The 1972–73 NHL season was the 56th

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

. Sixteen teams each played 78 games. Two new teams, the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

and the

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

, made their debuts. The

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

won the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

by beating the

Chicago Black Hawks Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

four games to two in the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...

Pre-season

Prior to the start of the season, the 1972 Summit Series took place. It was the first ever meeting between

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and NHL calibre Canadian ice hockey players. Canada expected to easily beat the Soviets, but were shocked to find themselves with a losing record of one win, two losses, and a tie after four games in Canada. In game four, which Canada lost 5–3,

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

fans echoed the rest of Canada's thoughts of Team Canada's poor performance by booing them off the ice. The final four games were played in the Soviet Union. Canada lost game five, but won the last three for a final record of four wins, three losses, and a tie. For the first time since the collapse of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

, the National Hockey League had serious competition. A new professional hockey league, the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

, made its season debut with 12 new teams, half of which were based in cities with existing NHL teams. Unlike the Western Hockey League, though, the new World Hockey Association would not challenge for the

. In response to the new league, the NHL hastily added two new teams in an unplanned expansion, the

and

, in an attempt to exclude the WHA from newly constructed arenas in those markets. The 1972 NHL expansion draft was held on June 6 to fill the rosters of the two new teams. In February 1972, the Miami Screaming Eagles of the WHA signed Bernie Parent to a contract, and when

Bobby Hull Robert Marvin Hull (January 3, 1939 – January 30, 2023) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His blond hair, skating speed, end-to-end rushes, and ability to shoot t ...

was signed on June 27, 1972, to play with the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

, the Chicago Black Hawks sued, claiming a violation of the

reserve clause The reserve clause, in North American professional sports, was part of a player contract which stated that the rights to players were retained by the team upon the contract's expiration. Players under these contracts were not free to enter into ano ...

in NHL contracts. Others soon followed Hull to the WHA, including, J. C. Tremblay, Ted Green, Gerry Cheevers and Johnny McKenzie. In the expansion draft, the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames made their picks and eleven Islander players skipped off to the WHA. The California Golden Seals, chafing under the unorthodox ownership of the unpopular

Charlie Finley Charles Oscar Finley (February 22, 1918 – February 19, 1996), nicknamed "Charlie O" or "Charley O", was an American businessman who owned Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics. Finley purchased the franchise while it was located in Kansas ...

, were also a victim of the WHA, losing eight key players. The 1972 NHL amateur draft was held on June 8 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. Billy Harris was selected first overall by the Islanders.

Arena changes

* The expansion

moved into the

Omni Coliseum Omni Coliseum (often called The Omni) was an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for ice hockey, hockey. It was part of the Omni Complex, now known as the CNN Cente ...

. * The expansion

moved into

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, on Long Island. The venue is situated approximately east of the eastern limits of the borough of Queens in New York City, a ...

Uniondale, New York Uniondale is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in central Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead, within the New York metropolitan area. The population was 32,473 at the time of the 2020 United States census ...

Regular season

The Montreal Canadiens took over first place in the East Division and the league from the Boston Bruins while for the third consecutive season the Chicago Black Hawks dominated the West Division.

Final standings

Playoffs

No teams in the playoffs swept their opponents, the last time this would happen until

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, and no playoff series went to a decisive game, the last time this has happened to date. In addition, the Chicago Black Hawks reached the Stanley Cup Finals without a captain, the last time this would happen until

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Playoff bracket

The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). In the quarterfinals, the fourth seeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. The semifinals were then inter-divisional matchups, with winner of each #1 vs. #4 series playing the winner of the #2 vs. #3 series in the other division. The winners of the semifinals then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Quarterfinals

(E1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (E4) Buffalo Sabres

The Montreal Canadiens finished first in the league with 120 points. The Buffalo Sabres finished fourth with 88 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the Buffalo Sabres' first playoff appearance in their third season since entering the league in the 1970–71 NHL season. Montreal won the five-game regular season series earning six of ten points.

(E2) Boston Bruins vs. (E3) New York Rangers

The Boston Bruins finished second in the East Division with 107 points. The New York Rangers finished third in the East Division with 102 points. This was the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams with Boston winning six of the eight previous series. They last met in the previous year's Stanley Cup Finals which Boston won in six games. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series.

(W1) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues

The Chicago Black Hawks finished first in the West Division with 93 points. The St. Louis Blues finished fourth in the West Division with 76 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series.

(W2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (W3) Minnesota North Stars

The Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars finished tied for second in the West Division each with 85 points (Philadelphia won the tiebreaker in season series 3–2). This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Philadelphia won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.

Semifinals

(E1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (W3) Philadelphia Flyers

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's five-game regular season series.

(W1) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (E3) New York Rangers

This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with Chicago winning three of the four previous series. They last met in the previous year's Stanley Cup Semifinals which New York won in a four-game sweep. The teams split this year's five-game regular season series.

Stanley Cup Finals

It was the 16th playoff meeting between these two teams. Montreal lead 10–5 in their previous meetings. This was a rematch of the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals, which Montreal won in seven games. Chicago won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders

''Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts''

Other statistics

* Plus-minus leader: Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens

Coaches

East

*Boston Bruins: Tom Johnson and Bep Guidolin *Buffalo Sabres: Joe Crozier *Detroit Red Wings: Johnny Wilson *Montreal Canadiens:

Scotty Bowman William Scott Bowman (born September 18, 1933) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey head coach. He holds the record for most wins in National Hockey League (NHL) history, with 1,244 wins in the regular season and 223 in the Stanley Cup ...

*New York Islanders: Phil Goyette and Earl Ingarfield *New York Rangers: Emile Francis *Toronto Maple Leafs: John McLellan *Vancouver Canucks: Vic Stasiuk

West

*Atlanta Flames: Bernie Geoffrion *California Golden Seals: Garry Young and Fred Glover *Chicago Black Hawks: Billy Reay *Los Angeles Kings: Bob Pulford *Minnesota North Stars: Jack Gordon *Philadelphia Flyers: Fred Shero *Pittsburgh Penguins: Red Kelly *St. Louis Blues: Al Arbour and Jean-Guy Talbot

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1972–73 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): * Dan Bouchard, Atlanta Flames * Jacques Richard, Atlanta Flames * Jim Schoenfeld, Buffalo Sabres * Phil Russell, Chicago Black Hawks * Robbie Ftorek, Detroit Red Wings * Steve Shutt, Montreal Canadiens * Larry Robinson, Montreal Canadiens * Bob Nystrom, New York Islanders * Billy Harris, New York Islanders * Steve Vickers, New York Rangers * Bill Barber, Philadelphia Flyers * Jimmy Watson, Philadelphia Flyers * Tom Bladon, Philadelphia Flyers * Denis Herron, Pittsburgh Penguins * Connie Madigan, St. Louis Blues * Don Lever, Vancouver Canucks

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1972–73 (listed with their last team): * Jacques Plante, Boston Bruins * Pat Stapleton, Chicago Black Hawks * Ralph Backstrom, Chicago Black Hawks * Harry Howell, Los Angeles Kings * Ron Stewart, New York Islanders * Ken Schinkel, Pittsburgh Penguins * Connie Madigan, St. Louis BLues * Bob Baun, Toronto Maple Leafs * Dave Balon, Vancouver Canucks ''NOTE: Plante, Stapleton, Backstrom, Howell and Balon would finish their major professional careers in the

.''

Broadcasting

Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'' on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games. ''HNIC'' also produced Wednesday night regular season game telecasts for CTV. This was the first season under the U.S. rights agreement with NBC, airing weekend afternoon regular season games and playoff games.

References

* * * * ;Notes

External links

Hockey DatabaseNHL.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:NHL, 1972-73 1972–73 in Canadian ice hockey by league 1972–73 in American ice hockey by league