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1972–73 Quebec Nordiques season

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1972–73 Quebec Nordiques
Division5th Eastern
1972–73 record33–40–5
Home record22–12–5
Road record11–28–0
Goals for276
Goals against313
Team information
General managerMarius Fortier
CoachMaurice Richard (1–1–0)
Maurice Filion (32–39–5)
CaptainJ. C. Tremblay
Alternate captainsJean-Guy Gendron
Mike Harvey
Rene LeClerc
ArenaQuebec Coliseum
Average attendance6,923 (69.2%)
Team leaders
GoalsAlain Caron (36)
AssistsJ. C. Tremblay (75)
PointsJ. C. Tremblay (89)
Penalty minutesPierre Roy (169)
WinsSerge Aubry (22)
Goals against averageSerge Aubry (3.59)

The 1972–73 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques' first season, as they were one of the original teams in the newly created WHA. The Nordiques franchise was originally awarded to a group in San Francisco, California, and was named the San Francisco Sharks, however, funding collapsed prior to the start of the season, and the WHA sold the organization to a Quebec City group led by Marcel Aubut and Paul Racine. They named the club the Nordiques due to the northern location of the team.[1][2]

Regular season

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The Nordiques would name former Montreal Canadiens great Maurice Richard the head coach of the club, and played their first ever game on October 11, 1972, losing 2–0 on the road to the Cleveland Crusaders. The Nordiques would win their home opener, shutting out the Alberta Oilers 6–0 at Le Colisée. After the game, Richard would step down from head coaching duties, as he was not comfortable doing the job, and Maurice Filion would take over. The Nords would end up just missing the playoffs, finishing the year with a 33–40–5 record, earning them 71 points, 3 behind the Ottawa Nationals for the final playoff position in the Eastern Division.

Offensively, Quebec was led by defenceman J. C. Tremblay, who led the WHA in assists with 75 and led the Nordiques with 89 points. Alain Caron would score a team high 36 goals. Michel Parizeau and Andre Gaudette would each break the 70 point barrier, recording 73 points and 71 respectively. Pierre Roy would lead the club with 169 penalty minutes, while Michel Rouleau would get 142 in 52 games after being acquired by the Philadelphia Blazers.

In goal, Serge Aubry would get the majority of playing time, earning a club high 25 wins and a team best 3.60 GAA along with 2 shutouts.

Season standings

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Eastern Division
GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
New England Whalers 78 46 30 2 318 263 858 94
Cleveland Crusaders 78 43 32 3 287 239 1095 89
Philadelphia Blazers 78 38 40 0 288 305 1260 76
Ottawa Nationals 78 35 39 4 279 301 1067 74
Quebec Nordiques 78 33 40 5 276 313 1354 71
New York Raiders 78 33 43 2 303 334 900 68

Schedule and results

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# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
1 October 11 Quebec Nordiques 0–2 Cleveland Crusaders 0–1–0 0
2 October 13 Alberta Oilers 0–6 Quebec Nordiques 1–1–0 2
3 October 19 Quebec Nordiques 4–3 New England Whalers 2–1–0 4
4 October 21 New England Whalers 4–6 Quebec Nordiques 3–1–0 6
5 October 22 Ottawa Nationals 3–2 Quebec Nordiques 3–2–0 6
6 October 24 Houston Aeros 3–5 Quebec Nordiques 4–2–0 8
7 October 26 Minnesota Fighting Saints 4–5 Quebec Nordiques 5–2–0 10
8 October 29 Cleveland Crusaders 2–2 Quebec Nordiques 5–2–1 11
9 October 31 Los Angeles Sharks 4–2 Quebec Nordiques 5–3–1 11
10 November 2 Philadelphia Blazers 3–6 Quebec Nordiques 6–3–1 13
11 November 4 Quebec Nordiques 4–5 Cleveland Crusaders 6–4–1 13
12 November 5 Chicago Cougars 2–3 Quebec Nordiques 7–4–1 15
13 November 8 Winnipeg Jets 2–3 Quebec Nordiques 8–4–1 17
14 November 11 Houston Aeros 1–3 Quebec Nordiques 9–4–1 19
15 November 15 New York Raiders 4–7 Quebec Nordiques 10–4–1 21
16 November 16 Quebec Nordiques 4–5 Minnesota Fighting Saints 10–5–1 21
17 November 18 Quebec Nordiques 1–7 New York Raiders 10–6–1 21
18 November 21 Quebec Nordiques 2–4 Ottawa Nationals 10–7–1 21
19 November 24 Quebec Nordiques 3–5 Winnipeg Jets 10–8–1 21
20 November 26 Quebec Nordiques 1–4 Winnipeg Jets 10–9–1 21
21 November 28 Chicago Cougars 2–6 Quebec Nordiques 11–9–1 23
22 December 2 Quebec Nordiques 2–7 New England Whalers 11–10–1 23
23 December 3 Quebec Nordiques 6–2 Alberta Oilers 12–10–1 25
24 December 5 Quebec Nordiques 4–2 Winnipeg Jets 13–10–1 27
25 December 7 Cleveland Crusaders 3–1 Quebec Nordiques 13–11–1 27
26 December 9 Quebec Nordiques 4–2 Chicago Cougars 14–11–1 29
27 December 10 Quebec Nordiques 6–7 Ottawa Nationals 14–12–1 29
28 December 12 Philadelphia Blazers 2–5 Quebec Nordiques 15–12–1 31
29 December 13 Quebec Nordiques 1–9 New York Raiders 15–13–1 31
30 December 15 Quebec Nordiques 3–6 Cleveland Crusaders 15–14–1 31
31 December 17 Cleveland Crusaders 2–3 Quebec Nordiques 16–14–1 33
32 December 19 Ottawa Nationals 3–7 Quebec Nordiques 17–14–1 35
33 December 23 Los Angeles Sharks 1–2 Quebec Nordiques 18–14–1 37
34 December 24 Quebec Nordiques 2–6 Ottawa Nationals 18–15–1 37
35 December 26 New York Raiders 5–2 Quebec Nordiques 18–16–1 37
36 December 28 New England Whalers 5–3 Quebec Nordiques 18–17–1 37
37 December 29 Quebec Nordiques 3–5 Cleveland Crusaders 18–18–1 37
38 December 31 Ottawa Nationals 4–8 Quebec Nordiques 19–18–1 39
39 January 8 Quebec Nordiques 6–5 New York Raiders 20–18–1 41
40 January 9 Quebec Nordiques 5–7 Ottawa Nationals 20–19–1 41
41 January 12 Quebec Nordiques 2–3 Minnesota Fighting Saints 20–20–1 41
42 January 13 Quebec Nordiques 4–9 Philadelphia Blazers 20–21–1 41
43 January 16 Ottawa Nationals 4–5 Quebec Nordiques 21–21–1 43
44 January 18 New York Raiders 4–4 Quebec Nordiques 21–21–2 44
45 January 20 Minnesota Fighting Saints 10–5 Quebec Nordiques 21–22–2 44
46 January 23 Quebec Nordiques 1–7 Chicago Cougars 21–23–2 44
47 January 24 Philadelphia Blazers 6–4 Quebec Nordiques 21–24–2 44
48 January 26 Winnipeg Jets 2–2 Quebec Nordiques 21–24–3 45
49 January 27 Quebec Nordiques 3–1 New England Whalers 22–24–3 47
50 February 1 Minnesota Fighting Saints 2–4 Quebec Nordiques 23–24–3 49
51 February 4 Quebec Nordiques 4–5 New York Raiders 23–25–3 49
52 February 7 Philadelphia Blazers 0–3 Quebec Nordiques 24–25–3 51
53 February 8 Quebec Nordiques 2–5 Chicago Cougars 24–26–3 51
54 February 10 Quebec Nordiques 4–5 Philadelphia Blazers 24–27–3 51
55 February 11 New England Whalers 2–2 Quebec Nordiques 24–27–4 52
56 February 14 Ottawa Nationals 6–3 Quebec Nordiques 24–28–4 52
57 February 16 Los Angeles Sharks 2–2 Quebec Nordiques 24–28–5 53
58 February 17 New England Whalers 6–4 Quebec Nordiques 24–29–5 53
59 February 20 Chicago Cougars 4–2 Quebec Nordiques 24–30–5 53
60 February 22 Quebec Nordiques 2–4 Houston Aeros 24–31–5 53
61 February 24 Quebec Nordiques 5–3 Los Angeles Sharks 25–31–5 55
62 February 25 Quebec Nordiques 2–4 Los Angeles Sharks 25–32–5 55
63 March 3 Quebec Nordiques 4–3 Houston Aeros 26–32–5 57
64 March 4 Quebec Nordiques 6–3 Houston Aeros 27–32–5 59
65 March 6 Quebec Nordiques 2–3 Los Angeles Sharks 27–33–5 59
66 March 8 Winnipeg Jets 7–4 Quebec Nordiques 27–34–5 59
67 March 9 Quebec Nordiques 3–11 Philadelphia Blazers 27–35–5 59
68 March 11 New York Raiders 1–6 Quebec Nordiques 28–35–5 61
69 March 12 Quebec Nordiques 6–4 Philadelphia Blazers 29–35–5 63
70 March 16 Quebec Nordiques 2–4 Alberta Oilers 29–36–5 63
71 March 17 Quebec Nordiques 0–3 Alberta Oilers 29–37–5 63
72 March 20 Cleveland Crusaders 1–4 Quebec Nordiques 30–37–5 65
73 March 24 Alberta Oilers 4–5 Quebec Nordiques 31–37–5 67
74 March 25 Alberta Oilers 5–4 Quebec Nordiques 31–38–5 67
75 March 27 Quebec Nordiques 2–6 Ottawa Nationals 31–39–5 67
76 March 29 Quebec Nordiques 5–3 Minnesota Fighting Saints 32–39–5 69
77 March 31 Houston Aeros 1–5 Quebec Nordiques 33–39–5 71
78 April 1 Quebec Nordiques 3–8 New England Whalers 33–40–5 71

Player statistics

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Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
J. C. Tremblay D 75 14 75 89 32 0 4 0 3
Michel Parizeau C 75 25 48 73 50 0 10 1 4
Andre Gaudette C 77 27 44 71 12 0 0 5 3
Alain Caron RW 68 36 27 63 14 0 15 0 5
Bobby Guindon LW 71 28 28 56 31 0 3 1 0
Rene Leclerc RW 67 24 28 52 111 0 8 2 0
Jean-Guy Gendron LW 63 17 33 50 113 0 5 0 0
Jean Payette C 71 15 29 44 46 0 8 0 0
Michel Archambault LW 57 12 25 37 36 0 3 0 0
Yves Bergeron RW 65 14 19 33 32 0 3 0 0
Francois Lacombe D 62 10 18 28 123 0 0 0 0
Rejean Giroux RW 59 10 12 22 41 0 4 0 0
Michel Rouleau C 52 7 14 21 142 0 0 1 0
Frank Golembrosky RW 52 8 12 20 44 0 0 0 0
Pierre Roy D 64 7 12 19 169 0 1 0 0
Michel Harvey C 40 6 13 19 14 0 2 0 0
Pierre Guite LW 66 10 8 18 136 0 1 0 0
Jim Blain D 70 1 10 11 78 0 0 0 0
Ken Desjardine D 37 2 6 8 36 0 0 0 0
Paul Larose RW 28 0 7 7 7 0 0 0 0
Guy Dufour RW 9 3 2 5 2 0 1 0 0
Jean-Yves Cartier D 15 0 3 3 8 0 0 0 0
Norm Descoteaux D 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Jacques Lemelin G 9 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Brit Selby LW 7 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0
Serge Aubry G 52 0 0 0 54 0 0 0 0
Richard Brodeur G 24 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
Alan Globensky D 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike McNamara C 19 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Serge Aubry 3036 52 25 22 3 182 3.60 1
Richard Brodeur 1288 24 5 14 2 102 4.75 0
Jacques Lemelin 434 9 3 4 0 29 4.01 0
Team: 4758 78 33 40 5 313 3.95 1

[3]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

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Transactions

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See also

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References

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  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. ^ "1972-73 Quebec Nordiques Statistics – Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2009.