World Hockey Association

World Hockey Association

Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	September 13, 1971; 52 years ago (September 13, 1971)
Ceased	June 22, 1979; 45 years ago (June 22, 1979)
Countries	United States Canada
Most titles	Winnipeg Jets (3)

The World Hockey Association (French: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926. Although the WHA was not the first league since that time to attempt to challenge the NHL's supremacy, it was by far the most successful in the modern era.

The WHA tried to capitalize on the lack of hockey teams in a number of major American cities and mid-level Canadian cities, and also hoped to attract the best players by paying more than NHL owners would. The WHA successfully challenged the NHL's reserve clause, which had bound players to their NHL teams even without a valid contract, allowing players in both leagues greater freedom of movement. Sixty-seven players jumped from the NHL to the WHA in the first year, led by star forward Bobby Hull, whose ten-year, $2.75 million contract was a record at the time. The WHA took the initiative to sign European players, ushering in a new era in North American hockey.

The WHA was chronically unstable, with franchises occasionally relocating or folding in the middle of the season. It had an acrimonious relationship with the NHL, resulting in numerous legal battles, as well as competition for control of players and markets. In spite of this, merger talks began almost immediately. NHL owners voted down a 1977 plan to merge six WHA teams (the Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Cincinnati Stingers, Houston Aeros, and Winnipeg Jets) into the NHL before a 1979 merger was approved.^[1]

As a result, the WHA ceased operations, and four teams joined the NHL for the 1979–80 season: the Edmonton Oilers, New England (renamed Hartford) Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets. Of these four teams, two of the three Canadian teams — the Nordiques and Jets — eventually moved south to Denver and Phoenix, respectively, although the NHL would return to Winnipeg with the 2011 relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers, who would rename themselves to become the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets. The Arizona Coyotes suspended operations following the 2023–24 season with the team's hockey assets being sold to the expansion Utah NHL team. The Whalers later moved from Hartford to Raleigh, North Carolina and were renamed the Carolina Hurricanes. The Oilers are the only WHA merger team to retain both their original nickname and city. The final WHA game was played on May 20, 1979, as the Jets defeated the Oilers to win their third Avco World Trophy.