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

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

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.

In 49 games, Anders Hedberg scores his 50th goal, February 6, 1977.

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.

Final Standings

Eastern Division	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Quebec Nordiques	81	47	31	3	353	295	97
Cincinnati Stingers	81	39	37	5	354	303	83
Indianapolis Racers	81	36	37	8	276	305	80
New England Whalers	81	35	40	6	275	290	76
Birmingham Bulls	81	31	46	4	289	309	66
Minnesota Fighting Saints+	42	19	18	5	136	129	43

+Team disbanded after 42 games.
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.

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.

Scoring Leaders

_{Bolded numbers indicate season leaders}

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Real Cloutier	Quebec Nordiques	76	66	75	141	39
Anders Hedberg	Winnipeg Jets	68	70	61	131	48
Ulf Nilsson	Winnipeg Jets	71	39	85	124	89
Robbie Ftorek	Phoenix Roadrunners	80	46	71	117	86
André Lacroix	San Diego Mariners	81	32	82	114	79
Marc Tardif	Quebec Nordiques	62	49	60	109	65
Rich Leduc	Cincinnati Stingers	81	52	55	107	75
Chris Bordeleau	Quebec Nordiques	72	32	75	107	34
Blaine Stoughton	Cincinnati Stingers	81	52	52	104	39
Mark Napier	Birmingham Bulls	80	60	36	96	24
Dennis Sobchuk	Cincinnati Stingers	81	44	52	96	38
Serge Bernier	Quebec Nordiques	74	43	53	96	94

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
Ron Grahame	Houston Aeros	39	2345	27	10	2	107	4	90.1	2.74
Ernie Wakely	San Diego Mariners	46	2506	22	18	1	129	3	89.6	3.09
Cap Raeder	New England Whalers	26	1328	12	10	1	69	2	90.2	3.12
Wayne Rutledge	Houston Aeros	42	2512	23	14	4	132	3	89.8	3.15
Joe Daley	Winnipeg Jets	65	3813	39	21	2	206	3	89.2	3.24

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 Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

E1

Quebec Nordiques

4

E4

New England Whalers

1

E1

Quebec Nordiques

4

Eastern Division

E3

Indianapolis Racers

1

E2

Cincinnati Stingers

0

E3

Indianapolis Racers

4

E1

Quebec Nordiques

4

W2

Winnipeg Jets

3

W1

Houston Aeros

4

W4

Edmonton Oilers

1

W1

Houston Aeros

2

Western Division

W2

Winnipeg Jets

4

W2

Winnipeg Jets

4

W3

San Diego Mariners

3

Avco World Trophy Finals

J.C. Tremblay scores, Game 7 of the 1977 Avco World Trophy Finals, May 26, 1977.

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.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	May 11	Winnipeg Jets	2–1	Quebec Nordiques	1-0
2	May 15	Winnipeg Jets	1–6	Quebec Nordiques	1-1
3	May 18	Quebec Nordiques	1–6	Winnipeg Jets	1-2
4	May 20	Quebec Nordiques	4–2	Winnipeg Jets	2-2
5	May 22	Winnipeg Jets	3–8	Quebec Nordiques	2-3
6	May 24	Quebec Nordiques	3–12	Winnipeg Jets	3-3
7	May 26	Winnipeg Jets	2–8	Quebec Nordiques	3-4

WHA Awards

Avco World Trophy:	Quebec Nordiques
Gordie Howe Trophy (MVP):	Robbie Ftorek, Phoenix Roadrunners
Bill Hunter Trophy (Scoring Leader):	Real Cloutier, Quebec Nordiques
Lou Kaplan Trophy (Rookie of the Year):	George Lyle, New England Whalers
Ben Hatskin Trophy (Best Goaltender):	Ron Grahame, Houston Aeros
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy (Best Defenseman):	Ron Plumb, Cincinnati Stingers
Paul Deneau Trophy (Most Gentlemenly):	Dave Keon, New England Whalers
Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy (Coach of the Year):	Bill Dineen, Houston Aeros
WHA Playoff MVP:	Serge Bernier, Quebec Nordiques

All-Star Teams

Position	First Team	Second Team
Centre	Robbie Ftorek, Phoenix	Ulf Nilsson, Winnipeg
Right Wing	Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg	Real Cloutier, Quebec
Left Wing	Marc Tardif, Quebec	Rick Dudley, Cincinnati
Defence	Darryl Maggs, Indianapolis	Poul Popiel, Houston
Defence	Ron Plumb, Cincinnati	Mark Howe, Houston
Goaltender	John Garrett, Birmingham	Joe Daley, Winnipeg

Gallery

1976-77 WHA All-Star Teams.

Video

WHA All-Star game, January 18, 1977.

1977 WHA All STAR GAME Gordie Howe Bobby Hull

Game 7 of the 1977 Avco World Trophy Finals, May 26, 1977

1977 WHA AVCO Cup Finals G 7 Winnipeg @ Quebec 5 26 1977

References

• WHA Database
• HockeyDB

Preceded by 1975-76 WHA season

WHA seasons

Succeeded by 1977-78 WHA season