1973–74 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights season explained

Arena:	Madison Square Garden (New York Golden Blades, to 20 November) Cherry Hill Arena (Jersey Knights, remainder of season)
Attendance:	2,585 (30.1%)
League:	WHA
Season:	1973–74
Year:	1973
Team:	New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights
Record:	32–42–4
Homerecord:	22-16-1
Roadrecord:	10-26-3
Division:	Eastern
Divisionrank:	6th
Generalmanager:	Jerry De Lise (Managing Director of Hockey)
Coach:	Camille Henry (6-12-2) Harry Howell (26-30-2)
Goalsfor:	268
Goalsagainst:	313
Goalsleader:	Andre Lacroix (31)
Assistsleader:	Andre Lacroix (80)
Pointsleader:	Andre Lacroix (111)
Pimleader:	Kevin Morrison (132)
Winsleader:	Joe Junkin (21)
Gaaleader:	Joe Junkin (3.79)
Next Season:	1974–75

The 1973–74 New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights season was the second season of operation of the franchise in the World Hockey Association.

The club was known as the New York Raiders in the previous season. With a change in ownership, the financially challenged team was renamed the New York Golden Blades for the start of this season. The team drew as few as 500 ticket buyers to some home games, and the latest (of 18) owners folded operations. The league took over operations and moved the team to the Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey on November 21, 1973, renaming the franchise the Jersey Knights.^[1]

This was the last season of operation in the Northeast megalopolis area, as the franchise relocated to San Diego, California, becoming the San Diego Mariners for the 1974–75 WHA season.^{[2] [3]}

Regular season

Game log

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

^[4]

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG C 78 31 80 111 54 0 11 0 2 D 78 24 43 67 132 0 5 2 0 RW 73 30 27 57 20 0 5 0 1 LW 68 21 32 53 17 0 5 0 4 C 75 20 30 50 44 0 1 2 5 D 74 3 43 46 22 0 1 0 0 LW 78 17 28 45 20 0 6 0 1 C 71 20 18 38 34 0 1 1 4 LW 78 15 23 38 12 0 3 1 1 RW 75 15 21 36 12 0 3 0 4 LW 44 11 21 32 59 0 2 0 1 C 71 20 11 31 19 0 3 1 4 D 65 3 23 26 24 0 0 0 2 C 50 12 8 20 8 0 5 0 1 D 59 7 13 20 38 0 1 0 1 LW 72 10 8 18 114 0 0 0 0 C 34 2 5 7 18 0 0 0 0 RW 63 4 2 6 107 0 0 0 1 D 61 1 5 6 112 0 0 0 0 D 66 1 3 4 30 0 0 0 0 D 7 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 G 53 0 1 1 7 0 0 0 0 G 20 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 D 18 0 1 1 20 0 0 0 0 D 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 C 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 LW 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G 10 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO 3122 53 21 25 4 197 3.79 1 1089 20 8 10 0 75 4.13 0 516 10 3 7 0 36 4.19 0 Team: 4727 78 32 42 4 308 3.91 1

^[5]

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

Jim McLeod traded to Los Angeles Sharks for Russ Gillow & Earl Heiskala, January, 1974. Earl Heiskala refused to report and was suspended.

Bobby Sheehan to Edmonton Oilers for future considerations (Bob Falkenburg), March, 1974.

Draft picks

New York's draft picks at the 1973 WHA Amateur Draft.^[6]

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	16	Al Sims (D)		Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
3	28	John Wensink (LW)		Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
5	54	Doug Marit (D)		Regina Pats (WCHL)
6	67	Dennis Ververgaert (RW)		London Knights (OHA)
7	80	Lowell Ostlund (D)		Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
8	93	Paul Granchukoff (F)		Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
9	104	Rick Austin (RW)		Swift Current Broncos (WCHL)
10	115	Brian Dick (C)		Winnipeg Jets (WCHL)

See also

• 1973–74 WHA season

Notes and References

1. News: N.Y. Blades Now Jersey Knights . . 24 January 2020 . 21 November 1973.
2. Book: World Hockey Association . World Hockey Association . 1973 . WHA 1973-74 Media Guide . World Hockey Association.
3. Book: World Hockey Association . World Hockey Association . 1974 . WHA 1974-75 Media Guide . World Hockey Association.
4. Web site: 1973–74 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-29 .
5. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-29 . 1973-74 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.
6. Web site: 1973 WHA Amateur Draft . hockeyDB.com . December 19, 2018.