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The 1977-78 NHL season was the 61st season of the National Hockey League. Eighteen teams each played 80 games. The Montreal Canadiens won their third Stanley Cup in a row as they beat the Boston Bruins four games to two in the finals.

League Business[]

Clarence Campbell retired as NHL President, prior to this season. John Ziegler succeeded him.

A trophy for the top defensive forward, the Frank J. Selke Trophy, made its debut this season and went to Bob Gainey, who played Left Wing for Montreal.

The Cleveland Barons franchise dissolved at the end of the season and its assets and liabilities were transferred to the Minnesota North Stars, which moved to Cleveland's slot in the Adams Division.

Regular Season[]

Final Standings[]

Prince of Wales Conference[]

Adams Division
  GP W L T GF GA PTS
Boston Bruins 80 51 18 11 333 218 113
Buffalo Sabres 80 44 19 17 288 215 105
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 41 29 10 271 237 92
Cleveland Barons 80 22 45 13 230 325 57

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.

Norris Division
  GP W L T GF GA PTS
Montreal Canadiens 80 59 10 11 359 183 129
Detroit Red Wings 80 32 34 14 252 266 78
Los Angeles Kings 80 31 34 15 243 245 77
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 25 37 18 254 321 68
Washington Capitals 80 17 49 14 195 321 48

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.


Clarence Campbell Conference[]

Patrick Division
  GP W L T GF GA PTS
New York Islanders 80 48 17 15 334 210 111
Philadelphia Flyers 80 45 20 15 296 200 105
Atlanta Flames 80 34 27 19 274 252 87
New York Rangers 80 30 37 13 279 280 73

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.

Smythe Division
GP W L T GF GA PTS
Chicago Black Hawks 80 32 29 19 230 220 83
Colorado Rockies 80 19 40 21 257 305 59
Vancouver Canucks 80 20 43 17 239 320 57
St. Louis Blues 80 20 47 13 195 304 53
Minnesota North Stars 80 18 53 9 218 325 45

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.


Scoring Leaders[]

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Guy Lafleur Montreal Canadiens 78 60 72 132 26
Bryan Trottier New York Islanders 77 46 77 123 46
Darryl Sittler Toronto Maple Leafs 80 45 72 117 100
Jacques Lemaire Montreal Canadiens 76 36 61 97 14
Denis Potvin New York Islanders 80 30 64 94 81
Mike Bossy New York Islanders 73 53 38 91 6
Terry O'Reilly Boston Bruins 77 29 61 90 211
Gilbert Perreault Buffalo Sabres 79 41 48 89 20
Bobby Clarke Philadelphia Flyers 71 21 68 89 83
Lanny McDonald Toronto Maple Leafs 74 47 40 87 54

Leading Goaltenders[]

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Player Team GP MIN GA GAA W L T SO
Ken Dryden Montreal Canadiens 52 3071 105 2.05 37 7 7 5
Bernie Parent Philadelphia Flyers 49 2923 108 2.22 29 6 13 7
Gilles Gilbert Boston Bruins 25 1326 56 2.53 15 6 2 2
Chico Resch N.Y. Islanders 45 2637 112 2.55 28 9 7 3
Tony Esposito Chicago Black Hawks 64 3840 168 2.63 28 22 14 5
Don Edwards Buffalo Sabres 72 4209 185 2.64 38 16 17 5
Billy Smith N.Y. Islanders 38 2154 95 2.65 20 8 8 2
Michel Larocque Montreal Canadiens 30 1729 77 2.67 22 3 4 1
Mike Palmateer Toronto Maple Leafs 63 3760 172 2.74 34 19 9 5
Dan Bouchard Atlanta Flames 58 3340 153 2.75 25 12 19 2

Stanley Cup Playoffs[]

Playoff Bracket[]

  Preliminary Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                                     
        
  1  Montreal Canadiens 4  
    8  Detroit Red Wings 1  
4  Atlanta Flames 0
5  Detroit Red Wings 2  
  1  Montreal Canadiens 4  
  4  Toronto Maple Leafs 0  
        
        
  3  New York Islanders 3
    6  Toronto Maple Leafs 4  
3  Toronto Maple Leafs 2
6  Los Angeles Kings 0  
  1  Montreal Canadiens 4
  2  Boston Bruins 2
        
        
  2  Boston Bruins 4
    7  Chicago Black Hawks 0  
      
        
  2  Boston Bruins 4
  3  Philadelphia Flyers 1  
1  Philadelphia Flyers 2  
8  Colorado Rockies 0  
  4  Philadelphia Flyers 4
    5  Buffalo Sabres 1  
2  Buffalo Sabres 2
7  New York Rangers 1

Finals[]

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens
Date Visitors Score Home Score Notes
May 13 Boston 1 Montreal 4
May 16 Boston 2 Montreal 3 OT
May 18 Montreal 0 Boston 4
May 21 Montreal 3 Boston 4 OT
May 23 Boston 1 Montreal 4
May 25 Montreal 4 Boston 1

Montreal wins the series 4–2.

Larry Robinson won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

NHL Awards[]

Prince of Wales Trophy: Montreal Canadiens
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: New York Islanders
Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Butch Goring, Los Angeles Kings
Calder Memorial Trophy: Mike Bossy, New York Islanders
Conn Smythe Trophy: Larry Robinson, Montreal Canadiens
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens
Hart Memorial Trophy: Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
Jack Adams Award: Bobby Kromm, Detroit Red Wings
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Denis Potvin, New York Islanders
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Butch Goring, Los Angeles Kings
Lester B. Pearson Award: Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
NHL Plus/Minus Award: Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
Vezina Trophy: Ken Dryden & Michel Larocque, Montreal Canadiens
Lester Patrick Trophy: Phil Esposito, Tom Fitzgerald, William T. Tutt, William W. Wirtz

All-Star Teams[]

First Team   Position   Second Team
Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens G Don Edwards, Buffalo Sabres
Denis Potvin, New York Islanders D Larry Robinson, Montreal Canadiens
Brad Park, Boston Bruins D Borje Salming, Toronto Maple Leafs
Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders C Darryl Sittler, Toronto Maple Leafs
Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens RW Mike Bossy, New York Islanders
Clark Gillies, New York Islanders LW Steve Shutt, Montreal Canadiens

Debuts[]

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1977-78 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last Games[]

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1977-78 (listed with their last team):

Gallery[]

Video[]

Over 30 minutes of the October 23, 1977 Pittsburgh-Cleveland game.

See Also[]


References[]


NHL Seasons

1973-74 | 1974-75 | 1975-76 | 1976-77 | 1977-78 | 1978-79 | 1979-80 | 1980-81 | 1981-82

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