of playoff contention. Merger and aftermath After the season, the Gunds tried to buy the Coliseum, but failed. (They would later succeed in buying the Coliseum, and eventually bought the Cavaliers from Ted Stepien in 1983). With the Barons barely registering on Cleveland's sports landscape, the Gunds searched for a way out. A bid by Kenneth Schnitzer, owner of the WHA's Houston Aeros (who were not being included as part of any proposed merger between the two leagues at the time) to buy the Barons and relocate them to Houston was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the consortium that owned the Minnesota North Stars was having its own financial difficulties similar to those faced by the Barons. Fearing that two franchises were on the verge of folding, the league granted approval on June 14, 1978, for the two teams to merge. The amalgamated team retained the North Stars' name, colors, and history, while the wealthier Gunds became the principal owners of the North Stars. The NHL finally agreed to absorb the WHA one year later, a development which resulted in a two decade absence of major league hockey in Ohio since the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers were not included in the merger. However, the NHL worked to keep interest in hockey alive in the state. The Pittsburgh Penguins, who from 1978 to 1991 were owned by Northeast Ohio native Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr., played two designated home games at the Richfield Coliseum in the early 1990s before the arena was demolished and the land added to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The NHL finally returned to Ohio in 2000 with the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets. Dennis Maruk was the last Baron (and last Golden Seal as well) to be active in the NHL, retiring from the North Stars after the 1988–89 season with 356 goals in 888 games. With the North Stars continuing to struggle financially, the Gunds began looking to bring NHL hockey back to the Bay Area. By the late 1980s, they sought to relocate the North Stars but were blocked by the league. In 1991, the Gunds were granted an expansion franchise in San Jose, which became the San Jose Sharks, in return for selling their stake in the North Stars to a group led by Hartford Whalers' founder Howard Baldwin. As a compromise, the league arranged a special dispersal and expansion draft in which the Sharks claimed 16 North Stars players