March 30, 1976: The End of Major League Hockey In Kansas City

Guy Charron

March 30, 1976: The major league hockey game in Kansas City, to date, is played at the Kemper Arena. The Kansas City Scouts lose 8-6 to the Los Angeles Kings.

The Scouts were founded by Edwin G. Thompson, a real estate developer who, through March 30, 2022, still holds Kansas City's record for points scored in a high school basketball game, with 41. The name "Scouts" was chosen as a tribute to the Scout statue that overlooks the city, and was copied for the team's logo. It also served as a nod towards local Boy Scout troops and military personnel stationed at nearby Fort Leavenworth Army Base, both groups considered essential parts of life in K.C. at that period.

For 2 years, Kansas City had teams in all of the "Big Four" North American sports: The Royals in MLB, the Chiefs in the NFL, the Kings in the NBA, and the Scouts in the NHL. But it couldn't be sustained, because, like so many sports team owners in the 1970s, Thompson underestimated how much it would cost to run a team. The Scouts went 15-54-11 in 1974-75, and 12-56-12 in 1975-76, and averaged just 8,218 fans per game, leaving Kemper Arena only half-full. This may have been due to the St. Louis Blues having already had a hold on Missouri as a territory.

After this last home game, they played 3 more games on the road to end a horrible season in which they lost their last 7 games, failed to win any of their last 27 (0-21-6), and won just 1 of their last 54 (0-46-8).

On June 25, Denver-based oilman Jack Vickers bought the team, and moved them to his hometown, where they became the Colorado Rockies. They failed there as well, making the Playoffs just once in 6 season, before moving again. In 1982, they become the New Jersey Devils. Kansas City has had minor-league teams since, but no major league team.

The Kemper Arena, built almost right on the Missouri-Kansas State Line, still stands, under the name of the Hy-Vee Arena. The Sprint Center opened in 2007, and was renamed the T-Mobile Center in 2020, but, due to Kansas City's relatively small size as a market -- its metropolitan area ranks it 28th in MLB and 26th in the NFL and it would be 24th in the NBA and 27th in the NHL -- it has never attracted a team.

Edwin Thompson died in 2015, at the age of 80.

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March 30, 1976 was a Tuesday. These 4 other games were played in the NHL that day:

* The Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres played to a tie, 4-4 at the Boston Garden.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the California Golden Seals and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 4-4 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

There were 3 games played in the World Hockey Association:

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Edmonton Oilers, 8-3 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The San Diego Mariners beat the Houston Aeros, 4-3 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)

* And the Calgary Cowboys beat the Toronto Toros (perhaps appropriately), 6-2 at the Stampede Corral in Calgary.

Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. These 6 games were played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Phoenix Suns, 113-97 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Boston Celtics, 93-83 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Houston Rockets, 95-86 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Chicago Bulls, 94-84 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 130-126 in overtime at the Milwaukee Exposition and Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. (It's now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.)

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Kansas City Kings, 114-113 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

There was 1 game in the American Basketball Association: The Denver Nuggets beat the Spirits of St. Louis, 133-12 at the St. Louis Arena.