1978–79 Edmonton Oilers season

1978–79 Edmonton Oilers
Division	1st WHA
1978–79 record	48–30–2
Home record	29–11–1
Road record	19–19–1
Goals for	340 (1st)
Goals against	266 (1st)
Team Information
General Manager	Larry Gordon
Coach	Glen Sather
Captain	Paul Shmyr
Alternate captains	Ron Chipperfield Peter Driscoll Al Hamilton Blair MacDonald
Arena	Northlands Coliseum
Team Leaders
Goals	Wayne Gretzky (43)
Assists	Wayne Gretzky (61)
Points	Wayne Gretzky (104)
Penalties in minutes	Dave Semenko (158)
Plus/minus	Paul Shmyr (+37)
Wins	Dave Dryden (41)
Goals against average	Dave Dryden (2.89)

<1977–78

1979–80>

The 1978–79 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' 7th and final season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Oilers finished 1st in the league and lost to the Winnipeg Jets in the Avco World Trophy Finals 4 games to 2.

Regular Season

Wayne Gretzky scores his last WHA regular season goal, April 18, 1979.

Nelson Skalbania, the owner of Indianapolis Racers, signed the 17 year old future super-star, Wayne Gretzky to, at that time, a whopping personal contract worth between 1.125 and 1.75 million dollars over 4 to 7 years. Skalbania, knowing that the WHA was fading, felt owning the young star was more valuable than owning a WHA team. Eight games into the season, though, Skalbania needed cash and liquidated his greatest asset to his old friend and former partner, Peter Pocklington, owner of the Oilers. Pocklington purchased Gretzky and two other Indianapolis players, goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll paying $700,000 for the contracts of the three players, although the announced price was actually $850,000. On Gretzky's 18th birthday, (January 26, 1979), Pocklington signed him to a 21 year personal services contract worth between 4 and 5 million dollars, the longest in hockey history. Gretzky captured the Lou Kaplan Trophy for rookie of the year, finish third in league scoring, and help the Oilers to first overall in the league.

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	W	October 13, 1978	3–2	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	1–0–0
2	L	October 17, 1978	1–2	New England Whalers (1978–79)	1–1–0
3	W	October 20, 1978	4–3	@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	2–1–0
4	L	October 21, 1978	3–4	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	2–2–0
5	W	October 22, 1978	6–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	3–2–0
6	L	October 24, 1978	2–3	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	3–3–0
7	L	October 29, 1978	2–6	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	3–4–0
8	L	October 31, 1978	4–5	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	3–5–0
9	W	November 3, 1978	4–3 OT	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	4–5–0
10	L	November 5, 1978	0–2	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	4–6–0
11	W	November 8, 1978	6–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	5–6–0
12	L	November 9, 1978	1–6	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	5–7–0
13	W	November 11, 1978	5–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	6–7–0
14	L	November 12, 1978	3–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	6–8–0
15	W	November 17, 1978	6–1	Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	7–8–0
16	W	November 19, 1978	6–3	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	8–8–0
17	W	November 21, 1978	4–1	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	9–8–0
18	W	November 24, 1978	4–3 OT	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	10–8–0
19	W	November 28, 1978	8–2	Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	11–8–0
20	W	December 1, 1978	8–2	New England Whalers (1978–79)	12–8–0
21	L	December 3, 1978	0–7	New England Whalers (1978–79)	12–9–0
22	L	December 6, 1978	3–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	12–10–0
23	L	December 7, 1978	3–5	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	12–11–0
24	L	December 9, 1978	2–6	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	12–12–0
25	L	December 10, 1978	4–6	@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	12–13–0
26	W	December 12, 1978	5–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	13–13–0
27	W	December 15, 1978	5–3	Soviet All-Stars (1978–79)	14–13–0
28	W	December 19, 1978	5–2	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	15–13–0
29	L	December 22, 1978	4–5	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	15–14–0
30	L	December 26, 1978	3–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	15–15–0
31	W	December 27, 1978	5–3	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	16–15–0
32	W	December 30, 1978	5–1	Czechoslovakia (1978–79)	17–15–0
33	L	January 9, 1979	3–4 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	17–16–0
34	W	January 13, 1979	3–0	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	18–16–0
35	W	January 16, 1979	3–1	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	19–16–0
36	W	January 17, 1979	6–3	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	20–16–0
37	W	January 19, 1979	11–3	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	21–16–0
38	L	January 21, 1979	3–4	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	21–17–0
39	W	January 23, 1979	5–1	New England Whalers (1978–79)	22–17–0
40	L	January 26, 1979	2–5	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	22–18–0
41	W	January 28, 1979	3–0	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	23–18–0
42	L	January 31, 1979	3–6	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	23–19–0
43	L	February 2, 1979	2–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	23–20–0
44	L	February 4, 1979	3–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	23–21–0
45	W	February 6, 1979	6–2	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	24–21–0
46	W	February 7, 1979	8–5	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	25–21–0
47	W	February 9, 1979	3–0	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	26–21–0
48	W	February 11, 1979	4–3 OT	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	27–21–0
49	W	February 13, 1979	6–1	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	28–21–0
50	W	February 16, 1979	4–2	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	29–21–0
51	W	February 18, 1979	6–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	30–21–0
52	W	February 20, 1979	8–2	New England Whalers (1978–79)	31–21–0
53	W	February 23, 1979	3–1	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	32–21–0
54	W	February 25, 1979	5–4	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	33–21–0
55	T	February 27, 1979	1–1	New England Whalers (1978–79)	33–21–1
56	W	March 2, 1979	5–2	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	34–21–1
57	W	March 3, 1979	6–4	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	35–21–1
58	L	March 6, 1979	3–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	35–22–1
59	L	March 7, 1979	3–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	35–23–1
60	T	March 9, 1979	4–4	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	35–23–2
61	W	March 11, 1979	4–0	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	36–23–2
62	L	March 13, 1979	1–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	36–24–2
63	W	March 16, 1979	6–1	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	37–24–2
64	L	March 18, 1979	2–7	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	37–25–2
65	W	March 20, 1979	8–4	Finland (1978–79)	38–25–2
66	W	March 21, 1979	7–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	39–25–2
67	L	March 23, 1979	4–6	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	39–26–2
68	W	March 25, 1979	6–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	40–26–2
69	L	March 28, 1979	0–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	40–27–2
70	W	March 30, 1979	3–1	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	41–27–2
71	W	April 1, 1979	5–3	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	42–27–2
72	W	April 3, 1979	5–1	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	43–27–2
73	L	April 4, 1979	2–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	43–28–2
74	W	April 6, 1979	7–2	New England Whalers (1978–79)	44–28–2
75	W	April 8, 1979	5–4	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	45–28–2
76	L	April 10, 1979	4–6	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	45–29–2
77	W	April 13, 1979	6–4	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	46–29–2
78	L	April 14, 1979	6–7	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	46–30–2
79	W	April 15, 1979	4–1	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	47–30–2
80	W	April 18, 1979	9–3	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	48–30–2

Playoffs

Edmonton Oilers 4, New England Whalers 3

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 26	New England	2 – 6	Edmonton	0–1
2	April 27	New England	5 – 9	Edmonton	0–2
3	April 29	Edmonton	1 – 4	New England	2–1
4	May 1	Edmonton	4 – 5	New England	2–2
5	May 3	New England	2 – 5	Edmonton	2–3
6	May 6	Edmonton	8 – 4	New England	3–3
7	May 8	New England	3 – 6	Edmonton	3–4

Winnipeg Jets 4, Edmonton Oilers 2

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	May 11	Winnipeg Jets	3–1	Edmonton Oilers	1–0
2	May 13	Winnipeg Jets	3–2	Edmonton Oilers	2–0
3	May 15	Edmonton Oilers	8–3	Winnipeg Jets	1–2
4	May 16	Edmonton Oilers	2–3	Winnipeg Jets	1–3
5	May 18	Winnipeg Jets	2–10	Edmonton Oilers	3–2
6	May 20	Edmonton Oilers	3–7	Winnipeg Jets	2–4

Player Stats

Regular Season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky C 72 43 61 104 19 23 9 0 0 MacDonald, BlairBlair MacDonald RW 80 34 37 71 44 35 3 4 0 Callighen, BrettBrett Callighen C 71 31 39 70 79 29 12 0 0 Chipperfield, RonRon Chipperfield C 55 32 37 69 47 25 6 0 0 Flett, BillBill Flett RW 73 28 36 64 14 26 9 0 0 Sobchuk, DennisDennis Sobchuk C 74 26 37 63 31 24 6 1 0 Weir, StanStan Weir C 68 31 30 61 20 24 3 0 0 Micheletti, JoeJoe Micheletti D 72 14 33 47 85 10 3 0 0 Shmyr, PaulPaul Shmyr D 80 8 39 47 119 37 0 0 0 Hamilton, AlAl Hamilton D 80 6 38 44 38 22 2 0 0 Carlson, SteveSteve Carlson C 73 18 22 40 50 15 4 3 0 Driscoll, PeterPeter Driscoll LW 69 17 23 40 115 16 3 0 0 Hunter, DaveDave Hunter LW 72 7 25 32 134 7 0 0 0 Alexander, ClaireClaire Alexander D 54 8 23 31 16 -5 2 1 0 Langevin, DaveDave Langevin D 77 6 21 27 76 33 3 0 0 Semenko, DaveDave Semenko LW 77 10 14 24 158 -12 2 0 0 Hughes, JohnJohn Hughes D 41 2 15 17 82 22 0 0 0 Berry, DougDoug Berry C 29 6 3 9 4 -9 1 0 0 Bailey, GarnetGarnet Bailey LW 38 5 4 9 22 -8 1 0 0 Dryden, DaveDave Dryden G 63 0 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 Siltanen, RistoRisto Siltanen D 20 3 4 7 4 4 0 0 0 Goldsworthy, BillBill Goldsworthy RW 17 4 2 6 14 -3 0 0 0 Neilson, JimJim Neilson D 35 0 5 5 18 5 0 0 0 Guite, PierrePierre Guite LW 12 1 1 2 8 -5 1 0 0 Mio, EddieEddie Mio G 22 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Mayer, JimJim Mayer RW 2 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 Tajcnar, RudyRudy Tajcnar D 2 0 0 0 0 -4 0 0 0 George, WesWes George LW 3 0 0 0 11 1 0 0 0 Sandbeck, CalCal Sandbeck D 6 0 0 0 2 -2 0 0 0 Kamppuri, HannuHannu Kamppuri G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Walsh, EdEd Walsh G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Dryden, DaveDave Dryden 3531 63 41 17 2 170 2.89 3 Mio, EddieEddie Mio 1068 22 7 10 0 71 3.99 1 Kamppuri, HannuHannu Kamppuri 90 2 0 1 0 10 6.67 0 Walsh, EdEd Walsh 144 3 0 2 0 9 3.75 0 Team: 4833 80 48 30 2 260 3.23 4

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky C 13 10 10 20 2 0 0 1 Chipperfield, RonRon Chipperfield C 13 9 10 19 8 0 0 0 MacDonald, BlairBlair MacDonald RW 13 8 10 18 6 0 0 0 Callighen, BrettBrett Callighen C 13 5 10 15 15 0 0 1 Sobchuk, DennisDennis Sobchuk C 12 6 6 12 4 0 0 1 Hamilton, AlAl Hamilton D 13 4 5 9 4 0 0 0 Micheletti, JoeJoe Micheletti D 13 0 9 9 2 0 0 0 Siltanen, RistoRisto Siltanen D 11 0 9 9 4 0 0 0 Flett, BillBill Flett RW 10 5 2 7 2 0 0 1 Weir, StanStan Weir C 13 2 5 7 2 0 0 1 Driscoll, PeterPeter Driscoll LW 13 1 6 7 8 0 0 0 Semenko, DaveDave Semenko LW 11 4 2 6 29 0 0 0 Shmyr, PaulPaul Shmyr D 13 1 5 6 23 0 0 0 Hunter, DaveDave Hunter LW 13 2 3 5 42 0 0 0 Gustafsson, Bengt-AkeBengt-Ake Gustafsson RW 2 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 Carlson, SteveSteve Carlson C 11 1 1 2 12 0 0 0 Goldsworthy, BillBill Goldsworthy RW 4 1 1 2 11 0 0 1 Hughes, JohnJohn Hughes D 13 1 0 1 35 0 0 0 Dryden, DaveDave Dryden G 13 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Langevin, DaveDave Langevin D 13 0 1 1 25 0 0 0 Bailey, GarnetGarnet Bailey LW 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 Mio, EddieEddie Mio G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Dryden, DaveDave Dryden 687 13 6 7 42 3.67 0 Mio, EddieEddie Mio 90 3 0 0 6 4.00 0 Team: 777 13 6 7 48 3.71 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

Awards and Records

• Gordie Howe Trophy (MVP): Dave Dryden
• Lou Kaplan Trophy (Rookie of the Year): Wayne Gretzky
• Ben Hatskin Trophy (Best Goaltender): Dave Dryden
• Dave Dryden, Goalie, WHA First Team All-Star
• Wayne Gretzky, Center, WHA Second Team All-Star
• Dave Langevin, Defense, WHA Second Team All-Star
• Paul Shmyr, Defense, WHA Second Team All-Star

Gallery

John McKenzie, Wayne Gretzky, Marty Howe in 1978-79 season action.

From http://www.vintageedmonton.com

Video

Wayne Gretzky scores the first two goals of his professional career, October 20, 1978.

Wayne Gretzky First Two Pro Goals with the WHA Indy Racers

Game 6 of the 1979 Avco World Trophy Finals, last game in WHA history, May 20, 1979.

1979 Avco Cup - Edmonton Oilers At Winnipeg Jets (WHA)

See Also

• 1978–79 WHA season

References

• 1978–79 Edmonton Oilers Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.