The 1973–74 Chicago Cougars season was the Chicago Cougars' second season of operation in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

. The team qualified for the playoff and won two playoff series to make it to the

Avco Cup The Avco World Trophy, also known as the Avco Cup, is the playoff championship trophy of the defunct World Hockey Association (1972–1979). The trophy's naming rights were sold to the former Avco Corporation (a name originally derived from "Avia ...

Final before losing to the Houston Aeros.

Offseason

The Chicago Cougars revamped their lineup during the off-season in hopes of escaping the cellar. The Cougars strengthened their defense by signing

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

all-star defenceman Pat Stapleton from the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

as a player-coach, Darryl Maggs from the California Golden Seals and goaltender Cam Newton from the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

. To the forward line, the Cougars signed Ralph Backstrom, also from the Blackhawks,

Eric Nesterenko Eric Paul Nesterenko (October 31, 1933 – June 4, 2022) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1951 until 1956 and for the Chicago Black Hawks from 1956 until ...

, who had spent a season in Switzerland after a long career with the Blackhawks and

Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

, and junior all-star Frank Rochon from the Sherbrooke Beavers, and acquired Joe Hardy from the

Cleveland Crusaders The Cleveland Crusaders were a professional ice hockey team from Cleveland. They played in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1976. Their home ice was the Cleveland Arena from 1972 to 1974, and the Richfield Coliseum from 1974 to 1976. T ...

and

Duke Harris George Francis "Duke" Harris (February 25, 1942 – August 2, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played 26 games in the National Hockey League during the 1967–68 season with the Minnesota North Stars and Toronto Maple ...

from the Houston Aeros.

Regular season

The Cougars scored 26 more goals than the previous season and reduced the goals against by 22 to post a 50% improvement in points and secure the final playoff spot in the East Division by a single point over the Quebec Nordiques.

Final standings

Game log

Playoffs

Chicago Cougars 4, New England Whalers 3 - Division Quarterfinals

Chicago Cougars 4, Toronto Toros 3 - Semifinals

Houston Aeros 4, Chicago Cougars 0 - Avco Cup Finals

Player stats

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

Transactions

Trades

Draft picks

Chicago's draft picks at the

1973 WHA Amateur Draft The 1973 WHA Amateur Draft was the first draft for the World Hockey Association. __NOTOC__ Selections by round Below are listed the selections in the 1973 WHA Amateur Draft. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 R ...

Farm teams

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1973-74 Chicago Cougars season

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology ''Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictiona ...

Chicago Cougars seasons