WHA 1977/78

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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)

Winnipeg Jets (1) vs. Birmingham Bulls (6)
date Away team Home team Note
April 14th Birmingham 3 9 Winnipeg
April 16 Birmingham 3 8th Winnipeg
April 19th Winnipeg 2 3 Birmingham
April 21 Winnipeg 5 1 Birmingham
April 23 Birmingham 2 5 Winnipeg
Winnipeg wins the series 4-1.

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.

New England Whalers (2) vs. Edmonton Oilers (5)
date Away team Home team Note
April 14th Edmonton 4th 6th New England
April 16 Edmonton 1 4th New England
April 19th New England 0 2 Edmonton
April 21 New England 9 1 Edmonton
April 23 Edmonton 1 4th New England
New England wins the series 4-1.

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.

Houston Eros (3) vs. Québec Nordiques (4)
date Away team Home team Note
April 16 Quebec 3 4th Houston 1OT
April 18 Quebec 5 4th Houston 1OT
20th of April Houston 1 5 Quebec
April 21 Houston 0 3 Quebec
April 23 Quebec 2 5 Houston
April 25 Houston 2 11 Quebec
Québec wins the series 4-2.

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

Winnipeg Jets logo

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.

Award player team
Gordie Howe Trophy Marc Tardif Québec Nordiques
Bill Hunter Trophy Marc Tardif Québec Nordiques
Lou Kaplan Trophy Kent Nilsson Winnipeg Jets
Ben Hatskin Trophy Al Smith New England Whalers
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy Lars-Erik Sjöberg Winnipeg Jets
WHA Playoff MVP Bob Guindon Winnipeg Jets
Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy Bill Dineen Houston Eros
Paul Deneau Trophy Dave Keon New England Whalers

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

Individual evidence

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