League National Hockey League Number of teams 16 Champion Philadelphia Flyers Season MVP Phil Esposito Number of games 78 | Sport Ice hockey Season champions Boston Bruins Start date 1973 Top scorer Phil Esposito | |
Duration October 10, 1973 – May 19, 1974 Playoffs Playoffs MVP Bernie Parent, (Philadelphia Flyers) Goals Joey Johnston, Ralph Stewart, Rick Martin, Yvan Cournoyer Similar 1979–80 NHL season, 1967–68 NHL season, 1980–81 NHL season, 1985–86 NHL season, 1969–70 NHL season | ||
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.
Playoffs
The playoffs began on April 9 with the first round, which was played between divisional opponents. The top teams all won their first rounds, with one mild upset, as the third-place New York Rangers defeated the second-place Montreal Canadiens. In the second round, the teams played an inter-divisional round to determine the finalists. The Eastern champion Boston Bruins took on the Western's second-place Chicago Black Hawks, while the Western champion Philadelphia Flyers took on the New York Rangers. Boston won its series in six games to take one Finals spot, while Philadelphia won its series in seven games to make the team's first Finals appearance. In the Final, the Flyers won the series in six games to win the franchise's first championship.
Final
Philadelphia Flyers became the first non-Original Six team to win the Cup since expansion in 1967.
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.
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
Other statistics
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.