1979 NHL Entry Draft

1979 NHL Entry Draft
overview
date	August 9, 1979
place	Montréal , Québec , Canada
Round	6th
Selected players	126
1st position	Rob Ramage Elected By: Colorado Rockies
2nd position	Perry Turnbull Elected By: St. Louis Blues
3rd position	Mike Foligno Elected By: Detroit Red Wings
NHL Entry Draft  <1978 1980>

The 1979 NHL Entry Draft took place on August 8, 1979 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montréal in the Canadian province of Québec . In the 17th edition of the NHL Entry Draft - for the first time under this name - the teams of the National Hockey League (NHL) selected a total of 126 players in six rounds. The Canadian defender Rob Ramage of the Colorado Rockies was selected as the first overall draft pick . Perry Turnbull for the St. Louis Blues and Mike Foligno for the Detroit Red Wings followed in second and third .

In 1979 it was the first draft after the remaining teams of the World Hockey Association (WHA) were accepted into the NHL, so major changes were made to the regulations. The order of the draft resulted from the reversed final table of the past season 1978/79 , while the four WHA representatives were sorted behind all NHL teams. When the name was changed from “Amateur Draft” to “Entry Draft”, the fact that eight players could be selected from the WHA this year, who thus came from the professional and not the amateur field, was taken into account. In addition, the NHL was forced to lower the starting age for the draft from 20 to 19 years, as the WHA did not have a comparable age limit and had already used younger players in the 1978/79 season . As a result, all players who were born before January 1, 1961 were now available, as well as those players who had already gained experience in the WHA. However, the four WHA teams had the opportunity to protect two players from their squad in advance from a draft election, so that Wayne Gretzky could switch to the NHL without a draft. The officials of the league needed a long time for the entire negotiations, so that the draft did not take place until August - as late as ever.

In retrospect, the Entry Draft 1979 is seen as one of the strongest vintages in NHL history. This is essentially due to the change in the entry age, which made two years available at the same time. The major players of the year include the later Hockey Hall of Fame members Mark Messier , Ray Bourque , Mike Gartner , Michel Goulet , Glenn Anderson and Guy Carbonneau as well as Dale Hunter , Neal Broten and Brian Propp , each recorded over 1000 scorer points .

Draft result

Mike Gartner , elected at position 4

Rick Vaive , elected at position 5

Ray Bourque , elected at position 9

Michel Goulet , elected at position 20

Billy Carroll , elected at position 38

Tim Hunter , elected at position 54

Roland Melanson , elected at position 59

Glenn Anderson , elected at position 69

Jim Peplinski , elected at position 75

Table of Contents Round 1  | Round 2  | Round 3  | Round 4  | Round 5  | Round 6

Abbreviations:
position with C = center , LW = left wing , RW = right wing , D = defender , G = goalkeeper

Color Legend:
 = players into the Hockey Hall of Fame were taken

Round 1

#	player	nationality	position	NHL team	College / junior / professional team
1.	Rob Ramage		D.	Colorado Rockies	Birmingham Bulls ( WHA )
2.	Perry Turnbull		LW	St. Louis Blues	Portland Winter Hawks ( WHL )
3.	Mike Foligno		RW	Detroit Red Wings	Sudbury Wolves ( OMJHL )
4th	Mike Gartner		RW	Washington Capitals	Cincinnati Stingers (WHA)
5.	Rick Vaive		RW	Vancouver Canucks	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
6th	Craig Hartsburg		D.	Minnesota North Stars	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
7th	Keith Brown		D.	Chicago Black Hawks	Portland Winter Hawks ( WHL )
8th.	Ray Bourque		D.	Boston Bruins (from Los Angeles Kings )	Éperviers de Verdun ( LHJMQ )
9.	Laurie Boschman		C.	Toronto Maple Leafs	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
10.	Tom McCarthy		LW	Minnesota North Stars (from Pittsburgh Penguins via Washington Capitals )	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
11.	Mike Ramsey		D.	Buffalo Sabers	University of Minnesota ( NCAA )
12.	Paul Reinhart		D.	Atlanta Flames	Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
13.	Doug Sulliman		RW	New York Rangers	Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
14th	Brian Propp		LW	Philadelphia Flyers	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
15th	Brad McCrimmon		D.	Boston Bruins	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
16.	Jay Wells		D.	Los Angeles Kings (from Canadiens de Montréal )	Kingston Canadians (OMJHL)
17th	Duane Sutter		RW	New York Islanders	Lethbridge Broncos (WHL)
18th	Ray Allison		RW	Hartford Whalers	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
19th	Jimmy Mann		RW	Winnipeg Jets	Castors de Sherbrooke (LHJMQ)
20th	Michel Goulet		LW	Nordiques de Québec	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
21st	Kevin Lowe		D.	Edmonton Oilers	Remparts de Québec (LHJMQ)

round 2

#	player	nationality	position	NHL team	College / junior / professional team
22nd	Blake Wesley		D.	Philadelphia Flyers (from Colorado Rockies )	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
23.	Mike Perovich		D.	Atlanta Flames (from St. Louis Blues )	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
24.	Errol Rausse		LW	Washington Capitals (from Detroit Red Wings )	Seattle Breakers (WHL)
25th	Tomas Jonsson		D.	New York Islanders (from Washington Capitals )	MoDo AIK ( Elitserien )
26th	Brent Ashton		LW	Vancouver Canucks	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
27.	Gaston Gingras		D.	Canadiens de Montréal (from Minnesota North Stars )	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
28.	Tim Trimper		LW	Chicago Black Hawks	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
29	Dean Hopkins		RW	Los Angeles Kings	London Knights (OMJHL)
30th	Mark Hardy		D.	Los Angeles Kings (from Toronto Maple Leafs )	Junior de Montréal (LHJMQ)
31.	Paul Marshall		LW	Pittsburgh Penguins	Brantford Alexanders (OMJHL)
32.	Lindy Ruff		D.	Buffalo Sabers	Lethbridge Broncos (WHL)
33.	Pat Riggin		G	Atlanta Flames	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
34.	Ed Hospodar		D.	New York Rangers	Ottawa 67’s (OMJHL)
35.	Pelle Lindbergh		G	Philadelphia Flyers	AIK Solna (Elitserien)
36.	Doug Morrison		RW	Boston Bruins	Lethbridge Broncos (WHL)
37.	Mats Näslund		LW	Canadiens de Montréal	Brynäs IF (Elitserien)
38.	Billy Carroll		C.	New York Islanders	London Knights (OMJHL)
39.	Stuart Smith		D.	Hartford Whalers	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
40.	Dave Christian		RW	Winnipeg Jets	University of North Dakota (NCAA)
41.	Dale Hunter		C.	Nordiques de Québec	Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
42.	Neal loaves		C.	Minnesota North Stars (by Edmonton Oilers )	University of Minnesota (NCAA)

Round 3

#	player	nationality	position	NHL team	College / junior / professional team
43.	Craig Levie		D.	Canadiens de Montréal (from Colorado Rockies )	Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
44.	Guy Carbonneau		C.	Canadiens de Montréal (from St. Louis Blues )	Saguenéens de Chicoutimi (LHJMQ)
45.	Jody Gage		RW	Detroit Red Wings	Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
46.	Boris Fistric		D.	Detroit Red Wings (by Washington Capitals )	New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
47.	Ken Ellacott		G	Vancouver Canucks	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
48.	Mark Messier		C.	Edmonton Oilers (of Minnesota North Stars )	Cincinnati Stingers (WHA)
49.	Bill Gardner		C.	Chicago Black Hawks	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
50.	John-Paul Kelly		LW	Los Angeles Kings	New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
51.	Norm Aubin		C.	Toronto Maple Leafs	Éperviers de Verdun (LHJMQ)
52.	Bennett Wolf		D.	Pittsburgh Penguins	Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
53.	Mark Robinson		D.	Buffalo Sabers	Victoria Cougars (WHL)
54.	Tim Hunter		RW	Atlanta Flames	Seattle Breakers (WHL)
55.	Jacques Cloutier		G	Buffalo Sabers (from New York Rangers )	Draveurs de Trois-Rivières (LHJMQ)
56.	Lindsay Carson		LW	Philadelphia Flyers	Billings Bighorns (WHL)
57.	Keith Crowder		RW	Boston Bruins	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
58.	Rick Wamsley		G	Canadiens de Montréal	Brantford Alexanders (OMJHL)
59.	Roland Melanson		G	New York Islanders	Windsor Spitfires (OMJHL)
60.	Don Nachbaur		C.	Hartford Whalers	Billings Bighorns (WHL)
61.	Bill Whelton		D.	Winnipeg Jets	Boston University (NCAA)
62.	Lee Norwood		D.	Nordiques de Québec	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
63.	Kevin Maxwell		C.	Minnesota North Stars (by Edmonton Oilers )	University of North Dakota (NCAA)

Round 4

#	player	nationality	position	NHL team	College / junior / professional team
64.	Steve Peters		C.	Colorado Rockies	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
65.	Bob Crawford		RW	St. Louis Blues	Cornwall Royals (LHJMQ)
66.	John Ogrodnick		RW	Detroit Red Wings	New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
67.	Harvie Pocza		LW	Washington Capitals	Billings Bighorns (WHL)
68.	Arthur Rutland		C.	Vancouver Canucks	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OMJHL)
69.	Glenn Anderson		RW	Edmonton Oilers (of Minnesota North Stars )	University of Denver (NCAA)
70.	Louis Begin		LW	Chicago Black Hawks	Castors de Sherbrooke (LHJMQ)
71.	John Gibson		D.	Los Angeles Kings	Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
72.	Vincent Tremblay		G	Toronto Maple Leafs	Remparts de Québec (LHJMQ)
73.	Brian Cross		D.	Pittsburgh Penguins	Brantford Alexanders (OMJHL)
74.	Gilles Hamel		LW	Buffalo Sabers	National de Laval (LHJMQ)
75.	Jim Peplinski		RW	Atlanta Flames	Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
76.	Pat Conacher		C.	New York Rangers	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
77.	Don Gillen		RW	Philadelphia Flyers	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
78.	Larry Melnyk		D.	Boston Bruins	New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
79.	Dave Orleski		LW	Canadiens de Montréal	New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
80.	Tim Lockridge		D.	New York Islanders	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
81.	Ray Neufeld		RW	Hartford Whalers	Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
82.	Patrick Daley		LW	Winnipeg Jets	Junior de Montréal (LHJMQ)
83.	Anton Šťastný		LW	Nordiques de Québec	Slovan Bratislava ( 1st division )
84.	Max Kostovich		LW	Edmonton Oilers	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)

Round 5

#	player	nationality	position	NHL team	College / junior / professional team
85.	Gary Dillon		C.	Colorado Rockies	Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
86.	Mark Reeds		RW	St. Louis Blues	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
87.	Joe Paterson		LW	Detroit Red Wings	London Knights (OMJHL)
88	Tim Tookey		C.	Washington Capitals	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
89.	Dirk Graham		RW	Vancouver Canucks	Regina Pats (WHL)
90.	Jim Dobson		RW	Minnesota North Stars	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
91.	Lowell Loveday		D.	Chicago Black Hawks	Kingston Canadians (OMJHL)
92.	Jim Brown		D.	Los Angeles Kings	University of Notre Dame (NCAA)
93.	Frank Nigro		C.	Toronto Maple Leafs	London Knights (OMJHL)
94.	Nick Ricci		G	Pittsburgh Penguins	Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
95.	Alan Haworth		C.	Buffalo Sabers	Castors de Sherbrooke (LHJMQ)
96.	Brad Kempthorne		C.	Atlanta Flames	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
97.	Dan Makuch		RW	New York Rangers	Clarkson University (NCAA)
98	Thomas Eriksson		D.	Philadelphia Flyers	Djurgårdens IF Stockholm (Elitserien)
99	Marco Baron		G	Boston Bruins	Junior de Montréal (LHJMQ)
100.	Yvan Joly		RW	Canadiens de Montréal	Ottawa 67’s (OMJHL)
101.	Glen Duncan		LW	New York Islanders	Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
102.	Mark Renaud		D.	Hartford Whalers	Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
103.	Thomas Steen		C.	Winnipeg Jets	Leksands IF (Elitserien)
104.	Pierre Lacroix		D.	Nordiques de Québec	Draveurs de Trois-Rivières (LHJMQ)
105.	Mike Toal		C.	Edmonton Oilers	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)

Round 6

#	player	nationality	position	NHL team	College / junior / professional team
106.	Bob Attwell		RW	Colorado Rockies	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
107.	Gilles Leduc		LW	St. Louis Blues	Éperviers de Verdun (LHJMQ)
108.	Carmine Cirella		LW	Detroit Red Wings	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
109.	Greg Theberge		D.	Washington Capitals	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
110.	Shane Swan		D.	Vancouver Canucks	Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
111.	Brian Gualazzi		RW	Minnesota North Stars	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OMJHL)
112.	Doug Crossman		D.	Chicago Black Hawks	Ottawa 67’s (OMJHL)
113.	Jay McFarlane		D.	Los Angeles Kings	University of Wisconsin – Madison (NCAA)
114.	Bill McCreary		RW	Toronto Maple Leafs	Colgate University (NCAA)
115.	Marc Chorney		D.	Pittsburgh Penguins	University of North Dakota (NCAA)
116.	Rick Knickle		G	Buffalo Sabers	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
117.	Glenn Johnson		C.	Atlanta Flames	University of Denver (NCAA)
118.	Stan Adams		C.	New York Rangers	Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
119.	Gordie Williams		RW	Philadelphia Flyers	Lethbridge Broncos (WHL)
120.	Mike Krushelnyski		C.	Boston Bruins	Junior de Montréal (LHJMQ)
121.	Greg Moffett		G	Canadiens de Montréal	University of New Hampshire (NCAA)
122.	John Gibb		D.	New York Islanders	Bowling Green State University (NCAA)
123.	Dave McDonald		LW	Hartford Whalers	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
124.	Tim Watters		D.	Winnipeg Jets	Michigan Technological University (NCAA)
125.	Scott McGeown		D.	Nordiques de Québec	Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
126.	Blair Barnes		RW	Edmonton Oilers	Windsor Spitfires (OMJHL)

statistics

by nationality rank nationality number North America 120 1.  Canada 109 2.  United States 11 Europe 6th 3.  Sweden 5 4th  Czechoslovakia 1

by position rank position number 1. defender 40 2. right winger 29 3. left winger 23 center 23 5. goalkeeper 11

according to league rank league number 1. Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL) 43 2. Western Hockey League (WHL) 37 3. Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Quebec (LHJMQ) 17th 4th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 15th 5. World Hockey Association (WHA) 8th 6th Elitserien 5 7th 1st League 1

review

Mark Messier , statistically the best player of this year

All players in this draft year have ended their professional careers. The tables show the five best players in the categories of games, goals, assists and scorer points, as well as the five goalkeepers with the most wins in the NHL. In addition, 103 of the 126 selected players (approx. 82%) have played at least one NHL game.

Abbreviations: Sp = games, T = goals, V = assists , Pkt = scorer points , S = wins; Fat: best value

Outfield player Pick player position Sp T V Pt 48. Mark Messier C. 1756 694 1193 1887 8th. Ray Bourque D. 1612 410 1169 1579 4th Mike Gartner RW 1432 708 627 1335 20th Michel Goulet LW 1089 548 605 1153 69. Glenn Anderson RW 1129 498 601 1099 41. Dale Hunter C. 1407 323 697 1020 42. Neal loaves C. 1099 289 634 923 5. Rick Vaive RW 876 441 347 788 44. Guy Carbonneau C. 1318 260 403 663

goalkeeper Pick player Sp S. 58. Rick Wamsley 407 204 33. Pat Riggin 350 153 59. Roland Melanson 291 129 35. Pelle Lindbergh 157 87 55. Jacques Cloutier 255 82

Web links

• NHL Entry Draft 1979 on eliteprospects.com (English)
• Overview and background on hockeydraftcentral.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Anatoliy Metter: What Was The Best NHL Draft Year? thehockeywriters.com, January 16, 2013, accessed February 6, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Tim Panaccio: 1979: The best draft in NHL history. nbcsports.com, June 26, 2014, accessed February 6, 2019 .