1975-76 WHA season

The 1975–76 WHA season was the 4th season of the World Hockey Association. After the Baltimore Blades and Chicago Cougars folded, the league stayed at 14 teams by adding the Cincinnati Stingers and Denver Spurs. In addition, Vancouver moved to Calgary and became the Cowboys. Midway through the season, the Spurs moved to Ottawa and became the Civics. The fourteen teams were scheduled to play 80 games each, but four of five Canadian Division teams played 81, due to the WHA's tiebreaker rule, while two teams, Minnesota and Denver/Ottawa, folded mid-season.

The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Houston Aeros 4 games to 0 in the Finals to win their 1st Avco World Trophy.

Pre-season

Norm Beaudin in action against the Czech National team, September 1975.

The Winnipeg Jets held their training camp in Europe and played two games against the Czechoslovakian National team, losing both by 6-1 and 3-1 scores on September 25 and 26, 1975. Anders Hedberg scored both Jets goals.

Regular Season

Ted Taylor shoots on Cam Newton in the Civics last game, January 15, 1976. Note the jerseys still have the Spurs logo.

After poor attendance, the Denver Spurs moved to Ottawa and became the Ottawa Civics. The Civics lasted only seven games and played in the Spurs' uniform. Reports that the jerseys had been stripped bare of its logo are untrue. All Civics players were declared free agents by the league and a dispersal draft was held. Several players found a new address, including leading scorer Ralph Backstrom, who at 37, moved to the New England Whalers. Many of the other players, however, would sit the remainder of the season out before coming back in another league the next season. Others like Brian Lavender retired.

Final Standings

Canadian Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Winnipeg Jets	81	52	27	2	106	345	254	940
Quebec Nordiques	81	50	27	4	104	371	316	1654
Calgary Cowboys	80	41	35	4	86	307	282	1064
Edmonton Oilers	81	27	49	5	59	268	345	991
Toronto Toros	81	24	52	5	53	335	398	1099
Denver Spurs / Ottawa Civics+	41	14	26	1	29	134	172	536

+team started season in the Western Division when playing in Denver, transferred by league to Canadian Division after moving to Ottawa.
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Eastern Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Indianapolis Racers	80	35	39	6	76	245	247	1301
Cleveland Crusaders	80	35	40	5	75	273	279	1356
New England Whalers	80	33	40	7	73	255	290	1012
Cincinnati Stingers	80	35	44	1	71	285	340	1344

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Western Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Houston Aeros	80	53	27	0	106	341	263	1093
Phoenix Roadrunners	80	39	35	6	84	302	287	1292
San Diego Mariners	80	36	38	6	78	303	290	716
Minnesota Fighting Saints	59	30	25	4	64	211	212	1354

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Scoring Leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Marc Tardif	Quebec	81	71	77	148
Bobby Hull	Winnipeg	80	53	70	123
Real Cloutier	Quebec	80	60	54	114
Ulf Nilsson	Winnipeg	78	38	76	114
Robbie Ftorek	Phoenix	80	41	72	113
Chris Bordeleau	Quebec	74	37	72	109
Anders Hedberg	Winnipeg	76	50	55	105
Rejean Houle	Quebec	81	51	52	103
Serge Bernier	Quebec	70	34	68	102
Gordie Howe	Houston	78	32	70	102
Andre Lacroix	San Diego	80	29	72	101

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

Player	Team	GP	Min	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Michel Dion	Indianapolis Racers	31	1860	14	15	1	85	0	91.0	2.74
Joe Daley	Winnipeg Jets	62	3612	41	17	1	171	5	90.3	2.84
Wayne Rutledge	Houston Aeros	25	1456	14	10	0	77	1	90.1	3.17
Jack Norris	Phoenix Roadrunners	41	2412	21	14	4	128	1	89.1	3.18
Ernie Wakely	San Diego Mariners	67	3824	35	27	4	208	3	89.5	3.25

All-Star Game

On January 13, 1976, the All-Stars from the Canadian-based teams beat the All-Stars from the American-based teams 6-1 at the Coliseum at Richfield in Cleveland, Ohio before 15,491 spectators. Real Cloutier, who had a Hat trick, was the Canadian All-Stars MVP while Paul Shmyr was the American All-Stars MVP.

Avco World Trophy Playoffs

The New England Whalers, Cleveland Crusaders, the Phoenix Roadrunners and the San Diego Mariners participated in Preliminary Round, with two teams advancing to the main bracket. The Whalers beat the Crusaders in 3 games, while the Mariners beat the Roadrunners in 5 games.

Preliminary Round

San Diego Mariners 3, Phoenix Roadrunners 2

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 9	San Diego Mariners	2–3 OT	Phoenix Roadrunners	0-1
2	April 10	Phoenix Roadrunners	2–4	San Diego Mariners	1-1
3	April 13	San Diego Mariners	4–6	Phoenix Roadrunners	1-2
4	April 15	Phoenix Roadrunners	1–5	San Diego Mariners	2-2
5	April 17	San Diego Mariners	2–1	Phoenix Roadrunners	3-2

New England Whalers 3, Cleveland Crusaders 0

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Series
1	April 9	Cleveland Crusaders	3–5	New England Whalers	0–1
2	April 10	New England Whalers	6–1	Cleveland Crusaders	2–0
3	April 11	New England Whalers	3–2	Cleveland Crusaders	3–0

Playoff Bracket

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

W1

Houston Aeros

4

W3

San Diego Mariners

2

W1

Houston Aeros

4

E3

New England Whalers

3

E3

New England Whalers

4

E1

Indianapolis Racers

3

C1

Winnipeg Jets

4

W1

Houston Aeros

0

C3

Calgary Cowboys

4

C2

Quebec Nordiques

1

C1

Winnipeg Jets

4

C3

Calgary Cowboys

1

C1

Winnipeg Jets

4

C4

Edmonton Oilers

0

Avco World Trophy Finals

Peter Sullivan makes it 8-1 Jets, Game 4 of the 1976 Avco World Trophy Finals, May 27, 1976.

The line of Bobby Hull, Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg dominated the Finals, scoring 12 goals. Nilsson was voted the WHA Playoff MVP.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	May 20	Winnipeg Jets	4–3	Houston Aeros	1–0
2	May 23	Winnipeg Jets	5–4	Houston Aeros	2–0
3	May 25	Houston Aeros	3–6	Winnipeg Jets	0–3
4	May 27	Houston Aeros	1–9	Winnipeg Jets	0–4

WHA Awards

Avco World Trophy:	Winnipeg Jets
Gordie Howe Trophy (MVP):	Marc Tardif, Quebec Nordiques
Bill Hunter Trophy (Scoring Leader):	Marc Tardif, Quebec Nordiques
Lou Kaplan Trophy (Rookie of the Year):	Mark Napier, Toronto Toros
Ben Hatskin Trophy (Best Goaltender):	Michel Dion, Indianapolis Racers
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy (Best Defenseman):	Paul Shmyr, Cleveland Crusaders
Paul Deneau Trophy (Most Gentlemenly):	Vaclav Nedomansky, Toronto Toros
Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy (Coach of the Year):	Bobby Kromm, Winnipeg Jets
WHA Playoff MVP:	Ulf Nilsson, Winnipeg Jets

All-Star Teams

Position	First Team	Second Team
Centre	Ulf Nilsson, Winnipeg	Robbie Ftorek, Phoenix
Right Wing	Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg	Real Cloutier, Quebec
Left Wing	Marc Tardif, Quebec	Bobby Hull, Winnipeg
Defence	Paul Shmyr, Cleveland	Kevin Morrison, San Diego
Defence	J. C. Tremblay, Quebec	Pat Stapleton, Indianapolis
Goaltender	Joe Daley, Winnipeg	Ron Grahame, Houston

Gallery

Barry Long, Jeff Jacques, Murray Kennett, Dave Dryden, October 17, 1975.

Veli-Pekka Ketola scores on Serge Aubry, October 21, 1975.

Bill Goldthorpe shoots on Mike Curran, October 25, 1975.

Ralph Backstrom scores on Michel DeGuise, November 6, 1975.

Don Borgeson scores on Jim Shaw, November 13, 1975.

Jim Hargreaves, Gordie Howe, Ernie Wakely, November 30, 1975.

Paul Holmgren and Dave Tataryn, December 9, 1975.

Brian Bowles, Bob Liddington, Bob Whidden, December 9, 1975.

George Morrison and Mario Viens, December 14, 1975.

John Kiely makes a save on Don Borgeson, December 16, 1975.

Garry Lariviere, Ralph Backstrom, Jack Norris, December 24, 1975.

Line-up from the Civics last game, January 15, 1975.

Gordie Howe, Jim Harrison, Cam Newton, Terry Ruskowski, March 6, 1976.

Gordie Howe, Gary Kurt, Serge Beaudoin, March 21, 1976.

Nick Harbaruk, John Garrett, April 2, 1976.

Bruce Boudreau shoots on Bob Johnson, 1975-76 season action.

Ron Grahame stops Tom Webster, Game 7 of the 1976 Semi-finals, May 16, 1976.

All-Star Teams.

References

• WHA Database
• HockeyDB

Preceded by 1974–75 WHA season

WHA seasons

Succeeded by 1976–77 WHA season