1978–79 Indianapolis Racers season

World Hockey Association team season August 2023 WHA 1978–79 1978 Indianapolis Racers 5–18–2 4–8–1 1–10–1 7th 78 130 Pat Stapleton Market Square Arena Blaine Stoughton (9) Al McLeod (11) Don LarwayBlaine Stoughton (18) Glen Irwin (124) Gary Inness (3) Eddie Mio (3.22) The 1978–79 Indianapolis Racers season was the Racers' final season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The team folded after only 25 games. 2 Offseason 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. Regular season This was the first season of Wayne Gretzky's professional career. The Racers' management knew that the team was going to fold due to poor attendance, and sold Gretzky to the Edmonton Oilers after eight games. Skalbania needed cash and liquidated his greatest asset to his old friend and former partner, Peter Pocklington, owner of the Edmonton 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. Final standings IND no Schedule and results background:#fff; border-top:#101077 5px solid; border-bottom:#D90000 5px solid; 1978–79 regular season1978-79 Indianapolis Racers Schedule https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/INR/1979_games.html Hockey-Reference.com April 9, 2025 y background:#fff; border-top:#101077 2px solid; border-bottom:#D90000 2px solid; October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |1||L||October 14, 1978||3–6 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) ||0–1–0 |- |2||L||October 15, 1978||3–9 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||0–2–0 |- |3||W||October 18, 1978||4–0 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||1–2–0 |- |4||L||October 20, 1978||3–4 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||1–3–0 |- |5||L||October 22, 1978||3–6 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1978–79) ||1–4–0 |- |6||L||October 27, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||1–5–0 |- |7||W||October 28, 1978||3–2 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) ||2–5–0 |- |8||T||October 29, 1978||3–3 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) ||2–5–1 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#101077 2px solid; border-bottom:#D90000 2px solid; November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |9||L||November 3, 1978||3–6 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1978–79) ||2–6–1 |- |10||T||November 4, 1978||6–6 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1978–79) ||2–6–2 |- |11||L||November 5, 1978||2–6 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) ||2–7–2 |- |12||L||November 8, 1978||0–4 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||2–8–2 |- |13||L||November 11, 1978||2–8 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||2–9–2 |- |14||L||November 17, 1978||1–6 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||2–10–2 |- |15||L||November 19, 1978||2–5 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) ||2–11–2 |- |16||L||November 23, 1978||1–5 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) ||2–12–2 |- |17||L||November 24, 1978||5–8 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||2–13–2 |- |18||W||November 25, 1978||6–3 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||3–13–2 |- |19||L||November 28, 1978||2–8 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||3–14–2 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#101077 2px solid; border-bottom:#D90000 2px solid; December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |20||W||December 1, 1978||6–3 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||4–14–2 |- |21||L||December 2, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||4–15–2 |- |22||L||December 3, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||4–16–2 |- |23||L||December 7, 1978||4–9 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) ||4–17–2 |- |24||W||December 10, 1978||6–4 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||5–17–2 |- |25||L||December 12, 1978||4–7 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1978–79) ||5–18–2 |- |- | Legend: #cfc Win (2 points) 1px solid black #fcc Loss (0 points) 1px solid black #ffc Tie (1 point) 1px solid black Player statistics Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Blaine Stoughton RW 25 9 9 18 16−1830 Don Larway RW 25 8 10 18 39−2020 Rich LeDuc C 13 5 9 14 14−220 Claude Larose Claude Larose (ice hockey b. 1955) LW 13 5 8 13 0500 Michel Parizeau C 22 4 9 13 4−100 Gary MacGregor C 17 8 4 12 0−1210 Rene Leclerc RW 22 5 7 12 12210 Dave Morrow D/LW 10 2 10 12 29−1300 Larry Sacharuk D 15 2 9 11 25−1120 Al McLeod D 25 0 11 11 22000 Bruce Greig LW 21 3 7 10 64−500 Kevin Nugent Kevin Nugent (ice hockey) RW 25 2 8 10 20−200 Dave Inkpen D 25 1 8 9 22−500 John Hughes John Hughes (ice hockey b. 1954) D 22 3 4 7 48−1600 Wes George LW 9 4 2 6 23−1110 Claude St. Sauveur C 17 4 2 6 12−620 Wayne Gretzky C 8 3 3 6 0−300 Ken Block Ken Block (ice hockey) D 22 2 3 5 10−1100 Peter Driscoll LW 8 3 1 4 17110 Angie Moretto C 18 3 1 4 2−610 Gerry Leroux LW 10 0 3 3 2−400 Bryon Baltimore D 2 1 1 2 2−100 Don Burgess Don Burgess (ice hockey) LW 3 1 1 2 0−400 Kevin Morrison D 5 0 2 2 0−1000 Glen Irwin D 24 0 1 1 124−1000 Dean Magee LW 5 0 1 1 10−200 Jerry Rollins D 7 0 1 1 7−400 Gary Inness G 10 0 0 0 9000 Mark Messier C 5 0 0 0 0−400 Eddie Mio G 5 0 0 0 2000 Gary Smith Gary Smith (ice hockey) G 11 0 0 0 8000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO Gary Inness 609 10 3 6 1 51 5.02 0 Eddie Mio 242 5 2 2 0 13 3.22 1 Gary Smith Gary Smith (ice hockey) 664 11 0 10 1 61 5.51 0 Team: 1515 25 5 18 2 125 4.95 1 hockey-reference.com 2009-06-04 1978-79 Indianapolis Racers Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/INR/1979.html 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; See also 1978–79 WHA season References Ind Category:Indianapolis Racers seasons