The 1977-78 WHA season was the sixth season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Eight teams played 80 games each. The Winnipeg Jets defeated the New England Whalers 4 games to 0 in the Finals to win their 3rd Avco World Trophy.
Regular Season[]
With a reduction of 3 teams from the end of the previous season (the San Diego Mariners, Phoenix Roadrunners, and Calgary Cowboys folded), the WHA abandoned its divisional format and grouped the remaining 8 teams together. There had been a tentative merger agreement that would have had Cincinnati, Houston, New England, Winnipeg, Quebec, and Edmonton join the NHL but it could not be finalized.
In a unique move, two international All-Star teams, the Soviet All-Stars and Czechoslovakia All-Stars, played games that counted in the regular season standings. They played each WHA team once, on the WHA team's home ice. The Soviet team acquitted themselves well, winning three, tying one and losing the other four, plus winning two exhibition games. The Czech team only won once and tied once, losing six. This was the first time International teams competed in regular season competition in a major professional sports league in North America. Those two teams as well as a Finnish team would return to play the WHA teams the next year.
Gordie Howe scores his 1000th professional career goal, December 7, 1977.
On December 7, 1977, Gordie Howe scored the 1000th goal of his professional career on goalie John Garrett of the Birmingham Bulls.
Playoff Format[]
The best six teams qualified for the playoffs. However, instead of the standard schedule for a six-team playoff (i.e., giving the 1st and 2nd place teams byes into the Semi-finals, with the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th place teams opening in the Quarter-finals), the WHA came up with a unique twist. There were three Quarter-final series instead of two, with the teams paired top to bottom (i.e., 1st vs. 6th, 2nd vs. 5th, 3rd vs. 4th). The highest-seeded Quarter-final winner then received a Semi-finals bye and advanced directly to the Finals, while the remaining two Quarter-finals series winners played off in a single Semi-final. All series were best four out of seven games.
Final Standings[]
| WHA Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 50 | 28 | 2 | 102 | 381 | 270 | 988 |
| New England Whalers | 80 | 44 | 31 | 5 | 93 | 335 | 269 | 1255 |
| Houston Aeros | 80 | 42 | 34 | 4 | 88 | 296 | 302 | 1543 |
| Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 40 | 37 | 3 | 83 | 349 | 347 | 1185 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 38 | 39 | 3 | 79 | 309 | 307 | 1296 |
| Birmingham Bulls | 80 | 36 | 41 | 3 | 75 | 287 | 314 | 2177 |
| Cincinnati Stingers | 80 | 35 | 42 | 3 | 73 | 298 | 332 | 1701 |
| Indianapolis Racers | 80 | 24 | 51 | 5 | 53 | 267 | 353 | 1189 |
| Soviet All-Stars | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 27 | 36 | 120 |
| Czechoslovakia All-Stars | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 40 | 87 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties in Minutes
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marc Tardif | Quebec Nordiques | 78 | 65 | 89 | 154 | 50 |
| Real Cloutier | Quebec Nordiques | 73 | 56 | 73 | 129 | 19 |
| Ulf Nilsson | Winnipeg Jets | 73 | 37 | 89 | 126 | 89 |
| Anders Hedberg | Winnipeg Jets | 77 | 63 | 59 | 122 | 60 |
| Bobby Hull | Winnipeg Jets | 77 | 46 | 71 | 117 | 23 |
| André Lacroix | Houston Aeros | 78 | 36 | 77 | 113 | 57 |
| Robbie Ftorek | Cincinnati Stingers | 80 | 59 | 50 | 109 | 54 |
| Kent Nilsson | Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 42 | 65 | 107 | 8 |
| Gordie Howe | New England Whalers | 76 | 34 | 62 | 96 | 85 |
| Mark Howe | New England Whalers | 70 | 30 | 61 | 91 | 32 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Smith | New England Whalers | 55 | 3246 | 30 | 20 | 3 | 174 | 2 | 88.5 | 3.22 |
| Joe Daley | Winnipeg Jets | 37 | 2075 | 21 | 11 | 1 | 114 | 1 | 88.3 | 3.30 |
| Gary Bromley | Winnipeg Jets | 39 | 2252 | 25 | 12 | 1 | 124 | 1 | 88.6 | 3.30 |
| Jean-Louis Levasseur | New England Whalers | 27 | 1655 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 91 | 3 | 88.6 | 3.30 |
| Ernie Wakely | Cincinnati – Houston | 57 | 3381 | 28 | 23 | 4 | 192 | 2 | 89.1 | 3.41 |
All-Star Game[]
The 1978 WHA All-Star game pitted the defending champion Quebec Nordiques against the stars from the remaining WHA teams. The game was played on 17 January 1978, in Quebec City, and attracted 6,413 spectators.
The Nordiques, coached by Marc Boileau, won the game 5–4. Marc Tardif and Mark Howe were named the players of the game.
Avco World Trophy Playoffs[]
Quarter-finals[]
New England Whalers 4, Edmonton Oilers 1[]
| Game | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Series |
| 1 | April 14 | Edmonton Oilers | 4–6 | New England Whalers | 0–1 |
| 2 | April 16 | Edmonton Oilers | 1–4 | New England Whalers | 0–2 |
| 3 | April 19 | New England Whalers | 0–2 | Edmonton Oilers | 2–1 |
| 4 | April 21 | New England Whalers | 9–1 | Edmonton Oilers | 3–1 |
| 5 | April 23 | Edmonton Oilers | 1–4 | New England Whalers | 1–4 |
Quebec Nordiques 4, Houston Aeros 2[]
| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record |
| 1 | April 16 | Quebec Nordiques | 3–4 | Houston Aeros | 0-1 |
| 2 | April 18 | Quebec Nordiques | 5–4 | Houston Aeros | 1-1 |
| 3 | April 20 | Houston Aeros | 1–5 | Quebec Nordiques | 1-2 |
| 4 | April 21 | Houston Aeros | 0–3 | Quebec Nordiques | 1-3 |
| 5 | April 23 | Quebec Nordiques | 2–5 | Houston Aeros | 3-2 |
| 6 | April 25 | Houston Aeros | 2–11 | Quebec Nordiques | 2-4 |
Winnipeg Jets 4, Birmingham Bulls 1[]
| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record |
| 1 | April 14 | Birmingham Bulls | 3–9 | Winnipeg Jets | 0–1 |
| 2 | April 16 | Birmingham Bulls | 3–8 | Winnipeg Jets | 0–2 |
| 3 | April 19 | Winnipeg Jets | 2–3 | Birmingham Bulls | 2–1 |
| 4 | April 21 | Winnipeg Jets | 5–1 | Birmingham Bulls | 3–1 |
| 5 | April 23 | Birmingham Bulls | 2–5 | Winnipeg Jets | 1–4 |
Semi-finals[]
The top ranked Quarter-finals winner (Winnipeg) received a bye into the Finals.
New England Whalers 4, Quebec Nordiques 1[]
| Game | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Series |
| 1 | April 28 | Quebec Nordiques | 1–5 | New England Whalers | 0–1 |
| 2 | April 30 | Quebec Nordiques | 3–2 | New England Whalers | 1–1 |
| 3 | May 3 | New England Whalers | 5–4 | Quebec Nordiques | 2–1 |
| 4 | May 5 | New England Whalers | 7–3 | Quebec Nordiques | 3–1 |
| 5 | May 7 | Quebec Nordiques | 3–6 | New England Whalers | 1–4 |
Avco World Cup Finals[]
Winnipeg Jets 4, New England Whalers 0[]
Bobby Hull scores the series winner, Game 4 of the 1978 AVCO World Trophy Finals, May 22, 1978.
The Finals matched the Winnipeg Jets and New England Whalers, who had both won the AVCO World Trophy once. Al Smith played Games 1, 3 and 4 in net for the Whalers while Gary Bromley and Joe Daley alternated games for the Jets with Bromley starting Game 1. Game 1 was scoreless until the third period when the Jets depth scoring paid off with Bob Guindon marking twice and Peter Sullivan netting the winner. The Jets depth scoring was again the story of Game 2 as Dan Labraaten, Lyle Moffat and Bob Guindon staked the Jets to a 3-0 lead. The Jets first line finally scored as Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson piled on Whalers goalie Jean-Louis Levasseur as the Jets won 5-2. The Jets dominated Game 3 as Willy Lindström had a Hat trick and Kent Nilsson scored twice and added 2 assists in a 10-2 romp. Game 4 saw the Whalers take their only lead of the series as Mike Antonovich and Rick Ley scored, taking a 2-0 lead into the second period. Anders Hedberg took over, scoring twice and setting up 2 goals, including the series winner by Bobby Hull as the Jets swept the series four straight. Game 4 was the last game for the Hull-Nilsson-Hedberg line as the Swedes jumped to the New York Rangers. Bob Guindon was named the WHA Playoff MVP.
| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record |
| 1 | May 12 | New England Whalers | 1–4 | Winnipeg Jets | 0–1 |
| 2 | May 14 | New England Whalers | 2–5 | Winnipeg Jets | 0–2 |
| 3 | May 19 | Winnipeg Jets | 10–2 | New England Whalers | 3–0 |
| 4 | May 22 | Winnipeg Jets | 5–3 | New England Whalers | 4–0 |
WHA Awards[]
| Avco World Trophy: | Winnipeg Jets |
| Gordie Howe Trophy (MVP): | Marc Tardif, Quebec Nordiques |
| Bill Hunter Trophy (Scoring Leader): | Marc Tardif, Quebec Nordiques |
| Lou Kaplan Trophy (Rookie of the Year): | Kent Nilsson, Winnipeg Jets |
| Ben Hatskin Trophy (Best Goaltender): | Al Smith, New England Whalers |
| Dennis A. Murphy Trophy (Best Defenseman): | Lars Sjoberg, Winnipeg Jets |
| 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: | Robert Guindon, Winnipeg Jets |
All-Star Teams[]
| Position | First Team | Second Team |
|---|---|---|
| Centre | Ulf Nilsson, Winnipeg | Robbie Ftorek, Cincinnati |
| Right Wing | Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg | Real Cloutier, Quebec |
| Left Wing | Marc Tardif, Quebec | Bobby Hull, Winnipeg |
| Defence | Lars-Erik Sjöberg, Winnipeg | Rick Ley, New England |
| Defence | Al Hamilton, Edmonton | Barry Long, Winnipeg |
| Goaltender | Al Smith, New England | Ernie Wakely, Houston |
Gallery[]
Video[]
Whalers-Aeros game from March 9, 1978.
Jets-Aeros game from April 4, 1978.
Nordiques-Aeros Quarter-finals Game 5, April 23, 1978.
References[]
| 1977–78 WHA season by team | |
|---|---|
| Birmingham • Cincinnati • Edmonton • Houston • Indianapolis • New England • Quebec • Winnipeg |
| Preceded by 1976-77 WHA season |
WHA seasons | Succeeded by 1978-79 WHA season |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1977-78 WHA Season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |