1972–73 Chicago Cougars season

The 1972–73 Chicago Cougars season was the Cougars 1st season in the WHA. The Cougars finished 6th in the West Division and did not qualify for the playoffs.
==Off-season==
The Cougars played in the International Amphitheatre while awaiting completion of Rosemont Horizon Arena which was not finished until 1980. The 9,000 seat Amphitheatre was located next to cattle stockyards and abattoirs, filling the arena with a powerful stench.The Rebel League, Ed Willis, McClelland & Stewart Ltd, 1994, p.114
The Cougars jersey colours for their inaugural WHA season were mustard, white and green with a primarily white home jersey and a primarily mustard away jersey. Three thin stripes on the arms, body and the shoulders yolks completed the design. Numbers on the sleeves, back and names weren't outlined and uniquely, a small number was present on the front over the heart. The logo was a profile of a snarling cougar inside a rounded rectangle. Except for a small change to the numbers for the 1973-74 season, the jerseys remained the same for the Cougars three year stint in the WHA.
==Regular Season==
The Cougars opened the season with a seven game road trip before hosting the Winnipeg Jets on October 31, 1972. Bobby Hull was on hand for the ceremonial face-off.
On March 28, 1973, Bobby Hull returned to Chicago to face the Cougars, having scored 49 goals. Hull potted his 50th of the season and when the game went into overtime, won it for the Jets with his 51st.
===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 	L 	October 12, 1972 	2–3 	@ Houston Aeros (1972–73) 	0–1–0
2 	L 	October 15, 1972 	2–3 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73)	0–2–0
3 	L 	October 16, 1972 	1–4 	@ New England Whalers (1972–73) 	0–3–0
4 	L 	October 19, 1972 	2–6 	@ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 	0–4–0
5 	W 	October 22, 1972 	4–2 	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	1–4–0
6 	T 	October 24, 1972 	3–3 	@ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	1–4–1
7 	L 	October 27, 1972 	2–4 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	1–5–1
8 	W 	October 31, 1972 	3–1 	Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	2–5–1
9 	L 	November 1, 1972 	2–4 	@ New England Whalers (1972–73) 	2–6–1
10 	L 	November 4, 1972 	2–3 OT 	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	2–7–1
11 	L 	November 5, 1972 	2–3 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 	2–8–1
12 	L 	November 7, 1972 	2–3 	Houston Aeros (1972–73) 	2–9–1
13 	L 	November 11, 1972 	1–4 	Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 	2–10–1
14 	L 	November 14, 1972 	3–4 	Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) 	2–11–1
15 	L 	November 17, 1972 	1–3 	@ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	2–12–1
16 	W 	November 19, 1972 	4–3 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73)	3–12–1
17 	W 	November 23, 1972 	8–1 	@ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 	4–12–1
18 	W 	November 25, 1972 	4–3 	@ Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) 	5–12–1
19 	L 	November 28, 1972 	2–6 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 	5–13–1
20 	L 	December 1, 1972 	3–5 	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	5–14–1
21 	L 	December 2, 1972 	2–4 	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	5–15–1
22 	W 	December 5, 1972 	3–2 OT 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73)	6–15–1
23 	L 	December 6, 1972 	1–7 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	6–16–1
24 	W 	December 8, 1972 	4–3 OT 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 	7–16–1
25 	L 	December 9, 1972 	2–4 	Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 	7–17–1
26 	L 	December 11, 1972 	3–8 	@ New York Raiders (1972–73) 	7–18–1
27 	W 	December 13, 1972 	6–3 	New England Whalers (1972–73) 	8–18–1
28 	L 	December 14, 1972 	3–6 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 	8–19–1
29 	L 	December 17, 1972 	2–4 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73)	8–20–1
30 	W 	December 19, 1972 	6–1 	Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 	9–20–1
31 	L 	December 20, 1972 	5–8 	@ Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) 	9–21–1
32 	W 	December 22, 1972 	3–2 	Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	10–21–1
33 	W 	December 23, 1972 	3–2 	Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	11–21–1
34 	W 	December 25, 1972 	3–2 	Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	12–21–1
35 	L 	December 26, 1972 	2–3 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	12–22–1
36 	W 	December 28, 1972 	6–3 	Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) 	13–22–1
37 	L 	December 30, 1972 	2–4 	Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 	13–23–1
38 	L 	January 10, 1973 	5–8 	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	13–24–1
39 	L 	January 11, 1973 	0–5 	Houston Aeros (1972–73) 	13–25–1
40 	L 	January 13, 1973 	2–6 	@ Houston Aeros (1972–73) 	13–26–1
41 	L 	January 15, 1973 	4–5 	@ Houston Aeros (1972–73) 	13–27–1
42 	L 	January 17, 1973 	2–4 	New England Whalers (1972–73) 	13–28–1
43 	L 	January 18, 1973 	3–8 	Houston Aeros (1972–73) 	13–29–1
44 	W 	January 20, 1973 	6–4 	@ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	14–29–1
45 	L 	January 22, 1973 	1–6 	@ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	14–30–1
46 	W 	January 23, 1973 	7–1 	Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 	15–30–1
47 	W 	January 25, 1973 	9–2 	New York Raiders (1972–73) 	16–30–1
48 	L 	January 27, 1973 	1–2 	Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 	16–31–1
49 	L 	January 28, 1973 	3–4 	@ Houston Aeros (1972–73) 	16–32–1
50 	W 	January 30, 1973 	4–2 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 	17–32–1
51 	W 	February 2, 1973 	4–1 	Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 	18–32–1
52 	W 	February 3, 1973 	4–2 	New York Raiders (1972–73) 	19–32–1
53 	L 	February 5, 1973 	5–7 	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 	19–33–1
54 	W 	February 8, 1973 	5–2 	Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 	20–33–1
55 	W 	February 10, 1973 	3–0 	Houston Aeros (1972–73) 	21–33–1
56 	W 	February 13, 1973 	6–1 	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	22–33–1
57 	L 	February 15, 1973 	2–7 	Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	22–34–1
58 	L 	February 17, 1973 	1–3 	Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 	22–35–1
59 	L 	February 18, 1973 	5–7 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73)	22–36–1
60 	W 	February 20, 1973 	4–2 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 	23–36–1
61 	W 	February 24, 1973 	5–2 	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 	24–36–1
62 	L 	February 27, 1973 	1–5 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	24–37–1
63 	L 	March 4, 1973 	4–6 	@ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 	24–38–1
64 	T 	March 5, 1973 	4–4 	@ New York Raiders (1972–73) 	24–38–2
65 	W 	March 6, 1973 	2–1 OT 	Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) 	25–38–2
66 	L 	March 8, 1973 	2–3 OT 	Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	25–39–2
67 	L 	March 10, 1973 	4–5 OT 	Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 	25–40–2
68 	L 	March 12, 1973 	7–8 	@ New York Raiders (1972–73) 	25–41–2
69 	L 	March 13, 1973 	3–4 OT 	New England Whalers (1972–73) 	25–42–2
70 	L 	March 15, 1973 	4–7 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 	25–43–2
71 	W 	March 17, 1973 	6–3 	New York Raiders (1972–73) 	26–43–2
72 	L 	March 22, 1973 	1–2 OT 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 	26–44–2
73 	L 	March 23, 1973 	1–3 	@ New England Whalers (1972–73) 	26–45–2
74 	L 	March 25, 1973 	0–1 	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	26–46–2
75 	L 	March 27, 1973 	1–4 	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 	26–47–2
76 	L 	March 28, 1973 	3–4 OT 	Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 	26–48–2
77 	L 	March 31, 1973 	1–5 	@ Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73) 	26–49–2
78 	L 	April 1, 1973 	1–5 	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 	26–50–2
==Playoffs==
*The Cougars 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
17 	 	C 	77	25	63	88 	18 	0 	7 	1 	2
9 	 	C 	78	33	36	69 	135	0 	5 	0 	4
6 	 	D/LW	75	23	45	68 	93 	0 	7 	1 	2
19 	 	LW 	76	31	34	65 	77 	0 	6 	0 	4
16 	 	C 	75	23	28	51 	53 	0 	3 	2 	0
21 	 	D 	67	9 	40	49 	73 	0 	2 	1 	0
10 	 	LW 	76	31	17	48 	84 	0 	4 	0 	0
14 	 	LW 	58	15	18	33 	16 	0 	4 	0 	0
7 	 	LW 	78	20	11	31 	24 	0 	1 	0 	0
18 	 	D 	74	3 	26	29 	34 	0 	0 	1 	0
2 	 	D 	75	4 	19	23 	39 	0 	0 	0 	0
12 	 	RW 	43	9 	12	21 	23 	0 	3 	0 	0
3 	 	D 	53	4 	14	18 	33 	0 	1 	0 	0
8 	 	C 	74	3 	14	17 	25 	0 	0 	0 	0
20 	 	RW 	41	3 	8 	11 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
16 	 	RW 	33	3 	8 	11 	2 	0 	2 	0 	0
5 	 	D 	75	1 	10	11 	44 	0 	0 	0 	0
27 	 	LW 	50	2 	5 	7 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
22 	 	RW 	24	2 	3 	5 	8 	0 	0 	0 	0
12 	 	RW 	15	1 	1 	2 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
1 	 	G 	54	0 	1 	1 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	 	LW 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
20 	 	D 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
4 	 	D 	30	0 	0 	0 	12 	0 	0 	0 	0
31 	 	G 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
30 	 	G 	33	0 	0 	0 	6 	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 Cougars did not win any awards this season.
==Transactions==
==Draft Picks==
==Farm Teams==
==Gallery==
1972-Dec22-Anderson-Hull-Mavety.jpg|Ron Anderson, Bobby Hull, Larry Mavety, December 22, 1972.
==Video==
48 minutes of game action from the October 27, 1972 Chicago Cougars-Winnipeg Jets match.
WHA- Oct.27-1972 Chicago Cougars - Winnipeg Jets
Nearly an hour of game action from the December 17, 1972 Chicago Cougars-Minnesota Fighting Saints match.
WHA- Dec.17-1972 Chicago Cougars - Minnesota Fighting Saints
==See Also==
*1972–73 WHA season
==References==
Chicago Cougars season, 1972–73
Chicago Cougars season, 1972–73
category:Chicago Cougars seasons