$13.50 in 1974 = around $80.14 in 2022.
April 19, 1974: A story typical of "rebel leagues" plagues the World Hockey Association.
The Chicago Cougars were a charter WHA team, and played their home games at the International Amphitheatre on the South Side of the city, since the Chicago Stadium, on the West Side, was owned by the NHL's Chicago Black Hawks, who kept them out, and the Amphitheatre was, at the time, the 2nd-biggest arena in the metropolitan area.
They made the Playoffs in their 2nd season, 1973-74. In the Quarterfinals, they beat the New England Whalers in 7 games, and the series passed without incident. But the Amphitheatre was unavailable for the Semifinals against the Toronto Toros. Since the WHA was still considered a minor league, the Amphitheatre booked something else for what turned out to be the Cougars' remaining Playoff dates: A touring production of the Walt Disney musical Peter Pan.
Since Mary Martin on Broadway in 1954, the character of Peter Pan had usually been played by short, thin women. A few years after this, actress Sandy Duncan would memorably play the role. This 1974 touring production starred Cathy Rigby, who had recently become, to that point, America's greatest gymnast, and was comfortable with the harness required to simulate the character's flying.
The Amphitheatre seated 9,000, and the Cougars were not even drawing that many. It didn't help that the Black Hawks and the NBA's Bulls were also in their leagues' Playoffs, and that baseball season had started, so the Cubs and the White Sox were also vying for the attention of sports fans.
The Cougars knew that, in order to rent the Stadium, they would have to pay through the nose, something they could ill afford to do. But it didn't matter: All the dates there were taken up by a Playoff game by one of the arena's usual home teams.
The Cougars considered playing "home games" at another city, as had been done before. Traditionally, April had been the month when the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus had performed at the old Madison Square Garden. In 4 consecutive years, The Garden had been booked for the Circus, forcing one of its teams to play its Finals all on the road. As a result, the New York Rangers had lost the 1950 Stanley Cup Finals to the Detroit Red Wings while playing their "home games" at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto; and the New York Knicks were forced to go across Manhattan to the 69th Regiment Army during the Finals, losing in 1951 to the Rochester Royals and in 1952 and 1953 to the Minneapolis Lakers.
But instead of playing in Cleveland, as they had initially sought to do, the Cougars caught something of a break. The Randhurst Twin Ice Arena, next to the Randhurst Mall in nearby Mount Prospect, Illinois, was available. It could only hold 2,000 fans, but, at this point, there was a question of whether they could fill even that.
The Toros were having their own venue issues. Harold Ballard, owner of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, and thus also of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs and Maple Leaf Gardens, wanted to make things as hard as possible for the rebel league, so he charged the Toros an exorbitant rent, and leaned on the owners of every other arena in the Greater Toronto Area to keep the Toros out. So, pay Ballard, they did.
And, with Ballard -- also the owner of the CFL's Toronto Argonauts, and perhaps the most hated man in the history of Canadian sports -- refusing to promote the Toros' games, they, like the Cougars, had attendance issues. At any rate, the Cougars beat the Toros in 7 games, and advanced to the WHA Finals against the Houston Aeros.
At this point, with the Peter Pan show having moved on, the Amphitheatre should have been available for the Cougars. Except the Amphitheatre's management figured the hockey season was over, and so they disassembled their ice surface and equipment for the season. The Cougars had to stay at Randhurst, and play for the championship of their sport before a maximum of 2,000 fans.
In contrast, the Aeros could put 9,000 people into the Sam Houston Coliseum, and knew that a new arena, The Summit, was coming for the 1975-76 season. With 45-year-old Gordie Howe and his sons Mark and Marty leading the way, the Aeros won the series in 4 straight.
The Cougars played just 1 more season, and folded. The WHA had now failed in America's 3 biggest markets: New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. It still held on until 1979, with 4 of its teams joining the NHL. Despite repeating as Champions in 1975, and reaching the Finals again in 1976, the Aeros would not be one of them: After losing the Howes to the Whalers in 1977, they folded in 1978.
The Randhurst Ice Arena was new when the Cougars played there. It didn't last long, torn down in 1998. A Home Depot store currently stands on the site.
*
April 19, 1974 was a Friday. No games were played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. One game was played in the NBA Playoffs: The New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics, 103-100 at the Boston Garden. Walt Frazier scored 38 points. However, the Celtics won the next game, which turned out to be Willis Reed's last game; and the game after that, clinching the series and a berth in the NBA Finals, and that turned out to be the last game for Dave DeBusschere and Jerry Lucas. The Celtics went on to beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the Finals.
Football was out of season. These baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3. Graig Nettles hit a home run for the Yankees.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt hit a home run.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Diego Padres, 8-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-4. Johnny Bench went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Dave Winfield went 1-for-5.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
* The Montreal Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Lou Brock went on to set a new record that season, with 118 stolen bases. Not on this night: He went 0-for-4.
* The Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves, 8-2 at the Astrodome in Houston. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 10-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Rod Carew went 1-for-4. Harmon Killebrew did not play.
* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the California Angels, 5-1 at Oakland Coliseum. Catfish Hunter went the distance, outpitching Bill Singer. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Frank Robinson, in his only season with the Angels, went 0-for-4.
* The New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Shea Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 30. The Pirates won the opener, 6-0. The Mets won the nightcap, 4-3. Willie Stargell went 1-for-5 in the 1st game, and did not play in the 2nd game.
* And the Detroit Tigers and the Milwaukee Brewers were not scheduled.
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