WHA 1977/78
World Hockey Association | |||
---|---|---|---|
◄ previous | 1977/78 season | next ► | |
Master: | Winnipeg Jets | ||
• NHL | • WHA | AHL ↓ | IHL ↓ | CHL ↓ | PHL ↓ |
The 1977/78 season was the sixth season of the World Hockey Association (WHA).
After two seasons affected by tasks, three other teams gave up during the summer break. Six of the remaining eight teams had openly negotiated with the National Hockey League about a merger of the leagues, but the agreement failed. All teams played through the season, even if the Indianapolis Racers and the Houston Eros narrowly escaped an impending bankruptcy.
In December and January the national teams from the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia toured North America and played one game with each team of the WHA.
In the final games of the Avco World Trophy , it was the Winnipeg Jets that gave the New England Whalers no chance. With 4-0 victories, they clearly decided the series after they had already dominated the regular season.
2,860,211 spectators saw the 328 games of the sixth season. The average was 8,267 per game, which meant an increase of over 500 per game compared to the previous season. In the NHL at that time, the average attendance had fallen to just under 11,842.
Regular season
Closing tables
The teams played eleven times against some opponents and twelve times against others. The Soviet All Stars (December 14th to January 3rd) and Czechoslovakia (December 9th to 20th) toured North America and played one game with each WHA team. These games were part of the regular season.
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, = visiting team
GP | W. | L. | T | GF | GA | Pts | Zø | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 50 | 28 | 2 | 381 | 270 | 102 | 9.431 |
New England Whalers | 80 | 44 | 31 | 5 | 335 | 269 | 93 | 8,661 |
Houston Eros | 80 | 42 | 34 | 4th | 296 | 302 | 88 | 7,676 |
Québec Nordiques | 80 | 40 | 37 | 3 | 349 | 347 | 83 | 8,865 |
Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 38 | 39 | 3 | 309 | 307 | 79 | 10,235 |
Birmingham Bulls | 80 | 36 | 41 | 3 | 287 | 314 | 75 | 8,369 |
Cincinnati stingers | 80 | 35 | 42 | 3 | 298 | 332 | 73 | 6,896 |
Indianapolis Racers | 80 | 24 | 51 | 5 | 267 | 353 | 53 | 6.703 |
Soviet All Stars | 8th | 3 | 4th | 5 | 27 | 36 | 7th | - |
Czechoslovakia | 8th | 1 | 6th | 1 | 21st | 40 | 3 | - |
Best scorer
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 | 78 | 65 | 89 | 154 | +15 | 50 |
Real Cloutier | Quebec | 73 | 56 | 73 | 129 | +14 | 19th |
Ulf Nilsson | Winnipeg | 73 | 37 | 89 | 126 | +41 | 89 |
Hedberg is different | Winnipeg | 77 | 63 | 59 | 122 | +60 | 60 |
Bobby Hull | Winnipeg | 77 | 46 | 71 | 117 | +55 | 23 |
André Lacroix | Houston | 78 | 36 | 77 | 113 | +8 | 57 |
Robbie Ftorek | Cincinnati | 80 | 59 | 50 | 109 | +31 | 54 |
Kent Nilsson | Winnipeg | 80 | 42 | 65 | 107 | +27 | 8th |
Gordie Howe | New England | 76 | 34 | 62 | 96 | +46 | 85 |
Mark Howe | New England | 70 | 30th | 61 | 91 | +30 | 32 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Al Smith | New England | 55 | 3246 | 30th | 20th | 3 | 174 | 2 | 3.22 |
Gary Bromley | Winnipeg | 39 | 2250 | 25th | 12 | 1 | 124 | 1 | 3.30 |
Joe Daley | Winnipeg | 37 | 2075 | 21st | 11 | 1 | 114 | 1 | 3.30 |
Louis Levasseur | New England | 27 | 1655 | 14th | 11 | 2 | 91 | 3 | 3.30 |
Ernie Wakely | Cincinnati / Houston | 57 | 3381 | 28 | 23 | 4th | 192 | 2 | 3.41 |
Playoff
mode
After the six-point best teams were qualified, start the knock-out system discharged play-offs . The team with the best points met the sixth best. The second met the fifth and the third met the fourth.
Among the winning teams, the team with the best preliminary round placement reached the final series of the Avco World Trophy , while the other two winners of the quarter-finals played a semi-final series.
All series in each round 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
Quarter finals | Semifinals | final | |||||||||||
1 | Winnipeg Jets | 4th | |||||||||||
6th | Birmingham Bulls | 1 | |||||||||||
1 | Winnipeg Jets | ||||||||||||
bye | |||||||||||||
1 | Winnipeg Jets | 4th | |||||||||||
2 | New England Whalers | 0 | |||||||||||
2 | New England Whalers | 4th | |||||||||||
5 | Edmonton Oilers | 1 | |||||||||||
2 | New England Whalers | 4th | |||||||||||
4th | Québec Nordiques | 1 | |||||||||||
3 | Houston Eros | 2 | |||||||||||
4th | Québec Nordiques | 4th |
Quarterfinals (Round 1)
As expected, the favorite from Winnipeg dominated the first two games. A close win in Game 3 was all the Birmingham Bulls could get. With two more clear victories, the Jets reached the finals straight away. |
When the Oilers managed to win their first home game after two defeats thanks to a towering Don McLeod , hope grew. But with a clear 9-1 victory in the fourth game, the Whalers dispelled all hope and made it to the semifinals in five games. |
In their first game, the Eros had to go into stoppage time. After 7:19 minutes, Ted Taylor secured the home win. In the second game, the Nordiques were the happier team and won overtime after 2:59 minutes through Marc Tardif . Québec could win both home games, in the fourth game goalkeeper Richard Brodeur could not be overcome. Housten returned with a win in game 5, but with 11: 2 the entry into the semi-finals was ensured. |
Semifinals (round 2)
New England Whalers (2) vs. Québec Nordiques (4) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
date | Away team | Home team | Note | |||
April 28 | Quebec | 1 | 5 | New England | ||
April, 30th | Quebec | 3 | 2 | New England | ||
May 3rd | New England | 5 | 4th | Quebec | ||
5th of May | New England | 7th | 3 | Quebec | ||
May 7th | Quebec | 3 | 6th | New England | ||
New England wins the series 4-1. |
After a win in the second game, the Nordiques went into their two home games with great confidence, but the Whalers were able to play both games victoriously. Back home in the fifth game, they then sealed their entry into the final series.
Avco World Trophy Championship
Winnipeg Jets (1) vs. New England Whalers (2) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
date | Away team | Home team | Note | |||
12th of May | Winnipeg |
4 B. Guindon ( L. Moffat ) 44:31 P. Sullivan 44:53 B. Guindon ( B. Lesuk ) 53:55 P. Sullivan (L. Moffat) 59:45 |
1 L. Pleau ( A. Hangsleben , D. Bolduc ) 48:07 |
New England | ||
May 14th | Winnipeg |
5 D. Labraaten ( W. Lindström ) 14:02 L. Moffat ( M. Amodeo ) 19:32 B. Guindon ( B. Lesuk , L. Moffat) 21:21 A. Hedberg ( U. Nilsson ) 37:10 U Nilsson (A. Hedberg) 59:45 |
2 G. Howe ( R. Plumb , M. Rogers ) 46:26 Mark Howe ( J. Carlson ) 56:35 |
New England | ||
May 19th | New England | 2 J. McKenzie ( D. Keon , Mart. Howe ) 44:07 T. Sheehy ( G. Lyle , B. Selwood ) 45:10 |
10 W. Lindström 4:56 B. Guindon ( B. Lesuk , L. Moffat ) 5:09 B. Hull ( U. Nilsson , A. Hedberg ) 6:32 W. Lindström ( P. Sullivan , B. Long ) 7 : 31 K. Nilsson ( D. Kryskow , K. Baird ) 7:46 K. Nilsson (W. Lindström, K. Clackson ) 17:36 L. Powis (D. Kryskow, K. Nilsson) 24:55 L. Moffat ( D. Dunn , P. Sullivan) 36:28 L. Powis (K. Nilsson, D. Kryskow) 48:30 W. Lindström ( D. Labraaten , P. Sullivan) 52:12 |
Winnipeg | ||
May 22 | New England | 3 M. Antonovich ( D. Keon , J. McKenzie ) 1:37 T. Sheehy ( R. Ley ) 1:59 G. Lyle ( A. Hangsleben , S. Carlson ) 51:25 |
5 D. Kryskow ( A. Hedberg , K. Nilsson ) 23:26 L. Moffat ( B. Guindon ) 23:38 A. Hedberg ( L.-E. Sjöberg , U. Nilsson ) 37:59 B. Hull (U Nilsson, A. Hedberg) 43:26 A. Hedberg (U. Nilsson, T. Green ) 59:28 |
Winnipeg | ||
Winnipeg wins the series 4-0 and the Avco World Trophy . |
Avco World Trophy Winner
The 25 players in the Jets consist of three goalkeepers, nine defenders and 13 attackers.
Several players who were used during the season were not part of the winning team. Thommie Bergman (62 appearances in the regular season) was also not taken into account, as was Larry Hornung (19) and Fran Huck (5), none of whom had any use in the final round. In addition to the first row of attacks, which consisted of the greats Bobby Hull , Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg , players such as Kent Nilsson , Willy Lindström , the strong goalkeeper duo Gary Bromley and Joe Daley as well as defender and team captain Lars played a decisive role in the second championship win of the Winnipeg Jets -Erik Sjöberg .
In addition to head coach Larry Hillman 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: Gary Bromley , Joe Daley , Markus Mattsson Defenders: Mike Amodeo , Ken Baird , Kim Clackson , Bill Davis , Dave Dunn , Mike Ford , Ted Green , Barry Long , Lars-Erik Sjöberg ( C ) Attackers: Bob Guindon , Anders Hedberg , Bobby Hull , Dave Kryskow , Dan Labraaten , Bill Lesuk , Willy Lindström , Lyle Moffat , Kent Nilsson , Ulf Nilsson , Lynn Powis , Kent Ruhnke , Peter Sullivan Head Coach: Larry Hillman 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mike Antonovich | New England | 14th | 10 | 7th | 17th | +1 | 4th |
Real Cloutier | Quebec | 10 | 9 | 7th | 16 | 0 | 15th |
Dave Keon | New England | 14th | 5 | 11 | 16 | +2 | 4th |
Hedberg is different | Winnipeg | 9 | 9 | 6th | 15th | +5 | 2 |
Mark Howe | New England | 14th | 8th | 7th | 15th | 0 | 18th |
Marc Tardif | Quebec | 11 | 6th | 9 | 15th | −2 | 11 |
WHA Awards and trophies awarded
Marc Tardif achieved the success of winning two trophies in one season for the second time. Bill Dineen and Dave Keon were the first two to defend their trophy.
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 | 73 | 37 | 89 | 126 |
Hedberg is different | Winger | Winnipeg Jets | 77 | 63 | 59 | 122 |
Marc Tardif | Winger | Québec Nordiques | 78 | 65 | 89 | 154 |
Lars-Erik Sjöberg | defender | Winnipeg Jets | 78 | 11 | 39 | 50 |
Al Hamilton | defender | Edmonton Oilers | 59 | 11 | 43 | 54 |
player | position | team | GP | W. | SO | ATM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Al Smith | goalkeeper | New England Whalers | 55 | 30th | 2 | 3.22 |
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 | Cincinnati stingers | 80 | 59 | 50 | 109 |
Real Cloutier | Winger | Québec Nordiques | 73 | 56 | 73 | 129 |
Bobby Hull | Winger | Winnipeg Jets | 77 | 46 | 71 | 117 |
Rick Ley | defender | New England Whalers | 73 | 3 | 41 | 44 |
Barry Long | defender | Winnipeg Jets | 78 | 7th | 24 | 31 |
player | position | team | GP | W. | SO | ATM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ernie Wakely | goalkeeper | Cincinnati Stingers / Houston Eros | 57 | 28 | 2 | 3.41 |
Web links
- The 1977/78 WHA season at hockeydb.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ Scott Surgent: The World Hockey Association Factbook. 2010, p. 238, ISBN 978-0-9644774-8-3