1976–77 Quebec Nordiques season



The 1976–77 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques 5th season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Nordiques finished 1st in the Eastern Division and defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4 games to 3 in the Finals to win their 1st Avco World Trophy.

Off-season
During the off-season, the league saw the Toronto Toros move to Birmingham, Alabama, and be renamed the Birmingham Bulls, while the Cleveland Crusaders moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota to become the second version of the Minnesota Fighting Saints. The league was back to twelve teams from fourteen the previous season, as the original Fighting Saints and Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics franchise folded midway through the 1975-76 season. The Nordiques would move from the Canadian Division to the Eastern Division, joining the Birmingham Bulls, Cincinnati Stingers, Indianapolis Racers, Minnesota Fighting Saints and New England Whalers in the division.

The Nordiques also made a head coaching change after their disappointing playoff appearance, as head coach Jean-Guy Gendron was relieved of his duties, and former Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Marc Boileau was his replacement.

The Nordiques jerseys remained the same design as in the 1975-76 season.

Regular Season
Quebec would have a very strong start to the season, winning eight of their first nine games to take a lead in the Eastern Division. The Nordiques would cool off, as they had a record of 8-11-1 in their next twenty games, however, Quebec snapped out of their slump and won nine games in a row to take control of the Division. The Nordiques would finish the season on top of the Eastern Division with a 47-31-3 record, earning 97 points, which was fourteen points higher than the second place Cincinnati Stingers.

Offensively, Quebec was led by Real Cloutier, who won the Bill Hunter Trophy awarded to the player who leads the league in scoring. Cloutier scored 66 goals and 75 assists for a league best 141 points. Marc Tardif scored 49 goals and 109 points despite missing 19 games, while Christian Bordeleau 32 goals and tied Cloutier with a team high 75 assists to earn 107 points for the season. Serge Bernier narrowly missed out on the 100 point club, as he scored 43 goals and 96 points in 74 games. On defense, newly acquired Jim Dorey led the blueline with 47 points in 73 games, while J. C. Tremblay had another productive season, earning 35 points in 53 games. Paul Baxter had a team high 244 penalty minutes, which was the second highest total in the league.

In goal, Richard Brodeur had the majority of playing time, winning 29 games, while posting a team best 3.45 GAA, along with 2 shutouts. Ed Humphreys and Serge Aubry split the backup duties, with Humphreys winning twelve games and a 3.58 GAA, while Aubry won six games with a 3.98 GAA.

Quebec Nordiques 4, New England Whalers 1
In the Quarter-finals, Quebec would face the New England Whalers in a best of seven series. The Whalers finished the year with a record of 35-40-6, earning 76 points, which was 21 fewer than the Nordiques. The series opened with two games at Le Colisee, with Quebec winning them both, by scores of 5-2 and 7-3, to take the series lead. The series moved over to New England for the next two games, however, Quebec stayed hot and defeated the Whalers 4-3 in overtime in the third game to take a 3-0 lead in the series. New England fought off elimination in the fourth game, defeating the Nordiques 6-4, however, in the fifth game played back in Quebec, the Nordiques shutout New England 3-0 to win the series.

Quebec Nordiques 4, Indianapolis Racers 1
In the Eastern Division finals, the Nordiques faced off against the Indianapolis Racers, who finished the regular season in third place in the Eastern Division with a 36-37-8 record. The Racers swept the second place Cincinnati Stingers in the opening round to advance to the division finals. The series opened with two games in Quebec, and the Nordiques stayed unbeaten on home ice during the post-season, as they defeated Indianapolis 3-1 and 8-3 to take the early series lead. The series shifted over to Indianapolis for the next two games, but the Nordiques won the third game, defeating the Racers 6-5 in overtime to put them on the brink of elimination. Indianapolis finally managed to win a game in the fourth game of the series, shutting out the Nordiques 2-0, however, with the series back in Quebec for the fifth game, the Nordiques remained hot on home ice, easily winning the game 8-3, and advancing to the Avco World Trophy Finals.

Quebec Nordiques 4, Winnipeg Jets 3
The Finals pitted the 1976 AVCO World Trophy winning Winnipeg Jets against the Quebec Nordiques. The series was characterized by wild swings in scoring with each team winning games by lopsided margins.

The deciding Game 7 was initially a tight, close-checking game with no scoring in the first period. The Nordiques scored two quick goals to start the second period and then added a third at 6:29. The Jets Dan Labraaten cut into the Nordiques lead at 8:39 to make it 3-1. Less than a minute later, J.C. Tremblay fired a shot from center ice that beat Jets goalie Joe Daley. Totally deflated, the Jets surrendered four more goals before scoring a consolation marker, losing 8-2. Serge Bernier won the WHA Playoff MVP trophy, as he scored 36 points for the Nordiques in 17 post season games.

Awards and Records

 * Avco World Trophy: Quebec Nordiques
 * Bill Hunter Trophy (Scoring Leader): Real Cloutier
 * WHA Playoff MVP: Serge Bernier
 * Marc Tardif, Left Wing, WHA First Team All-Star
 * Real Cloutier, Right Wing, WHA Second Team All-Star

Draft Picks
Quebec's draft picks from the 1976 WHA Amateur Draft.

Farm Teams

 * Maine Nordiques, NAHL

Video
Game 7 of the 1977 Avco World Trophy Finals, May 26, 1977