1972–73 Quebec Nordiques season

The 1972–73 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques' 1st season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Nordiques finished 5th in the Eastern Division and did not qualify for the playoffs.
==Off-season==
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.
The Nordiques made signing French-Canadien players a priority and for the club's entire existence in the WHA, the team was nearly totally comprised of players who were born in Quebec.
The Nordiques inaugural jersey colours were light blue, white and red with a primarily white home jersey and a primarily light blue away jersey. The jerseys had a shoulder yolk, simple stripes on the arms and body and no nameplates on the back. The logo was a red partial igloo with a hockey stick and puck on the right. Significantly, there was no fleur-de-lis present.
==Regular Season==
The Nordiques named 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. 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 Nordiques won their home opener, shutting out the Alberta Oilers 6–0 at Le Colisee. The Nords ended 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 scored a team high 36 goals. Michel Parizeau and Andre Gaudette each broke the 70 point barrier, recording 73 points and 71 respectively. Pierre Roy led the club with 169 penalty minutes, while Michel Rouleau would get 142 in 52 games after being acquired from the Philadelphia Blazers.
In goal, Serge Aubry got the majority of playing time, earning a club high 25 wins and a team best 3.60 GAA along with 2 shutouts.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record 	Pts
1 	October 11 	Quebec Nordiques 	0–2 	Cleveland Crusaders 	0–1–0 	0
2 	October 13 	Alberta Oilers 	0–6 	Quebec Nordiques 	1–1–0 	2
3 	October 19 	Quebec Nordiques 	4–3 	New England Whalers 	2–1–0 	4
4 	October 21 	New England Whalers 	4–6 	Quebec Nordiques 	3–1–0 	6
5 	October 22 	Ottawa Nationals 	3–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	3–2–0 	6
6 	October 24 	Houston Aeros 	3–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	4–2–0 	8
7 	October 26 	Minnesota Fighting Saints	4–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	5–2–0 	10
8 	October 29 	Cleveland Crusaders 	2–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	5–2–1 	11
9 	October 31 	Los Angeles Sharks 	4–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	5–3–1 	11
10	November 2 	Philadelphia Blazers 	3–6 	Quebec Nordiques 	6–3–1 	13
11	November 4 	Quebec Nordiques 	4–5 	Cleveland Crusaders 	6–4–1 	13
12	November 5 	Chicago Cougars 	2–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	7–4–1 	15
13	November 8 	Winnipeg Jets 	2–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	8–4–1 	17
14	November 11	Houston Aeros 	1–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	9–4–1 	19
15	November 15	New York Raiders 	4–7 	Quebec Nordiques 	10–4–1 	21
16	November 16	Quebec Nordiques 	4–5 	Minnesota Fighting Saints	10–5–1 	21
17	November 18	Quebec Nordiques 	1–7 	New York Raiders 	10–6–1 	21
18	November 21	Quebec Nordiques 	2–4 	Ottawa Nationals 	10–7–1 	21
19	November 24	Quebec Nordiques 	3–5 	Winnipeg Jets 	10–8–1 	21
20	November 26	Quebec Nordiques 	1–4 	Winnipeg Jets 	10–9–1 	21
21	November 28	Chicago Cougars 	2–6 	Quebec Nordiques 	11–9–1 	23
22	December 2 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–7 	New England Whalers 	11–10–1	23
23	December 3 	Quebec Nordiques 	6–2 	Alberta Oilers 	12–10–1	25
24	December 5 	Quebec Nordiques 	4–2 	Winnipeg Jets 	13–10–1	27
25	December 7 	Cleveland Crusaders 	3–1 	Quebec Nordiques 	13–11–1	27
26	December 9 	Quebec Nordiques 	4–2 	Chicago Cougars 	14–11–1	29
27	December 10	Quebec Nordiques 	6–7 	Ottawa Nationals 	14–12–1	29
28	December 12	Philadelphia Blazers 	2–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	15–12–1	31
29	December 13	Quebec Nordiques 	1–9 	New York Raiders 	15–13–1	31
30	December 15	Quebec Nordiques 	3–6 	Cleveland Crusaders 	15–14–1	31
31	December 17	Cleveland Crusaders 	2–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	16–14–1	33
32	December 19	Ottawa Nationals 	3–7 	Quebec Nordiques 	17–14–1	35
33	December 23	Los Angeles Sharks 	1–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	18–14–1	37
34	December 24	Quebec Nordiques 	2–6 	Ottawa Nationals 	18–15–1	37
35	December 26	New York Raiders 	5–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	18–16–1	37
36	December 28	New England Whalers 	5–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	18–17–1	37
37	December 29	Quebec Nordiques 	3–5 	Cleveland Crusaders 	18–18–1	37
38	December 31	Ottawa Nationals 	4–8 	Quebec Nordiques 	19–18–1	39
39	January 8 	Quebec Nordiques 	6–5 	New York Raiders 	20–18–1	41
40	January 9 	Quebec Nordiques 	5–7 	Ottawa Nationals 	20–19–1	41
41	January 12 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–3 	Minnesota Fighting Saints	20–20–1	41
42	January 13 	Quebec Nordiques 	4–9 	Philadelphia Blazers 	20–21–1	41
43	January 16 	Ottawa Nationals 	4–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	21–21–1	43
44	January 18 	New York Raiders 	4–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	21–21–2	44
45	January 20 	Minnesota Fighting Saints	10–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	21–22–2	44
46	January 23 	Quebec Nordiques 	1–7 	Chicago Cougars 	21–23–2	44
47	January 24 	Philadelphia Blazers 	6–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	21–24–2	44
48	January 26 	Winnipeg Jets 	2–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	21–24–3	45
49	January 27 	Quebec Nordiques 	3–1 	New England Whalers 	22–24–3	47
50	February 1 	Minnesota Fighting Saints	2–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	23–24–3	49
51	February 4 	Quebec Nordiques 	4–5 	New York Raiders 	23–25–3	49
52	February 7 	Philadelphia Blazers 	0–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	24–25–3	51
53	February 8 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–5 	Chicago Cougars 	24–26–3	51
54	February 10	Quebec Nordiques 	4–5 	Philadelphia Blazers 	24–27–3	51
55	February 11	New England Whalers 	2–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	24–27–4	52
56	February 14	Ottawa Nationals 	6–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	24–28–4	52
57	February 16	Los Angeles Sharks 	2–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	24–28–5	53
58	February 17	New England Whalers 	6–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	24–29–5	53
59	February 20	Chicago Cougars 	4–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	24–30–5	53
60	February 22	Quebec Nordiques 	2–4 	Houston Aeros 	24–31–5	53
61	February 24	Quebec Nordiques 	5–3 	Los Angeles Sharks 	25–31–5	55
62	February 25	Quebec Nordiques 	2–4 	Los Angeles Sharks 	25–32–5	55
63	March 3 	Quebec Nordiques 	4–3 	Houston Aeros 	26–32–5	57
64	March 4 	Quebec Nordiques 	6–3 	Houston Aeros 	27–32–5	59
65	March 6 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–3 	Los Angeles Sharks 	27–33–5	59
66	March 8 	Winnipeg Jets 	7–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	27–34–5	59
67	March 9 	Quebec Nordiques 	3–11 	Philadelphia Blazers 	27–35–5	59
68	March 11 	New York Raiders 	1–6 	Quebec Nordiques 	28–35–5	61
69	March 12 	Quebec Nordiques 	6–4 	Philadelphia Blazers 	29–35–5	63
70	March 16 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–4 	Alberta Oilers 	29–36–5	63
71	March 17 	Quebec Nordiques 	0–3 	Alberta Oilers 	29–37–5	63
72	March 20 	Cleveland Crusaders 	1–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	30–37–5	65
73	March 24 	Alberta Oilers 	4–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	31–37–5	67
74	March 25 	Alberta Oilers 	5–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	31–38–5	67
75	March 27 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–6 	Ottawa Nationals 	31–39–5	67
76	March 29 	Quebec Nordiques 	5–3 	Minnesota Fighting Saints	32–39–5	69
77	March 31 	Houston Aeros 	1–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	33–39–5	71
78	April 1 	Quebec Nordiques 	3–8 	New England Whalers 	33–40–5	71
==Playoffs==
*The Nordiques did not qualify for the post season.
==Player Stats==
Regular Season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
# 	Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
3 	 	D 	75	14	75	89 	32 	0 	4 	0 	3
12 	 	C 	75	25	48	73 	50 	0 	10 	1 	4
16 	 	C 	77	27	44	71 	12 	0 	0 	5 	3
19 	 	RW 	68	36	27	63 	14 	0 	15 	0 	5
24 	 	LW 	71	28	28	56 	31 	0 	3 	1 	0
15 	 	RW 	67	24	28	52 	111	0 	8 	2 	0
7 	 	LW 	63	17	33	50 	113	0 	5 	0 	0
8 	 	C 	71	15	29	44 	46 	0 	8 	0 	0
9 	 	LW 	57	12	25	37 	36 	0 	3 	0 	0
17 	 	RW 	65	14	19	33 	32 	0 	3 	0 	0
4 	 	D 	62	10	18	28 	123	0 	0 	0 	0
18 	 	RW 	59	10	12	22 	41 	0 	4 	0 	0
23 	 	C 	52	7 	14	21 	142	0 	0 	1 	0
11 	 	RW 	52	8 	12	20 	44 	0 	0 	0 	0
2 	 	D 	64	7 	12	19 	169	0 	1 	0 	0
10 	 	C 	40	6 	13	19 	14 	0 	2 	0 	0
6 	 	LW 	66	10	8 	18 	136	0 	1 	0 	0
5 	 	D 	70	1 	10	11 	78 	0 	0 	0 	0
22 	 	D 	37	2 	6 	8 	36 	0 	0 	0 	0
14 	 	RW 	28	0 	7 	7 	7 	0 	0 	0 	0
20 	 	RW 	9 	3 	2 	5 	2 	0 	1 	0 	0
 	 	D 	15	0 	3 	3 	8 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	 	D 	2 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
11 	 	LW 	7 	0 	1 	1 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
21 	 	G 	9 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	 	D 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	 	C 	19	0 	0 	0 	5 	0 	0 	0 	0
30 	 	G 	24	0 	0 	0 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
1 	 	G 	52	0 	0 	0 	54 	0 	0 	0 	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 
==Awards and Records==
*Dennis A. Murphy Trophy (Best Defenseman): J. C. Tremblay
*J. C. Tremblay, Defense, WHA First Team All-Star
==Transactions==
==Game Ads==
72-73WHAQuebecGameAd.jpg|Home opener
JCTremQue.jpg|J.C. Tremblay.
==See Also==
* 1972–73 WHA season
==References==
*SHRP Sports
*The Internet Hockey Database
Quebec Nordiques season, 1972–73
Quebec Nordiques season, 1972–73
Category:Quebec Nordiques seasons