1976–77 San Diego Mariners season

1976–77 San Diego Mariners
Division	3rd Western
1976–77 record	40–37–4
Goals for	284
Goals against	283
Team Information
General Manager	Ballard Smith
Coach	Ron Ingram
Captain	Andre Lacroix
Alternate captains	Paul Shmyr Brent Hughes
Arena	San Diego Sports Arena
Team Leaders
Goals	Norm Ferguson (39)
Assists	Andre Lacroix (82)
Points	Andre Lacroix (114)
Penalties in minutes	Kevin Devine (114)
Wins	Ernie Wakely (22)
Goals against average	Ernie Wakely (3.09)

<1975–76

The 1976–77 San Diego Mariners season was the 3rd and final season of the San Diego Mariners of the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Mariners finished 3rd in the Western Division and lost in the Quarter-finals to the Winnipeg Jets 4 games to 3.

Off-season

The Mariners jerseys were the same design as in the 1974-75 season except that the names were placed on a contrasting nameplate.

Regular Season

San Diego Padres and McDonald's owner Ray Kroc sold the team to a group who planned to move it to Melbourne, Florida. The new owners couldn't find a suitable arena who then sold the team to former Philadelphia Flyers minority owner Bill Putnam, who changed the team's name to the Florida Breakers and announced they would play at the Hollywood Sportatorium in Hollywood, between Miami and Fort Lauderdale. After this deal fell apart Jerry Saperstein tried to buy the team and move them to the same area as the Florida Icegators. However, this deal collapsed as well. The Mariners folded just before training camp opened in the fall of 1977. Fans who put down deposits for season tickets never got their money back.

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

Playoffs

Winnipeg Jets 4, San Diego Mariners 3

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 10	San Diego Mariners	1–5	Winnipeg Jets	0–1
2	April 12	San Diego Mariners	1–4	Winnipeg Jets	0–2
3	April 16	Winnipeg Jets	4–5	San Diego Mariners	1–2
4	April 17	Winnipeg Jets	4–6	San Diego Mariners	2–2
5	April 20	San Diego Mariners	0–3	Winnipeg Jets	2–3
6	April 22	Winnipeg Jets	1–3	San Diego Mariners	3–3
7	April 24	San Diego Mariners	3–7	Winnipeg Jets	3–4

Player Stats

Regular Season
Scoring
# Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG 7 Lacroix, AndreAndre Lacroix C 81 32 82 114 79 2 11 3 0 21 Noris, JoeJoe Noris C/D 73 35 57 92 30 2 9 6 5 9 Ferguson, NormNorm Ferguson RW 77 39 32 71 5 -5 10 0 8 16 Devine, KevinKevin Devine LW 81 30 20 50 114 -12 7 1 0 3 Shmyr, PaulPaul Shmyr D 81 13 37 50 103 -4 3 0 0 12 Rivers, WayneWayne Rivers RW 60 18 31 49 40 5 7 0 0 8 Burgess, DonDon Burgess LW 77 20 22 42 8 -8 4 1 0 4 Morrison, KevinKevin Morrison D 75 8 30 38 68 -30 4 0 0 11 French, JohnJohn French C/LW 44 14 21 35 6 -3 2 0 0 17 Veneruzzo, GaryGary Veneruzzo W 40 14 11 25 18 4 3 0 0 22 Cassolato, TonyTony Cassolato RW 43 13 12 25 26 9 2 0 0 19 Dobek, BobBob Dobek C 58 7 17 24 17 -9 2 0 0 10, 15 Rhiness, BradBrad Rhiness C 58 9 14 23 14 -17 0 0 0 28 Sentes, DickDick Sentes LW 24 10 11 21 16 7 2 0 0 14 Pinder, GerryGerry Pinder LW 44 6 13 19 36 -24 2 0 0 2 Hughes, BrentBrent Hughes D 62 4 13 17 48 -3 0 0 0 29 Hornung, LarryLarry Hornung D 58 4 9 13 8 -7 0 0 0 5 Legge, RandyRandy Legge D 69 1 9 10 69 -18 0 0 0 18 McNamee, PeterPeter McNamee D 41 3 6 9 38 -7 0 0 0 10 Adduono, RayRay Adduono C 13 2 5 7 5 1 1 0 0 6 Falkenberg, BobBob Falkenberg D 64 0 6 6 34 -11 0 0 0 18 Boddy, GreggGregg Boddy D 18 1 2 3 19 -6 0 0 0 27 Cournoyer, NormNorm Cournoyer C 19 1 2 3 8 -14 0 0 0 20 O'Connell, TimTim O'Connell RW 16 0 3 3 4 -12 0 0 0 31 Wakely, ErnieErnie Wakely G 46 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Winograd, BobBob Winograd D 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Lockett, KenKen Lockett G 45 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Wakely, ErnieErnie Wakely 2506 46 22 18 3 129 3.09 3 Lockett, KenKen Lockett 2397 45 18 19 1 148 3.70 1 Team: 4903 81 40 37 4 277 3.39 4

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Lacroix, AndreAndre Lacroix C 7 1 6 7 6 0 0 0 Ferguson, NormNorm Ferguson RW 7 2 4 6 0 0 0 1 Adduono, RayRay Adduono C 7 3 2 5 18 0 0 0 French, JohnJohn French C/LW 7 2 3 5 2 0 0 0 Sentes, DickDick Sentes LW 5 4 0 4 12 0 0 2 Burgess, DonDon Burgess LW 7 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 Devine, KevinKevin Devine LW 7 1 3 4 14 0 0 0 Morrison, KevinKevin Morrison D 7 1 3 4 8 0 0 0 Hughes, BrentBrent Hughes D 7 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 Noris, JoeJoe Noris C/D 7 2 1 3 6 0 0 0 Rivers, WayneWayne Rivers RW 7 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 Shmyr, PaulPaul Shmyr D 7 0 2 2 8 0 0 0 Rhiness, BradBrad Rhiness C 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 McNamee, PeterPeter McNamee D 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Falkenberg, BobBob Falkenberg D 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cassolato, TonyTony Cassolato RW 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 Dobek, BobBob Dobek C 5 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 Hornung, LarryLarry Hornung D 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Legge, RandyRandy Legge D 7 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 Veneruzzo, GaryGary Veneruzzo W 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wakely, ErnieErnie Wakely G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lockett, KenKen Lockett G 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Wakely, ErnieErnie Wakely 160 3 2 1 9 3.38 0 Lockett, KenKen Lockett 260 5 1 3 19 4.38 0 Team: 420 7 3 4 28 4.00 0

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

Draft Picks

San Diego's draft picks at the 1976 WHA Amateur Draft.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	5	Dave Farrish (D)	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
3	23	Romano Carlucci (F)	Canada	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA)
3	25	Mark Suzor (D)	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)
3	29	Tony Horvath (D)	Canada	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA)
4	41	John Smrke (C)	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
5	53	Archie King (RW)	Canada	Hamilton Fincups (OHA)
6	65	Rick Hodgson (D)	Canada	Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
7	77	Rob Tudor (C)	Canada	Regina Pats (WCHL)
8	89	Claude Legris (G)	Canada	Sorel Black Hawks (QMJHL)
9	100	Don Moores (C)	Canada	Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)
10	111	Ron Roscoe (D)	Canada	Hamilton Fincups (OHA)

See Also

• 1976–77 WHA season