out!" The phrase was plastered on billboards all over Denver in the 1979–80 season. As he later admitted, Cherry's outspokenness and feuding with Rockies general manager Ray Miron did not endear him to the front office. While Cherry was adept at motivating the players, goaltending was still the team's weakness, as Miron refused to replace Hardy Astrom, whom Cherry dubbed "The Swedish Sieve". Cherry recalled one game where his players had gotten ten shots on goal without scoring, but Astrom then conceded a goal from the opponent's first shot and so was pulled from net. The Rockies finished with 51 points, tied for the worst record in the league. In their final game, which was held at home, Cherry's team defeated the Penguins 5–0. As it was already known that Cherry would not return the next season, he wore a cowboy hat and cowboy boots for what would be his last NHL game. After the final buzzer sounded, his players formed two lines for him, raising their sticks to form an arch for Cherry to walk under while acknowledging the cheers of the crowd. Move to New Jersey The failure of Vickers' petroleum business left him unable to pay the lease at McNichols Arena in 1978. The deal was unfavorable from the beginning, as the Rockies never received any revenue from parking, concessions, or advertising. Vickers sold the Rockies on July 12 of that year to Arthur Imperatore Sr., whose intention was to keep the franchise in Denver before moving it to the new arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey which was under construction and expected to be completed by 1980. His imposition of the team's eventual transfer alienated many fans. Before he could complete the move, however, Imperatore sold the Rockies to Buffalo-based cable television magnate Peter Gilbert; the NHL Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale on February 10, 1981. At the time, the NHL seemed to be committed to keeping a team in Denver. Gilbert had promised not to move the team, and league president John Ziegler said that he wanted to make the Rockies a model franchise. Finally in 1982, after a failed bid by an Ottawa-based ownership group intent on moving the Rockies to the Canadian capital, the franchise was sold in May to New Jersey shipping tycoon John McMullen, who also owned Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. He announced that he