1973–74 Houston Aeros season

1973–74 Houston Aeros
Avco Cup Champions
Division 1st West
1973–74 record 48–25–5
Goals for 318
Goals against 219
Team information
Coach Bill Dineen
Team leaders
<1972–73 1974–75>

The 1973–74 Houston Aeros season was the Houston Aeros second season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The season saw the debut of Gordie Howe and his sons in the WHA. The team would win the Avco World Trophy WHA championship.

Contents

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Western Division
GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
Houston Aeros 78 48 25 5 318 219 1038 101
Minnesota Fighting Saints 78 44 32 2 332 275 1243 90
Edmonton Oilers 78 38 37 3 268 269 1273 79
Winnipeg Jets 78 34 39 5 264 296 673 73
Vancouver Blazers 78 27 50 1 278 345 1047 55
Los Angeles Sharks 78 25 53 0 239 339 1086 50

Game log

Regular season schedule
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 13, 1973 4–3 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 1–0–0
2 L October 14, 1973 2–5 @ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 1–1–0
3 W October 17, 1973 7–2 @ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 2–1–0
4 L October 21, 1973 0–2 Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 2–2–0
5 W October 24, 1973 6–2 Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 3–2–0
6 T October 27, 1973 2–2 @ Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 3–2–1
7 L October 28, 1973 2–3 Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 3–3–1
8 W October 30, 1973 6–1 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 4–3–1
9 W November 3, 1973 6–4 Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 5–3–1
10 L November 7, 1973 4–5 Toronto Toros (1973–74) 5–4–1
11 W November 10, 1973 8–3 Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 6–4–1
12 W November 13, 1973 5–2 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 7–4–1
13 L November 15, 1973 2–3 @ Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 7–5–1
14 W November 17, 1973 3–2 @ New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 8–5–1
15 L November 18, 1973 3–8 @ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 8–6–1
16 W November 21, 1973 4–1 New England Whalers (1973–74) 9–6–1
17 W November 24, 1973 5–3 Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 10–6–1
18 W November 25, 1973 2–1 Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 11–6–1
19 T November 28, 1973 4–4 Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 11–6–2
20 L November 29, 1973 2–5 @ New England Whalers (1973–74) 11–7–2
21 T December 1, 1973 3–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 11–7–3
22 L December 2, 1973 2–5 @ Toronto Toros (1973–74) 11–8–3
23 W December 5, 1973 5–2 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 12–8–3
24 L December 6, 1973 3–4 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 12–9–3
25 W December 9, 1973 5–3 @ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 13–9–3
26 W December 12, 1973 3–2 @ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 14–9–3
27 W December 14, 1973 5–2 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 15–9–3
28 L December 15, 1973 2–5 @ Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 15–10–3
29 T December 16, 1973 2–2 Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 15–10–4
30 W December 19, 1973 10–0 Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 16–10–4
31 L December 21, 1973 1–3 @ Toronto Toros (1973–74) 16–11–4
32 W December 22, 1973 8–3 Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 17–11–4
33 L December 26, 1973 2–3 OT New England Whalers (1973–74) 17–12–4
34 W December 29, 1973 3–0 Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 18–12–4
35 W December 30, 1973 6–4 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 19–12–4
36 L January 5, 1974 1–2 @ New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 19–13–4
37 W January 6, 1974 7–1 Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 20–13–4
38 W January 8, 1974 6–2 Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 21–13–4
39 W January 12, 1974 5–1 Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 22–13–4
40 W January 16, 1974 4–1 Toronto Toros (1973–74) 23–13–4
41 W January 17, 1974 7–4 Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 24–13–4
42 L January 19, 1974 2–3 Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 24–14–4
43 W January 22, 1974 3–1 Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 25–14–4
44 W January 24, 1974 5–1 Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 26–14–4
45 W January 26, 1974 4–2 @ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 27–14–4
46 W January 27, 1974 4–1 @ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 28–14–4
47 L January 30, 1974 1–5 @ Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 28–15–4
48 L January 31, 1974 4–6 @ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 28–16–4
49 L February 2, 1974 2–5 @ New England Whalers (1973–74) 28–17–4
50 W February 4, 1974 7–1 @ New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 29–17–4
51 W February 5, 1974 4–0 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 30–17–4
52 W February 8, 1974 6–2 @ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 31–17–4
53 T February 10, 1974 2–2 @ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 31–17–5
54 W February 12, 1974 3–1 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 32–17–5
55 W February 13, 1974 5–1 Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 33–17–5
56 W February 15, 1974 6–4 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 34–17–5
57 L February 17, 1974 1–6 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 34–18–5
58 W February 20, 1974 7–2 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 35–18–5
59 W February 23, 1974 5–2 Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 36–18–5
60 W February 24, 1974 7–1 Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 37–18–5
61 W February 26, 1974 3–2 Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 38–18–5
62 W February 28, 1974 9–4 @ Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 39–18–5
63 L March 1, 1974 2–5 @ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 39–19–5
64 L March 3, 1974 3–6 New England Whalers (1973–74) 39–20–5
65 L March 6, 1974 2–4 Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 39–21–5
66 W March 9, 1974 4–2 Toronto Toros (1973–74) 40–21–5
67 W March 12, 1974 3–2 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 41–21–5
68 W March 14, 1974 6–0 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 42–21–5
69 W March 17, 1974 4–3 Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 43–21–5
70 W March 20, 1974 5–4 @ Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 44–21–5
71 L March 21, 1974 3–6 @ Toronto Toros (1973–74) 44–22–5
72 W March 22, 1974 4–2 @ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 45–22–5
73 L March 24, 1974 3–5 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 45–23–5
74 W March 27, 1974 8–1 @ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 46–23–5
75 L March 29, 1974 5–7 @ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 46–24–5
76 L March 31, 1974 2–5 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 46–25–5
77 W April 1, 1974 4–1 @ New England Whalers (1973–74) 47–25–5
78 W April 3, 1974 3–1 Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 48–25–5

[1]

Playoffs

The Aeros defeated the Winnipeg Jets in the Division semi-final 4–0. In the Division final, the Aeros defeated the Minnesota Fighting Saints 4–2 to advance to the Avco Cup final. The Aeros would sweep the Chicago Cougars to win their first WHA championship.

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Howe, GordieGordie Howe RW 70 31 69 100 46 0 9 3 5
Lund, LarryLarry Lund C 75 33 53 86 109 0 7 2 10
Hughes, FrankFrank Hughes LW 73 42 42 84 47 0 13 0 3
Hinse, AndreAndre Hinse LW 69 24 56 80 39 0 10 0 3
Howe, MarkMark Howe D 76 38 41 79 20 0 5 5 3
Hall, MurrayMurray Hall RW 78 30 28 58 25 0 8 2 5
Sherrit, JimJim Sherrit C 76 30 28 58 18 0 4 0 2
Labossiere, GordGord Labossiere C 67 19 36 55 30 0 4 0 4
Popiel, PoulPoul Popiel D 78 7 41 48 126 0 1 0 0
Taylor, TedTed Taylor LW 75 21 23 44 143 0 1 3 3
Schella, JohnJohn Schella D 73 12 19 31 170 0 0 2 3
Grierson, DonDon Grierson RW 65 11 18 29 45 0 0 0 2
Howe, MartyMarty Howe D 73 4 20 24 90 0 0 0 1
Kannegiesser, GordGord Kannegiesser D 78 0 20 20 26 0 0 0 0
Hale, LarryLarry Hale D 69 2 14 16 39 0 0 0 0
Szura, JoeJoe Szura C 42 8 7 15 4 0 0 0 3
Williamson, GaryGary Williamson LW 9 2 6 8 0 0 1 0 0
Stanfield, JackJack Stanfield LW 41 1 3 4 2 0 1 0 0
Prentice, BillBill Prentice D 55 1 2 3 35 0 0 0 0
McLeod, DonDon McLeod G 49 0 3 3 6 0 0 0 0
Hoekstra, EdEd Hoekstra C 19 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 1
Rutledge, WayneWayne Rutledge G 25 0 1 1 14 0 0 0 0
Grahame, RonRon Grahame G 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
McLeod, DonDon McLeod 2971 49 33 13 3 127 2.56 3
Rutledge, WayneWayne Rutledge 1509 25 12 12 1 84 3.34 0
Grahame, RonRon Grahame 250 4 3 0 1 5 1.20 1
Team: 4730 78 48 25 5 216 2.74 4
Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Lund, LarryLarry Lund C 14 9 14 23 56 0 0 1
Howe, MarkMark Howe D 14 9 10 19 4 0 0 1
Hinse, AndreAndre Hinse LW 14 8 9 17 18 0 0 1
Howe, GordieGordie Howe RW 13 3 14 17 34 0 0 1
Labossiere, GordGord Labossiere C 14 7 9 16 20 0 0 2
Hall, MurrayMurray Hall RW 14 9 6 15 6 0 0 3
Popiel, PoulPoul Popiel D 14 1 14 15 22 0 0 0
Hughes, FrankFrank Hughes LW 14 9 5 14 9 0 0 1
Sherrit, JimJim Sherrit C 14 5 7 12 2 0 0 1
Taylor, TedTed Taylor LW 14 4 8 12 60 0 0 0
Schella, JohnJohn Schella D 14 2 6 8 42 0 0 0
Grierson, DonDon Grierson RW 14 1 5 6 23 0 0 0
Howe, MartyMarty Howe D 14 1 5 6 31 0 0 0
Hale, LarryLarry Hale D 14 3 2 5 6 0 0 1
Kannegiesser, GordGord Kannegiesser D 3 0 2 2 2 0 0 0
McLeod, DonDon McLeod G 14 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Prentice, BillBill Prentice D 10 0 0 0 5 0 0 0
Stanfield, JackJack Stanfield LW 7 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Szura, JoeJoe Szura C 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Williamson, GaryGary Williamson LW 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
McLeod, DonDon McLeod 842 14 12 2 35 2.49 0
Team: 842 14 12 2 35 2.49 0

[2]

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

Draft picks

Farm teams

See also

References

  1. ^ "1973–74 Houston Aeros Games". Hockey-reference.com. http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/HSA/1974_games.html. Retrieved 2009-06-30. 
  2. ^ "1973-74 Houston Aeros Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/HSA/1974.html. Retrieved 2009-06-30. 

External links

Eastern:
Western:
Edmonton • Houston • Los Angeles • Minnesota • Vancouver • Winnipeg