1974–75 WHA season

The 1974-75 WHA season was the 3rd season of the World Hockey Association. Fourteen teams each played 78 games. The Houston Aeros defeated the Quebec Nordiques 4 games to 0 in the Finals to win their 2nd Avco World Trophy.

Off-season

The Cleveland Crusaders moved into the new Coliseum at Richfield which at the time, was the most luxurious in hockey. The facilities far surpassed the Cleveland Arena which had become decrepit and the area was notorious for the high level of crime. Several Crusaders players experienced theft of their cars and mugging outside the old Cleveland Arena.

Pre-season

The first set of exhibition games between the NHL and WHA were held. The NHL was victorious in the series, winning 5 and losing 2 games.

September 26, 1974: Houston Aeros 5, St. Louis Blues 3
September 28, 1974: Philadelphia Flyers 4, New England Whalers 2
September 29, 1974: Atlanta Flames 3, Winnipeg Jets 1
October 5, 1974: San Diego Mariners 4, California Golden Seals 3
October 6, 1974: Minnesota North Stars 5, Toronto Toros 3
October 6, 1974: Vancouver Canucks 4, Edmonton Oilers 3
October 6, 1974: Pittsburgh Penguins 5, Cleveland Crusaders 3

Regular Season

Paul Hoganson makes a save on Skip Krake, December 19, 1974.

The WHA expanded by adding the Indianapolis Racers and Phoenix Roadrunners, and splitting into 3 divisions (Western, Eastern, and Canadian). The top two teams in each division qualified for the playoffs along with the two next best teams overall. Prior to the season, Southern California welcomed the New Jersey Knights, who moved to San Diego and became the Mariners, and said goodbye to the Los Angeles Sharks, who moved to Detroit and became the Michigan Stags. Midway through the season, the Stags moved to Baltimore and became the Blades. They folded for good after the season. The Chicago Cougars also folded at season's end.

Ceremonial puck drop between Ted Green and Norm Ferguson, January 11, 1975.

The only shutout in Michigan Stags history occurred on December 19, 1974 in a 1-0 victory over the Cleveland Crusaders. In a game marred by multiple brawls, Stags goalie Paul Hoganson out-dueled All-Star goalie Gerry Cheevers and made 32 saves.

On January 11, 1975 the Whalers played their first game at the new Hartford Civic Center after playing the previous 2-1/2 seasons at the Boston Garden. The Whalers defeated the San Diego Mariners 4-3 in overtime with Garry Swain scoring the winner.

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

During the intermission of the March 25, 1975 game between the Toronto Toros and 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.

Eastern Division

	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
New England Whalers	78	43	30	5	91	274	279	867
Cleveland Crusaders	78	35	40	3	73	236	258	1273
Chicago Cougars	78	30	47	1	61	261	312	1086
Indianapolis Racers	78	18	57	3	39	216	338	970

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.

Western Division

	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Houston Aeros	78	53	25	0	106	369	247	1257
San Diego Mariners	78	43	31	4	90	326	268	1058
Minnesota Fighting Saints	78	42	33	3	87	308	279	1233
Phoenix Roadrunners	78	39	31	8	86	300	265	1388
Michigan Stags / Baltimore Blades	78	21	53	4	46	205	341	1104

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.

Scoring Leaders

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
André Lacroix	San Diego Mariners	78	41	106	147	63
Bobby Hull	Winnipeg Jets	78	77	65	142	41
Serge Bernier	Quebec Nordiques	76	54	68	122	75
Ulf Nilsson	Winnipeg Jets	78	26	94	120	79
Larry Lund	Houston Aeros	78	33	75	108	68
Wayne Rivers	San Diego Mariners	78	54	53	107	52
Anders Hedberg	Winnipeg Jets	65	53	47	100	45
Gordie Howe	Houston Aeros	75	34	65	99	84
Wayne Dillon	Toronto Toros	77	29	66	95	22
Mike Walton	Minnesota Fighting Saints	75	48	45	93	33

Goaltending Leaders

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
Ron Grahame	Houston Aeros	43	2590	33	10	0	131	4	90.0	3.03
Bob Whidden	Cleveland Crusaders	29	1654	9	16	1	89	0	91.2	3.23
Wayne Rutledge	Houston Aeros	35	2092	20	15	0	113	2	89.2	3.24
Ernie Wakely	Winnipeg - San Diego	41	2418	23	15	2	131	3	90.0	3.25
Gerry Cheevers	Cleveland Crusaders	52	3076	26	24	2	167	4	90.5	3.26
Jack Norris	Phoenix Roadrunners	33	1962	14	15	4	107	1	89.1	3.27
John Garrett	Minnesota Fighting Saints	58	3294	30	23	2	180	2	90.5	3.28
Gary Kurt	Phoenix Roadrunners	47	2841	25	16	4	156	2	88.5	3.27
Jacques Plante	Edmonton Oilers	40	1592	15	14	1	88	1	89.0	3.32
Don McLeod	Vancouver Blazers	71	4124	32	35	2	230	1	89.1	3.35

All-Star Game

On January 21, 1975 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, a team comprised of the Western Division All-Stars defeated the Eastern Division All-Stars 6-4 before a crowd of 15,326 spectators. Rejean Houle of the Quebec Nordiques, who scored twice and had an assist in a losing effort, was the game MVP.

Avco World Trophy Playoffs

Eight teams qualified for the playoffs, the top two teams in each division and the next two teams with the highest point totals. The teams were then pooled together, according to point totals, to determine Quarter-finals match-ups. The three division winners were guaranteed the top three seeds, according to their point totals. Teams were not "re-seeded" after the Quarter-finals round.

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

W1

Houston Aeros

4

E2

Cleveland Crusaders

1

W1

Houston Aeros

4

W2

San Diego Mariners

0

W2

San Diego Mariners

4

C2

Toronto Toros

2

W1

Houston Aeros

4

C1

Quebec Nordiques

0

E1

New England Whalers

2

W3

Minnesota Fighting Saints

4

W3

Minnesota Fighting Saints

2

C1

Quebec Nordiques

4

C1

Quebec Nordiques

4

W4

Phoenix Roadrunners

1

Avco World Trophy Finals

Gordie Howe scores, Game 4 of the 1975 Avco World Trophy Finals, May 12, 1975.

The Aeros swept the Quebec Nordiques in the Avco World Trophy Finals. Gordie Howe led the series in scoring with 5 goals and 8 points. Aeros goalie Ron Grahame was named the WHA Playoff MVP.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	May 3	Quebec Nordiques	2–6	Houston Aeros	1–0
2	May 6	Quebec Nordiques	3–5	Houston Aeros	2–0
3	May 10	Houston Aeros	2–0	Quebec Nordiques	3–0
4	May 12	Houston Aeros	7–2	Quebec Nordiques	4–0

WHA Awards

Avco World Trophy:	Houston Aeros
Gary L. Davidson Award (MVP):	Bobby Hull, Winnipeg Jets
Bill Hunter Trophy (Scoring Leader):	Andre Lacroix, San Diego Mariners
Lou Kaplan Trophy (Rookie of the Year):	Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg Jets
Ben Hatskin Trophy (Best Goaltender):	Ron Grahame, Houston Aeros
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy (Best Defenseman):	J. C. Tremblay, Quebec Nordiques
Paul Deneau Trophy (Most Gentlemenly):	Mike Rogers, Edmonton Oilers
Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy (Coach of the Year):	Sandy Hucul, Phoenix Roadrunners
WHA Playoff MVP:	Ron Grahame, Houston Aeros

All-Star Teams

Position	First Team	Second Team
Centre	Andre Lacroix, San Diego	Serge Bernier, Quebec
Right Wing	Gordie Howe, Houston Aeros	Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg
Left Wing	Bobby Hull, Winnipeg	Marc Tardif, Quebec
Defence	J. C. Tremblay, Quebec	Poul Popiel, Houston
Defence	Kevin Morrison, San Diego	Barry Long, Edmonton
Goaltender	Ron Grahame, Houston	Gerry Cheevers, Cleveland

Gallery

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

Ceremonial face-off at the Roadrunners first home game between Andre Lacroix and Robbie Ftorek, October 16, 1974.

Gerry Desjardins and Ted Hampson, November 2, 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.

Bobby Hull, John Garrett, January 8, 1975.

Stags John Miszuk and goalie Paul Hoganson, Jets Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg during the last victory in Stags history, January 9, 1975.

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

Don Blackburn scores the 1st goal in the Hartford Civic Center on Ernie Wakely, January 11, 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.

Richard Brodeur makes a save behind #4 Francois Lacombe, April 2, 1974.

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

Ulf Nilsson, Gerry Odrowski, Anders Hedberg, Robbie Ftorek, Bobby Hull in 1974-75 action.

Michel Parizeau scores the series winner, Game 6 of the 1975 Semi-finals, May 1, 1975.

Video

Over an hour of game action from the February 2, 1975 Cleveland Crusaders-Quebec Nordiques match.

1975 02 02 QUEBEC AT CLEVELAND WHA

References

• WHA Database

Preceded by 1973-74 WHA season

WHA seasons

Succeeded by 1975-76 WHA season