1973–74 Cleveland Crusaders season

The 1973–74 Cleveland Crusaders season was the Cleveland Crusaders' second season of operation in the World Hockey Association. The Crusaders placed second in the Eastern Division, qualifying for the playoffs. The Crusaders lost in the first round to the Toronto Toros.^[1][2]

1973–74 Cleveland Crusaders
Division	3rd Eastern
1973–74 record	37–32–9
Home record	27–8–4
Road record	10–24–5
Goals for	266
Goals against	264
Team information
General manager	Jack Vivian
Coach	Bill Needham
Captain	Paul Shmyr
Arena	Cleveland Arena
Average attendance	6,212 (66.8%)
Team leaders
Goals	Gary Jarrett (31)
Assists	Gary Jarrett (39)
Points	Gary Jarrett (70)
Penalty minutes	Paul Shmyr (165)
Wins	Gerry Cheevers (30)
Goals against average	Gerry Cheevers (3.03)
← 1972–73 1974–75 →

Regular season

Final standings

Eastern Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
New England Whalers	78	43	31	4	291	260	875	90
Toronto Toros	78	41	33	4	304	272	871	86
Cleveland Crusaders	78	37	32	9	266	264	1007	83
Chicago Cougars	78	38	35	5	271	273	1041	81
Quebec Nordiques	78	38	36	4	306	280	909	80
NY Golden Blades / Jersey Knights	78	32	42	4	268	313	933	68

Schedule and results

1973–74 regular season[3]
October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 1 T October 6, 1973 2–2 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 0–0–1 2 W October 13, 1973 6–3 Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 1–0–1 3 W October 14, 1973 3–2 OT Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 2–0–1 4 W October 20, 1973 6–4 Toronto Toros (1973–74) 3–0–1 5 W October 21, 1973 2–0 @ Houston Aeros (1973–74) 4–0–1 6 L October 23, 1973 3–4 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 4–1–1 7 W October 26, 1973 3–1 Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 5–1–1 8 T October 27, 1973 2–2 Houston Aeros (1973–74) 5–1–2 9 W October 31, 1973 6–4 Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 6–1–2
November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 10 L November 3, 1973 4–7 Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 6–2–2 11 L November 4, 1973 5–7 @ New England Whalers (1973–74) 6–3–2 12 W November 10, 1973 4–2 Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 7–3–2 13 L November 11, 1973 4–6 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 7–4–2 14 W November 13, 1973 5–2 @ Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 8–4–2 15 W November 16, 1973 4–3 OT @ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 9–4–2 16 L November 18, 1973 2–8 @ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 9–5–2 17 L November 20, 1973 3–5 @ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 9–6–2 18 L November 21, 1973 2–6 @ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 9–7–2 19 L November 23, 1973 2–3 Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 9–8–2 20 W November 24, 1973 2–1 Toronto Toros (1973–74) 10–8–2 21 T November 29, 1973 4–4 @ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 10–8–3
December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 22 W December 1, 1973 4–2 Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 11–8–3 23 W December 2, 1973 3–0 Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 12–8–3 24 L December 6, 1973 2–3 @ New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 12–9–3 25 W December 8, 1973 2–1 OT New England Whalers (1973–74) 13–9–3 26 L December 9, 1973 2–3 @ New England Whalers (1973–74) 13–10–3 27 L December 12, 1973 2–4 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 13–11–3 28 L December 13, 1973 1–3 @ Toronto Toros (1973–74) 13–12–3 29 W December 15, 1973 4–3 Toronto Toros (1973–74) 14–12–3 30 T December 16, 1973 2–2 @ Houston Aeros (1973–74) 14–12–4 31 W December 22, 1973 2–1 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 15–12–4 32 W December 23, 1973 4–2 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 16–12–4 33 L December 26, 1973 3–5 Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 16–13–4 34 L December 27, 1973 2–4 @ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 16–14–4 35 W December 29, 1973 3–0 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 17–14–4 36 L December 30, 1973 2–6 @ New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 17–15–4
January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 37 L January 1, 1974 0–3 @ Toronto Toros (1973–74) 17–16–4 38 W January 5, 1974 1–0 New England Whalers (1973–74) 18–16–4 39 W January 6, 1974 11–3 Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 19–16–4 40 T January 8, 1974 0–0 @ Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 19–16–5 41 W January 12, 1974 5–4 Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 20–16–5 42 W January 13, 1974 4–2 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 21–16–5 43 L January 18, 1974 3–7 @ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 21–17–5 44 L January 20, 1974 2–5 @ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 21–18–5 45 L January 23, 1974 3–6 @ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 21–19–5 46 W January 24, 1974 5–3 @ Toronto Toros (1973–74) 22–19–5 47 L January 26, 1974 0–4 @ New England Whalers (1973–74) 22–20–5 48 L January 27, 1974 3–4 @ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 22–21–5 49 W January 30, 1974 5–1 Houston Aeros (1973–74) 23–21–5
February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 50 L February 2, 1974 2–4 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 23–22–5 51 W February 3, 1974 3–1 New England Whalers (1973–74) 24–22–5 52 L February 5, 1974 1–4 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 24–23–5 53 L February 8, 1974 2–4 New England Whalers (1973–74) 24–24–5 54 W February 9, 1974 4–3 Toronto Toros (1973–74) 25–24–5 55 L February 15, 1974 2–6 @ New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 25–25–5 56 W February 16, 1974 5–2 Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 26–25–5 57 W February 17, 1974 6–5 Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 27–25–5 58 L February 19, 1974 5–6 OT @ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 27–26–5 59 W February 23, 1974 7–3 Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 28–26–5 60 L February 24, 1974 1–2 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 28–27–5 61 T February 28, 1974 6–6 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 28–27–6
March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 62 L March 1, 1974 4–7 @ Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 28–28–6 63 T March 3, 1974 3–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 28–28–7 64 W March 5, 1974 6–3 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 29–28–7 65 W March 7, 1974 4–2 @ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 30–28–7 66 W March 8, 1974 4–1 @ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 31–28–7 67 L March 10, 1974 3–8 @ Toronto Toros (1973–74) 31–29–7 68 W March 13, 1974 4–3 Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 32–29–7 69 T March 16, 1974 4–4 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 32–29–8 70 L March 17, 1974 3–4 @ Houston Aeros (1973–74) 32–30–8 71 W March 19, 1974 7–4 @ Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 33–30–8 72 L March 20, 1974 4–5 Houston Aeros (1973–74) 33–31–8 73 W March 23, 1974 3–1 Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 34–31–8 74 T March 24, 1974 3–3 Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 34–31–9 75 W March 27, 1974 5–4 OT Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 35–31–9 76 L March 28, 1974 2–3 @ New England Whalers (1973–74) 35–32–9 77 W March 30, 1974 5–4 OT Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 36–32–9 78 W March 31, 1974 4–2 @ New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74) 37–32–9
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1974 Avco Cup playoffs[3]
Quarterfinals vs. Toronto Toros – Toros win 4–1 Game Date Visitor Score Home Series 1 April 7 Cleveland Crusaders 0–4 Toronto Toros 0–1 2 April 9 Cleveland Crusaders 3–4 Toronto Toros 0–2 3 April 12 Toronto Toros 4–2 Cleveland Crusaders 0–3 4 April 13 Toronto Toros 2–3 OT Cleveland Crusaders 1–3 5 April 15 Cleveland Crusaders 1–4 Toronto Toros 1–4
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Gary Jarrett LW 75 31 39 70 68 0 11 0 4 Jim Wiste C 76 23 35 58 26 0 4 0 7 Gerry Pinder LW 73 23 33 56 90 0 3 1 3 Skip Krake C 69 20 36 56 94 0 5 0 3 Grant Erickson LW 78 23 27 50 26 0 3 2 5 Ron Buchanan C 49 18 27 45 2 0 6 0 3 Paul Shmyr D 78 13 31 44 165 0 3 0 0 Tom Edur D 76 7 31 38 26 0 1 0 0 Ray Clearwater D 68 12 23 35 47 0 3 0 1 Paul Andrea RW 69 15 18 33 14 0 6 3 2 Russ Walker RW 76 15 14 29 117 0 1 0 2 Ron Ward C 23 19 7 26 7 0 4 0 4 Larry Hillman D 44 5 21 26 37 0 1 0 0 Doug Brindley LW/C 30 13 9 22 13 0 1 0 1 Bill Heindl LW 67 4 14 18 4 0 1 0 1 Robbie Neale C 43 8 9 17 30 0 1 0 1 Bill Young LW 53 8 9 17 70 0 0 0 0 Wayne Muloin D 76 3 7 10 39 0 1 0 0 Norm Cournoyer C 13 3 5 8 6 0 1 0 0 Wayne Hillman D 66 1 7 8 51 0 0 0 0 Rich Pumple LW 17 2 2 4 16 0 0 0 0 Ted Hodgson RW 10 0 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 Ralph Hopiavuori D 13 0 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 Ron Morgan LW 4 0 1 1 7 0 0 0 0 Bob Whidden G 22 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Ray Adduono C 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brad Buetow D 25 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 Gerry Cheevers G 59 0 0 0 30 0 0 0 0 Jim McMasters D 9 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 Glen Shirton D 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Gerry Cheevers 3562 59 30 20 6 180 3.03 4 Bob Whidden 1232 22 7 12 3 80 3.90 1 Team: 4794 78 37 32 9 260 3.25 5

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Paul Shmyr D 5 0 4 4 31 0 0 0 Ron Ward C 5 3 0 3 2 0 0 0 Tom Edur D 5 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 Gary Jarrett LW 5 1 1 2 13 0 0 0 Grant Erickson LW 5 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 Paul Andrea RW 5 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 Ron Morgan LW 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 Wayne Muloin D 5 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 Russ Walker RW 5 1 0 1 11 0 0 0 Doug Brindley LW/C 5 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 Bill Heindl LW 5 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 Ralph Hopiavuori D 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Skip Krake C 5 0 1 1 39 0 0 0 Jim Wiste C 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Ron Buchanan C 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Gerry Cheevers G 5 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 Ray Clearwater D 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Wayne Hillman D 5 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 Robbie Neale C 5 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 Gerry Pinder LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Gerry Cheevers 303 5 1 4 18 3.56 0 Team: 303 5 1 4 18 3.56 0

^[4]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Draft picks

Cleveland's draft picks at the 1973 WHA Amateur Draft.^[5]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	10	Lanny McDonald (F)	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
2	24	George Pesut (D)	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
3	36	Robbie Neale (F)	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
4	49	Russ Walker (RW)	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
5	62	Rich Latulippe (F)	Canada	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
6	75	Bob Smulders (F)	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
7	88	Ron Serafini (D)	United States	St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
8	100	Michel Latrielle (D)	Canada	Montreal Red White and Blue (QMJHL)
9	111	Bruce Greig (LW)	Canada	Vancouver Nats (WCHL)
10	120	Henry Durkin (G)	Canada	Swift Current Broncos (WCHL)

See also

• 1973–74 WHA season