1977-78 NHL season

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):

• Doug Wilson, Chicago Black Hawks
• Barry Beck, Colorado Rockies
• Dale McCourt, Detroit Red Wings
• Vaclav Nedomansky, Detroit Red Wings
• Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings
• Mike Bossy, New York Islanders
• Ron Duguay, New York Rangers
• Glen Hanlon, Vancouver Canucks
• Murray Bannerman, Vancouver Canucks
• Robert Picard, Washington Capitals

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):

• Johnny Bucyk, Boston Bruins
• Eddie Johnston, Chicago Black Hawks
• Jim Neilson, Cleveland Barons
• Dennis Hull, Detroit Red Wings
• Ed Giacomin, Detroit Red Wings
• Bill Goldsworthy, New York Rangers
• Dallas Smith, New York Rangers
• Ken Hodge, New York Rangers
• Rod Gilbert, New York Rangers
• Gary Dornhoefer, Philadelphia Flyers
• Derek Sanderson, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Claude Larose, St. Louis Blues
• Jimmy Roberts, St. Louis Blues
• Red Berenson, St. Louis Blues
• Cesare Maniago, Vancouver Canucks

Gallery

1977-78 St. Louis Blues

1977-78 Pittsburgh Penguins

1977-78 Detroit Red Wings

1977-78 New York Rangers

Video

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

Penguins at Cleveland Barons Oct 1977

See Also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1977 NHL Amateur Draft
• 31st National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• 1977-78 WHA season

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com