The 1973-74 WHA season was the second season of the World Hockey Association. Twelve teams each played 78 games. The Philadelphia Blazers relocated to Vancouver, becoming the Vancouver Blazers. They were moved to the Western Division and the Chicago Cougars moved to the Eastern Division. The New York Raiders were renamed the New York Golden Blades and then moved to Cherry Hill, New Jersey to become the New Jersey Knights after just 20 games. The Ottawa Nationals moved to Toronto and became the Toronto Toros.
The Houston Aeros defeated the Chicago Cougars 4 games to 0 in the Finals to win their 1st Avco World Trophy.
Off-season[]
Following the 1972-73 WHA season, New York real estate mogul Ralph Brent bought the team and renamed it the New York Golden Blades. While they managed to acquire Andre Lacroix from the Philadelphia Blazers, he was essentially all the franchise had going for it. The team replaced their original orange and blue uniforms with purple and gold uniforms of a unique design, and to coincide with the new identity, the team started the season wearing white skates with gold-colored blades.
Pre-season[]
Golden Blades Andre Lacroix and Dean Boylan in exhibition action against the Aeros, September 25, 1973.
In order to promote the New York Golden Blades, a four team mini-tournament featuring the Houston Aeros, Winnipeg Jets and New England Whalers was held at Madison Square Garden on September 25, 1973.
Regular Season[]
Gordie, Marty and Mark Howe in 1973.
The Houston Aeros lured 45 year old Gordie Howe out of retirement by promising him that he could play with his sons Mark and Marty who were also on the team. Howe responded by having a 100 point season, leading the team in scoring and helping them finish with the best record in the league. The Aeros also received excellent goaltending from Don McLeod and Wayne Rutledge. The defending Western Division champion Winnipeg Jets slipped to 4th place with a sub-.500 record. The other playoff qualifiers in the West were Minnesota and Edmonton.
In the East, defending Avco World Trophy champs New England won their second straight division title followed by Toronto, Cleveland and Chicago.
Final Standings[]
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PIM | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New England Whalers | 78 | 43 | 31 | 4 | 291 | 260 | 875 | 90 |
| Toronto Toros | 78 | 41 | 33 | 4 | 304 | 272 | 871 | 86 |
| Cleveland Crusaders | 78 | 37 | 32 | 9 | 266 | 264 | 1007 | 83 |
| Chicago Cougars | 78 | 38 | 35 | 5 | 271 | 273 | 1041 | 81 |
| Quebec Nordiques | 78 | 38 | 36 | 4 | 306 | 280 | 909 | 80 |
| NY Golden Blades / NJ Knights | 78 | 32 | 42 | 4 | 268 | 313 | 933 | 68 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties Minutes, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PIM | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Aeros | 78 | 48 | 25 | 5 | 318 | 219 | 1038 | 101 |
| Minnesota Fighting Saints | 78 | 44 | 32 | 2 | 332 | 275 | 1243 | 90 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 78 | 38 | 37 | 3 | 268 | 269 | 1273 | 79 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 78 | 34 | 39 | 5 | 264 | 296 | 673 | 73 |
| Vancouver Blazers | 78 | 27 | 50 | 1 | 278 | 345 | 1047 | 55 |
| Los Angeles Sharks | 78 | 25 | 53 | 0 | 239 | 339 | 1086 | 50 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties Minutes, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Scoring Leaders[]
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Walton | Minnesota Fighting Saints | 78 | 57 | 60 | 117 | 88 |
| Andre Lacroix | NY Golden Blades / Jersey Knights | 78 | 31 | 80 | 111 | 54 |
| Gordie Howe | Houston Aeros | 76 | 31 | 69 | 100 | 46 |
| Wayne Connelly | Minnesota Fighting Saints | 78 | 42 | 53 | 95 | 16 |
| Bobby Hull | Winnipeg Jets | 75 | 53 | 42 | 95 | 37 |
| Wayne Carleton | Toronto Toros | 78 | 37 | 55 | 92 | 31 |
| Bryan Campbell | Vancouver Blazers | 76 | 27 | 62 | 89 | 50 |
| Danny Lawson | Vancouver Blazers | 78 | 50 | 38 | 88 | 14 |
| Serge Bernier | Quebec Nordiques | 74 | 37 | 49 | 86 | 107 |
| Larry Lund | Houston Aeros | 75 | 33 | 53 | 86 | 109 |
Leading Goaltenders[]
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don McLeod | Houston Aeros | 49 | 2971 | 33 | 13 | 3 | 127 | 3 | 91.1 | 2.56 |
| Gerry Cheevers | Cleveland Crusaders | 59 | 3562 | 30 | 20 | 6 | 180 | 4 | 90.6 | 3.03 |
| Al Smith | New England Whalers | 55 | 3194 | 30 | 21 | 2 | 164 | 2 | 89.5 | 3.08 |
| Cam Newton | Chicago Cougars | 45 | 2732 | 25 | 18 | 2 | 143 | 1 | 89.4 | 3.14 |
| Jack Norris | Edmonton Oilers | 53 | 2954 | 23 | 24 | 1 | 158 | 2 | 89.8 | 3.21 |
All-Star Game[]
Mike Walton scores on Gerry Cheevers, 2nd WHA All-Star Game, January 3, 1974.
On January 3, 1974 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, MN, a team comprised of the Eastern Division All-Stars defeated the Western Division All-Stars 8-4 before a crowd of 13,196 spectators. Mike Walton, who had a Hat trick in a losing effort, was the game's MVP.
Avco World Trophy Playoffs[]
The West Division playoffs went according to form, with the top 2 seeds, Houston and Minnesota, easily disposing of Edmonton and Winnipeg respectively. In the east, Toronto won as expected over Cleveland, but Chicago shocked the WHA by upsetting the defending champion New England Whalers in 7 games, winning 3 of the 4 games in New England. In the division Finals, favored Houston defeated Minnesota in 6 games, while Chicago pulled its second upset by beating Toronto in 7 games, outscoring the Toros 14-4 in winning games 6 and 7.
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| E1 | New England Whalers | 3 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Chicago Cougars | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Chicago Cougars | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Division | ||||||||||||||
| E2 | Toronto Toros | 3 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Toronto Toros | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Cleveland Crusaders | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Chicago Cougars | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Houston Aeros | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Houston Aeros | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Winnipeg Jets | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Houston Aeros | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Western Division | ||||||||||||||
| W2 | Minnesota Fighting Saints | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Minnesota Fighting Saints | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Edmonton Oilers | 1 | ||||||||||||
Avco World Trophy Finals[]
Larry Lund scores the sixth Aeros goal, Game 4 of the 1974 Avco World Trophy Finals, May 19, 1974.
When the Chicago Cougars won their series versus the Toronto Toros, the Peter Pan show had moved on, and the International Amphitheatre should have been available. However, the Amphitheatre had a portable ice surface. For reasons that were never stated, the Amphitheatre staff decided the hockey season was over so uncovered and dismantled the copper pipes used to chill the ice. The Cougars had no choice but to return to the Randhurst Ice Arena, a 2,000 seat public skating rink, for the Finals. The Cougars never quite recovered from the public relations disaster. One sports reporter had quipped, "The Cougars were beaten by the greatest lightweight of them all - Peter Pan."
The Cougars ran out of magic in the Finals as Houston swept them in four straight, outscoring them 22-9.
| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record |
| 1 | May 12 | Houston Aeros | 3–2 | Chicago Cougars | 1–0 |
| 2 | May 15 | Houston Aeros | 6–1 | Chicago Cougars | 2–0 |
| 3 | May 17 | Chicago Cougars | 4–7 | Houston Aeros | 3–0 |
| 4 | May 19 | Chicago Cougars | 2–6 | Houston Aeros | 4–0 |
WHA Awards[]
| Avco World Trophy: | Houston Aeros |
| Gary L. Davidson Award (MVP): | Gordie Howe, Houston Aeros |
| Bill Hunter Trophy (Scoring Leader): | Mike Walton, Minnesota Fighting Saints |
| Lou Kaplan Trophy (Rookie of the Year): | Mark Howe, Houston Aeros |
| Ben Hatskin Trophy (Best Goaltender): | Don McLeod, Houston Aeros |
| Dennis A. Murphy Trophy (Best Defenseman): | Pat Stapleton, Chicago Cougars |
| Paul Deneau Trophy (Most Gentlemenly): | Ralph Backstrom, Chicago Cougars |
| Howard Baldwin Trophy (Coach of the Year): | Bill Harris, Toronto Toros |
All-Star Teams[]
| Position | First Team | Second Team |
|---|---|---|
| Centre | André Lacroix, New York/Jersey | Wayne Carleton, Toronto |
| Right Wing | Gordie Howe, Houston | Mike Walton, Minnesota |
| Left Wing | Bobby Hull, Winnipeg | Mark Howe, Houston |
| Defence | Pat Stapleton, Chicago | J. C. Tremblay, Quebec |
| Defence | Paul Shmyr, Cleveland | Al Hamilton, Edmonton |
| Goaltender | Don McLeod, Houston | Gerry Cheevers, Cleveland |
Gallery[]
References[]
| 1973–74 WHA season by team | |
|---|---|
| Eastern: | Chicago • Cleveland • New England • NY Golden Blades / NJ Knights • Quebec • Toronto |
| Western: | Edmonton • Houston • Los Angeles • Minnesota • Vancouver • Winnipeg |
| Preceded by 1972-73 WHA season |
WHA seasons | Succeeded by 1974-75 WHA season |