1973–74 New York Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights season

1973–74 New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights
Division	6th Eastern
1973–74 record	32–42–4
Home record	22–16–1
Road record	10–26–3
Goals for	268
Goals against	313
Team information
General manager	Jerry De Lise (Managing Director of Hockey)
Coach	Camille Henry (6–12–2) Harry Howell (26–30–2)
Captain	Norm Ferguson
Alternate captains	Ken Block Andre Lacroix Garry Peters
Arena	Madison Square Garden (Oct.–Nov.) Cherry Hill Arena (Nov.–Apr.)
Average attendance	2,585 (30.1%)
Team leaders
Goals	Andre Lacroix (31)
Assists	Andre Lacroix (80)
Points	Andre Lacroix (111)
Penalty minutes	Kevin Morrison (132)
Wins	Joe Junkin (21)
Goals against average	Joe Junkin (3.79)

The 1973–74 New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights season was the second season of operation of the franchise in the World Hockey Association.

The club was known as the New York Raiders in the previous season. With a change in ownership, the financially challenged team was renamed the New York Golden Blades for the start of this season. The team drew as few as 500 ticket buyers to some home games, and the latest (of 18) owners folded operations. The league took over operations and moved the team to the Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey on November 21, 1973, renaming the franchise the Jersey Knights.

This was the last season of operation in the Northeast megalopolis area, as the franchise relocated to San Diego, California, becoming the San Diego Mariners for the 1974–75 WHA season.

Regular season

Final standings

Eastern Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
New England Whalers	78	43	31	4	291	260	875	90
Toronto Toros	78	41	33	4	304	272	871	86
Cleveland Crusaders	78	37	32	9	266	264	1007	83
Chicago Cougars	78	38	35	5	271	273	1041	81
Quebec Nordiques	78	38	36	4	306	280	909	80
NY Golden Blades / Jersey Knights	78	32	42	4	268	313	933	68

Schedule and results

New York Golden Blades

1973–74 regular season
October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 1 T October 6, 1973 2–2 @ Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 0–0–1 2 T October 9, 1973 3–3 @ Toronto Toros (1973–74) 0–0–2 3 L October 11, 1973 3–4 Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 0–1–2 4 L October 14, 1973 1–2 OT New England Whalers (1973–74) 0–2–2 5 L October 18, 1973 1–6 Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 0–3–2 6 L October 20, 1973 1–8 @ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 0–4–2 7 W October 21, 1973 4–3 Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 1–4–2 8 L October 22, 1973 1–4 @ New England Whalers (1973–74) 1–5–2 9 W October 24, 1973 5–2 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 2–5–2 10 L October 25, 1973 3–8 New England Whalers (1973–74) 2–6–2 11 L October 28, 1973 0–2 Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 2–7–2
November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 12 L November 2, 1973 1–3 @ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 2–8–2 13 W November 3, 1973 4–0 @ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 3–8–2 14 W November 4, 1973 4–3 @ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 4–8–2 15 L November 6, 1973 0–8 @ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 4–9–2 16 L November 7, 1973 1–10 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 4–10–2 17 W November 10, 1973 4–3 Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 5–10–2 18 L November 12, 1973 2–3 OT @ New England Whalers (1973–74) 5–11–2 19 L November 17, 1973 2–3 Houston Aeros (1973–74) 5–12–2 20 W November 18, 1973 5–3 Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 6–12–2
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

New Jersey Knights

1973–74 regular season
November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 21 W November 25, 1973 3–1 Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 7–12–2 22 L November 26, 1973 2–4 @ New England Whalers (1973–74) 7–13–2 23 L November 29, 1973 2–3 Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 7–14–2
December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 24 W December 2, 1973 2–1 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 8–14–2 25 L December 5, 1973 2–5 @ Houston Aeros (1973–74) 8–15–2 26 W December 6, 1973 3–2 Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 9–15–2 27 W December 8, 1973 3–1 @ Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 10–15–2 28 L December 9, 1973 1–3 @ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 10–16–2 29 W December 12, 1973 4–2 @ Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 11–16–2 30 L December 14, 1973 1–3 @ New England Whalers (1973–74) 11–17–2 31 L December 16, 1973 6–7 Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 11–18–2 32 L December 18, 1973 1–4 @ Toronto Toros (1973–74) 11–19–2 33 W December 21, 1973 5–1 Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 12–19–2 34 W December 23, 1973 6–3 Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 13–19–2 35 W December 28, 1973 5–3 Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 14–19–2 36 L December 29, 1973 0–3 @ Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 14–20–2 37 W December 30, 1973 6–2 Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 15–20–2
January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 38 W January 5, 1974 2–1 Houston Aeros (1973–74) 16–20–2 39 W January 6, 1974 4–2 @ Toronto Toros (1973–74) 17–20–2 40 L January 7, 1974 4–5 Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 17–21–2 41 L January 13, 1974 2–7 @ Toronto Toros (1973–74) 17–22–2 42 L January 16, 1974 2–4 @ New England Whalers (1973–74) 17–23–2 43 L January 18, 1974 4–7 @ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 17–24–2 44 W January 19, 1974 5–4 OT @ Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 18–24–2 45 L January 20, 1974 3–9 @ Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 18–25–2 46 W January 22, 1974 6–2 @ Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 19–25–2 47 W January 23, 1974 4–1 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 20–25–2 48 L January 27, 1974 3–6 Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 20–26–2 49 W January 29, 1974 6–1 Toronto Toros (1973–74) 21–26–2 50 W January 31, 1974 4–1 New England Whalers (1973–74) 22–26–2
February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 51 L February 3, 1974 3–5 @ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 22–27–2 52 L February 4, 1974 1–7 Houston Aeros (1973–74) 22–28–2 53 L February 5, 1974 0–4 @ Houston Aeros (1973–74) 22–29–2 54 W February 7, 1974 7–4 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 23–29–2 55 L February 9, 1974 2–5 @ Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 23–30–2 56 L February 10, 1974 4–5 Toronto Toros (1973–74) 23–31–2 57 L February 14, 1974 2–5 Toronto Toros (1973–74) 23–32–2 58 W February 15, 1974 6–2 Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 24–32–2 59 W February 17, 1974 10–3 Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 25–32–2 60 W February 18, 1974 4–3 Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 26–32–2 61 L February 20, 1974 2–7 @ Houston Aeros (1973–74) 26–33–2 62 L February 24, 1974 4–7 @ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 26–34–2 63 T February 28, 1974 3–3 New England Whalers (1973–74) 26–34–3
March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 64 W March 2, 1974 8–7 Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 27–34–3 65 W March 4, 1974 7–6 OT Vancouver Blazers (1973–74) 28–34–3 66 L March 8, 1974 2–7 New England Whalers (1973–74) 28–35–3 67 L March 10, 1974 2–5 @ Quebec Nordiques (1973–74) 28–36–3 68 W March 11, 1974 10–2 Winnipeg Jets (1973–74) 29–36–3 69 W March 15, 1974 5–3 Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 30–36–3 70 T March 16, 1974 4–4 @ Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 30–36–4 71 W March 18, 1974 11–5 Toronto Toros (1973–74) 31–36–4 72 W March 20, 1974 8–5 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 32–36–4 73 L March 23, 1974 1–4 @ Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 32–37–4 74 L March 25, 1974 1–4 Edmonton Oilers (1973–74) 32–38–4 75 L March 27, 1974 4–6 @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1973–74) 32–39–4 76 L March 31, 1974 2–4 Cleveland Crusaders (1973–74) 32–40–4
April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 77 L April 2, 1974 3–7 @ Chicago Cougars (1973–74) 32–41–4 78 L April 4, 1974 4–6 @ Los Angeles Sharks (1973–74) 32–42–4
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Andre Lacroix C 78 31 80 111 54 0 11 0 2 Kevin Morrison D 78 24 43 67 132 0 5 2 0 Wayne Rivers RW 73 30 27 57 20 0 5 0 1 Gene Peacosh LW 68 21 32 53 17 0 5 0 4 Brian Morenz C 75 20 30 50 44 0 1 2 5 Ken Block D 74 3 43 46 22 0 1 0 0 Bob Jones LW 78 17 28 45 20 0 6 0 1 Mike Laughton C 71 20 18 38 34 0 1 1 4 Brian Bradley LW 78 15 23 38 12 0 3 1 1 Norm Ferguson RW 75 15 21 36 12 0 3 0 4 Don Herriman LW 44 11 21 32 59 0 2 0 1 Brian Perry C 71 20 11 31 19 0 3 1 4 Harry Howell D 65 3 23 26 24 0 0 0 2 Bobby Sheehan C 50 12 8 20 8 0 5 0 1 Bob Brown D 59 7 13 20 38 0 1 0 1 Craig Reichmuth LW 72 10 8 18 114 0 0 0 0 Garry Peters C 34 2 5 7 18 0 0 0 0 Ted Scharf RW 63 4 2 6 107 0 0 0 1 Dean Boylan D 61 1 5 6 112 0 0 0 0 Bill Speer D 66 1 3 4 30 0 0 0 0 Bob Winograd D 7 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Joe Junkin G 53 0 1 1 7 0 0 0 0 Gary Kurt G 20 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Ray LaRose D 18 0 1 1 20 0 0 0 0 Bob Barber D 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Claude Chartre C 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lee Inglis LW 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jim McLeod G 10 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Joe Junkin 3122 53 21 25 4 197 3.79 1 Gary Kurt 1089 20 8 10 0 75 4.13 0 Jim McLeod 516 10 3 7 0 36 4.19 0 Team: 4727 78 32 42 4 308 3.91 1

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Transactions

Jim McLeod traded to Los Angeles Sharks for Russ Gillow & Earl Heiskala, January, 1974. Earl Heiskala refused to report and was suspended.

Bobby Sheehan to Edmonton Oilers for future considerations (Bob Falkenburg), March, 1974.

Draft picks

New York's draft picks at the 1973 WHA Amateur Draft.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	16	Al Sims (D)	Canada	Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
3	28	John Wensink (LW)	Netherlands	Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
5	54	Doug Marit (D)	Canada	Regina Pats (WCHL)
6	67	Dennis Ververgaert (RW)	Canada	London Knights (OHA)
7	80	Lowell Ostlund (D)	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
8	93	Paul Granchukoff (F)	United States	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
9	104	Rick Austin (RW)	Canada	Swift Current Broncos (WCHL)
10	115	Brian Dick (C)	Canada	Winnipeg Jets (WCHL)

See also

• 1973–74 WHA season