1977–78 New England Whalers season

1977–78 New England Whalers
Division	2nd WHA
1977–78 record	44–31–5
Goals for	335
Goals against	269
Team Information
Coach	Harry Neale
Captain	Rick Ley
Team Leaders

<1976–77

1978–79>

The 1977–78 New England Whalers season was the Whalers' sixth season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). This season saw the debut of Gordie Howe and his sons with the Whalers' franchise. The trio helped the Whalers advance to the Avco Cup final, where they were defeated by the Winnipeg Jets.

Regular season

Final standings

Template:1977–78 WHA standings

Game log

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 12, 1977	3–0	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	1–0–0
2	W	October 15, 1977	5–2	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	2–0–0
3	L	October 16, 1977	2–6	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	2–1–0
4	T	October 18, 1977	2–2	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	2–1–1
5	W	October 19, 1977	6–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	3–1–1
6	W	October 21, 1977	5–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	4–1–1
7	W	October 26, 1977	7–1	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	5–1–1
8	W	October 29, 1977	7–2	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	6–1–1
9	W	November 1, 1977	6–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	7–1–1
10	W	November 4, 1977	4–3	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	8–1–1
11	W	November 6, 1977	5–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	9–1–1
12	W	November 8, 1977	4–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	10–1–1
13	W	November 10, 1977	5–3	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	11–1–1
14	W	November 12, 1977	5–3	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	12–1–1
15	W	November 15, 1977	6–4	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	13–1–1
16	W	November 18, 1977	3–2	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	14–1–1
17	W	November 20, 1977	5–4 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	15–1–1
18	L	November 22, 1977	4–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	15–2–1
19	T	November 23, 1977	3–3	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	15–2–2
20	L	November 25, 1977	2–6	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	15–3–2
21	L	November 26, 1977	1–3	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	15–4–2
22	T	November 30, 1977	3–3	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	15–4–3
23	W	December 2, 1977	4–1	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	16–4–3
24	L	December 3, 1977	2–5	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	16–5–3
25	L	December 6, 1977	2–5	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	16–6–3
26	W	December 7, 1977	6–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	17–6–3
27	W	December 9, 1977	2–1 OT	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	18–6–3
28	W	December 14, 1977	7–2	Soviet All-Stars (1977–78)	19–6–3
29	W	December 16, 1977	5–3	Czechoslovakia (1977–78)	20–6–3
30	L	December 17, 1977	3–6	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	20–7–3
31	L	December 18, 1977	3–7	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	20–8–3
32	W	December 23, 1977	5–3	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	21–8–3
33	W	December 27, 1977	8–1	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	22–8–3
34	W	December 30, 1977	6–2	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	23–8–3
35	W	January 1, 1978	4–3 OT	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	24–8–3
36	L	January 4, 1978	4–6	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	24–9–3
37	L	January 6, 1978	3–4	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	24–10–3
38	W	January 7, 1978	5–3	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	25–10–3
39	L	January 8, 1978	4–5	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	25–11–3
40	W	January 13, 1978	2–0	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	26–11–3
41	L	January 14, 1978	4–5 OT	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	26–12–3
42	L	January 18, 1978	0–1	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	26–13–3
43	T	January 20, 1978	4–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	26–13–4
44	L	January 21, 1978	2–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	26–14–4
45	W	January 22, 1978	6–3	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	27–14–4
46	L	January 25, 1978	7–8 OT	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	27–15–4
47	W	January 27, 1978	6–2	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	28–15–4
48	W	January 28, 1978	3–0	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	29–15–4
49	L	January 29, 1978	4–6	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	29–16–4
50	W	February 1, 1978	4–3	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	30–16–4
51	L	February 3, 1978	3–6	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	30–17–4
52	L	February 4, 1978	4–5	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	30–18–4
53	W	February 11, 1978	8–7	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	31–18–4
54	W	February 14, 1978	5–1	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	32–18–4
55	L	February 16, 1978	1–2 OT	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	32–19–4
56	W	February 18, 1978	4–1	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	33–19–4
57	L	February 21, 1978	5–6 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	33–20–4
58	L	February 22, 1978	2–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	33–21–4
59	L	February 24, 1978	2–7	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	33–22–4
60	W	February 26, 1978	6–5	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	34–22–4
61	L	March 1, 1978	3–4 OT	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	34–23–4
62	L	March 3, 1978	2–3 OT	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	34–24–4
63	L	March 4, 1978	2–5	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	34–25–4
64	L	March 5, 1978	1–2	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	34–26–4
65	L	March 9, 1978	4–6	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	34–27–4
66	W	March 10, 1978	5–4 OT	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	35–27–4
67	W	March 14, 1978	6–0	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	36–27–4
68	W	March 15, 1978	7–0	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	37–27–4
69	W	March 17, 1978	6–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	38–27–4
70	L	March 18, 1978	3–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	38–28–4
71	W	March 21, 1978	6–3	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	39–28–4
72	L	March 22, 1978	3–5	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	39–29–4
73	L	March 24, 1978	0–1	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	39–30–4
74	W	March 26, 1978	5–3	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	40–30–4
75	W	March 29, 1978	6–1	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	41–30–4
76	W	April 3, 1978	8–6	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	42–30–4
77	T	April 5, 1978	4–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	42–30–5
78	L	April 6, 1978	4–7	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	42–31–5
79	W	April 10, 1978	6–1	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	43–31–5
80	W	April 11, 1978	6–3	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	44–31–5

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Howe, GordieGordie Howe RW 76 34 62 96 85 46 16 0 0 Howe, MarkMark Howe D 70 30 61 91 32 30 4 0 0 Rogers, MikeMike Rogers C 80 28 43 71 46 22 4 1 0 Antonovich, MikeMike Antonovich C 75 32 35 67 32 17 5 0 0 Keon, DaveDave Keon C 77 24 38 62 2 -4 1 5 0 Roberts, GordieGordie Roberts D 78 15 46 61 118 17 5 0 0 McKenzie, JohnJohn McKenzie RW 79 27 29 56 61 15 9 0 0 Lyle, GeorgeGeorge Lyle LW 68 30 24 54 74 12 3 0 0 Ley, RickRick Ley D 73 3 41 44 95 36 0 0 0 Pleau, LarryLarry Pleau C 54 16 18 34 4 12 2 0 0 Selwood, BradBrad Selwood D 80 6 25 31 88 11 2 0 0 Hangsleben, AlAl Hangsleben D 79 11 18 29 140 17 0 0 0 Carlson, JackJack Carlson LW 67 9 20 29 192 9 0 0 0 Carroll, GregGreg Carroll C 48 9 14 23 27 3 0 2 0 Webster, TomTom Webster RW 20 15 5 20 5 8 5 0 0 Mayer, JimJim Mayer RW 51 11 9 20 21 1 1 0 0 Howe, MartyMarty Howe D 75 10 10 20 66 10 1 0 0 Sheehy, TimTim Sheehy RW 25 8 11 19 14 -2 3 0 0 Butters, BillBill Butters D 45 1 13 14 69 21 0 0 0 Carlson, SteveSteve Carlson C 38 6 7 13 11 7 1 1 0 Bolduc, DannyDanny Bolduc LW 41 5 5 10 22 6 0 0 0 Plumb, RonRon Plumb D 27 1 9 10 18 6 0 0 0 Maxwell, BryanBryan Maxwell D 17 2 1 3 11 9 0 0 0 Smith, AlAl Smith G 55 0 3 3 4 0 0 0 0 Peloffy, AndreAndre Peloffy C 10 2 0 2 2 -2 0 0 0 Levasseur, Jean-LouisJean-Louis Levasseur G 27 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Smith, AlAl Smith 3246 55 30 20 3 174 3.22 2 Levasseur, Jean-LouisJean-Louis Levasseur 1655 27 14 11 2 91 3.30 3 Team: 4901 80 44 31 5 265 3.24 5

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Antonovich, MikeMike Antonovich C 14 10 7 17 4 0 0 1 Keon, DaveDave Keon C 14 5 11 16 4 0 0 1 Howe, MarkMark Howe D 14 8 7 15 18 0 0 0 McKenzie, JohnJohn McKenzie RW 14 6 6 12 16 0 0 1 Rogers, MikeMike Rogers C 14 5 6 11 8 0 0 0 Howe, GordieGordie Howe RW 14 5 5 10 15 0 0 2 Pleau, LarryLarry Pleau C 14 5 4 9 8 0 0 1 Carlson, SteveSteve Carlson C 13 2 7 9 2 0 0 0 Ley, RickRick Ley D 14 1 8 9 4 0 0 0 Bolduc, DannyDanny Bolduc LW 14 2 4 6 4 0 0 0 Plumb, RonRon Plumb D 14 1 5 6 16 0 0 1 Hangsleben, AlAl Hangsleben D 14 1 4 5 37 0 0 0 Roberts, GordieGordie Roberts D 14 0 5 5 29 0 0 0 Sheehy, TimTim Sheehy RW 13 1 3 4 9 0 0 0 Lyle, GeorgeGeorge Lyle LW 12 2 1 3 13 0 0 0 Selwood, BradBrad Selwood D 14 0 3 3 8 0 0 0 Carlson, JackJack Carlson LW 9 1 1 2 14 0 0 0 Howe, MartyMarty Howe D 14 1 1 2 13 0 0 1 Levasseur, Jean-LouisJean-Louis Levasseur G 12 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 Peloffy, AndreAndre Peloffy C 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Smith, AlAl Smith G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Levasseur, Jean-LouisJean-Louis Levasseur 719 12 8 4 31 2.59 0 Smith, AlAl Smith 120 3 0 2 14 7.00 0 Team: 839 14 8 6 45 3.22 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;

See also

• 1977–78 WHA season

References

• 1977–78 New England Whalers Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-21.