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The Houston Aeros became one of the original ten franchises for the World Hockey Association when the Dayton Aeros moved to Houston in 1971. The Dayton entry was doomed from the beginning because a lack of a proper arena and little interest from the local residents. Due to these problems, owner Paul Deneau moved the team to Houston, Texas. The Aeros played from the inaugural season 1972-73 to 1977-78 and were one of the most successful franchises during their time in the World Hockey Association. In 1977, there were discussions of a possible merger with six clubs from the World Hockey Association joining the National Hockey League and Houston , along with Cincinnati , Winnipeg , New England , Quebec , and Edmonton applied for entry. After a lengthy debate, the NHL voted it down. The team was not accepted when the World Hockey Association tried to merge again with the National Hockey League in 1978 and as a result, folded on July 6, 1978. During the final series of talks, Aeros owner Kenneth Schnitzer campaigned to the NHL that either his team would be admitted as an expansion team independent of a merger, or an existing club would relocate to Houston. Unfortunately, neither happened, and the Aeros folded on July 6, 1978. The Aeros were the Western Division Champions from 1973-74 to 1976-77 seasons. They finished second in the Western Division in 1972-73 and third in the league in 1977-78. They won the AVCO Trophy in 1974 over the Chicago Cougars and 1975 over the Quebec Nordiques winning both series four straight. The Aeros lost in the 1976 AVCO finals to the Winnipeg Jets in four straight. They played their home games at the Sam Houston Coliseum (9,300 Seating Capacity ) from 1972 to 1975 and the Houston Summit (14,906 seating capacity) from 1975 to 1978. Their team colours were dark blue, powder blue and white. Bill Dineen was the Aeros head coach during their entire stay in the World Hockey Association. Among the players for the Aeros were Gordie Howe and his two sons Mark and Marty who became the first father/son combination to play together in professional hockey. Other players include Ron Grahame , Don MacLeod , Terry Ruskowski , Rich Preston , Andre Lacroix , Gord Labossiere , Ted Taylor , Frank Hughes , Don Grierson , Larry Lund , John Tonelli , Cam Connor , and Poul Popiel .
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