The Barons are possibly the most forgotten former team in the NHL. Curious about them and wonder if there are any fans out there who have specific memories. I already know they played at Richland Coliseum (now a grass field) outside Cleveland, know their uniforms, how they disbanded, etc. Would love to hear any stories or memories. Thanks!

15 comments

  1. It would be a natural rivalry with Detroit, Columbus, Pittsburgh and to an extent Buffalo.

  2. That’s the San Francisco/California/Oakland/Bay Area Golden Seals to you, sir

  3. They were also an ahl team in Cleveland in the early 2000s. I have a mini stick signed by a bunch of the players.

  8. They averaged 6194 fans in year one and 5676 in year two.

    They finished well back of any of their divisional rivals (Boston, Buffalo, Toronto).

    https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1977_standings.html

    Looking at the Cavaliers attendance, the Barons seemed to come along at the wrong time.

    https://www.apbr.org/attendance.html

    Only 3 years from 1970 to 1986 where the Cavs averaged over 10000 fans per game, but they were 1975-78

    It looks like that was a rare period of Cavs reaching the postseason.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cleveland_Cavaliers_seasons#Seasons

    In fact the Barons attendance was worse than the WHA Crusaders who left the year before.

    https://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph_season.php?lid=WHA1973&sid=1976

    Seems like the Barons had a few pieces:

    Dennis Maruk, Charlie Simmer, Al MacAdam

    https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0002361977.html

    Some history.

    https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/14/the-forgotten-story-of-the-barons-clevelands-ill-fated-nhl-team

    https://goldensealshockey.com/?page_id=541

    https://www.google.ca/books/edition/The_NHL_s_Mistake_by_the_Lake/p-VFEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA2&printsec=frontcover

    https://goldensealshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/The-Barons-Boosters-Club-That-Wont-Quit-Nov-25-1980.pdf

  10. Partway through their last season I was hired by a company based out of Richfield, Ohio. I never was asked to visit the head office until the following year, after the Barons merged with the North Stars, so I never got to see a game there.

  11. I have an old game puck from the Barons with the shark logo. Although I believe they were an AHL team at that time?

  12. I think the Montreal Wanderers are more forgotten. They only lasted 4 games in the NHL before their arena burned down.

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