1974–75 WHA season

The 1974–75 WHA season was the third season of the World Hockey Association. Fourteen teams each played 78 games. The Houston Aeros won the Avco World Trophy for the second straight year in dominating fashion, losing only one time in the playoffs.

1974–75 WHA season
League	World Hockey Association
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 15, 1974 – May 12, 1975
Draft
Top draft pick	Pat Price
Picked by	Vancouver Blazers
Regular season
Season MVP	Bobby Hull (Winnipeg)
Top scorer	Andre Lacroix (San Diego)
Avco Cup Final
Champions	Houston Aeros
Runners-up	Quebec Nordiques

Regular season

The WHA expanded by adding the Indianapolis Racers and Phoenix Roadrunners, and splitting into three divisions: Western, Eastern, and Canadian. The top two teams in each division qualified for the playoffs along with the two next best teams overall. Prior to the season, Southern California welcomed the Jersey Knights, who moved to San Diego and became the Mariners, and said goodbye to the Los Angeles Sharks, who moved to Detroit and became the Michigan Stags. Midway through the season, the Stags moved to Baltimore and became the Blades; they folded for good after the season. Chicago also folded at season's end. Also, the New England Whalers left Boston for Hartford, but played the first half of the season in Springfield, Massachusetts until construction on the Hartford Civic Center was finished.

The NHL also expanded this season, to 18 teams, making a total of 32 clubs playing major professional hockey in North America. This number has not been surpassed, though the NHL expanded to 32 teams in 2021.

Final standings

Canadian Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Quebec Nordiques	78	46	32	0	92	331	299	1132
Toronto Toros	78	43	33	2	88	349	304	883
Winnipeg Jets	78	38	35	5	81	322	293	869
Vancouver Blazers	78	37	39	2	76	256	270	1075
Edmonton Oilers	78	36	38	4	76	279	279	896

Eastern Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
New England Whalers	78	43	30	5	91	274	279	867
Cleveland Crusaders	78	35	40	3	73	236	258	1273
Chicago Cougars	78	30	47	1	61	261	312	1086
Indianapolis Racers	78	18	57	3	39	216	338	970

Western Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Houston Aeros	78	53	25	0	106	369	247	1257
San Diego Mariners	78	43	31	4	90	326	268	1058
Minnesota Fighting Saints	78	42	33	3	87	308	279	1233
Phoenix Roadrunners	78	39	31	8	86	300	265	1388
Michigan Stags / Baltimore Blades	78	21	53	4	46	205	341	1104

Player stats

Scoring leaders

_{Bolded numbers indicate season leaders}

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Andre Lacroix	San Diego Mariners	78	41	106	147	63
Bobby Hull	Winnipeg Jets	78	77	65	142	41
Serge Bernier	Quebec Nordiques	76	54	68	122	75
Ulf Nilsson	Winnipeg Jets	78	26	94	120	79
Larry Lund	Houston Aeros	78	33	75	108	68
Wayne Rivers	San Diego Mariners	78	54	53	107	52
Anders Hedberg	Winnipeg Jets	65	53	47	100	45
Gordie Howe	Houston Aeros	75	34	65	99	84
Wayne Dillon	Toronto Toros	77	29	66	95	22
Mike Walton	Minnesota Fighting Saints	75	48	45	93	33

Leading goaltenders

_{Bolded numbers indicate season leaders}

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player	Team	GP	Min	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Ron Grahame	Houston Aeros	43	2590	33	10	0	131	4	90.0	3.03
Bob Whidden	Cleveland Crusaders	29	1654	9	16	1	89	0	91.2	3.23
Wayne Rutledge	Houston Aeros	35	2092	20	15	0	113	2	89.2	3.24
Ernie Wakely	Winnipeg - San Diego	41	2418	23	15	2	131	3	90.0	3.25
Gerry Cheevers	Cleveland Crusaders	52	3076	26	24	2	167	4	90.5	3.26
Jack Norris	Phoenix Roadrunners	33	1962	14	15	4	107	1	89.1	3.27
John Garrett	Minnesota Fighting Saints	58	3294	30	23	2	180	2	90.5	3.28
Gary Kurt	Phoenix Roadrunners	47	2841	25	16	4	156	2	88.5	3.27
Jacques Plante	Edmonton Oilers	40	1592	15	14	1	88	1	89.0	3.32
Don McLeod	Vancouver Blazers	71	4124	32	35	2	230	1	89.1	3.35

All-Star game

At Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, the West defeated the East 6–4.

Avco World Trophy playoffs

Main article: 1975 WHA playoffs

Eight teams qualified for the playoffs; the top two teams in each division and the next two teams with the highest point totals. The teams were then pooled together, according to point totals, to determine quarter-final match-ups. The three division winners were guaranteed the top three seeds, according to their point totals. Teams were not "reseeded" after the quarter-final round.

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

W1

Houston Aeros

4

E2

Cleveland Crusaders

1

W1

Houston Aeros

4

W2

San Diego Mariners

0

W2

San Diego Mariners

4

C2

Toronto Toros

2

W1

Houston Aeros

4

C1

Quebec Nordiques

0

E1

New England Whalers

2

W3

Minnesota Fighting Saints

4

W3

Minnesota Fighting Saints

2

C1

Quebec Nordiques

4

C1

Quebec Nordiques

4

W4

Phoenix Roadrunners

1

WHA awards

Trophies

Avco World Trophy:	Houston Aeros
Gary L. Davidson Award:	Bobby Hull, Winnipeg Jets
Bill Hunter Trophy:	Andre Lacroix, San Diego Mariners
Lou Kaplan Trophy:	Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg Jets
Ben Hatskin Trophy:	Ron Grahame, Houston Aeros
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy:	J. C. Tremblay, Quebec Nordiques
Paul Deneau Trophy:	Mike Rogers, Edmonton Oilers
Howard Baldwin Trophy:	Sandy Hucul, Phoenix Roadrunners
WHA Playoff MVP:	Ron Grahame, Houston Aeros

All-Star Team

Position	First Team	Second Team
Centre	Andre Lacroix, San Diego	Serge Bernier, Quebec
Right Wing	Gordie Howe, Houston	Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg
Left Wing	Bobby Hull, Winnipeg	Marc Tardif, Quebec
Defence	J. C. Tremblay, Quebec	Poul Popiel, Houston
Defence	Kevin Morrison, San Diego	Barry Long, Edmonton
Goaltender	Ron Grahame, Houston	Gerry Cheevers, Cleveland

See also

• 1974 Summit Series
• 1974 WHA Amateur Draft
• 1974 in sports
• 1975 in sports

References

• "Year by Year Standings". Archived from the original on October 21, 2009.