Welcome Close your eyes and recall the disco ball glittering inside the darkened San Diego International Sports Arena, and remember back to major league hockey in San Diego... WHA San Diego Mariners hockey.
	t was a time when radios blared disco music, men wore leisure suits and Fu-Manchus, and as often as not had permed their hair. White shoes, white belts... it was the mid-70s. The Western Hockey League had folded (along with the beloved San Diego Gulls) and the World Hockey Association (new rivals to the National Hockey League) had just planted their flag in San Diego. It was destined to be a short but fun run of hockey, with the likes of André Lacroix, Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg, Gordie Howe, Serge Bernier and others taking the ice at the San Diego International Sports Arena... World Hockey Association President Dennis Murphy drops the puck at the inaugural game between the WHA's newest franchises, the San Diego Mariners and the Phoenix Roadrunners. Mariners C André Lacroix takes the drop with Phoenix Roadrunners' C Robbie Ftorek while Mariners' LW Kevin Devine looks on. The Mariners played three seasons in the WHA, qualifying for the playoffs each season, losing to the eventual AVCO Cup champion in two of those seasons. Local hockey fans were ambivalent about the Mariners (many were resentful of their displacement of the WHL Gulls), and attendance lagged behind the league average. This was exacerbated by missed payrolls and changes of ownership: however, as a result of a team vote the Mariners players themselves chose to continue to represent San Diego on the ice despite the off-ice distractions. I hope that those of you who remember Mariners hockey will enjoy this site, and perhaps (in the words of Mariner's broadcaster Roy Storey) you'll say that this moment in time has been... "Frozen!" More Mariner memories... Visit the companion site!