- 1972–73 WHA season
The 1972-73 WHA season was the first
regular season of the now defunctWorld Hockey Association (WHA). Twelve teams played 78 games each. The league was officially incorporated in June of 1971 by Garry L. Davidson and Dennis A. Murphy and promised to ice twelve teams in various markets aroundCanada and theUnited States . The league championship trophy, theAvco World Trophy , was donated by AVCO Financial Services Corporation along with $500,000. TheNew England Whalers won the first Avco World Trophy.Regular season
The WHA was split into two divisions, the Eastern Division and the Western Division. Each division sported 6 teams. The New England Whalers led the Eastern Division and had the best record in the league. The
Winnipeg Jets led the Western Division and had the second best record in the league. TheAlberta Oilers missed the playoffs, despite having a superior goal-differential to theMinnesota Fighting Saints , because they lost a neutral-site, tie-breaking game against the Saints inCalgary by a score of 4-2.The first WHA game, on 12 October, 1972, was won by the
Alberta Oilers 7-4 over theOttawa Nationals .Final standings
"GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties in Minutes"
"Teams that qualifies for the playoffs are highlighted in bold"All-Star game
Jan 6 1973,
Quebec City , att. 5435.East 6, West 2
MVP:
Wayne Carleton (East,Ottawa Nationals )Avco World Trophy playoffs
8TeamBracket
group1=Eastern Division
group2=Western Division
RD1-seed1=E1
RD1-team1=New England Whalers
RD1-score1=4
RD1-seed2=E4
RD1-team2=Ottawa Nationals
RD1-score2=1
RD1-seed3=E2
RD1-team3=Cleveland Crusaders
RD1-score3=4
RD1-seed4=E3
RD1-team4=Philadelphia Blazers
RD1-score4=0
RD1-seed5=W1
RD1-team5=Winnipeg Jets
RD1-score5=4
RD1-seed6=W4
RD1-team6=Minnesota Fighting Saints
RD1-score6=1
RD1-seed7=W2
RD1-team7=Houston Aeros
RD1-score7=4
RD1-seed8=W3
RD1-team8=Los Angeles Sharks
RD1-score8=2
RD2-seed1=E1
RD2-team1=New England Whalers
RD2-score1=4
RD2-seed2=E2
RD2-team2=Cleveland Crusaders
RD2-score2=1
RD2-seed3=W1
RD2-team3=Winnipeg Jets
RD2-score3=4
RD2-seed4=W2
RD2-team4=Houston Aeros
RD2-score4=0
RD3-seed1=E1
RD3-team1=New England Whalers
RD3-score1=4
RD3-seed2=W1
RD3-team2=Winnipeg Jets
RD3-score2=1Avco World Trophy finals
New England Whalers defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 4 games to 1. The Whalers defeated the Jets 9 to 6 in the deciding game, with
Larry Pleau scoring a hat trick.WHA awards
ee also
*
1972-73 NHL season
*1972 in sports
*1973 in sports References
* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/wha1973.html HockeyDB]
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