1976||2–4 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) ||18–25–3

|47||W||January 28, 1976||6–4 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) ||19–25–3

|48||T||January 30, 1976||4–4 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) ||19–25–4

|49||W||February 1, 1976||6–5 || align="left"| @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) ||20–25–4

|50||L||February 4, 1976||1–5 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) ||20–26–4

|51||L||February 5, 1976||2–3 || align="left"| @ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) ||20–27–4

|52||T||February 7, 1976||4–4 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1975–76) ||20–27–5

|53||W||February 8, 1976||6–1 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1975–76) ||21–27–5

|54||W||February 11, 1976||4–2 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) ||22–27–5

|55||L||February 15, 1976||2–3 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1975–76) ||22–28–5

|56||W||February 18, 1976||4–0 || align="left"| Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) ||23–28–5

|57||L||February 19, 1976||3–5 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1975–76) ||23–29–5

|58||W||February 21, 1976||3–2 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) ||24–29–5

|59||W||February 22, 1976||2–1 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1975–76) ||25–29–5

|60||L||February 25, 1976||2–5 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76) ||25–30–5

|61||L||February 27, 1976||4–5 || align="left"| @ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) ||25–31–5

|62||W||February 29, 1976||5–2 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) ||26–31–5

|63||L||March 3, 1976||3–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) ||26–32–5

|64||W||March 6, 1976||5–4 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1975–76) ||27–32–5

|65||W||March 7, 1976||5–1 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) ||28–32–5

|66||W||March 10, 1976||5–2 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) ||29–32–5

|67||L||March 12, 1976||2–8 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1975–76) ||29–33–5

|68||L||March 14, 1976||2–3 OT|| align="left"| Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) ||29–34–5

|69||L||March 16, 1976||0–6 || align="left"| @ Toronto Toros (1975–76) ||29–35–5

|70||W||March 19, 1976||6–5 OT|| align="left"| @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) ||30–35–5

|71||L||March 20, 1976||5–6 || align="left"| Toronto Toros (1975–76) ||30–36–5

|72||W||March 21, 1976||4–1 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) ||31–36–5

|73||W||March 23, 1976||3–1 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) ||32–36–5

|74||L||March 24, 1976||2–3 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1975–76) ||32–37–5

|75||L||March 26, 1976||2–3 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) ||32–38–5

|76||W||March 31, 1976||5–1 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1975–76) ||33–38–5

|77||L||April 2, 1976||2–5 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) ||33–39–5

|78||W||April 3, 1976||4–2 || align="left"| San Diego Mariners (1975–76) ||34–39–5

|79||W||April 4, 1976||6–3 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) ||35–39–5

|80||L||April 6, 1976||2–3 OT|| align="left"| San Diego Mariners (1975–76) ||35–40–5

Legend:

Playoffs

| 1 || April 9 || Cleveland Crusaders || 3–5 || New England Whalers || 0–1

| 2 || April 10 || New England Whalers || 6–1 || Cleveland Crusaders || 0–2

| 3 || April 11 || New England Whalers || 3–2 || Cleveland Crusaders || 0–3

Legend:

Player statistics Players + Regular season Player Position C 75 32 50 82 24141122 C 59 34 38 72 624925 C 79 36 22 58 767826 LW 79 21 30 51 118-8832 LW 80 26 24 50 729504 D 70 6 44 50 10116412 RW 80 23 22 45 191401 RW 72 23 15 38 122-7502 D 80 7 28 35 6215300 LW 69 16 17 33 22-4101 LW 79 12 21 33 43-3003 RW 65 7 14 21 0-8200 D 73 3 14 17 177-13001 D 23 2 15 17 18-21200 D 68 3 10 13 44-8101 LW 33 4 7 11 3310101 C 42 2 9 11 15-2000 D 67 3 7 10 201-7101 D 44 1 8 9 28-7000 C 35 5 3 8 6-16402 C 12 5 2 7 4-1301 D 35 0 7 7 22-8000 RW 40 1 5 6 32-15000 D 27 0 5 5 12-7000 RW 15 1 2 3 6-1010 LW 4 0 1 1 00000 G 15 0 1 1 00000 D 3 0 0 0 0-2000 G 2 0 0 0 00000 G 28 0 0 0 150000 G 18 0 0 0 20000 G 21 0 0 0 20000

+ Avco Cup playoffs Player Position C 3 2 1 3 2000 LW 3 0 3 3 2000 LW 3 2 0 2 0000 D 3 0 2 2 0000 C 3 0 2 2 0000 C 3 1 0 1 2000 RW 3 1 0 1 2000 C 3 0 1 1 9000 D 3 0 1 1 12000 D 2 0 1 1 4000 D 3 0 0 0 10000 RW 3 0 0 0 0000 G 2 0 0 0 0000 D 3 0 0 0 0000 C 3 0 0 0 4000 D 3 0 0 0 4000 G 1 0 0 0 0000 LW 3 0 0 0 4000 LW 3 0 0 0 0000 RW 1 0 0 0 0000 RW 3 0 0 0 18000

Goaltending +Regular seasonPlayer 1570 28 11 14 1 95 3.63 1 1043 18 9 8 0 56 3.22 1 896 15 7 7 1 48 3.21 0 1230 21 7 11 2 70 3.41 1 130 2 1 0 1 8 3.69 0 Team: 4869 80 35 40 5 277 3.41 3

+ Avco Cup playoffsPlayer 120 2 0 2 8 4.00 0 60 1 0 1 6 6.00 0 Team: 180 3 0 3 14 4.67 0

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals       MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Draft picks Cleveland's draft picks at the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)15Ralph Klassen (F)Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)219Mal Zinger (F)Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)220Kelly Greenbank (RW)Winnipeg Clubs (WCHL)335Ed Staniowski (G)Regina Pats (WCHL)450Peter Scamurra (D)Peterborough Petes (OHA)565Dennis Maruk (F)London Knights (OHA)678Joe Augustine (D)Austin Mavericks (MidJHL)792Michel Lachance (D)Montreal Red White and Blue (QMJHL)8104Joe Fortunato (LW)Kitchener Rangers (OHA)9116Viktor Khatulev (F)Dynamo Riga (USSR)10129Ari Kankaanpera (D)Ilves Tampere (SM-sarja)11142Tom McNamara (G)University of Vermont (ECAC)12153Rick Marsh (D)R.P.I. (ECAC)13163Dan Shearer (C)Hamilton Fincups (OHA)

See also 1975–76 WHA season

References