The 1973–74 NHL season was the 57th season of the National Hockey League. The Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup championship, the team's first. The team was the first of the post-1967 teams to win the Cup.

League business

With owner Charles O. Finley unable to find a buyer, the league took over operation of the troubled California Golden Seals in February 1974. Fred Glover then resigned as general manager-coach. Garry Young, who had served a previous hitch as general manager, agreed to return. Marshall Johnston, a defenseman for the Seals, retired and took over as coach.

Teams

Regular season

The Philadelphia Flyers, who developed the nickname "Broad Street Bullies" because of their physical style of play, dethroned the Chicago Black Hawks as the West Division champions behind the dominant play of Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent.

The New York Rangers were floundering under new coach Larry Popein and were in danger of missing the playoffs, and Emile Francis took over the coaching reins. The Rangers then improved enough to get into the playoffs.

Tragedy hit the NHL in the early morning hours of February 21 when 44 year-old Buffalo Sabres defenseman Tim Horton was killed in an automobile accident. He had been returning to Buffalo from Toronto at the time.

In the East Division, the Boston Bruins regained the top spot in the East and the league, behind an ongoing offensive juggernaut that saw Bruins' players finish 1–2–3–4 in NHL scoring (Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Ken Hodge, and Wayne Cashman) for the second and most recent time in league history.

Final standings

Playoffs

The playoffs began on April 9 with the first round, which was played between divisional opponents. The top teams all won their first rounds, with one mild upset, as the third-place New York Rangers defeated the second-place Montreal Canadiens, marking the third straight year that they had defeated the defending Stanley Cup champions in the first round. In the second round, the teams played an inter-divisional round to determine the finalists. The Eastern champion Boston Bruins took on the Western's second-place Chicago Black Hawks, while the Western champion Philadelphia Flyers took on the New York Rangers. Boston won its series in six games to take one Finals spot, while Philadelphia won its series against the New York Rangers in seven games to make the team's first Finals appearance. In doing so, the Flyers became the first-ever post 1967 NHL expansion team to win a playoff series against an Original Six opponent. In the Finals, the Flyers won the series in six games against the Bruins to win not only the franchise's first championship but also to become the first post 1967 NHL expansion team and thus the first non 'Original Six' NHL team to win the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Maroons in 1935.^[3]

Playoff bracket

Quarterfinals

(E1) Boston Bruins vs. (E4) Toronto Maple Leafs

The Boston Bruins finished first in the league with 113 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished fourth in the East Division with 86 points. This was the 13th playoff meeting between these two teams. Toronto lead 8–4 in previous meetings. Boston won their most recent meeting in five games in the 1972 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals. Boston won four of the six games in this year's regular season series.