Season III:  Aeros Coast to a Second AVCO Cup  Hull Scores 50 in 50, gets 77 overall 1974-1975  Expansion Phoenix Win 39 games

The ’s third season welcomed two new teams, the Award Winners Phoenix Roadrunners and Racers, joining the original twelve for a fourteen-team circuit. Three teams from the previous season found new homes: The moved to and became the Stags, the Jersey Knights went West and became the Mariners, and the Whalers left Boston for temporary digs in Springfield, then to their new permanent home in Hartford. The fourteen teams were placed into three divisions. The Canadian Division featured Edmonton, Québec, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg; the Eastern Division included Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis and New England, while Houston, Michigan, Minnesota, Phoenix and San Diego comprised the Western Division. Most Valuable Player Rookie of the Year Trophy Lou Kaplan Trophy Keeping the 78-game season, each team played a balanced schedule, playing Anders Hedberg each of the other thirteen teams six times, three home and three away. The Winnipeg Winnipeg playoffs admitted the top two teams from each of the three divisions, plus two wild-card spots based on points. This format had its faults: Cleveland, with 73 points and a second-place finish in the weak Eastern Division, made the playoffs, while Winnipeg (81 points, 3rd place in the Canadian Division), Vancouver and Edmonton (76 points each, 4th-place tie in the Canadian Division) missed the playoffs.

The Western Division was the strongest. Houston once again finished far in front, but three points separated San Diego, Minnesota and Phoenix for the next three positions. All made the playoffs, notably, first-year Phoenix with its Best Best Defenseman impressive 39 wins as an expansion team. The Houston Aeros breezed to their Ben Hatskin Trophy Dennis Murphy Trophy second consecutive AVCO World Trophy, losing only once in thirteen games. Ron Grahame J.-C. Tremblay Houston Québec

The Stags floundered in Detroit and could not last half the season. The team folded in January 1975, replaced by the Baltimore Blades to play out the schedule. Chicago nearly folded, but three players—Pat Stapleton, Dave Dryden and —purchased the team, becoming the first player- owners in major-league sports.

Venerable offensive records from the NHL were broken when Bobby Hull scored 77 goals to beat ’s NHL mark of 76, with 50 of Hull’s goals coming in his team’s first 50 games. San Diego’s Andre Lacroix collected 106 assists to break Bobby Orr’s record of 102, while also leading the league in Coach of the Year Most Gentlemanly points with 147. Houston’s Ron Grahame led all with a 3.03 goals How’d Baldwin Tr0phy Paul Deneau Trophy against average while tying Cleveland’s Gerry Cheevers with four shutouts. Sandy Hucul Mike Rogers Phoenix Edmonton Grahame also notched a league high 33 wins, a feat matched by Vancouver’s Don McLeod. McLeod, getting his ice time, also suffered a league high 35 defeats, as did Indianapolis’ Andy Brown. Minnesota’s Gord Gallant led the league in penalty minutes with 203, a call ahead of Phoenix’s John Hughes, who had 201.

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