# 1972–73 New England Whalers season

The 1972–73 New England Whalers season was the Whalers' first season (based in Boston). The Whalers were competitive from the start, placing first in the Eastern Division to qualify for the playoffs. They then won three playoff series to become the first winner of the Avco World Trophy.

## Regular season
### Final standings

Eastern Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PIM | Pts |
| New England Whalers | 78 | 46 | 30 | 2 | 318 | 263 | 858 | 94 |
| Cleveland Crusaders | 78 | 43 | 32 | 3 | 287 | 239 | 1095 | 89 |
| Philadelphia Blazers | 78 | 38 | 40 | 0 | 288 | 305 | 1260 | 76 |
| Ottawa Nationals | 78 | 35 | 39 | 4 | 279 | 301 | 1067 | 74 |
| Quebec Nordiques | 78 | 33 | 40 | 5 | 276 | 313 | 1354 | 71 |
| New York Raiders | 78 | 33 | 43 | 2 | 303 | 334 | 900 | 68 |

## Schedule and results

1972–73 regular season :
October: 5–4–0 (home: 3–2–0; road: 2–2–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTRecordPts
1October 12Philadelphia3–4New England1–0–02
2October 16Chicago1–4New England2–0–04
3October 18New England4–1Houston3–0–06
4October 19Quebec4–3New England3–1–06
5October 21New England4–6Quebec3–2–06
6October 23Minnesota1–5New England4–2–08
7October 24New England3–2ClevelandOT5–2–010
8October 26New England6–7New York5–3–010
9October 28Alberta4–1New England5–4–010 :
November: 8–4–1 (home: 8–0–1; road: 0–4–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTRecordPts
10November 1Chicago2–4New England6–4–012
11November 4Philadelphia4–8New England7–4–014
12November 6Winnipeg2–6New England8–4–016
13November 11New York5–6New England9–4–018
14November 13Houston4–4New EnglandTIE9–4–119
15November 17New England0–3Cleveland9–5–119
16November 18Ottawa2–3New England10–5–121
17November 20Ottawa5–7New England11–5–123
18November 22New England1–3New York11–6–123
19November 24Alberta2–7New England12–6–125
20November 26New England1–3Minnesota12–7–125
21November 27Cleveland0–3New England13–7–127
22November 29New England6–7New York13–8–127 :
December: 11–7–0 (home: 5–3–0; road: 6–4–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTRecordPts
23December 1New England3–5Philadelphia13–9–127
24December 2Quebec2–7New England14–9–129
25December 4Ottawa2–7New England15–9–131
26December 6New York3–4New England16–9–133
27December 7New England4–2Ottawa17–9–135
28December 9New York2–4New England18–9–137
29December 11Winnipeg3–4New England19–9–139
30December 13New England3–6Chicago19–10–139
31December 14New England5–2Los Angeles20–10–141
32December 16New England10–6Philadelphia21–10–143
33December 17Philadelphia6–3New England21–11–143
34December 19New England5–7New York21–12–143
35December 21New England4–5Quebec21–13–143
36December 24Los Angeles5–3New England21–14–143
37December 25New England8–2New York22–14–145
38December 28New England5–3Quebec23–14–147
39December 29New York4–2New England23–15–147
40December 31New England3–0New York24–15–149 :
January: 6–4–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 3–3–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTRecordPts
41January 9New England5–7Houston24–16–149
42January 13New York3–4New England25–16–151
43January 17New England4–2Chicago26–16–153
44January 19New England2–6Winnipeg26–17–153
45January 21New England7–2Winnipeg27–17–155
46January 24Winnipeg1–6New England28–17–157
47January 25New England4–2Ottawa29–17–159
48January 27Quebec3–1New England29–18–159
49January 29New England2–3Cleveland29–19–159
50January 31Cleveland1–4New England30–19–161 :
February: 5–6–1 (home: 2–1–0; road: 3–5–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTRecordPts
51February 1New England5–4HoustonOT31–19–163
52February 2New England1–3Los Angeles31–20–163
53February 4New England3–4Los Angeles31–21–163
54February 6New England4–2Alberta32–21–165
55February 7New England1–3Alberta32–22–165
56February 9Ottawa7–4New England32–23–165
57February 11New England2–2QuebecTIE32–23–266
58February 13New England4–5Philadelphia32–24–266
59February 15Los Angeles5–6New England33–24–268
60February 17New England6–4Quebec34–24–270
61February 20New England2–4Philadelphia34–25–270
62February 23Alberta2–4New England35–25–272 :
March: 10–5–0 (home: 8–1–0; road: 2–4–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTRecordPts
63March 4New England2–4Minnesota35–26–272
64March 7Cleveland0–1New EnglandOT36–26–274
65March 9Cleveland4–5New England37–26–276
66March 10Minnesota1–3New England38–26–278
67March 13New England4–3ChicagoOT39–26–280
68March 14New England7–5Winnipeg40–21–282
69March 16Minnesota4–7New England41–26–284
70March 17Philadelphia0–4New England42–26–286
71March 20Los Angeles1–4New England43–26–288
72March 22New England2–4Ottawa43–27–288
73March 23Chicago1–3New England44–27–290
74March 26New England5–7Cleveland44–28–290
75March 27Houston6–1New England44–29–290
76March 29New England2–5Ottawa44–30–290
77March 30New York4–5New EnglandOT45–30–292 :
April: 1–0–0 (home: 1–0–0; road: 0–0–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTRecordPts
78April 1Quebec3–8New England46–30–294 :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## Playoffs

1973 Avco Cup playoffs :
Eastern Division Semifinals vs. Ottawa Nationals – Whalers win 4–1
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeSeries
1April 7Ottawa Nationals3–6New England Whalers1–0
2April 8Ottawa Nationals3 – 4 OTNew England Whalers2–0
3April 10New England Whalers2–4Ottawa Nationals2–1
4April 12New England Whalers7 – 3 OTOttawa Nationals3–1
5April 14Ottawa Nationals4–5New England Whalers4–1 :
Eastern Division Finals vs. Cleveland Crusaders – Whalers win 4–1
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeSeries
1April 18Cleveland Crusaders2–3New England Whalers1–0
2April 19Cleveland Crusaders2–3New England Whalers2–0
3April 21New England Whalers5–4Cleveland Crusaders3–0
4April 22New England Whalers2–5Cleveland Crusaders3–1
5April 26Cleveland Crusaders1–3New England Whalers4–1 :
Avco World Trophy Finals vs. Winnipeg Jets – Whalers win 4–1
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeSeries
1April 29Winnipeg Jets2–7New England Whalers1–0
2May 2New England Whalers7–4Winnipeg Jets2–0
3May 3New England Whalers3–4Winnipeg Jets2–1
4May 5Winnipeg Jets2–4New England Whalers3–1
5May 6Winnipeg Jets6–9New England Whalers4–1 :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :