WHA 1975/76

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The 1975/76 season was the fourth season of the World Hockey Association (WHA).

After three seasons of growth, the new season started with high hopes. With the Chicago Cougars and the Baltimore Blades , two teams that had got into trouble last season were disbanded. Their places were taken by the Cincinnati Stingers and the Denver Spurs . While Cincinnati had been preparing for participation for a long time, the season was hastily prepared in Denver.

In Denver a lot didn't go according to plan. To save the franchise , the team moved briefly to Ottawa at the turn of the year , but a short time later the team gave up. Shaken by this, the league was also unable to save the Minnesota Fighting Saints team . With the Saints, the league lost a team that was exceptionally successful in terms of both sport and audience appeal.

The Houston Eros failed to defend their title for the third time in a row. In the final games of the Avco World Trophy they were defeated by the Winnipeg Jets . They clearly prevailed with 4–0.

4,123,121 spectators watched the 532 games of the fourth season. The average was 7,750 per game, which was a further increase compared to the previous season. In the NHL at that time, the audience had dropped to about 12,644.

Regular season

mode

Two tasks in January forced the WHA to change their schedule at short notice. It was planned that the teams would play half of their games within their division and the other half against the teams of the other two divisions. Home and away games should also be balanced. The short-term adjustments made some teams play 80 and others 81 games.

At the end of the regular season, the first four teams from the Canadian Division and the top three teams from the other two divisions qualified for the playoffs . The playoffs took place after the regular season and were played in the knockout system . If two or more teams were tied, the larger number of games won counted first.

Closing tables

Canadian Division

Abbreviations: GP = games, W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, GF = goals scored, GA = goals conceded, Pts = points
Explanations: The position within the conference is in brackets;     = Playoff qualification,     = division winner,     = abandonment during the season

Canadian Division	GP	W.	L.	T	GF	GA	Pts	Zø
Winnipeg Jets	81	52	27	2	345	254	106	8,696
Québec Nordiques	81	50	27	4th	371	316	104	9,885
Calgary cowboys	80	41	35	4th	307	282	86	4,948
Edmonton Oilers	81	27	49	5	268	345	59	7,931
Toronto Toros	81	24	52	5	335	398	53	8,983

Eastern Division

Eastern Division	GP	W.	L.	T	GF	GA	Pts	Zø
Indianapolis Racers	80	35	39	6th	245	247	76	8,778
Cleveland Crusaders	80	35	40	5	273	279	75	6,356
New England Whalers	80	33	40	7th	255	290	73	9,308
Cincinnati stingers	80	35	44	1	285	340	71	7,741

Western Division

Western Division	GP	W.	L.	T	GF	GA	Pts	Zø
Houston Eros	80	53	27	0	341	263	106	9,180
Phoenix Roadrunners	80	39	35	6th	302	287	84	6,464
San Diego Mariners	80	36	38	6th	303	290	78	6.237
Minnesota Fighting Saints (retired February 27, 1976)	59	30th	25th	4th	211	212	64	8,983
Denver Spurs / Ottawa Civics (retired January 17, 1976)	41	14th	26th	1	134	172	29	4,321

Best scorer

There were no surprises and new faces among the top scorers this season. Abbreviations: GP = games, G = goals, A = assists , Pts = points, PIM = penalty minutes; Bold: Season best

player	team	GP	G	A.	Pts	+/-	PIM
Marc Tardif	Quebec	80	71	77	148	+35	79
Bobby Hull	Winnipeg	80	53	70	123	+62	30th
Real Cloutier	Quebec	80	60	54	114	+33	27
Ulf Nilsson	Winnipeg	78	38	76	114	+65	84
Robbie Ftorek	Phoenix	80	41	72	113	+36	109
Christian Bordeleau	Quebec	74	37	72	109	+16	42
Hedberg is different	Winnipeg	76	50	55	105	+60	48
Réjean Houle	Quebec	81	51	52	103	+20	61
Serge Bernier	Quebec	70	34	68	102	+26	91
Gordie Howe	Houston	78	32	70	102	+14	76

Best goalkeeper

Abbreviations: GP = games, TOI = ice age (in minutes), W = wins, L = defeats, OTL = overtime / shootout defeats , GA = goals conceded, SO = shutouts , Sv% = shots saved (in%), GAA = Conceded goal; Bold: Season best

player	team	GP	TOI	W.	L.	T	GA	SO	ATM
Michel Dion	Indianapolis	31	1860	14th	15th	1	85	0	2.74
Joe Daley	Winnipeg	62	3612	41	17th	1	171	5	2.84
Wayne Rutledge	Houston	25th	1456	14th	10	0	77	1	3.17
Jack Norris	Phoenix	41	2412	21st	14th	4th	128	1	3.18
Ernie Wakely	San Diego	67	3824	35	27	4th	208	3	3.26

Playoff

mode

After the first four teams from the Canadian division and the three best-point teams from the other two divisions had qualified, the playoffs , which were held in a knockout system , start . The Canadian Division played a final place. The other two divisions each played a semi-final place.

In a preliminary round, the second played against the third in the Eastern and Western Division in best-of-five mode.

In the quarter-finals, the first round winners from the Eastern and Western divisions met the first of the regular season. From the Canadian Division, the first against the fourth placed and the second in the preliminary round against the third. In the first semifinals, the two winners of the quarter-finals of the Canadian Division met. Delayed by the preliminary round, one representative each from the Eastern and Western Division played in the other semi-finals.

The winning teams then met in the division finals. The two divisional playoff winners then met in the final series for the Avco World Trophy , which means that a team needed three wins to reach the next round.

From the quarter-finals onwards, the series were played in best-of-seven mode, which means that a team needed four wins to reach the next round. The higher ranked team had the first two games at home, the next two the opposing team. If no winner emerged from the round up to then, the home law changed from game to game. The higher-ranked team had a home advantage in games 1, 2, 5 and 7, i.e. four of the maximum seven games.

In the final, the team with the most points in the regular season started with two home games. Two away games followed.

For games that were tied after the regular playing time of 60 minutes, overtime followed . The thirds lasted 20 minutes and the game was played until one team scored the first goal.

Playoff tree

Preliminary Round

Quarter finals

Semifinals

final

C1

Winnipeg Jets

4th

C4

Edmonton Oilers

0

C1

Winnipeg Jets

4th

C3

Calgary cowboys

1

C2

Québec Nordiques

1

C3

Calgary cowboys

4th

C1

Winnipeg Jets

4th

W1

Houston Eros

0

E1

Indianapolis Racers

3

E3

New England Whalers

4th

E2

Cleveland Crusaders

0

E3

New England Whalers

3

E3

New England Whalers

3

W1

Houston Eros

4th

W1

Houston Eros

4th

W3

San Diego Mariners

2

W2

Phoenix Roadrunners

2

W3

San Diego Mariners

3

Preliminary Round (Round 1)

Cleveland Crusaders (7) vs. New England Whalers (8) date Away team Home team Note 9th April Cleveland 3 5 New England 10th of April New England 6th 1 Cleveland 11 April New England 3 2 Cleveland New England wins the series 3-0. The New England Whalers prevailed surprisingly clearly against the Cleveland Crusaders. In the regular season, the Crusaders had two points more than the Whalers, but in Cleveland a move of the team was looming and this dwindled both players and spectators.

Phoenix Roadrunners (8) vs. San Diego Mariners (9) date Away team Home team Note 9th April San Diego 2 3 Phoenix 1OT 10th of April Phoenix 2 4th San Diego April 13th San Diego 4th 6th Phoenix April 15th Phoenix 1 5 San Diego 17th April San Diego 2 1 Phoenix San Diego wins the series 3-2. The series between the Phoenix Roadrunners and the San Diego Mariners was highly competitive. In the first game, Del Hall succeeded in overtime after 31 seconds . After three close home wins, the Mariners were able to clearly win the fourth game and took the momentum with them into the last game in Phoenix. There they made it to the quarter-finals with the first away win in the series.

Quarterfinals (Round 2)

Winnipeg Jets (2) vs. Edmonton Oilers (11) date Away team Home team Note 9th April Edmonton 3 7th Winnipeg 11 April Edmonton 4th 5 Winnipeg 1OT April 14th Winnipeg 3 2 Edmonton April 16 Winnipeg 7th 2 Edmonton Winnipeg wins the series 4-0. Surely it was no surprise that the winner of the Canadien Division advanced to the next round in four games against the fourth from Edmonton. In the second game, the Oilers held against it and brought the game into overtime, but after just 54 seconds Ulf Nilsson scored the winning goal for the Jets.

Québec Nordiques (3) vs. Calgary Cowboys (4) date Away team Home team Note 10th of April Calgary 3 1 Quebec 11 April Calgary 8th 4th Quebec April 14th Quebec 2 3 Calgary April 16 Quebec 4th 3 Calgary April 18 Calgary 6th 4th Quebec Calgary wins the series 4-1. The Nordiques had finished the regular season with strong performances. Especially at home, the Nordiques were hard to beat. So the surprise was all the greater that the Cowboys could win their first game in Québec and they immediately followed up with another victory. Each team won once in Calgary before the Cowboys won the series in game five.

Indianapolis Racers (7) vs. New England Whalers (9) date Away team Home team Note April 16 New England 4th 1 Indianapolis 17th April New England 0 4th Indianapolis April 21 Indianapolis 0 3 New England April 23 Indianapolis 1 2 New England April 24th New England 0 4th Indianapolis April 27 Indianapolis 5 3 New England April 29 New England 6th 0 Indianapolis New England wins the series 4-3. New England and Indianapolis had a hard-fought series. New England secured the advantage with an away win in the first game, but in the sixth game the Racers equalized. Until then, Jim Park was the goalkeeper of the Racers with two shutouts , ahead of Cap Raeder of the Whalers. But in the decisive seventh game Raeder kept his goal clean and the Whalers moved into the semifinals with a convincing 6-0.

Houston Eros (1) vs. San Diego Mariners (9) date Away team Home team Note April 21 San Diego 6th 8th Houston April 23 San Diego 1 3 Houston April 25 Houston 8th 4th San Diego April 27 Houston 2 3 San Diego April 28 San Diego 3 2 Houston April, 30th Houston 3 2 San Diego Houston wins the series 4-2. The Houston favorite came into the game better and won the first three games. Gord Labossiere converted a penalty against Ernie Wakely in the first game . But the Mariners came back with two 3-2 wins. But in the sixth game, the Eros turned the tables and won 3-2.

Semifinals (round 3)

Winnipeg Jets (2) vs. Calgary Cowboys (4)
date	Away team		Home team		Note
April 23	Calgary	1	6th	Winnipeg
April 25	Calgary	2	3	Winnipeg
April 28	Winnipeg	6th	3	Calgary
April, 30th	Winnipeg	3	7th	Calgary
2.May	Calgary	0	4th	Winnipeg
Winnipeg wins the series 4-1.

The favored Jets left no doubt about progress in the first two games at home. You could also win the first game in Calgary. The Cowboys came back with a home win in their fourth game, but Joe Daley didn't concede a goal in their fifth game, ensuring that the series was over after five games.

Houston Eros (1) vs. New England Whalers (9)
date	Away team		Home team		Note
5th of May	New England	4th	2	Houston
May 7th	New England	3	5	Houston
May 9	Houston	2	4th	New England
May 11th	Houston	4th	3	New England
May 13th	New England	3	4th	Houston
May 15	Houston	2	6th	New England
May 16	New England	0	2	Houston
Quebec wins the series 4-3.

This semifinal only started three days after the other semifinal series ended. The Whalers were able to win the first game in Houston, although Ron Grahame held a penalty from Tommy Earl in the goal of the Eros . In the fourth game, the Eros managed to equalize with a win in New England. After two more home wins, the decision had to be made in the seventh game. An outstanding Ron Grahame kept his goal clean and helped his team advance to the final.

Avco World Trophy Championship

Houston Eros (1) vs. Winnipeg Jets (2)
date	Away team		Home team		Note
May 20th	Winnipeg	4 A. Hedberg ( B. Hull , U. Nilsson ) 13:07 L. Moffat ( N. Beaudin , M. Lindh ) 15:36 A. Hedberg ( T. Bergman ) 36:10 B. Hull (U. Nilsson) 56:43	3 F. Hughes ( B. Butters , L. Hale ) 9:37 L. Lund ( Mark Howe , S. West ) 19:35 Mark Howe ( R. Preston ) 40:46	Houston
23. May	Winnipeg	5 A. Hedberg ( U. Nilsson ) 13:52 W. Lindström ( P. Sullivan , T. Bergman ) 22:17 D. Asmundson ( B. Lesuk , B. Guindon ) 36:53 T. Bergman 45:19 B. Hull (T. Bergman, A. Hedberg) 56:43	4 G. Howe ( Mark Howe , J. Schella ) 21:22 Mart. Howe ( M. Hall ) 32:44 T. Ruskowski ( R. Preston , P. Popiel ) 41:29 Mart. Howe ( T. Taylor , P. Popiel) 43:23	Houston
25. May	Houston	3 Mark Howe ( J. Schella ) 3:48 D. Larway ( Mart. Howe , J. Tonelli ) 34:28 D. Larway (J. Tonelli, T. Ruskowski ) 53:22	6 V.-P. Ketola ( W. Lindström , H. Riihiranta ) 2:24 U. Nilsson ( A. Hedberg ) 3:23 A. Hedberg ( M. Ford , V.-P. Ketola) 8:49 P. Sullivan ( B. Hull , W. Lindström) 11:33 U. Nilsson ( L.-E. Sjöberg ) 27:46 U. Nilsson 41:44	Winnipeg
May 27th	Houston	1 T. Taylor ( G. Labossiere , Mart. Howe ) 9:45	9 B. Hull ( M. Ford , U. Nilsson ) 5:37 V.-P. Ketola (M. Ford, B. Hull) 10:22 L. Moffat ( L.-E. Sjöberg , M. Ford) 11:21 V.-P. Ketola ( W. Lindström , P. Sullivan ) 21:07 A. Hedberg (U. Nilsson, B. Hull) 23:11 A. Hedberg (U. Nilsson) 29:19 P. Sullivan ( L. Hillman ) 32:14 P. Sullivan (M. Ford, H. Riihiranta ) 41:33 B. Guindon (H. Riihiranta, V.-P. Ketola) 49:30	Winnipeg
Winnipeg wins the series 4-0 and the Avco World Trophy .

The jets had 18 days to prepare for the finals, the Eros only had four days. The Jets won the first two games in Houston. The series with Bobby Hull and the two Swedes Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson was particularly dominant at the Winnipeg Jets. The two games in Winnipeg were then dominated by the Jets. After the Eros saw no chance in the last game, they gave up and Winnipeg won 9-1.

Avco World Trophy Winner

The 22 players in the Jets consist of two goalkeepers, eight defenders and twelve attackers.

All players who played in the final round were part of the winning team. In addition to the first row of attacks, which consisted of the greats Bobby Hull , Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg , the top-class European newcomers from Sweden and Finland around the strikers Veli-Pekka Ketola and Willy Lindström and defender Lars played a decisive role in the Winnipeg Jets' first championship win -Erik Sjöberg .

In addition to head coach Bobby Kromm and general manager Rudy Pilous , the following players were engraved on the Avco World Trophy, the championship trophy of the WHA:

Avco World Trophy winner Winnipeg Jets

Goalkeepers: Joe Daley , Curt Larsson Defenders: Thommie Bergman , Mike Ford , Ted Green , Larry Hillman , Larry Hornung , Gerry Odrowski , Heikki Riihiranta , Lars-Erik Sjöberg ( C ) Attackers: Duke Asmundson , Norm Beaudin , Bob Guindon , Anders Hedberg , Bobby Hull , Veli-Pekka Ketola , Bill Lesuk , Mats Lindh , Willy Lindström , Lyle Moffat , Ulf Nilsson , Peter Sullivan Head Coach: Bobby Kromm   General Manager: Rudy Pilous

Best scorer

Abbreviations: GP = games, G = goals, A = assists , Pts = points, PIM = penalty minutes; Bold: Season best

player	team	GP	G	A.	Pts	+/-	PIM
Ulf Nilsson	Winnipeg	13	7th	19th	26th	+15	6th
Bobby Hull	Winnipeg	13	12	8th	20th	+15	4th
Hedberg is different	Winnipeg	13	13	6th	19th	+16	15th
Tom Webster	New England	17th	10	9	19th	+3	6th
Mark Howe	Houston	17th	6th	10	16	0	18th
Terry Ruskowski	Houston	16	6th	10	16	+8	64

WHA Awards and trophies awarded

For the first time in WHA history, top scorer Marc Tardif managed to win two trophies in one season.

Award	player	team
Gordie Howe Trophy	Marc Tardif	Québec Nordiques
Bill Hunter Trophy	Marc Tardif	Québec Nordiques
Lou Kaplan Trophy	Mark Napier	Toronto Toros
Ben Hatskin Trophy	Michel Dion	Indianapolis Racers
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy	Paul Shmyr	Cleveland Crusaders
WHA Playoff MVP	Ulf Nilsson	Winnipeg Jets
Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy	Bobby Kromm	Winnipeg Jets
Paul Deneau Trophy	Václav Nedomanský	Toronto Toros

WHA All-Star Teams

WHA First All-Star Team

Abbreviations: GP = games, G = goals, A = assists , Pts = points, W = wins, SO = shutouts , GAA = conceded goals

player	position	team	GP	G	A.	Pts
Ulf Nilsson	center	Winnipeg Jets	78	38	76	114
Hedberg is different	Winger	Winnipeg Jets	76	50	55	105
Marc Tardif	Winger	Québec Nordiques	80	71	77	148
Paul Shmyr	defender	Cleveland Crusaders	70	6th	44	50
JC Tremblay	defender	Québec Nordiques	80	12	77	89

player	position	team	GP	W.	SO	ATM
Joe Daley	goalkeeper	Winnipeg Jets	62	41	5	2.84

WHA Second All-Star Team

Abbreviations: GP = games, G = goals, A = assists , Pts = points, W = wins, SO = shutouts , GAA = conceded goals

player	position	team	GP	G	A.	Pts
Robbie Ftorek	center	Phoenix Roadrunners	80	41	72	113
Real Cloutier	Winger	Québec Nordiques	80	60	54	114
Bobby Hull	Winger	Winnipeg Jets	80	53	70	123
Kevin Morrison	defender	San Diego Mariners	80	22nd	43	65
Pat Stapleton	defender	Indianapolis Racers	80	4th	40	44

player	position	team	GP	W.	SO	ATM
Ron Grahame	goalkeeper	Houston Eros	57	39	3	3.27

Web links

• The 1975/76 WHA season at hockeydb.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Scott Surgent: The World Hockey Association Factbook. 2010, p. 238, ISBN 978-0-9644774-8-3