We’re back for another edition of NHL Saturday to examine a WHA season from the past: 1975. The Houston Aeros won a second straight championship, this time over the Quebec Nordiques in the Finals. The league had expanded into 14 teams across three regional divisions (Canadian, East, West). We love the idea of a Canadian division on its own, simply to ensure one Canuck squad got a good postseason boost to start off.

1975 Gordie Howe Trophy: Bobby Hull, LW, Winnipeg (original); André Lacroix, C, San Diego (revised)

Two skaters stood out as being above the rest: Winnipeg Jets left wing Bobby Hull (1.82 points per game; 0.77 goals created per game) and San Diego Mariners center André Lacroix (1.88, 0.65). Hull had a slight statistical edge there and won the vote; yet his team missed the postseason by five points in the wild-card standings. That’s problematic for us; meanwhile, the Mariners finished nine points better than Winnipeg.

Thus, we’re going with Lacroix here for value, just like we did in the inaugural WHA season award analysis. This was his third team in three WHA seasons, too, after he played for the Philadelphia Blazers in 1973 and the New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights in 1974 (yes, the team moved in the middle of the season to an arena with a slope). Lacroix was in his age-29 season with the Mariners; he certainly had talent, didn’t he?

1975 Dennis A. Murphy Trophy: J.C. Tremblay, Quebec (original); Kevin Morrison, San Diego (revised)

We have four decent candidates for the best blueliner, including the vote winner: J.C. Tremblay of Quebec. He won the vote in 1973, too, and this was his age-36 season (72 points, 18 PIMs). But Mariners youngster Kevin Morrison (81, 143) was much better on the ice for a team with a similar record. The other two considerations here don’t come close to Morrison’s level of value-added contributions to team success.

Again, Tremblay had won five Stanley Cups with the Montréal Canadiens between 1965-1971, so we think these vote wins for him were just overly influenced by his legacy in the NHL and name recognition. Morrison had never played in the NHL, and this was just his second season in the WHA. That kind of voter bias is the thing we don’t have patience for these days—especially when we look back at the past’s mistakes.

1975 Ben Hatskin Trophy: Ron Grahame, G, Houston (original, confirmed)

Aeros netminder Ron Grahame won the Triple Crown, of sorts. for WHA goalies this year, topping the league in wins (33), goals-against average (3.03), and shutouts (4). He won the vote here, and we’re inclined to agree with it, as Houston posted the best record in the league. And in all honest transparency, no other goaltender put together a statistical slate even close to Grahame’s efforts, so this is an easy confirmation.

At age 24, this was his first full season as a starter, after he got just four starts for the Aeros the prior season. He would jump to the NHL by 1977-1978, and he played for Boston, Los Angeles, and Quebec in that league before retiring in the early 1980s.

1975 Lou Kaplan Trophy: Anders Hedberg, RW, Winnipeg (original); John Hughes, D, Phoenix (revised)

Jets right wing Anders Hedberg (100 points) won the ROTY vote, even though Winnipeg missed the postseason. Playing your rookie season with Hull on your side really helps, and it’s shocking to us this team couldn’t find the playoffs, even with a plus-29 scoring differential. So, what about a rookie like Phoenix Roadrunners defenseman John Hughes? With a plus-49 rating and 201 PIMs, he brought it good and hard.

His team did claim the final postseason berth, finishing five points better than Winnipeg did—and with a better scoring differential, too. Thus we are going to give this nod to Hughes, who also added 29 points to his statistical output for good measure. He was a physical force who certainly made a difference in postseason positioning.

1975 WHA Playoff MVP: Grahame (original, confirmed)

Houston rolled through the postseason with a 12-1 record, sweeping the final two rounds. Grahame won the vote for this award, the first time it became an official thing. He posted a .941 save percentage while posting three shutouts and giving up just 26 goals in the 13 games. Four skaters posted at least a point a game, so the load was shared there, overall, with seven players posting double digits. Grahame? Played every minute.