1978–79 Winnipeg Jets season

NHA hockey team season (last season in NHA) March 2026 August 2023 WHA 1978–79 1978 Winnipeg Jets (1972–1996)Winnipeg Jets 39–35–6 22–15–4 17–20–2 WHA 3rd 307 306 John Ferguson Larry Hillman (28-27-6)Tom McVie (11-8-0) Barry Long Winnipeg Arena Morris Lukowich (65) Kent Nilsson (68) Kent Nilsson (107) Scott Campbell (248) Markus Mattsson (25) Gary Smith (2.97) yes 1977–78 1979–80 The 1978–79 Winnipeg Jets season was the franchise's seventh and final season in the World Hockey Association. The WHA folded after the season. Regular season Head coach Larry Hillman, who had guided the Jets to the AVCO Cup the previous season, was fired 61 games into the season. Three days later, Tom McVie took over and coached the remaining 19 games and guided the team to a 3rd-place finish in the league, which due to the league's dwindling fortunes meant that the top five teams of the remaining seven in the league (Indianapolis folded midway in the season) went into the playoffs. They finished one point ahead of the rival Whalers for third, which meant that the Jets got a first round bye as New England and Cincinnati played each other. The Jets played the 2nd place team, Quebec. After sweeping the Nordiques, they went to their fifth and final AVCO Cup Finals against the Oilers. Fittingly, the Jets won the Cup 4–2 and clinched the series at Winnipeg Arena 7–3 in Game 6 to end a seven-year run in which they appeared in five AVCO Cups and won three of them (1976, 1978, 1979) before the WHA merged with the NHL with the Jets included. Final standings WIN Schedule and results background:#fff; border-top:#012169 5px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 5px solid; 1978–79 regular season1978-79 Winnipeg Jets Schedule https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/WNJ/1979_games.html Hockey-Reference.com March 20, 2025 y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; October: 4–3–2, 10 points (home: 1–2–2; road: 3–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |1||W||October 13, 1978||5–4 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||1–0–0 |- |2||W||October 14, 1978||6–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) ||2–0–0 |- |3||L||October 15, 1978||3–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||2–1–0 |- |4||T||October 18, 1978||4–4 || style="text-align:left;"| New England Whalers (1978–79) ||2–1–1 |- |5||L||October 22, 1978||2–6 || style="text-align:left;"| Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||2–2–1 |- |6||W||October 25, 1978||7–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||3–2–1 |- |7||W||October 27, 1978||6–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New England Whalers (1978–79) ||4–2–1 |- |8||L||October 28, 1978||2–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) ||4–3–1 |- |9||T||October 29, 1978||3–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) ||4–3–2 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; November: 6–6–1, 12 points (home: 4–1–0; road: 2–5–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |10||L||November 3, 1978||3–4 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||4–4–2 |- |11||W||November 5, 1978||6–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) ||5–4–2 |- |12||W||November 7, 1978||2–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||6–4–2 |- |13||L||November 9, 1978||5–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||6–5–2 |- |14||L||November 10, 1978||2–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||6–6–2 |- |15||L||November 12, 1978||4–6 || style="text-align:left;"| Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||6–7–2 |- |16||L||November 15, 1978||2–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||6–8–2 |- |17||W||November 17, 1978||10–6 || style="text-align:left;"| Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||7–8–2 |- |18||W||November 19, 1978||5–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) ||8–8–2 |- |19||L||November 22, 1978||2–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New England Whalers (1978–79) ||8–9–2 |- |20||W||November 23, 1978||5–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) ||9–9–2 |- |21||T||November 26, 1978||2–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||9–9–3 |- |22||W||November 29, 1978||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| New England Whalers (1978–79) ||10–9–3 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; December: 4–4–1, 9 points (home: 2–2–1; road: 2–2–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |23||L||December 1, 1978||5–6 || style="text-align:left;"| Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||10–10–3 |- |24||L||December 3, 1978||3–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||10–11–3 |- |25||W||December 7, 1978||9–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) ||11–11–3 |- |26||T||December 10, 1978||4–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||11–11–4 |- |27||L||December 14, 1978||3–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Soviet All-Stars (1978–79) ||11–12–4 |- |28||W||December 17, 1978||6–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||12–12–4 |- |29||W||December 22, 1978||5–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||13–12–4 |- |30||W||December 26, 1978||5–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||14–12–4 |- |31||L||December 27, 1978||3–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||14–13–4 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; January: 8–6–2, 18 points (home: 4–2–1; road: 4–4–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |32||T||January 1, 1979||3–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Czechoslovakia (1978–79) ||14–13–5 |- |33||W||January 7, 1979||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||15–13–5 |- |34||W||January 9, 1979||4–3 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||16–13–5 |- |35||W||January 12, 1979||3–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||17–13–5 |- |36||W||January 13, 1979||3–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||18–13–5 |- |37||W||January 14, 1979||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New England Whalers (1978–79) ||19–13–5 |- |38||L||January 16, 1979||1–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||19–14–5 |- |39||L||January 17, 1979||3–6 || style="text-align:left;"| Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||19–15–5 |- |40||L||January 19, 1979||2–7 || style="text-align:left;"| Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||19–16–5 |- |41||L||January 20, 1979||1–10 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||19–17–5 |- |42||W||January 21, 1979||3–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||20–17–5 |- |43||T||January 24, 1979||5–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||20–17–6 |- |44||W||January 27, 1979||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||21–17–6 |- |45||L||January 28, 1979||6–8 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New England Whalers (1978–79) ||21–18–6 |- |46||L||January 30, 1979||2–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New England Whalers (1978–79) ||21–19–6 |- |47||W||January 31, 1979||6–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||22–19–6 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; February: 6–8–0, 12 points (home: 4–2–0; road: 2–6–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |48||W||February 2, 1979||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||23–19–6 |- |49||W||February 4, 1979||8–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||24–19–6 |- |50||W||February 7, 1979||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||25–19–6 |- |51||L||February 9, 1979||0–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||25–20–6 |- |52||L||February 10, 1979||2–7 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New England Whalers (1978–79) ||25–21–6 |- |53||W||February 14, 1979||5–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||26–21–6 |- |54||L||February 16, 1979||1–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||26–22–6 |- |55||L||February 17, 1979||4–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||26–23–6 |- |56||L||February 18, 1979||1–7 || style="text-align:left;"| New England Whalers (1978–79) ||26–24–6 |- |57||L||February 20, 1979||2–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||26–25–6 |- |58||W||February 21, 1979||5–2 || style="text-align:left;"| New England Whalers (1978–79) ||27–25–6 |- |59||L||February 23, 1979||1–9 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||27–26–6 |- |60||W||February 25, 1979||7–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New England Whalers (1978–79) ||28–26–6 |- |61||L||February 27, 1979||2–5 || style="text-align:left;"| Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||28–27–6 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; March: 6–5–0, 12 points (home: 4–4–0; road: 2–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |62||L||March 2, 1979||1–4 || style="text-align:left;"| New England Whalers (1978–79) ||28–28–6 |- |63||L||March 6, 1979||4–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||28–29–6 |- |64||W||March 7, 1979||5–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||29–29–6 |- |65||W||March 11, 1979||7–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||30–29–6 |- |66||L||March 14, 1979||2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||30–30–6 |- |67||W||March 16, 1979||5–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||31–30–6 |- |68||W||March 18, 1979||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||32–30–6 |- |69||L||March 21, 1979||4–7 || style="text-align:left;"| Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||32–31–6 |- |70||W||March 23, 1979||6–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||33–31–6 |- |71||W||March 28, 1979||6–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) ||34–31–6 |- |72||L||March 30, 1979||0–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||34–32–6 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; April: 5–3–0, 10 points (home: 3–2–0; road: 2–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |73||W||April 1, 1979||7–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||35–32–6 |- |74||L||April 4, 1979||2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| New England Whalers (1978–79) ||35–33–6 |- |75||L||April 6, 1979||1–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||35–34–6 |- |76||W||April 8, 1979||6–4 || style="text-align:left;"| New England Whalers (1978–79) ||36–34–6 |- |77||W||April 10, 1979||6–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||37–34–6 |- |78||W||April 11, 1979||2–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||38–34–6 |- |79||W||April 15, 1979||5–4 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||39–34–6 |- |80||L||April 18, 1979||3–9 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||39–35–6 |- |- | Legend: #cfc Win (2 points) 1px solid black #fcc Loss (0 points) 1px solid black #ffc Tie (1 point) 1px solid black Playoffs 1979 WHA playoffs background:#fff; border-top:#012169 5px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 5px solid; 1979 Avco Cup playoffs y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; Semifinals vs. (2) Quebec Nordiques – Jets win 4–0 Game Date Visitor Score Home Series |- | 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 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#012169 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; Avco Cup Finals vs. (1) Edmonton Oilers – Jets win 4–2 Game Date Visitor Score Home Series |- | 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 |- |- | 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/1979.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 Kent Nilsson C 78 39 68 107 8180 Morris Lukowich LW 80 65 34 99 11926160 Peter Sullivan Peter Sullivan (ice hockey) C 80 46 40 86 24-692 Terry Ruskowski C 75 20 66 86 2111361 Willy Lindstrom RW 79 26 36 62 227110 Rich Preston RW 80 28 32 60 88-561 Barry Long Barry Long (ice hockey) D 80 5 36 41 42-200 Bill Lesuk LW 79 17 15 32 44-1400 Lyle Moffat LW 70 14 18 32 38-1401 Bobby Guindon Bobby Guindon (ice hockey) LW 71 8 18 26 21-1200 John Gray John Gray (ice hockey) RW 57 10 15 25 51-760 Paul Terbenche D 68 3 22 25 12-100 Mike Amodeo D 64 4 18 22 29-100 Scott Campbell Scott Campbell (ice hockey b. 1957) D 74 3 15 18 248500 Paul MacKinnon D 73 2 15 17 70-300 Glenn Hicks LW 69 6 10 16 48-200 Roland Eriksson C 33 5 10 15 2-530 Steve West Steve West (ice hockey) C 18 3 11 14 6610 Kim Clackson D 71 0 12 12 210-600 Bobby Hull LW 4 2 3 5 0110 Bill Davis ice hockey D 5 1 2 3 0-200 Lars-Erik Sjoberg D 9 0 3 3 2-100 Gary Smith Gary Smith (ice hockey) G 11 0 3 3 2000 Ted Green D 20 0 2 2 16-700 Joe Daley Joe Daley (ice hockey) G 23 0 1 1 2000 John Gibson John Gibson (ice hockey b. 1959) D 9 0 1 1 5100 Markus Mattsson G 52 0 1 1 4000 Rich Gosselin C 3 0 0 0 0-100 Dale Yakiwchuk C 4 0 0 0 0100 Goaltending Player MIN Minutes GP Games played W Wins L Losses T Ties GA Goals Allowed GAA Goals Against Average SO Shutouts Markus Mattsson 2990 52 25 21 3 181 3.63 0 Joe Daley Joe Daley (ice hockey) 1256 23 7 11 3 90 4.30 0 Gary Smith Gary Smith (ice hockey) 626 11 7 3 0 31 2.97 0 Team: 4872 80 39 35 6 302 3.72 0 Playoffs Scoring Player Pos Position GP Games played G Goals A Assists Pts Points PIM Penalty minutes GWG Game-winning goals Willy Lindstrom RW 10 10 5 15 91 Morris Lukowich LW 10 8 7 15 211 Peter Sullivan Peter Sullivan (ice hockey) C 10 5 9 14 21 Kent Nilsson C 10 3 11 14 40 Rich Preston RW 10 8 5 13 150 Terry Ruskowski C 8 1 12 13 231 Paul MacKinnon D 10 2 5 7 40 Barry Long Barry Long (ice hockey) D 10 2 3 5 00 Steve West Steve West (ice hockey) C 6 2 3 5 20 Roland Eriksson C 10 1 4 5 00 Kim Clackson D 9 0 5 5 280 Lyle Moffat LW 10 3 1 4 222 Bill Lesuk LW 10 1 3 4 61 Bobby Guindon Bobby Guindon (ice hockey) LW 7 2 1 3 00 Lars-Erik Sjoberg D 10 1 2 3 41 Glenn Hicks LW 7 1 1 2 40 Paul Terbenche D 10 1 1 2 40 Scott Campbell Scott Campbell (ice hockey b. 1957) D 10 0 2 2 250 Gary Smith Gary Smith (ice hockey) G 10 0 1 1 40 Joe Daley Joe Daley (ice hockey) G 3 0 0 0 00 John Gray John Gray (ice hockey) RW 1 0 0 0 00 Goaltending Player MIN Minutes GP Games played W Wins L Losses GA Goals Allowed GAA Goals Against Average SO Shutouts Gary Smith Gary Smith (ice hockey) 563 10 8 2 35 3.73 0 Joe Daley Joe Daley (ice hockey) 37 3 0 0 3 4.86 0 Team: 600 10 8 2 38 3.80 0 hockey-reference.com 2009-05-28 1978-79 Winnipeg Jets Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/WNJ/1979.html See also 1978–79 WHA season References Category:Winnipeg Jets (1972–1996) seasons Winn Winn Category:1978 in sports in Manitoba Category:1979 in sports in Manitoba Category:1970s in Winnipeg