1975–76 WHA season

Professional ice hockey league season August 2024 August 2023 1975–76 WHA season World Hockey Association Ice hockey October 9, 1975 – May 27, 1976 Regular season Draft 1975 WHA amateur draft Claude Larose Cincinnati Stingers Marc Tardif (Quebec) Gordie Howe Trophy Marc Tardif (Quebec) Bill Hunter Trophy Houston Aeros Playoffs 1976 WHA playoffs Avco Cup Final 1976 WHA playoffs#Avco Cup Final Winnipeg Jets Houston Aeros Ulf Nilsson (Jets) WHA Playoff MVP 1976–77 1974–75 List of WHA seasons WHA The 1975–76 WHA season was the fourth season of the World Hockey Association. After the Baltimore Blades and Chicago Cougars folded, the league stayed at 14 teams by adding the Cincinnati Stingers and Denver Spurs. In addition, the Vancouver Blazers franchise moved to Calgary and became the Cowboys. Midway through the season, the Spurs moved to Ottawa and became the Civics, though the team folded shortly thereafter when the sale of the franchise fell through. The Minnesota Fighting Saints became the second team to fold mid-season when the franchise was not financially successful, despite having a winning record at the time. Theoretically, fourteen teams would play 80 games each, but only twelve teams finished the season, with cancelled games involving the Civics or Saints being rescheduled on the fly, and four of five Canadian Division teams played 81 games, as a result. Regular season Final standings Canadian Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM Winnipeg Jets 81 52 27 2 106 345 254 940 Quebec Nordiques 81 50 27 4 104 371 316 1654 Calgary Cowboys 80 41 35 4 86 307 282 1064 Edmonton Oilers 81 27 49 5 59 268 345 991 Toronto Toros 81 24 52 5 53 335 398 1099 Denver Spurs / Ottawa Civics+ 41 14 26 1 29 134 172 536 +team started season in Western Division when playing in Denver; transferred by league to Canadian Division shortly after moving to Ottawa. Eastern Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM Indianapolis Racers 80 35 39 6 76 245 247 1301 Cleveland Crusaders 80 35 40 5 75 273 279 1356 New England Whalers 80 33 40 7 73 255 290 1012 Cincinnati Stingers 80 35 44 1 71 285 340 1344 Western Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM Houston Aeros 80 53 27 0 106 341 263 1093 Phoenix Roadrunners 80 39 35 6 84 302 287 1292 San Diego Mariners 80 36 38 6 78 303 290 716 Minnesota Fighting Saints 59 30 25 4 64 211 212 1354 Player stats Scoring leaders GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Marc Tardif Quebec Nordiques 81 71 77 14879 Bobby Hull Winnipeg Jets 80 53 70 12330 Real Cloutier Quebec Nordiques 80 60 54 11427 Ulf Nilsson Winnipeg Jets 78 38 76 11454 Robbie Ftorek Phoenix Roadrunners 80 41 72 113109 Chris Bordeleau Quebec Nordiques 74 37 72 10942 Anders Hedberg Winnipeg Jets 76 50 55 10548 Rejean Houle Quebec Nordiques 81 51 52 10361 Serge Bernier Quebec Nordiques 70 34 68 10291 Gordie Howe Houston Aeros 78 32 70 10276 Leading goaltenders Bolded numbers indicate season leaders GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average Player Team GP Min W L T GA SO SV% GAA Michel Dion Indianapolis Racers 31 1860 14 15 1 85 0 91.0 2.74 Joe Daley Winnipeg Jets 62 3612 41 17 1 171 5 90.3 2.84 Wayne Rutledge Houston Aeros 25 1456 14 10 0 77 1 90.1 3.17 Jack Norris Phoenix Roadrunners 41 2412 21 14 4 128 1 89.1 3.18 Ernie Wakely San Diego Mariners 67 3824 35 27 4 208 3 89.5 3.25 All-Star game The 4th annual WHA All-Star Game featured a Canadian-based All-Star team vs a United States-based All-Star team, with the game taking place in Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland, Ohio. The Canadians won the game 6–1, with Real Cloutier and Paul Shmyr being named MVPs. Avco World Trophy playoffs 1976 WHA playoffs For the only time, the World Hockey Association had ten teams compete in a postseason. New England played Cleveland in order to play Indianapolis while San Diego played Phoenix to play Houston. The team reverted to the 8-team format for next season. The fragmented scheduling led to Winnipeg, who beat Calgary in the Semifinals on May 2, having to wait 18 days to play Houston in the Avco Cup Final. It did not affect them, however, as they swept Houston in four games. QuarterfinalsApril 9-30 SemifinalsApril 23 - May 16 Avco Cup May 20-27 ' W1 Houston Aeros 4 W3 San Diego Mariners 2 E3 New England Whalers 4 E1 Indianapolis Racers 3 C3 Calgary Cowboys 4 C2 Quebec Nordiques 1 C1 Winnipeg Jets 4 C4 Edmonton Oilers 0 W1 Houston Aeros 4 E3 New England Whalers 3 C1 Winnipeg Jets 4 C3 Calgary Cowboys 1 C1 Winnipeg Jets 4 W1 Houston Aeros 0 Preliminary Round New England Whalers 3 Cleveland Crusaders 0 Preliminary Round San Diego Mariners 3 Phoenix Roadrunners 2 AVCO World Trophy finals (1) Winnipeg Jets VS. (1) Houston Aeros:1975-76 WHA Playoff Results at hockeydb.com https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/playoffdisplay.php?league=wha1973&season=1976&leaguenm=WHA 2024-10-01 www.hockeydb.com Jets sweep series 4–0 Game 1 (May 20) @ Houston: Winnipeg 4, Houston 3 Game 2 (May 23) @ Houston: Winnipeg 5, Houston 4 Game 3 (May 25) @ Winnipeg: Winnipeg 6, Houston 3 Game 4 (May 27) @ Winnipeg: Winnipeg 9, Houston 1 WHA awards Trophies Avco World Trophy: Winnipeg JetsGordie Howe Trophy: Marc TardifBill Hunter Trophy: Marc TardifLou Kaplan Trophy: Mark NapierBen Hatskin Trophy: Michel DionDennis A. Murphy Trophy: Paul ShmyrPaul Deneau Trophy: Vaclav NedomanskyHoward Baldwin Trophy: Bobby KrommWHA Playoff MVP: Ulf Nilsson All-Star Team Position First Team Second Team Centre Ulf Nilsson, Winnipeg Robbie Ftorek, Phoenix Right Wing Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg Real Cloutier, Quebec Left Wing Marc Tardif, Quebec Bobby Hull, Winnipeg Defence Paul Shmyr, Cleveland Kevin Morrison, San Diego Defence J. C. Tremblay, Quebec Pat Stapleton, Indianapolis Goaltender Joe Daley, Winnipeg Ron Grahame, Houston See also 1975 WHA Amateur Draft 1975 in sports 1976 in sports References HockeyDB 2 2 Category:World Hockey Association seasons