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1974–75 NHL season
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1974–75 NHL season
The 1974–75 NHL season was the 58th season of the National Hockey League. Two new teams, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts, were added, increasing the number of teams to 18. To accommodate the new teams, the NHL re-organized its divisional structure and playoff format. The regular season was expanded to 80 games per team (which would be the case until 1992–93). The Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year.
The Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts were added as expansion teams. The 1974 NHL expansion draft was held on June 12 to fill the rosters of the two new teams.
With the number of teams increased to 18, the NHL bumped up the number of regular season games from 78 to 80, and split the previously two-division league into two conferences with four divisions. Because the new conferences and divisions had little to do with North American geography, geographical references were removed until 1993–94. The East Division became the Prince of Wales Conference and consisted of the Adams Division and Norris Division. The West Division became the Clarence Campbell Conference and consisted of the Patrick Division and Smythe Division. The Capitals had the worst season ever recorded in the history of major professional hockey, and the third worst in the postwar era the following season, while the Scouts the following season will have the fifth worst record of the postwar era. The Clarence S. Campbell Bowl and Prince of Wales Trophy (previously awarded to the first-place finishers of the West Division and East Division respectively) now became awarded to the first-place finishers of the Campbell Conference and the Wales Conference, respectively. With the 14 teams playing concurrently in the rival World Hockey Association in that same season, there were 32 combined professional hockey teams playing in North America.
In early 1975, newspapers reported that the California Golden Seals and Pittsburgh Penguins were to be relocated to Denver and Seattle respectively, in an arrangement that would have seen the two teams sold to groups in those cities that had already been awarded "conditional" franchises for the 1976–77 season. After staunchly rejecting previous franchise relocation attempts, league president Clarence Campbell saw this as a method by which the NHL might extricate itself from two problem markets, while honoring the expansion commitments it had made. The Penguins ended up staying in Pittsburgh (and ultimately, over time, made Pittsburgh one of the NHL's stronger markets), while the Golden Seals moved to Cleveland in 1976 to become the Cleveland Barons before merging with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978. The Scouts gave up on Kansas City after two seasons and moved to Denver to become the Colorado Rockies in 1976 before moving east to East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1982 and becoming the New Jersey Devils; Denver returned to the NHL in 1995 when the Quebec Nordiques moved there and became the Colorado Avalanche, where they remain to this day. Seattle was later awarded an expansion team, the Seattle Kraken, in 2018 that began play in 2021.
The 1974 NHL amateur draft was held on May 28–30. For the first time, the draft was held at the NHL offices in Montreal, Quebec. Greg Joly was selected first overall by the Washington Capitals.
For the first time ever in the National Hockey League, there was a three-way tie for first place overall. The respective divisional leaders of the Norris (Montreal Canadiens), Patrick (Philadelphia Flyers), and Adams (Buffalo Sabres) all had 113 points. By virtue of having the most wins, the Flyers were accorded the league's best record and held home-ice advantage in the playoffs, where they eventually met the Sabres in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Vancouver Canucks, which had been playing in the original East Division since they debuted in the league, were moved over to the Campbell Conference and led the way in the Smythe Division with a meager 86 points.
Bobby Orr won the scoring title for the second time, the only defenceman in the history of the NHL to accomplish this feat.
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1974–75 NHL season
The 1974–75 NHL season was the 58th season of the National Hockey League. Two new teams, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts, were added, increasing the number of teams to 18. To accommodate the new teams, the NHL re-organized its divisional structure and playoff format. The regular season was expanded to 80 games per team (which would be the case until 1992–93). The Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year.
The Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts were added as expansion teams. The 1974 NHL expansion draft was held on June 12 to fill the rosters of the two new teams.
With the number of teams increased to 18, the NHL bumped up the number of regular season games from 78 to 80, and split the previously two-division league into two conferences with four divisions. Because the new conferences and divisions had little to do with North American geography, geographical references were removed until 1993–94. The East Division became the Prince of Wales Conference and consisted of the Adams Division and Norris Division. The West Division became the Clarence Campbell Conference and consisted of the Patrick Division and Smythe Division. The Capitals had the worst season ever recorded in the history of major professional hockey, and the third worst in the postwar era the following season, while the Scouts the following season will have the fifth worst record of the postwar era. The Clarence S. Campbell Bowl and Prince of Wales Trophy (previously awarded to the first-place finishers of the West Division and East Division respectively) now became awarded to the first-place finishers of the Campbell Conference and the Wales Conference, respectively. With the 14 teams playing concurrently in the rival World Hockey Association in that same season, there were 32 combined professional hockey teams playing in North America.
In early 1975, newspapers reported that the California Golden Seals and Pittsburgh Penguins were to be relocated to Denver and Seattle respectively, in an arrangement that would have seen the two teams sold to groups in those cities that had already been awarded "conditional" franchises for the 1976–77 season. After staunchly rejecting previous franchise relocation attempts, league president Clarence Campbell saw this as a method by which the NHL might extricate itself from two problem markets, while honoring the expansion commitments it had made. The Penguins ended up staying in Pittsburgh (and ultimately, over time, made Pittsburgh one of the NHL's stronger markets), while the Golden Seals moved to Cleveland in 1976 to become the Cleveland Barons before merging with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978. The Scouts gave up on Kansas City after two seasons and moved to Denver to become the Colorado Rockies in 1976 before moving east to East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1982 and becoming the New Jersey Devils; Denver returned to the NHL in 1995 when the Quebec Nordiques moved there and became the Colorado Avalanche, where they remain to this day. Seattle was later awarded an expansion team, the Seattle Kraken, in 2018 that began play in 2021.
The 1974 NHL amateur draft was held on May 28–30. For the first time, the draft was held at the NHL offices in Montreal, Quebec. Greg Joly was selected first overall by the Washington Capitals.
For the first time ever in the National Hockey League, there was a three-way tie for first place overall. The respective divisional leaders of the Norris (Montreal Canadiens), Patrick (Philadelphia Flyers), and Adams (Buffalo Sabres) all had 113 points. By virtue of having the most wins, the Flyers were accorded the league's best record and held home-ice advantage in the playoffs, where they eventually met the Sabres in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Vancouver Canucks, which had been playing in the original East Division since they debuted in the league, were moved over to the Campbell Conference and led the way in the Smythe Division with a meager 86 points.
Bobby Orr won the scoring title for the second time, the only defenceman in the history of the NHL to accomplish this feat.