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

1973–74 New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights
Division6th Eastern
1973–74 record32–42–4
Home record22-16-1
Road record10-26-3
Goals for268
Goals against313
Team information
General managerJerry De Lise (Managing Director of Hockey)
CoachCamille Henry (6-12-2)
Harry Howell (26-30-2)
CaptainNorm Ferguson
Alternate captainsKen Block
Andre Lacroix
Garry Peters
ArenaMadison Square Garden (New York Golden Blades, to 20 November)
Cherry Hill Arena (Jersey Knights, remainder of season)
Average attendance2,585 (30.1%)
Team leaders
GoalsAndre Lacroix (31)
AssistsAndre Lacroix (80)
PointsAndre Lacroix (111)
Penalty minutesKevin Morrison (132)
WinsJoe Junkin (21)
Goals against averageJoe Junkin (3.79)

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]

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Eastern Division
GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
New England Whalers 78 43 31 4 291 260 875 90
Toronto Toros 78 41 33 4 304 272 871 86
Cleveland Crusaders 78 37 32 9 266 264 1007 83
Chicago Cougars 78 38 35 5 271 273 1041 81
Quebec Nordiques 78 38 36 4 306 280 909 80
NY Golden Blades / Jersey Knights 78 32 42 4 268 313 933 68

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
7-Andre Lacroix C 78 31 80 111 54 0 11 0 2
4-Kevin Morrison D 78 24 43 67 132 0 5 2 0
12-Wayne Rivers RW 73 30 27 57 20 0 5 0 1
25-Gene Peacosh LW 68 21 32 53 17 0 5 0 4
15-Brian Morenz C 75 20 30 50 44 0 1 2 5
17-Ken Block D 74 3 43 46 22 0 1 0 0
10-Bob Jones LW 78 17 28 45 20 0 6 0 1
18-Mike Laughton C 71 20 18 38 34 0 1 1 4
14-Brian Bradley LW 78 15 23 38 12 0 3 1 1
9-Norm Ferguson RW 75 15 21 36 12 0 3 0 4
21-Don Herriman LW 44 11 21 32 59 0 2 0 1
19-Brian Perry C 71 20 11 31 19 0 3 1 4
3-Harry Howell D 65 3 23 26 24 0 0 0 2
6-Bobby Sheehan C 50 12 8 20 8 0 5 0 1
26-Bob Brown D 59 7 13 20 38 0 1 0 1
11-Craig Reichmuth LW 72 10 8 18 114 0 0 0 0
8-Garry Peters C 34 2 5 7 18 0 0 0 0
20-Ted Scharf RW 63 4 2 6 107 0 0 0 1
5-Dean Boylan D 61 1 5 6 112 0 0 0 0
24-Bill Speer D 66 1 3 4 30 0 0 0 0
2-Bob Winograd D 7 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
36-Joe Junkin G 53 0 1 1 7 0 0 0 0
30-Gary Kurt G 20 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
23-Ray LaRose D 18 0 1 1 20 0 0 0 0
28-Bob Barber D 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
22-Claude Chartre C 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19-Lee Inglis LW 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1-Jim McLeod G 10 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
36-Joe Junkin 3122 53 21 25 4 197 3.79 1
30-Gary Kurt 1089 20 8 10 0 75 4.13 0
1-Jim McLeod 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;

Awards and records

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)  Canada Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
3 28 John Wensink (LW)  Netherlands Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
5 54 Doug Marit (D)  Canada Regina Pats (WCHL)
6 67 Dennis Ververgaert (RW)  Canada London Knights (OHA)
7 80 Lowell Ostlund (D)  Canada Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
8 93 Paul Granchukoff (F)  United States Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
9 104 Rick Austin (RW)  Canada Swift Current Broncos (WCHL)
10 115 Brian Dick (C)  Canada Winnipeg Jets (WCHL)

Farm teams

See also

References

  1. ^ "N.Y. Blades Now Jersey Knights". The Montreal Gazette. November 21, 1973. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  2. ^ World Hockey Association (1973). WHA 1973-74 Media Guide. World Hockey Association.
  3. ^ World Hockey Association (1974). WHA 1974-75 Media Guide. World Hockey Association.
  4. ^ "1973–74 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
  5. ^ "1973-74 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
  6. ^ "1973 WHA Amateur Draft". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved December 19, 2018.