The Quebec Nordiques, trying to get good publicity, named Montreal Canadiens legend Maurice "the Rocket" Richard as head coach, but they lose their 1st game, 2-0 to the Cleveland Crusaders at the Cleveland Arena. Richard immediately quits, saying he wasn't meant to be a coach. Nords management asks him to stay on long enough to hire a replacement. They win their 2nd game, but the Rocket has had enough, and Maurice Filion is hired.
Four WHA teams would be absorbed into the NHL in 1979. The Oilers are the only one of those still playing in their original city. The Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995.
The other 2 debuted the next night. The New England Whalers beat the Philadelphia Blazers, 4-3 at the Boston Garden. They were renamed the Hartford Whalers upon joining the NHL, and became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997, moving first to Greensboro, North Carolina, and then, when their intended arena was ready, to Raleigh in 1999.
And the Winnipeg Jets -- named in tribute not just to Canada's aerospace industry, but also to their star signing, Bobby Hull, "the Golden Jet" -- beat the New York Raiders, 6-4 at Madison Square Garden. The Jets moved in 1996, becoming the Phoenix Coyotes, and the Arizona Coyotes in 2014. In 2011, the Atlanta Thrashers moved, becoming the new Winnipeg Jets.
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October 11, 1972 was a Wednesday. The deciding Game 5 of the National League Championship Series was played at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. I have a separate entry for this event. Also, actress Claudia Black was born.
The Pittsburgh Pirates, defending World Champions, lead the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th inning. But Johnny Bench hit a home run off Dave Guisti, over the left-field fence to tie the game‚ over the head of the Pirates' legendary right fielder, Roberto Clemente, who had joined the 3,000 Hit Club just 2 weeks earlier.
The Reds collected 2 more singles, and, with Hal McRae at bat, Bob Moose, who had come in to relieve Guisti, threw a wild pitch, and the Reds won, 4-3. This would turn out to be Clemente's last game.
Game 4 of the American League Championship Series was played at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Jim "Catfish" Hunter of the Oakland Athletics and Mickey Lolich of the Detroit Tigers battled into extra innings.
The A's scored 2 runs in the top of the 10th, but, in the bottom of the 10th, singles by Dick McAuliffe and Al Kaline, a walk by Gates Brown, and an error by Gene Tenace gave the Tigers a run. Norm Cash walked, and Jim Northrup singled home the tying and winning runs, giving the Tigers a 4-3 win and a tie in the series. But the A's won the Pennant the next day.
Football was in midweek. There were 7 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-3 at Madison Square Garden. Rod Gilbert scored 2 goals.
* The Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, arch-rivals, played to a 2-2 tie at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Los Angeles Kings, 7-3 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the expansion Atlanta Flames, 4-1 at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the California Golden Seals, 5-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-2 at the St. Louis Arena.
* And the expansion New York Islanders and the Philadelphia Flyers were not scheduled.
The American Basketball Association began its season the next day. There were 3 NBA games played:
* The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 121-108 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.
* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 105-100 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 129-94 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska.
Also on this day, Australian actress Claudia Black was born. She is known for her roles in the science-fiction TV series Farscape and Stargate SG-1.
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