Indianapolis Racers
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The Indianapolis Racers were a franchise in the former World Hockey Association. They competed for five seasons, folding in the middle of the 1978-79 season. They are by far best-known for being the first professional team to secure the services of the player often considered hockey's all-time greatest player, Wayne Gretzky. The presence of the young Gretzky was inadequate to save the team, however, or in the final analysis even the WHA as a whole, which folded at the end of the 1978-79 season. Four WHA teams were accepted into the NHL, but the league's records were not accepted by the older league, so Gretzky's official records, as amazing as they are, in fact somewhat understate his accomplishments.