1973–74 Cleveland Crusaders season explained

Attendance:	6,212 (66.8%)
League:	WHA
Season:	1973–74
Year:	1973
Team:	Cleveland Crusaders
Record:	37–32–9
Homerecord:	27-8-4
Roadrecord:	10-24-5
Division:	Eastern
Divisionrank:	3rd
Goalsfor:	266
Goalsagainst:	264
Goalsleader:	Gary Jarrett (31)
Assistsleader:	Gary Jarrett (39)
Pointsleader:	Gary Jarrett (70)
Pimleader:	Paul Shmyr (165)
Winsleader:	Gerry Cheevers (30)
Gaaleader:	Gerry Cheevers (3.03)

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]}

Regular season

Game log

Regular season schedule
No.	R	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
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
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
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
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
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

^[3]

Playoffs

Toronto Toros 4, Cleveland Crusaders 1 - Division Semifinals

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 7		0–4		0–1
2	April 9		3–4		0–2
3	April 12		4–2		0–3
4	April 13		2–3 OT		1–3
5	April 15		1–4		1–4

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG LW 75 31 39 70 68 0 11 0 4 C 76 23 35 58 26 0 4 0 7 LW 73 23 33 56 90 0 3 1 3 C 69 20 36 56 94 0 5 0 3 LW 78 23 27 50 26 0 3 2 5 C 49 18 27 45 2 0 6 0 3 D 78 13 31 44 165 0 3 0 0 D 76 7 31 38 26 0 1 0 0 D 68 12 23 35 47 0 3 0 1 RW 69 15 18 33 14 0 6 3 2 RW 76 15 14 29 117 0 1 0 2 C 23 19 7 26 7 0 4 0 4 D 44 5 21 26 37 0 1 0 0 LW/C 30 13 9 22 13 0 1 0 1 LW 67 4 14 18 4 0 1 0 1 C 43 8 9 17 30 0 1 0 1 LW 53 8 9 17 70 0 0 0 0 D 76 3 7 10 39 0 1 0 0 C 13 3 5 8 6 0 1 0 0 D 66 1 7 8 51 0 0 0 0 LW 17 2 2 4 16 0 0 0 0 RW 10 0 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 D 13 0 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 LW 4 0 1 1 7 0 0 0 0 G 22 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 C 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 D 25 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 G 59 0 0 0 30 0 0 0 0 D 9 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 D 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO 3562 59 30 20 6 180 3.03 4 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 D 5 0 4 4 31 0 0 0 C 5 3 0 3 2 0 0 0 D 5 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 LW 5 1 1 2 13 0 0 0 LW 5 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 RW 5 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 LW 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 D 5 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 RW 5 1 0 1 11 0 0 0 LW/C 5 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 LW 5 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 D 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 C 5 0 1 1 39 0 0 0 C 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 C 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 G 5 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 D 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 D 5 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 C 5 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO 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)		Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
2	24	George Pesut (D)		Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
3	36	Robbie Neale (F)		Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
4	49	Russ Walker (RW)		Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
5	62	Rich Latulippe (F)		Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
6	75	Bob Smulders (F)		Peterborough Petes (OHA)
7	88	Ron Serafini (D)		St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
8	100	Michel Latrielle (D)		Montreal Red White and Blue (QMJHL)
9	111	Bruce Greig (LW)		Vancouver Nats (WCHL)
10	120	Henry Durkin (G)		Swift Current Broncos (WCHL)

See also

• 1973–74 WHA season

Notes and References

1. Book: World Hockey Association . World Hockey Association . 1973 . WHA 1973-74 Media Guide . World Hockey Association.
2. Book: World Hockey Association . World Hockey Association . 1974 . WHA 1974-75 Media Guide . World Hockey Association.
3. Web site: 1973–74 Cleveland Crusaders Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-30 .
4. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-30 . 1973-74 Cleveland Crusaders Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.
5. Web site: 1973 WHA Amateur Draft . hockeyDB.com . December 19, 2018.