1972–73 St. Louis Blues season

1972–73 St. Louis Blues
Division4th West
1972–73 record32–34–12
Goals for233
Goals against251
Team information
General managerCharles Catto
CoachJean-Guy Talbot
CaptainBarclay Plager
Team leaders
GoalsGarry Unger (41)
AssistsGarry Unger (39)
PointsGarry Unger (80)
Penalty minutesSteve Durbano (231)
WinsWayne Stephenson (18)
Goals against averageBob Johnson (2.68)

The 1972–73 St. Louis Blues season was the St. Louis Blues' sixth season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Offseason

NHL Draft

Main article: 1972 NHL Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 9 Wayne Merrick Center  Canada Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)
3 41 Jean Hamel Defense  Canada Drummondville Rangers (QMJHL)
4 57 Murray Myers Right Wing  Canada Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
5 73 Dave Johnson Left Wing  Canada Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
6 89 Tom Simpson Right Wing  Canada Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
7 105 Brian Coughlin Defense  Canada Verdun Maple Leafs (QMJHL)
8 121 Gary Winchester Center  Canada University of Wisconsin (WCHA)

Regular season

Final standings

West Division[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Chicago Black Hawks 78 42 27 9 284 225 +59 93
2 Philadelphia Flyers 78 37 30 11 296 256 +40 85
3 Minnesota North Stars 78 37 30 11 254 230 +24 85
4 St. Louis Blues 78 32 34 12 233 251 −18 76
5 Pittsburgh Penguins 78 32 37 9 257 265 −8 73
6 Los Angeles Kings 78 31 36 11 232 245 −13 73
7 Atlanta Flames 78 25 38 15 191 239 −48 65
8 California Golden Seals 78 16 46 16 213 323 −110 48

Record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 T October 7, 1972 4–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 0–0–1
2 L October 11, 1972 2–5 Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 0–1–1
3 L October 14, 1972 2–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 0–2–1
4 W October 15, 1972 3–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 1–2–1
5 T October 18, 1972 4–4 Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 1–2–2
6 T October 21, 1972 1–1 Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 1–2–3
7 L October 24, 1972 1–2 Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 1–3–3
8 L October 26, 1972 0–7 @ Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 1–4–3
9 W October 28, 1972 8–3 Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 2–4–3
10 T November 1, 1972 3–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 2–4–4
11 L November 4, 1972 2–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 2–5–4
12 T November 5, 1972 1–1 @ Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 2–5–5
13 L November 7, 1972 2–3 Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 2–6–5
14 W November 11, 1972 1–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 3–6–5
15 L November 16, 1972 0–4 @ Boston Bruins (1972–73) 3–7–5
16 L November 18, 1972 1–3 New York Rangers (1972–73) 3–8–5
17 W November 21, 1972 4–2 Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 4–8–5
18 L November 22, 1972 4–10 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 4–9–5
19 L November 25, 1972 2–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 4–10–5
20 W November 28, 1972 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 5–10–5
21 W November 29, 1972 2–1 @ California Golden Seals (1972–73) 6–10–5
22 W December 1, 1972 6–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 7–10–5
23 L December 2, 1972 2–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 7–11–5
24 W December 5, 1972 2–1 Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 8–11–5
25 L December 7, 1972 0–5 @ Boston Bruins (1972–73) 8–12–5
26 W December 9, 1972 2–1 Atlanta Flames (1972–73) 9–12–5
27 W December 10, 1972 5–4 @ Atlanta Flames (1972–73) 10–12–5
28 T December 12, 1972 4–4 @ New York Islanders (1972–73) 10–12–6
29 L December 14, 1972 3–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 10–13–6
30 L December 16, 1972 3–4 Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 10–14–6
31 L December 20, 1972 4–5 New York Rangers (1972–73) 10–15–6
32 W December 23, 1972 6–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 11–15–6
33 L December 26, 1972 1–4 Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 11–16–6
34 W December 27, 1972 5–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 12–16–6
35 L December 30, 1972 4–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 12–17–6
36 L December 31, 1972 1–6 @ New York Rangers (1972–73) 12–18–6
37 W January 2, 1973 5–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 13–18–6
38 W January 4, 1973 4–2 Boston Bruins (1972–73) 14–18–6
39 T January 6, 1973 2–2 Atlanta Flames (1972–73) 14–18–7
40 L January 9, 1973 0–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 14–19–7
41 L January 10, 1973 5–6 @ California Golden Seals (1972–73) 14–20–7
42 L January 13, 1973 3–5 New York Rangers (1972–73) 14–21–7
43 W January 14, 1973 2–1 @ New York Islanders (1972–73) 15–21–7
44 T January 17, 1973 3–3 Atlanta Flames (1972–73) 15–21–8
45 W January 19, 1973 2–1 @ Atlanta Flames (1972–73) 16–21–8
46 W January 20, 1973 5–1 New York Islanders (1972–73) 17–21–8
47 W January 24, 1973 7–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 18–21–8
48 T January 26, 1973 1–1 @ California Golden Seals (1972–73) 18–21–9
49 W January 27, 1973 3–1 @ Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 19–21–9
50 T February 1, 1973 3–3 Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 19–21–10
51 W February 3, 1973 6–1 California Golden Seals (1972–73) 20–21–10
52 L February 4, 1973 2–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 20–22–10
53 W February 6, 1973 5–1 Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 21–22–10
54 W February 8, 1973 3–2 Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 22–22–10
55 W February 10, 1973 5–2 California Golden Seals (1972–73) 23–22–10
56 W February 13, 1973 4–2 Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 24–22–10
57 L February 14, 1973 2–5 @ Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 24–23–10
58 W February 17, 1973 4–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 25–23–10
59 L February 20, 1973 3–5 Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 25–24–10
60 W February 21, 1973 5–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 26–24–10
61 L February 24, 1973 2–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 26–25–10
62 L February 25, 1973 0–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 26–26–10
63 L February 28, 1973 2–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 26–27–10
64 W March 1, 1973 4–3 @ Boston Bruins (1972–73) 27–27–10
65 L March 3, 1973 0–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 27–28–10
66 W March 7, 1973 5–2 Boston Bruins (1972–73) 28–28–10
67 W March 10, 1973 5–4 New York Islanders (1972–73) 29–28–10
68 L March 11, 1973 1–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 29–29–10
69 W March 13, 1973 2–0 Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 30–29–10
70 T March 14, 1973 1–1 @ Atlanta Flames (1972–73) 30–29–11
71 L March 17, 1973 4–6 @ New York Islanders (1972–73) 30–30–11
72 L March 18, 1973 1–3 @ New York Rangers (1972–73) 30–31–11
73 W March 21, 1973 6–3 Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 31–31–11
74 L March 24, 1973 4–11 @ Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 31–32–11
75 L March 25, 1973 2–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 31–33–11
76 T March 28, 1973 3–3 Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 31–33–12
77 W March 31, 1973 7–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 32–33–12
78 L April 1, 1973 1–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 32–34–12

Playoffs

Despite having a 32–34–12 record, the Blues managed to clinch a playoff spot. However, they lost in the first round to the Chicago Blackhawks 4–1.

(W1) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues

April 4 St. Louis Blues 1–7 Chicago Black Hawks Chicago Stadium
April 5 St. Louis Blues 0–1 Chicago Black Hawks Chicago Stadium
April 7 Chicago Black Hawks 5–2 St. Louis Blues St. Louis Arena
April 8 Chicago Black Hawks 3–5 St. Louis Blues St. Louis Arena
April 10 St. Louis Blues 1–6 Chicago Black Hawks Chicago Stadium
Chicago won series 4–1


Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Garry Unger C 78 41 39 80 119 7 13 1 5
Jack Egers RW 78 24 24 48 26 1 4 0 4
Gary Sabourin RW 76 21 27 48 30 −5 1 0 2
Mike Murphy RW 64 18 27 45 48 13 3 0 3
Phil Roberto RW 77 20 22 42 99 −12 2 0 5
Danny O'Shea C 75 12 26 38 30 −5 0 2 2
Fran Huck C 58 16 20 36 20 −1 2 0 2
Floyd Thomson LW 75 14 20 34 71 −2 1 0 1
Barclay Plager D 68 8 25 33 102 0 3 0 2
Bob Plager D 77 2 31 33 107 −1 0 0 1
Pierre Plante RW 49 12 13 25 56 8 0 0 1
Frank St. Marseille RW 45 7 18 25 8 −6 3 0 0
Wayne Merrick C 50 10 11 21 10 −2 3 0 0
Chris Evans D 77 9 12 21 31 −2 0 2 3
Steve Durbano D 49 3 18 21 231 −3 0 0 0
Bob McCord D 43 1 13 14 33 −5 0 0 0
Ab DeMarco Jr. D 14 4 9 13 2 4 2 1 1
Jean Hamel D 55 2 7 9 24 −5 0 0 0
Kevin O'Shea RW 37 3 5 8 31 −13 0 0 0
Andre Dupont D 25 1 6 7 51 −2 0 0 0
Mike Lampman LW 18 2 3 5 2 4 0 0 0
Paul Curtis D 29 1 4 5 6 2 0 0 0
Connie Madigan D 20 0 3 3 25 1 0 0 0
Brent Hughes D 8 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0
Chuck Hamilton LW 3 0 2 2 2 4 0 0 0
Noel Picard D 16 1 0 1 10 −2 0 0 0
Jacques Caron G 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bob Johnson G 12 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0
Roger Lafreniere LW 10 0 0 0 0 −1 0 0 0
Joe Noris C/D 2 0 0 0 0 −2 0 0 0
Wayne Stephenson G 45 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Wayne Stephenson 2535 45 18 15 7 128 3.03 1
Jacques Caron 1562 30 8 14 5 92 3.53 1
Bob Johnson 583 12 6 5 0 26 2.68 0
Team: 4680 78 32 34 12 246 3.15 2

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Fran Huck C 5 2 2 4 0 1 0 0
Phil Roberto RW 5 2 1 3 4 0 0 0
Garry Unger C 5 1 2 3 2 0 0 0
Pierre Plante RW 5 2 0 2 15 0 0 0
Ab DeMarco D 4 1 1 2 2 1 0 0
Gary Sabourin RW 5 1 1 2 0 0 0 1
Steve Durbano D 5 0 2 2 8 0 0 0
Bob Plager D 5 0 2 2 2 0 0 0
Jack Egers RW 5 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Chris Evans D 5 0 1 1 4 0 0 0
Wayne Merrick C 5 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Barclay Plager D 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Floyd Thomson LW 5 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Jacques Caron G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Paul Curtis D 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Jean Hamel D 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Connie Madigan D 5 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Danny O'Shea C 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Kevin O'Shea RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wayne Stephenson G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Wayne Stephenson 160 3 1 2 14 5.25 0
Jacques Caron 140 3 0 2 8 3.43 0
Team: 300 5 1 4 22 4.40 0

[3]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

See also

References

  1. ^ "1972–1973 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "1972-73 St. Louis Blues Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 15, 2009.