1973–74 NHL season

1973–74 NHL season
League National Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Duration October 10, 1973 – May 19, 1974
Number of games 78
Number of teams 16
Regular season
Season champions Boston Bruins
Season MVP Phil Esposito, (Boston Bruins)
Top scorer Phil Esposito, (Boston Bruins)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP Bernie Parent, (Philadelphia Flyers)
Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup champions Philadelphia Flyers
  Runners-up Boston Bruins
NHL seasons
← 1972–73

1974–75 →

The 1973–74 NHL season was the 57th season of the National Hockey League. The Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup championship, the team's first. The team was the first of the post-1967 teams to win the Cup.

Contents

League business

With owner Charles O. Finley unable to find a buyer, the league took over operation of the troubled California Golden Seals in February, 1974.

Regular season

The Philadelphia Flyers, who developed the nickname "Broad Street Bullies" because of their physical style of play, dethroned the Chicago Black Hawks as the West Division champions behind the dominant play of Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent.

In the East Division, the Boston Bruins 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

East Division
  GP W L T GF GA Pts
Boston Bruins 78 52 17 9 349 221 113
Montreal Canadiens 78 45 24 9 293 240 99
New York Rangers 78 40 24 14 300 251 94
Toronto Maple Leafs 78 35 27 16 274 230 86
Buffalo Sabres 78 32 34 12 242 250 76
Detroit Red Wings 78 29 39 10 255 319 68
Vancouver Canucks 78 24 43 11 224 296 59
New York Islanders 78 19 41 18 182 247 56

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

West Division
  GP W L T GF GA Pts
Philadelphia Flyers 78 50 16 12 273 164 112
Chicago Black Hawks 78 41 14 23 272 164 105
Los Angeles Kings 78 33 33 12 233 231 78
Atlanta Flames 78 30 34 14 214 238 74
Pittsburgh Penguins 78 28 41 9 242 273 65
St. Louis Blues 78 26 40 12 206 248 64
Minnesota North Stars 78 23 38 17 235 275 63
California Golden Seals 78 13 55 10 195 342 36

Playoffs

Final

Main article: 1974 Stanley Cup Final

Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Boston Bruins 4 games to 2, winning the cup with a Game 6 1–0 victory. In doing so, the Flyers became the first post-1967 team to win the Cup in the post-Original Six era.

Playoff bracket

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Stanley Cup Final
                           
  E1  Boston Bruins 4  
E4  Toronto Maple Leafs 0  
  E1  Boston Bruins 4  
  W2  Chicago Black Hawks 2  
W2  Chicago Black Hawks 4
  W3  Los Angeles Kings 1  
    E1  Boston Bruins 2
  W1  Philadelphia Flyers 4
  W1  Philadelphia Flyers 4  
W4  Atlanta Flames 0  
  W1  Philadelphia Flyers 4
  E3  New York Rangers 3  
E2  Montreal Canadiens 2
  E3  New York Rangers 4  

NHL awards

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

Prince of Wales Trophy: Boston Bruins
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: Philadelphia Flyers
Art Ross Trophy: Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Henri Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Calder Memorial Trophy: Denis Potvin, New York Islanders
Conn Smythe Trophy: Bernie Parent, Philadelphia Flyers
Hart Memorial Trophy: Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins
Jack Adams Award: Fred Shero, Philadelphia Flyers
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Johnny Bucyk, Boston Bruins
Lester B. Pearson Award: Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers
NHL Plus/Minus Award: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy: Tony Esposito, Chicago Black Hawks tied Bernie Parent, Philadelphia Flyers
Lester Patrick Trophy: Alex Delvecchio, Murray Murdoch, Weston W. Adams, Sr., Charles L. Crovat

All-Star teams

First team   Position   Second team
Bernie Parent, Philadelphia Flyers G Tony Esposito, Chicago Black Hawks
Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins D Bill White, Chicago Black Hawks
Brad Park, New York Rangers D Barry Ashbee, Philadelphia Flyers
Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins C Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers
Ken Hodge, Boston Bruins RW Mickey Redmond, Detroit Red Wings
Rick Martin, Buffalo Sabres LW Wayne Cashman, Boston Bruins

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

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

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Phil Esposito Boston Bruins 78 68 77 145 58
Bobby Orr Boston Bruins 74 32 90 122 82
Ken Hodge Boston Bruins 76 50 55 105 43
Wayne Cashman Boston Bruins 78 30 59 89 111
Bobby Clarke Philadelphia Flyers 77 35 52 87 113
Rick Martin Buffalo Sabres 78 52 34 86 38
Syl Apps Jr. Pittsburgh Penguins 77 24 61 85 37
Darryl Sittler Toronto Maple Leafs 78 38 46 84 55
Lowell MacDonald Pittsburgh Penguins 78 43 39 82 14
Brad Park New York Rangers 78 25 57 82 148

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Player Team GP MIN GA GAA W L T SO
Bernie Parent Philadelphia Flyers 73 4314 136 1.89 47 13 12 12
Tony Esposito Chicago Black Hawks 70 4143 141 2.04 34 14 21 10
Ross Brooks Boston Bruins 21 1170 46 2.36 16 3 0 3
Doug Favell Toronto Maple Leafs 32 1752 79 2.71 14 7 9 0
Wayne Thomas Montreal Canadiens 42 2410 111 2.76 23 12 5 1
Dan Bouchard Atlanta Flames 46 2660 123 2.77 19 18 8 5
Rogatien Vachon L.A. Kings 65 3751 175 2.80 28 26 10 5
Michel Larocque Montreal Canadiens 27 1431 69 2.89 15 8 2 0
Dunc Wilson Toronto Maple Leafs 24 1412 68 2.89 9 11 3 1
Gilles Gilbert Boston Bruins 54 3210 158 2.95 34 12 8 6

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):

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):

NOTE: Prentice and Mahovlich would finish their major professional careers in the World Hockey Association.

See also

References

Notes

External links

1973–74 NHL season by team
East
West
See also
 
Category · Portal  · 2011–12 season