1973–74 Minnesota Fighting Saints season explained

Attendance:	6,584 (40.7%)
League:	WHA
Season:	1973–74
Year:	1973
Team:	Minnesota Fighting Saints
Record:	44–32–2
Homerecord:	26-12-1
Roadrecord:	18-20-1
Division:	West
Divisionrank:	2nd
Goalsfor:	332
Goalsagainst:	275
Goalsleader:	Mike Walton (57)
Assistsleader:	Mike Walton (60)
Pointsleader:	Mike Walton (117)
Pimleader:	Gord Gallant (223)
Winsleader:	Mike Curran (23)
Gaaleader:	Mike Curran (3.27)

The 1973–74 Minnesota Fighting Saints' season was the Minnesota Fighting Saints' second season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA).^{[1] [2]}

Regular season

Game log

Source:^[3]

Regular season schedule
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 12, 1973	5–4	Vancouver Blazers (1973–74)	1–0–0
2	W	October 14, 1973	5–2	@ Toronto Toros (1973–74)	2–0–0
3	T	October 15, 1973	3–3	@ New England Whalers (1973–74)	2–0–1
4	W	October 19, 1973	1–0	New England Whalers (1973–74)	3–0–1
5	L	October 21, 1973	1–2 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74)	3–1–1
6	L	October 24, 1973	2–5	@ New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74)	3–2–1
7	L	October 26, 1973	4–5	Quebec Nordiques (1973–74)	3–3–1
8	W	October 27, 1973	5–2	Winnipeg Jets (1973–74)	4–3–1
9	L	October 30, 1973	1–6	@ Houston Aeros (1973–74)	4–4–1
10	W	November 2, 1973	5–1	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74)	5–4–1
11	L	November 4, 1973	3–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74)	5–5–1
12	W	November 7, 1973	10–1	New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74)	6–5–1
13	W	November 9, 1973	3–1	Vancouver Blazers (1973–74)	7–5–1
14	W	November 11, 1973	6–4	Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74)	8–5–1
15	L	November 13, 1973	2–5	Houston Aeros (1973–74)	8–6–1
16	L	November 15, 1973	5–7	@ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74)	8–7–1
17	W	November 18, 1973	5–2	@ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74)	9–7–1
18	L	November 20, 1973	2–6	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74)	9–8–1
19	W	November 22, 1973	7–5	New England Whalers (1973–74)	10–8–1
20	W	November 25, 1973	5–3	Winnipeg Jets (1973–74)	11–8–1
21	L	November 28, 1973	3–5	@ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74)	11–9–1
22	L	November 30, 1973	1–2	Toronto Toros (1973–74)	11–10–1
23	L	December 2, 1973	1–2	@ New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74)	11–11–1
24	W	December 4, 1973	9–2	Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74)	12–11–1
25	W	December 7, 1973	3–1	Vancouver Blazers (1973–74)	13–11–1
26	W	December 8, 1973	4–1	Quebec Nordiques (1973–74)	14–11–1
27	L	December 9, 1973	1–10	@ Toronto Toros (1973–74)	14–12–1
28	W	December 11, 1973	5–3	@ Chicago Cougars (1973–74)	15–12–1
29	L	December 14, 1973	2–5	Houston Aeros (1973–74)	15–13–1
30	W	December 16, 1973	3–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74)	16–13–1
31	W	December 19, 1973	4–2	@ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74)	17–13–1
32	W	December 21, 1973	4–3	Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74)	18–13–1
33	L	December 22, 1973	1–2	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74)	18–14–1
34	L	December 23, 1973	2–4	Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74)	18–15–1
35	W	December 27, 1973	5–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74)	19–15–1
36	L	December 29, 1973	3–9	Toronto Toros (1973–74)	19–16–1
37	L	December 30, 1973	3–5	Chicago Cougars (1973–74)	19–17–1
38	W	January 5, 1974	6–5	@ Chicago Cougars (1973–74)	20–17–1
39	L	January 6, 1974	4–6	Edmonton Oilers (1973–74)	20–18–1
40	L	January 9, 1974	4–6	Edmonton Oilers (1973–74)	20–19–1
41	W	January 12, 1974	8–6	Toronto Toros (1973–74)	21–19–1
42	L	January 13, 1974	2–4	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74)	21–20–1
43	L	January 15, 1974	1–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74)	21–21–1
44	L	January 19, 1974	2–5	@ New England Whalers (1973–74)	21–22–1
45	L	January 20, 1974	4–5 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74)	21–23–1
46	L	January 23, 1974	1–4	New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74)	21–24–1
47	W	January 25, 1974	6–2	Chicago Cougars (1973–74)	22–24–1
48	W	January 27, 1974	12–2	Winnipeg Jets (1973–74)	23–24–1
49	W	February 2, 1974	4–2	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74)	24–24–1
50	L	February 3, 1974	4–5	@ Toronto Toros (1973–74)	24–25–1
51	W	February 5, 1974	4–1	Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74)	25–25–1
52	W	February 6, 1974	7–2	Chicago Cougars (1973–74)	26–25–1
53	W	February 8, 1974	4–3 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74)	27–25–1
54	W	February 10, 1974	5–2	@ New England Whalers (1973–74)	28–25–1
55	L	February 12, 1974	1–3	Houston Aeros (1973–74)	28–26–1
56	W	February 13, 1974	7–4	Edmonton Oilers (1973–74)	29–26–1
57	W	February 15, 1974	7–1	Winnipeg Jets (1973–74)	30–26–1
58	W	February 17, 1974	6–1	@ Houston Aeros (1973–74)	31–26–1
59	W	February 22, 1974	6–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74)	32–26–1
60	W	February 24, 1974	2–1	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74)	33–26–1
61	W	February 27, 1974	5–4	Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74)	34–26–1
62	T	February 28, 1974	6–6	Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74)	34–26–2
63	W	March 1, 1974	4–0	@ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74)	35–26–2
64	W	March 3, 1974	5–3	Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74)	36–26–2
65	W	March 6, 1974	8–6	New England Whalers (1973–74)	37–26–2
66	W	March 9, 1974	9–5	Quebec Nordiques (1973–74)	38–26–2
67	L	March 10, 1974	5–6	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74)	38–27–2
68	L	March 12, 1974	2–3	@ Houston Aeros (1973–74)	38–28–2
69	L	March 14, 1974	4–7	@ Chicago Cougars (1973–74)	38–29–2
70	L	March 15, 1974	3–5	@ New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74)	38–30–2
71	W	March 17, 1974	5–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74)	39–30–2
72	L	March 19, 1974	4–5	@ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74)	39–31–2
73	W	March 22, 1974	5–2	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74)	40–31–2
74	W	March 24, 1974	5–3	@ Houston Aeros (1973–74)	41–31–2
75	W	March 27, 1974	6–4	New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (1973–74)	42–31–2
76	L	March 29, 1974	1–3	Edmonton Oilers (1973–74)	42–32–2
77	W	March 31, 1974	5–2	Houston Aeros (1973–74)	43–32–2
78	W	April 3, 1974	9–0	Vancouver Blazers (1973–74)	44–32–2

Playoffs

Minnesota Fighting Saints 4, Edmonton Oilers 1 - Semifinals

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

Houston Aeros 4, Minnesota Fighting Saints 2 - Division Finals

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 18		5–4 OT		0–1
2	April 20		2–5		1–1
3	April 21		1–4		1–2
4	April 28		4–1		2–2
5	April 29		4–9		3–2
6	May 1		3–1		4–2

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG C 78 57 60 117 88 0 9 9 7 C 78 42 53 95 16 0 15 0 6 LW 73 40 38 78 37 0 12 1 3 RW 71 26 32 58 23 0 3 0 5 C 77 17 38 55 9 0 2 4 4 C 71 15 39 54 30 0 1 1 2 C 68 21 29 50 4 0 2 0 4 D 77 6 43 49 192 0 0 0 1 RW 78 14 34 48 81 0 3 0 0 LW 77 23 23 46 100 0 1 1 3 D 71 10 35 45 82 0 1 3 1 D 71 10 28 38 98 0 0 1 3 C 74 11 25 36 36 0 4 0 1 D 71 8 28 36 34 0 4 0 0 C 45 8 23 31 24 0 1 0 1 LW 72 7 15 22 223 0 0 0 2 RW 65 14 6 20 12 0 3 0 1 D 41 1 14 15 14 0 0 0 0 D 67 2 7 9 71 0 0 0 0 G 40 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 G 40 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 D 8 0 0 0 21 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO 2382 40 23 14 2 130 3.27 2 2290 40 21 18 0 137 3.59 1 42 2 0 0 0 5 7.14 0 Team: 4714 78 44 32 2 272 3.46 3

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG C 11 10 8 18 16 0 0 3 C 11 6 7 13 4 0 0 0 LW 11 5 5 10 12 0 0 0 D 11 3 6 9 27 0 0 1 C 11 4 4 8 8 0 0 1 D 11 1 7 8 9 0 0 0 RW 11 3 2 5 18 0 0 1 RW 11 2 3 5 4 0 0 0 C 11 1 4 5 4 0 0 0 C 11 1 4 5 4 0 0 0 D 11 1 2 3 6 0 0 0 LW 11 1 2 3 67 0 0 0 RW 10 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 C 10 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 D 11 0 1 1 22 0 0 0 D 7 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 LW 10 0 0 0 20 0 0 0 G 5 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 G 7 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 LW 3 0 0 0 25 0 0 0 D 7 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO 372 7 4 2 25 4.03 0 289 5 2 3 14 2.91 0 Team: 661 11 6 5 39 3.54 0

Source:^[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;

Transactions

Rob Walton was traded to Vancouver Blazers for Jean Tetreault, January 1974.

Bill Goldthorpe was signed to a contract, May 1974.

Draft picks

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

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	7	Bob Gainey (F)		Peterborough Petes (OHA)
2	21	Rick Middleton (F)		Oshawa Generals (OHA)
3	33	Bob Gassoff (D)		Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
4	46	Steve Langdon (RW)		London Knights (OHA)
5	59	Nelson Pyatt (C)		Oshawa Generals (OHA)
6	72	John Flesch (LW)		Lake Superior State University (CCHA)
7	85	Tom Machowski (D)		University of Wisconsin (WCHA)
8	97	Bob Young (D)		University of Denver (WCHA)
9	108	Neil Korzack (F)		Peterborough Petes (OHA)
10	118	Pat Phippen (LW)		St. Paul Bruins

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 Minnesota Fighting Saints Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-07-02 .
4. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-07-02 . 1973-74 Minnesota Fighting Saints Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.
5. Web site: 1973 WHA Amateur Draft . hockeyDB.com . December 19, 2018.