The Colorado Rockies were an American professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) that played in Denver from 1976 to 1982. They were founded as the Kansas City Scouts, an expansion team that began play in the NHL in the . The Scouts moved from Kansas City, Missouri, to Denver for the . After six seasons in Denver, the franchise moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey, for the and was renamed the New Jersey Devils. Denver went without an NHL team until the Quebec Nordiques relocated to become the Colorado Avalanche following the . The Rockies name itself would be applied to Denver's Major League Baseball expansion team that began play in . Franchise history Ivan Mullenix, owner of the Central Hockey League's Denver Spurs, had been awarded a "conditional" NHL franchise for the 1976–77 season. With McNichols Sports Arena already completed by 1975, he looked to enter the NHL a year early, and the league attempted to broker an arrangement by which he would acquire the struggling California Golden Seals and move them to Denver in lieu of an expansion team. At the same time, the Pittsburgh Penguins would be sold to a Seattle-based group that had also won a conditional franchise for that city. The proposed arrangement fell through, however, and with the continuing franchise difficulties, the NHL called off the 1976–77 expansion. The Spurs then elected to move to the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the 1975–76 season, but Denver fans did not consider the WHA a major league and stayed away in droves. By December, rumors that the NHL was preparing to move either the Seals or Kansas City Scouts to Denver led Mullenix to conclude he could not survive in the city. Out of desperation, he moved the Spurs to Ottawa almost halfway through the season. However, the renamed Ottawa Civics lasted only two weeks before folding. Meanwhile, the Scouts were on the verge of collapse despite having entered the NHL only two years earlier. Although they suffered through a 12-win season in 1975–76, they still fared better on the ice over their first two years than their expansion cousins, the Washington Capitals. However, Capitals' owner Abe Pollin was far better financed than the 37-member consortium that owned the Scouts, and had the patience to handle the typical struggles of an expansion team. Additionally, the Scouts were hobbled by an economic downturn