1972–73 Minnesota Fighting Saints season

1972–73 Minnesota Fighting Saints
Division	4th Western
1972–73 record	38–37–3
Home record	24-14-1
Road record	14-23-2
Goals for	250
Goals against	269
Team information
General manager	Glen Sonmor
Coach	Glen Sonmor (28–28–3) Harry Neale (10–9–0)
Captain	Ted Hampson
Alternate captains	Wayne Connelly John Arbour Mike McMahon
Arena	St. Paul Auditorium (20 games) St. Paul Civic Center (19 games)
Average attendance	5,855 (48.9%)
Team leaders
Goals	Wayne Connelly (40)
Assists	Ted Hampson (45)
Points	Wayne Connelly (70)
Penalty minutes	Dick Paradise (189)
Wins	Mike Curran (23)
Goals against average	Mike Curran (3.09)

The 1972–73 Minnesota Fighting Saints season was their first season of operation in the newly created World Hockey Association (WHA).

Regular season

Final standings

Western Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
Winnipeg Jets	78	43	31	4	285	249	757	90
Houston Aeros	78	39	35	4	284	269	1363	82
Los Angeles Sharks	78	37	35	6	259	250	1477	80
Minnesota Fighting Saints	78	38	37	3	250	269	843	79
Alberta Oilers	78	38	37	3	269	256	1134	79
Chicago Cougars	78	26	50	2	245	295	811	54

Game log

Regular season schedule
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 13, 1972	3–4	Winnipeg Jets (1972–73)	0–1–0
2	W	October 15, 1972	3–2	Chicago Cougars (1972–73)	1–1–0
3	L	October 17, 1972	1–5	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73)	1–2–0
4	L	October 19, 1972	1–5	@ Houston Aeros (1972–73)	1–3–0
5	T	October 20, 1972	1–1	@ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73)	1–3–1
6	W	October 22, 1972	5–4	@ New York Raiders (1972–73)	2–3–1
7	L	October 23, 1972	1–5	@ New England Whalers (1972–73)	2–4–1
8	L	October 26, 1972	4–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73)	2–5–1
9	W	November 1, 1972	3–0	Winnipeg Jets (1972–73)	3–5–1
10	L	November 2, 1972	2–4	New York Raiders (1972–73)	3–6–1
11	W	November 5, 1972	3–1	Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73)	4–6–1
12	W	November 10, 1972	5–1	@ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73)	5–6–1
13	W	November 14, 1972	5–3	Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73)	6–6–1
14	W	November 16, 1972	5–4	Quebec Nordiques (1972–73)	7–6–1
15	W	November 18, 1972	5–4 OT	@ Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73)	8–6–1
16	L	November 19, 1972	3–4	Chicago Cougars (1972–73)	8–7–1
17	W	November 21, 1972	4–3 OT	Alberta Oilers (1972–73)	9–7–1
18	W	November 23, 1972	4–3	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73)	10–7–1
19	W	November 24, 1972	6–4	@ Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73)	11–7–1
20	W	November 26, 1972	3–1	New England Whalers (1972–73)	12–7–1
21	L	November 28, 1972	2–3 OT	@ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73)	12–8–1
22	L	November 30, 1972	2–5	@ New York Raiders (1972–73)	12–9–1
23	W	December 1, 1972	6–4	@ Alberta Oilers (1972–73)	13–9–1
24	L	December 3, 1972	1–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73)	13–10–1
25	L	December 5, 1972	2–3 OT	Chicago Cougars (1972–73)	13–11–1
26	W	December 7, 1972	3–0	Houston Aeros (1972–73)	14–11–1
27	L	December 8, 1972	3–4 OT	@ Chicago Cougars (1972–73)	14–12–1
28	W	December 10, 1972	4–3 OT	Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73)	15–12–1
29	T	December 12, 1972	3–3	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73)	15–12–2
30	W	December 14, 1972	6–3	@ Chicago Cougars (1972–73)	16–12–2
31	L	December 15, 1972	2–3	Houston Aeros (1972–73)	16–13–2
32	W	December 17, 1972	4–2	Chicago Cougars (1972–73)	17–13–2
33	W	December 19, 1972	7–5	New England Whalers (1972–73)	18–13–2
34	W	December 21, 1972	3–0	Winnipeg Jets (1972–73)	19–13–2
35	L	December 23, 1972	1–3	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73)	19–14–2
36	L	December 26, 1972	2–6	Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73)	19–15–2
37	W	December 28, 1972	4–2	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73)	20–15–2
38	L	December 29, 1972	2–5	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73)	20–16–2
39	T	January 1, 1973	4–4	Houston Aeros (1972–73)	20–16–3
40	L	January 7, 1973	2–6	Winnipeg Jets (1972–73)	20–17–3
41	L	January 9, 1973	3–4 OT	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73)	20–18–3
42	L	January 11, 1973	3–4	Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73)	20–19–3
43	W	January 12, 1973	3–2	Quebec Nordiques (1972–73)	21–19–3
44	W	January 14, 1973	3–2 OT	Ottawa Nationals (1972–73)	22–19–3
45	L	January 16, 1973	1–3	@ Winnipeg Jets (1972–73)	22–20–3
46	L	January 18, 1973	3–6	@ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73)	22–21–3
47	W	January 20, 1973	10–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73)	23–21–3
48	W	January 22, 1973	3–2	@ New York Raiders (1972–73)	24–21–3
49	L	January 25, 1973	2–5	Houston Aeros (1972–73)	24–22–3
50	W	January 26, 1973	4–2	Ottawa Nationals (1972–73)	25–22–3
51	L	January 30, 1973	2–4	@ Chicago Cougars (1972–73)	25–23–3
52	L	February 1, 1973	2–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1972–73)	25–24–3
53	L	February 3, 1973	1–7	@ Houston Aeros (1972–73)	25–25–3
54	W	February 5, 1973	6–3	@ Houston Aeros (1972–73)	26–25–3
55	W	February 6, 1973	5–4	New York Raiders (1972–73)	27–25–3
56	L	February 8, 1973	1–3	@ Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73)	27–26–3
57	L	February 9, 1973	0–6	@ Alberta Oilers (1972–73)	27–27–3
58	L	February 11, 1973	5–7	@ Alberta Oilers (1972–73)	27–28–3
59	W	February 15, 1973	3–0	Ottawa Nationals (1972–73)	28–28–3
60	W	February 17, 1973	7–3	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73)	29–28–3
61	W	February 18, 1973	7–5	Chicago Cougars (1972–73)	30–28–3
62	L	February 25, 1973	1–4	@ Houston Aeros (1972–73)	30–29–3
63	W	February 27, 1973	3–0	Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73)	31–29–3
64	L	March 1, 1973	1–4	Los Angeles Sharks (1972–73)	31–30–3
65	W	March 4, 1973	4–2	New England Whalers (1972–73)	32–30–3
66	W	March 6, 1973	4–3 OT	Alberta Oilers (1972–73)	33–30–3
67	L	March 8, 1973	1–2	@ Philadelphia Blazers (1972–73)	33–31–3
68	L	March 10, 1973	1–3	@ New England Whalers (1972–73)	33–32–3
69	W	March 11, 1973	2–1	Alberta Oilers (1972–73)	34–32–3
70	W	March 15, 1973	7–4	@ Chicago Cougars (1972–73)	35–32–3
71	L	March 16, 1973	4–7	@ New England Whalers (1972–73)	35–33–3
72	L	March 20, 1973	3–5	@ Alberta Oilers (1972–73)	35–34–3
73	W	March 22, 1973	2–1 OT	@ Chicago Cougars (1972–73)	36–34–3
74	W	March 24, 1973	2–1 OT	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1972–73)	37–34–3
75	L	March 25, 1973	1–6	@ Ottawa Nationals (1972–73)	37–35–3
76	W	March 27, 1973	4–3	New York Raiders (1972–73)	38–35–3
77	L	March 29, 1973	3–5	Quebec Nordiques (1972–73)	38–36–3
78	L	March 30, 1973	3–5	Alberta Oilers (1972–73)	38–37–3

Playoffs

The Oilers and the Minnesota Fighting Saints were tied at the end of the season. They had the same number of victories and points, and they had both won four games against each other. Subsequently, it was decided that the two teams would play a one game playoff to decide the final spot in the playoffs, to be played in Calgary.

Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
April 4	Minnesota Fighting Saints	4–2	Alberta Oilers	1–0

Winnipeg Jets 4, Minnesota Fighting Saints 1

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 6	Minnesota Fighting Saints	1–3	Winnipeg Jets	0–1
2	April 8	Minnesota Fighting Saints	2–5	Winnipeg Jets	0–2
3	April 10	Winnipeg Jets	4–6	Minnesota Fighting Saints	1–2
4	April 11	Winnipeg Jets	3–2 OT	Minnesota Fighting Saints	1–3
5	April 15	Minnesota Fighting Saints	5–8	Winnipeg Jets	1–4

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Wayne Connelly C 78 40 30 70 16 0 10 0 6 Ted Hampson C 77 17 45 62 20 0 4 0 2 Bill Klatt RW 78 36 22 58 22 0 12 0 5 Mike McMahon D 75 12 39 51 87 0 4 0 0 Keith Christiansen C 64 12 30 42 24 0 2 0 0 George Morrison LW 70 16 24 40 20 0 9 0 0 Bob MacMillan RW 75 13 27 40 48 0 1 0 0 Terry Ball D 78 6 34 40 66 0 1 0 0 Mike Antonovich C 75 20 19 39 46 0 1 0 0 John Arbour D 76 6 27 33 186 0 1 0 0 Fred Speck C 47 13 16 29 52 0 5 0 0 Jim Johnson C 33 9 14 23 12 0 0 0 0 Len Lilyholm RW 77 8 13 21 37 0 0 0 0 Mel Pearson LW 70 8 12 20 12 0 0 0 0 Terry Ryan C 76 13 6 19 13 0 1 6 0 Dick Paradise D 77 3 15 18 189 0 0 0 0 Frank Sanders D 76 8 8 16 94 0 1 0 0 George Konik D/LW 54 4 12 16 34 0 0 0 0 Bill Young LW 23 5 6 11 20 0 2 0 0 Craig Falkman RW 45 1 5 6 12 0 0 0 0 Mike Curran G 43 0 1 1 26 0 0 0 0 Blaine Rydman D 29 0 1 1 65 0 0 0 0 Jack McCartan G 38 0 0 0 19 0 0 0 0 Carl Wetzel G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Mike Curran 2540 43 23 17 2 131 3.09 4 Jack McCartan 2160 38 15 19 1 129 3.58 1 Carl Wetzel 60 1 0 1 0 3 3.00 0 Team: 4760 78 38 37 3 263 3.32 5

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Mike McMahon D 5 0 5 5 2 0 0 0 Ted Hampson C 5 3 1 4 0 0 0 0 Wayne Connelly C 5 1 3 4 0 0 0 0 Bill Klatt RW 5 1 3 4 5 1 0 0 Jim Johnson C 5 2 1 3 2 0 0 0 Terry Ball D 5 1 2 3 4 1 0 0 Bob MacMillan RW 5 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 Mike Antonovich C 5 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 Mel Pearson LW 5 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 George Morrison LW 5 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 Bill Young LW 5 1 1 2 4 0 0 1 Terry Ryan C 5 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 Keith Christiansen C 5 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 Len Lilyholm RW 5 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 John Arbour D 5 0 1 1 12 0 0 0 Jack McCartan G 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Dick Paradise D 5 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 Frank Sanders D 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Mike Curran G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Blaine Rydman D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Jack McCartan 213 4 1 2 14 3.94 0 Mike Curran 90 2 0 2 9 6.00 0 Team: 303 5 1 4 23 4.55 0

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;

See also

• 1972–73 WHA season