1974-75 Season

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1974 Exhibition Series: Western Canadian Junior All Stars
1974 USSR-Canada Summit Series

1974 Amateur Draft
1974 Expansion Draft
Statistical Leaders & Award Winners
All-Star Game
Playoff Results
AVCO Cup Championship Finals
Significant Games
Hat Tricks

WHA Preview, 1974-75 • WHA Press Release September 1974 Fourteen teams, three divisions, eight new arenas, the debut of no fewer than 30 of the outstanding amateurs in the world and the addition of another 30 established hockey names. That's the "new look" the World Hockey Association will unveil Tuesday (Oct. 15) as it embarks on Year III. "It's hardly discernable today that we're going into only our third year and the National League is 57 years old," observed President Dennis Murphy. "We've made tremendous strides in closing the credibility gap, particularly this season. We're more stable today than any new league in the history of sports." Opening night action has Winnipeg at Vancouver and New England at Toronto. A 12-team league through the first two years, the WHA experiences its first expansion this season with the establishment of the Phoenix Roadrunners and the Indianapolis Racers. Phoenix is in the Western Division with Houston, Minnesota, San Diego and Michigan, while Indianapolis takes up residence in the new East with Chicago, Cleveland and New England. The all new Canadian Division has Toronto, Quebec, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver. All teams play a balanced 78-game schedule, three home and away with each club. Franchise relocations show the Jersey Knight now firmly entrenched in San Diego, the once Los Angeles Sharks now in Detroit as the Michigan Stags and the New England Whalers out of Boston to Springfield/Hartford. "Of great significance this season," observed Murphy, "is the fact that we'll be showcasing in four brand new buildings this season and four greatly improved facilities. It should reflect an increase of at least two million in attendance." The all new structures are in Cleveland, Edmonton, Indianapolis and Hartford, while Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Cobo Arena in Detroit, Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix and the Sports Arena in San Diego represent high quality additions to the WHA. Curiously, six of the WHA's 14 playing sites are known as the Coliseum — Cleveland, Edmonton, Houston, Phoenix, Vancouver and Quebec. For what it's worth, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder — the noted odds-maker out of Las Vegas — lists the Toronto Toros as 6-5 to win Canada, Pat Stapleton's Chicago Cougars 4-5 to capture the East and the Gordie Howe-led Houston Aeros are an even 1-1 to again win the West. For those who thrive on longshots, try Indianapolis (50-1) or San Diego (20-1). Of particular interest will be the unveiling of six Swedish, two Finnish and two Czechoslovakian imports, not to mention the arrival of nearly 30 heralded youngsters out of Canadian junior and U.S. amateur ranks. They include the likes of Pat Price and Ron Chipperfield in Vancouver, Dennis Sobchuk, Cam Connor, John Hughes and Dave Gorman in Phoenix, Gary MacGregor in Chicago, Barry Legge, Bill Reed, Jacques Locas, Bill Evo and Ed Johnston in Michigan, Kevin Devine and Jamie Bateman with San Diego, Ron Ashton and Randy Andreachuk in Winnipeg, Real Cloutier and Charles Constantin in Quebec, Craig Hanmer, Rick Fraser and John Sheridan in Indianapolis, Mike Rogers in Edmonton, Paul Baxter, John Stewart and Mike Bartley for Cleveland, and Jim Turkiewicz and George Kuzmicz in Toronto. As for foreign imports, the Winnipeg Jets will blend six with the incomparable Bobby Hull. There's goaltender Curt Larsson, defensemen Lars-Erik Sjoberg and Heikki Riihiranta, and forwards Ulf Nilsson, Anders Hedberg and Veli-Pekka Ketola. New England has the Abrahamsson twins, Crister in goal and Thommy on defense, while the Toros in Toronto have two Czech super stars, Richard Farda and Vaclav Nedomansky. Established player additions include Frank Mahovlich, Paul Henderson and Tony Featherstone in Toronto, Gerry Desjardins, Larry Johnston and Paul Curtis by Michigan, Dave Dryden to Chicago, Bruce MacGregor, Barry Long, Ray McKay to Edmonton, Danny O'Shea, Kevin O'Shea, Don Tannahill and Gary Gambucci by Minnesota, Doug Volmar to San Diego, Duanne Rupp and Mike Pelyk to Vancouver, Al McDonough, Rich Leduc and Terry Holbrook to Cleveland, Fred O'Donnell to New England and Andy Brown and Nick Harbaruk to Indianapolis. On the coaching front, there'll be seven new faces back of the benches — Rudy Pilous in Winnipeg, Joe Crozier in Vancouver, John Hanna in Cleveland, Johnny Wilson in Michigan, Jean-Guy Gendron in Quebec, Sandy Hucul in Phoenix and Gerry Moore in Indianapolis. Holdover coaches include Brian Shaw in Edmonton, Harry Howell in San Diego, Bill Dineen in Houston, Harry Neale in Minnesota, Ron Ryan in New England, Billy Harris in Toronto and Pat Stapleton in Chicago. No. 1 area of intrigue, perhaps, will be the comeback in Edmonton of the legendary Jacques Plante, who, at 45, will attempt to repeat the awesome performance of Houston's Gordie Howe a season ago. No one will deny he has the credentials. A seven-time winner of the Vezina Trophy with Montreal, Chicago, Toronto, St. Louis and Boston, Plante over 16 winters tabulated a goals against average of 2.35. His total shutouts number 94, including a record 14 in Stanley Cup play. Plante, after a year of coaching in Quebec, says: "I wanted to play last season but it was legally impossible. It is easier to play than coach, and I feel good." Major off~season player switches within the WHA included Toronto's swapping of Wayne Carleton to New England for a second round draft choice and future considerations, and Vancouver's acquisition of goaltender Don McLeod from Houston, who had been named a free agent. McLeod was the WHA's top netminder last season with a 2.56 average. Also, Edmonton sent defenseman Bob Wall to San Diego for Don Herriman.

Final Standings

Canadian Division
Team	gp	w	l	t	pts	pct	gf	ga
Quebec NORDIQUES	78	46	32	0	92	.590	331	299
Toronto TOROS	78	43	33	2	88	.564	349	304
Winnipeg JETS	78	38	35	5	81	.519	322	293
Vancouver BLAZERS	78	37	39	2	76	.487	256	270
Edmonton OILERS	78	36	38	4	76	.487	279	279
Eastern Division
Team	gp	w	l	t	pts	pct	gf	ga
New England WHALERS	78	43	30	5	91	.583	274	279
Cleveland CRUSADERS	78	35	40	3	73	.467	236	258
Chicago COUGARS	78	30	47	1	61	.391	261	312
Indianapolis RACERS	78	18	57	3	39	.250	216	338
Western Division
Team	gp	w	l	t	pts	pct	gf	ga
Houston AEROS	78	53	25	0	106	.679	369	247
San Diego MARINERS	78	43	31	4	90	.576	326	268
Minnesota FIGHTING SAINTS	78	42	33	3	87	.558	308	279
Phoenix ROADRUNNERS	78	39	31	8	86	.551	300	265
Michigan STAGS-Baltimore BLADES	78	21	53	4	46	.295	205	341

Home Records

Team	gp	w	l	t	pts	pct	gf	ga
New England	39	28	8	3	59	.756	157	118
Houston	39	28	11	0	56	.718	205	120
Quebec	39	27	12	0	54	.692	184	140
San Diego	39	26	11	2	54	.692	192	126
Edmonton	39	25	12	2	52	.667	174	130
Minnesota	39	26	13	0	52	.667	176	136
Vancouver	39	25	12	2	52	.667	138	115
Phoenix	39	23	11	5	51	.654	170	115
Winnipeg	39	23	13	3	49	.628	171	121
Toronto	39	24	15	0	48	.615	175	139
Cleveland	39	23	15	1	47	.603	130	109
Chicago	39	18	20	1	37	.474	138	153
Michigan-Baltimore	39	15	21	3	33	.423	103	142
Indianapolis	39	13	26	0	26	.333	106	149

Away Records

Team	gp	w	l	t	pts	pct	gf	ga
Houston	39	25	14	0	50	.641	164	127
Toronto	39	19	18	2	40	.513	174	165
Quebec	39	19	20	0	38	.487	147	159
San Diego	39	17	20	2	36	.452	134	142
Minnesota	39	16	20	3	35	.449	132	143
Phoenix	39	16	20	3	35	.449	130	150
New England	39	15	22	2	32	.410	117	161
Winnipeg	39	15	22	2	32	.410	151	172
Cleveland	39	12	25	2	26	.333	106	149
Chicago	39	12	27	0	24	.308	123	159
Vancouver	39	12	27	0	24	.308	118	155
Edmonton	39	11	26	2	24	.308	105	149
Michigan-Baltimore	39	6	32	1	13	.167	102	199
Indianapolis	39	5	31	3	13	.167	110	189

1974-75 Calendar Game results and standings for dates shown in boldface.

October 1974 Su M T W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31	November 1974 Su M T W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30	December 1974 Su M T W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
January 1975 Su M T W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31	February 1975 Su M T W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28	March 1975 Su M T W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
April 1975 Su M T W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30	May 1975 Su M T W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

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