Tag: Weston Adams

Pro hockey grew so popular in Boston during the Big Bad Bruins era of the early 1970’s that the demand for tickets greatly exceeded what the Boston Garden could hold for NHL hockey.  Meanwhile, the B’s top farm club was half a country away at Oklahoma City in the Central Hockey League.  The Bruins’ ownership decided to kill two birds with one stone and applied for an expansion team in the East Coast-based American Hockey League.  The Boston Braves caused a sensation during their debut season at Boston Garden in the winter of 1971-72 and shattered the AHL’s single season attendance record. But the arrival of the World Hockey Association and its New England Whalers franchise the following winter put THREE teams into the Boston Garden and interest in the Braves cratered. The team was out of business by 1974.