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.
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
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.
Playoffs
Playoff bracket
Quarterfinals
(E1) Boston Bruins vs. (E4) Toronto Maple Leafs
(W2) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (W3) Los Angeles Kings
| April 13 |
Chicago Black Hawks |
|
1-0 |
|
Los Angeles Kings |
The Forum |
|
| April 14 |
Chicago Black Hawks |
|
1-5 |
|
Los Angeles Kings |
The Forum |
|
(W1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (W4) Atlanta Flames
| April 12 |
Philadelphia Flyers |
|
4-1 |
|
Atlanta Flames |
The Omni |
|
| Philadelphia won series 4-0 |
|
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|
(E2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (E3) New York Rangers
Semifinals
(E1) Boston Bruins vs. (W2) Chicago Black Hawks
| April 30 |
Boston Bruins |
|
4-2 |
|
Chicago Black Hawks |
Chicago Stadium |
Recap |
|
| No Scoring |
First period |
7:16 - Koroll 2 (Mikita, Gagnon) |
Marcotte 2 (O'Reilly, Orr) - 5:59
Marcotte 3 (Badnais, O'Reilly) - 10:05 |
Second period |
No Scoring |
Sheppard 9 (Smith) - 18:11
Esposito 7 (Orr) - 18:44 |
Third period |
4:18 - Frig 1 (Mikita, Redmond) |
| Gilbert 25 saves / 27 shots |
Goalie stats |
Esposito 27 saves / 31 shots |
(W1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (E3) New York Rangers
| April 20 |
New York Rangers |
|
0-4 |
|
Philadelphia Flyers |
Philadelphia Spectrum |
Recap |
|
| No Scoring |
First period |
19:03 - pp - MacLeish 5 (Barber, Dornhoefer) |
| No Scoring |
Second period |
4:33 - Lonsberry 1 (Dornhoefer, MacLeish)
5:25 - Barber 2 (Kindrachuck, Saleski) |
| No Scoring |
Third period |
18:07 - MacLeish 6 (Lonsberry, Dornhoefer) |
| Giacomin ( 19 saves / 23 shots ) |
Goalie stats |
Parent ( 19 saves / 19 shots) |
| April 23 |
New York Rangers |
|
2-5 |
|
Philadelphia Flyers |
Philadelphia Spectrum |
Recap |
|
| No Scoring |
First period |
8:13 - pp - Clarke 2 (Lonsberry, Bladon) |
| Egers 1 (Rousseau, Seiling) - 18:36 |
Second period |
10:37 - Van Impe 1 |
| Park 2 (Rousseau, Ratelle) - pp - 8:10 |
Third period |
7:54 - sh - Lonsberry 2
16:27 - MacLeish 7 (Dornhoefer, Lonsberry)
19:26 - pp/en - Lonsberry 3 |
Giacomin ( 26 saves / 30 shots)
Villemure ( 0 saves / 0 shots ) |
Goalie stats |
Parent ( 28 saves / 30 shots ) |
| April 25 |
Philadelphia Flyers |
|
3-5 |
|
New York Rangers |
Madison Square Garden |
Recap |
|
MacLeish 8 (Clarke) - pp - 6:57
Dupont 2 (Clarke) - 12:20 |
First period |
14:28 - Fairbairn 2 (Tkaczuk) |
| Dornhoefer 3 (Bladon, Lonsberry) - pp - 11:33 |
Second period |
13:47 - pp - Vickers 2 (Fairbarn, Tkazcuk)
18:44 - Hadfield 1 (Gilbert) |
| No Scoring |
Third period |
8:53 - pp - Park 3 (Gilbert, Irvine)
13:14 - Gilbert 2 (Irvine, Rolfe) |
| Parent ( 34 shots / 39 saves ) |
Goalie stats |
Giacomin ( 12 saves / 15 shots ) |
| April 28 |
Philadelphia Flyers |
|
1-2 |
OT |
New York Rangers |
Madison Square Garden |
Recap |
|
| 15:32 - Joe Watson 1 (Kindrachuk, Schultz) |
First period |
No Scoring |
| No Scoring |
Second period |
Rousseau 1 (Park, Ratelle) - pp - 18:13 |
| No Scoring |
Third period |
No Scoring |
| No Scoring |
overtime period |
Gilbert 3 (Tkaczuk, Vickers) - 4:20 |
| Parent ( 35 saves / 37 shots ) |
Goalie stats |
Giacomin ( 19 saves / 20 shots ) |
| April 30 |
New York Rangers |
|
1-4 |
|
Philadelphia Flyers |
Philadelphia Spectrum |
Recap |
|
| Stemkowski 5 (MacGregor, Rolfe) - 6:16 |
First period |
No Scoring |
| No Scoring |
Second period |
6:49 - Bladon 3 (Lonsberry, Dornhoefer)
17:09 - MacLeish 9 (Dupont) |
| No Scoring |
Third period |
8:05 - Nolet 1 (Joe Watson, Flett)
18:27 - en - MacLeish 10 (Clarke, Jim Watson) |
| Giacomin ( 24 saves / 27 shots ) |
Goalie stats |
Parent ( 27 saves / 28 shots ) |
| May 2 |
Philadelphia Flyers |
|
1-4 |
|
New York Rangers |
Madison Square Garden |
Recap |
|
| Saleski 2 (Kindrachuk) - 5:41 |
First period |
16:59 - Park 4 |
| No Scoring |
Second period |
No Scoring |
| No Scoring |
Third period |
4:10 - Harris 3 (Rolfe, Rousseau)
5:48 - Irvine 3 (Butler, Stemkowski)
19:39 - en - Vickers 3 (Fairbairn, Rolfe) |
| Parent ( 34 saves / 37 shots ) |
Goalie stats |
Giacomin ( 24 saves / 25 shots ) |
| May 5 |
New York Rangers |
|
3-4 |
|
Philadelphia Flyers |
Philadelphia Spectrum |
Recap |
|
| 13:43 - Fairbairn 3 (Park, Tkaczuk) |
First period |
MacLeish 11 (Clarke, Barber) - pp - 14:40 |
| No Scoring |
Second period |
Kindrachuk 3 - 2:27
Dornhoefer 4 (MacLeish) - 11:26 |
8:49 - Vickers 4 (Tkaczuk, Fairbairn)
14:34 - Stemkowski 6 (Vickers, Seiling) |
Third period |
Dornhoefer 5 (Lonsberry, MacLeish) - 9:01 |
| Giacomin ( 42 saves / 46 shots ) |
Goalie stats |
Parent ( 31 saves / 34 shots ) |
| Philadelphia won series 4-3 |
|
|
|
Final
Philadelphia Flyers became the first non-Original Six team to win the Cup since expansion in 1967.
| Philadelphia won series 4-2 |
|
|
|
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
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
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
- Denis Potvin, 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
- Borje 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):
NOTE: Prentice and Mahovlich would finish their major professional careers in the World Hockey Association.
See also
References
- Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
- Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
- Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
- Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc.. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
- Notes
External links
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1973–74 NHL season by team
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| East |
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| West |
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| See also |
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