1978–79 Winnipeg Jets season

1978–79 Winnipeg Jets
Avco Cup Champions
Division	3rd WHA
1978–79 record	39–35–6
Goals for	307
Goals against	306
Team Information
General Manager	Rudy Pilous
Coach	Larry Hillman
Captain	Lars-Erik Sjoberg
Alternate captains	Terry Ruskowski
Arena	Winnipeg Arena
Team Leaders
Goals	Morris Lukowich (65)
Assists	Kent Nilsson (68)
Points	Kent Nilsson (107)
Penalties in minutes	Scott Campbell (248)
Wins	Markus Mattsson (25)
Goals against average	Gary Smith (2.97)

<1977–78

1979–80>

The 1978–79 Winnipeg Jets season was the Jets 7th and final season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Jets finished 3rd in the league and defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4 games to 2 in the Finals to win their 3rd Avco World Trophy.

Off-season

Gary Smith and Lyle Moffat's 1978-79 jerseys.

The Jets jerseys were the same design as in the 1977-78 season with one modification. The jet inside the logo had been blue against a red circle since the 1973-74 season. The jet's colour was changed to white.

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

Playoffs

Winnipeg Jets 4, Quebec Nordiques 0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 23	Winnipeg Jets	6–3	Quebec Nordiques	1-0
2	April 25	Winnipeg Jets	9–2	Quebec Nordiques	2-0
3	April 27	Quebec Nordiques	5–9	Winnipeg Jets	3-0
4	April 29	Quebec Nordiques	2–6	Winnipeg Jets	4-0

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	2-1
4	May 16	Edmonton Oilers	2–3	Winnipeg Jets	3-1
5	May 18	Winnipeg Jets	2–10	Edmonton Oilers	3-2
6	May 20	Edmonton Oilers	3–7	Winnipeg Jets	4-2

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Nilsson, KentKent Nilsson	C	78	39	68	107	8	1	8	0
Lukowich, MorrisMorris Lukowich	LW	80	65	34	99	119	26	16	0
Sullivan, PeterPeter Sullivan	C	80	46	40	86	24	-6	9	2
Ruskowski, TerryTerry Ruskowski	C	75	20	66	86	211	13	6	1
Lindstrom, WillyWilly Lindstrom	RW	79	26	36	62	22	7	11	0
Preston, RichRich Preston	RW	80	28	32	60	88	-5	6	1
Long, BarryBarry Long	D	80	5	36	41	42	-2	0	0
Lesuk, BillBill Lesuk	LW	79	17	15	32	44	-14	0	0
Moffat, LyleLyle Moffat	LW	70	14	18	32	38	-14	0	1
Guindon, BobbyBobby Guindon	LW	71	8	18	26	21	-12	0	0
Gray, JohnJohn Gray	RW	57	10	15	25	51	-7	6	0
Terbenche, PaulPaul Terbenche	D	68	3	22	25	12	-1	0	0
Amodeo, MikeMike Amodeo	D	64	4	18	22	29	-1	0	0
Campbell, ScottScott Campbell	D	74	3	15	18	248	5	0	0
MacKinnon, PaulPaul MacKinnon	D	73	2	15	17	70	-3	0	0
Hicks, GlennGlenn Hicks	LW	69	6	10	16	48	-2	0	0
Eriksson, RolandRoland Eriksson	C	33	5	10	15	2	-5	3	0
West, SteveSteve West	C	18	3	11	14	6	6	1	0
Clackson, KimKim Clackson	D	71	0	12	12	210	-6	0	0
Hull, BobbyBobby Hull	LW	4	2	3	5	0	1	1	0
Davis, BillBill Davis	D	5	1	2	3	0	-2	0	0
Sjoberg, Lars-ErikLars-Erik Sjoberg	D	9	0	3	3	2	-1	0	0
Smith, GaryGary Smith	G	11	0	3	3	2	0	0	0
Green, TedTed Green	D	20	0	2	2	16	-7	0	0
Gibson, JohnJohn Gibson	D	9	0	1	1	5	1	0	0
Daley, JoeJoe Daley	G	23	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Mattsson, MarkusMarkus Mattsson	G	52	0	1	1	4	0	0	0
Gosselin, RichRich Gosselin	C	3	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0
Yakiwchuk, DaleDale Yakiwchuk	C	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Mattsson, MarkusMarkus Mattsson	2990	52	25	21	3	181	3.63	0
Daley, JoeJoe Daley	1256	23	7	11	3	90	4.30	0
Smith, GaryGary Smith	626	11	7	3	0	31	2.97	0
Team:	4872	80	39	35	6	302	3.72	0

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Lindstrom, WillyWilly Lindstrom	RW	10	10	5	15	9			1
Lukowich, MorrisMorris Lukowich	LW	10	8	7	15	21			1
Sullivan, PeterPeter Sullivan	C	10	5	9	14	2			1
Nilsson, KentKent Nilsson	C	10	3	11	14	4			0
Preston, RichRich Preston	RW	10	8	5	13	15			0
Ruskowski, TerryTerry Ruskowski	C	8	1	12	13	23			1
MacKinnon, PaulPaul MacKinnon	D	10	2	5	7	4			0
Long, BarryBarry Long	D	10	2	3	5	0			0
West, SteveSteve West	C	6	2	3	5	2			0
Eriksson, RolandRoland Eriksson	C	10	1	4	5	0			0
Clackson, KimKim Clackson	D	9	0	5	5	28			0
Moffat, LyleLyle Moffat	LW	10	3	1	4	22			2
Lesuk, BillBill Lesuk	LW	10	1	3	4	6			1
Guindon, BobbyBobby Guindon	LW	7	2	1	3	0			0
Sjoberg, Lars-ErikLars-Erik Sjoberg	D	10	1	2	3	4			1
Hicks, GlennGlenn Hicks	LW	7	1	1	2	4			0
Terbenche, PaulPaul Terbenche	D	10	1	1	2	4			0
Campbell, ScottScott Campbell	D	10	0	2	2	25			0
Smith, GaryGary Smith	G	10	0	1	1	4			0
Gray, JohnJohn Gray	RW	1	0	0	0	0			0
Daley, JoeJoe Daley	G	3	0	0	0	0			0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Smith, GaryGary Smith	563	10	8	2	35	3.73	0
Daley, JoeJoe Daley	37	3	0	0	3	4.86	0
Team:	600	10	8	2	38	3.80	0

Note: 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

• Avco World Trophy: Winnipeg Jets
• Paul Deneau Trophy (Most Gentlemenly): Kent Nilsson
• WHA Playoff MVP: Rich Preston
• Morris Lukowich, Left Wing, WHA Second Team All-Star

Gallery

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

Jets captain Lars-Erik Sjoberg carrying the Avco World Trophy.

Video

Whalers-Jet game from January 30, 1979.

1979 WHA New England Whalers Winnipeg Jets

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 Winnipeg Jets Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.