Western Division (NHL)

The NHL western division has existed since 1967, when the league was represented by one division with six teams, until 1974, when there was another change in the format of the tournament.

In 1967, the number of NHL teams was doubled (from six to twelve). Teams were divided into two divisions. Previous tournament participants, known as the Big Six , were consolidated into one division - the East Division . All new entrants thus ended up in the Western Division. This principle of division was applied in order to maintain the same level of teams within the divisions, not paying attention to the geographical location of the participants. Such an imbalance of forces (the Eastern Division clubs were much stronger) led to the fact that during the tournament in this format, the “Eastern” teams won the Stanley Cup six times in seven seasons. Another consequence of this division was that in the 1969–70 season the Montreal Canadiens , having gained 92 points (more than any club from the West), took 5th place in their division and did not get into the playoffs.

During the next expansion in 1970 , new clubs, Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabers , were identified as the stronger Eastern Division . To quantify the leveling of the divisions, the Chicago Blackhawks club was transferred from the Eastern division to the Western division.

As a result of the next expansion in 1972 , each division received one more new club: the New York Islanders were in the East Division, the Atlanta Flames in the West.

In 1974 , two more clubs were accepted into the league: Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts . As a result, major changes were made to the format of the tournament. The East and West divisions were renamed into conferences (“ Prince of Wales Conference ” and “ Clarence Campbell Conference ”, respectively). Each conference (consisting of 9 clubs) was, in turn, divided into two divisions:

Prince of Wales Conference
- Adams Division
- Norris Division
Clarence Campbell Conference
- Patrick's Division
- Smythe Division

Since the separation of teams did not reflect their geographical location, conferences and divisions were named after famous historical figures.

Content

West Division members

The Philadelphia Flyers (1967-74)
The Los Angeles Kings (1967-74)
St. Louis Blues (1967-74)
" Minnesota North Stars " (1967-74)
The Pittsburgh Penguins (1967-74)
California Sills (1967), Auckland Sills (1967-70), California Golden Sills (1970-74)
Chicago Blackhawks (1970-74)
Atlanta Flames (1972-74)

Summary tables of the seasons 1968-1974

Designations: GP = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Draws, Pts = Points, GF = Abandoned goals, GA = Missed goals, PIM = Penalty in minutes
Note: Teams in the playoffs are shown in bold.

1967-68

1967-68	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Gf	GA	PIM
Philadelphia flyers	74	31	32	eleven	73	173	179	987
Los angeles kings	74	31	33	ten	72	200	224	810
St. Louis Blues	74	27	31	sixteen	70	177	191	792
Minnesota North Stars	74	27	32	15	69	191	226	738
Pittsburgh penguins	74	27	34	13	67	195	216	554
Auckland Sils ^[1]	74	15	42	17	47	153	219	787

1968-69

1968-69	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Gf	GA	PIM
St. Louis Blues	76	37	25	14	88	204	157	838
Auckland Sills	76	29th	36	eleven	69	219	251	811
Philadelphia flyers	76	20	35	21	61	174	225	964
Los angeles kings	76	24	42	ten	58	185	260	698
Pittsburgh penguins	76	20	45	eleven	51	189	252	677
Minnesota North Stars	76	18	43	15	51	189	270	862

1969-70

1969-70	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Gf	GA	PIM
St. Louis Blues	76	37	27	12	86	224	179	876
Pittsburgh penguins	76	26	38	12	64	182	238	1038
Minnesota North Stars	76	nineteen	35	22	60	224	257	1008
Auckland Sills	76	22	40	14	58	169	243	845
Philadelphia flyers	76	17	35	24	58	197	225	1123
Los angeles kings	76	14	52	ten	38	168	290	969

1970-71

1970-71	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Gf	GA	PIM
Chicago Blackhawks	78	49	20	9	107	277	184	1280
St. Louis Blues	78	34	25	nineteen	87	223	208	1092
Philadelphia flyers	78	28	33	17	73	207	225	1060
Minnesota North Stars	78	28	34	sixteen	72	191	223	898
Los angeles kings	78	25	40	13	63	239	303	775
Pittsburgh penguins	78	21	37	20	62	221	240	1079
California Golden Sills	78	20	53	five	45	199	320	937

1971-72

1971-72	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Gf	GA	PIM
Chicago Blackhawks	78	46	17	15	107	256	166	844
Minnesota North Stars	78	37	29th	12	86	212	191	853
St. Louis Blues	78	28	39	eleven	67	208	247	1150
Pittsburgh penguins	78	26	38	14	66	220	258	978
Philadelphia flyers	78	26	38	14	66	200	236	1233
California Golden Sills	78	21	39	18	60	216	288	1007
Los angeles kings	78	20	49	9	49	206	305	719

1972-73

1972-73	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Gf	GA	PIM
Chicago Blackhawks	78	42	27	9	93	284	225	864
Philadelphia flyers	78	37	thirty	eleven	85	296	256	1756
Minnesota North Stars	78	37	thirty	eleven	85	254	230	881
St. Louis Blues	78	32	34	12	76	233	251	1195
Pittsburgh penguins	78	32	37	9	73	257	265	866
Los angeles kings	78	31	36	eleven	73	232	245	888
Atlanta Flames	78	25	38	15	65	191	239	852
California Golden Sills	78	sixteen	46	sixteen	48	213	323	840

1973-74

1973-74	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Gf	GA	PIM
Philadelphia flyers	78	50	sixteen	12	112	273	164	1750
Chicago Blackhawks	78	41	14	23	105	272	164	877
Los angeles kings	78	33	33	12	78	233	231	1055
Atlanta Flames	78	thirty	34	14	74	214	238	841
Pittsburgh penguins	78	28	41	9	65	242	273	950
St. Louis Blues	78	26	40	12	64	206	248	1147
Minnesota North Stars	78	23	38	17	63	235	275	821
California Golden Sills	78	13	55	ten	36	195	342	651

Division Champions

Stanley Cup Holders

1973-74 - Philadelphia Flyers

Notes

↑ The name California Sills was used in the first month of the season, after which it was changed to Auckland Sills.

[Medal_count-1] The name California Sills was used in the first month of the season, after which it was changed to Auckland Sills.