1972–73 Houston Aeros season

The 1972–73 Houston Aeros season was the 1st season of the Aeros franchise in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Aeros finished 2nd in the Western Division and lost in the Semi-finals to the Winnipeg Jets 4 games to 0.
==Off-season==
Owned by Ohio architect Paul Deneau, the franchise was originally planned to play in Dayton, Ohio. Unable to find a suitable venue in Dayton caused Deneau to seek a home elsewhere, finally choosing Houston, Texas. The name was changed to Aeros after he spotted an AeroMexico plane while traveling and recognized the city's connection to the aerospace industry. 
Bill Dineen used his experience in the Western Hockey League to signed veterans for the Aeros. Forwards Ted Taylor, Larry Lund and Frank Hughes, defensemen Poul Popiel, Larry Hale, John Schella and goaltender Wayne Rutledge were members of the inaugural roster and remained until the franchise folded.
The Aeros jerseys throughout their franchise history were white, dark and light blue with a star on each shoulder and "AEROS" spelt diagonally on the jersey front. Jersey numbers and names were not outlined. However, for the 1972-73 season only, "AEROS" was spelt in a block font with several shades of blue and the sleeves had blue and white colour flows with no stripes.
==Regular Season==
Through the first three months the Aeros played mediocre hockey with a record of 16-16-4. In January the Aeros took off, winning 10 of 13 games and finished second in the Western Division with a record of 39-35-4. Gord Labossiere led the team in scoring with 36 goals and 60 assists. Goalie Wayne Rutledge had an excellent season and finished with the league's 4th best goals against average and 20 wins.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results 	Regular Season Results
No. 	R 	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	W 	October 12, 1972 	3–2 	Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 	1–0–0
2 	W 	October 13, 1972 	3–2 	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	2–0–0
3 	L 	October 15, 1972 	1–5 	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	2–1–0
4 	L 	October 18, 1972 	1–4 	New England Whalers (1972–73) 	2–2–0
5 	W 	October 19, 1972 	5–1 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 	3–2–0
6 	L 	October 21, 1972 	2–3 	@ New York Raiders (1972–73) 	3–3–0
7 	L 	October 24, 1972 	3–5 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 	3–4–0
8 	W 	October 26, 1972 	7–3 	Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 	4–4–0
9 	L 	October 29, 1972 	3–5 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	4–5–0
10 	W 	October 31, 1972 	4–3 	@ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	5–5–0
11 	L 	November 3, 1972 	3–4 	@ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	5–6–0
12 	L 	November 5, 1972 	0–4 	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	5–7–0
13 	W 	November 7, 1972 	3–2 	@ Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 	6–7–0
14 	L 	November 11, 1972 	1–3 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 	6–8–0
15 	T 	November 13, 1972 	4–4 	@ New England Whalers (1972–73) 	6–8–1
16 	L 	November 15, 1972 	4–6 	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	6–9–1
17 	W 	November 19, 1972 	4–2 	Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 	7–9–1
18 	L 	November 21, 1972 	2–4 	Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	7–10–1
19 	W 	November 23, 1972 	6–5 OT 	Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	8–10–1
20 	W 	November 25, 1972 	3–1 	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 	9–10–1
21 	W 	November 28, 1972 	3–1 	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 	10–10–1
22 	L 	November 30, 1972 	3–6 	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	10–11–1
23 	W 	December 2, 1972 	7–2 	@ New York Raiders (1972–73) 	11–11–1
24 	L 	December 3, 1972 	4–5 	@ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 	11–12–1
25 	L 	December 5, 1972 	4–6 	New York Raiders (1972–73) 	11–13–1
26 	L 	December 7, 1972 	0–3 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73)	11–14–1
27 	L 	December 8, 1972 	2–6 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	11–15–1
28 	W 	December 12, 1972 	6–4 	Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	12–15–1
29 	L 	December 13, 1972 	2–3 	Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	12–16–1
30 	W 	December 15, 1972 	3–2 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73)	13–16–1
31 	T 	December 17, 1972 	4–4 	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	13–16–2
32 	W 	December 19, 1972 	7–5 	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	14–16–2
33 	W 	December 23, 1972 	7–3 	Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) 	15–16–2
34 	T 	December 26, 1972 	3–3 	@ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 	15–16–3
35 	W 	December 29, 1972 	4–2 	@ New England Whalers (1972–73) 	16–16–3
36 	L 	December 30, 1972 	3–4 OT 	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 	16–17–3
37 	T 	January 1, 1973 	4–4 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73)	16–17–4
38 	W 	January 9, 1973 	7–5 	New England Whalers (1972–73) 	17–17–4
39 	W 	January 11, 1973 	5–0 	@ Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 	18–17–4
40 	W 	January 13, 1973 	6–2 	Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 	19–17–4
41 	W 	January 15, 1973 	5–4 	Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 	20–17–4
42 	L 	January 17, 1973 	0–5 	Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 	20–18–4
43 	W 	January 18, 1973 	8–3 	@ Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 	21–18–4
44 	W 	January 20, 1973 	4–3 	@ Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) 	22–18–4
45 	W 	January 21, 1973 	5–2 	Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 	23–18–4
46 	W 	January 23, 1973 	11–3 	Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 	24–18–4
47 	W 	January 25, 1973 	5–2 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73)	25–18–4
48 	W 	January 28, 1973 	4–3 	Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 	26–18–4
49 	L 	January 30, 1973 	2–5 	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	26–19–4
50 	L 	February 1, 1973 	4–5 OT 	New England Whalers (1972–73) 	26–20–4
51 	W 	February 3, 1973 	7–1 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 	27–20–4
52 	L 	February 5, 1973 	3–6 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 	27–21–4
53 	W 	February 7, 1973 	5–2 	Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	28–21–4
54 	L 	February 8, 1973 	1–3 	Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	28–22–4
55 	L 	February 10, 1973 	0–3 	@ Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 	28–23–4
56 	L 	February 13, 1973 	3–5 	@ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	28–24–4
57 	W 	February 15, 1973 	5–3 	@ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	29–24–4
58 	L 	February 16, 1973 	0–7 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	29–25–4
59 	L 	February 18, 1973 	2–4 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	29–26–4
60 	W 	February 22, 1973 	4–1 	Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 	30–26–4
61 	W 	February 25, 1973 	4–1 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 	31–26–4
62 	W 	February 27, 1973 	5–4 	Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	32–26–4
63 	W 	February 28, 1973 	3–2 OT 	Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	33–26–4
64 	L 	March 3, 1973 	3–4 	Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 	33–27–4
65 	L 	March 4, 1973 	3–6 	Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 	33–28–4
66 	W 	March 7, 1973 	3–1 	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	34–28–4
67 	L 	March 9, 1973 	1–5 	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	34–29–4
68 	W 	March 11, 1973 	4–2 	@ Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) 	35–29–4
69 	L 	March 13, 1973 	3–4 	@ Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) 	35–30–4
70 	L 	March 14, 1973 	1–5 	@ New York Raiders (1972–73) 	35–31–4
71 	L 	March 18, 1973 	2–3 OT 	New York Raiders (1972–73) 	35–32–4
72 	W 	March 19, 1973 	5–1 	Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) 	36–32–4
73 	L 	March 21, 1973 	3–7 	Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) 	36–33–4
74 	L 	March 25, 1973 	2–4 	Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 	36–34–4
75 	W 	March 27, 1973 	6–1 	@ New England Whalers (1972–73) 	37–34–4
76 	W 	March 29, 1973 	5–3 	New York Raiders (1972–73) 	38–34–4
77 	L 	March 31, 1973 	1–5 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 	38–35–4
78 	W 	April 1, 1973 	6–3 	@ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 	39–35–4
==Playoffs==
===Houston Aeros 4, Los Angeles Sharks 2===
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	Record
1	April 5 	Los Angeles Sharks	2–7 	Houston Aeros 	1–0
2	April 7 	Los Angeles Sharks	4–2 	Houston Aeros 	1–1
3	April 11	Houston Aeros 	2–3 	Los Angeles Sharks	1–2
4	April 13	Houston Aeros 	3–2 OT	Los Angeles Sharks	2–2
5	April 15	Los Angeles Sharks	3–6 	Houston Aeros 	3–2
6	April 17	Houston Aeros 	3–2 	Los Angeles Sharks	4–2
===Winnipeg Jets 4, Houston Aeros 0===
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	April 22	Houston Aeros	1–5 	Winnipeg Jets	0–1
2	April 24	Houston Aeros	0–2 	Winnipeg Jets	0–2
3	April 26	Winnipeg Jets	2–4 	Houston Aeros	0–3
4	April 29	Winnipeg Jets	0–3 	Houston Aeros	0–4
==Player Stats==
Regular Season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
# 	Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
10 	 	C 	78	36	60	96 	56 	0 	10 	0 	1
14 	 	LW 	73	34	42	76 	103	0 	5 	1 	4
11 	 	RW 	76	28	42	70 	84 	0 	7 	2 	7
13 	 	C 	77	21	45	66 	120	0 	4 	0 	2
6 	 	D 	73	16	48	64 	158	0 	5 	0 	2
21 	 	RW 	78	22	22	44 	83 	0 	5 	0 	0
15 	 	RW 	75	30	12	42 	14 	0 	4 	5 	0
7 	 	LW 	77	22	19	41 	41 	0 	4 	0 	0
8 	 	C 	71	20	20	40 	78 	0 	0 	0 	0
12 	 	C 	78	11	28	39 	12 	0 	0 	1 	0
17 	 	D 	68	4 	26	30 	65 	0 	0 	0 	0
9 	 	RW 	67	13	16	29 	95 	0 	2 	0 	0
4 	 	D 	69	9 	20	29 	112	0 	2 	0 	0
2 	 	D 	77	2 	24	26 	239	0 	0 	1 	0
18 	 	LW 	71	8 	12	20 	8 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	 	LW 	48	7 	6 	13 	19 	0 	2 	0 	0
3 	 	D 	68	1 	10	11 	25 	0 	0 	0 	0
5 	 	D 	45	0 	10	10 	32 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	 	D 	3 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
29 	 	G 	3 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
30 	 	G 	36	0 	0 	0 	11 	0 	0 	0 	0
1 	 	G 	41	0 	0 	0 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0
Playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	D 	10	2	9	11 	23 	1 	0 	0
 	C 	10	3	7	10 	24 	0 	0 	1
 	RW 	10	4	4	8 	18 	2 	0 	2
 	LW 	10	4	4	8 	2 	3 	0 	0
 	D 	10	2	3	5 	6 	1 	0 	0
 	C 	6 	1	4	5 	8 	1 	0 	0
 	LW 	10	3	1	4 	10 	1 	0 	1
 	C 	10	3	0	3 	16 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	10	1	2	3 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	9 	1	2	3 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	10	0	3	3 	16 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	10	1	1	2 	4 	0 	1 	0
 	D 	10	0	2	2 	12 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	10	0	2	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	9 	1	0	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	9 	0	1	1 	11 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	3 	0	0	0 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	7 	0	0	0 	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==
*The Aeros did not win any awards this season.
==Transactions==
==Draft Picks==
==Farm Teams==
==Gallery==
1972-73-Jets-Aeros.jpg|The Jets and Aeros in 1972-73 season action.
1972-73-Bradley-Hughes-Speer-Donnelly.jpg|Brian Bradley, Frank Hughes, Bill Speer and Pete Donnelly in 1972-73 season action.
==See Also==
*1972–73 WHA season
==References==
Houston Aeros season, 1972–73
Houston Aeros season, 1972–73
category:Houston Aeros seasons