1974–75 WHA season
{{Short description|Professional ice hockey league season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox sports season
| title = 1974–75 WHA season
| league = World Hockey Association
| sport = Ice hockey
| duration = October 15, 1974 – May 12, 1975
| attendance =
| season = Regular season
| season_champ_name=
| season_champs =
| draft = Draft
| draft_link = 1974 WHA amateur draft
| top_pick_link =
| top_pick = Pat Price
| picked_by = Vancouver Blazers
| MVP = Bobby Hull (Winnipeg)
| MVP_link = Gordie Howe Trophy
| top_scorer = Andre Lacroix (San Diego)
| top_scorer_link = Bill Hunter Trophy
| playoffs =
| playoffs_link =
| conf1 =
| conf1_link =
| conf1_champ =
| conf1_runner-up =
| conf2 =
| conf2_link =
| conf2_champ =
| conf2_runner-up =
| finals = Avco Cup Final
| finals_link =
| finals_champ = Houston Aeros
| finals_runner-up = Quebec Nordiques
| playoffs_MVP =
| playoffs_MVP_link=
|nextseason_year = 1975–76
|prevseason_year = 1973–74
| seasonslistnames =WHA
}}
The 1974–75 WHA season was the third season of the World Hockey Association. Fourteen teams each played 78 games. The Houston Aeros won the Avco World Trophy for the second straight year in dominating fashion, losing only one time in the playoffs.
Regular season
The WHA expanded by adding the Indianapolis Racers and Phoenix Roadrunners, and splitting into three divisions: Western, Eastern, and Canadian. The top two teams in each division qualified for the playoffs along with the two next best teams overall. Prior to the season, Southern California welcomed the Jersey Knights, who moved to San Diego and became the Mariners, and said goodbye to the Los Angeles Sharks, who moved to Detroit and became the Michigan Stags. Midway through the season, the Stags moved to Baltimore and became the Blades; they folded for good after the season. Chicago also folded at season's end. Also, the New England Whalers left Boston for Hartford, but played the first half of the season in Springfield, Massachusetts until construction on the Hartford Civic Center was finished.
The NHL also expanded this season, to 18 teams, making a total of 32 clubs playing major professional hockey in North America. This number has not been surpassed, though the NHL expanded to 32 teams in 2021.
=Final standings=
{{1974–75 WHA Canadian Division standings}}
{{1974–75 WHA Eastern Division standings}}
{{1974–75 WHA Western Division standings}}
Player stats
=Scoring leaders=
Bolded numbers indicate season leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
class="wikitable sortable" | ||||||
bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="18%" | Player
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="14%" | Team ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | GP ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | A ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | Pts ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | PIM | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
align="left" | Andre Lacroix | San Diego Mariners | 78 | 41 | 106 | 147 | 63 |
align="left" | Bobby Hull | Winnipeg Jets | 78 | 77 | 65 | 142 | 41 |
align="left" | Serge Bernier | Quebec Nordiques | 76 | 54 | 68 | 122 | 75 |
align="left" | Ulf Nilsson | Winnipeg Jets | 78 | 26 | 94 | 120 | 79 |
align="left" | Larry Lund | Houston Aeros | 78 | 33 | 75 | 108 | 68 |
align="left" | Wayne Rivers | San Diego Mariners | 78 | 54 | 53 | 107 | 52 |
align="left" | Anders Hedberg | Winnipeg Jets | 65 | 53 | 47 | 100 | 45 |
align="left" | Gordie Howe | Houston Aeros | 75 | 34 | 65 | 99 | 84 |
align="left" | Wayne Dillon | Toronto Toros | 77 | 29 | 66 | 95 | 22 |
align="left" | Mike Walton | Minnesota Fighting Saints | 75 | 48 | 45 | 93 | 33 |
= 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; GAA = Goals against average
class="wikitable sortable" width="100%"
! bgcolor="#e0e0e0" width="20%" align="left" | Player ! bgcolor="#e0e0e0" width="15%" | Team ! bgcolor="#e0e0e0" width="8.1%" | GP ! bgcolor="#e0e0e0" width="8.1%" | Min ! bgcolor="#e0e0e0" width="8.1%" | W ! bgcolor="#e0e0e0" width="8.1%" | L ! bgcolor="#e0e0e0" width="8.1%" | T ! bgcolor="#e0e0e0" width="8.1%" | GA ! bgcolor="#e0e0e0" width="8.1%" | SO ! bgcolor="#e0e0e0" width="8.1%" | SV% ! bgcolor="#e0e0e0" width="8.1%" | GAA | ||||||||||
align="left"
| align="left" | Ron Grahame | Houston Aeros | 43 | 2590 | 33 | 10 | 0 | 131 | 4 | 90.0 | 3.03 |
align="left"
| align="left" | Bob Whidden | Cleveland Crusaders | 29 | 1654 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 89 | 0 | 91.2 | 3.23 |
align="left"
| align="left" | Wayne Rutledge | Houston Aeros | 35 | 2092 | 20 | 15 | 0 | 113 | 2 | 89.2 | 3.24 |
align="left"
| align="left" | Ernie Wakely | Winnipeg - San Diego | 41 | 2418 | 23 | 15 | 2 | 131 | 3 | 90.0 | 3.25 |
align="left"
| align="left" | Gerry Cheevers | Cleveland Crusaders | 52 | 3076 | 26 | 24 | 2 | 167 | 4 | 90.5 | 3.26 |
align="left"
| align="left" | Jack Norris | Phoenix Roadrunners | 33 | 1962 | 14 | 15 | 4 | 107 | 1 | 89.1 | 3.27 |
align="left"
| align="left" | John Garrett | Minnesota Fighting Saints | 58 | 3294 | 30 | 23 | 2 | 180 | 2 | 90.5 | 3.28 |
align="left"
| align="left" | Gary Kurt | Phoenix Roadrunners | 47 | 2841 | 25 | 16 | 4 | 156 | 2 | 88.5 | 3.27 |
align="left"
| align="left" | Jacques Plante | Edmonton Oilers | 40 | 1592 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 88 | 1 | 89.0 | 3.32 |
align="left"
| align="left" | Don McLeod | Vancouver Blazers | 71 | 4124 | 32 | 35 | 2 | 230 | 1 | 89.1 | 3.35 |
align="left" |
All-Star game
At Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, the West defeated the East 6–4.
Avco World Trophy playoffs
{{Main article|1975 WHA playoffs}}
Eight teams qualified for the playoffs; the top two teams in each division and the next two teams with the highest point totals. The teams were then pooled together, according to point totals, to determine quarter-final match-ups. The three division winners were guaranteed the top three seeds, according to their point totals. Teams were not "reseeded" after the quarter-final round.
{{8TeamBracket
| team-width = 175
| RD1-seed1=W1
| RD1-team1=Houston Aeros
| RD1-score1=4
| RD1-seed2=E2
| RD1-team2=Cleveland Crusaders
| RD1-score2=1
| RD1-seed3=W2
| RD1-team3=San Diego Mariners
| RD1-score3=4
| RD1-seed4=C2
| RD1-team4=Toronto Toros
| RD1-score4=2
| RD1-seed5=E1
| RD1-team5=New England Whalers
| RD1-score5=2
| RD1-seed6=W3
| RD1-team6=Minnesota Fighting Saints
| RD1-score6=4
| RD1-seed7=C1
| RD1-team7=Quebec Nordiques
| RD1-score7=4
| RD1-seed8=W4
| RD1-team8=Phoenix Roadrunners
| RD1-score8=1
| RD2-seed1=W1
| RD2-team1=Houston Aeros
| RD2-score1=4
| RD2-seed2=W2
| RD2-team2=San Diego Mariners
| RD2-score2=0
| RD2-seed3=W3
| RD2-team3=Minnesota Fighting Saints
| RD2-score3=2
| RD2-seed4=C1
| RD2-team4=Quebec Nordiques
| RD2-score4=4
| RD3-seed1=W1
| RD3-team1=Houston Aeros
| RD3-score1=4
| RD3-seed2=C1
| RD3-team2=Quebec Nordiques
| RD3-score2=0
}}
WHA awards
=Trophies=
=All-Star Team=
class="wikitable" | ||
Position | First Team | Second Team |
---|---|---|
Centre | Andre Lacroix, San Diego | Serge Bernier, Quebec |
Right Wing | Gordie Howe, Houston | Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg |
Left Wing | Bobby Hull, Winnipeg | Marc Tardif, Quebec |
Defence | J. C. Tremblay, Quebec | Poul Popiel, Houston |
Defence | Kevin Morrison, San Diego | Barry Long, Edmonton |
Goaltender | Ron Grahame, Houston | Gerry Cheevers, Cleveland |
See also
References
- {{cite web|title=Year by Year Standings |url=http://www.geocities.com/Pipeline/5206/standings.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021003334/http://geocities.com/Pipeline/5206/standings.html |archivedate=2009-10-21 |url-status=dead }}
{{WHA seasons}}
{{1974–75 WHA season by team}}
{{WHA}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:1974-75 WHA season}}