[EDIT 6/22/2015: Apostrophe maintenance]
[EDIT 6/12/2018: Altering junior hockey entry to suit any encoding]
[EDIT 11/30/2023: Applying the label "hockey" at last and removing justification]
The notorious Philadelphia Flyers win the Stanley Cup in six games against the Boston Bruins. Coach Fred Shero wins the very first Jack Adams Award for his part in bringing the team to the top. Led by team captain Bobby Clarke, the Flyers are the first of the six expansion teams of '67 to win the Cup.
In the WHA, the Houston Aeros sweep the Chicago Cougars in the Avco Cup final. One of the men driving them to this victory is Gordie Howe, who joined the Aeros along with his sons Mark and Marty at the beginning of the season. Gordie, 46 years old by the end of the season, wins the MVP award, adding 31 goals and 69 assists to his huge career totals. Mark, by the way, is the Rookie of the Year.
The Flyers' Dave Schultz leads the NHL in penalty minutes with a record 348. He'll break that record by accumulating 472 minutes next season.
The Flyers' Bernie Parent wins the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs and is one of two goalies to win the Vezina Trophy this year. His 47 wins are a record that may never be equaled, his twelve shutouts are a mark reached only six times before in a season of 70 games or longer, and his 1.89 goals-against average is a league best.
With 68 goals and 77 assists, the Bruins' Phil Esposito wins the Art Ross Trophy for the fifth time in a row and the sixth time overall. This is the fifth of six times in a row that he leads the league in goals. The 68-goal mark will remain the second-highest for an NHL season until Mike Bossy does one better in '78-79 and many others eclipse it thereafter.
Phil also wins the Hart Trophy (league MVP as voted by the writers) and the Lester B. Pearson Trophy (MVP as voted by the players). He now has 466 goals and 577 assists for his career.
Tony Esposito, goalie for the Chicago Black Hawks, gets 10 shutouts and a 2.03 GAA, both runners-up to Parent's marks but far better than the third-best. His performance earns him a share of the Vezina Trophy as the Black Hawks and Flyers each allow only 164 goals in 78 games. Incidentally, Chicago is the team Boston beats in the semifinals.
Bobby Orr of the Bruins wins the Norris Trophy (best defenseman) for the seventh of eight times. He leads the league in assists with 90.
The Calder Trophy for best rookie goes to Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders, who has 54 points and 175 penalty minutes.
Another great who makes his Islanders debut this year is Al Arbour, who would coach the team for a long time.
The first team All-Stars are Parent, Orr, Phil Esposito, New York Rangers defenseman Brad Park, Buffalo Sabres left wing Rick Martin, and Bruins right wing Ken Hodge.
The Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play goes for a second time to the Bruins' captain Johnny Bucyk, who only gets eight penalty minutes in 76 games.
Gerry Cheevers of the Cleveland Crusaders has a WHA-leading four shutouts. He had a league-best five the previous season.
At the NHL All-Star Game in Chicago, the West Division wins 6-4. Garry Unger of the St. Louis Blues is the MVP. Frank Mahovlich plays in his fifteenth consecutive All-Star Game, and it will be his last before he joins the WHA.
The WHA All-Star Game is held in St. Paul, Minnesota. The East wins 8-4, and the MVP is Mike Walton of the local Minnesota Fighting Saints. Walton leads the league in scoring for the season with 57 goals and 60 assists.
Sabres defenseman Tim Horton, who had helped the Maple Leafs to four Stanley Cup championships in the '60s, dies in a single-car crash Feb. 21 at the age of 44. The car in question was his signing bonus for joining Buffalo prior to the season, and the drive there from Toronto after a game against the Leafs the night before – a 4-2 Sabres loss in which he was among the three stars – is cut short in St. Catharines, Ont. His funeral on the 25th attracts a huge crowd, aided by the fact that no NHL games are scheduled that day.
Sometime this season, Stan Mikita of the Black Hawks scores his 400th goal.
Montreal Canadiens captain Henri Richard reaches 1,000 points Dec. 10, 1973, in a game against the Sabres.
After an All-NHL First Team, GAA-leading, Vezina-winning, Stanley Cup-winning '72-73 season, Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden does not play this season. Because he feels his team is being too tight, he is working as a law clerk in Toronto for a weekly salary of $134 Canadian.
Dryden also provides color commentary for local coverage of the WHA's Toronto Toros, who have just moved from Ottawa. They draw a measly 4,291 fans a game to Varsity Arena.
Among the 1974 Hall of Fame inductees is Dickie Moore, one of the stars of the '50s Canadiens. Also among them is Soviet coach Anatoli Tarasov, the first Soviet in the Hall of Fame.
This is Borje Salming's first season in the NHL. Salming, a Swedish defenseman making his debut with the Maple Leafs, is one of many European players who have an impact on hockey in the '70s, and he will establish that a European can indeed make it in this league.
Charles Finley, owner of baseball's Oakland A's, sells the NHL's California Golden Seals after the season.
Alex Delvecchio (24 years in the NHL), Dean Prentice (22), and Gump Worsley (21) all retire. Gordie Howe's record of 25 seasons in the NHL is safe, and his 26th will be '79-80.
Christer Abrahamsson, goalie for the Swedish team Leksand, is the Golden Puck winner (Swedish league MVP) for this season, his brother Thommy having won it the year before. Both players will join the New England Whalers in the '74-75 season.
Herb Brooks wins his first NCAA title as Minnesota coach. Brad Shelstad, the Gophers' goalie, is Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
The Soviet Union wins its thirteenth IIHF championship. This is their second of three in a row immediately following Czechoslovakia snapping their long streak in '72. Vladislav Tretyak is named best goaltender of the tournament for the first of four times, and this season he also wins his first of five MVP awards for the top Soviet league.
The Regina Pats of the Western League win the Memorial Cup by defeating les Remparts de Quebec (QMJHL champions) 7-4. The other participants are the OHA's St. Catharines Black Hawks.
At the first unofficial world junior championship in Leningrad, the Soviet Union wins. The IIHF will institute an under-20 championship in 1977.
Thirteen-year-old Wayne Gretzky is already recognized as the next big thing in hockey, and is getting heavy media coverage as a result, including an appearance on CBC radio's "This Country in the Morning" March 25. He says he doesn't see himself making a million dollars someday.
LINKS
Overview of the NHL season
Overview of the WHA season
More on Ken Dryden
Penalty minutes leaders
Funeral for Tim Horton
Interview with 13-year-old Gretzky
Memorial Cup
NEXT MONTH: The NBA and ABA in '73-74
