Mostly lost in the pregame hype of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning was the passing of the 24th anniversary of a unusual occurrence in NHL history, the 1978 Dispersal Draft.
After the Montreal Canadiens won the third of what would be four straight Stanley Cups and in the latter stages of its costly war with WHA, the NHL entered the offseason with financial fires of varying degrees burning in Cleveland, Minnesota and Long Island.
A change in ownership structure brought stability to the New York Islanders, but instead of letting the Cleveland Barons, who narrowly escaped the hangman’s noose in February 1977, finally (and mercifully) fold outright, an agreement was reached that president John Ziegler hoped would put the North Stars, who had missed the playoffs in five of the previous six seasons and fought off challenges from two different incarnations of the WHA’s Minnesota Fighting Saints, on stronger footing.