1976–77 Atlanta Flames season

1976–77 Atlanta Flames
Division	3rd Patrick
Conference	Campbell
1976–77 record	34–34–12
Goals for	264
Goals against	265
Team information
General manager	Cliff Fletcher
Coach	Fred Creighton
Captain	Pat Quinn
Arena	Omni Coliseum
Team leaders
Goals	Willi Plett (33)
Assists	Tom Lysiak (51)
Points	Tom Lysiak (81)
Penalty minutes	Willi Plett (123)
Wins	Dan Bouchard Phil Myre (17)
Goals against average	Phil Myre (3.07)

The 1976–77 Atlanta Flames season was the fifth season for the franchise. The Flames finished 3rd in the Patrick Division and lost in the Preliminary round to the Los Angeles Kings 2 games to 1.

Pre-season

Action between the Bulls and Flames, September 21, 1976.

On September 21, 1976, the Flames lost an exhibition game 7-6 against the Birmingham Bulls.

Regular Season

Final Standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Philadelphia Flyers	80	48	16	16	323	213	112
New York Islanders	80	47	21	12	288	193	106
Atlanta Flames	80	34	34	12	264	265	80
New York Rangers	80	29	37	14	272	310	72

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log

Regular Season Results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 5, 1976	5–6	@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)	0–1–0
2	W	October 7, 1976	4–2	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	1–1–0
3	W	October 9, 1976	4–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	2–1–0
4	L	October 12, 1976	0–7	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	2–2–0
5	W	October 13, 1976	4–2	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	3–2–0
6	W	October 15, 1976	2–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	4–2–0
7	W	October 17, 1976	6–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	5–2–0
8	L	October 20, 1976	3–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	5–3–0
9	L	October 22, 1976	3–5	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	5–4–0
10	T	October 24, 1976	3–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	5–4–1
11	L	October 27, 1976	2–4	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	5–5–1
12	L	October 28, 1976	1–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	5–6–1
13	T	October 30, 1976	3–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	5–6–2
14	W	November 3, 1976	7–0	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	6–6–2
15	L	November 5, 1976	2–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	6–7–2
16	T	November 7, 1976	0–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	6–7–3
17	T	November 10, 1976	2–2	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	6–7–4
18	T	November 12, 1976	3–3	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	6–7–5
19	W	November 13, 1976	5–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	7–7–5
20	W	November 17, 1976	6–3	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	8–7–5
21	W	November 19, 1976	5–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	9–7–5
22	L	November 21, 1976	5–6	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	9–8–5
23	W	November 24, 1976	6–2	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	10–8–5
24	W	November 26, 1976	5–2	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	11–8–5
25	T	November 30, 1976	2–2	New York Rangers (1976–77)	11–8–6
26	W	December 3, 1976	3–1	Boston Bruins (1976–77)	12–8–6
27	W	December 4, 1976	1–0	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	13–8–6
28	W	December 8, 1976	5–0	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	14–8–6
29	T	December 10, 1976	3–3	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	14–8–7
30	W	December 11, 1976	3–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	15–8–7
31	L	December 15, 1976	1–3	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	15–9–7
32	L	December 17, 1976	2–4	New York Islanders (1976–77)	15–10–7
33	L	December 18, 1976	3–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	15–11–7
34	L	December 20, 1976	2–6	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	15–12–7
35	W	December 22, 1976	2–1	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	16–12–7
36	W	December 27, 1976	6–2	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	17–12–7
37	L	December 29, 1976	3–6	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	17–13–7
38	W	December 31, 1976	4–2	@ New York Rangers (1976–77)	18–13–7
39	L	January 2, 1977	0–7	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	18–14–7
40	W	January 5, 1977	4–1	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	19–14–7
41	L	January 7, 1977	4–5	New York Islanders (1976–77)	19–15–7
42	L	January 8, 1977	3–6	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	19–16–7
43	W	January 12, 1977	6–1	New York Rangers (1976–77)	20–16–7
44	W	January 14, 1977	3–2	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	21–16–7
45	W	January 16, 1977	6–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	22–16–7
46	T	January 20, 1977	4–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	22–16–8
47	T	January 22, 1977	4–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	22–16–9
48	L	January 23, 1977	0–3	@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)	22–17–9
49	T	January 27, 1977	1–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	22–17–10
50	T	January 28, 1977	3–3	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	22–17–11
51	W	January 31, 1977	7–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	23–17–11
52	L	February 2, 1977	2–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	23–18–11
53	W	February 4, 1977	6–3	Boston Bruins (1976–77)	24–18–11
54	L	February 7, 1977	4–7	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	24–19–11
55	L	February 9, 1977	1–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	24–20–11
56	L	February 12, 1977	1–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	24–21–11
57	L	February 13, 1977	2–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	24–22–11
58	W	February 17, 1977	4–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	25–22–11
59	L	February 19, 1977	1–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	25–23–11
60	L	February 21, 1977	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	25–24–11
61	L	February 23, 1977	2–4	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	25–25–11
62	W	February 25, 1977	6–2	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	26–25–11
63	L	February 26, 1977	2–8	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	26–26–11
64	L	March 2, 1977	1–2	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	26–27–11
65	L	March 5, 1977	1–2	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	26–28–11
66	W	March 6, 1977	4–2	@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)	27–28–11
67	L	March 8, 1977	2–3	@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)	27–29–11
68	L	March 9, 1977	2–6	New York Islanders (1976–77)	27–30–11
69	W	March 12, 1977	6–3	New York Rangers (1976–77)	28–30–11
70	W	March 13, 1977	5–3	@ New York Rangers (1976–77)	29–30–11
71	W	March 15, 1977	7–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	30–30–11
72	W	March 17, 1977	4–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	31–30–11
73	L	March 19, 1977	4–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	31–31–11
74	L	March 20, 1977	4–5	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	31–32–11
75	L	March 22, 1977	3–6	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	31–33–11
76	W	March 24, 1977	3–1	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	32–33–11
77	W	March 26, 1977	2–1	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	33–33–11
78	L	March 30, 1977	3–4	@ New York Rangers (1976–77)	33–34–11
79	W	April 1, 1977	6–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	34–34–11
80	T	April 3, 1977	3–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	34–34–12

Player Stats

Skaters

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

			Regular Season						Playoffs
Player	#		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Tom Lysiak	12		79	30	51	81	52		3	1	3	4	8
Eric Vail	27		78	32	39	71	22		3	1	3	4	0
Willi Plett	25		64	33	23	56	123		3	1	0	1	19
Guy Chouinard	16		80	17	33	50	8		3	2	0	2	0
Curt Bennett	5		76	22	25	47	36		3	1	0	1	7
Ken Houston	6		78	20	24	44	35		3	0	0	0	4
Richard Mulhern	4		79	12	32	44	80		3	0	2	2	5
Bill Clement	10		67	17	26	43	27		3	1	1	2	0
Rey Comeau	18		80	15	18	33	16		3	0	0	0	2
Randy Manery	7		73	5	24	29	33		3	0	0	0	0
Tim Ecclestone	14		78	9	18	27	26		3	0	2	2	6
Ed Kea	19		72	4	21	25	63		3	0	1	1	2
Bobby Simpson	11		72	13	10	23	45		2	0	1	1	0
John Gould†	21		54	8	15	23	8		3	0	0	0	2
Barry Gibbs	2		66	1	16	17	63		3	0	0	0	2
Dave Shand	8		55	5	11	16	62		3	0	0	0	33
Hilliard Graves‡	17		25	8	5	13	17		-	-	-	-	-
Pat Quinn	3		59	1	12	13	58		1	0	0	0	0
Larry Romanchych	21/9		25	4	5	9	4		1	0	0	0	0
Bill Flett‡	9		24	4	4	8	6		-	-	-	-	-
Larry Carriere‡	23		25	2	3	5	16		-	-	-	-	-
Pat Ribble	23		23	2	2	4	31		2	0	0	0	6
Rick Bowness	15		28	0	4	4	29		-	-	-	-	-
Phil Myre	1		43	0	2	2	6		2	0	0	0	0
Dan Bouchard	30		42	0	1	1	9		1	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Atlanta. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
^‡Traded mid-season

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

			Regular Season									Playoffs
Player	#		GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA		GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Phil Myre	1		43	2422	17	17	7	124	3	3.07		2	120	1	1	5	0	2.50
Dan Bouchard	30		42	2378	17	17	5	139	1	3.51		1	60	0	1	5	0	5.00

Awards and Records

• Calder Memorial Trophy: Willi Plett

Transactions

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1976–77 season.

Trades

December 1, 1976	To Atlanta Flames Cash	To Edmonton Oilers (WHA) Bill Flett
December 2, 1976	To Atlanta Flames John Gould Kings' 2nd round pick in 1977 (Brian Hill)	To Vancouver Canucks Larry Carriere Hilliard Graves

Draft Picks

See also: 1976 NHL Amateur Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team
1	8.	Dave Shand (D)	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
1	10.	Harold Phillipoff (LW)	Canada	New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
2	28.	Bobby Simpson (LW)	Canada	Sherbrooke Beavers (QMJHL)
3	46.	Rick Hodgson (D)	Canada	Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
4	64.	Kent Nilsson (C)	Sweden	Djurgårdens IF (Elitserien)
5	82.	Mark Earp (G)	Canada	Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)

References

• Flames on Hockey Database