World Hockey Association Media Guides

Collection

Identifier: HKY_545

Staff Only
Please use the Collection Organization below to place requests

Scope and Contents

This collection contains about 70 media guides from the World Hockey Association (WHA). It includes guides published by the league and by individual teams. The annual guides published prior to each WHA season generally included a review of the previous season (including statistics), a preview of the upcoming season (including schedules and opponent information), and photographs and bios of players, coaches, and staff. Other content sometimes included broader material about the history of the franchise, information about the city, and other information for members of the media. Some guides contain information about other personnel associated with the team. Some guides contain advertisements. The media guides tend to become larger, longer, and more substantial through the years. Formats include media guides.

Dates

Creation: 1972-1979

Conditions Governing Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical / Historical

Media guides—also known as press guides or “dope books”—originated by the 1930s as a way for sports teams to provide information to members of the press about their teams, players, coaches, schedules, and other topics. Originally typed, mimeographed, and stapled sheets, the guides evolved dramatically after World War Two to highly informative trade paper publications available to the public. By the early 21st century, many teams began replacing printed guides with online guides.

Biographical / Historical

The World Hockey Association (WHA) was founded in 1972 as a rival league to the National Hockey League (NHL). The WHA placed teams in several American cities and Canadian cities without major-league hockey teams. The WHA successfully challenged the NHL’s long-standing reserve clause, which had tied players to one professional hockey team indefinitely, drafted international players, and paid higher salaries than the NHL. The WHA attracted some of the best players in the NHL, but the league faced recurring financial difficulties with numerous franchises folding or moving cities over the years. The WHA played through the 1978-79 season when it merged with the NHL, which absorbed four WHA teams: the New England Whalers (renamed the Hartford Whalers), the Quebec Nordiques, the Edmonton Oilers, and the Winnipeg Jets.