Devils followed in footsteps of Kansas City Scouts, Colorado Rockies

Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday.
This week Fischler details how the New Jersey Devils evolved from the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies.

The New Jersey Devils will celebrate their 40th anniversary in the NHL this season. Many forget that the franchise was born in Kansas City and moved to Colorado before winding up in New Jersey prior to the 1982-83 season.
The Kansas City Scouts were an NHL expansion team in 1974-75 along with the Washington Capitals. The cost of each franchise was $6 million.
"It was challenging because we were not only competing within the NHL but against the World Hockey Association, as well," Scouts general manager Sid Abel said. "The WHA already had been taking players from our league."
The Scouts landed a star right away, selecting Wilf Paiement with the No. 2 pick in the 1974 NHL Draft. The forward signed a three-year $500,000 contract, which was considered enormous for its era. Paiement scored 26 goals as a 19-year-old rookie in 1974-75 and 356 goals in 946 NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers, Quebec Nordiques, Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Scouts.
Neither the Scouts nor Capitals made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in their inaugural seasons, but Kansas City did have 20 more points (41) than Washington (21).
Kansas City's second season was a letdown. The Scouts were 12-56-12, to this day the worst record in Devils/Rockies/Scouts franchise history. Empty seats at Kemper Arena convinced ownership to move the club to Denver after only two seasons. They were renamed the Colorado Rockies.
Unfortunately, the move failed to improve the quality of play.
The Rockies finished last in the Smythe Division (20-46-14) in 1976-77, although they made the playoffs with a 19-40-21 record the following season. The first playoff series in franchise history ended quickly. The Rockies lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, who swept the best-of-3 series.
By June 1978, owner Jack Vickers ran out of patience and sold the franchise to trucking executive Arthur Imperatore, who hired flamboyant former Boston Bruins coach Don Cherry to be Rockies coach in 1979-80.
"Grapes" turned sour after a few scrimmages and told reporters, "Our goalie problems aren't big, they are colossal."
The Rockies finished at the bottom of the Smythe Division again. Cherry was fired after one season, replaced by Billy MacMillan, who also had no luck finding a winning formula. But Lady Luck did smile on the disappointed Imperatore, who found a buyer in Buffalo cable television owner Peter Gilbert. Although coach MacMillan was no improvement over Cherry, Gilbert promoted him to general manager. Former NHL defenseman Bert Marshall was named coach for the 1981-82 season.
Alas, Marshall couldn't decode the puzzle and after 24 games (3-17-4) was fired. Marshall Johnston finished out the season as coach. He led the Rockies to a 15-32-9 record in 56 games, what turned out to be the final 56 games in Rockies history.
The losing and coaching merry-go-round soured Denver fans and Gilbert became convinced that NHL hockey could not succeed in the Mile High City. The frazzled franchise needed a savior and Gilbert found him -- and a buyer -- in Dr. John McMullen.
Respected in sporting circles, the New Jersey shipping magnate had been a limited partner with MLB's New York Yankees and later would own the Houston Astros. When news of the Rockies availability reached him, McMullen was convinced that New Jersey could support an NHL team, especially in the brand-new Meadowlands arena.
On May 27, 1982, it became official. McMullen, along with investor John C. Whitehead and former New Jersey governor Brendan T. Byrne, purchased the Rockies and received NHL permission to shift the franchise to Bergen County, NJ. The Devils were born.
"We're very pleased," said Robert E. Mulcahy, III, chief executive officer of the New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority. "We've been working for years to try to get a team."
They got one at long last, and for that they could thank Dr. McMullen as did the Metropolitan New Jersey and New York media. A headline in the New York Post said it all: NHL MADE SMART CHOICE.
Post columnist Larry Brooks put a coda on the transfer: "The good thing about John McMullen is that he has a track record in running a sports franchise. The best thing about the man, who paid approximately $30 million to bring the Colorado Rockies east, is that his track record in running the Houston Astros is a good one."
I'm proud to say that I was there 40 years ago, reporting the story when Dr. McMullen named Max McNab as his vice president in charge of hockey operations.
"Training camp opens on September 11, at Ice World rink in Totowa," McNab said. "New Jersey is ready for major league hockey!"
Forty years and three Stanley Cup championships later, New Jersey and the Devils are still a winning combination.