Sports74 Gold: Hockey Early in '74-75

This retrospective, which mainly covers what happened in the '74 calendar year, is the penultimate entry in Sports74 Gold. How time flies.

After leaving Canada with a win, a loss, and two ties, the Soviet Union's national team defeats a team of WHA all-stars in three out of four games in Moscow; the other game is a tie. The squad that represents Canada includes all three Howes (of the Houston Aeros), Winnipeg Jets player-coach Bobby Hull, and '72 Summit Series hero Paul Henderson (a new arrival on the Toronto Toros). Hull scores nine points against the Soviets and Gordie Howe gets seven.

On the way to Moscow, the WHA stars defeat Finland in Helsinki and Sweden in Gothenburg. On the way home, they lose to Czechoslovakia in Prague.

In the NHL, this season is the debut of the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals. With this expansion, the league is realigned into the Wales Conference and the Campbell Conference, each of which has two divisions.

Franchises in Denver and Seattle are planned for the NHL in 1976-77, but for several reasons, neither one will materialize.

The Northlands Coliseum opens, and it will be the home of the WHA's (later NHL's) Edmonton Oilers for over 40 years.

The New England Whalers play games in West Springfield, Mass. -- where they had played their '74 playoff games -- for the season up to and including Jan. 4, 1975. They play their first game at the Hartford Civic Center on Jan. 11, 1975. Except for some time in the late '70s, the Whalers will keep calling Hartford home until 1997.

The WHA's third season is the first for which plus-minus figures are available. The best in that figure is Bobby Hull with 55. The worst, with negative 63, is defenseman Paul Curtis of the team that starts the season as the Michigan Stags and finishes as the Baltimore Blades.

Ken Dryden is back on the Montreal Canadiens. After a year of absence, he has the third-best GAA in the NHL (2.69). He led the league in '72-73 with 2.26.

Speaking of the Habs, they begin a streak of 23 road games without a loss Nov. 27.

Guy Lafleur of Montreal has his breakout season with 53 goals and 66 assists.

Gordie Howe's 99 points bring him to 2,008 combined for NHL and WHA games.

Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins scores his 500th goal Dec. 22 in his 803rd career game, played at the Boston Garden against the Detroit Red Wings. He is the sixth player in league history to reach the 500 mark.

Esposito and Bobby Orr play what proves to be their last season together and Orr's last season before his premature decline.

Also in Boston, Don Cherry is brought in to start a six-year run as head coach.

The playoffs that follow this NHL season will be different from how they had been in the last four years. From 1971 to 1974, East and West teams met in the semifinals. Now, the four division winners get byes and the second- and third-place teams play in the preliminaries, with matchups determined by points regardless of division or even conference.

In the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft, the Buffalo Sabres use their eleventh-round pick on made-up Japanese player Taro Tsujimoto. Among the real players drafted this year are two future Hall of Famers, both New York Islanders selections: Clark Gillies of the WCHL's Regina Pats and Bryan Trottier of the Western Canada League's Swift Current Broncos (who play in Lethbridge, Alberta, for 12 years starting in the coming season).

The Toronto Maple Leafs draft the Broncos' Dave "Tiger" Williams, who had 854 penalty minutes in 204 games with Swift Current, but also 108 goals and 133 assists. In '74-75, he has 202 penalty minutes in 39 games with the Central League's Oklahoma City Blazers and 187 in 42 games with the Leafs.

With the first pick, the Capitals select Greg Joly of the Pats. The second pick belongs to the Scouts, and they choose Wilf Paiement of the OHA's St. Catharines Black Hawks.

In the WHA, the Minnesota Fighting Saints acquire the players who will be made famous in the 1977 movie Slap Shot. They select Dave Hanson of the Midwest Junior Hockey League's St. Paul Vulcans in the '74 draft. From the USHL's Marquette Iron Rangers, the Saints draft two of the Carlson brothers (Jack Carlson and Steve Carlson) and sign the third, Jeff Carlson.

All told, there are eight different drafts for the two leagues in 1974. To wit:

·     In addition to the aforementioned, the NHL amateur draft involves the California Golden Seals selecting Joly's teammate Rick Hampton with the third overall pick.

·     The WHA amateur draft brings Real Cloutier of the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts to the Quebec Nordiques.

·     A secret amateur draft results in Cam Connor of the WCHL's Flin Flon Bombers going to the Phoenix Roadrunners.

·     That new franchise is one of two teams with picks to make in the WHA expansion draft; the Indianapolis Racers get Bob Fitchner from the Oilers.

·     The NHL also has an expansion draft, whose most important picks might be Seals left winger Gary Croteau for the Scouts and Pittsburgh Penguins blueliner Yvon Labre for the Capitals.

·     The expansion teams also take part in an interleague draft, each one choosing a player from the Hershey Bears of the American League. The Caps take Jim Hrycuik (who scores the team's very first goal Oct. 9), and the Scouts pick Hugh Harvey.

·     In the reverse draft, the AHL's Nova Scotia Voyageurs get Al Hangsleben back from their parent club, the Canadiens, but he plays the season with the Whalers and their NAHL affiliate, the Cape Codders.

·     Finally, there's the NHL's intraleague draft, in which the New York Rangers claim Walt McKechnie of the Golden Seals as compensation for losing Seals pick Jeff Neilson, only to immediately send McKechnie to the Bruins in what appears to be a pre-arranged, three-team trade.

Soviet defenseman Vyacheslav Fetisov plays a single game this season that begins a distinguished 15-year run with CSKA Moscow.

The finale for Sports74 Gold involves front office problems, free throw problems, and a moment that caused problems for some fans in Vermont. Pro and college roundball will round out the series Oct. 18.

[EDITS 4:58-5:03 a.m: Making it look better on mobile devices.]

[EDIT 5:21-23 a.m.: Moving the entire post to a new URL. The title was wrong as originally posted at 4:28.]

[EDIT 5:24-25 a.m.: Taking out an extra space before potentially going back to bed.]

[EDITS 1:29-34 p.m.: It didn't turn out right, just copying and pasting. Back to the original post. But I'll be changing the title.]

[EDIT after unpublishing by mistake Dec. 16, 2025 10:51-54 a.m.: Removed reference to advertisement placed for '75-76 season.]

Sports74 Gold: NFL 1974

The mid-'70s may have been an era of labor strife, but not enough to interfere with a lot of gridiron action.

Super Bowl IX is the Pittsburgh Steelers' first Super Bowl victory; the AFC champs defeat the NFC champion Minnesota Vikings 16-6. Franco Harris is the game's MVP with 158 yards on 34 rushes, including the first touchdown.

The game gets a rating of 42.3 and a share of 78. An estimated 29.44 million households watch the game on NBC television Jan. 12, 1975.

It is the first Super Bowl in which a safety is made. Fran Tarkenton is sacked in the second quarter to give the Steelers the first points of the game.

These playoffs are the third in a row in which the Steelers and Oakland Raiders meet and the first of three consecutive playoff years in which the two teams play for the AFC championship.

What will be remembered as the game of the season is the Dec. 21 divisional playoff contest between the Raiders and the Miami Dolphins. The fourth-quarter play that wins the game for Oakland is a catch that running back Clarence Davis makes despite the Dolphin coverage that will go down in history as "The Sea of Hands."

The MVP according to the AP (and in the players' vote for the Jim Thorpe Trophy) is Raiders QB Ken Stabler, who leads the league with 26 touchdown passes.

The UPI Coach of the Year for the NFC is second-year St. Louis Cardinals coach Don Coryell, who improved his team from a 4-9-1 record to a 10-6 record. For the AFC, it's Sid Gillman, who led the Houston Oilers from a 1-13 record that even his skills couldn't prevent to a 7-7 record in his coaching swan song.

Los Angeles Rams DT Merlin Olsen, a 13-year veteran, wins the Bert Bell Trophy for MVP, presented by the Maxwell Club of Philadelphia.

The AP names Steelers DT Joe Greene Defensive Player of the Year and gives teammate Jack Lambert, a linebacker, the honor of Defensive Rookie of the Year.

San Diego Chargers running back Don Woods wins awards from UPI as AFC Rookie of the Year, from the AP as Offensive Rookie of the Year, and from the Newspaper Enterprise Association as overall Rookie of the Year. Woods has 1,162 rushing yards, second-best in the NFL, and 10 touchdowns for rushing and receiving combined. UPI's NFC Rookie of the Year is New York Giants offensive guard John Hicks.

Chuck Foreman of the Vikings is the NFC Player of the Year according to The Sporting News. He has 777 yards on 199 rushes, 586 yards on 53 receptions, and a league-best 15 touchdowns combined on runs and catches.

UPI's NFC Player of the Year is Jim Hart, the Cardinal QB. The undisputed all-NFC signal caller, he leads two game-winning drives, and he passes for 2,411 yards and 20 touchdowns, but he also throws eight interceptions, or a league-high 2.1 percent of his pass attempts.

Washington Redskins quarterback and five-time Pro Bowler Sonny Jurgensen plays his last season and leads the NFC in passer rating with 94.5. His final TD is in the Skins' regular-season finale against the Bears, and he goes 6 for 12 with three interceptions in Washington's playoff loss to the Rams.

The leading rusher in the AFC -- and the league -- is the Denver Broncos' Otis Armstrong with 1,407 yards. In the two years before and the two years after, that is Buffalo Bills back O.J. Simpson's honor.

Besides Armstrong, Harris, Simpson, and Woods, Larry McCutcheon of the Rams is also a thousand-yard rusher, the NFC's only one.

This time, Ken Anderson of the Cincinnati Bengals is the leader in quarterback rating with a mark of 95.7, which is 1.2 better than Stabler's.

The Baltimore Colts' Lydell Mitchell rushes a record 40 times Oct. 20 in a 35-20 Colts win at Shea Stadium against the New York Jets. Mitchell has 72 receptions this year, a record for a running back thus far and the leading figure for any player in the season.

Emmitt Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs is the first since 1964 to get 12 interceptions in a season. By the way, those INT's go for 214 yards.

An NFL franchise for Tampa is awarded April 24, and Seattle joins that city June 5. The latter could have been the Seattle Kings, whose ownership group felt it was guaranteed the franchise and promoted it greatly, but the $16 million fee and the labor dispute are factors leading the group to concede to Seattle Professional Football, a more local group of owners, which gets the franchise Dec. 5.

A six-week NFLPA strike precludes the Chicago College All-Star Game -- an event in which the Dolphins as reigning champs would have played college all-stars, one that will only be held twice more -- but no regular-season games are canceled or delayed. The point of contention is free agency, and the slogan is "no freedom, no football." The union gets back to work before the season starts.

This dispute will be settled by a federal ruling Dec. 20 that by one contemporary account puts "the game's structure in doubt," ultimately ushering in free agency. District Court judge William T. Sweigert rules in the Joe Kapp case that a team signing someone who has played out his option is not obligated to compensate the team losing that player, striking down a rule (named for Commissioner Pete Rozelle) that had been in standard contracts.

This is the first season in which games outside of the playoffs can go to sudden-death overtime. This might be prompted by the use of overtime in the WFL.

Among other rule changes possibly influenced by the WFL's rules: the moving of the goalposts to behind the end zone, kickoffs from the 35-yard line, and a new rule for missed field goals.

The Giants play at the Yale Bowl again this year. They will play at Shea Stadium, also home of the Jets, in 1975.

With the first pick in the '74 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys get Ed "Too Tall" Jones, a 6-foot-9 Tennessee State defensive end.

Throughout the season, the Dolphins maintain their home winning streak, which started in 1971, and extend it to 27 games. That's where the streak will be left when they lose their first regular-season home game in '75.

On Oct. 13, Dennis Morgan of the Cowboys returns a Cardinals punt for a 98-yard touchdown. He is the third player to do so for that many yards, and no one will go longer until 1994.

Mack Herron of the New England Patriots breaks Gale Sayers's single-season record of 2,440 all-purpose yards in a season by accumulating 824 running, 474 receiving, and 1,146 returning. The new record, four better than Sayers', will last one year.

Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw only plays eight regular-season games. He is, however, the starter for all three playoff games, and as such he is credited with the fourth-quarter comeback and game-winning drive against the Raiders. His time to shine, though, will be '75.

With 2,598 passing yards, Tarkenton gets ahead of Y.A. Tittle (33,070) on the all-time list. His 35,846 career yards are at this time second only to the figure put up by Johnny Unitas.

Cowboys QB Roger Staubach's .528 completion percentage is, and will be, his personal worst for a season of 200 attempts or more.

Jets QB Joe Namath has 20 touchdown passes, a high level he hadn't reached since 1967. Also, 22 of his passes are intercepted.

Harris, a third-year player who was the consensus Rookie of the Year in '72, has 1,006 yards on 208 carries. He scores five rushing touchdowns in the regular season and six in the playoffs.

After four games with the Chiefs, future Hall of Fame DT Curley Culp is traded to the Oilers.

Norm Van Brocklin's time as Falcons sideline general, which is in its seventh year, comes to an end Nov. 5.

Ron Smith of the Raiders finishes a ten-year career with 6,922 yards returning 275 kickoffs. Billy Johnson of the Oilers begins a fifteen-year career of returning 282 punts for 3,317 yards.

Raiders kicker George Blanda, who reaches the age of 47 early in the season, plays his next-to-last year and wins the Man of the Year Award.

Far from being Man of the Year is Conrad Dobler, Cardinals offensive guard, who wears a cast on his left arm that he uses to strike opponents. This is in addition to the kicking and biting that opponents have come to expect after two seasons.

Speaking of meanness: In one of the Steelers' two meetings with the Bengals, Pat Matson, Cincinnati offensive guard, tries to limp off the field, but Greene approaches him and urges him to stay on the gridiron.

During the strike and a soccer-style kicker fad, Sal Casola is drafted by the Bills and gets cut. He lands a spot on the Chiefs, but he decides the NFL's not for him and gets his brother to assume his identity. John Casola looks different, as Bills head coach Lou Saban notices Aug. 12, and Saban tells his opponent, Hank Stram, about it before the preseason game. Saban's amused and Stram isn't. The Chiefs' head coach has to wait until the half to end this short non-career.

In his third year as Colts owner and with a reputation for being meddlesome, Robert Irsay (during the Sept. 29 game against the Philadelphia Eagles) tells Howard Schnellenberger that quarterback Bert Jones should be put in. The coach doesn't comply, so Irsay fires him.

At halftime of the Nov. 17 game in Miami, Simpson encourages his fellow Bills to play a more physical game to hinder the Dolphins later on in the division race. On the second play, he taunts linebacker Nick Buoniconti and winds up having to limp off the field. With Simpson ineffective for the rest of the game, Buffalo loses 35-28.

In the week leading up to the Super Bowl, Lance Rentzel and Fred Dryer, members of the NFC runner-up Rams, pose as reporters, complete with old-time clothing, and try to be funny. "Do you think the zone defense is here to stay," Rentzel asks Steelers head coach Chuck Noll, "and if not, where'd it go?"

Besides Lambert and Swann, other future Hall of Famers making their debut this year are Raiders TE Dave Casper, Steelers WR John Stallworth, Steelers center Mike Webster, and Steelers defensive back Donnie Shell.

Besides Jurgensen, other retiring players this year include future Hall of Famers Bobby Bell, Deacon Jones, Bob Lilly, Jim Otto, and Dave Robinson. Coaching for his final year is another man to be enshrined at Canton, that being Gillman.

One of the latest Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees is tackle and place-kicker Lou Groza. Another is defensive halfback and cornerback "Night Train" Lane. The rest of the class consists of two-way back Tony Canadeo and linebacker Bill George.

Roy Blount's About Three Bricks Shy of a Load, a.k.a. About Three Bricks Shy... and the Load Filled Up, is published. This is an acclaimed book about the '73 Steelers.

Former cornerback and current blaxploitation star Fred Williamson has a short-lived gig joining Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football. Former Detroit Lions DT Alex Karras replaces Williamson on the program early in the season.

The NFL is reportedly intent on organizing a six-team league in Europe starting in 1975. That will come to pass in 1995.

Jack Kent Cooke becomes the majority stockholder of the Redskins after the last of deceased founder George Preston Marshall's stock is retired.

After her breast-cancer surgery in late September, the Redskins present first lady Betty Ford with a football.

The Raiders' Bubba Smith, in his second year away from the Colts organization, sues for the incident in Tampa two years before that led to him missing a full season (see NFL '73 entry). Official Ed Marion and the NFL are on the other side of a $2.5-million lawsuit, as is local man Robert Lastra, who had been hired to hold the first-down marker. One version of the story is that Smith hit the marker and Lastra didn't let go.

Ed Meadows, who as a Chicago Bears defensive tackle in 1956 was infamous for a late hit on Bobby Layne of the Lions, one that ignited an already hot discussion about football violence, shoots and ends it all Oct. 22. He was 42, and he had played for four teams over six years.

Don McCafferty, the Lions' head coach, dies of a heart attack July 28.

Does it feel a bit drafty? A selection of hockey events from the '74-75 season is coming Sept. 27.

[EDIT 5:59-6:02 a.m.: A couple of sources seem to differ with the account of Schnellenberger's firing. I am removing a few details that Football Hall of SHAME may have embellished.]

[EDIT 9-8, 11:32-33 p.m.: Changed font size.]

[EDITS 9-9, 9:28-9:50 a.m.: The Super Bowl was on NBC that time, not CBS. Also, made some adjustments.]

[EDIT 12-8, 6:53-54 a.m: Gillman's name is in bold on first reference, so it doesn't need to be later on. Removed that boldface and the first name from the future Hall of Famers retiring item.]

Sports74 Gold: College Football '74

Another season of pigskin fast approaches, so let's focus our attention on the one that took place half a century ago.

The winning team at the Rose Bowl is Southern California, which defeats Ohio State 18-17. The UPI coaches' poll, the FWAA, and the National Football Foundation all decide the Trojans are the No. 1 team in the country, but the AP ranks USC second and gives the national title to 11-0 Oklahoma, whose Big 8 champion team is on probation and prevented from playing in bowls.

The Sooners are undefeated for a second year in a row. In fact, this will become a 28-game winning streak and 37-game unbeaten streak that ends in 1975. Head coach Barry Switzer wins his first national championship.

Once again, Michigan and Ohio State are tied for the Big Ten crown. The athletic directors, for a second season in succession, choose the Buckeyes to face the Pacific-8 champions on New Year's Day. This time it's a 5-4 vote, with Michigan State's A.D. being a faithless elector and voting for his school. From next season on, there will be a different way of deciding which Big Ten team plays in the Rose Bowl.

Notre Dame ekes out a 13-11 victory in the Orange Bowl over SEC champion Alabama, sending head coach Ara Parseghian off as a winner and knocking the Crimson Tide out of the No. 1 spot in the coaches' poll.

The Sugar Bowl, played on New Year's Eve, is a 13-10 victory for Nebraska against Florida.

In a big Nov. 30 game against rival Notre Dame, USC is down 24-6 at halftime but makes it an incredible 55-24 victory, shutting out the Fighting Irish in the second half.

Ohio State halfback Archie Griffin wins the Heisman Trophy, and he will win that award again the next year. On 256 carries, he has 1,695 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The Maxwell Award goes to Steve Joachim, quarterback for independent, 8-2 Temple. Joachim has 1,950 passing yards and 20 TDs; he has a 150.1 rating. His 2,227 yards of total offense in 10 games are a University Division (Division I) best for the year.

Defensive tackle Randy White, playing for ACC champion Maryland, wins the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award. The Dallas Cowboys will make this unanimous All-American the second overall pick in '75.

The writers and coaches agree: third-year Baylor coach Grant Teaff is Coach of the Year. The Bears improve from a 2-9 season in '73 to an 8-4 season, Southwest Conference title, and subsequent Cotton Bowl appearance (lost 41-20 to Penn State) for '74.

Steve Bartkowski of 7-3-1 Pac-8 member California is the leading passer in terms of completions, going 182 for 325. He throws for 2,580 yards and 12 touchdowns. The consensus All-American will be the first player picked in the '75 NFL Draft and join the Atlanta Falcons.

Future pro star Walter Payton plays his last season at Jackson State. His totals are 3,600 yards in 598 attempts, and he has scored 63 TDs. Payton is the leading rusher in the Senior Bowl with 77 yards. In '75, he will be the fourth player picked overall in the NFL Draft and start a great career with the Chicago Bears.

Texas loses the Gator Bowl to Auburn two days short of a year after the Longhorns lost the Cotton Bowl to Nebraska. In both games, U.T. only manages a field goal.

Heisman runner-up Anthony Davis of USC sets a record for kickoff return average with a mark of 35.1 yards per return over three seasons. Davis is a consensus All-American running back (along with Griffin and Oklahoma's Joe Washington) whose 301 rushing attempts in '74 go for 1,421 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Also from USC, Charles Phillips attains a single-season high with 302 yards on interceptions.

Talking about interceptions, John Provost finishes his three years playing at Holy Cross (5-5-1 indie in '74) with 27 of them. This mark is second only to the standard set by Al Brosky of Illinois two decades past (29 from '50 to '52).

Louie Giammona of independent, 8-3 Utah State is the season's University Division rushing leader with 1,534 yards on 329 carries. He is also the all-purpose yards leader with 1,984.

Dwight McDonald of San Diego State (Pacific Coast Athletic Association, 8-2-1) is the receiving leader with 86 catches in 11 games. He gets 1,157 yards and 7 TDs.

Chris Kupec, the N.C. State quarterback, sets a record with his .693 completion percentage (minimum 150 attempts).

The Senior Bowl, Jan. 11, 1975, is a 17-17 tie between North and South. The Blue defeats the Gray 29-24 in the Dec. 17 Blue-Gray Classic, and the East wins the Dec. 28 Shrine Game 16-14 against the West.

Colorado State seems to win its Oct. 5 game against fellow WAC member BYU 34-33. However, the tying TD is followed by fans getting on the field and disrupting the game, and the Rams get a penalty. The extra point goes wide, but referee Jack Moyers can't find the ball to hold up for the end-of-game signal, so he holds up his hands without the ball. The scoreboard says CSU wins, but the conference officials' supervisor tells celebrating players that it's a 33-all tie.

In the College Division, Central Michigan wins the Division-II Camellia Bowl 54-14 over Delaware, and Central College (Iowa) defeats Ithaca 10-8 at the Division-III Stagg Bowl.

In a time of financial difficulty, the University of Vermont ends its football program, and reportedly some hard-up programs long for the days when players stayed in the game on both offense and defense.

Chris Sizemore finishes at Bridgewater College with 32.7 rushes per game over three years, a record for Division III.

The winners of the NAIA championship games are Texas A&I, defeating Henderson State (Arkansas) 34-23, and Texas Lutheran, with a 42-0 shutout against Missouri Valley.

Macalester College (St. Paul, Minn.) embarks on a 50-game losing streak. This run of failure for the Scots will span the second half of the decade, lasting until the 1980 season.

Former Michigan center Gerald Ford becomes U.S. President on Aug. 9.

Amateur hour is done, and the game gets all too business-like, from players on the picket lines to an overbearing owner. The NFL in 1974 is coming Sept. 6.

[EDIT 10:02 a.m. EDT: Small but important Davis change]

[EDIT 10:03 a.m. EDT: Correcting inconsistent font]

[EDITS 8/20 2:04-2:22 p.m.: A few small things that might make this look a little better on mobile devices]

Bobby Hull, 1939-2023

Bobby Hull died Monday.

A player in the World Hockey Association from the circuit's start to its finish, he was the league's first MVP in its first season, scoring 51 goals and making 52 assists. In goals, he did two better in the '73-74 season.

Having been shut out from playing at the first Summit Series two years prior, and famously so, Hull was the first selection for the WHA's delegation, and he scored six goals while in Canada for the first four games. Despite his injured left knee, he was reportedly the one to beat.

"Never been so tight a game before in my life," Hull told Brodie Snyder of the Montreal Gazette after the first game in Quebec City, "not even a 7th game of a Stanley Cup final."

The Golden Jet scored two in that opening contest, and he concluded the Canadian portion with a hat trick against legendary goaltender Vladislav Tretyak in Vancouver.

"I just shot them as they came," he said. "I blasted away."

The first and fourth games were both ties, and the Canadians and Soviets traded wins in between (Canada being victorious in Toronto and the USSR taking the game in Winnipeg).

Moscow, however, was a different story.

Along with three losses in the capital, Canada managed a tie against the USSR, one that would have been a win if not for a Hull goal that was disallowed.

"It went right through Tretiak," Hull said. "I looked up and I thought I saw the light flash."

In the next game, the eighth and final tilt against the Soviets, Hull lit the red lamp a second time in Moscow, and this time it counted.

"We showed those people who said we couldn't play with the Russians that we could," he said of at least the Canadian half of the series. "We outplayed them in three of the four games in Canada, but we were not all together here, for sure."

The Golden Jet didn't spend the entirety of '74-75 as player-coach, unlike the last two seasons, but then again, the Winnipeg Jets failed to make the playoffs that time. Getting the puck in the net 77 times in 78 games is one reason he again won the Gary L. Davidson Award, which by the end of the WHA's time would be renamed the Gordie Howe Trophy after the '73-74 MVP. Only Marc Tardif of the Quebec Nordiques would join Bobby Hull in winning that prize twice.

In the NHL, Hull was also a two-time MVP, being awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy twice back-to-back starting in '64-65. He starred for the Jets in two Avco Cup championship seasons and helped the Chicago Black Hawks win the Stanley Cup in 1961, the last time in 52 years.

Stats and other data from Hockey Reference

The Capitals' First Season

I went to my first Washington Nationals game June 9, and so many people there were "rocking the red" for the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals. The hockey team was at the ballpark, and not only did they bring out the trophy for the ceremonial first pitch, but they would show it in the stands at several points to get the crowd to make noise. Make noise we did.

This hockey team, in its 43rd season, was the fourth-oldest extant NHL franchise that hadn't won the Cup (the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres, and Vancouver Canucks are older). They hadn't even made the final for 20 years, their '98 campaign ending in a sweep by the Detroit Red Wings.

The long journey began with the Capitals in a humble place. By the end of their first calendar year, they had lost 30 of their first 37 games, winning just one in each of their first three months. Long strings of L's or T's separate pairs of their 8 wins that season, including a 17-loss streak bookended by their Feb. 16, 1975, win over the Kansas City Scouts -- the team's first shutout -- and their March 28, 1975, win against the California Golden Seals -- the team's first road win.

Yvon Labre, scorer of the Caps' first home goal in their first home game and captain of the team later on in the '70s, was honored in 1981 with his sweater number, 7, being the first one retired. The defenseman came to the Beltway as the eighth pick in the expansion draft, leaving the Pittsburgh Penguins. He scored four goals and made 23 assists that first season, with 12 potted pucks and 84 helpers in his time with the team overall. Labre had a team-high 182 penalty minutes in that first season and 756 on the Caps altogether, for what it's worth.

Not until late in the '74-75 season would Capitals players get hat tricks. In a March 30 home game against Detroit, December trade acquisition Ron Lalonde accomplished the franchise's first, but the Red Wings still won 8-5. One week later, in the season finale, February trade acquisition Stan Gilbertson put four in the basket, helping the Caps win 8-4 over the visiting Penguins.

In the June 12 expansion draft, the Caps picked their goalies first: Ron Low from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Michel Belheumeur from the Philadelphia Flyers. Low is the goalie of record for all 8 wins and 36 of their 67 losses. Belheumeur made 52 saves Dec. 7, 1974 -- tied for a team record for one game -- but St. Louis won 8-2.

Jim Hrycuik scored the team's first goal Oct. 9, assisted by #1 draft pick Greg Joly and eventual All-Star Denis Dupere. Bill Mikkelsen's hooking penalty that night in Madison Square Garden was another team first. Jack Egers clinched the Capitals' first win Oct. 15, and Mike Bloom got in the franchise's first fight two days later. The team's overall goals leader was Tommy Williams with 22, and his 36 assists and 58 points paced the club as well.

The Capitals attracted 10,004 per home game, with two sellouts. The day after Christmas 1974 was their first; they drew 18,130 to that Thursday contest against the eventual champion Flyers. On the road, the Caps didn't even win until their third-to-last away game, the one in California. They allowed 12 goals on two occasions in the season and 14 in one game the next season.

Needless to say, the Capitals have come a long way. How they got to the summit of hockey is a story that's probably been told elsewhere; my blog's purpose is to cover the year the Capitals began. Come to think of it, this stands in contrast to a certain other team's maiden voyage.

Source for most data: 2017-18 Capitals Media Guide, available here for now

Pat Summitt, 1952-2016

Pat Summitt died Tuesday. Her accomplishments in the sphere of women's basketball are unparalleled.

One of the most appreciated individuals in University of Tennessee history, Pat Head received her physical education bachelor's in 1974 after four years on the Martin campus, and that fall she started coaching in Knoxville. She was teaching in Martin when she received the letter requesting that she dedicate her winters to the "excellent potential team" that was the Lady Vols. They finished 16-8 in her first year, and the 16-11 team of the next year would remain the only Tennessee squad on her watch not to win at least two-thirds of its games.

Head was so young in the mid-'70s that after her first season on the sidelines in Knoxville (and the one grad school year it took for her to get her master's), she was on the court for the US team at the 1975 women's world championship and the subsequent Pan American Games. She won a silver medal at the '76 Olympics, and she coached the national team in 1980, the year she married the man with whom she'd stay for over a quarter-century.

Her first staff included Judy Rose, UNC-Charlotte's future athletics director. Though Rose began her time at Charlotte in 1976, she remained a close friend over the years. Rose recalls, among many other things, Summitt's willingness to "mentor younger people coming up," something she saw on frequent encounters in high school gyms with the woman who'd hired her in '74.

There was much more to Summitt than her signature stare. She was all business when she needed to be and less serious other times. Like any good coach, she'd have players work hard (and preferably smart), but even while she was on the job, they could call her Pat.

[EDIT 11/30/2023, 2:15 p.m.: Added "basketball" label]

Gordie Howe, 1928-2016

Gordie Howe died Friday.

In the 1973-74 season, after two years off the ice, the 45-year-old first laced up skates for the Houston Aeros of the WHA, leaving an uneventful job in the Detroit Red Wings' front office to join sons Mark and Marty. His signing in June of '73 no doubt captivated audiences and drew all sorts of reactions.

His wrists might not have been what they used to be, and fears of the comeback being a flop preceded the season, but he was still a very capable player, and it didn't just seem that way because of the league in which he played. His 69 assists in '73-74 were the second-most in the WHA, and his total of 100 points was the third-highest. Led by the Howes, the Aeros won the Avco Cup. Also among Gordie's hardware was the MVP award, which by the end of the league's time bore his name.

Before the next season, Gordie joined the WHA's delegation for a series structured almost like the Summit Series two years before. His wearing of the Canadian red and white, he said, would assure his countrymen that despite over a quarter-century in Detroit and his move to Texas of all places that he was still one of their own. A repeat of '72 wasn't to be, but it gave the Soviet players a chance to play against Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull, two legends who couldn't be present the last time.

With another championship in '74-75, as well as 34 goals and 65 assists, Gordie was once again the right winger for the mythical all-WHA team (as opposed to the one that visited Moscow). His role in the WHA's influence on hockey was no small one, to say nothing of his illustrious career in the NHL.

Moses Malone, 1955-2015

In 1974, Petersburg High School beat West Springfield 50-48 to remain basketball champions of the Commonwealth of Virginia. That season, Moses Eugene Malone, a Petersburg senior, scored 896 points to set a 12th-grade record that stood for almost forty years.¹ Then, twenty-one years before Kevin Garnett started the wave, the ABA's Utah Stars selected Malone in the third round, at a time when no other team was willing to have anyone make that jump.^2 3

He had 1,209 rebounds, including a league-leading 455 offensive, his mark of 128 blocks was among the league's top ten, and his .571 field goal percentage was third-best in the league. His play was good for an All-Star Game appearance and a place on the All-Rookie Team.

The next season, after the team folded, he played with the Spirits of St. Louis, but due to his injury and his contract holdout, he took the court nearly halfway through.

He made his NBA debut with the Buffalo Braves, Portland having claimed him in the dispersal draft. After two games, he was traded to Houston. Each team got draft picks for Malone; Portland drafted Rick Robey, while Buffalo drafted Wesley Cox and Micheal Ray Richardson. The latter ended up being dealt to the Knicks and started a solid career.

As for Moses, you don't need me to tell you what happened next. I could just throw a bunch of numbers, many pertaining to his rebound totals, but here's the nitty-gritty. Over the course of 19 seasons, he was a three-time MVP, a 12-time All-Star, and Most Valuable Player of the '82-83 NBA Finals. His jersey number, 24, is retired in Houston. In Philadelphia, his #2 should be. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in 1996 and gained a place in the Hall of Fame five years later.

Here's to the career that began in the year of '74.

<sup>1. [Andrew Rowsey of the 2013 Rockbridge County Wildcats now holds that record.]↩
2. [The next year, by the way, NBA teams drafted two guys out of high school. And also, he's not the first player to make it to the pros without going to college, as I've heard at least once today; I remember from an old sports almanac that a few guys did so in the '40s (namely Kappen, Simmons, and Graboski).]↩
3. [His Topps NBA cards are unusual in that a simple "NO" follows the colon after "DRAFTED." He was drafted, just not by an NBA team at first.]↩</sup>

Basketball: The Early '74-75 Season

[EDIT 6/22/2015: Removing the apostrophes Microsoft Word forces.]

I cannot apologize enough to myself for missing those two updates, but I couldn't get to a place where I could update this for most of the last three months. Here's what I would have posted in October: a look at all of basketball; at the end of 1974, it was too early for most of the season to have happened at either level.

PRO BASKETBALL

Bill Walton is the #1 pick in the '74 NBA Draft, and he goes to the Portland Trail Blazers. In his first season, he gets 441 rebounds in 35 games.

The NBA's New Orleans Jazz play their first season. LSU alumnus Pete Maravich is traded to the Jazz from the Atlanta Hawks May 3, 1974. The Jazz play at Municipal Auditorium (capacity 7,853) until the Louisiana Superdome (47,284) opens in '75.

Three arenas that open for NBA and ABA teams as well as NHL and WHA teams are Richfield Coliseum (home of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers and the WHA's Cleveland Crusaders), Market Square Arena in Indianapolis (ABA Indiana Pacers and WHA Indianapolis Racers), and Kemper Arena in Kansas City (NBA Kings, NHL Scouts).

The Capital Bullets change their name to the Washington Bullets.

Among the NBA-ABA exhibitions in the preseason is Sept. 28, when the New York Nets defeat the Bullets 101-98 in overtime at the Capital Centre. Due to an error in handling luggage, Erving and four other Nets players have to wear Bullets road uniforms.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays what will prove to be his final season with the Milwaukee Bucks.

This season, Rick Barry of the Golden State Warriors makes a free throw in the pros for the 4000th time.

Lenny Wilkens, having coached the Seattle SuperSonics for three years before, is back after a two-year absence and begins his stint as coach of the Trail Blazers.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

In his final year at NC State, David Thompson averages 29.9 points per game and gets 229 rebounds (8.2 per game). The Hawks will use their #1 overall pick in the '75 NBA Draft on him, but he will go to the ABA's Denver Nuggets (Rockets until '74) after they trade with the Virginia Squires, who also make him the #1 overall pick.

This season is the last for UCLA coach John Wooden. By March, it will be UCLA's last appearance in the NCAA tournament under Wooden, and the school's tenth championship season.

Pat Head (later Summitt) begins her long coaching career with the Tennessee Lady Vols soon after graduating from the University of Tennessee-Martin.

Bob McCurdy of Richmond leads Division I of the NCAA with 32.9 PPG.

This season will be followed by the first Division III tournament.

Larry Bird, age 18 as of Dec. 7 and fresh out of Springs Valley High School in French Lick, Indiana, initially goes to Indiana University, but quickly transfers to Indiana State.

Bill Walton in the '70s, as Clippers broadcaster Ralph Lawler recounts
The Jazz when they got their name and logo, according to, well, the Jazz
ABA-NBA exhibitions on RememberTheABA.com
David Thompson video highlights from NCAA Web site
John Wooden's last championship, according to the school he beat, Kentucky
Something on Larry Bird's time at IU from Inside The Hall

And that's all I prepared for 2013-14. Thanks for viewing.

COMING SOON: A special bonus.

Hockey: The Early '74-75 Season

EDIT 11/30/2023, 1:48 p.m.: One star player's first name wasn't included on first reference. It's fixed now.

I cannot apologize to myself enough for not being able to post the last two sections in September and October (It's a long story). Good thing there's still time before the end of the year.

This retrospective mainly covers what happened in the '74 calendar year.

After leaving Canada with a win, a loss, and two ties, the Soviet national team defeats the WHA All-Stars in three out of four games in Moscow; the other game is a tie. The team representing Canada, which includes all three Howes, Winnipeg Jets player-coach Bobby Hull, and '72 Summit Series hero Paul Henderson, defeats Finland in Helsinki and Sweden in Gothenburg on the way to Moscow, and they lose to Czechoslovakia in Prague on the way home. Hull scores nine points against the Soviets and Gordie Howe gets seven.

In the NHL, this season is the debut of the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals. With this expansion, the league is realigned into the Wales Conference and the Campbell Conference, each of which has two divisions.

Northlands Coliseum (now Rexall Place) opens, and it will be the home of the WHA's Edmonton Oilers for at least 40 years.

The New England Whalers play games in West Springfield, Massachusetts – where they had played their '74 playoff games – for the season up to and including Jan. 4, 1975. On Jan. 11, they play their first game at the Hartford Civic Center. Except for some time in the late '70s, the Whalers will keep calling Hartford home until 1997.

Ken Dryden is back on the Canadiens. After a year of absence, he has the third-best GAA in the NHL (2.69). He led the league in '72-73 with 2.26.

Speaking of the Canadiens, they begin a streak of 23 road games without a loss Nov. 27.

In the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft, the Buffalo Sabres use their eleventh-round pick on made-up Japanese player Taro Tsujimoto. Among the real players drafted are future Hall of Famers Clark Gillies of the Regina Pats and Bryan Trottier of the Swift Current (now Lethbridge) Broncos, both Islanders selections.

The Toronto Maple Leafs draft the Broncos' Dave "Tiger" Williams, who had 854 penalty minutes in 204 games with Swift Current, but also 108 goals and 133 assists. In '74-75, he has 202 penalty minutes in 39 games with the Oklahoma City Blazers and 187 in 42 games with the Maple Leafs.

With the first pick, the Capitals select Greg Joly of the Pats. The second pick belongs to the Scouts, and they choose Wilf Paiement of the St. Catharines Black Hawks.

The WHA's third season is the first for which plus-minus figures are available.

Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens has his breakout season with 53 goals and 66 assists.

Phil Esposito scores his 500th career goal Dec. 22 at the Boston Garden against the Detroit Red Wings. This is his 803rd career game, and he is the sixth to reach 500.

Esposito and Bobby Orr play what turns out to be their last season together and Orr's last season before his premature decline.

In the opening game of the season for the WHA's Phoenix Roadrunners, rookie Robbie Ftorek scores a hat trick.

Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson both join the Winnipeg Jets after playing in Sweden.

Defenseman Vyacheslav Fetisov plays a single game this season that begins a distinguished 15-year run with CSKA Moscow. He and fellow future Hall of Famer Peter Stastny play for their respective countries for the first time (Stastny's is Czechoslovakia) at the European Junior Championship.

Gordie Howe's 99 points bring him to 2,008 combined for NHL and WHA games.

The Minnesota Fighting Saints acquire the players who will be made famous in the 1977 movie Slap Shot. They select Dave Hanson and two of the Carlson brothers (Jack and Steve) in the '74 draft and sign the third Carlson brother, Jeff.

The 1974 Summit Series, as told by a site specializing on it
A narrative of the '74 Summit Series from a '72 Summit Series fan site
The short history of the Scouts from Sports E-Cyclopedia
The official story on Taro Tsujimoto from the Sabres' site
Ulf Nilsson's bio on the Hockey Hall of Fame Web site

COMING SHORTLY: Bill Walton as #1 pick, David Thompson as a college star, and more from the world of basketball in 1974.

College Football: The 1974 Season

[EDIT 11/30/2023: Introducing the "football" label]

I'm happy that it's summer and I've got time to enjoy that period around graduation. But I can't deny that college football season is around the corner, so here's my piece about pigskin.

USC defeats Ohio State 18-17 at the Rose Bowl. The coaches' poll, the Football Writers, and the National Football Foundation all declare the Trojans national champions, but the AP ranks USC second and gives the title to Oklahoma, whose team – although they won all 11 of their games – is on probation and prevented from playing in bowl games. The Sooners are undefeated for a second year in a row.

Notre Dame wins the Orange Bowl 13-11 over Alabama. The Sugar Bowl on New Year's Eve is a 13-10 victory for Nebraska against Florida.

In their game against Notre Dame, USC trails at halftime, but then scores 55 points.

Ohio State halfback Archie Griffin wins the Heisman Trophy, and he will win that award again the next year. He has 1,695 yards on 256 attempts and 12 touchdowns.

The Maxwell Award goes to Steve Joachim, a Temple quarterback with 1,950 passing yards and 20 TDs; he has a 150.1 rating. His 2,227 yards of total offense in 10 games are a Division I best.

Maryland defensive tackle Randy White wins the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award. Dallas will make this unanimous All-American the second overall pick in '75.

Steve Bartkowski of California is the leading passer in terms of completions, going 182 for 325. He throws for 2,580 yards and 12 TDs. The consensus All-American will be the first player picked in the '75 NFL Draft and join the Atlanta Falcons.

Future pro star Walter Payton plays his last season of a low-key career at Jackson State. His totals are 3600 yards in 598 attempts, and he has scored 63 TDs. Payton is the leading rusher in the Senior Bowl with 77 yards. In '75, he will be the fourth player picked overall in the NFL Draft and start a great career with the Chicago Bears.

John Provost finishes his three-year career at Holy Cross with only 27 interceptions. This record is second only to the one set by Al Brosky of Illinois (29 INTs from '50 to '52).

Heisman runner-up Anthony Davis of USC sets a record for kickoff return average with a mark of 35.1 over three seasons. Davis is a consensus All-American running back (along with Griffin and Oklahoma's Joe Washington) whose 301 rushing attempts in '74 go for 1,421 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Also from USC, Charles Phillips sets a single-season record with 302 yards on interception returns.

The writers and coaches agree: third-year Baylor coach Grant Teaff is Coach of the Year. The Bears improve from a 2-9 season last year to an 8-4 season and Cotton Bowl appearance for '74.

Louie Giammona of Utah State is the rushing leader with 1,534 yards on 329 carries. He is also the all-purpose yards leader with 1,984.

Dwight McDonald of San Diego State is the receiving leader with 86 catches in 11 games. He gets 1,157 yards and 7 TDs.

Chris Sizemore finishes at Bridgewater College with 32.7 rushes per game over three years, a Division III record.

Former Michigan center Gerald Ford is sworn in as President August 9.

A Sooners retrospective from the Tulsa World Web site
What OU's probation started, according to Berry Tramel on NewsOK.com
The USC-Notre Dame game and other highlights of the teams' rivalry from ESPN
Archie Griffin on ESPN Classic
Walter Payton's college football career on the Division II Football Hall of Fame Web site
1974 season homepage at Sports Reference