The Implications of Combining NHL and WHA Statistics - by Moses

As the NHL season is weeks away, there is some heated debate as to whether the NHL (National Hockey League) will recognize the former WHA (World Hockey Association) equally, with respect to players' statistics. The implications are very relevant when considering that both Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull were breadwinners in both Leagues. It may seem trivial, however, many Hockey players will either be remembered or never heard from again on this premise. Let's not forget that Anders Hedberg once scored 70 Goals in one season in the WHA (4 consecutive 50+ goal seasons), and Real Cloutier scored 75 Goals in one campaign (3 60+ goals seasons and four consecutive 56+ goals campaigns) These players are not exactly household names, yet were stars in the now defunct WHA. Bobby Hull scored 77 in a WHA campaign, and when including his WHA totals he amassed 913 Goals (9 - 50 goal seasons, and 17 consecutive 30+ Goal years in both Leagues). Gordie Howe scored 975 Goals in both Leagues, yet his mark of 786 NHL tallies is the statistic that most hockey fans remember today.
What would happen if future players join a European NHL, accredited as a North American NHL equal. How would a sports historian view the players' accomplishments in relation to eachother? The idea of setting an equal playing ground was supposed to take shape through the advent of the WHA. In the globalization of sport it is paramount to recognize accomplishments based on skill, and if a player in the WHA is forgotten, whose to say this won't stand true of a European NHL down the road. What would have happened had the Nazi's defeated the Allied forces in WW2? Would Jesse Owens be remembered, or would he have been scricken from the record books and filed away in denial, with the documentation destroyed? History has a funny way of selectively remembering what reality was, to the victor goes the spoils. Should I be a Hockey fan in the year 2050, will I have been ingrained on the accomplishments of Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson, Robbie Ftorek, Marc Tardif and Real Cloutier amongst NHL heroes? or will history decide in passivity to ignore these superstars because they were ahead of their time.