1977–78 Winnipeg Jets season



The 1977–78 Winnipeg Jets season was the Jets 6th season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Jets finished 1st in the league and defeated the New England Whalers 4 games to 0 in the Finals to win their 2nd Avco World Trophy.

Off-season
The Jets jerseys were the same design as in the 1973-74 season except for the addition of white shoulder yolks to the primarily away dark blue jersey which was a darker blue.

Regular Season
On March 11, 1978, Bobby Hull scored the 1,000th goal in the 1,600th game of his career against the Quebec Nordiques in the Jets 7-4 victory.

Playoffs
Due to their victory over the Bulls, the Jets earned a bye to the Finals while the other two Quarter-finals winners faced off against each other.

Winnipeg Jets 4, New England Whalers 0
The Finals matched the Winnipeg Jets and New England Whalers, who had both won the AVCO World Trophy once. Al Smith played Games 1, 3 and 4 in net for the Whalers while Gary Bromley and Joe Daley alternated games for the Jets with Bromley starting Game 1. Game 1 was scoreless until the third period when the Jets depth scoring paid off with Bob Guindon marking twice and Peter Sullivan netting the winner. The Jets depth scoring was again the story of Game 2 as Dan Labraaten, Lyle Moffat and Bob Guindon staked the Jets to a 3-0 lead. The Jets first line finally scored as Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson piled on Whalers goalie Jean-Louis Levasseur as the Jets won 5-2. The Jets dominated Game 3 as Willy Lindström had a Hat trick and Kent Nilsson scored twice and added 2 assists in a 10-2 romp. Game 4 saw the Whalers take their only lead of the series as Mike Antonovich and Rick Ley scored, taking a 2-0 lead into the second period. Anders Hedberg took over, scoring twice and setting up 2 goals, including the series winner by Bobby Hull as the Jets swept the series four straight. Game 4 was the last game for the Hull-Nilsson-Hedberg line as the Swedes jumped to the New York Rangers. Bob Guindon was named the WHA Playoff MVP.

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals

MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts

Awards and Records

 * Avco World Trophy: Winnipeg Jets
 * Lou Kaplan Trophy (Rookie of the Year): Kent Nilsson
 * Dennis A. Murphy Trophy (Best Defenseman): Lars Sjoberg
 * WHA Playoff MVP: Robert Guindon
 * Ulf Nilsson, Center, WHA First Team All-Star
 * Anders Hedberg, Right Wing, WHA First Team All-Star
 * Lars Sjoberg, Defense, WHA First Team All-Star
 * Bobby Hull, Left Wing, WHA Second Team All-Star
 * Barry Long, Defense, WHA Second Team All-Star

Draft Picks
Winnipeg's draft picks at the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft.

Video
Jets-Aeros game from April 4, 1978.