1978–79 Birmingham Bulls season

1978–79 Birmingham Bulls
Division	6th WHA
1978–79 record	32–42–6
Goals for	286
Goals against	311
Team Information
Coach	John Brophy
Captain	Brent Hughes
Alternate captains	Paul Henderson
Arena	Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex
Team Leaders
Goals	Michel Goulet (28)
Assists	Craig Hartsburg (40)
Points	Rick Vaive (59)
Penalties in minutes	Rick Vaive (248)
Wins	Pat Riggin (16)
Goals against average	Ernie Wakely (3.76)

<1977–78

The 1978–79 Birmingham Bulls season was the Bulls' 3rd and final season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Bulls finished 6th in the league and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Off-season

The Bulls jerseys were the same design as in the 1976-77 season.

Regular Season

Final Standings

WHA Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Edmonton Oilers	80	48	30	2	98	340	266	1220
Quebec Nordiques	80	41	34	5	87	288	271	1399
Winnipeg Jets	80	39	35	6	84	307	306	1342
New England Whalers	80	37	34	9	83	298	287	1090
Cincinnati Stingers	80	33	41	6	72	274	284	1651
Birmingham Bulls	80	32	42	6	70	286	311	1661
xIndianapolis Racers	25	5	18	2	12	78	130	557
#Soviet All-Stars	6	4	1	1	9	27	20	77
#Czechoslovakia	6	1	4	1	3	14	33	107
#Finland	1	0	1	0	0	4	8	2

x-team folded during season
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.

Game Log

Regular Season Results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 13, 1978	4–5 OT	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	0–1–0
2	W	October 15, 1978	9–3	@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	1–1–0
3	L	October 20, 1978	2–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	1–2–0
4	W	October 22, 1978	8–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	2–2–0
5	W	October 24, 1978	3–2	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	3–2–0
6	L	October 25, 1978	2–7	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	3–3–0
7	W	October 27, 1978	4–2	Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	4–3–0
8	W	November 1, 1978	4–3 OT	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	5–3–0
9	L	November 3, 1978	2–3	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	5–4–0
10	L	November 4, 1978	1–4	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	5–5–0
11	W	November 9, 1978	6–5	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	6–5–0
12	L	November 11, 1978	3–5	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	6–6–0
13	T	November 14, 1978	5–5	New England Whalers (1978–79)	6–6–1
14	W	November 17, 1978	7–1	New England Whalers (1978–79)	7–6–1
15	W	November 18, 1978	3–2	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	8–6–1
16	L	November 22, 1978	5–6 OT	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	8–7–1
17	L	November 23, 1978	3–4	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	8–8–1
18	L	November 25, 1978	2–5	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	8–9–1
19	L	November 26, 1978	3–9	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	8–10–1
20	L	November 29, 1978	4–7	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	8–11–1
21	L	December 1, 1978	3–6	@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	8–12–1
22	W	December 2, 1978	4–2	Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	9–12–1
23	W	December 7, 1978	4–2	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	10–12–1
24	W	December 9, 1978	6–2	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	11–12–1
25	W	December 10, 1978	1–0	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	12–12–1
26	L	December 14, 1978	2–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	12–13–1
27	T	December 16, 1978	2–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	12–13–2
28	T	December 17, 1978	2–2	Soviet All-Stars (1978–79)	12–13–3
29	L	December 19, 1978	2–5	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	12–14–3
30	L	December 22, 1978	1–5	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	12–15–3
31	L	December 23, 1978	3–4	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	12–16–3
32	W	December 26, 1978	4–2	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	13–16–3
33	W	December 28, 1978	6–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	14–16–3
34	L	December 29, 1978	0–5	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	14–17–3
35	L	December 30, 1978	2–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	14–18–3
36	W	January 7, 1979	10–2	Czechoslovakia (1978–79)	15–18–3
37	L	January 12, 1979	1–3	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	15–19–3
38	L	January 13, 1979	1–3	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	15–20–3
39	L	January 14, 1979	2–4	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	15–21–3
40	L	January 17, 1979	5–8	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	15–22–3
41	L	January 19, 1979	3–11	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	15–23–3
42	W	January 21, 1979	4–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	16–23–3
43	L	January 23, 1979	5–7	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	16–24–3
44	W	January 26, 1979	5–4	New England Whalers (1978–79)	17–24–3
45	W	January 30, 1979	2–1	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	18–24–3
46	W	February 1, 1979	7–5	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	19–24–3
47	T	February 3, 1979	2–2	New England Whalers (1978–79)	19–24–4
48	L	February 6, 1979	2–6	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	19–25–4
49	L	February 7, 1979	2–3	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	19–26–4
50	L	February 11, 1979	3–4 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	19–27–4
51	W	February 14, 1979	7–4	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	20–27–4
52	W	February 16, 1979	2–1	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	21–27–4
53	L	February 18, 1979	3–6	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	21–28–4
54	L	February 20, 1979	3–7	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	21–29–4
55	W	February 23, 1979	9–1	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	22–29–4
56	L	February 25, 1979	4–5	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	22–30–4
57	W	February 27, 1979	5–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	23–30–4
58	L	March 3, 1979	2–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	23–31–4
59	L	March 4, 1979	4–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	23–32–4
60	W	March 6, 1979	5–4	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	24–32–4
61	T	March 9, 1979	4–4	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	24–32–5
62	L	March 11, 1979	0–4	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	24–33–5
63	L	March 13, 1979	3–4	New England Whalers (1978–79)	24–34–5
64	W	March 15, 1979	4–3 OT	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	25–34–5
65	T	March 16, 1979	5–5	New England Whalers (1978–79)	25–34–6
66	L	March 18, 1979	2–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	25–35–6
67	L	March 20, 1979	2–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	25–36–6
68	W	March 23, 1979	2–1	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	26–36–6
69	W	March 24, 1979	4–3	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	27–36–6
70	L	March 25, 1979	2–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	27–37–6
71	W	March 27, 1979	3–1	New England Whalers (1978–79)	28–37–6
72	L	March 30, 1979	2–3	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	28–38–6
73	W	March 31, 1979	6–3	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	29–38–6
74	W	April 3, 1979	5–3	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	30–38–6
75	W	April 6, 1979	2–1	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	31–38–6
76	L	April 8, 1979	4–5	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	31–39–6
77	L	April 11, 1979	1–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	31–40–6
78	L	April 13, 1979	4–6	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	31–41–6
79	W	April 14, 1979	7–6	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)	32–41–6
80	L	April 15, 1979	4–5 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	32–42–6

Playoffs

• The Bulls did not qualify for the post season.

Awards and Records

• Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy (Coach of the Year): John Brophy

Roster

• Rick Vaive, Michel Goulet, Rick Adduono, Paul Henderson, John Stewart, Craig Hartsburg, Rob Ramage, Bob Stephenson, Steve Alley, Wayne Dillon, Louis Sleigher, Dave Gorman, Gaston Gingras, Dave Hanson, Serge Beaudoin, Tony Cassolato, Jim Turkiewicz, Peter Marrin, Greg Tebbutt, Brent Hughes, Gavin Kirk, Keith Crowder, Paul O'Neil, Ernie Wakely (G), Pat Riggin (G), Wayne Wood (G)

See Also

• 1978–79 WHA season