1975–76 Cleveland Crusaders season explained

League:	WHA
Season:	1975–76
Year:	1975
Team:	Cleveland Crusaders
Record:	35–40–5
Division:	East
Divisionrank:	2nd
Goalsfor:	273
Goalsagainst:	279
Next Season:	1976–77

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

Game log

Regular season schedule
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 11, 1975	0–1	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	0–1–0
2	W	October 15, 1975	8–4	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	1–1–0
3	L	October 19, 1975	5–6	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	1–2–0
4	W	October 25, 1975	5–2	Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	2–2–0
5	L	October 29, 1975	1–3	Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	2–3–0
6	W	October 31, 1975	6–2	Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	3–3–0
7	W	November 2, 1975	5–2	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	4–3–0
8	T	November 4, 1975	2–2	@ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	4–3–1
9	L	November 7, 1975	2–5	@ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	4–4–1
10	L	November 9, 1975	1–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	4–5–1
11	W	November 11, 1975	3–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	5–5–1
12	L	November 13, 1975	1–3	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	5–6–1
13	L	November 15, 1975	4–5 OT	@ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	5–7–1
14	T	November 16, 1975	4–4	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	5–7–2
15	W	November 19, 1975	4–3 OT	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	6–7–2
16	W	November 22, 1975	6–3	Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	7–7–2
17	W	November 25, 1975	4–3 OT	@ Toronto Toros (1975–76)	8–7–2
18	L	November 26, 1975	0–3	Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	8–8–2
19	L	November 28, 1975	1–3	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	8–9–2
20	W	November 30, 1975	10–9	Toronto Toros (1975–76)	9–9–2
21	L	December 2, 1975	2–9	@ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	9–10–2
22	L	December 3, 1975	3–5	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	9–11–2
23	L	December 6, 1975	2–3	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	9–12–2
24	L	December 7, 1975	1–3	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	9–13–2
25	L	December 9, 1975	3–6	@ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	9–14–2
26	W	December 12, 1975	1–0	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	10–14–2
27	L	December 13, 1975	4–5	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	10–15–2
28	L	December 14, 1975	3–4	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	10–16–2
29	L	December 17, 1975	2–3	Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	10–17–2
30	L	December 19, 1975	4–5 OT	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	10–18–2
31	W	December 20, 1975	5–3	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	11–18–2
32	L	December 22, 1975	1–4	New England Whalers (1975–76)	11–19–2
33	W	December 27, 1975	5–0	Toronto Toros (1975–76)	12–19–2
34	L	December 28, 1975	0–4	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	12–20–2
35	W	January 2, 1976	5–4 OT	Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	13–20–2
36	L	January 3, 1976	2–3	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	13–21–2
37	W	January 4, 1976	3–2	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	14–21–2
38	W	January 7, 1976	8–3	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	15–21–2
39	L	January 9, 1976	5–6	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	15–22–2
40	W	January 11, 1976	4–3	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	16–22–2
41	W	January 15, 1976	3–1	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	17–22–2
42	W	January 16, 1976	4–3	New England Whalers (1975–76)	18–22–2
43	L	January 17, 1976	4–5	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	18–23–2
44	L	January 21, 1976	2–8	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	18–24–2
45	T	January 23, 1976	2–2	New England Whalers (1975–76)	18–24–3
46	L	January 25, 1976	2–4	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	18–25–3
47	W	January 28, 1976	6–4	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	19–25–3
48	T	January 30, 1976	4–4	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	19–25–4
49	W	February 1, 1976	6–5	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	20–25–4
50	L	February 4, 1976	1–5	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	20–26–4
51	L	February 5, 1976	2–3	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	20–27–4
52	T	February 7, 1976	4–4	Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	20–27–5
53	W	February 8, 1976	6–1	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	21–27–5
54	W	February 11, 1976	4–2	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	22–27–5
55	L	February 15, 1976	2–3	New England Whalers (1975–76)	22–28–5
56	W	February 18, 1976	4–0	Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	23–28–5
57	L	February 19, 1976	3–5	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	23–29–5
58	W	February 21, 1976	3–2	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	24–29–5
59	W	February 22, 1976	2–1	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	25–29–5
60	L	February 25, 1976	2–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	25–30–5
61	L	February 27, 1976	4–5	@ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	25–31–5
62	W	February 29, 1976	5–2	@ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	26–31–5
63	L	March 3, 1976	3–4 OT	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	26–32–5
64	W	March 6, 1976	5–4	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	27–32–5
65	W	March 7, 1976	5–1	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	28–32–5
66	W	March 10, 1976	5–2	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	29–32–5
67	L	March 12, 1976	2–8	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	29–33–5
68	L	March 14, 1976	2–3 OT	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	29–34–5
69	L	March 16, 1976	0–6	@ Toronto Toros (1975–76)	29–35–5
70	W	March 19, 1976	6–5 OT	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	30–35–5
71	L	March 20, 1976	5–6	Toronto Toros (1975–76)	30–36–5
72	W	March 21, 1976	4–1	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	31–36–5
73	W	March 23, 1976	3–1	@ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	32–36–5
74	L	March 24, 1976	2–3	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	32–37–5
75	L	March 26, 1976	2–3	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	32–38–5
76	W	March 31, 1976	5–1	New England Whalers (1975–76)	33–38–5
77	L	April 2, 1976	2–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	33–39–5
78	W	April 3, 1976	4–2	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	34–39–5
79	W	April 4, 1976	6–3	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	35–39–5
80	L	April 6, 1976	2–3 OT	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	35–40–5

^[1]

Playoffs

New England Whalers 3, Cleveland Crusaders 0 - Preliminary Round

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 9		3–5		0–1
2	April 10		6–1		0–2
3	April 11		3–2		0–3

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG C 75 32 50 82 24 14 11 2 2 C 59 34 38 72 62 4 9 2 5 C 79 36 22 58 76 7 8 2 6 LW 79 21 30 51 118 -8 8 3 2 LW 80 26 24 50 72 9 5 0 4 D 70 6 44 50 101 16 4 1 2 RW 80 23 22 45 19 1 4 0 1 RW 72 23 15 38 122 -7 5 0 2 D 80 7 28 35 62 15 3 0 0 LW 69 16 17 33 22 -4 1 0 1 LW 79 12 21 33 43 -3 0 0 3 RW 65 7 14 21 0 -8 2 0 0 D 73 3 14 17 177 -13 0 0 1 D 23 2 15 17 18 -21 2 0 0 D 68 3 10 13 44 -8 1 0 1 LW 33 4 7 11 33 10 1 0 1 C 42 2 9 11 15 -2 0 0 0 D 67 3 7 10 201 -7 1 0 1 D 44 1 8 9 28 -7 0 0 0 C 35 5 3 8 6 -16 4 0 2 C 12 5 2 7 4 -1 3 0 1 D 35 0 7 7 22 -8 0 0 0 RW 40 1 5 6 32 -15 0 0 0 D 27 0 5 5 12 -7 0 0 0 RW 15 1 2 3 6 -1 0 1 0 LW 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 G 15 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 D 3 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G 28 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0 G 18 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 G 21 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO 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

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG C 3 2 1 3 2 0 0 0 LW 3 0 3 3 2 0 0 0 LW 3 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 D 3 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 C 3 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 C 3 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 RW 3 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 C 3 0 1 1 9 0 0 0 D 3 0 1 1 12 0 0 0 D 2 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 D 3 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 RW 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 D 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 C 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 D 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 LW 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 LW 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 RW 3 0 0 0 18 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO 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

^[2]

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.^[3]

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	5	Ralph Klassen (F)		Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
2	19	Mal Zinger (F)		Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)
2	20	Kelly Greenbank (RW)		Winnipeg Clubs (WCHL)
3	35	Ed Staniowski (G)		Regina Pats (WCHL)
4	50	Peter Scamurra (D)		Peterborough Petes (OHA)
5	65	Dennis Maruk (F)		London Knights (OHA)
6	78	Joe Augustine (D)		Austin Mavericks (MidJHL)
7	92	Michel Lachance (D)		Montreal Red White and Blue (QMJHL)
8	104	Joe Fortunato (LW)		Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
9	116	Viktor Khatulev (F)		Dynamo Riga (USSR)
10	129	Ari Kankaanpera (D)		Ilves Tampere (SM-sarja)
11	142	Tom McNamara (G)		University of Vermont (ECAC)
12	153	Rick Marsh (D)		R.P.I. (ECAC)
13	163	Dan Shearer (C)		Hamilton Fincups (OHA)

See also

• 1975–76 WHA season

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1975–76 Cleveland Crusaders Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-30 .
2. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-30 . 1975-76 Cleveland Crusaders Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.
3. Web site: 1975 WHA Amateur Draft . hockeyDB.com . December 19, 2018.