Customer Reviews

WHA Chronicles, The

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I think most WHA hockey fans were dying for something (anything!) to officially (Hockey Hall of Fame logo pops up at the start) come out on good quality DVD. Let me just say, the wait has been worth it. There are four full games, a fight reel (including some classic Birmingham Bulls Slapshot-like brawls), very insightful interviews with Bobby Hull and Wayne Greztky, a funny (but what was with the homophobic joke about the New York Golden Blades?) league history that is like an SCTV "Logos Galore" sketch (with some odd versions of the logos of the four WHA teams that went into the NHL) and a stats package, which is virtually useless, as you need to put the DVD in your computer and it just links to a Web site.

Since product details are sketchy up here, excuse the lengthy rundown (and these are full games minus the commercials and the intermissions). Whole thing is hosted by Winnipeg sportscaster Peter Young :
Disc 1
--USSR @ New England Whalers (Dec. 27/76)
Brilliant pic quality. You get the classic Brass Bonanza tune when the Whalers come on at the beginning of each period. Sadly, crowd seems a bit subdued as do the broadcast crew. The Soviets, as well, look comatose (could be jet lag as this was Game 1 of an eight-game series vs. WHA clubs).
This is "pre-Howes on the Whalers" so the stars are Tom "Hawkeye" Webster and Larry "future NHL GM" Pleau. Soviets feature all the usual suspects--Aleksandr Yakushev, Vladislav Tretiak, Aleksandr Maltsev, etc. Gratuitous Stan Fischler as roaming rink reporter.

Disc 2
--1977 WHA All-Star Game East vs. West @ Hartford (Jan. 18/77)
Very good pic quality. Tons of shots, but it's an all-star game so don't expect too much intensity. Stars include the line of Bobby Hull-Ulf Nilsson-Anders Hedberg, Gordie Howe, Andre Lacroix, Robbie Ftorek, Danny Lawson, Joe Daley, John Garrett, Pat Stapleton and J.C. Tremblay. Interview with Paul Shmyr in first intermission.

--1977 Avco Cup Final Game 7 Winnipeg Jets @ Quebec Nordiques (May 26/77)
Very good to excellent pic quality. Don Wittman does the play-by-play with Don Chevrier and it looks like CTV (?) actually televised this back then. Wild crowd and some crazy goals. Has hilites of Games 5 and 6 at the opening. Possibly one of the best matchups on paper given this was the Jets of Hull, Nilsson and Hedberg w/ vs. the Nords of Serge Bernier, Rejean Houle, Marc Tardifs, the Bordeleaus, and goalie Richard "the King" Brodeur. Check out Nords' great defenseman J.C. Tremblay post-game.

Disc 3
--1979 Avco Cup Final Game 6 Edmonton Oilers @ Winnipeg Jets (May 20/79)
Like you are there! Last game in WHA history. Decent pic quality. Great low camera angles. Sound sometimes sounds like the very thrilling play-by-play guy is talking underwater. Features post-game Cup presentation.
See a 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky for the Oil, but Bobby Hull is long-gone in this game. Luckily, the Jets are still playing that freewheeling style that Edmonton would copy in the NHL. Jets' stars include goalie Gary "Suitcase" Smith, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Willy Lindstrom, Morris Lukowich, Kent "the Magic Man" Nilsson, Rich Preston, Terry Ruskowski and Peter Sullivan. Oilers have such classic players as Paul Shmyr (wearing the Soviet "K" for captain--huh?), Ron Chipperfield, Brett Callighen and BJ "the fire hydrant" MacDonald.

All in all, an eclectic and, on the whole, good choice of games. Would've liked to maybe see a documentary program tossed in on the characters who made the WHA so fun. Maybe next volume, if there is one.