1977–78 Winnipeg Jets season

NHA hockey team season March 2026 August 2023 WHA 1977–78 1977 Winnipeg Jets (1972–1996)Winnipeg Jets 50–28–2 28–11–2 22–17–0 WHA 1st 381 270 Rudy Pilous Larry Hillman Lars-Erik Sjoberg Ted GreenAnders Hedberg Winnipeg Arena Anders Hedberg (63) Ulf Nilsson (89) Ulf Nilsson (126) Kim Clackson (203) Gary Bromley (25) Gary BromleyJoe Daley (3.30) yes 1976–77 1978–79 The 1977–78 Winnipeg Jets season was the Jets' sixth season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Jets, finalists in 1977, qualified first for the playoffs with a dominant season of 50 wins, which included a perfect month of 13 wins in February. In the 1978 WHA playoffs, they won the Avco World Trophy over the New England Whalers in the Final for the second championship in Jets history. 2 Regular season Final standings WIN Schedule and results background:#fff; border-top:#012169 5px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 5px solid; 1977–78 regular season1977-78 Winnipeg Jets Schedule https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/WNJ/1978_games.html Hockey-Reference.com March 20, 2025 y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; October: 7–2–0, 14 points (home: 5–1–0; road: 2–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |1||W||October 12, 1977||7–3 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||1–0–0 |- |2||W||October 13, 1977||5–2 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||2–0–0 |- |3||W||October 15, 1977||5–4 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||3–0–0 |- |4||W||October 16, 1977||9–1 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||4–0–0 |- |5||L||October 21, 1977||2–5 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1977–78) ||4–1–0 |- |6||W||October 23, 1977||10–3 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||5–1–0 |- |7||L||October 26, 1977||3–5 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||5–2–0 |- |8||W||October 28, 1977||3–2 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||6–2–0 |- |9||W||October 30, 1977||5–2 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||7–2–0 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; November: 5–6–1, 11 points (home: 1–3–1; road: 4–3–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |10||W||November 2, 1977||6–3 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||8–2–0 |- |11||W||November 4, 1977||4–2 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||9–2–0 |- |12||W||November 5, 1977||6–1 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||10–2–0 |- |13||W||November 9, 1977||4–3 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||11–2–0 |- |14||L||November 11, 1977||2–3 OT|| align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||11–3–0 |- |15||L||November 13, 1977||2–3 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||11–4–0 |- |16||L||November 15, 1977||6–7 OT|| align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||11–5–0 |- |17||T||November 16, 1977||2–2 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||11–5–1 |- |18||L||November 18, 1977||2–3 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1977–78) ||11–6–1 |- |19||W||November 19, 1977||6–4 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||12–6–1 |- |20||L||November 22, 1977||2–4 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||12–7–1 |- |21||L||November 27, 1977||3–4 OT|| align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||12–8–1 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; December: 9–4–0, 18 points (home: 6–2–0; road: 3–2–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |22||L||December 2, 1977||1–4 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1977–78) ||12–9–1 |- |23||L||December 3, 1977||5–6 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||12–10–1 |- |24||L||December 4, 1977||2–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||12–11–1 |- |25||W||December 7, 1977||5–2 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||13–11–1 |- |26||L||December 9, 1977||3–4 OT|| align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||13–12–1 |- |27||W||December 11, 1977||7–1 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||14–12–1 |- |28||W||December 13, 1977||5–1 || align="left"| Czechoslovakia (1977–78) ||15–12–1 |- |29||W||December 17, 1977||6–3 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1977–78) ||16–12–1 |- |30||W||December 18, 1977||7–3 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1977–78) ||17–12–1 |- |31||W||December 20, 1977||6–4 || align="left"| Soviet All-Stars (1977–78) ||18–12–1 |- |32||W||December 21, 1977||4–3 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||19–12–1 |- |33||W||December 23, 1977||6–4 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||20–12–1 |- |34||W||December 26, 1977||9–4 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||21–12–1 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; January: 7–6–1, 15 points (home: 3–2–1; road: 4–4–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |35||W||January 6, 1978||4–1 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||22–12–1 |- |36||W||January 8, 1978||4–2 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||23–12–1 |- |37||W||January 11, 1978||11–2 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||24–12–1 |- |38||L||January 13, 1978||2–3 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||24–13–1 |- |39||W||January 14, 1978||6–3 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||25–13–1 |- |40||L||January 15, 1978||3–4 OT|| align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||25–14–1 |- |41||W||January 18, 1978||5–1 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||26–14–1 |- |42||T||January 20, 1978||4–4 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1977–78) ||26–14–2 |- |43||L||January 22, 1978||4–5 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||26–15–2 |- |44||L||January 25, 1978||2–6 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||26–16–2 |- |45||L||January 26, 1978||1–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||26–17–2 |- |46||L||January 28, 1978||5–8 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||26–18–2 |- |47||W||January 29, 1978||8–4 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||27–18–2 |- |48||W||January 31, 1978||7–2 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||28–18–2 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; February: 13–0–0, 26 points (home: 8–0–0; road: 5–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |49||W||February 4, 1978||7–5 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||29–18–2 |- |50||W||February 5, 1978||4–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||30–18–2 |- |51||W||February 8, 1978||9–0 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||31–18–2 |- |52||W||February 10, 1978||10–2 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||32–18–2 |- |53||W||February 11, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||33–18–2 |- |54||W||February 12, 1978||6–5 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||34–18–2 |- |55||W||February 15, 1978||6–5 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||35–18–2 |- |56||W||February 16, 1978||2–1 OT|| align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1977–78) ||36–18–2 |- |57||W||February 18, 1978||4–0 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||37–18–2 |- |58||W||February 19, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||38–18–2 |- |59||W||February 22, 1978||4–2 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1977–78) ||39–18–2 |- |60||W||February 24, 1978||7–2 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1977–78) ||40–18–2 |- |61||W||February 26, 1978||9–6 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||41–18–2 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; March: 8–6–0, 16 points (home: 4–2–0; road: 4–4–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |62||L||March 1, 1978||3–4 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||41–19–2 |- |63||L||March 3, 1978||1–5 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||41–20–2 |- |64||L||March 4, 1978||6–8 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||41–21–2 |- |65||L||March 5, 1978||3–4 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||41–22–2 |- |66||W||March 9, 1978||6–5 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||42–22–2 |- |67||W||March 11, 1978||7–4 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||43–22–2 |- |68||W||March 12, 1978||3–2 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||44–22–2 |- |69||W||March 15, 1978||8–4 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||45–22–2 |- |70||L||March 17, 1978||2–6 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||45–23–2 |- |71||W||March 19, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||46–23–2 |- |72||W||March 22, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1977–78) ||47–23–2 |- |73||W||March 25, 1978||3–1 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||48–23–2 |- |74||L||March 28, 1978||3–5 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||48–24–2 |- |75||W||March 30, 1978||4–1 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||49–24–2 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; April: 1–4–0, 2 points (home: 1–1–0; road: 0–3–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |76||L||April 1, 1978||2–5 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||49–25–2 |- |77||L||April 4, 1978||3–6 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||49–26–2 |- |78||W||April 6, 1978||7–4 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1977–78) ||50–26–2 |- |79||L||April 7, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||50–27–2 |- |80||L||April 9, 1978||4–5 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||50–28–2 |- |- | Legend: #cfc Win (2 points) 1px solid black #fcc Loss (0 points) 1px solid black #ffc Tie (1 point) 1px solid black Playoffs Due to their victory over the Bulls, they earned a bye to the Finals while the other two Semifinal winners faced off against each other. background:#fff; border-top:#012169 5px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 5px solid; 1978 Avco Cup playoffs y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; Quarterfinals vs. (6) Birmingham Bulls – Jets win 4–1 Game Date Visitor Score Home Series |- | 1 || April 14 || Birmingham Bulls || 3–9 || Winnipeg Jets || 1–0 |- | 2 || April 16 || Birmingham Bulls || 3–8 || Winnipeg Jets || 2–0 |- | 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 || 4–1 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; Avco Cup Finals vs. (2) New England Whalers – Jets win 4–0 Game Date Visitor Score Home Series |- | 1 || May 12 || New England Whalers || 1–4 || Winnipeg Jets || 1–0 |- | 2 || May 14 || New England Whalers || 2–5 || Winnipeg Jets || 2–0 |- | 3 || May 19 || Winnipeg Jets || 10–2 || New England Whalers || 3–0 |- | 4 || May 22 || Winnipeg Jets || 5–3 || New England Whalers || 4–0 |- |- | Legend: #cfc Win 1px solid black #fcc Loss 1px solid black Player statistics Regular season Scoring + Regular seasonStandard Stats https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/WNJ/1978.html Hockey Reference Player Pos Position GP Games played G Goals A Assists Pts Points PIM Penalty minutes +/- Plus/Minus PPG Power Play Goals SHG Short-handed Goals Ulf Nilsson Ulf Nilsson (ice hockey) C 73 37 89 126 894173 Anders Hedberg RW 77 63 59 122 6060176 Bobby Hull LW 77 46 71 117 2355100 Kent Nilsson C 80 42 65 107 827180 Willy Lindstrom RW 77 30 30 60 42470 Peter Sullivan Peter Sullivan (ice hockey) C 77 16 39 55 43−1231 Lars-Erik Sjoberg D 78 11 39 50 726001 Bobby Guindon Bobby Guindon (ice hockey) LW 77 20 22 42 18−104 Dave Kryskow LW 71 20 21 41 161230 Dan Labraaten LW 47 18 16 34 30750 Thommie Bergman D 62 5 28 33 432200 Lynn Powis C 55 12 19 31 16220 Barry Long Barry Long (ice hockey) D 78 7 24 31 421011 Bill Lesuk LW 80 9 18 27 48−400 Dave Dunn D 66 6 20 26 792010 Ted Green D 73 4 22 26 521920 Lyle Moffat LW 57 9 16 25 39−600 Ken Baird D 49 14 7 21 29520 Kent Ruhnke RW 21 8 9 17 2900 Kim Clackson D 52 2 7 9 203600 Larry Hornung D 19 1 4 5 21700 Mike Amodeo D 3 1 1 2 0300 Joe Daley Joe Daley (ice hockey) G 37 0 2 2 2000 Gary Bromley G 39 0 1 1 4000 Bill Davis ice hockey D 12 0 0 0 2−900 Mike Ford Mike Ford (ice hockey) D 3 0 0 0 0−500 Fran Huck C 5 0 0 0 2−200 Markus Mattsson G 10 0 0 0 0000 Goaltending Player MIN Minutes GP Games played W Wins L Losses T Ties GA Goals Allowed GAA Goals Against Average SO Shutouts Gary Bromley 2252 39 25 12 1 124 3.30 1 Joe Daley Joe Daley (ice hockey) 2075 37 21 11 1 114 3.30 1 Markus Mattsson 511 10 4 5 0 30 3.52 0 Team: 4838 80 50 28 2 268 3.32 2 Playoffs Scoring Player Pos Position GP Games played G Goals A Assists Pts Points PIM Penalty minutes GWG Game-winning goals Anders Hedberg RW 9 9 6 15 21 Ulf Nilsson Ulf Nilsson (ice hockey) C 9 1 13 14 120 Bobby Guindon Bobby Guindon (ice hockey) LW 9 8 5 13 52 Lyle Moffat LW 9 5 7 12 90 Bobby Hull LW 9 8 3 11 122 Kent Nilsson C 9 2 8 10 100 Lars-Erik Sjoberg D 9 0 9 9 40 Dave Kryskow LW 9 4 4 8 21 Willy Lindstrom RW 8 3 4 7 170 Peter Sullivan Peter Sullivan (ice hockey) C 9 3 4 7 41 Bill Lesuk LW 9 2 5 7 120 Barry Long Barry Long (ice hockey) D 9 0 5 5 60 Mike Amodeo D 7 1 3 4 190 Ken Baird D 7 0 4 4 70 Lynn Powis C 3 2 1 3 70 Dave Dunn D 9 1 2 3 00 Kent Ruhnke RW 5 2 0 2 01 Dan Labraaten LW 4 1 1 2 80 Ted Green D 8 0 2 2 20 Mike Ford Mike Ford (ice hockey) D 2 1 0 1 00 Kim Clackson D 9 0 1 1 610 Joe Daley Joe Daley (ice hockey) G 5 0 1 1 200 Gary Bromley G 5 0 0 0 20 Goaltending Player MIN Minutes GP Games played W Wins L Losses GA Goals Allowed GAA Goals Against Average SO Shutouts Gary Bromley 268 5 4 0 7 1.57 0 Joe Daley Joe Daley (ice hockey) 271 5 4 1 13 2.88 0 Team: 539 9 8 1 20 2.23 0 hockey-reference.com 2009-05-28 1977-78 Winnipeg Jets Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/WNJ/1978.html Draft picks Winnipeg's draft picks at the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/wha1977a.html 1977 WHA Amateur Draft hockeyDB.com December 18, 2018 Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)13Ron Duguay (C)CanadaSudbury Wolves (OHA)18Miles Zaharko (D)CanadaNew Westminster Bruins (WCHL)328Mark Lofthouse (RW)CanadaNew Westminster Bruins (WCHL)437Don Laurence (C)CanadaKitchener Rangers (OHA)546Bill Stewart (D)CanadaNiagara Falls Flyers (OHA)655Ric Seiling (RW)CanadaSt. Catharines Fincups (OHA)764Jim Hamilton (LW)CanadaLondon Knights (OHA)872Warren Holmes (C)CanadaOttawa 67's (OHA)980Mike Keating (LW)CanadaSt. Catharines Fincups (OHA)1088Murray Bannerman (G)CanadaVictoria Cougars (WCHL) See also 1977–78 WHA season References Category:Winnipeg Jets (1972–1996) seasons Winn Winn Category:1977 in Manitoba Category:1978 in sports in Manitoba Category:1970s in Winnipeg