1973-74 WHA Season

The 1973-74 WHA season was the second season of the World Hockey Association. Twelve teams each played 78 games. The Philadelphia Blazers relocated to Vancouver, becoming the Vancouver Blazers. They were moved to the Western Division and the Chicago Cougars moved to the Eastern Division. The New York Raiders were renamed the New York Golden Blades and then moved to Cherry Hill, New Jersey to become the New Jersey Knights after just 20 games. The Ottawa Nationals moved to Toronto and became the Toronto Toros.
The Houston Aeros defeated the Chicago Cougars 4 games to 0 in the Finals to win their 1st Avco World Trophy.
==Off-season==
Following the 1972-73 WHA season, New York real estate mogul Ralph Brent bought the team and renamed it the New York Golden Blades. While they managed to acquire Andre Lacroix from the Philadelphia Blazers, he was essentially all the franchise had going for it. The team replaced their original orange and blue uniforms with purple and gold uniforms of a unique design, and to coincide with the new identity, the team started the season wearing white skates with gold-colored blades.
==Pre-season==
In order to promote the New York Golden Blades, a four team mini-tournament featuring the Houston Aeros, Winnipeg Jets and New England Whalers was held at Madison Square Garden on September 25, 1973.
==Regular Season==
The Houston Aeros lured 45 year old Gordie Howe out of retirement by promising him that he could play with his sons Mark and Marty who were also on the team. Howe responded by having a 100 point season, leading the team in scoring and helping them finish with the best record in the league. The Aeros also received excellent goaltending from Don McLeod and Wayne Rutledge. The defending Western Division champion Winnipeg Jets slipped to 4th place with a sub-.500 record. The other playoff qualifiers in the West were Minnesota and Edmonton. 
In the East, defending Avco World Trophy champs New England won their second straight division title followed by Toronto, Cleveland and Chicago. 
===Final Standings===
===Scoring Leaders===
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
Mike Walton 	Minnesota Fighting Saints 	78	57	60	117	88
Andre Lacroix 	NY Golden Blades / Jersey Knights	78	31	80	111	54
Gordie Howe 	Houston Aeros 	76	31	69	100	46
Wayne Connelly	Minnesota Fighting Saints 	78	42	53	95 	16
Bobby Hull 	Winnipeg Jets 	75	53	42	95 	37
Wayne Carleton	Toronto Toros 	78	37	55	92 	31
Bryan Campbell	Vancouver Blazers 	76	27	62	89 	50
Danny Lawson 	Vancouver Blazers 	78	50	38	88 	14
Serge Bernier 	Quebec Nordiques 	74	37	49	86 	107
Larry Lund 	Houston Aeros 	75	33	53	86 	109
=== Leading Goaltenders ===
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Player 	Team 	GP	Min 	W 	L 	T	GA 	SO	SV% 	GAA
Don McLeod 	Houston Aeros 	49	2971	33	13	3	127	3 	91.1	2.56
Gerry Cheevers	Cleveland Crusaders	59	3562	30	20	6	180	4 	90.6	3.03
Al Smith 	New England Whalers	55	3194	30	21	2	164	2 	89.5	3.08
Cam Newton 	Chicago Cougars 	45	2732	25	18	2	143	1 	89.4	3.14
Jack Norris 	Edmonton Oilers 	53	2954	23	24	1	158	2 	89.8	3.21
===All-Star Game===
On January 3, 1974 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, MN, a team comprised of the Eastern Division All-Stars defeated the Western Division All-Stars 8-4 before a crowd of 13,196 spectators. Mike Walton, who had a Hat trick in a losing effort, was the game's MVP.
==Avco World Trophy Playoffs==
The West Division playoffs went according to form, with the top 2 seeds, Houston and Minnesota, easily disposing of Edmonton and Winnipeg respectively. In the east, Toronto won as expected over Cleveland, but Chicago shocked the WHA by upsetting the defending champion New England Whalers in 7 games, winning 3 of the 4 games in New England. In the division Finals, favored Houston defeated Minnesota in 6 games, while Chicago pulled its second upset by beating Toronto in 7 games, outscoring the Toros 14-4 in winning games 6 and 7. 
===Avco World Trophy Finals===
When the Chicago Cougars won their series versus the Toronto Toros, the Peter Pan show had moved on, and the International Amphitheatre should have been available. However, the Amphitheatre had a portable ice surface. For reasons that were never stated, the Amphitheatre staff decided the hockey season was over so uncovered and dismantled the copper pipes used to chill the ice. The Cougars had no choice but to return to the Randhurst Ice Arena, a 2,000 seat public skating rink, for the Finals. The Cougars never quite recovered from the public relations disaster. One sports reporter had quipped, "The Cougars were beaten by the greatest lightweight of them all - Peter Pan."
The Cougars ran out of magic in the Finals as Houston swept them in four straight, outscoring them 22-9.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	May 12	Houston Aeros 	3–2 	Chicago Cougars	1–0
2	May 15	Houston Aeros 	6–1 	Chicago Cougars	2–0
3	May 17	Chicago Cougars	4–7 	Houston Aeros 	3–0
4	May 19	Chicago Cougars	2–6 	Houston Aeros 	4–0
==WHA Awards==
Avco World Trophy: 	Houston Aeros
Gary L. Davidson Award (MVP): 	Gordie Howe, Houston Aeros
Bill Hunter Trophy (Scoring Leader): 	Mike Walton, Minnesota Fighting Saints
Lou Kaplan Trophy (Rookie of the Year): 	Mark Howe, Houston Aeros
Ben Hatskin Trophy (Best Goaltender): 	Don McLeod, Houston Aeros
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy (Best Defenseman):	Pat Stapleton, Chicago Cougars
Paul Deneau Trophy (Most Gentlemenly): 	Ralph Backstrom, Chicago Cougars
Howard Baldwin Trophy (Coach of the Year):	Bill Harris, Toronto Toros
==All-Star Teams==
Position 	First Team 	Second Team
Centre 	André Lacroix, New York/Jersey	Wayne Carleton, Toronto
Right Wing	Gordie Howe, Houston 	Mike Walton, Minnesota
Left Wing 	Bobby Hull, Winnipeg 	Mark Howe, Houston
Defence 	Pat Stapleton, Chicago 	J. C. Tremblay, Quebec
Defence 	Paul Shmyr, Cleveland 	Al Hamilton, Edmonton
Goaltender	Don McLeod, Houston 	Gerry Cheevers, Cleveland
==Gallery==
1973-Oct12-McKenzie-Beewitt-Hampson.jpg|Opening night face-off, John McKenzie, WHA VP Beewitt, Ted Hampson, October 12, 1973.
1973-Oct31-Archamault-Bernier-Spencer.jpg|Yves Archambault, Serge Bernier, Irv Spencer, October 31, 1973.
1973-Nov-Morrison-McKenzie-Block-Junkin.jpg|Kevin Morrison, John McKenzie, Ken Block, Joe Junkin, November 1973.
1973-Dec13-Leduc-Trottier-Morrison.jpg|Bob Leduc, Guy Trottier, Kevin Morrison, December 18, 1973.
73-74WHAASprog.jpg|
1974-Jan24-St Sauveur-Whidden.jpg|Claude St. Sauveur scores on Bob Whidden, January 23, 1974.
1974-Feb23-Gordie Howe-Climie.jpg|Gordie Howe and Ron Climie, February 23, 1974.
1974-Feb23-Worthy-Gordie-Hamilton.jpg|Chris Worthy, Gordie Howe, Al Hamilton, February 23, 1974.
1974-Feb24-Howe-Hughes.jpg|Gordie Howe passes to Frank Hughes, February 24, 1974.
1974-Mar27-Hall scores Gardner-MacSweyn.jpg|Murray Hall scores on George Gardner as Ralph MacSweyn looks on, March 27, 1974.
1974-Huck-Hoganson.jpg|Fran Huck and Paul Hoganson in 1973-74 action.
1974-Apr15-Game5-Sentes-Cheevers.jpg|Gerry Cheevers stops Rick Sentes, 1974 Quarter-finals Game 5, April 15, 1974.
1974-May4-Game7-Gratton-Maggs.jpg|Darryl Maggs scores on Gilles Gratton, 1974 Semi-finals Game 7, May 4, 1974.
73-74WHATorontoGameAd.jpg|Toronto
==References==
*WHA Database
*HockeyDb
Category:1974 in hockey
Category:List of WHA Seasons