A brand new world: World Hockey Association, that is, as a new league starts play this season sporting a familiar name

Hockey Digest, Dec, 2003 by Anthony Stoeckert

WITH THE ECONOMY SAGGING, hockey teams in the United States and Canada struggling to survive, and TV ratings for the sport nearly invisible, it may not seem like a great time to start a new league. But with at least one eye on the future, a new developmental league is setting up shop with the help of some well-known names from the NHL's past.

The World Hockey Association 2 is hoping to establish itself as a feeder league, primarily for the new World Hockey Association that is aiming to take the ice next season (see sidebar, page 57).

"I'm looking for great things," says WHA2's Orlando Seals coach Jim Paek, who played on the Pittsburgh Penguins' two Stanley Cup championship teams. "We're building a real minor league system that will develop players and that leagues can look to call up players."

Paek isn't the only former NHLer who is a part of WHA2. Garry Unger, who held the NHL's record for most consecutive games played for a decade until Doug Jarvis topped it in 1986, will coach the Alabama Slammers. Ron Duguay, who was a star and fan-favorite for the Rangers in the 1980s, will coach the Jacksonville Barracudas. Along with those high-profile names, the league is promising competitive hockey, community involvement, and a high level of fan relations.

"The league was formed in the hopes of recognizing perhaps some of the deficiencies of other leagues, which seem to put them out of business," says David Waronker, co-founder/CEO of WHA2. "So many of the smaller-market teams suffer because they cannot develop the corporate sponsorships and they do not have the support they need from the local community to survive. They need the assistance of a league and other member teams ... [the WHA2] is an association were the small-market teams, as well as the larger market teams, will derive a way to extend their existence through the assistance at the league level."

Six teams will make up the league in its first season, with Waronker co-owning four (Orlando, Jacksonville, the Macon Trax, and the Miami Manatees), though he says he wants to sell two of his teams. The league is rounded out by the Lakeland Loggerheads and Alabama.

Waronker says he expects to expand by next season. "I'm not happy with starting the season with six teams," he says. "I really thought we'd have 10 to 12 to start."

WHA2's rosters are expected to be comprised of players from major junior competition in Canada who either weren't drafted or were drafted and didn't latch onto a team. Players out of college, along with a few former NHL players will also be playing in the league. The model seems to be baseball's Atlantic League in the Northeast, which mainly features younger players trying display their skills but has also attracted major leaguers like Jose Canseco and Rickey Henderson.

"I'm expecting a lot of hard-working young players who want to get the next level," says Paek "You [also] have veteran players who have their time and are here to develop the young kids as role models. I'm trying to surround myself with good veterans here who will help the kids."

But the biggest names in the WHA will be behind the bench. Hiring the likes Paek, Unger, and Duguay is not only expected to help in the development of players, but also give the new league legitimacy.

"I think guys like myself, Ron Duguay, and Jimmy Paek bring a lot of credibility to the league," Unger says. "They're saying it's not just a bunch of guys trying to put a hockey league together. They've got some guys who have a little experience with the game."

"I like to think we become more credible, because I wouldn't be fled into something that is flaky or Mickey Mouse," Duguay says. "I like David Waronker, He's a young businessman who's in it for the right reasons. He loves the game and he wants to make a business out of it. It's not just short-term for him.

"I'm tied into something I think is for real. Only time will tell. But it's not going to be from a lack of work that this thing doesn't work."

Duguay actually played for Jacksonville last season. He started practicing with the team in the spring, thinking he might play if anyone got injured. He ended up donning the uniform in six games. With a month to go in the season, he was asked to serve as player-coach, which he did for one game.

"I decided I couldn't do both," he says. "I ended up getting an injury in the game because I was thinking about coaching more than playing." Duguay says he dealt with "every potential problem" a coach can deal with over the 12 games he coached last season, especially when it came to injuries. "I was pulling players out of a local men's team just to field a team," he says. But he makes it clear that it was all worth it.

"I have an opportunity to make a difference in men's lives," he says. "Not only as hockey players but as people. I feel like I'm experienced enough at 46 ... that I have a lot to offer. There was something in my life that I wasn't being completely fulfilled after I stopped playing. I've been semi-retired so I needed something to fill that void. And what thing I can do best is being in the hockey world, it's what I know best."