1974–75 NHL season

The 1974–75 NHL season was the 58th season of the National Hockey League. Eighteen teams each played 80 games. With the addition of two new teams, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts, the NHL bumped up the number of games from 78 to 80 and split the previously two-division league into four divisions and two conferences.

Because the new conferences and divisions had little to do with North American geography, geographical references were also removed. The East Division became the Prince of Wales Conference and consisted of the Adams Division and Norris Division and the West Division became the Clarence Campbell Conference and consisted of the Patrick Division and Smythe Division. The Patrick and Norris Divisions would switch conferences following the 1980–81 season. This further expansion was considered by many ill-fated, and with the World Hockey Association (WHA) continuing to drain talent away, the Capitals had the worst season ever recorded in the history of major professional hockey, and the third worst in the postwar era the following season, while the Scouts the following season would have the fifth worst record of the postwar era.

Regular season

For the first time ever in the National Hockey League, there was a three-way tie for first place overall. The respective divisional leaders of the Norris, Patrick, and Adams all had 113 points. The Vancouver Canucks, which had been playing in the original East Division since they debuted in the league, were moved over to the Campbell Conference and led the way in the Smythe Division with a meager 86 points. Bobby Orr won the scoring title for the second time, the only defenseman in the history of the NHL to accomplish this feat.

Final standings

"Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes"
"Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold"

Prince of Wales Conference

All-Star teams

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1974–75 (listed with their first team):
*Guy Chouinard, Atlanta Flames
*Danny Gare, Buffalo Sabres
*Charlie Simmer, California Golden Seals
*Wilf Paiement, Kansas City Scouts
*Clark Gillies, New York Islanders
*Bob Bourne, New York Islanders
*Rick Middleton, New York Rangers
*Ron Greschner, New York Rangers
*Bob MacMillan, New York Rangers
*Pierre Larouche, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Tiger Williams, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Harold Snepsts, Vancouver Canucks

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1974–75 (listed with their last team):
*Murray Oliver, Minnesota North Stars
*Henri Richard, Montreal Canadiens
*Bobby Rousseau, New York Rangers
*Ted Harris, Philadelphia Flyers
*Eddie Shack, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Norm Ullman, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Doug Mohns, Washington Capitals

"NOTE: Ullman would finish his major professional career in the World Hockey Association."

See also

* List of Stanley Cup champions
* 1974 NHL Amateur Draft
* 1974 NHL Expansion Draft
* 28th National Hockey League All-Star Game
* National Hockey League All-Star Game
* List of WHA seasons
* 1974 in sports
* 1975 in sports

References

* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
* [http://nhl.com/ NHL.com]