1973 WHA playoffs

Last updated

1973 WHA playoffs
Tournament details
DatesApril 4 – May 6, 1973
Season 1972–73
Teams8
Final positions
Champions New England Whalers (1st title)
Runner-up Winnipeg Jets
Semifinalists
1974  →

The 1973 WHA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the World Hockey Association's 1972-1973 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion New England Whalers defeating the Western Division champion Winnipeg Jets in five games for the first Avco Cup championship.

Contents

Playoff seeds

The top four teams in each division made the playoffs.

Eastern Division

  1. New England Whalers, Eastern Division champions – 94 points
  2. Cleveland Crusaders – 89 points
  3. Philadelphia Blazers – 76 points
  4. Ontario Nationals – 74 points

Western Division

  1. Winnipeg Jets, Western Division champions – 90 points
  2. Houston Aeros – 82 points
  3. Los Angeles Sharks – 80 points
  4. Minnesota Fighting Saints – 79 points

Bracket

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
E1 New England 4
E4 Ottawa 1
E1New England4
Eastern Division
E2 Cleveland 1
E2 Cleveland 4
E3 Philadelphia 0
E1New England4
W1 Winnipeg 1
W1 Winnipeg 4
W4 Minnesota 1
W1Winnipeg4
Western Division
W2 Houston 0
W2 Houston 4
W3 Los Angeles 2

Preliminary Round

At the end of the season, the WHA had a problem involving the fourth and final team to make the postseason in the Western Division. The Alberta Oilers and Minnesota Fighting Saints finished the season with the same record of 38–37–3. The two tiebreakers the league had were wins and head-to-head, but Alberta had won the final game of the season over Minnesota 5–3 that was also their fourth victory over Minnesota in eight contests. [1] The league Board of Governors, meeting quickly to decide, elected to move on a one-game playoff while allowing the Oilers to have a choice of site, and they elected to pick Calgary. [2] [3] [4]

April 4Minnesota Fighting Saints4–2
(1–0, 1-0, 2–2)		Alberta Oilers Calgary Corral
Mike Curran (22 saves / 25 shots)Goalies Jack Norris (20 saves / 24 shots)
17:15 (1st) - Mel Pearson
11:07 (2nd) - Wayne Connelly (Terry Ball, John Arbour), - PP
3:14 (3rd) - Mike Antonovich (Bill Young, John Arbour)
3:34 (3rd)- Bill Young (Mike McMahon, Wayne Connelly)		Goals6:37 (3rd) Ron Walters (Jim Harrison, Dennis Kassian)
8:25 (3rd) Ken Baird (Bob Wall, Rusty Patenaude)

Division Semifinals

Eastern Division Semifinals

(E1) New England Whalers vs. (E4) Ontario Nationals

Owing to a dispute with the city of Ottawa, the Nationals elected to play their playoff games at Maple Leaf Gardens rather than their regular season home of the Ottawa Civic Centre. The team called themselves the "Ontario Nationals" for the playoffs and never played in Ottawa again, as they were sold to interests that had them play in Toronto as the Toronto Toros. Brit Selby and Mike Byers each scored game-winning goals in overtime to win games for the Whalers, with the latter being the first to end a postseason series with an overtime goal that saw the Whalers send the Nationals home.

April 7Ottawa Nationals3–6
(0–1, 1-2, 2–3)		New England Whalers Boston Garden
Les Binkley Goalies Al Smith
Bob Charlebois
Jack Gibson
Rick Cunningham 		Goals Larry Pleau
Kevin Ahearn
Tommy Williams
Mike Byers
Brit Selby
Terry Caffery
28Shots58
April 8Ottawa Nationals3–4 (OT)
(2–0, 0–2, 1–1, 0-1)		New England Whalers Boston Garden
Gilles Gratton Goalies Al Smith
Brian Conacher
Gavin Kirk
Ron Climie 		Goals Tom Webster (2)
Brad Selwood
GW – Brit Selby (3:37)
29Shots57
April 10New England Whalers2–4
(0–2, 1–1, 1–1)		Ottawa Nationals Maple Leaf Gardens
Al Smith Goalies Les Binkley
Tom Webster (2)Goals Rick Sentes (2)
Ken Stephanson
Guy Trottier
21Shots24
April 12New England Whalers7–3
(3–0, 3–2, 1–1)		Ottawa Nationals Maple Leaf Gardens
Al Smith Goalies Les Binkley
Tommy Williams (3)
Terry Caffery (2)
Larry Pleau
Mike Byers 		Goals7:07 (2nd) - Wayne Carleton
14:34 (2nd)- Wayne Carleton
13:01 (3rd) - Wayne Carleton
35Shots18
April 14Ottawa Nationals4–5 (OT)
(1–2, 1–2, 2–0, 0-1)		New England Whalers Boston Garden
Gilles Gratton
Les Binkley 		Goalies Al Smith
Gavin Kirk
Tom Simpson
Rick Sentes
Brian Gibbons 		Goals Tom Webster (3)
Larry Pleau
GW - Mike Byers (3:47)
30Shots39

(E2) Cleveland Crusaders vs. (E3) Philadelphia Blazers

The Crusaders finished as the second-best team in the East with a 43-32-3 record and led the league in goals allowed with just 239 to go with a 4th best offense with 287 goals. The Philadelphia Blazers squeaked into the postseason as the 3rd team with a record of 38–40 to go with the third best offense with 288 goals scored and a 10th ranked defense with 305 allowed. In the first game, Ron Buchanan became the first WHA player to score a playoff overtime goal that gave Cleveland a 3–2 victory. It wound up also being the last WHA game played by Bernie Parent, who elected to leave the team in a contract dispute where the team had apparently dipped into the escrow account meant to play Parent's salary that essentially saw his contract voided. [5]

In Game 2, Cleveland held Philadelphia scoreless for the first 56 minutes in a 7-1 win while Gary Jarrett became the first WHA player to accomplish a playoff hattrick (six further players joined him in the postseason). The Crusaders rolled to a four-game sweep while the Blazers moved to Vancouver in the offseason. [6] [7] [8]

April 4Philadelphia Blazers2–3 (OT)
(0–0, 0–2, 2–0, 0-1)		Cleveland Crusaders Cleveland Arena
Bernie Parent Goalies Gerry Cheevers
John McKenzie (2)Goals Paul Shmyr
Ray Clearwater
GW – Ron Buchanan
39Shots45
April 7Philadelphia Blazers1–7
(0–2, 0–4, 1–1)		Cleveland Crusaders Cleveland Arena
Marcel Paille
Yves Archambault 		Goalies Gerry Cheevers
Rychard Campeau Goals Gary Jarrett (3)
Jim Wiste (2)
Gerry Pinder
Grant Erickson
30Shots38
April 8Cleveland Crusaders2–3
(1–0, 1–1, 1–0)		Philadelphia Blazers Philadelphia Civic Center
Gerry Cheevers Goalies Yves Archambault
Paul Andrea
Grant Erickson
Gary Jarrett 		Goals Don Burgess
21Shots24
April 7Cleveland Crusaders6–2
(1–1, 4–1, 1–0)		Philadelphia Blazers Philadelphia Civic Center
Gerry Cheevers Goalies Yves Archambault
Gerry Pinder
Paul Andrea
Skip Krake
Jim Wiste
Bob Dillabough
Rich Pumple 		Goals Don Herriman
John McKenzie
32Shots34

Western Division Semifinals

(W1) Winnipeg Jets vs. (W4) Minnesota Fighting Saints

The Winnipeg Jets marched in as the best team in the Western Division with a 43-31-4 record that excelled at defense, holding teams to 249 goals allowed (2nd of 12 teams) with a passable 5th-ranked offense. The Minnesota Fighting Saints, having survived the tie-breaker and marching in with a 38-37-3 record that had a weak offense (250 goals, 11th of 12 teams) and a middling defense (6th). The Jets won the first two games and split the two in St. Paul to set up Game 5, which they won. [9]

April 6Minnesota Fighting Saints1–3
(0–1, 0-0, 1–2)		Winnipeg Jets Winnipeg Arena
Jack McCartan Goalies Ernie Wakely
Mike Antonovich Goals Bobby Hull (2)
Christian Bordeleau
29Shots29
April 8Minnesota Fighting Saints2–5
(1–1, 1–2, 0–2)		Winnipeg Jets Winnipeg Arena
Jack McCartan Goalies Joe Daley
George Morrison
Ted Hampson 		Goals Christian Bordeleau
Danny Johnson
Wally Boyer
Norm Beaudin
Bobby Hull
27Shots47
April 10Winnipeg Jets4–6
(2–4, 1–0, 1–2)		Minnesota Fighting Saints St. Paul Civic Center
Ernie Wakely Goalies Jack McCartan
Bill Sutherland
Dunc Rousseau
Cal Swenson
Jean-Guy Gratton 		Goals Jim Johnson (2)
Bill Klatt
Bill Young
Wayne Connelly
Leonard Lilyholm
40Shots30
April 11Winnipeg Jets3–2 (OT)
(1–1, 0–1, 1–0, 1-0)		Minnesota Fighting Saints St. Paul Civic Center
Joe Daley Goalies Mike Curran
Larry Hornung
Bill Sutherland
GW - Norm Beaudin (3:12)		Goals Ted Hampson
Terry Ball
41Shots31
April 15Minnesota Fighting Saints5–8
(2-2, 2-5, 1-1)		Winnipeg Jets Winnipeg Arena
Mike Curran
Jack McCartan 		Goalies Ernie Wakely
Mel Pearson (2)
Keith Christiansen
Mike Antonovich
Ted Hampson 		Goals Norm Beaudin (3)
Bill Sutherland (2)
Bob Ash
Ab McDonald
Joe Zanussi
42Shots34

(W2) Houston Aeros vs. (W3) Los Angeles Sharks

April 5Los Angeles Sharks2–7
(0–3, 1-1, 1–3)		Houston Aeros Sam Houston Coliseum
George Gardner
Russ Gillow 		Goalies Wayne Rutledge
Jim Niekamp (2)Goals Ted Taylor (2)
Larry Hale
Brian McDonald
Dunc McCallum
Ed Hoekstra
Larry Lund
30Shots31
April 7Los Angeles Sharks4–2
(1–1, 0–1, 3–0)		Houston Aeros Sam Houston Coliseum
George Gardner Goalies Wayne Rutledge
Gary Veneruzzo (2)
Ted McCaskill
Tom Gilmore 		Goals Murray Hall
Brian McDonald
28Shots29
April 11Houston Aeros2–3
(2–3, 0–0, 0–0)		Los Angeles Sharks Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
Don McLeod Goalies Russ Gillow
Dunc McCallum
Brian McDonald 		Goals Alton White
Fred Speck
Gerry Odrowski
31Shots28
April 13Houston Aeros3–2 (OT)
(0–0, 1–1, 1–1, 1-0)		Los Angeles Sharks Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
Wayne Rutledge Goalies Russ Gillow
Larry Lund
Poul Popiel
OT - Murray Hall - 3:38		Goals Ted McCaskill
Fred Speck
24Shots37
April 15Los Angeles Sharks3–6
(2-3, 0-2, 1-1)		Houston Aeros Sam Houston Coliseum
George Gardner
Russ Gillow 		Goalies Wayne Rutledge
Earl Heiskala
Gary Veneruzzo
Jerry Zrymiak 		Goals Frank Hughes (2)
Poul Popiel
Larry Lund
Gord Labossiere
Murray Hall
41Shots27
April 17Houston Aeros3–2
(2–0, 1–1, 0–1)		Los Angeles Sharks Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
Wayne Rutledge Goalies Russ Gillow
Frank Hughes (2)
Murray Hall 		Goals Ralph MacSweyn
Fred Speck
30Shots32

Division Finals

Eastern Division Final

(E1) New England Whalers vs. (E2) Cleveland Crusaders

New England beat Cleveland in five games. [10]

April 18Cleveland Crusaders2–3
(0–1, 0-0, 2–2)		New England Whalers Boston Garden
Gerry Cheevers Goalies Al Smith
Ron Buchanan
Rich Pumple 		Goals Tim Sheehy (2)
Larry Pleau
26Shots32
April 19Cleveland Crusaders2–3
(2–1, 0–2, 0–0)		New England Whalers Boston Garden
Gerry Cheevers Goalies Al Smith
Ron Buchanan
Wayne Muloin 		Goals Larry Pleau (2)
Tom Webster
31Shots34
April 21New England Whalers5–4
(2–1, 1–1, 2–2)		Cleveland Crusaders Cleveland Arena
Al Smith Goalies Gerry Cheevers
Tim Sheehy (2)
Guy Smith
Jim Dorey
Larry Pleau 		Goals Ron Buchanan (2)
Gary Jarrett
Ted Hodgson
27Shots21
April 22New England Whalers2–5
(1–2, 0–1, 1–2)		Cleveland Crusaders Cleveland Arena
Al Smith Goalies Gerry Cheevers
Tim Sheehy
Larry Pleau 		Goals Gary Jarrett (3)
Ron Buchanan (2)
36Shots33
April 26Cleveland Crusaders1–3
(1–1, 0–1, 0–1)		New England Whalers Boston Garden
Gerry Cheevers Goalies Al Smith
Rich Pumple Goals Tim Sheehy
Tommy Earl
Brad Selwood
31Shots32

Western Division Final

(W1) Winnipeg Jets vs. (W2) Houston Aeros

April 20Houston Aeros1–5
(0–1, 0-0, 1–2)		Winnipeg Jets Winnipeg Arena
Wayne Rutledge Goalies Joe Daley
Duke Harris Goals Wally Boyer (2)
Bill Sutherland
Danny Johnson
Bobby Hull
22Shots29
April 22Houston Aeros0–2
(0–0, 0–0, 0–2)		Winnipeg Jets Winnipeg Arena
Don McLeod Goalies Ernie Wakely
NoneGoals Dunc Rousseau
Norm Beaudin
28Shots27
April 24Winnipeg Jets4–2
(2–0, 1–0, 1–2)		Houston Aeros Sam Houston Coliseum
Joe Daley Goalies Don McLeod
Joe Zanussi
Norm Beaudin
Bobby Hull
Christian Bordeleau 		Goals Ted Taylor
Jack Stanfield
22Shots40
April 26Winnipeg Jets3–0
(1–0, 0–0, 2–0)		Houston Aeros Sam Houston Coliseum
Ernie Wakely Goalies Wayne Rutledge
Norm Beaudin (2)
Larry Hornung 		GoalsNone
32Shots25

Avco Cup Final

(W1) Winnipeg Jets vs. (E1) New England Whalers

The first Avco Cup matched the two best teams in the Divisions with the Winnipeg Jets and the New England Whalers. Unusually, the Whalers hosted Game 1 but not Game 2, as Winnipeg hosted Game 2 and Game 3 before the series shifted back to Boston for Game 4 and Game 5. Winnipeg had a lead in three of the five games, but the Whalers came back twice to go along with a powerful scoring attack that saw fourteen different players score a goal for the team in the series, with Larry Pleau scoring the first hat trick in an Avco Cup Final in the pivotal Game 5. [11]

April 29New England Whalers7–2Winnipeg Jets Boston Garden  
12:10 – Rick Ley (Dorey, Webster)
14:07 – Tom Webster (Williams, Hurley)
16:13 – Tommy Earl (Sheehy, Green)
19:37 – John French 		First period10:02 – Norm Beaudin (Bordeleau, Hull)
10:55 – Tom Webster (Williams, Hurley)
16:01 – Tom Williams (French)		Second periodNo scoring
3:45 – Jim Dorey (Sheehy, Earl)Third period11:07 – Bobby Hull
Al Smith 25 saves / 27 shotsGoalie stats Joe Daley 18 saves / 25 shots
May 2Winnipeg Jets4–7New England Whalers Winnipeg Arena  
0:33 - Norm Beaudin (Hull, Hornung)
19:20 - Christian Bordeleau (Hull, Beaudin)		First period19:46 - Tom Williams (Webster, Dorey)
5:59 - Wally Boyer (Rousseau, Zanussi)
7:37 - Christian Bordeleau (Hull, Woytowich)		Second period1:47 - Brad Selwood (Williams)
Third period2:19 - Jim Dorey (Williams, Webster)
3:08 - Brit Selby (Williams, Webster)
9:03 - John French (Ley, Sheehy)
10:16 - John Cunniff (Byers)
18:59 - John French (Hurley, Pleau)
Ernie Wakely 29 saves / 36 shotsGoalie stats Al Smith 21 saves / 25 shots
May 3Winnipeg Jets4–3New England Whalers Winnipeg Arena  
15:23 - Bobby Hull (Bordeleau, Beaudin)
19:34 - Ab McDonald (Beaudin, Hornung)		First periodNo scoring
5:21 - Danny Johnson (Hull, Hornung)Second period14:44 - Rick Ley (Byers)
19:33 - Bobby Hull (Beaudin, Ash)Third period4:23 - Ted Green (Ley, Webster)
18:56 - Tim Sheehy (French, Dorey)
Joe Daley 24 saves / 27 shotsGoalie stats Al Smith 24 saves / 28 shots
May 5New England Whalers2–4Winnipeg Jets Boston Garden  
No scoringFirst period15:50 - Bobby Hull (Bordeleau)
0:47 - Larry Pleau (Sheehy, Ley)
14:11 - Mike Byers (Earl, Dorey)
16:17 - Tim Sheehy (Dorey, Selwood) 16:17		Second periodNo scoring
7:17 - Mike Byers (Earl)Third period19:54 - Dunc Rousseau (Ash)
Al Smith 28 saves /30 shotsGoalie stats Ernie Wakely 28 saves / 32 shots
May 6New England Whalers9–6Winnipeg Jets Boston Garden  
0:21 - Tom Webster (Williams, Ley)
4:43 - Larry Pleau
11:47 - Guy Smith (Williams, Webster)
15:43 - Rick Ley
18:41 - Tim Sheehy (Webster, Pleau)		First period7:07 - Danny Johnson (Sutherland)
17:53 - Norm Beaudin (Hull)
0:15 - Tom Webster (Williams, Green)Second period3:15 - Norm Beaudin (Bordeleau, McDonald)
4:02 - Milt Black (Shmyr)
5:24 - Larry Pleau (Sheehy, French)
7:31 - Larry Pleau (Sheehy, French)
17:20 - Mike Byers (Green, Williams)		Third period4:59 - Bob Woytowich (Swenson, Asmundson)
18:10 - Freeman Asmundson (Swenson, Cuddie)
Al Smith 36 saves / 42 shotsGoalie stats Joe Daley 18 saves / 27 shots
New England won series 4–1

Player statistics

Skaters

These were the top ten skaters based on points. [12]

PlayerTeamGPGAPtsPIM
Norm Beaudin Winnipeg Jets 141315282
Tom Webster New England Whalers 151214266
Bobby Hull Winnipeg Jets 149162516
Tim Sheehy New England Whalers 159142313
Jim Dorey New England Whalers 153161941
Larry Pleau New England Whalers 151271915
Tommy Williams New England Whalers 15611172
John French New England Whalers 15311142
Bill Sutherland Winnipeg Jets 1459149
Christian Bordeleau Winnipeg Jets 1258134

Goaltending

These were the top five goaltenders in terms of minutes. [13]

PlayerTeamGPGASASVSV%SOMIN
Al Smith New England Whalers 1549430381.8860909
Gerry Cheevers Cleveland Crusaders 922278256.9210548
Wayne Rutledge Houston Aeros 720228208.9120423
Joe Daley Winnipeg Jets 725199174.8740422
Ernie Wakely Winnipeg Jets 722210188.8952420

References

  1. ↑ https://www.hockey-reference.com/playoffs/1973-alberta-oilers-vs-minnesota-fighting-saints-preliminary-round.html
  2. ↑ https://www.ultimate70s.com/nhlbox/19730404/MIN/ALB/W
  3. ↑ https://whahockey.com/oilers.html
  4. ↑ https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/nhl/cult-of-hockey/reflecting-on-the-humble-beginnings-of-oilers-hockey-fifty-years-ago-today
  5. ↑ https://www.inquirer.com/flyers/philadelphia-blazers-world-hockey-association-bernie-parent-rival-flyers-20230401.html
  6. ↑ https://www.hockey-reference.com/playoffs/1973-cleveland-crusaders-vs-philadelphia-blazers-east-division-semi-finals.html
  7. ↑ Surgent, Scott (1990). The Complete World Hockey Association 11th Edition. Surgent. p. 74. ISBN   978-1727753424.
  8. ↑ https://www.surgent.net/wha/year/197273/playoffs.html
  9. ↑ https://www.hockey-reference.com/playoffs/1973-minnesota-fighting-saints-vs-winnipeg-jets-west-division-semi-finals.html
  10. ↑ https://www.hockey-reference.com/playoffs/1973-cleveland-crusaders-vs-new-england-whalers-east-division-finals.html
  11. ↑ https://dailymcplay.com/2024/12/28/wha-saturday-1973-awards-analysis/
  12. ↑ https://www.hockey-reference.com/playoffs/WHA_1973_skaters.html#stats::points
  13. ↑ https://www.hockey-reference.com/playoffs/WHA_1973_goalies.html

WHA playoffs

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