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.]

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

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.