1972–73 NHL season
The 1972–73 NHL season was the 56th season of the National Hockey League. Sixteen teams each played 78 games. For the first time since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926, the National Hockey League had serious competition. A new professional hockey league, the World Hockey Association, made its season debut with 12 new teams, many of which were based in the same cities as NHL teams. Unlike the Western Hockey League, though, the new World Hockey Association would not challenge for the Stanley Cup. In response to the new league, the NHL hastily added two new teams in an unplanned expansion, the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames, in an attempt to exclude the WHA from newly constructed arenas in those markets. The first thing the WHA did was sign Bobby Hull, and the Chicago Black Hawks sued, claiming a violation of the reserve clause in NHL contracts. Others soon followed Hull to the WHA, including Bernie Parent, J.C. Tremblay, Ted Green, Gerry Cheevers and Johnny McKenzie. In the expansion draft, the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames made their picks and eleven Islander players skipped off to the WHA. The California Golden Seals, chafing under the unorthodox ownership of the unpopular Charlie Finley, were also a victim of the WHA, losing eight key players.
Regular season
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
| East Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 52 | 10 | 16 | 120 | 329 | 184 | 783 |
| Boston Bruins | 78 | 51 | 22 | 5 | 107 | 330 | 235 | 1097 |
| New York Rangers | 78 | 47 | 23 | 8 | 102 | 297 | 208 | 765 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 78 | 37 | 27 | 14 | 88 | 257 | 219 | 940 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 78 | 37 | 29 | 12 | 86 | 265 | 243 | 893 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 78 | 27 | 41 | 10 | 64 | 247 | 279 | 716 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 78 | 22 | 47 | 9 | 53 | 233 | 339 | 943 |
| New York Islanders | 78 | 12 | 60 | 6 | 30 | 170 | 347 | 881 |
| West Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Black Hawks | 78 | 42 | 27 | 9 | 93 | 284 | 225 | 864 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 78 | 37 | 30 | 11 | 85 | 296 | 256 | 1756 |
| Minnesota North Stars | 78 | 37 | 30 | 11 | 85 | 254 | 230 | 881 |
| St. Louis Blues | 78 | 32 | 34 | 12 | 76 | 233 | 251 | 1195 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 78 | 32 | 37 | 9 | 73 | 257 | 265 | 866 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 31 | 36 | 11 | 73 | 232 | 245 | 888 |
| Atlanta Flames | 78 | 25 | 38 | 15 | 65 | 191 | 239 | 852 |
| California Golden Seals | 78 | 16 | 46 | 16 | 48 | 213 | 323 | 840 |
Scoring leaders
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Esposito | Boston Bruins | 78 | 55 | 75 | 130 | 87 |
| Bobby Clarke | Philadelphia Flyers | 78 | 37 | 67 | 104 | 80 |
| Bobby Orr | Boston Bruins | 63 | 29 | 72 | 101 | 99 |
| Rick MacLeish | Philadelphia Flyers | 78 | 50 | 50 | 100 | 69 |
| Jacques Lemaire | Montreal Canadiens | 77 | 44 | 51 | 95 | 16 |
| Jean Ratelle | New York Rangers | 78 | 41 | 53 | 94 | 12 |
| Mickey Redmond | Detroit Red Wings | 76 | 52 | 41 | 93 | 24 |
| John Bucyk | Boston Bruins | 78 | 40 | 53 | 93 | 12 |
| Frank Mahovlich | Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 38 | 55 | 93 | 51 |
| Jim Pappin | Chicago Black Hawks | 76 | 41 | 51 | 92 | 82 |
Stanley Cup playoffs
Playoff bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| E1 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | |||||||||||
| E4 | Buffalo Sabres | 2 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Philadelphia Flyers | 1 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Minnesota North Stars | 2 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4 | |||||||||||
| W4 | St. Louis Blues | 1 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4 | |||||||||||
| E3 | New York Rangers | 1 | |||||||||||
| E2 | Boston Bruins | 1 | |||||||||||
| E3 | New York Rangers | 4 | |||||||||||
NHL awards
| Prince of Wales Trophy: | Montreal Canadiens |
| Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: | Chicago Black Hawks |
| Art Ross Memorial Trophy: | Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins |
| Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: | Lowell MacDonald, Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: | Steve Vickers, New York Rangers |
| Conn Smythe Trophy: | Yvan Cournoyer, Montreal Canadiens |
| Hart Memorial Trophy: | Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy: | Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: | Gilbert Perreault, Buffalo Sabres |
| Lester B. Pearson Award: | Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins |
| NHL Plus/Minus Award: | Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens |
| Vezina Trophy: | Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens |
| Lester Patrick Trophy: | Walter L. Bush, Jr. |