1972–73 Atlanta Flames season

The 1972–73 Atlanta Flames season was the 1st season for the Flames' franchise.

1972–73 Atlanta Flames
Division	7th West
1972–73 record	25–38–15
Home record	16–16–7
Road record	9–22–8
Goals for	191
Goals against	239
Team information
General manager	Cliff Fletcher
Coach	Bernie Geoffrion
Captain	Keith McCreary
Arena	Omni Coliseum
Team leaders
Goals	Bob Leiter (26)
Assists	Bob Leiter (34)
Points	Bob Leiter (60)
Penalty minutes	Pat Quinn (113)
Wins	Phil Myre (16)
Goals against average	Phil Myre (3.03)
1973–74 →

Offseason

NHL amateur draft

See also: 1972 NHL amateur draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team
1	2.	Jacques Richard	Canada	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
2	18.	Dwight Bialowas	Canada	Regina Pats (WCJHL)
3	34.	Jean Lemieux	Canada	Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
4	50.	Don Martineau	Canada	New Westminster Royals (WCJHL)
5	78.	Jean-Paul Martin	Canada	Shawinigan Bruins (QMJHL)
6	82.	Frank Blum	Canada	Sarnia Sting (SOJHL)
7	98.	Scott Smith	Canada	Regina Pats (WCJHL)
8	114.	Dave Murphy	Canada	Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
9	130.	Pierre Roy	Canada	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
9	132.	Jean Lamarre	Canada	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)

NHL Expansion Draft

Pick	Player	Position	Drafted From
1.	Phil Myre	G	Montreal Canadiens
3.	Dan Bouchard	G	Boston Bruins
6.	Kerry Ketter	D	Montreal Canadiens
8.	Norm Gratton	LW	New York Rangers
10.	Ron Harris	D	Detroit Red Wings
12.	Larry Romanchych	RW	Chicago Black Hawks
14.	Bill MacMillan	LW	Toronto Maple Leafs
16.	Randy Manery	D	Detroit Red Wings
18.	Keith McCreary	RW	Pittsburgh Penguins
20.	Ernie Hicke	C	California Golden Seals
22.	Lew Morrison	RW	Philadelphia Flyers
24.	Lucien Grenier	LW	Los Angeles Kings
26.	Bill Plager	D	St. Louis Blues
28.	Morris Stefaniw	C	New York Rangers
30.	John Stewart	LW	Pittsburgh Penguins
32.	Bob Leiter	C	Pittsburgh Penguins
34.	Pat Quinn	D	Vancouver Canucks
36.	Larry Hale	D	Philadelphia Flyers
38.	Bill Heindl Jr.	LW	Minnesota North Stars
40.	Frank Hughes	LW	California Golden Seals
42.	Rod Zaine	C	Buffalo Sabres

Regular season

When it was first announced that Atlanta would have an NHL franchise many hockey observers thought that a team based in the southern United States was a ludicrous and foolish move, especially since the talent pool had been diluted by repeated expansion and the upstart WHA. Nevertheless, the team quickly began front office operations, naming young St. Louis Blues assistant general manager Cliff Fletcher as general manager. Soon after, Fletcher had found the team its first coach: former Canadiens star forward Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion.

The team was a pleasant surprise in its first season on the ice, its success built on new star goaltenders Dan Bouchard and Phil Myre, solid defensemen such as Randy Manery and Pat Quinn, and forwards Rey Comeau, (captain) Keith McCreary, Larry Romanchych and Bob Leiter. Despite its inexperience as a team, the Flames were quite successful in the beginning of their rookie season, posting a 20–19–8 record by January 19, 1973, off the success of their young goaltending tandem. However, they lost 19 of their last 31 games, finishing out of the playoffs. Part of the problem as that in defiance of all geographic reality, the Flames were placed in the West Division—saddling them with some of the longest road trips in the league—and ultimately, the team's excellent defense and goaltending were sabotaged by its lack of goalscoring, finishing second worst in the NHL in that category. However, their 65 points were 35 better than the Islanders, who toiled at the bottom of the East Division.

Season standings

West Division^[1]

• v
• t
• e

		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

Vs. West Division 1972–73 NHL records[2] Team ATL CAL CHI LAK MIN PHI PIT STL Total Atlanta — 3–1–1 2–4 1–1–3 3–3 1–3–1 1–4 0–3–3 11–19–8 California 1–3–1 — 0–3–2 2–4 1–4 1–3–2 2–2–2 1–3–1 8–22–8 Chicago 4–2 3–0–2 — 2–3 3–2–1 2–2–1 2–3 3–3 19–15–4 Los Angeles 1–1–3 4–2 3–2 — 0–3–2 4–2 2–4 3–2 17–16–5 Minnesota 3–3 4–1 2–3–1 3–0–2 — 2–3 3–2 2–2–2 19–14–5 Philadelphia 3–1–1 3–1–2 2–2–1 2–4 3–2 — 4–2 3–1–1 20–13–5 Pittsburgh 4–1 2–2–2 3–2 4–2 2–3 2–4 — 3–2 20–16–2 St. Louis 3–0–3 3–1–1 3–3 2–3 2–2–2 1–3–1 2–3 — 16–15–7

Vs. East Division 1972–73 NHL records Team BOS BUF DET MTL NYI NYR TOR VAN Total Atlanta 0–5 1–2–2 2–3 0–3–2 4–0–1 1–4 2–1–2 4–1 14–19–7 California 0–4–1 2–1–2 2–2–1 0–3–2 1–4 1–3–1 1–3–1 1–4 8–24–8 Chicago 3–2 3–2 3–2 3–2 4–0–1 2–2–1 2–1–2 3–1–1 23–12–5 Los Angeles 2–3 1–2–2 2–2–1 0–4–1 4–1 0–3–2 2–3 3–2 14–20–6 Minnesota 1–3–1 2–3 3–1–1 1–3–1 4–1 2–3 2–2–1 3–0–2 18–16–6 Philadelphia 0–4–1 3–2 1–3–1 2–2–1 4–1 0–4–1 3–1–1 4–0–1 17–17–6 Pittsburgh 1–4 0–3–2 0–2–3 0–5 4–0–1 2–3 2–2–1 3–2 12–21–7 St. Louis 3–2 1–2–2 3–2 0–3–2 3–1–1 0–5 2–3 4–1 16–19–5

Schedule and results

1972–73 regular season[3][4]
October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance 1 W October 7, 1972 3–2 @ New York Islanders (1972–73) 1–0–0 12,221 2 L October 8, 1972 3–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 1–1–0 15,508 3 L October 11, 1972 1–4 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 1–2–0 N/A 4 L October 12, 1972 0–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 1–3–0 16,002 5 T October 14, 1972 1–1 Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 1–3–1 14,568 6 L October 18, 1972 0–6 Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 1–4–1 8,852 7 W October 21, 1972 3–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 2–4–1 15,229 8 L October 22, 1972 2–7 @ Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 2–5–1 15,516 9 W October 25, 1972 4–3 @ California Golden Seals (1972–73) 3–5–1 1,998 10 L October 26, 1972 1–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 3–6–1 6,155 11 W October 28, 1972 2–1 @ Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 4–6–1 15,570
November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance 12 W November 1, 1972 4–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 5–6–1 11,344 13 L November 2, 1972 1–6 Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 5–7–1 12,280 14 T November 5, 1972 2–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 5–7–2 10,732 15 T November 8, 1972 3–3 Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 5–7–3 9,073 16 W November 10, 1972 5–1 Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 6–7–3 12,066 17 W November 12, 1972 3–1 Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 7–7–3 10,486 18 L November 15, 1972 1–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 7–8–3 16,381 19 W November 16, 1972 4–0 New York Islanders (1972–73) 8–8–3 9,820 20 L November 18, 1972 1–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 8–9–3 10,959 21 W November 19, 1972 3–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 9–9–3 9,972 22 L November 21, 1972 1–3 New York Rangers (1972–73) 9–10–3 11,505 23 L November 24, 1972 0–4 Boston Bruins (1972–73) 9–11–3 15,078 24 W November 26, 1972 6–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 10–11–3 9,041 25 L November 29, 1972 0–5 @ Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 10–12–3 15,125 26 T November 30, 1972 5–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 10–12–4 14,221
December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance 27 T December 2, 1972 4–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 10–12–5 16,455 28 L December 3, 1972 2–3 @ New York Rangers (1972–73) 10–13–5 17,500 29 W December 7, 1972 5–2 Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 11–13–5 11,018 30 L December 9, 1972 1–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1972–73) 11–14–5 18,425 31 L December 10, 1972 4–5 St. Louis Blues (1972–73) 11–15–5 11,140 32 W December 13, 1972 2–0 @ Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 12–15–5 11,044 33 L December 16, 1972 3–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 12–16–5 11,095 34 W December 17, 1972 4–0 New York Islanders (1972–73) 13–16–5 10,117 35 W December 20, 1972 5–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 14–16–5 12,590 36 W December 21, 1972 5–2 @ New York Rangers (1972–73) 15–16–5 17,500 37 L December 23, 1972 1–3 @ Boston Bruins (1972–73) 15–17–5 15,003 38 L December 27, 1972 1–3 Boston Bruins (1972–73) 15–18–5 15,078 39 T December 30, 1972 1–1 @ Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 15–18–6 17,024
January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance 40 W January 2, 1973 6–1 @ New York Islanders (1972–73) 16–18–6 10,042 41 L January 3, 1973 1–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 16–19–6 11,144 42 T January 6, 1973 2–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1972–73) 16–19–7 19,065 43 W January 7, 1973 5–2 Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 17–19–7 9,206 44 W January 10, 1973 5–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 18–19–7 11,829 45 W January 12, 1973 1–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 19–19–7 15,078 46 W January 14, 1973 4–1 Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 20–19–7 11,194 47 T January 17, 1973 3–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1972–73) 20–19–8 18,181 48 L January 19, 1973 1–2 St. Louis Blues (1972–73) 20–20–8 15,078 49 L January 21, 1973 2–3 Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 20–21–8 15,078 50 L January 24, 1973 2–5 California Golden Seals (1972–73) 20–22–8 11,222 51 T January 26, 1973 3–3 Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 20–22–9 15,078 52 W January 28, 1973 8–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 21–22–9 15,668
February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance 53 W February 1, 1973 3–1 Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 22–22–9 14,169 54 L February 3, 1973 0–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 22–23–9 12,862 55 L February 4, 1973 0–6 @ New York Rangers (1972–73) 22–24–9 17,500 56 L February 7, 1973 3–5 Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 22–25–9 13,186 57 L February 9, 1973 3–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 22–26–9 15,078 58 W February 11, 1973 3–1 California Golden Seals (1972–73) 23–26–9 13,422 59 T February 14, 1973 3–3 @ California Golden Seals (1972–73) 23–26–10 3,829 60 L February 16, 1973 0–5 @ Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 23–27–10 15,570 61 T February 17, 1973 3–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 23–27–11 11,108 62 T February 21, 1973 2–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 23–27–12 16,352 63 L February 25, 1973 2–4 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 23–28–12 N/A
March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance 64 T March 1, 1973 4–4 Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 23–28–13 12,730 65 L March 3, 1973 0–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 23–29–13 15,512 66 W March 4, 1973 3–2 California Golden Seals (1972–73) 24–29–13 11,565 67 L March 7, 1973 2–5 Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 24–30–13 12,632 68 L March 9, 1973 2–3 Boston Bruins (1972–73) 24–31–13 15,078 69 L March 10, 1973 1–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 24–32–13 16,600 70 T March 14, 1973 1–1 St. Louis Blues (1972–73) 24–32–14 15,078 71 W March 17, 1973 3–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 25–32–14 15,078 72 L March 18, 1973 1–7 @ Boston Bruins (1972–73) 25–33–14 15,003 73 L March 22, 1973 1–4 New York Rangers (1972–73) 25–34–14 15,078 74 L March 24, 1973 0–7 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 25–35–14 N/A 75 L March 25, 1973 2–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 25–36–14 13,200 76 L March 28, 1973 3–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 25–37–14 10,081 77 L March 29, 1973 2–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 25–38–14 16,600
April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance 78 T April 1, 1973 4–4 New York Islanders (1972–73) 25–38–15 13,592
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

			Regular season						Playoffs
Player	#		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Bob Leiter	16		78	26	34	60	19		–	–	–	–	-
Larry Romanchych	21		70	18	30	48	39		–	–	–	–	-
Rey Comeau	18		77	21	21	42	19		–	–	–	–	-
Keith McCreary	9		77	20	21	41	21		–	–	–	–	-
Ernie Hicke‡	12		58	14	23	37	37		–	–	–	–	-
Curt Bennett†	5		52	18	17	35	9		–	–	–	–	-
Randy Manery	7		78	5	30	35	44		–	–	–	–	-
John Stewart	17		68	17	17	34	30		–	–	–	–	-
Jacques Richard	15		74	13	18	31	32		–	–	–	–	-
Leon Rochefort†	11		54	9	18	27	10		–	–	–	–	-
Bill MacMillan	20		78	10	15	25	52		–	–	–	–	-
Pat Quinn	3		78	2	18	20	113		–	–	–	–	-
Lew Morrison	8		77	6	9	15	19		–	–	–	–	-
Noel Price	4		54	1	13	14	38		–	–	–	–	-
Bill Plager	2		76	2	11	13	92		–	–	–	–	-
Noel Picard†	22		41	0	10	10	43		–	–	–	–	-
Norm Gratton‡	10		29	3	6	9	12		–	–	–	–	-
Bob Paradise	6		71	1	7	8	103		–	–	–	–	-
Ron Harris‡	5		24	2	4	6	8		–	–	–	–	-
Morris Stefaniw	19		13	1	1	2	2		–	–	–	–	-
Kerry Ketter	24		41	0	2	2	58		–	–	–	–	-
Arnie Brown†	19		15	1	0	1	17		–	–	–	–	-
Butch Deadmarsh†	10		19	1	0	1	8		–	–	–	–	-
Dan Bouchard	30		34	0	1	1	12		–	–	–	–	-
Phil Myre	1		46	0	1	1	5		–	–	–	–	-
Bill Hogaboam‡	11		2	0	0	0	0		–	–	–	–	-

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Atlanta. Stats reflect time with the Flames only. ^‡Traded mid-season

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

			Regular season									Playoffs
Player	#		GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA		GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Phil Myre	1		46	2736	16	23	5	138	2	3.03		–	–	–	–	–	–	-.--
Dan Bouchard	30		34	1944	9	15	10	100	2	3.09		–	–	–	–	–	–	-.--

Transactions

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1972–73 season.

Trades

June, 1972	To: Atlanta Flames Ted Tucker	To: Montreal Canadiens cash
June, 1972	To: Atlanta Flames Bill Hogaboam	To: New York Rangers Bill Heindl Jr.
October, 1972	To: Atlanta Flames Brian McKenzie	To: Pittsburgh Penguins cash
November 28, 1972	To: Atlanta Flames Leon Rochefort	To: Detroit Red Wings Bill Hogaboam
November 29, 1972	To: Atlanta Flames Curt Bennett	To: New York Rangers Ron Harris
February 13, 1973	To: Atlanta Flames Arnie Brown	To: New York Islanders Ernie Hicke future considerations (Bill MacMillan; May 29, 1973)
February 14, 1973	To: Atlanta Flames Butch Deadmarsh	To: Buffalo Sabres Norm Gratton

Free agents

Player Former team D Ed Kea St. Petersburg Suns (EHL)

Player New team

Claimed off waivers

Player	Former team
D Noel Picard	St. Louis Blues