1976-77 WHA season

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

Off-season
Prior to the season, the Toronto Toros moved to Birmingham, Alabama and became the Bulls.

Pre-season
The second set of exhibition games between the NHL and WHA was held. The NHL was victorious in the series, winning 9 and losing 3 games with 1 tie.

September 21, 1976: Birmingham Bulls 7, Atlanta Flames 6 September 21, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 5, Houston Aeros 1 September 23, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 7, Calgary Cowboys 3 September 24, 1976: Winnipeg Jets 5, Pittsburgh Penguins 3 September 26, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 3, Edmonton Oilers 1 September 26, 1976: Washington Capitals 2, Indianapolis Racers 1 September 26, 1976: Winnipeg Jets 6, St. Louis Blues 2 September 28, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 7, Edmonton Oilers 3 September 29, 1976: Washington Capitals 3, Cincinnati Stingers 2 September 29, 1976: St. Louis Blues 5, Edmonton Oilers 4 September 30, 1976: Atlanta Flames 8, Houston Aeros 4 September 30, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 6, Indianapolis Racers 4

The game against St. Louis proved costly for the Jets as Bobby Hull fractured his wrist and missed 46 games of the regular season.

Regular Season
The Cleveland Crusaders, pushed out by the NHL's Cleveland Barons, attempted to move to South Florida but legal problems resulted in them moving to Minnesota to become the second version of the Fighting Saints. They met with little success there and folded after playing 42 games. The remaining 11 teams competed in the league, playing 80 or 81 games in the regular season.

Anders Hedberg started the February 6, 1977 game versus the Calgary Cowboys with 48 goals in 48 games, having scored 4 goals and 2 assists in the February 4, 1977 match against the San Diego Mariners. After the Jets were held scoreless in the first period, Hedberg scored in the second period on a 5 on 3 power play. He missed the rest of the period with strained knee ligaments after being checked by Paul Terbenche. He returned for the third period and became the first player in a major professional league to score 50 goals in less than 50 games when he fired a short side past Cowboys goalie Gary Bromley. He then added an empty net goal in the Jets 6-4 triumph. Wayne Gretzky broke Hedberg's record on December 30, 1981 with his 50th goal in 39 games.

Scoring Leaders
Bolded numbers indicate season leaders

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Leading Goaltenders
Bolded numbers indicate season leaders

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

All-Star Game
On January 18, 1977 at the Hartford Civic Center, a team comprised of the Eastern Division All-Stars defeated the Western Division All-Stars 4-2 before a crowd of 10,337 spectators. Goalie Jean-Louis Levasseur was the Eastern All-Stars MVP while Willy Lindstrom, who scored a goal and an assist, was the Western All-Stars MVP.

Avco World Trophy Finals
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.

Video
WHA All-Star game, January 18, 1977.