After the stunning collapse of the Minnesota Fighting Saints , the WHA returned to St. Paul, as the Cleveland Crusaders forced out by the arrival of the NHL's Cleveland Barons too up the Fighting Saints moniker, while changing the colors from blue and gold to red and gold.

The new Saints coached by Glen Sonmor would lose game 7-2 on October 7th against the Cincinnati Stingers. After losing their first two on the road, the Saints would win their first game at home against the Indianapolis Racers 4-1.

Early on the Fighting Saints struggled, as they held a record of 9-11-4 through the first two months. However, they began to pick up their play in December and inched towards .

500. The momentum continued into January, as they won three of five and climbed above .

500 with a 9-5 win over the Racers on January 14th. That would be the final game played for the Fighting Saints who had a record of 19-18-5, as the same financial woes that forced the first Saints team to fold a year earlier doomed the new incarnation as the WHA continued to lose teams and lose money.

grow as much as expected, as they lost their first game at their new arena 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers on November 2nd. Despite three 30 goal scores in Rich Leduc, Al McDonough and Ron Ward the Crusaders posted a disappointing record of 35-40-3, as Jack Vivian took over as coach in the middle of the season.

Despite the struggles, the Crusaders still managed to earn a playoff spot, losing to the eventual AVCO Cup Champion Houston Aeros in five games.