1973–74 NHL season
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| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 10, 1973 – May 19, 1974 |
| Number of games | 78 |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Boston Bruins |
| Season MVP | Phil Esposito, (Boston Bruins) |
| Top scorer | Phil Esposito, (Boston Bruins) |
| Playoffs | |
| Playoffs MVP | Bernie Parent, (Philadelphia Flyers) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Stanley Cup champions | Philadelphia Flyers |
| Runners-up | Boston Bruins |
| NHL seasons | |
| ← 1972–73 |
1974–75 → |
The 1973–74 NHL season was the 57th season of the National Hockey League. The Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup championship, the team's first. The team was the first of the post-1967 teams to win the Cup.
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[edit] League business
With owner Charles O. Finley unable to find a buyer, the league took over operation of the troubled California Golden Seals in February, 1974.
[edit] Regular season
The Philadelphia Flyers, who developed the nickname "Broad Street Bullies" because of their physical style of play, dethroned the Chicago Black Hawks as the West Division champions behind the dominant play of Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent.
In the East Division, the Boston Bruins regained the top spot in the East and the league, behind an ongoing offensive juggernaut that saw Bruins' players finish 1-2-3-4 in NHL scoring (Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Ken Hodge and Wayne Cashman) for the second and most recent time in league history.
[edit] Final standings
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Bruins | 78 | 52 | 17 | 9 | 349 | 221 | 113 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 45 | 24 | 9 | 293 | 240 | 99 |
| New York Rangers | 78 | 40 | 24 | 14 | 300 | 251 | 94 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 78 | 35 | 27 | 16 | 274 | 230 | 86 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 78 | 32 | 34 | 12 | 242 | 250 | 76 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 78 | 29 | 39 | 10 | 255 | 319 | 68 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 78 | 24 | 43 | 11 | 224 | 296 | 59 |
| New York Islanders | 78 | 19 | 41 | 18 | 182 | 247 | 56 |
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Flyers | 78 | 50 | 16 | 12 | 273 | 164 | 112 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 78 | 41 | 14 | 23 | 272 | 164 | 105 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 33 | 33 | 12 | 233 | 231 | 78 |
| Atlanta Flames | 78 | 30 | 34 | 14 | 214 | 238 | 74 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 78 | 28 | 41 | 9 | 242 | 273 | 65 |
| St. Louis Blues | 78 | 26 | 40 | 12 | 206 | 248 | 64 |
| Minnesota North Stars | 78 | 23 | 38 | 17 | 235 | 275 | 63 |
| California Golden Seals | 78 | 13 | 55 | 10 | 195 | 342 | 36 |
[edit] Playoffs
[edit] Final
Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Boston Bruins 4 games to 2, winning the cup with a Game 6 1–0 victory. In doing so, the Flyers became the first post-1967 team to win the Cup in the post-Original Six era.
[edit] Playoff bracket
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Stanley Cup Final | |||||||||||
| E1 | Boston Bruins | 4 | |||||||||||
| E4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 0 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Boston Bruins | 4 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Los Angeles Kings | 1 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Boston Bruins | 2 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4 | |||||||||||
| W4 | Atlanta Flames | 0 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4 | |||||||||||
| E3 | New York Rangers | 3 | |||||||||||
| E2 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | |||||||||||
| E3 | New York Rangers | 4 | |||||||||||
[edit] NHL awards
A new award, the Jack Adams for the best coach, was introduced for this season. The first winner was Fred Shero of the Philadelphia Flyers.
| Prince of Wales Trophy: | Boston Bruins |
| Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: | Philadelphia Flyers |
| Art Ross Trophy: | Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins |
| Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: | Henri Richard, Montreal Canadiens |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: | Denis Potvin, New York Islanders |
| Conn Smythe Trophy: | Bernie Parent, Philadelphia Flyers |
| Hart Memorial Trophy: | Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins |
| Jack Adams Award: | Fred Shero, Philadelphia Flyers |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy: | Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: | Johnny Bucyk, Boston Bruins |
| Lester B. Pearson Award: | Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers |
| NHL Plus/Minus Award: | Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins |
| Vezina Trophy: | Tony Esposito, Chicago Black Hawks tied Bernie Parent, Philadelphia Flyers |
| Lester Patrick Trophy: | Alex Delvecchio, Murray Murdoch, Weston W. Adams, Sr., Charles L. Crovat |
[edit] All-Star teams
[edit] Player statistics
[edit] Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Esposito | Boston Bruins | 78 | 68 | 77 | 145 | 58 |
| Bobby Orr | Boston Bruins | 74 | 32 | 90 | 122 | 82 |
| Ken Hodge | Boston Bruins | 76 | 50 | 55 | 105 | 43 |
| Wayne Cashman | Boston Bruins | 78 | 30 | 59 | 89 | 111 |
| Bobby Clarke | Philadelphia Flyers | 77 | 35 | 52 | 87 | 113 |
| Rick Martin | Buffalo Sabres | 78 | 52 | 34 | 86 | 38 |
| Syl Apps Jr. | Pittsburgh Penguins | 77 | 24 | 61 | 85 | 37 |
| Darryl Sittler | Toronto Maple Leafs | 78 | 38 | 46 | 84 | 55 |
| Lowell MacDonald | Pittsburgh Penguins | 78 | 43 | 39 | 82 | 14 |
| Brad Park | New York Rangers | 78 | 25 | 57 | 82 | 148 |
| Dennis Hextall | Minnesota North Stars | 78 | 20 | 62 | 82 | 138 |
Source: NHL.[1]
[edit] Leading goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | MIN | GA | GAA | W | L | T | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernie Parent | Philadelphia Flyers | 73 | 4314 | 136 | 1.89 | 47 | 13 | 12 | 12 |
| Tony Esposito | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 4143 | 141 | 2.04 | 34 | 14 | 21 | 10 |
| Ross Brooks | Boston Bruins | 21 | 1170 | 46 | 2.36 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Doug Favell | Toronto Maple Leafs | 32 | 1752 | 79 | 2.71 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| Wayne Thomas | Montreal Canadiens | 42 | 2410 | 111 | 2.76 | 23 | 12 | 5 | 1 |
| Dan Bouchard | Atlanta Flames | 46 | 2660 | 123 | 2.77 | 19 | 18 | 8 | 5 |
| Rogatien Vachon | L.A. Kings | 65 | 3751 | 175 | 2.80 | 28 | 26 | 10 | 5 |
| Michel Larocque | Montreal Canadiens | 27 | 1431 | 69 | 2.89 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Dunc Wilson | Toronto Maple Leafs | 24 | 1412 | 68 | 2.89 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 1 |
| Gilles Gilbert | Boston Bruins | 54 | 3210 | 158 | 2.95 | 34 | 12 | 8 | 6 |
[edit] Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1973–74 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
- Eric Vail, Atlanta Flames
- Tom Lysiak, Atlanta Flames
- Peter McNab, Buffalo Sabres
- Darcy Rota, Chicago Black Hawks
- Blake Dunlop, Minnesota North Stars
- Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens
- Michel Larocque, Montreal Canadiens
- Denis Potvin, New York Islanders
- Chico Resch, New York Islanders
- Dave Lewis, New York Islanders
- Al MacAdam, Philadelphia Flyers
- Blaine Stoughton, Pittsburgh Penguins
- John Davidson, St. Louis Blues
- Inge Hammarstrom, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Borje Salming, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Lanny McDonald, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Bob Dailey, Vancouver Canucks
- Dennis Ververgaert, Vancouver Canucks
[edit] Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1973–74 (listed with their last team):
- Tim Horton, Buffalo Sabres
- Alex Delvecchio, Detroit Red Wings
- Dean Prentice, Minnesota North Stars
- Gump Worsley, Minnesota North Stars
- Frank Mahovlich, Montreal Canadiens
- Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens
- Barry Ashbee, Philadelphia Flyers
- Orland Kurtenbach, Vancouver Canucks
NOTE: Prentice and Mahovlich would finish their major professional careers in the World Hockey Association.
[edit] See also
- List of Stanley Cup champions
- 1973 NHL Amateur Draft
- 27th National Hockey League All-Star Game
- National Hockey League All-Star Game
- List of WHA seasons
- 1973 in sports
- 1974 in sports
[edit] References
- Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
- Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 9781894801225.
- Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.. ISBN 0771041799.
- Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc.. ISBN 0785396241.
- Notes
- ^ Dinger 2011, p. 150.
[edit] External links
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