1972–73 Toronto Maple Leafs season

1972–73 Toronto Maple Leafs
Division6th East
1972–73 record27–41–10
Goals for247
Goals against279
Team information
General managerJim Gregory
CoachJohn McLellan
CaptainDave Keon
ArenaMaple Leaf Gardens
Team leaders
GoalsDave Keon (37)
AssistsDarryl Sittler (48)
PointsDarryl Sittler (77)
Penalty minutesMike Pelyk (118)
WinsRon Low (12)
Goals against averageJacques Plante (3.04)

The 1972–73 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 56th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Leafs slipped to sixth place in the East and missed the playoffs.

Offseason

Toronto lost Bernie Parent, Rick Ley, Brad Selwood, Guy Trottier and Larry Pleau, who jumped to the new World Hockey Association (WHA).

Regular season

Final standings

East Division[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Montreal Canadiens 78 52 10 16 329 184 +145 120
2 Boston Bruins 78 51 22 5 330 235 +95 107
3 New York Rangers 78 47 23 8 297 208 +89 102
4 Buffalo Sabres 78 37 27 14 257 219 +38 88
5 Detroit Red Wings 78 37 29 12 265 243 +22 86
6 Toronto Maple Leafs 78 27 41 10 247 279 −32 64
7 Vancouver Canucks 78 22 47 9 233 339 −106 53
8 New York Islanders 78 12 60 6 170 347 −177 30


Record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

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

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Darryl Sittler C 78 29 48 77 69 −11 8 0 1
Rick Kehoe RW 77 33 42 75 20 −11 2 0 5
Dave Keon C 76 37 36 73 2 4 8 2 6
Norm Ullman C 65 20 35 55 10 −18 3 0 1
Jim McKenny D 77 11 41 52 55 6 5 0 0
Ron Ellis RW 78 22 29 51 22 −1 4 1 2
Pierre Jarry LW 74 19 18 37 42 −13 2 0 2
Denis Dupere LW 61 13 23 36 10 −4 4 0 0
Paul Henderson RW 40 18 16 34 18 2 2 0 3
Errol Thompson LW 68 13 19 32 8 4 2 0 1
Garry Monahan LW 78 13 18 31 53 −3 0 0 3
George Ferguson C 72 10 13 23 34 −17 3 0 1
Mike Pelyk D 72 3 16 19 118 −20 0 0 1
Brian Glennie D 44 1 10 11 54 2 0 0 0
Joe Lundrigan D 49 2 8 10 20 4 1 0 1
John Grisdale D 49 1 7 8 76 −22 0 0 0
Dave Fortier D 23 1 4 5 63 −10 0 0 0
Larry McIntyre D 40 0 3 3 26 6 0 0 0
Bob Baun D 5 1 1 2 4 −5 0 0 0
Randy Osburn LW 26 0 2 2 0 −5 0 0 0
Terry Clancy RW 32 0 1 1 6 −10 0 0 0
Ron Low G 42 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
Gord McRae G 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lyle Moffat LW 1 0 0 0 0 −1 0 0 0
Jacques Plante G 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dale Smedsmo LW 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Ron Low 2343 42 12 24 4 152 3.89 1
Jacques Plante 1717 32 8 14 6 87 3.04 1
Gord McRae 620 11 7 3 0 39 3.77 0
Team: 4680 78 27 41 10 278 3.56 2

[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;

Awards and records

Transactions

The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1972–73 season.

Trades

March 3, 1973 To Boston Bruins
Jacques Plante
3rd round pick in 1973 – Doug Gibson 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
1st round pick in 1973 – Ian Turnbull
Future Considerations
May 15, 1973 To Minnesota North Stars
11th round pick in 1973 – Russ Wiechnik 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
Cash
May 15, 1973 To Philadelphia Flyers
Bernie Parent
2nd round pick in 1973 – Larry Goodenough 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
1st round pick in 1973 – Bob Neely
Future Considerations
May 15, 1973 To New York Islanders
Cash 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
10th round pick in 1973 – Lee Palmer
11th round pick in 1973 – Norm McLeod

Free agents

Player Former Team
Borje Salming Brynäs IF (Division 1)
Inge Hammarstrom Brynäs IF (Division 1)

Draft picks

Toronto's draft picks at the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 11 George Ferguson  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
2 27 Randy Osburn  Canada London Knights (OMJHL)
3 43 Denis Deslauriers  Canada Shawinigan Dynamos (QMJHL)
4 59 Brian Bowles  Canada Cornwall Royals (OMJHL)
5 75 Michel Plante  Canada Drummondville Rangers (QMJHL)
6 91 Dave Shardlow  Canada Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
7 107 Monte Miron  Canada Clarkson University (ECAC)
8 123 Peter Williams  Canada University of Prince Edward Island (CIAU)
9 139 Pat Boutette  Canada University of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA)
9 143 Garry Schofield  United States Clarkson University (ECAC)

Farm teams

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 Toronto Maple Leafs Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.