The Cleveland Crusaders were a professional ice hockey team from Cleveland . They played in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1976 . Their home ice was the Cleveland Arena from 1972 to 1974, and the Richfield Coliseum from 1974 to 1976.
20-565: The team was owned by Nick Mileti , who had been the founder of the NBA 's Cleveland Cavaliers , and also owned Major League Baseball 's Cleveland Indians . He had also owned the nine-time American Hockey League champion Cleveland Barons , but moved them to Jacksonville, Florida to make room for the Crusaders. The first coach for the Crusaders was Bill Needham , a mainstay of the Barons. Needham coached
40-532: A Crusader uniform, 304 in total. Other notable Crusaders players included Paul Shmyr (538 penalty minutes in four seasons), netminder Gerry Cheevers (99 wins in four seasons), and defenseman Wayne Hillman . The last active Crusaders player in major professional hockey was Paul Baxter , who last played the 1986-87 NHL season . Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes This American ice hockey team-related article
60-560: A group that purchased the ownership rights to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1970 to enter the league as an expansion team , paying a fee of $ 3.7 million; he eventually sold his twenty percent interest in the team in 1980 for $ 1.4 million. Another syndicate he headed purchased the Indians in 1972 for $ 10 million from Vernon Stouffer . His partnership that purchased the Indians included Howard Metzenbaum and Ted Bonda . Soon after winning
80-678: A law practice in Lakewood, Ohio and became prosecutor there after befriending the mayor. He became involved in sports after serving as chairman of the Bowling Green alumni association and organizing a BGSU game at the Cleveland Arena . Shortly thereafter he purchased the Arena and its prime tenant, the original Cleveland Barons hockey team. Recognizing that the Arena needed another tenant, he sought an expansion NBA team for Cleveland. Mileti spearheaded
100-594: A walk-in clinic for the community. Its sign can be seen in photographs of the arena. While the arena was a showpiece when it opened, by the 1970s it had become decrepit. It also lacked adequate parking. It closed in 1974, with teams moving to the Richfield Coliseum . The arena was demolished in 1977; the headquarters of the Cleveland Chapter of the American Red Cross now occupies the site. The arena
120-543: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a sports team in Ohio is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Nick Mileti Nick James Mileti (April 22, 1931 – August 21, 2024) was an American author, lawyer, businessman, sports entrepreneur and sports franchise owner who was, during the 1970s, the owner of the Cleveland Indians , Cleveland Cavaliers , Cleveland Crusaders ,
140-601: The Cincinnati Royals of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Royals, who also played home games at other Ohio sites, played more than 35 games at the arena between 1966 and 1970. The Cleveland Crusaders of the new World Hockey Association played at the arena from 1972 to 1974. The arena also had a medical facility, Arena Clinic. It primarily provided medical care for visiting athletic teams and other entertainment events, but also served as
160-671: The Cleveland Arena , the Coliseum at Richfield , and radio station "3WE" WWWE AM/1100 (now WTAM ). Born in southeast Cleveland, Mileti put himself through college, graduating from Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in 1953. The BGSU Alumni Center is now named in his honor. He was a member of the Theta Chi fraternity at BGSU. Following his time at BGSU, he earned a J.D. degree from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 1956. After military service he opened
180-532: The Florida Breakers , going far enough to have a logo designed. After the proposed move fell through, the Crusaders relocated to St. Paul, Minnesota , becoming the second incarnation of the Minnesota Fighting Saints . Gary Jarrett was the Crusaders top scorer in their four seasons, playing in 298 games, scoring 104 goals, 119 assists, totalling 223 points. Gerry Pinder played the most games in
200-477: The 1946–47 season. Cleveland Arena was also a regular concert and boxing venue, and six-day bicycle races were held there between 1939 and 1958, moved there from Public Hall. On March 21, 1952, it was the site of the Moondog Coronation Ball , considered the first rock and roll concert, organized by Alan Freed . The concert was shut down after the first song by fire authorities due to overcrowding. It
220-613: The Cavaliers Wall of Honor in 2019. Mileti died on August 21, 2024, at the age of 93 in Rocky River, Ohio . In 2019, Mileti was inducted into the Cavaliers " Wall of Honor ", which recognizes prominent figures in team history. Cleveland Arena Cleveland Arena was an arena in Cleveland , Ohio . It was built and privately financed by local businessman Albert C. Sutphin during
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#1732849006134240-583: The Cavaliers franchise, Mileti realized that Cleveland Arena was nearing the end of its useful life. However, when politicians balked at building a new arena downtown, he bought land in Richfield , halfway between Cleveland and Akron , and built the Richfield Coliseum , at the time the largest arena in the country. In late 1972, Mileti formed Ohio Communications with veteran radio executive Tom Embrescia, which acquired WKYC AM/1100 and FM/105.7 from NBC, renaming them "3WE" WWWE-AM and "M105" WWWM-FM. Mileti then moved
260-415: The Crusaders to winning records in the first two seasons, but failed to advance past the second playoff round. In the 1974–75 season , John Hanna took over as coach, to be replaced mid-season by Jack Vivian . Cleveland finished second in the east division despite a losing record, but fell in the first round of the playoffs. Johnny Wilson led the team for its final season, also losing in the first round of
280-561: The Indians. He only paid for controlling interest with $ 500,000 of his own money, with the rest secured through loans. The lenders first grew concerned when the construction of the Richfield Coliseum was bogged down by lawsuits and cost overruns . Despite this, Mileti had ambitious plans for reviving a team that had spent the better part of the last two decades in the bottom half of the American League. One of his first acts as owner
300-649: The height of the Great Depression in 1937 as a playing site for Sutphin's AHL team, the Cleveland Barons . The arena was at 3717 Euclid Avenue , and seated over 10,000 in the stands and over 12,500 for events such as boxing, where floor seating was available. In addition to the Barons, the arena was home to the Cleveland Rebels of the Basketball Association of America , also owned by Sutphin, for
320-512: The post-season. Mileti sold the team to Jay White in 1975, but White sold it back to Mileti in 1976. However, not long after Mileti closed on his repurchase, the National Hockey League 's California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland and became the Cleveland Barons . Mileti knew he could not hope to compete with an NHL team and decided to move the Crusaders elsewhere. Initially, the team was going to relocate to South Florida and become
340-551: The radio play-by-play rights for the Indians and Cavaliers, as well as pioneering sports talk host Pete Franklin 's Sportsline , to WWWE. Already the most powerful AM station in Cleveland, with a 50,000 watt clear channel signal, WWWE quickly turned into a sports radio powerhouse. In his sports ownership heyday, Mileti was a master of leverage of sorts, owning 51 percent of his enterprises with little of his own money at risk. This practice came back to haunt him not long after he bought
360-445: Was estimated 20,000 people were in the arena or trying to enter it, when the capacity was roughly half that. In 1968, the arena and the Barons were purchased by Nick Mileti . In 1970, the expansion Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA moved into the arena and played there for their first four seasons, from 1970 to 1974. After the Cavaliers began playing at the arena, it stopped hosting games for
380-465: Was forced to name Bonda as the team's executive vice president and chairman. For all intents and purposes, his tenure as owner was over, though Mileti didn't formally sell out his stake to Bonda until 1975. Mileti also founded and was the principal owner of the short-lived CFL team, the Las Vegas Posse in 1994. Mileti became a writer in retirement; he published three books. He was inducted into
400-463: Was to hire new scouts; Stouffer had made drastic cuts to player development. However, his plans were undone when two major partners in his Indians syndicate, Steve O'Neill and Gabe Paul , joined George Steinbrenner 's bid to buy the New York Yankees . While Mileti was able to find new investors, it wasn't enough to restore the confidence of his lenders, who believed he was spread too thin. Mileti
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