1973-74
OFF-SEASON
Some movement in the WHA as the Oilers change their name from Alberta to the Edmonton Oilers. The New York Raiders become the New York Golden Blades but look like they will still be awful. The Ottawa Nationals moved to Toronto and are now known as the Toros while the Philadelphia Blazers are packing up their 5 wins in 78 games last year and moving to Vancouver.
This is a big year for the Leafs in terms of new players as Borje Salming, Ian Turnbull and Lanny McDonald all arrive. The Islanders get Denis Potvin. Tom Lysiak goes to Atlanta. Montreal adds Bob Gainey and Blaine Stougthon arrives in Pittsburgh.
A ton of retirements this year with the main ones being goaltender Glenn Hall and defenseman Pierre Pilote. Hall played one year in Chicago before moving to the Rangers and finished with a 501-752-187 record in 1459 NHL appearances. Pilote won a Hart Trophy and 5 Norris Trophy's with the Black Hawks, playing 1513 games and scoring 1005 career points. He won 5 Stanley Cups and was a 6 time first team all-star.
One trade of note as the Black Hawks sent 26 year old winger Cliff Koroll to Los Angeles for 25 year old winger Ernie Hicke. Koroll had 19 goals and 42 points last season in Chicago, his third with the Black Hawks. Hicke played 78 games over 2 seasons with the Kings, scoring 12 times and adding 20 assists.
REGULAR SEASON
It was a tough year for the Chicago Black Hawks as they lost their top two players for much of the season. Stan Mikita, who's 38 game point streak from last season came to an end in the season opener, broke his elbow in November and was limited to 10 games. Mikita did earn 23 points in the 10 games but will not return until next season. Meanwhile, Bobby Hull suffered a concussion that ended his season in early March. Hull had 43 goals in 61 games and passed the 700 career goal mark just 2 weeks prior to his injury. The third member of the line, Phil Esposito, did stay healthy and led the NHL in goals with 56, 6 more than Yvan Cournoyer of Montreal and the Rangers' Jean Ratelle.
The Toronto Maple Leafs led the East Division thanks to another big year from 23 year old centre Darryl Sittler (22-68-90) and the emergence of 22 year old Rick Kehoe (35-44-79) as a goal scoring threat.
At the trading deadline the Vancouver Canucks sent Dale Tallon, who was rookie of the year just 3 seasons ago, to Detroit in exchange for journeyman Rene Leclerc. Tallon had just 29 points in 51 games with the Canucks this season and was sent to the minors by Detroit.
Detroit centre Pete Mahovlich had a huge game against Pittsburgh in December, scoring 4 times and adding 4 asssits as the Red Wings hammered the pitiful Penguins 9-3. The 8 points are one shy of the single game record set by Carl Liscombe and equalled by Yvan Cournoyer. In the same game, Mahovlich's linemate Johnny Bucyk, who would lead the league in scoring this season, had a goal and 6 assists.
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
EAST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Toronto Maple Leafs 78 56 12 10 122
New York Rangers 78 53 14 11 117
Montreal Canadiens 78 55 18 5 115
Detroit Red Wings 78 50 16 12 112
Boston Bruins 78 48 20 10 106
Buffalo Sabres 78 34 36 8 76
Vancouver Canucks 78 23 47 8 54
New York Islanders 78 21 45 12 54
WEST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Chicago Black Hawks 78 54 14 10 118
Philadelphia Flyers 78 32 32 14 78
Los Angeles Kings 78 25 44 9 59
California Golden Seals 78 22 45 11 55
St Louis Blues 78 21 47 10 52
Minnesota North Stars 78 19 46 13 51
Atlanta Flames 78 21 52 5 47
Pittsburgh Penguins 78 9 55 14 32
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Johnny Bucyk DET 78 39 84 123
Don Marcotte BOS 78 46 63 109
Pete Mahovlich DET 78 41 67 108
Bobby Hull CHI 61 43 64 107
Phil Esposito CHI 78 56 49 105
Bobby Orr BOS 72 28 77 105
Yvan Cournoyer MON 78 48 56 104
Marcel Dionne DET 78 43 61 104
Guy Lafleur MON 76 26 74 100
Jean Ratelle NYR 78 48 44 92
Jean Pronovost BOS 69 34 57 91
Darryl Sittler TOR 77 22 68 90
WHA REGULAR SEASON
The biggest addition to the league this season is 26 year old Guy Lapointe's decision to sign with the Edmonton Oilers. Lapointe spent the past 8 years in the Montreal organization but played in just 12 NHL games during that time.
The Oilers did deal centre Bobby Sheehan, who led the league with 71 goals last year, to Winnipeg. Sheehan responded by winning the league scoring title with 60 goals and 140 points. Even without Sheehan the Oilers still led the league in goals scored by a wide margin and dominated the standings for the second straight year. The rest of the league was fairly close with the exception of three awful teams in Los Angeles, Vancouver and New York, which combined to go 20-210-3 over the course of the season.
Edmonton's Christian Bordeleau set a WHA record with 8 points including 3 goals in the Oilers 16-3 pounding of the Los Angeles Sharks on March 12th. Chicago Cougars forward Steve Cuddie set the single game goal record with 5 on December 1st when the Cougars beat the Sharks 14-1.
Code:
WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION
EASTERN DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Chicago Cougars 78 58 19 1 117
New England Whalers 78 55 19 4 114
Quebec Nordiques 78 49 27 2 100
Cleveland Crusaders 78 41 34 3 85
Toronto Toros 78 30 47 1 61
New York Golden Blades 78 8 70 0 16
WESTERN DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Edmonton Oilers 78 67 10 1 135
Winnipeg Jets 78 60 15 3 123
Houston Aeros 78 38 37 3 79
Minn. Fighting Saints 78 38 38 2 78
Los Angeles Sharks 78 6 70 2 14
Philaldephia Blazers 78 6 70 2 14
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Bobby Sheehan WPG 78 60 80 140
Christian Bordeleau EDM 67 42 95 137
Bill Collins EDM 78 68 65 133
Guy Lapointe EDM 78 24 106 130
Gerry O"Flaherty QUE 73 49 77 126
J Bob Kelly EDM 74 60 64 124
Garth Rizzuto HOU 78 35 82 117
Frank Spring HOU 78 50 66 116
John French MIN 78 34 82 116
Terry Jones QUE 66 52 63 115
Ted Taylor EDM 78 50 64 114
Mike Byers QUE 78 43 71 114
PLAYOFFS
Toronto and Los Angeles both advanced to the semi-finals with easy 4 game sweeps in the quarters. The Leafs had no trouble at all with Detroit while Los Angeles swept Philadelphia a year after the Flyers became the first expansion team to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.
With no Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull the Chicago Black Hawks struggled but in the end still had more than enough offense to eliminate the California Golden Seals in 6 games. The other series, between the New York Rangers and Montreal went the full seven games. The Rangers got back to back 3-0 shutout wins in Game Six and Seven thanks to the goaltending of Cesare Maniago.
Like the quarterfinals, the Toronto Maple Leafs had an easy time in semis as they swept the Los Angeles Kings in 4 games. While young Leafs Darryl Sittler and Rick Kehoe were the offensive catalysts in the regular season it was veterans Bob Nevin and Dave Keon who carried the torch in the playoffs. Nevin had a particularily strong start to the playoffs with 12 points thru 8 games.
The New York Rangers won the other semi-final series as the absence of Mikita and Hull was too much for Chicago to overcome. Cesare Maniago continue his outstanding play in the Ranger net while 26 year old forward Syl Apps led all playoff performers through 2 rounds with 13 ppints including 5 goals as New York put an end to Chicago's 9 year run of making the finals.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
Toronto is tied with Montreal for the most Cup wins with 18 but the Leafs have not lifted the Cup since 1965, the longest drought in franchise history. The Rangers won their only Cup back in 1928, before the sim began, and have not even been to the finals since 1937, when they lost for the third time in 4 years to Toronto.
The Leafs suffered a blow early in Game One when they lost Rick Kehoe for the series with an injury. In 9 games Kehoe had 2 goals and 6 assists. The opening game needed overtime to declare a winner and it was the visiting Rangers who won 2-1 thanks to a Jean Ratelle goal. Ratelle also assisted on Norm Ullman's second period goal while Mike Walton had the Leaf marker.
Toronto rebounded with a 3-1 victory in Game Two as Bob Nevin scored once and assisted on the other 2 Leafs goals. Garry Unger and Errol Thompson also scored for Toronto while Rod Gilbert was the Rangers marksman.
On Broadway for Game Three the Rangers impressed the home crowd with a convincing 4-1 victory, outshooting the Leafs 36-14 in the process. Jean Ratelle had 2 goals and assisted on the other 2, both scored by Rod Gilbert.
Third period goals from Nevin and Unger allowed the Leafs to even the series with a 3-2 victory in Game Four. After Darryl Sittler scored to give the Leafs the lead in the first period Ullman and Ratelle each scored with the other drawing the assist in the second stanza.
The most lobsided game of the series so far as the Leafs score a 7-2 victory at Maple Leafs Gardens. Bruce MacGregor had a goal and 3 assists for Toronto while Unger and Nevin each scored once and had a pair of helpers. Cesare Maniago, who has had a pretty good playoff so far, was chased in the second period after allowing 6 goals on 21 shots.
The Rangers force a 7th game with a 4-1 victory in Game Six. Brad Park scored twice for the Blueshirts with Larry Hillman and Don Luce getting the other New York goals. Maniago had a big bounce back game, stopping 20 shots with Mike Walton being the only Leaf to beat him with a goal midway through the third period.
Toronto opens a 3-0 lead after 2 periods on home ice as Unger gets 2 goals and Errol Thompson scores once. However, the Rangers take over in the third as Walt Tkaczuk scores in the opening minute and Bill Fairbairn cuts the Leaf lead to 1 with 11 minutes to play. Rod Gilbert would tie the game 2 minutes later and a minute and a half after that the Rangers would take the lead on Tkaczuk's second of the game. That would end the scoring and the Rangers would win the Cup with a 4-3 victory in Game Seven.
Brad Park assisted on 3 goals in the final game and finish with 18 points in the playoffs, and was rewarded with the Conn Smythe Trophy. Park finished 1 point out of the playoff scoring lead which was a three-way tie between Jean Ratelle and Norm Ullman of the Rangers and Toronto's Bob Nevin.
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Bobby Clarke Philadelphia (78GP 20-56-76)
VEZINA TROPHY: Eddie Johnston Chicago (49-11-8, 1.94)
NORRIS TROPHY: Serge Savard (78GP 19-38-57)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Johnny Bucyk Detroit (78GP 39-84-123)
CALDER TROPHY: Tom Lysiak Atlanta (78GP 25-50-75)
Some real questionable choices this season as I have no idea how Clarke won the Hart and Savard was selected for the Norris. To me, Clarke was about the 5th best centre and Savard did not make either the first or second team as an all-star.
The game does not select the all-star team but I will start naming first and second team all-stars
Code:
POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM
G Eddie Johnston Chicago Doug Favell Buffalo
D Brad Park NY Rangers Carol Vadnais Montreal
D Bobby Orr Boston Pat Stapleton Chicago
C Pete Mahovlich Detroit Guy Lafleur Montreal
LW Johnny Bucyk Detroit Don Marcotte Boston
RW Phil Esposito Chicago Yvan Cournoyer Montreal
WHA PLAYOFFS
The Oilers win their second straight Avco Cup as the sweep Minnesota, beat the Chicago Cougars in a tight 7 game series and then top New England in 5 games in the finals. The Whalers beat Cleveland in the other semi-final after the Crusaders won a tough 7 game series from favoured Winnipeg and the Whalers took Quebec in 4 straight.
Christian Bordeleau of Edmonton led all playoff scorers with 27 points while teammate Guy Lapointe finished second with 20 points. New England's Pierre Jarry was the top goal scorer with 10. Lapointe was named playoff MVP and also earned the regular season MVP award after scoring 24 goals and 130 points in 78 regular season games. Lapointe rounded out his haul of awards by being named the league's top defenseman.