Wikipedia

1972–73 Winnipeg Jets season

The 1972–73 Winnipeg Jets season was their first season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Jets' first player signed was Norm Beaudin ("the Original Jet") and their first major signing was Bobby Hull.[1][2]

1972–73 Winnipeg Jets
Western Division champions
League2nd WHA
Division1st Western
1972–73 record43–31–4
Home record26–11–2
Road record17–20–2
Goals for285
Goals against249
Team information
General managerAnnis Stukus
CoachBobby Hull
Nick Mickoski
CaptainAb McDonald
Alternate captainsBill Sutherland
Bob Woytowich
ArenaWinnipeg Arena
Average attendance6,102 (55.5%)
Team leaders
GoalsBobby Hull (51)
AssistsNorm Beaudin (65)
PointsBobby Hull (103)
Norm Beaudin (103)
Penalty minutesSteve Cuddie (121)
WinsErnie Wakely (26)
Goals against averageJoe Daley (2.89)

Offseason

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Bobby Hull

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Long unhappy because of his relatively poor salary in the period when he was hockey's preeminent superstar, Hull responded to overtures from the upstart World Hockey Association's Winnipeg Jets in 1972 by jesting that he'd jump to them for a million dollars, a sum then considered absurd. Gathering the other league owners together to contribute to the unprecedented amount on the grounds that inking such a major star would give instant credibility to the new rival league that was competing directly against the entrenched NHL, Jets' owner Ben Hatskin agreed to the sum and signed Hull for a contract worth $1,000,000 over ten years. Although his debut with Winnipeg was held up in litigation by the NHL, Hull instantly became the WHA's greatest star.

Regular season

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When the Jets played their first game on October 12 in New York against the Raiders, the Jets were without Bobby Hull. He was in court battling his former team, the Chicago Black Hawks over his new contract. The Jets would still win that first game 6–4. Three days later, the Jets would make their home debut losing to the Alberta Oilers 5–2. Bobby Hull won his court battle and joined the Jets 15 games into the season. Bobby Hull captured the WHA's first MVP award, by scoring 51 goals. The Jets won the Western Division with a 43–31–4 record.

Season standings

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Western Division
GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
Winnipeg Jets784331428524975790
Houston Aeros7839354284269136382
Los Angeles Sharks7837356259250147780
Minnesota Fighting Saints783837325026984379
Alberta Oilers7838373269256113479
Chicago Cougars782650224529581154

Schedule and results

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1972–73 regular season[3]
October: 6–3–1, 13 points (home: 4–1–1; road: 2–2–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
1WOctober 12, 19726–4@ New York Raiders1–0–0
2WOctober 13, 19724–3@ Minnesota Fighting Saints2–0–0
3LOctober 15, 19722–5Alberta Oilers2–1–0
4LOctober 17, 19722–3 OT@ Alberta Oilers2–2–0
5TOctober 20, 19721–1Minnesota Fighting Saints2–2–1
6WOctober 22, 19726–3Philadelphia Blazers3–2–1
7WOctober 24, 19725–3Philadelphia Blazers4–2–1
8WOctober 27, 19724–2Chicago Cougars5–2–1
9WOctober 29, 19725–3Houston Aeros6–2–1
10LOctober 31, 19721–3@ Chicago Cougars6–3–1
November: 10–7–1, 21 points (home: 6–2–0; road: 4–5–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
11LNovember 1, 19720–3@ Minnesota Fighting Saints6–4–1
12LNovember 3, 19726–9New York Raiders6–5–1
13WNovember 5, 19723–1New York Raiders7–5–1
14LNovember 6, 19722–6@ New England Whalers7–6–1
15LNovember 8, 19722–3@ Quebec Nordiques7–7–1
16WNovember 9, 19724–1@ Ottawa Nationals8–7–1
17LNovember 10, 19721–5Minnesota Fighting Saints8–8–1
18WNovember 12, 19725–2Los Angeles Sharks9–8–1
19WNovember 14, 19728–0Los Angeles Sharks10–8–1
20LNovember 15, 19721–3@ Alberta Oilers10–9–1
21WNovember 17, 19725–1@ Los Angeles Sharks11–9–1
22WNovember 19, 19724–3@ Los Angeles Sharks12–9–1
23WNovember 21, 19724–2@ Houston Aeros13–9–1
24LNovember 23, 19725–6 OT@ Houston Aeros13–10–1
25WNovember 24, 19725–3Quebec Nordiques14–10–1
26WNovember 26, 19724–1Quebec Nordiques15–10–1
27WNovember 28, 19723–0Alberta Oilers16–10–1
28TNovember 30, 19723–3@ Alberta Oilers16–10–2
December: 6–7–0, 12 points (home: 4–2–0; road: 2–5–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
29LDecember 1, 19723–4Ottawa Nationals16–11–2
30WDecember 3, 19725–1Minnesota Fighting Saints17–11–2
31LDecember 5, 19722–4Quebec Nordiques17–12–2
32WDecember 6, 19727–1Chicago Cougars18–12–2
33WDecember 8, 19726–2Houston Aeros19–12–2
34WDecember 9, 19723–2 OT@ Cleveland Crusaders20–12–2
35LDecember 11, 19723–4@ New England Whalers20–13–2
36LDecember 13, 19724–7@ Philadelphia Blazers20–14–2
37LDecember 15, 19724–6@ Philadelphia Blazers20–15–2
38WDecember 17, 19724–3@ New York Raiders21–15–2
39LDecember 21, 19720–3@ Minnesota Fighting Saints21–16–2
40LDecember 22, 19722–3@ Chicago Cougars21–17–2
41WDecember 26, 19723–2Chicago Cougars22–17–2
January: 7–4–1, 15 points (home: 5–1–0; road: 2–3–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
42LJanuary 1, 19733–7@ Alberta Oilers22–18–2
43WJanuary 7, 19736–2@ Minnesota Fighting Saints23–18–2
44WJanuary 10, 19736–1Alberta Oilers24–18–2
45WJanuary 12, 19735–3Cleveland Crusaders25–18–2
46WJanuary 14, 19733–1Cleveland Crusaders26–18–2
47WJanuary 16, 19733–1Minnesota Fighting Saints27–18–2
48WJanuary 19, 19736–2New England Whalers28–18–2
49LJanuary 21, 19732–7New England Whalers28–19–2
50LJanuary 23, 19734–5 OT@ Cleveland Crusaders28–20–2
51LJanuary 24, 19731–6@ New England Whalers28–21–2
52TJanuary 26, 19732–2@ Quebec Nordiques28–21–3
53WJanuary 28, 19735–4@ Ottawa Nationals29–21–3
February: 9–2–0, 18 points (home: 4–1–0; road: 5–1–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
54LFebruary 2, 19733–4Alberta Oilers29–22–3
55WFebruary 4, 19735–3@ Alberta Oilers30–22–3
56LFebruary 7, 19732–5@ Houston Aeros30–23–3
57WFebruary 8, 19733–1@ Houston Aeros31–23–3
58WFebruary 10, 19736–5 OT@ Los Angeles Sharks32–23–3
59WFebruary 11, 19733–0@ Los Angeles Sharks33–23–3
60WFebruary 15, 19737–2@ Chicago Cougars34–23–3
61WFebruary 16, 19737–0Houston Aeros35–23–3
62WFebruary 18, 19734–2Houston Aeros36–23–3
63WFebruary 25, 19735–3Philadelphia Blazers37–23–3
64WFebruary 27, 19735–1Chicago Cougars38–23–3
March: 5–7–1, 11 points (home: 3–4–1; road: 2–3–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
65WMarch 2, 19732–1Los Angeles Sharks39–23–3
66WMarch 4, 19732–1Los Angeles Sharks40–23–3
67LMarch 6, 19732–5@ Ottawa Nationals40–24–3
68WMarch 8, 19737–4@ Quebec Nordiques41–24–3
69LMarch 10, 19732–3 OT@ New York Raiders41–25–3
70LMarch 11, 19732–11Cleveland Crusaders41–26–3
71LMarch 14, 19735–7New England Whalers41–27–3
72LMarch 16, 19731–6Ottawa Nationals41–28–3
73LMarch 18, 19732–4Ottawa Nationals41–29–3
74TMarch 22, 19731–1Alberta Oilers41–29–4
75WMarch 25, 19738–4New York Raiders42–29–4
76WMarch 28, 19734–3 OT@ Chicago Cougars43–29–4
77LMarch 30, 19732–4@ Cleveland Crusaders43–30–4
April: 0–1–0, 0 points (home: 0–0–0; road: 0–1–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
78LApril 1, 19732–4@ Philadelphia Blazers43–31–4

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

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In the playoffs, the Jets would beat the Minnesota Fighting Saints in 5 games. In the second round of the playoffs, the Jets beat the Houston Aeros in 4 straight to reach the Avco World Trophy finals. In the finals, the Jets were beaten by the New England Whalers in 5 games.

1973 Avco World Trophy playoffs[3]
Quarterfinals vs. (W4) Minnesota Fighting Saints – Jets win 4–1
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeSeries
1April 6Minnesota Fighting Saints1–3Winnipeg Jets1–0
2April 8Minnesota Fighting Saints2–5Winnipeg Jets2–0
3April 10Winnipeg Jets4–6Minnesota Fighting Saints2–1
4April 11Winnipeg Jets3–2 OTMinnesota Fighting Saints3–1
5April 15Minnesota Fighting Saints5–8Winnipeg Jets4–1
Semifinals vs. (W2) Houston Aeros – Jets win 4–0
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeSeries
1April 20Houston Aeros1–5Winnipeg Jets1–0
2April 22Houston Aeros0–2Winnipeg Jets2–0
3April 24Winnipeg Jets4–2Houston Aeros3–0
4April 26Winnipeg Jets3–0Houston Aeros4–0
Avco World Trophy Finals vs. (E1) New England Whalers – Whalers win 4–1
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeSeries
1April 29Winnipeg Jets2–7New England Whalers0–1
2May 2New England Whalers7–4Winnipeg Jets0–2
3May 3New England Whalers3–4Winnipeg Jets1–2
4May 5Winnipeg Jets2–4New England Whalers1–3
5May 6Winnipeg Jets6–9New England Whalers1–4

Legend:   Win   Loss

Awards and records

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Player statistics

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Forwards

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Regular season[4]
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Bobby Hull63515210337
Norm Beaudin78386510315
Chris Bordeleau78475410112
Dan Johnson7619234217
Ab McDonald7717244116
Milt Black7518163414
Wally Boyer696283427
Dunc Rousseau7516173375
Cal Swenson777212819
Jean-Guy Gratton7115122737
Bill Sutherland486162234
Garth Rizzuto6110102032
Freeman Asmundson762141654
Brian Cadle5644839

Defencemen

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Scoring
Regular season[5]
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Larry Hornung7713455828
Joe Zanussi734212553
Steve Cuddie7771320121
Bob Ash763141739
Bob Woytowich6224647
John Shmyr70002

Goaltending

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Player GP MIN W L T SO GAA
Joe Daley2917181710122.89
Ernie Wakely4928942619323.15
Gordon Tumilson313802004.34

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. 1 2 "1972-73 Winnipeg Jets Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Standard Stats". Hockey Reference.
  5. ↑ "Standard Stats". Hockey Reference.
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