Changes: 1973-74 WHA Season

Revision as of 23:09, 5 October 2020

The 1973-74 WHA season was the second season of the now defunct 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 Chicago moved to the East. 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 24 games. The Ottawa Nationals moved to Toronto and became the Toronto Toros.

Regular Season

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

Eastern Division
	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.

Western Division
	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

Mike Walton of Minnesota led the league in scoring with 57 goals and 60 assists for 117 points.

All-Star Game

At St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, MN, the East defeated the West 8-4.

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 six games, while Chicago pulled its second upset by beating Toronto in 7 games, outscoring the Toros 14-4 in winning games 6 and 7. They ran out of magic in the finals however, as Houston swept them in four straight, outscoring them 22-9.

Avco World Trophy Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Houston 4 Winnipeg 0
Minnesota 4 Edmonton 1
Chicago 4 New England 3
Toronto 4 Cleveland 1

Semifinals

Houston 4 Minnesota 2
Chicago 4 Toronto 3

Avco World Trophy finals

Houston 4 Chicago 0

WHA Awards

Avco World Trophy:	Houston Aeros
Gary L. Davidson Award:	Gordie Howe, Houston Aeros
Bill Hunter Trophy:	Mike Walton, Minnesota Fighting Saints
Lou Kaplan Trophy:	Mark Howe, Houston Aeros
Ben Hatskin Trophy:	Don McLeod, \|Houston Aeros
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy:	Pat Stapleton, Chicago Cougars
Paul Deneau Trophy:	Ralph Backstrom, Chicago Cougars
Howard Baldwin Trophy:	Bill Harris, Toronto Toros

Gallery

References

HockeyDB

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 The '''1973-74 WHA season''' was the second season of the now defunct [[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 Chicago moved to the East. The [[New York Raiders]] were renamed the [[New York Raiders|New York Golden Blades]] and then moved to [[Cherry Hill, New Jersey]] to become the [[New York Raiders|New Jersey Knights]] after just 24 games. The Ottawa Nationals moved to Toronto and became the Toronto Toros.
-==Regular season==
+==Regular Season==
+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===
-{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"
-|-
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="45%" | Eastern Division
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | GP
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | W
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | L
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | T
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%" | Pts
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%" | GF
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%" | GA
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%" | PIM
-|-
-| '''[[Hartford Whalers|New England Whalers]]''' ||78 || 43 || 31 || 4|| 90 || 291|| 260 ||875
-|-
-| '''[[Toronto Toros]]''' || 78 || 41 || 33  || 4 || 86|| 304 || 272 ||871
-|-
-| '''[[Cleveland Crusaders]]''' ||78|| 37|| 32 || 9|| 83|| 266 ||264 ||1007
-|-
-| '''[[Chicago Cougars]]''' ||78 ||38 ||35 || 5 || 81|| 271|| 273 ||1041
-|-
-| [[Quebec Nordiques]] ||78 || 38 || 36 || 4 || 80|| 306 || 280 ||909
-|-
-| [[New York Raiders|NY Golden Blades / NJ Knights]] ||78 ||32 ||42 || 4||68 || 268|| 313 ||933
-|}
+===Final Standings===
-{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"
+{{1973–74 WHA Eastern Division standings|team=}}
-|-
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="45%" | Western Division
+{{1973–74 WHA Western Division standings|team=}}
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | GP
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | W
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | L
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | T
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%" | Pts
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%" | GF
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%" | GA
-! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%" | PIM
-|-
-| '''[[Houston Aeros (WHA)|Houston Aeros]]'''||78 ||48 || 25 || 5 || 101 ||318 ||219 ||1038
-|-
-| '''[[Minnesota Fighting Saints]]'''||78 ||44 ||32 ||2||90 ||332 ||275  ||1243
-|-
-| '''[[Edmonton Oilers]]'''||78 ||38 ||37 ||3 ||79||268 ||269 ||1273
-|-
-| '''[[Winnipeg Jets]]'''||78 ||34 ||39||5 ||73 ||264 ||296  || 673
-|-
-| [[Blazers/Cowboys (WHA)|Vancouver Blazers]]||78 ||27 ||50 ||1 ||55 ||278 ||345  ||1047
-|-
-| [[Los Angeles Sharks]]||78 ||25||53 ||0 ||50 ||239 ||339 || 1086
-|}
-===Summary===
+===Scoring Leaders===
-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.
-===Scoring leaders===
 Mike Walton of Minnesota led the league in scoring with 57 goals and 60 assists for 117 points.
 [[File:73-74WHAASprog.jpg|thumb]]
-===All-Star game===
+===All-Star Game===
 At [[St. Paul Civic Center]] in [[St. Paul, MN]], the East defeated the West 8-4.
+==Playoffs==
-===Playoff Summary===
-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 six games, while Chicago pulled its second upset by beating Toronto in 7 games, outscoring the Toros 14-4 in winning games 6 and 7.  They ran out of magic in the finals however, as Houston swept them in four straight, outscoring them 22-9.
+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 six games, while Chicago pulled its second upset by beating Toronto in 7 games, outscoring the Toros 14-4 in winning games 6 and 7. They ran out of magic in the finals however, as Houston swept them in four straight, outscoring them 22-9.
+===Avco World Trophy Playoffs===
-==Avco World Trophy playoffs==
 ;Quarterfinals
 *Houston 4 Winnipeg 0
@@ Line 83: / Line 34: @@
 *Houston 4 Chicago 0
-==WHA awards==
+==WHA Awards==
+[[File:73-74WHAAllStars.jpg|center|thumb]]
 {| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"
 |[[Avco World Trophy]]: || [[Houston Aeros (WHA)|Houston Aeros]]
 |-
-|[[Gary L. Davidson Award]]: || [[Gordie Howe]], [[Houston Aeros (WHA)|Houston Aeros]]
+|[[Gary L. Davidson Award]]: || [[Gordie Howe]], Houston Aeros
 |-
 |[[Bill Hunter Trophy]]: || [[Mike Walton]], [[Minnesota Fighting Saints]]
 |-
-|[[Lou Kaplan Trophy]]: || [[Mark Howe]], [[Houston Aeros (WHA)|Houston Aeros]]
+|[[Lou Kaplan Trophy]]: || [[Mark Howe]], Houston Aeros
 |-
-|[[Ben Hatskin Trophy]]: || [[Don McLeod]], [[Houston Aeros (WHA)|Houston Aeros]]
+|[[Ben Hatskin Trophy]]: || [[Don McLeod]], |Houston Aeros
 |-
-|[[Dennis A. Murphy Trophy]]: || [[Pat Stapleton (ice hockey)|Pat Stapleton]], [[Chicago Cougars]]
+|[[Dennis A. Murphy Trophy]]: || [[Pat Stapleton]], [[Chicago Cougars]]
 |-
-|[[Paul Deneau Trophy]]: || [[Ralph Backstrom]], [[Chicago Cougars]]
+|[[Paul Deneau Trophy]]: || [[Ralph Backstrom]], Chicago Cougars
 |-
 |[[Howard Baldwin Trophy]]: || [[Bill Harris (coach)|Bill Harris]], [[Toronto Toros]]
 |}
+==Gallery==
-[[File:73-74WHAAllStars.jpg|center|thumb]]
-==Game Ads==
 <gallery captionalign="center">
 -74WHATorontoGameAd.jpg|[[Toronto]]

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