1973–74 WHA season

Professional ice hockey league season August 2023 1973–74 WHA season World Hockey Association Ice hockey October 6, 1973 – May 19, 1974 Regular season Draft 1973 WHA amateur draft Bob Neely Chicago Cougars Gordie Howe (Houston) Gordie Howe Trophy Mike Walton (Minnesota) Bill Hunter Trophy Houston Aeros Avco Cup Final Houston Aeros Chicago Cougars 1974–75 1972–73 WHA 78 12 The 1973–74 WHA season was the second season of the World Hockey Association, and lasted from October 1973 until the Avco Cup final game on May 19, 1974, when the Houston Aeros, with Gordie Howe, defeated the Chicago Cougars to sweep the series in four games. 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 Jersey Knights after just 24 games. The Ottawa Nationals moved to Toronto and became the Toronto Toros. The Alberta Oilers changed their name to the Edmonton Oilers. Regular season Final standings GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes Teams that qualifies for the playoffs are highlighted in bold start break end Summary In June 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.Goldaper Sam 1973-06-20 GORDIE HOWE GETS $1-MILLION PACT en-US The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/20/archives/gordie-howe-gets-1million-pact.html 2023-01-31 0362-4331 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 champions New England won their second straight division title followed by Toronto, Cleveland, and Chicago. Player stats Scoring leaders Bolded numbers indicate season 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 Bolded numbers indicate season 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 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 At St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, MN, the East defeated the West 8–4. Avco World Trophy playoffs 1974 WHA playoffs The West Division playoffs went according to form, with the top two 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 seven games, winning three of the four 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 seven games, outscoring the Toros 14–4 in winning games six and seven. They ran out of magic in the finals however, as Houston swept them in four straight, outscoring them 22–9. Eastern Division Western Division E1 New England Whalers 3 E4 Chicago Cougars 4 E2 Toronto Toros 4 E3 Cleveland Crusaders 1 W1 Houston Aeros 4 W4 Winnipeg Jets 0 W2 Minnesota Fighting Saints 4 W3 Edmonton Oilers 1 E4 Chicago Cougars 4 E2 Toronto Toros 3 W1 Houston Aeros 4 W2 Minnesota Fighting Saints 2 E4 Chicago Cougars 0 W1 Houston Aeros 4 WHA awards Trophies Avco World Trophy: Houston AerosGary L. Davidson Award: Gordie Howe, Houston AerosBill Hunter Trophy: Mike Walton, Minnesota Fighting SaintsLou Kaplan Trophy: Mark Howe, Houston Aeros Ben Hatskin Trophy: Don McLeod, Houston AerosDennis A. Murphy Trophy: Pat Stapleton, Chicago CougarsPaul Deneau Trophy: Ralph Backstrom, Chicago CougarsHoward Baldwin Trophy: Billy Harris, Toronto Toros All-Star Team Position First Team Second Team Centre Andre 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 See also 1973 WHA Amateur Draft List of NHL seasons List of pre-NHL seasons 1973 in sports 1974 in sports References Year by Year Standings http://www.geocities.com/Pipeline/5206/standings.html https://web.archive.org/web/20091021003334/http://geocities.com/Pipeline/5206/standings.html 2009-10-21 dead HockeyDB 2 2 Category:World Hockey Association seasons