1972–73 Ottawa Nationals season

The 1972–73 Ottawa Nationals season was the Nationals' only season, as they were one of the original teams in the newly created WHA. The Nationals played most of the season in Ottawa, but transferred their playoff games to Toronto. Due to low attendance in Ottawa, an arena lease dispute, and much better attendance in their two playoff games in Toronto, where they averaged over 5000 fans per game, the Nationals relocated to Toronto permanently beginning in the next season. The club was renamed the Toronto Toros.[1][2][3]

1972–73 Ottawa Nationals
Division4th Eastern Division
1972–73 record35–39–4
Home record21–15–3
Road record14–24–1
Goals for279
Goals against301
Team information
General managerA.J. (Buck) Houle
CoachBilly Harris
CaptainGuy Trottier
Alternate captainsWayne Carleton
Rick Sentes
ArenaOttawa Civic Centre (regular season)
Maple Leaf Gardens (playoffs)
Average attendance3,226 (34.7%)
Team leaders
GoalsWayne Carleton (42)
AssistsWayne Carleton (49)
PointsWayne Carleton (91)
Penalty minutesRick Cunningham (121)
WinsGilles Gratton (25)
Goals against averageGilles Gratton (3.71)

Offseason

The Nationals were originally owned by Doug Michel, with rumours he would place the team in either Hamilton or Toronto, however, and he placed the club in Ottawa. After the team was placed to play in Ottawa, Nick Trbovich became the majority owner, with Michel running hockey operations. The club was placed in the six team Eastern Division, with the top four clubs earning a playoff berth.

The Nationals hired former Toronto Maple Leaf Billy Harris to coach the team. Ottawa's most significant signing was Wayne Carleton, who had previously played with the Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and California Golden Seals in the NHL.

Regular season

The first game in WHA history was a match between the Nationals and the Alberta Oilers at the Civic Centre, which Alberta won 7–4, on October 11, 1972. Ottawa recorded their first victory in their fourth game, a 6-2 decision over the Chicago Cougars. The Nationals reached a season high two games over .500 with a 12-10-1 record, before falling into a long slump in which the club won only seven games in their next 31, and dropped into last place in the Eastern Division. Ottawa would play very good hockey down the stretch, winning two-thirds of its remaining games, and finished the season at 35-39-4, earning 74 points and the fourth and final playoff position.

Attendance was an issue for the club, as they drew an average of just over 3000 fans per game, competing against the very popular Ottawa 67's OHA team.

Offensively, Ottawa was led by Carleton, who scored a team high 42 goals and 49 assists for 91 points, which ranked him tenth in league scoring. Twenty-year-old Gavin Kirk earned 68 points in 78 games, while Bob Charlebois earned 64 points. Brian Gibbons had 42 points to lead the team's defencemen, while Rick Cunningham had a team high 121 penalty minutes.

In goal, Gilles Gratton had the majority of playing time, winning 25 games and posting a 3.71 GAA. Veteran Les Binkley backed him up, earning 10 wins and a GAA of 3.72.

Season standings
Eastern Division
GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
New England Whalers784630231826385894
Cleveland Crusaders7843323287239109589
Philadelphia Blazers7838400288305126076
Ottawa Nationals7835394279301106774
Quebec Nordiques7833405276313135471
New York Raiders783343230333490068

Game log
Regular season schedule
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1October 11Alberta Oilers7–4Ottawa Nationals0–1–00
2October 14Ottawa Nationals6–8New York Raiders0–2–00
3October 15Cleveland Crusaders7–5Ottawa Nationals0–3–00
4October 19Chicago Cougars2–6Ottawa Nationals1–3–02
5October 21Ottawa Nationals5–3Cleveland Crusaders2–3–04
6October 22Ottawa Nationals3–2Quebec Nordiques3–3–06
7October 25Ottawa Nationals8–5Los Angeles Sharks4–3–08
8October 26Ottawa Nationals3–7Houston Aeros4–4–08
9October 28Ottawa Nationals5–3Philadelphia Blazers5–4–010
10November 2Los Angeles Sharks1–1Ottawa Nationals5–4–111
11November 5Ottawa Nationals5–3Alberta Oilers6–4–113
12November 9Winnipeg Jets4–1Ottawa Nationals6–5–113
13November 12Philadelphia Blazers1–2Ottawa Nationals7–5–115
14November 16Ottawa Nationals3–6Cleveland Crusaders7–6–115
15November 18Ottawa Nationals2–3New England Whalers7–7–115
16November 20Ottawa Nationals5–7New England Whalers7–8–115
17November 21Quebec Nordiques2–4Ottawa Nationals8–8–117
18November 23Chicago Cougars8–1Ottawa Nationals8–9–117
19November 26Alberta Oilers2–1Ottawa Nationals8–10–117
20November 28Minnesota Fighting Saints2–3Ottawa Nationals9–10–119
21November 30Cleveland Crusaders2–3Ottawa Nationals10–10–121
22December 1Ottawa Nationals4–3Winnipeg Jets11–10–123
23December 3Houston Aeros4–5Ottawa Nationals12–10–125
24December 4Ottawa Nationals2–7New England Whalers12–11–125
25December 7New England Whalers4–2Ottawa Nationals12–12–125
26December 9Ottawa Nationals1–7Philadelphia Blazers12–13–125
27December 10Quebec Nordiques6–7Ottawa Nationals13–13–127
28December 14New York Raiders4–3Ottawa Nationals13–14–127
29December 15Ottawa Nationals4–3Alberta Oilers14–14–129
30December 17Ottawa Nationals1–3Alberta Oilers14–15–129
31December 19Ottawa Nationals3–7Quebec Nordiques14–16–129
32December 21Los Angeles Sharks4–4Ottawa Nationals14–16–230
33December 22Ottawa Nationals5–7New York Raiders14–17–230
34December 24Quebec Nordiques2–6Ottawa Nationals15–17–232
35December 26Houston Aeros3–3Ottawa Nationals15–17–333
36December 30Ottawa Nationals4–2Chicago Cougars16–17–335
37December 31Ottawa Nationals4–8Quebec Nordiques16–18–335
38January 4Ottawa Nationals4–9New York Raiders16–19–335
39January 9Quebec Nordiques5–7Ottawa Nationals17–19–337
40January 11New York Raiders1–4Ottawa Nationals18–19–339
41January 12Ottawa Nationals3–4Philadelphia Blazers18–20–339
42January 14Ottawa Nationals2–3Minnesota Fighting Saints18–21–339
43January 16Ottawa Nationals4–5Quebec Nordiques18–22–339
44January 18Minnesota Fighting Saints3–6Ottawa Nationals19–22–341
45January 19Ottawa Nationals2–4Philadelphia Blazers19–23–341
46January 21Ottawa Nationals2–5Houston Aeros19–24–341
47January 23Ottawa Nationals3–11Houston Aeros19–25–341
48January 25New England Whalers4–2Ottawa Nationals19–26–341
49January 26Ottawa Nationals2–4Minnesota Fighting Saints19–27–341
50January 28Winnipeg Jets5–4Ottawa Nationals19–28–341
51January 30Philadelphia Blazers5–4Ottawa Nationals19–29–341
52February 1Ottawa Nationals2–2Cleveland Crusaders19–29–442
53February 2Ottawa Nationals1–4Chicago Cougars19–30–442
54February 4Cleveland Crusaders3–2Ottawa Nationals19–31–442
55February 6Philadelphia Blazers3–5Ottawa Nationals20–31–444
56February 8New York Raiders3–2Ottawa Nationals20–32–444
57February 9Ottawa Nationals7–4New England Whalers21–32–446
58February 11Ottawa Nationals2–3New York Raiders21–33–446
59February 14Ottawa Nationals6–3Quebec Nordiques22–33–448
60February 15Ottawa Nationals0–3Minnesota Fighting Saints22–34–448
61February 17Ottawa Nationals3–1Chicago Cougars23–34–450
62February 20Los Angeles Sharks4–2Ottawa Nationals23–35–450
63February 22Philadelphia Blazers6–5Ottawa Nationals23–36-450
64February 25Alberta Oilers2–3Ottawa Nationals24–36–452
65February 27Cleveland Crusaders1–2Ottawa Nationals25–36–454
66March 1New York Raiders1–2Ottawa Nationals26–36–456
67March 4Chicago Cougars4–6Ottawa Nationals27–36–458
68March 6Winnipeg Jets2–5Ottawa Nationals28–36–460
69March 11Ottawa Nationals2–4Los Angeles Sharks28–37–460
70March 13Ottawa Nationals3–1Los Angeles Sharks29–37–462
71March 16Ottawa Nationals6–1Winnipeg Jets30–37–464
72March 18Ottawa Nationals4–2Winnipeg Jets31–37–466
73March 22New England Whalers2–4Ottawa Nationals32–37–468
74March 25Minnesota Fighting Saints1–6Ottawa Nationals33–37–470
75March 27Quebec Nordiques2–6Ottawa Nationals34–37–472
76March 29New England Whalers2–5Ottawa Nationals35–37–474
77March 31Ottawa Nationals2–4Cleveland Crusaders35–38–474
78April 1Houston Aeros6–3Ottawa Nationals35–39–474

Playoffs

The Nationals would open the playoffs with a best of seven series against the New England Whalers, who had a league high 94 points. The series opened up with two games in New England, and the Whalers took advantage of their home ice, defeating Ottawa 6-3 and 4–3 to take a two-game series lead. The series moved to Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, as the Nationals ownership decided to move their playoff games from Ottawa due to attendance problems. The Nationals use their "home ice" advantage in the third game, defeating the Whalers 4–2 to get back into the series, however, New England easily defeated Ottawa in the fourth game 7–3 to take a 3–1 series lead. The Whalers would close out the series in the fifth game back in New England, as they beat Ottawa 5–4 in overtime to eliminate the Nationals.

New England Whalers 4, Ottawa Nationals 1
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 7Ottawa Nationals3–6New England Whalers0–1
2April 8Ottawa Nationals3–4New England Whalers0–2
3April 10New England Whalers2–4Ottawa Nationals1-2
4April 12New England Whalers7–3Ottawa Nationals1–3
5April 14Ottawa Nationals4–5New England Whalers1-4

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Wayne Carleton7542499142
Gavin Kirk7828406854
Bob Charlebois7824406428
Guy Trottier7226325825
Bob Leduc7822335571
Steve King6918345228
Tom Martin7419274627
Brian Gibbons737354262
Rick Sentes7422194178
Rick Cunningham7893241121
Jack Gibson5922133548
Ron Climie311219312
Brian Conacher698192732
Ken Stephanson773161993
Tom Simpson571071744
Mike Boland411151644
Mike Amodeo611141577
Steve Warr72381179
Chris Meloff2816740
Ron Riley220552
John Donnelly1511244
Merv Haney70114
Gilles Gratton5101110
Frank Blum20000
Les Binkley300000
Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLTGASOGAASave %
Gilles Gratton5130212522318703.71.882
Les Binkley3017091017110603.72.882
Frank Blum228000306.43.824

Playoffs
Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Wayne Carleton33364
Gavin Kirk523512
Tom Martin50552
Rick Sentes53142
Brian Conacher51344
Brian Gibbons512312
Guy Trottier51230
Bob Charlebois51124
Rick Cunningham51122
Ken Stephanson51128
Bob Leduc50224
Ron Climie41012
Jack Gibson11010
Tom Simpson51010
Mike Amodeo501110
Steve King50117
Les Binkley40000
Mike Boland10000
Gilles Gratton20000
Ron Riley20000
Steve Warr20000
Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLGASOGAA
Les Binkley4223131704.57
Gilles Gratton28701704.83

See also

References
  1. World Hockey Association (1972). WHA 1972-73 Media Guide. World Hockey Association.
  2. World Hockey Association (1973). WHA 1973-74 Media Guide. World Hockey Association.
  3. Michel, Doug (1974). Left Wing and a Prayer: Birth Pains of a World Hockey Franchise. Ottawa: Excalibur.

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