1972–73 Ottawa Nationals season explained

League:	WHA
Season:	1972–73
Year:	1972
Team:	Ottawa Nationals
Division:	Eastern Division
Divisionrank:	4th
Record:	35–39–4
Homerecord:	21–15–3
Roadrecord:	14–24–1
Goalsfor:	279
Goalsagainst:	301
Generalmanager:	A.J. (Buck) Houle
Arena:	Ottawa Civic Centre (regular season) Maple Leaf Gardens (playoffs)
Attendance:	3,226 (34.7%)
Goalsleader:	Wayne Carleton (42)
Assistsleader:	Wayne Carleton (49)
Pointsleader:	Wayne Carleton (91)
Pimleader:	Rick Cunningham (121)
Winsleader:	Gilles Gratton (25)
Gaaleader:	Gilles Gratton (3.71)
Next Season:	1973–74

The 1972–73 Ottawa Nationals season was the Nationals' only season, as they were one of the original teams in the newly created WHA. The Nationals played most of the season in Ottawa, but transferred their playoff games to Toronto. Due to low attendance in Ottawa, an arena lease dispute, and much better attendance in their two playoff games in Toronto, where they averaged over 5000 fans per game, the Nationals relocated to Toronto permanently beginning in the next season. The club was renamed the Toronto Toros.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Offseason

The Nationals were originally owned by Doug Michel, with rumours he would place the team in either Hamilton or Toronto, however, and he placed the club in Ottawa. After the team was placed to play in Ottawa, Nick Trbovich became the majority owner, with Michel running hockey operations. The club was placed in the six team Eastern Division, with the top four clubs earning a playoff berth.

The Nationals hired former Toronto Maple Leaf Billy Harris to coach the team. Ottawa's most significant signing was Wayne Carleton, who had previously played with the Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and California Golden Seals in the NHL.

Regular season

The first game in WHA history was a match between the Nationals and the Alberta Oilers at the Civic Centre, which Alberta won 7–4, on October 11, 1972. Ottawa recorded their first victory in their fourth game, a 6-2 decision over the Chicago Cougars. The Nationals reached a season high two games over .500 with a 12-10-1 record, before falling into a long slump in which the club won only seven games in their next 31, and dropped into last place in the Eastern Division. Ottawa would play very good hockey down the stretch, winning two-thirds of its remaining games, and finished the season at 35-39-4, earning 74 points and the fourth and final playoff position.

Attendance was an issue for the club, as they drew an average of just over 3000 fans per game, competing against the very popular Ottawa 67's OHA team.

Offensively, Ottawa was led by Carleton, who scored a team high 42 goals and 49 assists for 91 points, which ranked him tenth in league scoring. Twenty-year-old Gavin Kirk earned 68 points in 78 games, while Bob Charlebois earned 64 points. Brian Gibbons had 42 points to lead the team's defencemen, while Rick Cunningham had a team high 121 penalty minutes.

In goal, Gilles Gratton had the majority of playing time, winning 25 games and posting a 3.71 GAA. Veteran Les Binkley backed him up, earning 10 wins and a GAA of 3.72.

Game log

Regular season schedule
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	October 11		7–4	Ottawa Nationals	0–1–0	0
2	October 14	Ottawa Nationals	6–8		0–2–0	0
3	October 15		7–5	Ottawa Nationals	0–3–0	0
4	October 19		2–6	Ottawa Nationals	1–3–0	2
5	October 21	Ottawa Nationals	5–3		2–3–0	4
6	October 22	Ottawa Nationals	3–2		3–3–0	6
7	October 25	Ottawa Nationals	8–5		4–3–0	8
8	October 26	Ottawa Nationals	3–7		4–4–0	8
9	October 28	Ottawa Nationals	5–3		5–4–0	10
10	November 2		1–1	Ottawa Nationals	5–4–1	11
11	November 5	Ottawa Nationals	5–3		6–4–1	13
12	November 9		4–1	Ottawa Nationals	6–5–1	13
13	November 12		1–2	Ottawa Nationals	7–5–1	15
14	November 16	Ottawa Nationals	3–6		7–6–1	15
15	November 18	Ottawa Nationals	2–3		7–7–1	15
16	November 20	Ottawa Nationals	5–7		7–8–1	15
17	November 21		2–4	Ottawa Nationals	8–8–1	17
18	November 23		8–1	Ottawa Nationals	8–9–1	17
19	November 26		2–1	Ottawa Nationals	8–10–1	17
20	November 28		2–3	Ottawa Nationals	9–10–1	19
21	November 30		2–3	Ottawa Nationals	10–10–1	21
22	December 1	Ottawa Nationals	4–3		11–10–1	23
23	December 3		4–5	Ottawa Nationals	12–10–1	25
24	December 4	Ottawa Nationals	2–7		12–11–1	25
25	December 7		4–2	Ottawa Nationals	12–12–1	25
26	December 9	Ottawa Nationals	1–7		12–13–1	25
27	December 10		6–7	Ottawa Nationals	13–13–1	27
28	December 14		4–3	Ottawa Nationals	13–14–1	27
29	December 15	Ottawa Nationals	4–3		14–14–1	29
30	December 17	Ottawa Nationals	1–3		14–15–1	29
31	December 19	Ottawa Nationals	3–7		14–16–1	29
32	December 21		4–4	Ottawa Nationals	14–16–2	30
33	December 22	Ottawa Nationals	5–7		14–17–2	30
34	December 24		2–6	Ottawa Nationals	15–17–2	32
35	December 26		3–3	Ottawa Nationals	15–17–3	33
36	December 30	Ottawa Nationals	4–2		16–17–3	35
37	December 31	Ottawa Nationals	4–8		16–18–3	35
38	January 4	Ottawa Nationals	4–9		16–19–3	35
39	January 9		5–7	Ottawa Nationals	17–19–3	37
40	January 11		1–4	Ottawa Nationals	18–19–3	39
41	January 12	Ottawa Nationals	3–4		18–20–3	39
42	January 14	Ottawa Nationals	2–3		18–21–3	39
43	January 16	Ottawa Nationals	4–5		18–22–3	39
44	January 18		3–6	Ottawa Nationals	19–22–3	41
45	January 19	Ottawa Nationals	2–4		19–23–3	41
46	January 21	Ottawa Nationals	2–5		19–24–3	41
47	January 23	Ottawa Nationals	3–11		19–25–3	41
48	January 25		4–2	Ottawa Nationals	19–26–3	41
49	January 26	Ottawa Nationals	2–4		19–27–3	41
50	January 28		5–4	Ottawa Nationals	19–28–3	41
51	January 30		5–4	Ottawa Nationals	19–29–3	41
52	February 1	Ottawa Nationals	2–2		19–29–4	42
53	February 2	Ottawa Nationals	1–4		19–30–4	42
54	February 4		3–2	Ottawa Nationals	19–31–4	42
55	February 6		3–5	Ottawa Nationals	20–31–4	44
56	February 8		3–2	Ottawa Nationals	20–32–4	44
57	February 9	Ottawa Nationals	7–4		21–32–4	46
58	February 11	Ottawa Nationals	2–3		21–33–4	46
59	February 14	Ottawa Nationals	6–3		22–33–4	48
60	February 15	Ottawa Nationals	0–3		22–34–4	48
61	February 17	Ottawa Nationals	3–1		23–34–4	50
62	February 20		4–2	Ottawa Nationals	23–35–4	50
63	February 22		6–5	Ottawa Nationals	23–36-4	50
64	February 25		2–3	Ottawa Nationals	24–36–4	52
65	February 27		1–2	Ottawa Nationals	25–36–4	54
66	March 1		1–2	Ottawa Nationals	26–36–4	56
67	March 4		4–6	Ottawa Nationals	27–36–4	58
68	March 6		2–5	Ottawa Nationals	28–36–4	60
69	March 11	Ottawa Nationals	2–4		28–37–4	60
70	March 13	Ottawa Nationals	3–1		29–37–4	62
71	March 16	Ottawa Nationals	6–1		30–37–4	64
72	March 18	Ottawa Nationals	4–2		31–37–4	66
73	March 22		2–4	Ottawa Nationals	32–37–4	68
74	March 25		1–6	Ottawa Nationals	33–37–4	70
75	March 27		2–6	Ottawa Nationals	34–37–4	72
76	March 29		2–5	Ottawa Nationals	35–37–4	74
77	March 31	Ottawa Nationals	2–4		35–38–4	74
78	April 1		6–3	Ottawa Nationals	35–39–4	74

Playoffs

The Nationals would open the playoffs with a best of seven series against the New England Whalers, who had a league high 94 points. The series opened up with two games in New England, and the Whalers took advantage of their home ice, defeating Ottawa 6-3 and 4–3 to take a two-game series lead. The series moved to Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, as the Nationals ownership decided to move their playoff games from Ottawa due to attendance problems. The Nationals use their "home ice" advantage in the third game, defeating the Whalers 4–2 to get back into the series, however, New England easily defeated Ottawa in the fourth game 7–3 to take a 3–1 series lead. The Whalers would close out the series in the fifth game back in New England, as they beat Ottawa 5–4 in overtime to eliminate the Nationals.

New England Whalers 4, Ottawa Nationals 1

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 7	Ottawa Nationals	3–6		0–1
2	April 8	Ottawa Nationals	3–4		0–2
3	April 10		2–4	Ottawa Nationals	1-2
4	April 12		7–3	Ottawa Nationals	1–3
5	April 14	Ottawa Nationals	4–5		1-4

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	75	42	49	91	42
	78	28	40	68	54
	78	24	40	64	28
	72	26	32	58	25
	78	22	33	55	71
	69	18	34	52	28
	74	19	27	46	27
	73	7	35	42	62
	74	22	19	41	78
	78	9	32	41	121
	59	22	13	35	48
	31	12	19	31	2
	69	8	19	27	32
	77	3	16	19	93
	57	10	7	17	44
	41	1	15	16	44
	61	1	14	15	77
	72	3	8	11	79
	28	1	6	7	40
	22	0	5	5	2
	15	1	1	2	44
	7	0	1	1	4
	51	0	1	1	10
	2	0	0	0	0
	30	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA	Save %
	51	3021	25	22	3	187	0	3.71	.882
	30	1709	10	17	1	106	0	3.72	.882
	2	28	0	0	0	3	0	6.43	.824

Playoffs

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	3	3	3	6	4
	5	2	3	5	12
	5	0	5	5	2
	5	3	1	4	2
	5	1	3	4	4
	5	1	2	3	12
	5	1	2	3	0
	5	1	1	2	4
	5	1	1	2	2
	5	1	1	2	8
	5	0	2	2	4
	4	1	0	1	2
	1	1	0	1	0
	5	1	0	1	0
	5	0	1	1	10
	5	0	1	1	7
	4	0	0	0	0
	1	0	0	0	0
	2	0	0	0	0
	2	0	0	0	0
	2	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
	4	223	1	3	17	0	4.57
	2	87	0	1	7	0	4.83

See also

• 1972–73 WHA season

References

• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• Ottawa Nationals Attendance Figures (Archived 2009-10-21)

Notes and References

1. Book: World Hockey Association . World Hockey Association . 1972 . WHA 1972-73 Media Guide . World Hockey Association.
2. Book: World Hockey Association . World Hockey Association . 1973 . WHA 1973-74 Media Guide . World Hockey Association.
3. Book: Michel . Doug . Left Wing and a Prayer: Birth Pains of a World Hockey Franchise . 1974 . Excalibur . Ottawa.