The 1973–74 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the 57th season of the Toronto NHL franchise, 47th as the ''Maple Leafs.'' The Leafs placed fourth to make the playoffs, but were swept in the first round by the
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
.
Offseason
The Maple Leafs made several signings that would improve their team. At the entry draft, the Maple Leafs chose
Lanny McDonald
Lanny King McDonald (born February 16, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played over 1,100 games during a 16-year c ...
with the fourth-overall draft pick. He would play six and a half seasons with the Maple Leafs.
Bernie Parent
Bernard Marcel Parent (born April 3, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 13 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs, and also spent one seaso ...
, who had left the team for the
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...
(WHA) in 1972, made it known that he wanted to return to the NHL. The Maple Leafs still had his NHL rights, and they traded Parent to the
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...
for
Doug Favell
Douglas Robert Favell (born April 5, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and former box lacrosse player. Favell played in the National Hockey League for the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Rockies.
...
and a first-round draft pick, which the Maple Leafs used to choose
Bob Neely. Neely would play four seasons for the Maple Leafs before being traded to the
Colorado Rockies.
In a first for Toronto, the club signed players from Europe. Toronto signed Swedish defenceman
Borje Salming Borje may refer to:
* Börje, Swedish name
* Börje, a parish in the former Ulleråker Hundred of Sweden
* Borje (Foča), village in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Borje, Zagorje ob Savi, small settlement in Slovenia
* Borje pri Mlinšah, small settlemen ...
and forward
Inge Hammarstrom. Salming had made the all-star team at the 1973 world championships. Hammarstrom was one of the top scorers in Sweden. Both had played for
Brynas of the Swedish League, and the Leafs had to pay the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation for their release. Salming would play with the Leafs until 1989, when he joined the
Detroit Red Wings. Hammarstrom would play five seasons in Toronto before moving to the
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...
.
Regular season
Final standings
Record vs. opponents
Schedule and results
Playoffs
Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring
;Goaltending
Playoffs
;Scoring
;Goaltending
Awards and records
Transactions
The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the
1973–74 season.
Trades
Free agents
Draft picks
Toronto's draft picks at the
1973 NHL Amateur Draft held at the
Queen Elizabeth Hotel
Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth (french: Fairmont Le Reine Élizabeth) is a historic grand hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. With 950 rooms and 21 floors it is the largest hotel in the province of Quebec, and the second largest Fairmont hotel in ...
in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
.
Farm teams
See also
*
1973–74 NHL season
References
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:1973-74 Toronto Maple Leafs Season
Toronto Maple Leafs season, 1973-74
Toronto M
Toronto Maple Leafs seasons