1976–77 Houston Aeros season

World Hockey Association team season August 2023 The Summit WHA 1976–77 1976 Houston Aeros (WHA)Houston Aeros 50–24–6 33–3–4 17–21–2 West 1st Bill Dineen Ted Taylor Gordie HowePoul Popiel 320 241 Rich Preston (38) Terry Ruskowski (60) Terry Ruskowski (84) Cam Connor (224) Ron Grahame (27) Ron Grahame (2.74) 1975–76 1977–78 The 1976–77 Houston Aeros season was the Aeros' fifth season of operation in the World Hockey Association. The Aeros finished first in the West to qualify for the playoffs. The Aeros lost in the semi-finals to the Winnipeg Jets. 2 Regular season Final standings HOU Schedule and results background:#fff; border-top:#101077 5px solid; border-bottom:#34AACD 5px solid; 1976–77 regular season1976-77 Houston Aeros Schedule https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/HSA/1977_games.html Hockey-Reference.com April 9, 2025 y background:#fff; border-top:#101077 2px solid; border-bottom:#34AACD 2px solid; October: 5–2–2, 12 points (home: 4–0–2; road: 1–5–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |1||L||October 8, 1976||2–4 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) ||0–1–0 |- |2||W||October 9, 1976||5–3 || align="left"| Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) ||1–1–0 |- |3||W||October 13, 1976||2–1 || align="left"| Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) ||2–1–0 |- |4||W||October 16, 1976||3–0 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) ||3–1–0 |- |5||T||October 19, 1976||4–4 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1976–77) ||3–1–1 |- |6||L||October 21, 1976||5–8 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) ||3–2–1 |- |7||L||October 22, 1976||2–5 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1976–77) ||3–3–1 |- |8||L||October 23, 1976||2–6 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) ||3–4–1 |- |9||W||October 26, 1976||3–1 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) ||4–4–1 |- |10||T||October 28, 1976||1–1 || align="left"| Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77) ||4–4–2 |- |11||L||October 30, 1976||4–6 || align="left"| @ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) ||4–5–2 |- |12||W||October 31, 1976||4–0 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) ||5–5–2 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#101077 2px solid; border-bottom:#34AACD 2px solid; November: 7–2–1, 15 points (home: 5–0–1; road: 2–2–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |13||W||November 2, 1976||3–1 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) ||6–5–2 |- |14||W||November 5, 1976||9–1 || align="left"| Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) ||7–5–2 |- |15||L||November 6, 1976||1–4 || align="left"| @ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) ||7–6–2 |- |16||W||November 9, 1976||7–2 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) ||8–6–2 |- |17||W||November 12, 1976||4–1 || align="left"| San Diego Mariners (1976–77) ||9–6–2 |- |18||W||November 16, 1976||4–2 || align="left"| Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) ||10–6–2 |- |19||L||November 19, 1976||3–5 || align="left"| @ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) ||10–7–2 |- |20||W||November 20, 1976||5–2 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) ||11–7–2 |- |21||W||November 23, 1976||5–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) ||12–7–2 |- |22||T||November 26, 1976||1–1 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) ||12–7–3 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#101077 2px solid; border-bottom:#34AACD 2px solid; December: 6–7–1, 13 points (home: 4–1–1; road: 2–6–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |23||T||December 3, 1976||0–0 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) ||12–7–4 |- |24||L||December 5, 1976||2–7 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) ||12–8–4 |- |25||L||December 8, 1976||1–5 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1976–77) ||12–9–4 |- |26||L||December 10, 1976||2–6 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) ||12–10–4 |- |27||L||December 11, 1976||1–4 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) ||12–11–4 |- |28||W||December 12, 1976||3–1 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) ||13–11–4 |- |29||W||December 14, 1976||8–3 || align="left"| Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) ||14–11–4 |- |30||L||December 17, 1976||3–4 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) ||14–12–4 |- |31||L||December 18, 1976||3–4 || align="left"| @ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) ||14–13–4 |- |32||W||December 19, 1976||6–4 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) ||15–13–4 |- |33||W||December 21, 1976||4–0 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1976–77) ||16–13–4 |- |34||W||December 23, 1976||6–5 OT|| align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) ||17–13–4 |- |35||L||December 26, 1976||2–6 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) ||17–14–4 |- |36||W||December 28, 1976||6–3 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) ||18–14–4 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#101077 2px solid; border-bottom:#34AACD 2px solid; January: 10–2–1, 21 points (home: 5–0–0; road: 5–2–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |37||L||January 2, 1977||2–5 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) ||18–15–4 |- |38||W||January 4, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) ||19–15–4 |- |39||W||January 5, 1977||4–3 || align="left"| @ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) ||20–15–4 |- |40||T||January 7, 1977||1–1 || align="left"| @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77) ||20–15–5 |- |41||L||January 12, 1977||2–4 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) ||20–16–5 |- |42||W||January 14, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) ||21–16–5 |- |43||W||January 16, 1977||3–1 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) ||22–16–5 |- |44||W||January 21, 1977||6–1 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) ||23–16–5 |- |45||W||January 22, 1977||6–0 || align="left"| @ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) ||24–16–5 |- |46||W||January 23, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| San Diego Mariners (1976–77) ||25–16–5 |- |47||W||January 25, 1977||5–2 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) ||26–16–5 |- |48||W||January 28, 1977||4–1 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) ||27–16–5 |- |49||W||January 29, 1977||6–4 || align="left"| @ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) ||28–16–5 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#101077 2px solid; border-bottom:#34AACD 2px solid; February: 9–3–1, 19 points (home: 6–0–0; road: 3–3–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |50||W||February 1, 1977||6–1 || align="left"| Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) ||29–16–5 |- |51||L||February 3, 1977||3–5 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) ||29–17–5 |- |52||W||February 4, 1977||4–1 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1976–77) ||30–17–5 |- |53||T||February 8, 1977||4–4 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) ||30–17–6 |- |54||W||February 12, 1977||7–3 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) ||31–17–6 |- |55||W||February 15, 1977||4–2 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) ||32–17–6 |- |56||W||February 18, 1977||4–2 || align="left"| San Diego Mariners (1976–77) ||33–17–6 |- |57||W||February 19, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| San Diego Mariners (1976–77) ||34–17–6 |- |58||L||February 22, 1977||2–3 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) ||34–18–6 |- |59||L||February 23, 1977||2–3 || align="left"| @ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) ||34–19–6 |- |60||W||February 25, 1977||9–3 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) ||35–19–6 |- |61||W||February 26, 1977||5–4 || align="left"| @ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) ||36–19–6 |- |62||W||February 27, 1977||5–4 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) ||37–19–6 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#101077 2px solid; border-bottom:#34AACD 2px solid; March: 10–4–0, 20 points (home: 7–1–0; road: 3–3–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |63||W||March 1, 1977||8–3 || align="left"| Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) ||38–19–6 |- |64||L||March 4, 1977||2–3 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1976–77) ||38–20–6 |- |65||W||March 6, 1977||7–3 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) ||39–20–6 |- |66||W||March 8, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) ||40–20–6 |- |67||W||March 11, 1977||5–0 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) ||41–20–6 |- |68||W||March 13, 1977||5–0 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) ||42–20–6 |- |69||W||March 15, 1977||4–3 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) ||43–20–6 |- |70||W||March 18, 1977||6–3 || align="left"| Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) ||44–20–6 |- |71||W||March 20, 1977||8–3 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) ||45–20–6 |- |72||L||March 22, 1977||2–6 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) ||45–21–6 |- |73||W||March 25, 1977||4–2 || align="left"| Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) ||46–21–6 |- |74||L||March 27, 1977||3–5 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) ||46–22–6 |- |75||W||March 29, 1977||5–2 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) ||47–22–6 |- |76||L||March 30, 1977||0–8 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) ||47–23–6 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#101077 2px solid; border-bottom:#34AACD 2px solid; April: 3–1–0, 6 points (home: 2–1–0; road: 1–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |77||W||April 1, 1977||5–4 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) ||48–23–6 |- |78||L||April 3, 1977||3–7 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) ||48–24–6 |- |79||W||April 5, 1977||3–1 || align="left"| San Diego Mariners (1976–77) ||49–24–6 |- |80||W||April 6, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| @ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) ||50–24–6 |- |- | Legend: #cfc Win (2 points) 1px solid black #fcc Loss (0 points) 1px solid black #ffc Tie (1 point) 1px solid black Playoffs The Aeros defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the Division Semi-final 4–1. In the Division Final, the Aeros were defeated by the Winnipeg Jets 4–2 in a rematch of the 1976 Avco Cup final. background:#fff; border-top:#101077 5px solid; border-bottom:#34AACD 5px solid; 1977 Avco Cup playoffs y background:#fff; border-top:#101077 2px solid; border-bottom:#34AACD 2px solid; Quarterfinals vs. Edmonton Oilers – Aeros win 4–1 Game Date Visitor Score Home Series |- | 1 || April 13 || Edmonton Oilers || 3–4 OT || Houston Aeros || 1–0 |- | 2 || April 15 || Edmonton Oilers || 2–6 || Houston Aeros || 2–0 |- | 3 || April 17 || Houston Aeros || 2–7 || Edmonton Oilers || 2–1 |- | 4 || April 20 || Houston Aeros || 4–1 || Edmonton Oilers || 3–1 |- | 5 || April 22 || Edmonton Oilers || 3–4 || Houston Aeros || 4–1 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#101077 2px solid; border-bottom:#34AACD 2px solid; Semifinals vs. Winnipeg Jets – Jets win 4–2 Game Date Visitor Score Home Series |- | 1 || April 26 || Winnipeg Jets || 4–3 OT || Houston Aeros || 0–1 |- | 2 || April 28 || Winnipeg Jets || 2–7 || Houston Aeros || 1–1 |- | 3 || April 30 || Houston Aeros || 3–4 || Winnipeg Jets || 1–2 |- | 4 || May 1 || Houston Aeros || 4–6 || Winnipeg Jets || 1–3 |- | 5 || May 3 || Winnipeg Jets || 2–3 || Houston Aeros || 2–3 |- | 6 || May 5 || Houston Aeros || 3–6 || Winnipeg Jets || 2–4 |- |- | Legend: #cfc Win 1px solid black #fcc Loss 1px solid black Player statistics Regular season Scoring + Regular seasonhockey-reference.com 2009-06-30 1976-77 Houston Aeros Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/HSA/1977.html Player Pos Position GP Games playedG Goals A AssistsPts Points PIM Penalty minutes +/- Plus/Minus PPG Power play goals SHG Short-handed goals GWG Game-winning goals Terry Ruskowski C 80 24 60 84 14631705 Rich Preston RW 80 38 41 79 5437655 Mark Howe D 57 23 52 75 4641538 Gordie Howe RW 62 24 44 68 5727513 Poul Popiel D 80 12 56 68 8753200 Cam Connor RW 76 35 32 67 22423616 Larry Lund C 80 29 38 67 36207011 John Tonelli LW 80 24 31 55 10914610 Ted Taylor Ted Taylor (ice hockey) LW 78 16 35 51 9028400 Morris Lukowich LW 68 27 18 45 6720600 Marty Howe D 80 17 28 45 10329300 John Gray John Gray (ice hockey) RW 47 21 20 41 2522300 Al McLeod D 51 7 21 28 2019100 Don Larway RW 75 11 13 24 1125300 Larry Hale D 67 0 14 14 189000 Frank Hughes Frank Hughes (ice hockey) LW 27 3 8 11 2−5000 Ron Hansis RW 22 4 3 7 6−4000 Glen Irwin D 44 2 4 6 168−12000 John Schella D 20 0 6 6 288000 Andre Hinse LW 26 2 3 5 8−9000 Dwayne Pentland D 29 1 2 3 63000 Wayne Rutledge G 42 0 3 3 60000 Gary Donaldson RW 5 0 0 0 6−3000 Mike Fedorko C 4 0 0 0 0−4000 Ron Grahame G 39 0 0 0 00000 Steve West Steve West (ice hockey) C 3 0 0 0 2−3000 + GoaltendingPlayerMIN MinutesGP Games played W WinL Loss T Ties GA Goals against GAA Goals against averageSO Shutouts Ron Grahame 2345 39 27 10 2 107 2.74 4 Wayne Rutledge 2512 42 23 14 4 132 3.15 3 Team: 4857 80 50 24 6 239 2.95 7 Playoffs Player Pos Position GP Games playedG Goals A AssistsPts Points PIM Penalty minutes PPG Power play goals SHG Short-handed goals GWG Game-winning goals Terry Ruskowski C 11 6 11 17 67000 Mark Howe D 11 4 10 14 2001 Morris Lukowich LW 11 6 4 10 19001 Larry Lund C 11 2 8 10 17000 Gordie Howe RW 11 5 3 8 11000 Ted Taylor Ted Taylor (ice hockey) LW 11 4 4 8 28002 Rich Preston RW 11 3 5 8 10000 Cam Connor RW 11 3 4 7 47000 John Tonelli LW 11 3 4 7 12000 Poul Popiel D 11 0 7 7 10000 Marty Howe D 11 3 1 4 10001 Al McLeod D 10 1 3 4 9000 John Schella D 6 1 2 3 6000 Ron Hansis RW 8 1 1 2 4001 Larry Hale D 11 0 2 2 6000 Don Larway RW 3 1 0 1 0000 Ron Grahame G 9 0 1 1 2000 John Gray John Gray (ice hockey) RW 6 0 1 1 8000 Dwayne Pentland D 2 0 0 0 0000 Wayne Rutledge G 2 0 0 0 0000 Steve West Steve West (ice hockey) C 6 0 0 0 0000 + PlayerMIN MinutesGP Games played W WinL Loss GA Goals against GAA Goals against averageSO Shutouts Wayne Rutledge 120 2 4 5 4 2.00 0 Ron Grahame 561 9 2 0 36 3.85 0 Team: 681 11 6 5 40 3.52 0 hockey-reference.com 2009-06-30 1976-77 Houston Aeros Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/HSA/1977.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; Awards and records Mark Howe, WHA All-Star Team (Second Team) Poul Popiel, WHA All-Star Team (Second Team) Bill Dineen, Howard Baldwin Trophy (Coach of the Year) WHA All-Star Game (January 18, 1977) Wayne Rutledge Poul Popiel Gordie Howe Draft picks Houston's draft picks at the 1976 WHA Amateur Draft.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/wha1976a.html 1976 WHA Amateur Draft hockeyDB.com December 19, 2018 Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)222Morris Lukowich (LW)CanadaMedicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)334Jim Roberts (LW)CanadaOttawa 67's (OHA)446Mike Fedorko (D)CanadaHamilton Fincups (OHA)558Larry Skinner (C)CanadaOttawa 67's (OHA)670Kevin Schamehorn (RW)CanadaNew Westminster Bruins (WCHL)782Mike Hordy (D)CanadaSault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA)893Larry Riggin (D)CanadaLondon Knights (OHA)9104Bill Wells (LW)CanadaCornwall Royals (QMJHL)10116Bob Pazzelli (F)United StatesUniversity of Denver (WCHA) See also 1976–77 WHA season References Houston Category:Houston Aeros seasons