1972–73 Philadelphia Blazers season

1972–73 Philadelphia Blazers
Division3rd Eastern
1972–73 record38–40–0 (76 pts)
Home record24–15–0
Road record14–25–0
Goals for288
Goals against305
Team information
General managerDave Creighton
Phil Watson
CoachJohn McKenzie
Phil Watson
CaptainDerek Sanderson
Andre Lacroix
Alternate captainsBryan Campbell (unconfirmed)
Jim Cardiff (unconfirmed)
Andre Lacroix
Derek Sanderson
ArenaCivic Center
Team leaders
GoalsDanny Lawson (61)
AssistsAndre Lacroix (74)
PointsAndre Lacroix (124)
Penalty minutesJim Cardiff (185)
WinsBernie Parent (33)
Goals against averageBernie Parent (3.61)

The 1972–73 Philadelphia Blazers season was the first season of the Blazers' franchise in the World Hockey Association. It would also be the only season of the Blazers in Philadelphia, as the team relocated to Vancouver for the following season. The Blazers finished third and qualified for the playoffs losing in the first round to the Cleveland Crusaders.[1][2]

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Eastern Division
GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
New England Whalers 78 46 30 2 318 263 858 94
Cleveland Crusaders 78 43 32 3 287 239 1095 89
Philadelphia Blazers 78 38 40 0 288 305 1260 76
Ottawa Nationals 78 35 39 4 279 301 1067 74
Quebec Nordiques 78 33 40 5 276 313 1354 71
New York Raiders 78 33 43 2 303 334 900 68

Game log

Regular season schedule
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 L October 12, 1972 3–4 @ New England Whalers (1972–73) 0–1–0
2 L October 15, 1972 0–5 @ New York Raiders (1972–73) 0–2–0
3 L October 19, 1972 2–4 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 0–3–0
4 L October 20, 1972 1–4 @ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 0–4–0
5 L October 22, 1972 3–6 @ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 0–5–0
6 L October 24, 1972 3–5 @ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 0–6–0
7 L October 25, 1972 2–8 Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 0–7–0
8 W October 27, 1972 5–4 Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 1–7–0
9 L October 28, 1972 3–5 Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 1–8–0
10 W November 1, 1972 7–5 @ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 2–8–0
11 L November 2, 1972 3–6 @ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 2–9–0
12 L November 4, 1972 4–8 @ New England Whalers (1972–73) 2–10–0
13 L November 5, 1972 1–3 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 2–11–0
14 L November 12, 1972 1–2 @ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 2–12–0
15 W November 14, 1972 4–3 @ Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 3–12–0
16 L November 18, 1972 4–5 OT Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 3–13–0
17 L November 19, 1972 0–5 @ New York Raiders (1972–73) 3–14–0
18 W November 22, 1972 5–4 OT Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 4–14–0
19 L November 24, 1972 4–6 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 4–15–0
20 L November 25, 1972 3–4 Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 4–16–0
21 W November 28, 1972 4–3 Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 5–16–0
22 W December 1, 1972 5–3 New England Whalers (1972–73) 6–16–0
23 L December 2, 1972 2–8 @ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 6–17–0
24 L December 5, 1972 3–4 OT Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 6–18–0
25 W December 8, 1972 3–1 New York Raiders (1972–73) 7–18–0
26 W December 9, 1972 7–1 Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 8–18–0
27 L December 12, 1972 2–5 @ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 8–19–0
28 W December 13, 1972 7–4 Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 9–19–0
29 W December 15, 1972 6–4 Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 10–19–0
30 L December 16, 1972 6–10 New England Whalers (1972–73) 10–20–0
31 W December 17, 1972 6–3 @ New England Whalers (1972–73) 11–20–0
32 L December 19, 1972 2–7 New York Raiders (1972–73) 11–21–0
33 W December 20, 1972 8–5 Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 12–21–0
34 L December 23, 1972 3–7 @ Houston Aeros (1972–73) 12–22–0
35 L December 25, 1972 0–8 @ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 12–23–0
36 W December 26, 1972 6–2 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 13–23–0
37 L December 28, 1972 3–6 @ Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 13–24–0
38 W December 31, 1972 3–1 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 14–24–0
39 W January 1, 1973 3–0 @ New York Raiders (1972–73) 15–24–0
40 L January 10, 1973 1–4 New York Raiders (1972–73) 15–25–0
41 W January 12, 1973 4–3 Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 16–25–0
42 W January 13, 1973 9–4 Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 17–25–0
43 L January 16, 1973 3–4 Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 17–26–0
44 W January 19, 1973 4–2 Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 18–26–0
45 L January 20, 1973 3–4 Houston Aeros (1972–73) 18–27–0
46 W January 24, 1973 6–4 @ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 19–27–0
47 W January 25, 1973 7–4 @ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 20–27–0
48 W January 27, 1973 1–0 OT @ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 21–27–0
49 L January 28, 1973 2–4 @ Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 21–28–0
50 W January 30, 1973 5–4 OT @ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 22–28–0
51 L February 2, 1973 3–5 @ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 22–29–0
52 L February 6, 1973 3–5 @ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 22–30–0
53 L February 7, 1973 0–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 22–31–0
54 W February 10, 1973 5–4 OT Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 23–31–0
55 W February 11, 1973 6–1 Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 24–31–0
56 W February 13, 1973 5–4 New England Whalers (1972–73) 25–31–0
57 W February 14, 1973 6–5 Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73) 26–31–0
58 W February 16, 1973 9–2 New York Raiders (1972–73) 27–31–0
59 L February 18, 1973 1–4 Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 27–32–0
60 W February 20, 1973 4–2 New England Whalers (1972–73) 28–32–0
61 W February 22, 1973 6–5 @ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73) 29–32–0
62 L February 25, 1973 3–5 @ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 29–33–0
63 L February 27, 1973 0–3 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 29–34–0
64 W March 4, 1973 4–2 @ New York Raiders (1972–73) 30–34–0
65 L March 6, 1973 1–2 OT @ Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 30–35–0
66 W March 8, 1973 2–1 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–73) 31–35–0
67 W March 9, 1973 11–3 Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 32–35–0
68 L March 11, 1973 2–4 Houston Aeros (1972–73) 32–36–0
69 L March 12, 1973 4–6 Quebec Nordiques (1972–73) 32–37–0
70 W March 13, 1973 4–3 Houston Aeros (1972–73) 33–37–0
71 L March 17, 1973 0–4 @ New England Whalers (1972–73) 33–38–0
72 L March 19, 1973 1–5 @ Houston Aeros (1972–73) 33–39–0
73 W March 21, 1973 7–3 @ Houston Aeros (1972–73) 34–39–0
74 W March 23, 1973 7–3 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73) 35–39–0
75 L March 28, 1973 1–2 Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 35–40–0
76 W March 29, 1973 2–1 Alberta Oilers (1972–73) 36–40–0
77 W March 31, 1973 5–1 Chicago Cougars (1972–73) 37–40–0
78 W April 1, 1973 4–2 Winnipeg Jets (1972–73) 38–40–0

[3]

Playoffs

Cleveland Crusaders 4, Philadelphia Blazers 0 - Semifinals

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 April 4 Philadelphia Blazers 2–3 OT Cleveland Crusaders 0–1
2 April 7 Philadelphia Blazers 7–1 Cleveland Crusaders 0–2
3 April 8 Cleveland Crusaders 3–1 Philadelphia Blazers 0–3
4 April 11 Cleveland Crusaders 6–2 Philadelphia Blazers 0–4

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Andre Lacroix C 78 50 74 124 83 0 16 0 11
Danny Lawson RW 78 61 45 106 35 0 20 3 6
John McKenzie RW 60 28 50 78 157 0 8 1 7
Bryan Campbell C 75 25 48 73 85 0 6 0 1
Don Herriman LW 78 24 48 72 63 0 9 0 4
Ron Plumb D 78 10 41 51 66 0 6 0 0
Don Burgess LW 74 20 22 42 15 0 1 3 0
Don O'Donoghue RW 74 16 23 39 43 0 1 0 0
Irv Spencer D 54 2 27 29 43 0 0 0 0
Jim Cardiff D 78 3 24 27 185 0 0 2 0
Michel Plante LW 70 13 12 25 35 0 0 0 0
Rychard Campeau D 75 1 18 19 72 0 1 0 0
John Migneault LW 55 10 8 18 38 0 1 0 0
Michel Boudreau C 33 7 7 14 4 0 1 0 0
Camille Lapierre D 24 5 9 14 2 0 0 0 0
John Bennett LW 34 4 6 10 18 0 1 0 0
Derek Sanderson C 8 3 3 6 69 0 0 1 0
Pierre Henry C 19 2 3 5 13 0 0 0 0
Derek Harker D 27 0 5 5 46 0 0 0 0
John Gravel D 8 1 3 4 0 0 0 0 0
Nick Polano D 17 0 3 3 24 0 0 0 0
Denis Meloche C 4 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
Dave Hutchison D 28 0 2 2 34 0 0 0 0
Pierre Paiement RW 8 1 0 1 18 0 0 0 0
Claude St. Sauveur C 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Yves Archambault G 6 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Wayne Mosdell D 8 0 1 1 12 0 0 0 0
Bernie Parent G 63 0 1 1 36 0 0 0 0
Michel Rouleau C 6 0 1 1 15 0 0 0 0
Bob Brown D 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Jack Chipchase D 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Tom Cottringer G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sam Gellard LW 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Frank Golembrosky RW 8 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0
Larry Mavety D 4 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 0
Darwin Mott LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Murray Myers RW 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Marcel Paille G 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Danny Sullivan G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Bernie Parent 3653 63 33 28 0 220 3.61 2
Marcel Paille 611 15 2 8 0 49 4.81 0
Yves Archambault 260 6 1 3 0 17 3.92 0
Tom Cottringer 122 2 1 1 0 8 3.93 0
Danny Sullivan 60 1 1 0 0 3 3.00 0
Team: 4706 78 38 40 0 297 3.79 2
Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
John McKenzie RW 4 3 1 4 8 1 0 0
Andre Lacroix C 4 0 2 2 18 0 0 0
Camille Lapierre D 4 0 2 2 0 0 0 0
Ron Plumb D 4 0 2 2 13 0 0 0
Don Burgess LW 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Rychard Campeau D 4 1 0 1 17 1 0 0
Don Herriman LW 4 1 0 1 14 1 0 0
Bryan Campbell C 3 0 1 1 8 0 0 0
Danny Lawson RW 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Don O'Donoghue RW 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Yves Archambault G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Michel Boudreau C 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jim Cardiff D 4 0 0 0 11 0 0 0
Dave Hutchison D 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
John Migneault LW 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Murray Myers RW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Marcel Paille G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bernie Parent G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Michel Plante LW 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Irv Spencer D 4 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Yves Archambault 153 3 0 2 11 4.31 0
Marcel Paille 27 1 0 1 5 11.11 0
Bernie Parent 70 1 0 1 3 2.57 0
Team: 250 4 0 4 19 4.56 0

[4]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Awards and records

Awards

League awards and honors
Award or honor Recipient
All-Star Game representative Danny Lawson
John McKenzie
Bill Hunter Trophy Andre Lacroix
WHA First All-Star Team Andre Lacroix (C)
Danny Lawson (RW)
WHA Second All-Star Team Bernie Parent (G)

Transactions

Trades

Date
Details
February 12, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
futures 		To Cleveland Crusaders
Paul Shmyr
March 1, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
Andre Lacroix 		To Quebec Nordiques
cash
May 1, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
John McKenzie 		To Quebec Nordiques
futures
May 1, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
Bill Young
cash
futures 		To Minnesota Fighting Saints
Rick Smith
May 1, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
Bryan Campbell 		To Chicago Cougars
cash
June 1, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
Marcel Paille 		To Chicago Cougars
futures
June 1, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
Don O'Donoghue 		To New England Whalers
cash
June 1, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
futures 		To New England Whalers
Terry Caffery
October 1, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
Larry Mavety 		To Los Angeles Sharks
cash
November 1, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
John Gravel
Brit Selby 		To Quebec Nordiques
Frank Golembrosky
Michel Rouleau
November 1, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
Bob Brown 		To New England Whalers
Brit Selby
November 1, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
Roger Cote
Derek Harker 		To Alberta Oilers
cash
November 7, 1972 To Philadelphia Blazers
cash 		To Chicago Cougars
Larry Mavety

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the WHA General Player Draft, which was held in Anaheim, California on February 12–13, 1972. The team participated in the draft as the Miami Screaming Eagles.

Players drafted by the Miami Screaming Eagles in the General Player Draft
Round Player Position Team
P Bernie Parent Goaltender Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)
P Jude Drouin Center Minnesota North Stars (NHL)
P Derek Sanderson Center Boston Bruins (NHL)
P Bill White Defense Chicago Black Hawks (NHL)
1 Mike Bloom Left Wing St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
2 Terry Caffery Center Cleveland Barons (AHL)
3 Neil Komadoski Defense Springfield Kings (AHL)
4 Yvon Lambert Left Wing Nova Scotia Voyageurs (AHL)
5 Bryan McSheffrey Forward Ottawa 67's (OHA)
6 Wayne Merrick Center Ottawa 67's (OHA)
7 Jean Potvin Defense Philadelphia Flyers (NHL)
8 Phil Russell Defense Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
9 Carol Vadnais Defense California Golden Seals (NHL)
10 Rene Villemure Forward Shawinigan Bruins (QMJHL)
11 Michel Archambault Left Wing Dallas Black Hawks (CHL)
12 Rick Dudley Left Wing Cincinnati Swords (AHL)
13 Denis Dupere Left Wing Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)
14 George Ferguson Center Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
15 Rick Foley Defense Philadelphia Flyers (NHL)
16 Don Martineau Right Wing New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
17 Jim Nichols Forward Cincinnati Swords (AHL)
18 Simon Nolet Right Wing Philadelphia Flyers (NHL)
19 Paul Shmyr Defense California Golden Seals (NHL)
20 Claude St. Sauveur Center Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)

Farm teams

The Roanoke Valley Rebels in the EHL.

See also

References

  1. ^ World Hockey Association (1972). WHA 1972-73 Media Guide. World Hockey Association.
  2. ^ World Hockey Association (1973). WHA 1973-74 Media Guide. World Hockey Association.
  3. ^ "1972–73 Philadelphia Blazers Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
  4. ^ "1972-73 Philadelphia Blazers Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2009.