, The 1973 NHL Amateur Draft won\'t go down as a producer of many great hockey players. However, four of the first round picks did go on to play over 1000 games in the league. Only one other player in the entire draft accomplished the same feat.
1973 marked the first year that the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association both held an amateur draft. Three of the four 1000+ game players from the first round were also selected in the WHA Amateur Draft. Dave Lewis, the only other 1000+ game man outside of the first round was also drafted by teams in both leagues.
Denis Potvin went first overall, selected by the New York Islanders. Potvin was coming off an outstanding junior career with the Ottawa 67\'s of the Ontario Hockey Association where he was awarded the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the league\'s top defenseman in his final two seasons.
Denis played his entire NHL career with the Islanders from 1973-74 until 1987-88. He was awarded the Calder Trophy in his first season as the league\'s top first year player. He won the Norris Trophy as the NHL\'s top defenseman on three occasions, 1975-76, 1977-78 and 1978-79. Denis Potvin was the first of only three players to win both the Kaminsky and Norris.
Potvin led the Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cup victories from 1979-80 to 1982-83. His number 5 was retired by the team and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Womens NHL Jersey Fame in 1991.
The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Lanny McDonald fourth overall from the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WCHL. The Cleveland Crusaders of the WHA also selected Lanny in their first round, tenth overall. McDonald played in the NHL from 1973-74 until 1988-89 with Toronto, Colorado Rockies and Calgary Flames.
Lanny scored 66 goals for Calgary in 1982-83. The same year, he was awarded the Bill Masterton Trophy. In 1987-88, he added the King Clancy Memorial Trophy to his trophy case. The following season, he culminated his NHL career by hoisting the Stanley Cup in Calgary\'s only championship in team history. McDonald\'s number 9 was the first to be retired by the Calgary Flames. Womens NHL Jersey He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.
Bob Gainey was picked eighth overall by the Montreal Canadiens. He was also a seventh overall pick in the WHA draft by the Minnesota Fighting Saints. Gainey played his entire NHL career with the Canadiens from 1973-74 to 1988-89, winning five Stanley Cups with the team. Like Denis Potvin, he won four consecutive Cups, adding a fifth in 1985-86. He was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy in the 1978-79 Cup finals.
Bob has won more Frank Selke Trophies than any other NHL player with four. The Selke Trophy is awarded to the NHL\'s most defensive forward. Gainey won Womens NHL Jersey the trophy in four consecutive seasons, starting in 1977-78. Bob\'s number 23 has since been retired by Montreal and he entered the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with Lanny McDonald, in 1992.
Rick Middleton went fourteenth overall to the New York Rangers after two seasons with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey Association. In his final season with Oshawa, Middleton scored 67 and totalled 137 points in 62 games. Middleton was a second round, 21st overall pick by the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA, as well.
Rick spent his first year of professional hockey, 1973-74, with the Providence Reds of the American Hockey League. He was awarded the Dudley \'Red\' Garrett Memorial Award that season as the AHL\'s rookie of the year. The following two seasons, he played for the Rangers.
Following a trade to the Boston Bruins, in exchange for Ken Hodge, Middleton\'s NHL career took off. He stayed with the Bruins for the rest of the career, retiring after the 1987-88 season. His best season came in 1981-82 when he scored 51 goals for the Bruins and won the Lady Byng Trophy as the league\'s most gentlemanly player.
Dave Lewis was selected in the third round, 33rd overall, by the New York Islanders. He played in the NHL from 1973-74 to 1987-88 with the Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings. Unfortunately for Lewis, he was traded away by the Islanders just before their four year Stanley Cup run.
