1972–73 NHL season

Pre-season

Prior to the start of the season, the 1972 Summit Series took place. It was the first ever meeting between Soviet Union and NHL calibre Canadian ice hockey players. Canada expected to easily beat the Soviets, but were shocked to find themselves with a losing record of one win, two losses, and a tie after four games in Canada. In game four, which Canada lost 5–3, Vancouver fans echoed the rest of Canada's thoughts of Team Canada's poor performance by booing them off the ice. The final four games were played in the Soviet Union. Canada lost game five, but won the last three for a final record of four wins, three losses, and a tie.

For the first time since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926, the National Hockey League had serious competition. A new professional hockey league, the World Hockey Association, made its season debut with 12 new teams, half of which were based in cities with existing NHL teams. Unlike the Western Hockey League, though, the new World Hockey Association would not challenge for the Stanley Cup. In response to the new league, the NHL hastily added two new teams in an unplanned expansion, the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames, in an attempt to exclude the WHA from newly constructed arenas in those markets. The 1972 NHL expansion draft was held on June 6 to fill the rosters of the two new teams.

In February 1972, the Miami Screaming Eagles of the WHA signed Bernie Parent to a contract, and when Bobby Hull was signed on June 27, 1972, to play with the Winnipeg Jets, the Chicago Black Hawks sued, claiming a violation of the reserve clause in NHL contracts. Others soon followed Hull to the WHA, including, J. C. Tremblay, Ted Green, Gerry Cheevers and Johnny McKenzie. In the expansion draft, the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames made their picks and eleven Islander players skipped off to the WHA. The California Golden Seals, chafing under the unorthodox ownership of the unpopular Charlie Finley, were also a victim of the WHA, losing eight key players.

The 1972 NHL amateur draft was held on June 8 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Billy Harris was selected first overall by the Islanders.

Arena changes

• The expansion Atlanta Flames moved into the Omni Coliseum.
• The expansion New York Islanders moved into Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

Regular season

The Montreal Canadiens took over first place in the East Division and the league from the Boston Bruins while for the third consecutive season the Chicago Black Hawks dominated the West Division.

Final standings

Playoffs

No teams in the playoffs swept their opponents, the last time this would happen until 1991, and no playoff series went to a decisive game, the last time this has happened to date. In addition, the Chicago Black Hawks reached the Stanley Cup Finals without a captain, the last time this would happen until 2014.

Playoff bracket

The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series).

In the quarterfinals, the fourth seeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. The semifinals were then inter-divisional matchups, with winner of each #1 vs. #4 series playing the winner of the #2 vs. #3 series in the other division. The winners of the semifinals then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

| RD1-seed1=E1 | RD1-team1=Montreal | RD1-score1=4 | RD1-seed2=E4 | RD1-team2=Buffalo | RD1-score2=2 | RD1-seed3=W2 | RD1-team3=Philadelphia | RD1-score3=4 | RD1-seed4=W3 | RD1-team4=Minnesota | RD1-score4=2 | RD1-seed5=W1 | RD1-team5=Chicago | RD1-score5=4 | RD1-seed6=W4 | RD1-team6=St. Louis | RD1-score6=1 | RD1-seed7=E2 | RD1-team7=Boston | RD1-score7=1 | RD1-seed8=E3 | RD1-team8=NY Rangers | RD1-score8=4 | RD2-seed1=E1 | RD2-team1=Montreal | RD2-score1=4 | RD2-seed2=W2 | RD2-team2=Philadelphia | RD2-score2=1 | RD2-seed3=W1 | RD2-team3=Chicago | RD2-score3=4 | RD2-seed4=E3 | RD2-team4=NY Rangers | RD2-score4=1 | RD3-seed1=E1 | RD3-team1=Montreal | RD3-score1=4 | RD3-seed2=W1 | RD3-team2=Chicago | RD3-score2=2

Quarterfinals

(E1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (E4) Buffalo Sabres

The Montreal Canadiens finished first in the league with 120 points. The Buffalo Sabres finished fourth with 88 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the Buffalo Sabres' first playoff appearance in their third season since entering the league in the 1970–71 NHL season. Montreal won the five-game regular season series earning six of ten points.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Craig Ramsay (1) – 03:13 |1-2-2 =17:01 – Jacques Lemaire (1) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =04:27 – pp – Yvan Cournoyer (1) |goalie1-1 =Dave Dryden 34 saves / 36 shots |goalie1-2 =Ken Dryden 31 saves / 32 shots

|2-1-1 =Gilbert Perreault (1) – 01:06 Richard Martin (1) – pp – 16:48 |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =04:48 – Serge Savard (1) 06:07 – Yvan Cournoyer (2) 10:39 – Marc Tardif (1) 16:21 – pp – Guy Lapointe (1) 17:29 – Jacques Lemaire (2) |2-3-1 =Jim Schoenfeld (1) – 17:45 |2-3-2 =03:10 – Yvan Cournoyer (3) 15:31 – Yvan Cournoyer (4) |goalie2-1 =Dave Dryden 28 saves / 35 shots |goalie2-2 =Ken Dryden 20 saves / 23 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Guy Lafleur (1) – pp – 16:56 |3-2-1 =01:13 – Larry Mickey (1) |3-2-2 =Peter Mahovlich (1) – pp – 08:44 Murray Wilson (1) – 09:00 |3-3-1 =00:54 – pp – Rene Robert (1) |3-3-2 =Frank Mahovlich (1) – 12:15 Henri Richard (1) – en – 19:12 |goalie3-1 =Roger Crozier 22 saves / 26 shots |goalie3-2 =Ken Dryden 42 saves / 44 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Yvan Cournoyer (5) – 18:37 |4-2-1 =11:13 – Jim Schoenfeld (2) 14:29 – pp – Gilbert Perreault (2) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =01:28 – Rene Robert (2) 19:19 – Don Luce (1) 19:41 – Gilbert Perreault (3) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Roger Crozier 23 saves / 24 shots |goalie4-2 =Ken Dryden 45 saves / 50 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =16:22 – Frank Mahovlich (2) |5-2-1 =Richard Martin (2) – 12:03 Rene Robert (3) – 13:11 |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =12:46 – Guy Lapointe (2) |5-4-1 =Rene Robert (4) – 09:18 |5-4-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Roger Crozier 38 saves / 40 shots |goalie5-2 =Ken Dryden 31 saves / 34 shots

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =Serge Savard (2) – 01:32 Murray Wilson (2) – 07:33 Guy Lafleur (2) – 08:53 Guy Lapointe (3) – 16:03 |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =11:41 – Rene Robert (5) 19:48 – pp – Richard Martin (3) |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Roger Crozier 20 saves / 24 shots |goalie6-2 =Ken Dryden 42 saves / 44 shots

(E2) Boston Bruins vs. (E3) New York Rangers

The Boston Bruins finished second in the East Division with 107 points. The New York Rangers finished third in the East Division with 102 points. This was the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams with Boston winning six of the eight previous series. They last met in the previous year's Stanley Cup Finals which Boston won in six games. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series.

|1-1-1 =Brad Park (1) – pp – 15:59 |1-1-2 =14:21 – Doug Roberts (1) |1-2-1 =Bruce MacGregor (1) – 07:25 Brad Park (2) – 08:53 Walt Tkaczuk (1) – 11:48 Walt Tkaczuk (2) – 15:55 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-2 =Derek Sanderson (1) – 11:17 |1-3-1 =03:11 – Pete Stemkowski (1) |goalie1-1 =Eddie Giacomin 22 saves / 24 shots |goalie1-2 =Jacques Plante 25 saves / 31 shots

|2-1-1 =Steve Vickers (1) – 13:20 |2-1-2 =07:55 – Wayne Cashman (1) |2-2-1 =Ted Irvine (1) – pp – 09:47 Pete Stemkowski (2) – pp – 13:29 |2-2-2 =16:34 – Doug Roberts (2) |2-3-1 =Walt Tkaczuk (3) – pp – 05:37 |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Eddie Giacomin 18 saves / 20 shots Gilles Villemure 10 saves / 10 shots |goalie2-2 =Jacques Plante 28 saves / 32 shots

|3-1-1 =18:35 – Pete Stemkowski (3) |3-1-2 =Gregg Sheppard (1) – sh – 06:53 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Fred Stanfield (1) – 03:13 |3-3-1 =06:12 – Jean Ratelle (1) |3-3-2 =Gregg Sheppard (2) – 10:39 Mike Walton (1) – en – 19:08 |goalie3-1 =Eddie Giacomin 23 saves / 26 shots |goalie3-2 =Eddie Johnston 35 saves / 37 shots

|4-1-1 =02:35 – Rod Gilbert (1) 16:30 – Pete Stemkowski (4) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =11:22 – Bobby Rousseau (1) 19:15 – Steve Vickers (2) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Eddie Giacomin 33 saves / 33 shots |goalie4-2 =Eddie Johnston 21 saves / 25 shots

|5-1-1 =Steve Vickers (3) – 00:38 Steve Vickers (4) – 14:34 Bruce MacGregor (2) – 16:33 |5-1-2 =01:54 – Bobby Orr (1) 12:45 – pp – Ken Hodge (1) |5-2-1 =Walt Tkaczuk (4) – 18:59 |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =Rod Gilbert (2) – 04:10 Steve Vickers (5) – 17:51 |5-3-2 =07:10 – Don Marcotte (1) |goalie5-1 =Eddie Giacomin 28 saves / 31 shots |goalie5-2 = Eddie Johnston 22 saves / 25 shots Ross Brooks 8 saves / 11 shots

(W1) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues

The Chicago Black Hawks finished first in the West Division with 93 points. The St. Louis Blues finished fourth in the West Division with 76 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =15:02 – Dick Redmond (1) 15:20 – Dick Redmond (2) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =02:13 – Dick Redmond (3) 09:38 – Jim Pappin (1) 10:32 – Pit Martin (1) |1-3-1 =Phil Roberto (1) – 19:07 |1-3-2 =12:33 – pp – Pit Martin (2) 16:24 – pp – Pit Martin (3) |goalie1-1 =Wayne Stephenson 32 saves / 39 shots |goalie1-2 =Tony Esposito 28 saves / 29 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =14:06 – Lou Angotti (1) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Jacques Caron 25 saves / 26 shots |goalie2-2 =Tony Esposito 29 saves / 29 shots

|3-1-1 =05:52 – pp – Ab DeMarco Jr. (1) 10:26 – Pierre Plante (1) |3-1-2 =Dennis Hull (1) – pp – 02:29 Ralph Backstrom (1) – 11:26 Jim Pappin (2) – 13:51 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Ralph Backstrom (2) – 03:10 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Jim Pappin (3) – pp – 07:31 |goalie3-1 =Jacques Caron 35 saves / 40 shots |goalie3-2 =Tony Esposito 28 saves / 30 shots

|4-1-1 =16:48 – Pierre Plante (2) |4-1-2 =Ralph Backstrom (3) – 06:33 Cliff Koroll (1) – 11:11 |4-2-1 =14:03 – Phil Roberto (2) 15:31 – Fran Huck (1) 18:29 – Gary Sabourin (1) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =16:56 – Garry Unger (1) |4-3-2 =Chico Maki (1) – 14:21 |goalie4-1 =Wayne Stephenson 37 saves / 40 shots |goalie4-2 =Gary Smith 34 saves / 39 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =01:14 – Jim Pappin (4) 14:52 – Stan Mikita (1) |5-2-1 =Fran Huck (2) – pp – 04:20 |5-2-2 =00:30 – Cliff Koroll (2) 11:37 – Chico Maki (2) |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =15:32 – sh – Ralph Backstrom (4) 17:41 – Lou Angotti (2) |goalie5-1 =Wayne Stephenson 17 saves / 21 shots Jacques Caron 9 saves / 11 shots |goalie5-2 =Tony Esposito 12 saves / 13 shots

(W2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (W3) Minnesota North Stars

The Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars finished tied for second in the West Division each with 85 points (Philadelphia won the tiebreaker in season series 3–2). This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Philadelphia won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Dennis Hextall (1) – 09:21 Dennis O'Brien (1) – 19:45 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Jude Drouin (1) – 09:17 |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Cesare Maniago 33 saves / 33 shots |goalie1-2 =Doug Favell 25 saves / 28 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =05:48 – Don Saleski (1) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =01:08 – sh – Bill Flett (1) 08:37 – Bill Barber (1) 18:46 – Terry Crisp (1) |2-3-1 =Dean Prentice (1) – pp – 04:14 |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Gilles Gilbert 36 saves / 40 shots |goalie2-2 =Doug Favell 31 saves / 32 shots

|3-1-1 =09:35 – Dennis Hextall (2) |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =00:54 – pp – Barry Gibbs (1) 09:36 – Lou Nanne (1) 09:54 – Danny Grant (1) 15:27 – Danny Grant (2) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Cesare Maniago 33 saves / 33 shots |goalie3-2 =Doug Favell 27 saves / 31 shots Michel Belhumeur 8 saves / 9 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Bobby Clarke (1) – pp – 18:57 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Bill Barber (2) – 14:16 Ross Lonsberry (1) – 16:00 |goalie4-1 =Cesare Maniago 29 saves / 32 shots |goalie4-2 =Doug Favell 31 saves / 31 shots

|5-1-1 =Danny Grant (3) – 10:48 |5-1-2 =11:24 – pp – Rick MacLeish (1) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =02:17 – pp – Rick MacLeish (2) |5-3-1 =Bill Goldsworthy (1) – 13:00 |5-3-2 =No scoring |5-4-1 =No scoring |5-4-2 =08:35 – Gary Dornhoefer (1) |goalie5-1 =Cesare Maniago 24 saves / 27 shots |goalie5-2 =Doug Favell 30 saves / 32 shots

|6-1-1 =13:40 – pp – Bill Goldsworthy (2) |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =Terry Crisp (2) – pp – 04:10 Ross Lonsberry (2) – 16:42 Dave Schultz (1) – 18:01 |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =Ross Lonsberry (3) – en – 19:48 |goalie6-1 =Cesare Maniago 19 saves / 22 shots |goalie6-2 =Doug Favell 37 saves / 38 shots

Semifinals

(E1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (W3) Philadelphia Flyers

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's five-game regular season series.

|1-1-1 =Bill Barber (3) – 14:20 |1-1-2 =04:48 – Yvan Cournoyer (6) |1-2-1 =Simon Nolet (1) – 03:16 |1-2-2 =17:28 – pp – Guy Lapointe (4) |1-3-1 =Simon Nolet (2) – 10:18 Gary Dornhoefer (2) – 12:04 |1-3-2 =08:58 – Guy Lapointe (5) 15:25 – Jacques Lemaire (3) |1-4-1 =Rick MacLeish (3) – 02:56 |1-4-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Doug Favell 41 saves / 45 shots |goalie1-2 =Ken Dryden 32 saves / 37 shots

|2-1-1 =Andre Dupont (1) – 05:50 Gary Dornhoefer (3) – pp – 08:12 |2-1-2 =19:13 – pp – Guy Lafleur (3) |2-2-1 =Bill Flett (2) – 00:36 |2-2-2 =00:25 – Henri Richard (2) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =11:50 – Yvan Cournoyer (7) |2-4-1 =No scoring |2-4-2 =06:45 – Larry Robinson (1) |goalie2-1 =Doug Favell 32 saves / 36 shots |goalie2-2 =Ken Dryden 36 saves / 39 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Rejean Houle (1) – 06:34 Henri Richard (3) – 18:19 |3-2-1 =10:09 – Terry Crisp (3) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Doug Favell 24 saves / 26 shots |goalie3-2 =Ken Dryden 25 saves / 26 shots

|4-1-1 =04:08 – pp – Bobby Clarke (2) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Rejean Houle (2) – 07:38 Marc Tardif (2) – pp – 14:07 Yvan Cournoyer (8) – pp – 16:01 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Frank Mahovlich (3) – en – 19:27 |goalie4-1 =Doug Favell 23 saves / 26 shots |goalie4-2 =Ken Dryden 31 saves / 32 shots

|5-1-1 =Ross Lonsberry (4) – 08:57 |5-1-2 =15:29 – Marc Tardif (3) |5-2-1 =Simon Nolet (3) – 06:18 |5-2-2 =00:23 – pp – Jacques Lemaire (4) |5-3-1 =Bill Flett (3) – 05:30 |5-3-2 =05:44 – Frank Mahovlich (4) 12:07 – Henri Richard (4) 13:42 – Yvan Cournoyer (9) |goalie5-1 =Doug Favell 29 saves / 34 shots |goalie5-2 =Ken Dryden 17 saves / 20 shots

(W1) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (E3) New York Rangers

This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with Chicago winning three of the four previous series. They last met in the previous year's Stanley Cup Semifinals which New York won in a four-game sweep. The teams split this year's five-game regular season series.

|1-1-1 =Bobby Rousseau (2) – 14:09 |1-1-2 =12:37 – Pit Martin (4) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Vic Hadfield (1) – 04:04 Walt Tkaczuk (5) – 17:45 Walt Tkaczuk (6) – en – 19:35 |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Eddie Giacomin 21 saves / 22 shots |goalie1-2 =Tony Esposito 21 saves / 24 shots

|2-1-1 =Rod Gilbert (3) – 18:54 |2-1-2 =05:32 – Pat Stapleton (1) 07:55 – pp – Pat Stapleton (2) 11:20 – Dennis Hull (2) |2-2-1 =Jean Ratelle (2) – pp – 05:31 Bill Fairbairn (1) – 08:22 Rod Gilbert (4) – 17:26 |2-2-2 =12:02 – pp – Dennis Hull (3) 14:40 – Dick Redmond (4) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Eddie Giacomin 5 saves / 8 shots Gilles Villemure 19 saves / 21 shots |goalie2-2 =Tony Esposito 28 saves / 32 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Jim Pappin (5) – 08:20 |3-2-1 =14:51 – Walt Tkaczuk (7) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Stan Mikita (2) – 06:16 |goalie3-1 =Eddie Giacomin 26 saves / 28 shots |goalie3-2 =Tony Esposito 37 saves / 38 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Dennis Hull (4) – pp – 11:20 |4-3-1 =02:16 – Vic Hadfield (2) |4-3-2 =Pit Martin (5) – 14:11 Dennis Hull (5) – 16:56 |goalie4-1 =Eddie Giacomin 18 saves / 21 shots |goalie4-2 =Tony Esposito 38 saves / 39 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =19:20 – pp – Stan Mikita (3) |5-2-1 =Rod Gilbert (5) – 19:19 |5-2-2 =14:07 – Dennis Hull (6) |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =04:47 – Stan Mikita 08:15 – Cliff Koroll (3) |goalie5-1 =Eddie Giacomin 21 saves / 25 shots |goalie5-2 =Tony Esposito 28 saves / 29 shots

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1973 Stanley Cup Finals

It was the 16th playoff meeting between these two teams. Montreal lead 10–5 in their previous meetings. This was a rematch of the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals, which Montreal won in seven games. Chicago won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.

|1-1-1 =Pit Martin (6) – 00:35 Ralph Backstrom (5) – 01:02 Pit Martin (7) – 12:07 |1-1-2 =02:28 – Jacques Laperriere (1) 08:07 – Marc Tardif (7) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =03:01 – Chuck Lefley (1) 16:23 – pp – Jacques Lemaire (5) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =08:38 – pp – Jacques Lemaire (6) 12:36 – sh – Peter Mahovlich (2) 13:34 – Frank Mahovlich (5) 14:35 – Chuck Lefley (2) |goalie1-1 =Tony Esposito 25 saves / 33 shots Gary Smith 5 saves / 5 shots |goalie1-2 =Ken Dryden 27 saves / 30 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =05:36 – Pierre Bouchard (1) |2-2-1 =Cliff Koroll (4) – 07:28 |2-2-2 =12:08 – Yvan Cournoyer (10) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =05:01 – pp – Yvan Cournoyer (11) 19:26 – en – Frank Mahovlich (6) |goalie2-1 =Tony Esposito 26 saves / 29 shots |goalie2-2 =Ken Dryden 18 saves / 19 shots

|3-1-1 =01:59 – pp – Dennis Hull (7) 11:44 – pp – J.P. Bordeleau (1) 13:20 – sh – Bill White (1) 14:20 – sh – Stan Mikita (5) |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =02:08 – pp – John Marks (1) |3-2-2 =Frank Mahovlich (7) – 10:25 |3-3-1 =19:29 – en – Dennis Hull (8) 19:49 – en – Jim Pappin (6) |3-3-2 =Yvan Cournoyer (12) – 01:20 Guy Lapointe (6) – 07:15 Jacques Lemaire (7) – 08:01 |goalie3-1 =Tony Esposito 29 saves / 33 shots |goalie3-2 =Ken Dryden 30 saves / 35 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Marc Tardif (5) – 01:08 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Yvan Cournoyer (13) – 14:13 Chuck Lefley (3) – 15:43 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Claude Larose (1) – 03:45 |goalie4-1 =Tony Esposito 26 saves / 30 shots |goalie4-2 =Ken Dryden 19 saves / 19 shots

|5-1-1 =Dennis Hull (9) – 09:34 Stan Mikita (6) – 11:24 |5-1-2 =02:47 – Frank Mahovlich (8) 14:52 – pp – Peter Mahovlich (3) |5-2-1 =Dave Kryskow (1) – 03:10 Stan Mikita (7) – 06:21 Jim Pappin (7) – 11:24 Len Frig (1) – pp – 16:21 Jim Pappin (8) – 19:03 |5-2-2 =00:37 – Claude Larose (2) 04:23 – Claude Larose (3) 07:09 – Yvan Cournoyer (14) |5-3-1 =Lou Angotti (3) – 04:06 |5-3-2 =01:15 – Serge Savard (3) 11:43 – Henri Richard (5) |goalie5-1 =Tony Esposito 24 saves / 31 shots |goalie5-2 =Ken Dryden 21 saves / 29 shots

|6-1-1 =10:35 – Pit Martin (8) 11:31 – pp – Pit Martin (9) |6-1-2 =Henri Richard (6) – 19:48 |6-2-1 =08:32 – Dave Kryskow (2) 17:05 – pp – Pit Martin (10) |6-2-2 =Peter Mahovlich (4) – 05:05 Rejean Houle (3) – 06:37 Frank Mahovlich (9) – pp – 10:54 |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =Yvan Cournoyer (15) – 08:13 Marc Tardif (6) – pp – 12:42 |goalie6-1 =Tony Esposito 27 saves / 33 shots |goalie6-2 =Ken Dryden 23 saves / 27 shots

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Other statistics

• Plus-minus leader: Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens

Coaches

East

• Boston Bruins: Tom Johnson and Bep Guidolin
• Buffalo Sabres: Joe Crozier
• Detroit Red Wings: Johnny Wilson
• Montreal Canadiens: Scotty Bowman
• New York Islanders: Phil Goyette and Earl Ingarfield
• New York Rangers: Emile Francis
• Toronto Maple Leafs: John McLellan
• Vancouver Canucks: Vic Stasiuk

West

• Atlanta Flames: Bernie Geoffrion
• California Golden Seals: Garry Young and Fred Glover
• Chicago Black Hawks: Billy Reay
• Los Angeles Kings: Bob Pulford
• Minnesota North Stars: Jack Gordon
• Philadelphia Flyers: Fred Shero
• Pittsburgh Penguins: Red Kelly
• St. Louis Blues: Al Arbour and Jean-Guy Talbot

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1972–73 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Dan Bouchard, Atlanta Flames
• Jacques Richard, Atlanta Flames
• Jim Schoenfeld, Buffalo Sabres
• Phil Russell, Chicago Black Hawks
• Robbie Ftorek, Detroit Red Wings
• Steve Shutt, Montreal Canadiens
• Larry Robinson, Montreal Canadiens
• Bob Nystrom, New York Islanders
• Billy Harris, New York Islanders
• Steve Vickers, New York Rangers
• Bill Barber, Philadelphia Flyers
• Jimmy Watson, Philadelphia Flyers
• Tom Bladon, Philadelphia Flyers
• Denis Herron, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Connie Madigan, St. Louis Blues
• Don Lever, Vancouver Canucks

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1972–73 (listed with their last team):

• Jacques Plante, Boston Bruins
• Pat Stapleton, Chicago Black Hawks
• Ralph Backstrom, Chicago Black Hawks
• Harry Howell, Los Angeles Kings
• Ron Stewart, New York Islanders
• Ken Schinkel, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Connie Madigan, St. Louis BLues
• Bob Baun, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Dave Balon, Vancouver Canucks

NOTE: Plante, Stapleton, Backstrom, Howell and Balon would finish their major professional careers in the World Hockey Association.

Broadcasting

Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games. HNIC also produced Wednesday night regular season game telecasts for CTV.

This was the first season under the U.S. rights agreement with NBC, airing weekend afternoon regular season games and playoff games.

References

• {{cite book |last1=Fischler |first1=Stan |last2=Fischler |first2=Shirley

;Notes

References

1. Dunell, Milt. (February 22, 1972). "Hockey's first 'Super Series' will be played in the courtrooms". Montreal Gazette.