1976–77 Phoenix Roadrunners season

Phoenix Roadrunners
1976–77 Phoenix Roadrunners
Division	6th Western
1976–77 record	28–48–4
Goals for	281
Goals against	383
	Team Information
General Manager	Ron Ingram
Coach	Al Rollins
Captain	Al McLeod
Alternate captains	Jim Niekamp
Arena	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
	Team Leaders
Goals	Robbie Ftorek (46)
Assists	Robbie Ftorek (71)
Points	Robbie Ftorek (117)
Penalties in minutes	Jerry Rollins (169)
Wins	Clay Hebenton (17)
Goals against average	Clay Hebenton (4.22)

<1975–76

The 1976–77 Phoenix Roadrunners season was the 3rd and final season of the Phoenix Roadrunners in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Roadrunners finished 6th in the Western Division and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Off-season[]

The Roadrunners jerseys were the same design as in the 1975-76 season.

Regular Season[]

Final Standings[]

Western Division	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Houston Aeros	80	50	24	6	320	241	106
Winnipeg Jets	80	46	32	2	366	291	94
San Diego Mariners	81	40	37	4	284	283	85
Edmonton Oilers	81	34	43	4	243	304	72
Calgary Cowboys	81	31	43	7	252	296	69
Phoenix Roadrunners	80	28	48	4	281	383	60

Note: GP = Games played, 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	W	October 8, 1976	8–6	Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77)	1–0–0
2	L	October 9, 1976	3–5	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77)	1–1–0
3	W	October 14, 1976	4–3	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77)	2–1–0
4	W	October 16, 1976	6–4	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	3–1–0
5	L	October 19, 1976	4–5 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	3–2–0
6	W	October 22, 1976	4–3 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	4–2–0
7	W	October 24, 1976	5–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	5–2–0
8	L	October 26, 1976	3–11	@ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77)	5–3–0
9	L	October 29, 1976	1–5	@ New England Whalers (1976–77)	5–4–0
10	L	October 30, 1976	3–9	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77)	5–5–0
11	W	November 2, 1976	5–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77)	6–5–0
12	L	November 4, 1976	3–5	@ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77)	6–6–0
13	L	November 5, 1976	1–9	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77)	6–7–0
14	W	November 7, 1976	3–1	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77)	7–7–0
15	T	November 10, 1976	3–3	Indianapolis Racers (1976–77)	7–7–1
16	W	November 12, 1976	3–1	New England Whalers (1976–77)	8–7–1
17	W	November 14, 1976	6–3	San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	9–7–1
18	W	November 16, 1976	5–2	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	10–7–1
19	L	November 18, 1976	1–2 OT	Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	10–8–1
20	L	November 20, 1976	2–5	Houston Aeros (1976–77)	10–9–1
21	T	November 24, 1976	3–3	Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	10–9–2
22	W	November 26, 1976	4–2	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	11–9–2
23	W	November 28, 1976	5–3	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	12–9–2
24	L	November 30, 1976	2–3 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	12–10–2
25	L	December 2, 1976	3–4	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	12–11–2
26	L	December 4, 1976	3–4	San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	12–12–2
27	L	December 5, 1976	0–6	@ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	12–13–2
28	L	December 7, 1976	2–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	12–14–2
29	L	December 9, 1976	4–5	Quebec Nordiques (1976–77)	12–15–2
30	L	December 12, 1976	0–8	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77)	12–16–2
31	L	December 14, 1976	3–8	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77)	12–17–2
32	W	December 15, 1976	6–5	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77)	13–17–2
33	L	December 17, 1976	0–1	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	13–18–2
34	L	December 19, 1976	4–6	Houston Aeros (1976–77)	13–19–2
35	L	December 22, 1976	4–5 OT	San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	13–20–2
36	W	December 28, 1976	4–3	Indianapolis Racers (1976–77)	14–20–2
37	L	January 2, 1977	1–4	@ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77)	14–21–2
38	L	January 4, 1977	5–8	@ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77)	14–22–2
39	W	January 8, 1977	4–3	@ New England Whalers (1976–77)	15–22–2
40	L	January 11, 1977	2–9	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	15–23–2
41	W	January 12, 1977	4–2	Houston Aeros (1976–77)	16–23–2
42	W	January 14, 1977	6–5 OT	Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77)	17–23–2
43	L	January 16, 1977	4–5	Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	17–24–2
44	W	January 20, 1977	9–4	Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77)	18–24–2
45	W	January 22, 1977	4–1	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	19–24–2
46	L	January 23, 1977	2–9	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	19–25–2
47	L	January 25, 1977	3–7	@ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	19–26–2
48	L	January 28, 1977	2–6	New England Whalers (1976–77)	19–27–2
49	W	January 30, 1977	8–5	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	20–27–2
50	L	February 1, 1977	1–5	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	20–28–2
51	W	February 3, 1977	5–3	Houston Aeros (1976–77)	21–28–2
52	L	February 5, 1977	1–4	Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	21–29–2
53	W	February 9, 1977	4–3 OT	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77)	22–29–2
54	L	February 11, 1977	3–5	San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	22–30–2
55	L	February 13, 1977	2–5	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	22–31–2
56	L	February 16, 1977	2–7	@ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77)	22–32–2
57	L	February 17, 1977	2–4	@ New England Whalers (1976–77)	22–33–2
58	W	February 19, 1977	6–5	@ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77)	23–33–2
59	L	February 20, 1977	3–4	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77)	23–34–2
60	W	February 23, 1977	6–3	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	24–34–2
61	T	February 24, 1977	3–3	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	24–34–3
62	L	February 25, 1977	3–9	Houston Aeros (1976–77)	24–35–3
63	L	February 27, 1977	4–5	Houston Aeros (1976–77)	24–36–3
64	L	March 1, 1977	3–8	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77)	24–37–3
65	W	March 5, 1977	4–1	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	25–37–3
66	L	March 6, 1977	2–3 OT	@ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77)	25–38–3
67	L	March 8, 1977	2–9	@ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77)	25–39–3
68	W	March 12, 1977	7–6 OT	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	26–39–3
69	T	March 15, 1977	4–4	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	26–39–4
70	L	March 17, 1977	3–4	Quebec Nordiques (1976–77)	26–40–4
71	L	March 18, 1977	3–6	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77)	26–41–4
72	W	March 19, 1977	7–5	San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	27–41–4
73	L	March 20, 1977	1–6	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	27–42–4
74	L	March 23, 1977	0–4	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77)	27–43–4
75	L	March 25, 1977	3–7	San Diego Mariners (1976–77)	27–44–4
76	L	March 27, 1977	4–5	@ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	27–45–4
77	L	March 29, 1977	5–9	@ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	27–46–4
78	L	March 31, 1977	2–6	New England Whalers (1976–77)	27–47–4
79	L	April 2, 1977	5–6 OT	Quebec Nordiques (1976–77)	27–48–4
80	W	April 6, 1977	7–3	Indianapolis Racers (1976–77)	28–48–4

^[1]

Playoffs[]

The Roadrunners did not qualify for the post season.

Player Stats[]

Regular Season

Scoring

#	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
8	Ftorek, RobbieRobbie Ftorek	C/LW	80	46	71	117	86	26	11	0	5
9	Hall, DelDel Hall	C	80	38	41	79	30	6	9	1	0
22	Repo, SeppoSeppo Repo	C	80	29	31	60	10	-35	5	0	0
12	Huston, RonRon Huston	C	80	20	39	59	10	-57	6	4	0
17	Hughes, FrankFrank Hughes	LW	48	24	29	53	20	5	3	0	0
24	Mononen, LauriLauri Mononen	RW	67	21	29	50	10	-20	2	0	0
7	Liddington, BobBob Liddington	LW	80	20	24	44	28	-22	0	0	0
23	Tamminen, JuhaniJuhani Tamminen	RW	65	10	29	39	22	-23	2	0	0
20	Hobin, MikeMike Hobin	C	68	17	18	35	14	-43	2	0	0
19	Rautakallio, PekkaPekka Rautakallio	D	78	4	31	35	8	-24	2	0	0
4	Lariviere, GarryGarry Lariviere	D	61	7	23	30	48	-19	3	0	0
5	Beaudoin, SergeSerge Beaudoin	D	77	6	24	30	136	-11	0	0	0
16	Cormier, MichelMichel Cormier	LW	58	13	16	29	22	-26	0	0	0
15	Gray, JohnJohn Gray	RW	28	10	10	20	59	-1	0	0	0
2	Niekamp, JimJim Niekamp	D	79	1	15	16	91	-32	0	0	0
6	Rollins, JerryJerry Rollins	D	63	4	10	14	169	-25	1	0	0
10	Hinse, AndreAndre Hinse	LW	16	2	7	9	4	-7	0	0	0
29	Bray, DuaneDuane Bray	D	46	2	6	8	62	-41	0	0	0
3	McLeod, AlAl McLeod	D	29	1	5	6	35	-10	0	0	0
	Popiel, JanJan Popiel	LW	28	3	2	5	8	-24	1	0	0
27	Sleep, MikeMike Sleep	RW	13	2	2	4	6	-3	0	0	0
	Young, HowieHowie Young	D/RW	26	1	3	4	23	-8	0	0	0
1	Kurt, GaryGary Kurt	G	33	0	3	3	6	0	0	0	0
28	Davidson, BlairBlair Davidson	D	2	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
	Gorman, DaveDave Gorman	RW	5	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
25	Hebenton, ClayClay Hebenton	G	56	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA
Hebenton, ClayClay Hebenton	3129	56	17	29	3	220	4.22
Kurt, GaryGary Kurt	1752	33	11	19	1	162	5.55
Team:	4881	80	28	48	4	382	4.70

^[2]

Note: Pos = Position; 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[]

Gordie Howe Trophy (MVP): Robbie Ftorek
Robbie Ftorek, Center, WHA First Team All-Star

Transactions[]

Draft Picks[]

Farm Teams[]

Oklahoma City Blazers, Central Hockey League

References[]

↑ 1976–77 Phoenix Roadrunners Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-02.
↑ 1976-77 Phoenix Roadrunners Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-02.

[1] 1976–77 Phoenix Roadrunners Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-02.

[2] 1976-77 Phoenix Roadrunners Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-02.

[1]

[2]

1976–77 WHA season by team
Eastern Division	Birmingham • Cincinnati • Indianapolis • Minnesota • New England • Quebec
Western Division	Calgary • Edmonton • Houston • Phoenix • San Diego • Winnipeg