The 1973–74 WHA season was the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

season of 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 ...

, and lasted from October 1973 until the Avco Cup final game on May 19, 1974, when the Houston Aeros, with Gordie Howe, defeated the

Chicago Cougars The Chicago Cougars were a professional ice hockey team in Chicago. They competed in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1975. The Cougars played their home games in the International Amphitheatre. History During the 1974 Avco Cup Finals ...

to sweep the series in four games. Twelve teams each played 78 games. The Philadelphia Blazers relocated to

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 ...

, becoming the Vancouver Blazers. They were moved to the Western Division and Chicago moved to the East. The New York Raiders were renamed the New York Golden Blades and then moved to

Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a Township (New Jersey), township within Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As a suburb of Philadelphia, the township is part of the South Jersey and Delaware Valley regions. Cherry Hill ...

to become the Jersey Knights after just 24 games. The Ottawa Nationals moved to Toronto and became the Toronto Toros. The Alberta Oilers changed their name to the Edmonton Oilers.

Regular season

Final standings

''GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes''
''Teams that qualifies for the playoffs are highlighted in bold''

Summary

In June 1973, the Houston Aeros lured 45-year-old Gordie Howe out of retirement by promising him that he could play with his sons Mark and Marty who were also on the team. Howe responded by having a 100-point season, leading the team in scoring and helping them finish with the best record in the league. The Aeros also received excellent goaltending from Don McLeod and Wayne Rutledge. The defending Western Division champion Winnipeg Jets slipped to 4th place with a sub-.500 record. The other playoff qualifiers in the West were Minnesota and Edmonton. In the East, defending Avco World Trophy champions New England won their second straight division title followed by Toronto, Cleveland, and Chicago.

Player stats

Scoring leaders

_{Bolded numbers indicate season leaders} ''GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes''

Leading goaltenders

_{Bolded numbers indicate season leaders} ''GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% =

Save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various Goal (sports), goal-scoring sports that track Save (goaltender), saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse and association football, it is a sta ...

; 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 ...

All-Star Game

At St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, MN, the East defeated the West 8–4.

Avco World Trophy playoffs

The West Division playoffs went according to form, with the top two seeds, Houston and Minnesota, easily disposing of Edmonton and Winnipeg respectively. In the east, Toronto won as expected over Cleveland, but Chicago shocked the WHA by upsetting the defending champion New England Whalers in seven games, winning three of the four games in New England. In the division finals, favored Houston defeated Minnesota in six games, while Chicago pulled its second upset by beating Toronto in seven games, outscoring the Toros 14–4 in winning games six and seven. They ran out of magic in the finals however, as Houston swept them in four straight, outscoring them 22–9.

WHA awards

Trophies

All-Star Team

References

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HockeyDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:1973-74 WHA season 2 2 World Hockey Association seasons