1973–74 WHA season
Professional ice hockey league season
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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.
| 1973–74 WHA season | |
|---|---|
| League | World Hockey Association |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 6, 1973 – May 19, 1974 |
| Games | 78 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Bob Neely |
| Picked by | Chicago Cougars |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Houston Aeros |
| Season MVP | Gordie Howe (Houston) |
| Top scorer | Mike Walton (Minnesota) |
| Avco Cup Final | |
| Champions | Houston Aeros |
| Runners-up | Chicago Cougars |
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
| 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 / Jersey Knights | 78 | 32 | 42 | 4 | 268 | 313 | 933 | 68 |
| 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 |
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.[1] 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
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.
| 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 | ||||||||||||
WHA awards
Trophies
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 |