1972-1979 WHA Media Guides

Paper media guides were once the norm for all professional hockey teams. They were small in physical dimensions, usually around 6” wide and 8” long – perfect to fit into a pocket or briefcase. Their main purpose was to give newspaper, radio, and TV media professionals a quick reference guide for their reporting, but they were also used widely by team and league personnel. Like paper game programs, the paper team media guides were phased in the early 2000s, and today they are sadly replaced by electronic download files and web site pages. Back in the 1970s each World Hockey Association team would publish their own media guide, and the league would also print a tome that covered the entire circuit. It is those WHA league guides, from 1972-1979, that we have restored as an archive and are reproducing here. They are fascinating artifacts of a major league’s birth, expansion, contraction, and then concerted stab at promoting a merger with the rival NHL.