1974–75 Toronto Toros season

1974–75 Toronto Toros
Division	2nd Canadian
1974–75 record	43–33–2
Home record	24–15–0
Road record	19–18–2
Goals for	349
Goals against	304
Team Information
Coach	Billy Harris Bob Leduc
Captain	Frank Mahovlich
Arena	Maple Leaf Gardens
Average attendance	10,436
Team Leaders
Goals	Tom Simpson (52)
Assists	Wayne Dillon (66)
Points	Wayne Dillon (95)
Penalties in minutes	Rick Cunningham (117)
Wins	Gilles Gratton (30)
Goals against average	Les Binkley (3.65)

<1973–74

1975–76>

The 1973–74 Toronto Toros season was the team's 2nd season in Toronto after their inaugural season as the Ottawa Nationals in 1972-73. The Toros finished 2nd in the Canadian Division and lost in the Quarter-finals to the San Diego Mariners 4 games to 3.

Off-season

The Toros strengthened themselves in the off-season with the signing two ex-Toronto Maple Leafs, former NHL superstar Frank Mahovlich and the hero from the 1972 Summit Series, Paul Henderson. Czech star Vaclav Nedomansky defected and signed with Toronto.

The Toros moved from Varsity Arena to Maple Leaf Gardens for the start of their second season. However, Harold Ballard had regained control of the Gardens. A violent opponent of the WHA, he never forgave the upstart league for nearly decimating the Leafs' roster in the early 1970s, he deliberately made the Toros' lease terms at the Gardens as onerous as possible. Besides making them pay $15,000 per game, the arena was dim for the first game. It was then that Ballard demanded $3,500 for use of the lights. Ballard also denied the Toros access to the Leafs' locker room, forcing them to build their own at a cost of $55,000. He also removed the cushions from the home bench for Toros' games (he told an arena worker, "Let 'em buy their own cushions!").

The Toros jerseys were the same design as in the 1973-74 season.

Pre-season

On October 6, 1974, the Toros lost an exhibition game 5-3 against the Minnesota North Stars.

Regular Season

Evel Knievel scores on Les Binkley, March 25, 1975.

Tom Simpson became the first professional hockey player in Toronto to have a 50-goal season, scoring 52 goals (a number he would never come close to matching again). The Toros finished the year with the league's fifth-best record at 43-33-2.

During the intermission of the March 25, 1975 game versus the Vancouver Blazers, a breakaway exhibition was held between daredevil Evel Knievel and Toros goaltender Les Binkley. Wearing a Toros #13 jersey, Knievel (who had played semi-pro hockey in Montana) deked Binkley out and scored.

Final Standings

Canadian Division

	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Quebec Nordiques	78	46	32	0	92	331	299	1132
Toronto Toros	78	43	33	2	88	349	304	883
Winnipeg Jets	78	38	35	5	81	322	293	869
Vancouver Blazers	78	37	39	2	76	256	270	1075
Edmonton Oilers	78	36	38	4	76	279	279	896

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	October 15	New England Whalers	2–6	Toronto Toros	1–0–0	2
2	October 18	Indianapolis Racers	1–3	Toronto Toros	2–0–0	4
3	October 20	Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades	3–4	Toronto Toros	3–0–0	6
4	October 22	Minnesota Fighting Saints	2–11	Toronto Toros	4–0–0	8
5	October 25	Winnipeg Jets	1–3	Toronto Toros	5–0–0	10
6	October 28	Phoenix Roadrunners	3–7	Toronto Toros	6–0–0	12
7	October 30	Toronto Toros	2–5	New England Whalers	6–1–0	12
8	November 1	Toronto Toros	1–10	Winnipeg Jets	6–2–0	12
9	November 2	Toronto Toros	3–4 OT	Chicago Cougars	6–3–0	12
10	November 4	Quebec Nordiques	5–3	Toronto Toros	6–4–0	12
11	November 5	Toronto Toros	5–2	Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades	7–4–0	14
12	November 9	Toronto Toros	7–4	Minnesota Fighting Saints	8–4–0	16
13	November 10	Toronto Toros	7–0	Chicago Cougars	9–4–0	18
14	November 13	Toronto Toros	5–3	Vancouver Blazers	10–4–0	20
15	November 15	Toronto Toros	4–5	Edmonton Oilers	10–5–0	20
16	November 17	Toronto Toros	3–1	Winnipeg Jets	11–5–0	22
17	November 19	Toronto Toros	6–5	Cleveland Crusaders	12–5–0	24
18	November 22	Edmonton Oilers	8–2	Toronto Toros	12–6–0	24
19	November 23	Toronto Toros	9–2	Quebec Nordiques	13–6–0	26
20	November 24	Toronto Toros	9–2	Indianapolis Racers	14–6–0	28
21	November 26	Minnesota Fighting Saints	6–2	Toronto Toros	14–7–0	28
22	November 28	Vancouver Blazers	6–2	Toronto Toros	14–8–0	28
23	November 29	Toronto Toros	4–4	Phoenix Roadrunners	14–8–1	29
24	December 1	Toronto Toros	3–1	San Diego Mariners	15–8–1	31
25	December 3	Houston Aeros	5–4	Toronto Toros	15–9–1	31
26	December 7	Toronto Toros	3–9	Chicago Cougars	15–10–1	31
27	December 8	Toronto Toros	5–2	Phoenix Roadrunners	16–10–1	33
28	December 10	Minnesota Fighting Saints	4–2	Toronto Toros	16–11–1	33
29	December 13	Cleveland Crusaders	6–7 OT	Toronto Toros	17–11–1	35
30	December 15	Toronto Toros	7–2	Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades	18–11–1	37
31	December 17	Winnipeg Jets	4–1	Toronto Toros	18–12–1	37
32	December 22	Chicago Cougars	2–5	Toronto Toros	19–12–1	39
33	December 23	Cleveland Crusaders	4–1	Toronto Toros	19–13–1	39
34	December 27	Chicago Cougars	2–4	Toronto Toros	20–13–1	41
35	January 3	New England Whalers	5–3	Toronto Toros	20–14–1	41
36	January 4	Toronto Toros	1–3	Quebec Nordiques	20–15–1	41
37	January 5	Toronto Toros	4–3	Cleveland Crusaders	21–15–1	43
38	January 7	Phoenix Roadrunners	3–2	Toronto Toros	21–16–1	43
39	January 10	San Diego Mariners	3–4	Toronto Toros	22–16–1	45
40	January 12	Toronto Toros	7–4	Houston Aeros	23–16–1	47
41	January 14	Toronto Toros	4–6	San Diego Mariners	23–17–1	47
42	January 15	Toronto Toros	5–5	Phoenix Roadrunners	23–17–2	48
43	January 17	Toronto Toros	1–2	New England Whalers	23–18–2	48
44	January 24	Toronto Toros	5–7	Minnesota Fighting Saints	23–19–2	48
45	January 26	Toronto Toros	7–5	Edmonton Oilers	24–19–2	50
46	January 28	Quebec Nordiques	4–6	Toronto Toros	25–19–2	52
47	January 30	Toronto Toros	3–2	Indianapolis Racers	26–19–2	54
48	January 31	Vancouver Blazers	0–6	Toronto Toros	27–19–2	56
49	February 2	Toronto Toros	2–4	Vancouver Blazers	27–20–2	56
50	February 4	Toronto Toros	4–8	San Diego Mariners	27–21–2	56
51	February 5	Toronto Toros	2–5	Houston Aeros	27–22–2	56
52	February 7	Cleveland Crusaders	1–4	Toronto Toros	28–22–2	58
53	February 9	Indianapolis Racers	5–7	Toronto Toros	29–22–2	60
54	February 11	Edmonton Oilers	3–4	Toronto Toros	30–22–2	62
55	February 12	Toronto Toros	7–4	Winnipeg Jets	31–22–2	64
56	February 14	Toronto Toros	4–8	Edmonton Oilers	31–23–2	64
57	February 16	Toronto Toros	7–4	Vancouver Blazers	32–23–2	66
58	February 20	Chicago Cougars	4–3 OT	Toronto Toros	32–24–2	66
59	February 22	Toronto Toros	3–4	Cleveland Crusaders	32–25–2	66
60	February 23	Toronto Toros	1–5	Houston Aeros	32–26–2	66
61	February 25	San Diego Mariners	4–6	Toronto Toros	33–26–2	68
62	March 2	Toronto Toros	3–5	Minnesota Fighting Saints	33–27–2	68
63	March 4	Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades	4–6	Toronto Toros	34–27–2	70
64	March 7	Quebec Nordiques	4–1	Toronto Toros	34–28–2	70
65	March 8	Toronto Toros	7–4	Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades	35–28–2	72
66	March 9	Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades	2–8	Toronto Toros	36–28–2	74
67	March 11	Phoenix Roadrunners	4–7	Toronto Toros	37–28–2	76
68	March 13	Toronto Toros	4–5	Indianapolis Racers	37–29–2	76
69	March 14	San Diego Mariners	6–4	Toronto Toros	37–30–2	76
70	March 16	Toronto Toros	5–7	New England Whalers	37–31–2	76
71	March 17	Houston Aeros	4–5	Toronto Toros	38–31–2	78
72	March 25	Vancouver Blazers	4–8	Toronto Toros	39–31–2	80
73	March 28	Edmonton Oilers	4–5	Toronto Toros	40–31–2	82
74	March 29	Toronto Toros	5–4 OT	Quebec Nordiques	41–31–2	84
75	March 30	New England Whalers	4–3	Toronto Toros	41–32–2	84
76	April 1	Indianapolis Racers	1–7	Toronto Toros	42–32–2	86
77	April 4	Winnipeg Jets	1–7	Toronto Toros	43–32–2	88
78	April 6	Houston Aeros	5–2	Toronto Toros	43–33–2	88

Playoffs

San Diego Mariners 4, Toronto Toros 2

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 9	Toronto Toros	3–5	San Diego Mariners	0-1
2	April 12	Toronto Toros	6–7	San Diego Mariners	0-2
3	April 14	San Diego Mariners	2–5	Toronto Toros	1-2
4	April 16	San Diego Mariners	5–6	Toronto Toros	2-2
5	April 18	Toronto Toros	3–4	San Diego Mariners	2-3
6	April 21	San Diego Mariners	6–4	Toronto Toros	2-4

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring Leaders

#	Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
9	Wayne Dillon	77	29	66	95	22
27	Frank Mahovlich	73	38	44	82	27
14	Vaclav Nedomansky	78	41	40	81	19
12	Tom Simpson	70	52	28	80	48
11	Gavin Kirk	78	15	58	73	69
16	Pat Hickey	74	35	34	69	50
10	Paul Henderson	58	30	33	63	18
26	Tony Featherstone	76	25	38	63	26
7	Jim Dorey	43	11	23	34	69
17	Tom Martin	64	15	17	32	18
8	Richard Farda	66	6	25	31	2
2	Jim Turkiewicz	78	3	27	30	28
6	Brian Gibbons	73	4	22	26	105
3	Rick Cunningham	71	7	18	25	117
21	Lou Nistico	29	11	11	22	75
4	Steve Cuddie	70	5	16	21	49
25	Jeff Jacques	41	12	8	20	26
5	Mike Amodeo	64	1	13	14	50
23	George Kuzmicz	34	0	12	12	22
	Larry Mavety	17	0	9	9	24
7	Guy Trottier	14	4	4	8	4
19	Bob Leduc	19	3	4	7	9
15	Brit Selby	17	1	4	5	0
20	Peter Marrin	3	3	1	4	0
33	Gilles Gratton (G)	53	0	4	4	8
	Gord Titcomb	2	0	1	1	0
30	Les Binkley (G)	17	0	0	0	0
1	Jim Shaw (G)	21	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA	Save %
Les Binkley	17	772	6	4	0	47	0	3.65	.888
Gilles Gratton	53	2881	30	20	1	185	2	3.85	.887
Jim Shaw	21	1055	7	9	1	70	0	3.98	.885

Playoffs

Scoring Leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Gavin Kirk	6	5	6	11	2
Wayne Dillon	6	4	4	8	4
Jim Dorey	6	2	6	8	2
Lou Nistico	6	6	1	7	19
Tom Martin	5	1	5	6	0
Vaclav Nedomansky	6	3	1	4	9
Steve Cuddie	6	0	4	4	8
Jeff Jacques	6	0	4	4	2
Peter Marrin	6	0	4	4	2
Frank Mahovlich	6	3	0	3	2
Tony Featherstone	6	2	1	3	2
Larry Mavety	6	0	3	3	6
Tom Simpson	6	1	1	2	0
Mike Amodeo	3	0	1	1	4
Pat Hickey	5	0	1	1	4
Rick Cunningham	5	0	1	1	0
Richard Farda	1	0	0	0	0
Jack Gibson	1	0	0	0	0
Brian Gibbons	5	0	0	0	4
Les Binkley (G)	1	0	0	0	0
Gilles Gratton (G)	1	0	0	0	0
Jim Shaw (G)	5	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA	Save %
Jim Shaw	5	262	2	2	18	0	4.12
Les Binkley	1	59	0	1	5	0	5.08
Gilles Gratton	1	36	0	1	5	0	8.33

Awards and Records

• The Toros did not win any awards this season.

Draft Picks

Toronto's draft picks at the 1974 WHA Amateur Draft.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	12	Jim Turkiewicz	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
2	27	Roger Lemelin	Canada	London Knights (OHA)
5	71	Carlo Torresan	Canada	Sorel Black Hawks (QMJHL)
6	86	Ron Sedlbauer	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
7	100	Gilles Lupien	Canada	Montreal Red White and Blue (QMJHL)
8	115	Garth Malarchuk	Canada	Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
9	130	John Harper		Cornell University (NCAA)
10	145	Joe McNeil		St. Francis Xavier University (CIAU)
11	160	Jack Davies		Thunder Bay Hurricanes (MJHL)
12	173	Bill Hassard		Wexford Raiders (OPJHL)

Farm Teams

• Mohawk Valley Comets, NAHL

Gallery

Frank Mahovlich scores on Al Smith, October 15, 1974.

Don McLeod, John McKenzie, Richard Farda, Pat Price, November 13, 1974.

Don McLeod, Mike Pelyk, Paul Henderson, November 13, 1974.

Paul Henderson, goalie Mike Curran, Wayne Dillon, November 26, 1974.

Larry Lund scores on Gilles Gratton as Wayne Dillon and Andre Hinse look on, December 2, 1974.

Paul Henderson (wearing a cage to protect his broken nose) and Jim Hargreaves, January 10, 1975.

Daryl Maggs, Steve Cuddie, Dave Dryden, February 20, 1975.

Frank Mahovlich scores on Ernie Wakely as Wayne Dillon looks on, February 26, 1975.

Steve Cuddie, Steve Andrascik, Tom Serviss, Mike Amodeo, Les Binkley, March 4, 1975.

Steve Cuddie, Bobby Hull, Jim Dorey, goalie Jim Shaw, April 4, 1975.

See Also

• 1974–75 WHA season