Cleveland Barons-NHL

Sports' Forgotten Heroes

One of the most obscure teams in the history of the NHL is the Cleveland Barons. In existence for just two years, the Barons moved to Cleveland from Oakland where they were first known as the California Golden Seals and ultimately merged with the Minnesota North Stars who are now the Dallas Stars. After playing in front of few fans and experiencing financial hardships in Oakland, the Seals packed up during the summer of 1977 and headed east to Cleveland. Ownership thought it had uncovered a great location for the team. Cleveland's AHL team had once been invited to join the NHL - although that version of the Barons turned down the offer. Now, the NHL was coming. Cleveland had a new arena, and 18,000-seat palace known as the Richfield Coliseum. But, the location of the Coliseum, the fact that the Seals owner, Mel Swig, had never been to Cleveland, failed to research the region's appetite for hockey, failed to market the team in any meaningful way, and the failed to study the issues that the previous barons faced and the difficulties the Cleveland Crusaders of the WHA experienced all spelled doom for the Barons. What followed were two incredibly disappointing seasons. The Barons played in front of empty seats. In their first year (1977-78), average attendance was just 6,194 per game, and in their second season attendance fell to 5,676 per game. A television contract could not be found and radio coverage was barely adequate. The team did have a few stars in Dennis Maruk (Dennis joined SFH for episode 18), Jim Neilson and Gilles Meloche, but there wasn't enough depth on the team and they struggled to score goals and win games. The lack of marketing and fan support led to more financial hardships and the team was thisclose to missing payroll and shutting down in the middle of the season. Gary Webster returns to SFH for an in-depth conversation on all that went wrong in Cleveland. He recently authored a book, published by MacFarland and Company called, "The NHL's Mistake By The Lake: A History of the Cleveland Barons." Gary covers it all, from the original Barons and Crusaders, to the dysfunction of Swig's ownership group, the team's performance on the ice, the want to save the team and the eventual merger with Minnesota. Amazingly, Gary even notes that very few who lived in Cleveland at the time - and still live there - even know that the Barons existed.