# 1972–73 Los Angeles Sharks season

1972–73 Los Angeles Sharks season was the Los Angeles Sharks inaugural season in the World Hockey Association.

## Offseason

The WHA awarded a franchise to Los Angeles and it was originally called the "Los Angeles Aces," while the San Francisco franchise was called the Sharks. However, when funding fell through and the San Francisco franchise was then moved to Quebec to become the Nordiques, the Los Angeles group took the name Sharks and created the stylized menacing shark logo. The team colors of red and black were based on the original nickname "aces", being that the two colors in a deck of cards are red and black.

## Regular season

The Sharks hung around the .500 mark for much of the season. The Winnipeg Jets, led by Bobby Hull, were clearly the class of the WHA's Western Division. Four teams (the Houston Aeros, Minnesota Fighting Saints, Alberta Oilers, and Sharks staged a season long see-saw battle for 2nd through 5th place, with only the top four making the playoffs (The Chicago Cougars finished in a distant 6th place).
The Sharks strength was their defense, which ranked 3rd in the league. Bart Crashley, Gerry Odrowski, and Jim Watson anchored the blue line. George Gardner (GAA 3.30) was a capable #1 goalie for the first half of the season, while 32-year-old rookie Russ Gillow (2.91 GAA) took over the top spot for most of the second half. In fact, Gillow was second in the WHA to Gerry Cheevers in GAA.
The offense had quality but lacked depth. It was led by 43 goal scorer Gary Veneruzzo while Alton White was 2nd on the team in goals with 20. Veneruzzo also led the team in points with 73, followed by playmaking center J.P. LeBlanc (19 goals and 50 assists for 69 points), and defenseman Bart Crashley, who anchored the power play and chipped in 18 goals and 27 assists.
Sharks special teams were solid, ranking 4th in the league in power play and 5th in penalty killing.
Ultimately, the Sharks went 6–3–1 in their last 10 games, including winning their last two to climb from 5th place to 3rd.

### Final standings

Western Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PIM | Pts |
| Winnipeg Jets | 78 | 43 | 31 | 4 | 285 | 249 | 757 | 90 |
| Houston Aeros | 78 | 39 | 35 | 4 | 284 | 269 | 1363 | 82 |
| Los Angeles Sharks | 78 | 37 | 35 | 6 | 259 | 250 | 1477 | 80 |
| Minnesota Fighting Saints | 78 | 38 | 37 | 3 | 250 | 269 | 843 | 79 |
| Alberta Oilers | 78 | 38 | 37 | 3 | 269 | 256 | 1134 | 79 |
| Chicago Cougars | 78 | 26 | 50 | 2 | 245 | 295 | 811 | 54 |

### Game log

Regular season schedule :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | October 13, 1972 | 2–3 | Houston Aeros (1972–73) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | W | October 15, 1972 | 5–1 | @ Houston Aeros (1972–73) | 1–1–0 |
| 3 | W | October 17, 1972 | 5–1 | @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) | 2–1–0 |
| 4 | W | October 19, 1972 | 4–2 | Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) | 3–1–0 |
| 5 | L | October 22, 1972 | 2–4 | Chicago Cougars (1972–73) | 3–2–0 |
| 6 | L | October 25, 1972 | 5–8 | Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) | 3–3–0 |
| 7 | L | October 27, 1972 | 4–5 | @ Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) | 3–4–0 |
| 8 | W | October 28, 1972 | 4–3 OT | @ New York Raiders (1972–73) | 4–4–0 |
| 9 | W | October 31, 1972 | 4–2 | @ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) | 5–4–0 |
| 10 | T | November 2, 1972 | 1–1 | @ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) | 5–4–1 |
| 11 | W | November 4, 1972 | 3–2 OT | @ Chicago Cougars (1972–73) | 6–4–1 |
| 12 | W | November 5, 1972 | 4–0 | Houston Aeros (1972–73) | 7–4–1 |
| 13 | W | November 8, 1972 | 2–1 | New York Raiders (1972–73) | 8–4–1 |
| 14 | L | November 9, 1972 | 2–7 | @ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) | 8–5–1 |
| 15 | L | November 11, 1972 | 3–5 | @ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) | 8–6–1 |
| 16 | L | November 12, 1972 | 2–5 | @ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) | 8–7–1 |
| 17 | L | November 14, 1972 | 0–8 | @ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) | 8–8–1 |
| 18 | W | November 15, 1972 | 6–4 | @ Houston Aeros (1972–73) | 9–8–1 |
| 19 | L | November 17, 1972 | 1–5 | Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) | 9–9–1 |
| 20 | L | November 19, 1972 | 3–4 | Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) | 9–10–1 |
| 21 | L | November 21, 1972 | 2–5 | Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) | 9–11–1 |
| 22 | L | November 23, 1972 | 3–4 | @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) | 9–12–1 |
| 23 | L | November 24, 1972 | 2–3 OT | @ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) | 9–13–1 |
| 24 | W | November 26, 1972 | 6–2 | @ New York Raiders (1972–73) | 10–13–1 |
| 25 | L | November 28, 1972 | 3–4 | @ Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) | 10–14–1 |
| 26 | W | November 30, 1972 | 6–3 | Houston Aeros (1972–73) | 11–14–1 |
| 27 | W | December 1, 1972 | 5–3 | @ Chicago Cougars (1972–73) | 12–14–1 |
| 28 | W | December 2, 1972 | 4–2 | @ Chicago Cougars (1972–73) | 13–14–1 |
| 29 | W | December 8, 1972 | 4–2 | Alberta Oilers (1972–73) | 14–14–1 |
| 30 | W | December 10, 1972 | 5–3 | Alberta Oilers (1972–73) | 15–14–1 |
| 31 | T | December 12, 1972 | 3–3 | Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) | 15–14–2 |
| 32 | L | December 14, 1972 | 2–5 | New England Whalers (1972–73) | 15–15–2 |
| 33 | T | December 17, 1972 | 4–4 | @ Houston Aeros (1972–73) | 15–15–3 |
| 34 | L | December 19, 1972 | 5–7 | @ Houston Aeros (1972–73) | 15–16–3 |
| 35 | T | December 21, 1972 | 4–4 | @ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) | 15–16–4 |
| 36 | L | December 23, 1972 | 1–2 | @ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) | 15–17–4 |
| 37 | W | December 24, 1972 | 5–3 | @ New England Whalers (1972–73) | 16–17–4 |
| 38 | L | December 28, 1972 | 2–4 | Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) | 16–18–4 |
| 39 | W | December 29, 1972 | 5–2 | Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) | 17–18–4 |
| 40 | L | December 31, 1972 | 1–3 | Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) | 17–19–4 |
| 41 | W | January 9, 1973 | 4–3 OT | @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) | 18–19–4 |
| 42 | W | January 10, 1973 | 8–5 | @ Chicago Cougars (1972–73) | 19–19–4 |
| 43 | L | January 12, 1973 | 1–2 | Alberta Oilers (1972–73) | 19–20–4 |
| 44 | L | January 13, 1973 | 1–4 | Alberta Oilers (1972–73) | 19–21–4 |
| 45 | W | January 15, 1973 | 4–3 | @ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) | 20–21–4 |
| 46 | L | January 16, 1973 | 5–6 OT | @ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) | 20–22–4 |
| 47 | L | January 19, 1973 | 1–4 | Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) | 20–23–4 |
| 48 | W | January 21, 1973 | 3–2 | Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) | 21–23–4 |
| 49 | L | January 26, 1973 | 4–5 OT | New York Raiders (1972–73) | 21–24–4 |
| 50 | W | January 28, 1973 | 9–2 | New York Raiders (1972–73) | 22–24–4 |
| 51 | W | January 30, 1973 | 5–2 | @ Houston Aeros (1972–73) | 23–24–4 |
| 52 | W | February 2, 1973 | 3–1 | New England Whalers (1972–73) | 24–24–4 |
| 53 | W | February 4, 1973 | 4–3 | New England Whalers (1972–73) | 25–24–4 |
| 54 | W | February 8, 1973 | 3–1 | Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) | 26–24–4 |
| 55 | L | February 10, 1973 | 5–6 OT | Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) | 26–25–4 |
| 56 | L | February 11, 1973 | 0–3 | Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) | 26–26–4 |
| 57 | L | February 13, 1973 | 1–6 | Chicago Cougars (1972–73) | 26–27–4 |
| 58 | L | February 15, 1973 | 5–6 | @ New England Whalers (1972–73) | 26–28–4 |
| 59 | T | February 16, 1973 | 2–2 | @ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) | 26–28–5 |
| 60 | W | February 18, 1973 | 4–1 | @ Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) | 27–28–5 |
| 61 | W | February 20, 1973 | 4–2 | @ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) | 28–28–5 |
| 62 | L | February 24, 1973 | 3–5 | Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) | 28–29–5 |
| 63 | W | February 25, 1973 | 4–2 | Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) | 29–29–5 |
| 64 | W | March 1, 1973 | 4–1 | @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) | 30–29–5 |
| 65 | L | March 2, 1973 | 1–2 | @ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) | 30–30–5 |
| 66 | L | March 4, 1973 | 1–2 | @ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) | 30–31–5 |
| 67 | W | March 6, 1973 | 3–2 OT | Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) | 31–31–5 |
| 68 | L | March 7, 1973 | 1–3 | Houston Aeros (1972–73) | 31–32–5 |
| 69 | W | March 9, 1973 | 5–1 | Houston Aeros (1972–73) | 32–32–5 |
| 70 | W | March 11, 1973 | 4–2 | Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) | 33–32–5 |
| 71 | L | March 13, 1973 | 1–3 | Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) | 33–33–5 |
| 72 | W | March 15, 1973 | 6–2 | @ New York Raiders (1972–73) | 34–33–5 |
| 73 | W | March 17, 1973 | 2–0 | @ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) | 35–33–5 |
| 74 | T | March 19, 1973 | 5–5 | @ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) | 35–33–6 |
| 75 | L | March 20, 1973 | 1–4 | @ New England Whalers (1972–73) | 35–34–6 |
| 76 | L | March 23, 1973 | 3–7 | Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) | 35–35–6 |
| 77 | W | March 25, 1973 | 1–0 | Chicago Cougars (1972–73) | 36–35–6 |
| 78 | W | March 27, 1973 | 4–1 | Chicago Cougars (1972–73) | 37–35–6 |

## Playoffs

The Sharks' 3rd place finish enabled them to avoid a first round matchup with Bobby Hull's powerful Winnipeg Jets and earned them a series with the 2nd place Houston Aeros, who finished 2 points ahead of the Sharks in the standings.
After opening in Houston with an uninspired 7–2 loss, the Sharks bounced back to win game two by a 4–2 score. Heading back to L.A. with a split, the Sharks won a thrilling game three by a score of 3–2; goalie Russ Gillow made several spectacular saves to preserve the win. The turning point was game four. The clubs battled through regulation tied at 2; if the Sharks scored the next goal, they would have a commanding 3–1 series lead but if Houston scored, the series would be tied going back to Houston. Winger Murray Hall scored for Houston, and the Sharks didn't win another game, losing game five 6–3 and game six, 3–2. After the series, coach Terry Slater was criticized for starting George Gardner in games 1 and 5 despite the fact Gillow played better the second half of the season. Gardner was pulled in game 1 (a 7–2 loss) and did not play well in game 5 (a 6–3 loss). Garnder's GAA for the series was 5.69 while Gillow's was 2.91. Slater stated he wanted the veteran Gardner to start game 1 over the rookie Gillow.

### Houston Aeros 4, Los Angeles Sharks 2 - Semifinals

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record |
| 1 | April 5 | Los Angeles Sharks | 2–7 | Houston Aeros | 0–1 |
| 2 | April 7 | Los Angeles Sharks | 4–2 | Houston Aeros | 1–1 |
| 3 | April 11 | Houston Aeros | 2–3 | Los Angeles Sharks | 2–1 |
| 4 | April 13 | Houston Aeros | 3–2 OT | Los Angeles Sharks | 2–2 |
| 5 | April 15 | Los Angeles Sharks | 3–6 | Houston Aeros | 2–3 |
| 6 | April 17 | Houston Aeros | 3–2 | Los Angeles Sharks | 2–4 |

## Player stats

Regular season :
Scoring :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Gary Veneruzzo | W | 78 | 43 | 30 | 73 | 34 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 5 |
| J.P. LeBlanc | C | 77 | 19 | 50 | 69 | 49 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Bart Crashley | D | 70 | 18 | 27 | 45 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Szura | C | 73 | 13 | 32 | 45 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Alton White | RW | 57 | 20 | 17 | 37 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Serviss | C | 73 | 11 | 26 | 37 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Gerry Odrowski | D | 78 | 6 | 31 | 37 | 89 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mike Byers | RW | 56 | 19 | 17 | 36 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Gilmore | LW | 71 | 17 | 18 | 35 | 191 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Earl Heiskala | LW | 70 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 150 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Niekamp | D | 78 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 155 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bill Young | LW | 50 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 46 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Peter Slater | RW | 73 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 87 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Ralph MacSweyn | D | 78 | 0 | 23 | 23 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted McCaskill | C | 73 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 150 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jim Watson | D | 75 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 123 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Sutherland | LW | 44 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 98 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fred Speck | C | 28 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Hyndman | RW | 19 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bernie MacNeil | LW | 42 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Jones | LW | 20 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Howie Heggedal | LW | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jarda Krupicka | RW | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Mavety | D | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| George Gardner | G | 49 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Russ Gillow | G | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Jakubo | C | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Perreault | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerry Zrymiak | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending :
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| George Gardner | 2713 | 49 | 19 | 22 | 4 | 149 | 3.30 | 1 |
| Russ Gillow | 1982 | 38 | 17 | 13 | 2 | 96 | 2.91 | 2 |
| Bob Perreault | 60 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 4755 | 78 | 37 | 35 | 6 | 247 | 3.12 | 3 |
Playoffs :
Scoring :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Fred Speck | C | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted McCaskill | C | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J.P. LeBlanc | C | 6 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Gilmore | LW | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Veneruzzo | W | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Niekamp | D | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ralph MacSweyn | D | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry Odrowski | D | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Hyndman | RW | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Earl Heiskala | LW | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bart Crashley | D | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Sutherland | LW | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alton White | RW | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerry Zrymiak | D | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Watson | D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Gardner | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Russ Gillow | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Howie Heggedal | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bernie MacNeil | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Serviss | C | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peter Slater | RW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Szura | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending :
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| George Gardner | 116 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 5.69 | 0 |
| Russ Gillow | 247 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 2.91 | 0 |
| Team: | 363 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 23 | 3.80 | 0 |
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals  MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

## Draft picks

3rd round, 8th pick (32nd overall pick) – Robert Klein, D – Kamloops