# 1972–73 Quebec Nordiques season

The 1972–73 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques' first season, as they were one of the original teams in the newly created WHA. The Nordiques franchise was originally awarded to a group in San Francisco, California, and was named the San Francisco Sharks, however, funding collapsed prior to the start of the season, and the WHA sold the organization to a Quebec City group led by Marcel Aubut and Paul Racine. They named the club the Nordiques due to the northern location of the team.

## Regular season

The Nordiques would name former Montreal Canadiens great Maurice Richard the head coach of the club, and played their first ever game on October 11, 1972, losing 2–0 on the road to the Cleveland Crusaders. The Nordiques would win their home opener, shutting out the Alberta Oilers 6–0 at Le Colisée. After the game, Richard would step down from head coaching duties, as he was not comfortable doing the job, and Maurice Filion would take over. The Nords would end up just missing the playoffs, finishing the year with a 33–40–5 record, earning them 71 points, 3 behind the Ottawa Nationals for the final playoff position in the Eastern Division.
Offensively, Quebec was led by defenceman J. C. Tremblay, who led the WHA in assists with 75 and led the Nordiques with 89 points. Alain Caron would score a team high 36 goals. Michel Parizeau and Andre Gaudette would each break the 70 point barrier, recording 73 points and 71 respectively. Pierre Roy would lead the club with 169 penalty minutes, while Michel Rouleau would get 142 in 52 games after being acquired by the Philadelphia Blazers.
In goal, Serge Aubry would get the majority of playing time, earning a club high 25 wins and a team best 3.60 GAA along with 2 shutouts.

### Season 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
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
1October 11Quebec Nordiques0–2Cleveland Crusaders0–1–00
2October 13Alberta Oilers0–6Quebec Nordiques1–1–02
3October 19Quebec Nordiques4–3New England Whalers2–1–04
4October 21New England Whalers4–6Quebec Nordiques3–1–06
5October 22Ottawa Nationals3–2Quebec Nordiques3–2–06
6October 24Houston Aeros3–5Quebec Nordiques4–2–08
7October 26Minnesota Fighting Saints4–5Quebec Nordiques5–2–010
8October 29Cleveland Crusaders2–2Quebec Nordiques5–2–111
9October 31Los Angeles Sharks4–2Quebec Nordiques5–3–111 :
November
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
10November 2Philadelphia Blazers3–6Quebec Nordiques6–3–113
11November 4Quebec Nordiques4–5Cleveland Crusaders6–4–113
12November 5Chicago Cougars2–3Quebec Nordiques7–4–115
13November 8Winnipeg Jets2–3Quebec Nordiques8–4–117
14November 11Houston Aeros1–3Quebec Nordiques9–4–119
15November 15New York Raiders4–7Quebec Nordiques10–4–121
16November 16Quebec Nordiques4–5Minnesota Fighting Saints10–5–121
17November 18Quebec Nordiques1–7New York Raiders10–6–121
18November 21Quebec Nordiques2–4Ottawa Nationals10–7–121
19November 24Quebec Nordiques3–5Winnipeg Jets10–8–121
20November 26Quebec Nordiques1–4Winnipeg Jets10–9–121
21November 28Chicago Cougars2–6Quebec Nordiques11–9–123 :
December
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
22December 2Quebec Nordiques2–7New England Whalers11–10–123
23December 3Quebec Nordiques6–2Alberta Oilers12–10–125
24December 5Quebec Nordiques4–2Winnipeg Jets13–10–127
25December 7Cleveland Crusaders3–1Quebec Nordiques13–11–127
26December 9Quebec Nordiques4–2Chicago Cougars14–11–129
27December 10Quebec Nordiques6–7Ottawa Nationals14–12–129
28December 12Philadelphia Blazers2–5Quebec Nordiques15–12–131
29December 13Quebec Nordiques1–9New York Raiders15–13–131
30December 15Quebec Nordiques3–6Cleveland Crusaders15–14–131
31December 17Cleveland Crusaders2–3Quebec Nordiques16–14–133
32December 19Ottawa Nationals3–7Quebec Nordiques17–14–135
33December 23Los Angeles Sharks1–2Quebec Nordiques18–14–137
34December 24Quebec Nordiques2–6Ottawa Nationals18–15–137
35December 26New York Raiders5–2Quebec Nordiques18–16–137
36December 28New England Whalers5–3Quebec Nordiques18–17–137
37December 29Quebec Nordiques3–5Cleveland Crusaders18–18–137
38December 31Ottawa Nationals4–8Quebec Nordiques19–18–139 :
January
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
39January 8Quebec Nordiques6–5New York Raiders20–18–141
40January 9Quebec Nordiques5–7Ottawa Nationals20–19–141
41January 12Quebec Nordiques2–3Minnesota Fighting Saints20–20–141
42January 13Quebec Nordiques4–9Philadelphia Blazers20–21–141
43January 16Ottawa Nationals4–5Quebec Nordiques21–21–143
44January 18New York Raiders4–4Quebec Nordiques21–21–244
45January 20Minnesota Fighting Saints10–5Quebec Nordiques21–22–244
46January 23Quebec Nordiques1–7Chicago Cougars21–23–244
47January 24Philadelphia Blazers6–4Quebec Nordiques21–24–244
48January 26Winnipeg Jets2–2Quebec Nordiques21–24–345
49January 27Quebec Nordiques3–1New England Whalers22–24–347 :
February
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
50February 1Minnesota Fighting Saints2–4Quebec Nordiques23–24–349
51February 4Quebec Nordiques4–5New York Raiders23–25–349
52February 7Philadelphia Blazers0–3Quebec Nordiques24–25–351
53February 8Quebec Nordiques2–5Chicago Cougars24–26–351
54February 10Quebec Nordiques4–5Philadelphia Blazers24–27–351
55February 11New England Whalers2–2Quebec Nordiques24–27–452
56February 14Ottawa Nationals6–3Quebec Nordiques24–28–452
57February 16Los Angeles Sharks2–2Quebec Nordiques24–28–553
58February 17New England Whalers6–4Quebec Nordiques24–29–553
59February 20Chicago Cougars4–2Quebec Nordiques24–30–553
60February 22Quebec Nordiques2–4Houston Aeros24–31–553
61February 24Quebec Nordiques5–3Los Angeles Sharks25–31–555
62February 25Quebec Nordiques2–4Los Angeles Sharks25–32–555 :
March
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
63March 3Quebec Nordiques4–3Houston Aeros26–32–557
64March 4Quebec Nordiques6–3Houston Aeros27–32–559
65March 6Quebec Nordiques2–3Los Angeles Sharks27–33–559
66March 8Winnipeg Jets7–4Quebec Nordiques27–34–559
67March 9Quebec Nordiques3–11Philadelphia Blazers27–35–559
68March 11New York Raiders1–6Quebec Nordiques28–35–561
69March 12Quebec Nordiques6–4Philadelphia Blazers29–35–563
70March 16Quebec Nordiques2–4Alberta Oilers29–36–563
71March 17Quebec Nordiques0–3Alberta Oilers29–37–563
72March 20Cleveland Crusaders1–4Quebec Nordiques30–37–565
73March 24Alberta Oilers4–5Quebec Nordiques31–37–567
74March 25Alberta Oilers5–4Quebec Nordiques31–38–567
75March 27Quebec Nordiques2–6Ottawa Nationals31–39–567
76March 29Quebec Nordiques5–3Minnesota Fighting Saints32–39–569
77March 31Houston Aeros1–5Quebec Nordiques33–39–571 :
April
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
78April 1Quebec Nordiques3–8New England Whalers33–40–571 :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## Player statistics

Regular season :
Scoring :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| J. C. Tremblay | D | 75 | 14 | 75 | 89 | 32 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Michel Parizeau | C | 75 | 25 | 48 | 73 | 50 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 4 |
| Andre Gaudette | C | 77 | 27 | 44 | 71 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Alain Caron | RW | 68 | 36 | 27 | 63 | 14 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 5 |
| Bobby Guindon | LW | 71 | 28 | 28 | 56 | 31 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Rene Leclerc | RW | 67 | 24 | 28 | 52 | 111 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Jean-Guy Gendron | LW | 63 | 17 | 33 | 50 | 113 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Jean Payette | C | 71 | 15 | 29 | 44 | 46 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Michel Archambault | LW | 57 | 12 | 25 | 37 | 36 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Yves Bergeron | RW | 65 | 14 | 19 | 33 | 32 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Francois Lacombe | D | 62 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 123 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rejean Giroux | RW | 59 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 41 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Michel Rouleau | C | 52 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 142 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Frank Golembrosky | RW | 52 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre Roy | D | 64 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 169 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Michel Harvey | C | 40 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre Guite | LW | 66 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 136 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Blain | D | 70 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 78 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Desjardine | D | 37 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Larose | RW | 28 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Guy Dufour | RW | 9 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jean-Yves Cartier | D | 15 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Norm Descoteaux | D | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacques Lemelin | G | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brit Selby | LW | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Serge Aubry | G | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Richard Brodeur | G | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alan Globensky | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike McNamara | C | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending :
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Serge Aubry | 3036 | 52 | 25 | 22 | 3 | 182 | 3.60 | 1 |
| Richard Brodeur | 1288 | 24 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 102 | 4.75 | 0 |
| Jacques Lemelin | 434 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 4.01 | 0 |
| Team: | 4758 | 78 | 33 | 40 | 5 | 313 | 3.95 | 1 |
    Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
    Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;