1974-75 NHL season

The 1974-75 NHL season was the 58th season of the National Hockey League. Eighteen teams each played 80 games. With the addition of two new teams, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts, the NHL bumped up the number of games from 78 to 80 and split the previously two-division league into four divisions and two conferences. Because the new conferences and divisions had little to do with North American geography, geographical references were also removed. The East Division became the Prince of Wales Conference and consisted of the Adams Division and Norris Division and the West Division became the Clarence Campbell Conference and consisted of the Patrick Division and Smythe Division. This further expansion was considered by many ill-fated, and with the World Hockey Association continuing to drain talent away, the Capitals had the worst season ever recorded in the history of major professional hockey, and the third worst in the postwar era the following season, while the Scouts the following season would have the fifth worst record of the postwar era.

The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres four games to two for their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

Regular season

For the first time ever in the National Hockey League, there was a three-way tie for first place overall. The respective divisional leaders of the Norris, Patrick, and Adams all had 113 points. The Vancouver Canucks, which had been playing in the original East Division since they debuted in the league were moved over to the Campbell Conference and lead the way in the Smythe Division with a comparatively meager 86 points.

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

Prince of Wales Conference

Adams Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Buffalo Sabres	80	49	16	15	113	354	240	1229
Boston Bruins	80	40	26	14	94	345	245	1153
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	31	33	16	78	280	309	1079
California Golden Seals	80	19	48	13	51	212	316	1101

Norris Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Montreal Canadiens	80	47	14	19	113	374	225	1155
Los Angeles Kings	80	42	17	21	105	269	185	1185
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	37	28	15	89	326	289	1119
Detroit Red Wings	80	23	45	12	58	259	335	1078
Washington Capitals	80	8	67	5	21	181	446	1085

Clarence Campbell Conference

Patrick Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Philadelphia Flyers	80	51	18	11	113	293	181	1969
New York Rangers	80	37	29	14	88	319	276	1053
New York Islanders	80	33	25	22	88	264	221	1118
Atlanta Flames	80	34	31	15	83	243	233	915

Smythe Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Vancouver Canucks	80	38	32	10	86	271	254	965
St. Louis Blues	80	35	31	14	84	269	267	1275
Chicago Black Hawks	80	37	35	8	82	268	241	1112
Minnesota North Stars	80	23	50	7	53	221	341	1106
Kansas City Scouts	80	15	54	11	41	184	328	744

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Bobby Orr	Boston Bruins	80	46	89	135	101
Phil Esposito	Boston Bruins	79	61	66	127	62
Marcel Dionne	Detroit Red Wings	80	47	74	121	14
Guy Lafleur	Montreal Canadiens	70	53	66	119	37
Pete Mahovlich	Montreal Canadiens	80	35	82	117	64
Bobby Clarke	Philadelphia Flyers	80	27	89	116	125
Rene Robert	Buffalo Sabres	74	40	60	100	75
Rod Gilbert	New York Rangers	76	36	61	97	22
Gilbert Perreault	Buffalo Sabres	68	39	57	96	36
Rick Martin	Buffalo Sabres	68	52	43	95	72

Leading goaltenders

Stanley Cup playoffs

All dates in 1975

With the new conference and division structure, the 1975 Stanley Cup playoffs used a new format. Twelve teams qualified for the post-season. The four division winners from the regular season received byes to the quarterfinal round. The next two teams in each division (eight teams total) were ranked according to their regular season point totals, with the highest ranked team playing against the lowest ranked team, and so on, in a best-of-three preliminary round. The four preliminary round winners and four division winners were re-ranked for the subsequent round. The biggest beneficiary of this format was the Vancouver Canucks, who were 9th in the regular season but received a first-round bye for winning the relatively weak Smythe Division.

Playoff bracket

NHL awards

Prince of Wales Trophy:	Buffalo Sabres
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:	Philadelphia Flyers
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:	Don Luce, Buffalo Sabres
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Eric Vail, Atlanta Flames
Conn Smythe Trophy:	Bernie Parent, Philadelphia Flyers
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers
Jack Adams Award:	Bob Pulford, Los Angeles Kings
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Marcel Dionne, Detroit Red Wings
Lester B. Pearson Award:	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
NHL Plus/Minus Award:	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy:	Bernie Parent, Philadelphia Flyers
Lester Patrick Trophy:	Donald M. Clark, William L. Chadwick, Thomas N. Ivan

References

The NHL on NBC

NHL 1974/75 | Saison LNH 1974-75

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