The 1973–74 NHL season was the 57th

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 ...

. The

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

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 ...

championship, the team's first. The team was the first of the post-1967 teams to win the Cup.

League business

With owner Charles O. Finley unable to find a buyer, the league took over operation of the troubled

California Golden Seals The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967–68 NHL season, 1967 to 1975–76 NHL season, 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oa ...

in February 1974. Fred Glover then resigned as general manager-coach. Garry Young, who had served as general manager from October 1971 to November 1972, agreed to return. Marshall Johnston, a defenseman for the Seals, retired and took over as coach. The 1973 NHL amateur draft was held on May 15 at the Mount Royal 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, ...

Denis Potvin Denis Charles Potvin (born October 29, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and Captain (ice hockey), team captain for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is a four-time Stanley Cup winner as a ...

was selected first overall by 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 ...

Regular season

The

, who developed the nickname "Broad Street Bullies" because of their physical style of play, dethroned 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 ...

as the West Division champions behind the dominant play of Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent. The New York Rangers were floundering under new coach Larry Popein and were in danger of missing the playoffs, and Emile Francis took over the coaching reins. The Rangers then improved enough to get into the playoffs. Tragedy hit the NHL in the early morning hours of February 21 when 44 year-old Buffalo Sabres defenseman Tim Horton was killed in an automobile accident. He had been returning to Buffalo from Toronto at the time. In the East Division, the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

regained the top spot in the East and the league, behind an ongoing offensive juggernaut that saw Bruins' players finish 1–2–3–4 in NHL scoring ( Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Ken Hodge, and Wayne Cashman) for the second and most recent time in league history.

Final standings

Playoffs

The playoffs began on April 9. The New York Rangers defeated the defending Stanley Cup champions in the first round for the third straight year, this time the Montreal Canadiens. For the first time since the inter-divisional semifinals were introduced in the 1971 playoffs, an 1967 expansion team eliminated an Original Six opponent when the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Rangers. The Flyers not only made their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance, but by defeating the Boston Bruins in six games, Philadelphia became the first 1967 expansion team to win the Stanley Cup and the first non Original Six team to win it since the

Montreal Maroons The Montreal Maroons (officially the Montreal Professional Hockey Club) were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They played in the NHL from 1924–25 NHL season, 1924 to 1937–38 NHL season, 1938, winning the Sta ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

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) Boston Bruins vs. (E4) Toronto Maple Leafs

The Boston Bruins finished first in the league with 113 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished fourth in the East Division with 86 points. This was the 13th playoff meeting between these two teams. Toronto lead 8–4 in previous meetings. Boston won their most recent meeting in five games in the 1972 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals. Boston won four of the six games in this year's regular season series.

(E2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (E3) New York Rangers

The Montreal Canadiens finished second in the East Division with 99 points. The New York Rangers finished third with 94 points. This was the 11th playoff meeting between these two teams with the teams splitting the ten previous series. They last met in the 1972 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals which New York won in six games. Montreal won four of the six games in this year's regular season series.

(W1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (W4) Atlanta Flames

The Philadelphia Flyers finished first in the West Division and second in the league with 112 points. The Atlanta Flames finished fourth with 74 points, the lowest points earned by any playoff team in 1974. The Atlanta Flames made their first playoff appearance in their second season after entering the league in the previous year. This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series.

(W2) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (W3) Los Angeles Kings

The Chicago Black Hawks finished second in the West Division with 105 points. The Los Angeles Kings finished third in the West Division with 78 points. This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams. Chicago won this year's six-game regular season series earning eight of twelve points.

Semifinals

(E1) Boston Bruins vs. (W2) Chicago Black Hawks

This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with Boston winning all three previous series. Boston won their most recent meeting in a four-game sweep in the 1970 Stanley Cup Semifinals. Chicago won this year's five-game regular season series earning seven of ten points.

(W1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (E3) New York Rangers

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. New York won this year's five-game regular season series earning six of ten points.

Stanley Cup Finals

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The Bruins made their thirteenth Finals appearance; winning in their last appearance in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

where they defeated the New York Rangers in six games. The Flyers made their first Finals appearance in their seventh season since entering the league in the

1967–68 NHL season The 1967–68 NHL season was the 51st season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 12 teams, putting the new six in the newly created West Division, while the " Original Six" were all placed in the newly created East Division. Th ...

. Boston won this year's five-game regular season series earning seven of ten points. Boston was the prohibitive favorite entering the series. However, the Philadelphia Flyers stunned the Bruins in six games to become the first non- Original Six team to win the Stanley Cup since

and the first expansion team to do so since the league began expanding in 1967.

Awards

A new award, the Jack Adams for the best coach, was introduced for this season. The first winner was Fred Shero of the

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

''Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes'' Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders

''Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA =

Goals against average Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...

; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts''

Other statistics

* Plus-minus leader: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins

Coaches

East

*Boston Bruins: Bep Guidolin *Buffalo Sabres: Joe Crozier *Detroit Red Wings: Ted Garvin and

Alex Delvecchio Alexander Peter "Fats" Delvecchio (born December 4, 1931) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach, and general manager who spent his entire National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Detroit Red Wings. In a playing career tha ...

*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: Al Arbour *New York Rangers: Larry Popein and Emile Francis *Toronto Maple Leafs: Red Kelly *Vancouver Canucks: Phil Maloney

West

*Atlanta Flames: Bernie Geoffrion *California Golden Seals: Fred Glover and Marshall Johnston *Chicago Black Hawks: Billy Reay *Los Angeles Kings: Bob Pulford *Minnesota North Stars: Jack Gordon and Parker MacDonald *Philadelphia Flyers: Fred Shero *Pittsburgh Penguins: Ken Schinkel and

Marc Boileau Marc Claude Boileau (September 3, 1932 – December 27, 2000) was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach. He played 55 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings during the 1961–62 season. The rest of his career, which la ...

*St. Louis Blues: Jean-Guy Talbot and Lou Angotti

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1973–74 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): * Eric Vail, Atlanta Flames * Tom Lysiak, Atlanta Flames * Peter McNab, Buffalo Sabres * Darcy Rota, Chicago Black Hawks * Blake Dunlop, Minnesota North Stars * Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens * Michel Larocque, Montreal Canadiens *

, New York Islanders * Chico Resch, New York Islanders * Dave Lewis, New York Islanders * Al MacAdam, Philadelphia Flyers * Blaine Stoughton, Pittsburgh Penguins * John Davidson, St. Louis Blues * Inge Hammarstrom, Toronto Maple Leafs * Börje Salming, Toronto Maple Leafs * Lanny McDonald, Toronto Maple Leafs * Bob Dailey, Vancouver Canucks * Dennis Ververgaert, Vancouver Canucks

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1973–74 (listed with their last team): * Tim Horton, Buffalo Sabres *

, Detroit Red Wings * Dean Prentice, Minnesota North Stars * Gump Worsley, Minnesota North Stars * Frank Mahovlich, Montreal Canadiens * Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens * Barry Ashbee, Philadelphia Flyers * Orland Kurtenbach, Vancouver Canucks ''NOTE: Frank Mahovlich would finish his major professional career in 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 ...

.''

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 second 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, 1973-74 1973–74 in Canadian ice hockey by league 1973–74 in American ice hockey by league