AHL 1978/79

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Master:	Maine Mariners
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The 1978/79 season was the 43rd regular season of the American Hockey League (AHL). During the regular season, the league's nine teams played 80 games each. The six best teams in the AHL then played in a play-off round for the Calder Cup .

Team changes

The following changes were made before the start of the season:

• The Hampton Gulls , who ended the season prematurely in the preseason, did not resume play
• The New Brunswick Hawks were added to the league as an expansion team

Regular season

Closing tables

Abbreviations: GP = games, W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, OTL = defeat after overtime , GF = goals scored, GA = goals conceded, Pts = points
Explanations: The placement within the conference is shown in brackets;     = Playoff qualification,     = division winner,     = conference winner

Regular season

North Division	GP	W.	L.	T	GF	GA	Pts
Maine Mariners	80	45	22nd	13	350	252	103
New Brunswick Hawks	80	41	29	10	315	288	92
Nova Scotia Voyageurs	80	39	37	4th	313	302	82
Springfield Indians	80	33	38	9	289	290	75

South Division	GP	W.	L.	T	GF	GA	Pts
New Haven Nighthawks	80	46	25th	9	346	271	101
Hershey Bears	79	35	36	8th	311	324	78
Binghamton Dusters	79	32	42	5	300	320	69
Rochester Americans	80	26th	42	12	289	349	64
Philadelphia Firebirds	80	23	49	8th	230	347	54

Best scorer

Abbreviations: GP = games, G = goals, A = assists , Pts = points, +/- = plus / minus , PIM = penalty minutes; Bold: Season best

player	team	GP	G	A.	Pts	PIM
Bernie Johnston	Maine Mariners	70	29	66	95	40
Wayne Schaab	Maine Mariners	80	41	50	91	43
Kirk Bowman	New Brunswick Hawks	80	26th	56	82	44
Bobby Sheehan	New Haven Nighthawks	70	33	48	81	26th
Rick Meagher	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	79	35	46	81	57
Dave Lumley	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	61	22nd	58	80	160
Claude Noël	Hershey Bears	76	30th	50	80	27
Dale Lewis	New Haven Nighthawks	76	29	51	80	20th
Rocky Saganiuk	New Brunswick Hawks	61	47	29	76	91
André Peloffy	Springfield Indians	77	28	48	76	138

Calder Cup playoffs

mode

The three best teams from the North Division and the South Division qualified for the play-offs. In the first two play-off rounds, the winners of the respective divisions were played, with the second player first playing against the third party and then the winner of this duel in round two against the first place in the regular season. In round three, the two division winners met in the final. The first play-off round was played in the best-of-five mode, the second play-off round and the final were played in the best-of-seven mode.

Play-off overview

Division semi-finals

Division finals

Calder Cup Final

North Division

N1

Maine Mariners

4th

N2

New Brunswick Hawks

2

N3

Nova Scotia Voyageurs

2

N3

Nova Scotia Voyageurs

3

N1

Maine Mariners

4th

S1

New Haven Nighthawks

0

South Division

S1

New Haven Nighthawks

4th

S2

Hershey Bears

1

S3

Binghamton Dusters

2

S3

Binghamton Dusters

3

Calder Cup winner

Calder Cup winner Maine Mariners

Goalkeepers: Yves Guillemette , Robbie Moore , Pete Peeters Defenders: Reid Bailey , Norm Barnes , Glen Cochrane , Terry Murray , Dennis Patterson Attackers: Mike Busniuk , Gordie Clark , Jim Cunningham , Barry Dean , Paul Evans , Dave Faulkner , Bernie Johnston , Danny Lucas , Gary Morrison , John Paddock , Yves Preston , Wayne Schaab , Mike Simurda Head Coach: Bob McCammon   General Manager: Keith Allen

Awarded trophies

Team trophies

Award	team
Calder Cup winners of the AHL playoffs	Maine Mariners
FG "Teddy" Oke Trophy Best team in the North Division, regular season	Maine Mariners
John D. Chick Trophy Best Team in the South Division, Regular Season	New Haven Nighthawks

Individual trophies

Award	player	team
Les Cunningham Award MVP of the regular season	Rocky Saganiuk	New Brunswick Hawks
John B. Sollenberger Trophy Best Scorer	Bernie Johnston	Maine Mariners
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award Best Rookie	Mike Meeker	Binghamton Dusters
Eddie Shore Award Best Defender	Terry Murray	Maine Mariners
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award Goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded	Robbie Moore	Maine Mariners
	Pete Peeters
Louis AR Pieri Memorial Award Best Trainer	Parker MacDonald	New Haven Nighthawks
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award For the player who excels through fairness, commitment and dedication	Bernie Johnston	Maine Mariners

Web links

• Official site of the AHL (English)