1978–79 WHA season

Professional ice hockey league season August 2023 1978–79 WHA season World Hockey Association Ice hockey October 13, 1978 – May 20, 1979 Regular season Edmonton Oilers Dave Dryden (Edmonton) Gordie Howe Trophy Réal Cloutier (Quebec) Bill Hunter Trophy Playoffs 1979 WHA playoffs 1979 WHA playoffs#Avco Cup Final Avco Cup Final Winnipeg Jets Edmonton Oilers Rich Preston (Jets) WHA Playoff MVP 1977–78 WHA The 1978–79 WHA season was the seventh and final season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Prior to the start of the season, the Houston Aeros folded leaving seven teams to start the season. Only six would finish however, as the Indianapolis Racers folded after 25 games on December 15, 1978. The remaining six teams each played 80 games, including one game each per team against a Soviet All-Star squad and the Czechoslovak National Team, the second consecutive year for this arrangement. The Soviet team won four of their six games and tied another; the Czechoslovak team only won once and tied once against four losses. In addition, because the Racers had folded after playing an odd number of games, the Edmonton Oilers played the Finnish national team (with future Oiler Jari Kurri) once at home so as to allow each of the six surviving WHA teams to play 80 regular-season games. The Oilers won by a score of 8–4, a result which in itself made no difference by the end of the regular season which Edmonton won by an 11-point margin over the Quebec Nordiques. During the season, an agreement was reached whereby four of the WHA's teams, the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets and New England Whalers would be admitted to the National Hockey League (NHL) as expansion teams for the 1979–80 NHL season, and the WHA would cease operations. The Cincinnati and Birmingham franchises were paid a sum to fold. Regular-season and playoff format The season started on October 13, 1978 with the Winnipeg Jets playing the Birmingham Bulls in Birmingham and the Edmonton Oilers playing the Cincinnati Stingers in Edmonton.https://newspaperarchive.com/winnipeg-free-press-oct-14-1978-p-108/ A variety of teams boasted of their young talent: the Cincinnati Stingers had Mike Gartner, a 19-year-old pro, while the Bulls had a under-20 quintet of Rob Ramage, Craig Hartsburg, Pat Riggin, Rick Vaive, and Michel Goulet.https://newspaperarchive.com/other-clipping-nov-11-1978-5771842 Rounding out the young talent was Wayne Gretzky, who was signed by Nelson Skalbania, the owner of Indianapolis Racers to an unprecedented personal contract worth between $1.125 and $1.75 million over four to seven years. Then as now, the National Hockey League's rules did not permit the signing of 17-year-olds. Skalbania, knowing that the WHA's long-term prospects were poor, felt owning the young star was more valuable than owning a WHA team. Eight games into the season, though, Skalbania needed cash and sold Gretzky 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. On Gretzky's 18th birthday, Pocklington signed him to a 21-year personal services contract worth between $4 million and $5 million, the longest in hockey history. Gretzky would go on to capture the Lou Kaplan Trophy for rookie of the year,McLelland and Stewart, p. 219. finish third in league scoring, and help the Oilers to first overall in the league. Nevertheless the Winnipeg Jets defeated Edmonton in the Avco World Trophy finals winning their third championship overall and second in a row. Playoff format: The top five teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. The fourth- and fifth-place teams started in a best-of-three quarterfinal series, while the top three finishers received byes into the semifinals. In the semifinals, the first-place team played the 4th/5th winner, while second place played third place. Both semifinal series were best-of-seven. Since the second- and third-place teams knew they would be playing each other in the semifinals; they started their series while the 4th/5th mini-series was still going on. The finals, like the semifinals, were a best-of-seven. Final standings Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points Player stats Scoring leaders Bolded numbers indicate season leaders GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Real Cloutier Quebec Nordiques 77 75 54 129 48 Robbie Ftorek Cincinnati Stingers 80 39 77 116 87 Wayne Gretzky Indianapolis/Edmonton 80 46 64 110 19 Mark Howe New England Whalers 77 42 65 107 32 Kent Nilsson Winnipeg Jets 78 39 68 107 8 Morris Lukowich Winnipeg Jets 80 65 34 99 119 Marc Tardif Quebec Nordiques 74 41 55 96 98 Andre Lacroix New England Whalers 78 32 56 88 34 Peter Sullivan Winnipeg Jets 80 46 40 86 24 Terry Ruskowski Winnipeg Jets 75 20 66 86 211 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 Dave Dryden Edmonton Oilers 63 3531 41 17 2 170 3 89.0 2.89 Richard Brodeur Quebec Nordiques 42 2433 25 13 3 126 3 90.1 3.11 Jim Corsi Quebec Nordiques 40 2291 16 20 1 126 3 89.9 3.30 Al Smith New England Whalers 40 2396 17 17 5 132 1 88.3 3.31 Michel Dion Cincinnati Stingers 30 1681 10 14 2 93 0 87.3 3.32 All-Star series: Howe and Gretzky A WHA all-star team played three games against Dynamo Moscow at Edmonton's Northlands Coliseum. The WHA All-Stars were coached by Jacques Demers, who asked Gordie Howe if it was okay to put him on a line with his son Mark Howe and with Wayne Gretzky.McLelland and Stewart, p 221. In the first game, this line scored seven points, as the WHA All-Stars won by a score of 4–2. In the second game, Gretzky and Mark Howe each scored a goal and Gordie Howe picked up an assist as the WHA won 4–2. The line did not score in the final game but the WHA won by a score of 4–3. Avco World Trophy playoffs 1979 WHA playoffs Winnipeg completed their WHA dynasty with their third Avco Cup championship, winning it over the Edmonton Oilers in six games. Oilers player Dave Semenko scored late in the third period of the deciding game to record the last goal in the history of the WHA.McLelland and Stewart, p. 241. The goal was given up by the Winnipeg Jets' Gary Smith. Playoff bracket Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals 170 New England Whalers 2 Cincinnati Stingers 1 Edmonton Oilers 4 4 New England Whalers 3 Quebec Nordiques 0 Winnipeg Jets 4 1 Edmonton Oilers 2 3 Winnipeg Jets 4 WHA awards Trophies Avco World Trophy: Winnipeg JetsGordie Howe Trophy: Dave Dryden, Edmonton OilersBill Hunter Trophy: Réal Cloutier, Quebec NordiquesLou Kaplan Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers Ben Hatskin Trophy: Dave Dryden, Edmonton OilersDennis A. Murphy Trophy: Rick Ley, New England WhalersPaul Deneau Trophy: Kent Nilsson, Winnipeg JetsRobert Schmertz Memorial Trophy: John Brophy, Birmingham BullsWHA Playoff MVP: Rich Preston, Winnipeg Jets All-Star Team Position First Team Second Team Centre Robbie Ftorek, Cincinnati Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Right Wing Real Cloutier, Quebec Blair MacDonald, Edmonton Left Wing Mark Howe, New England Morris Lukowich, Winnipeg Defence Rick Ley, New England Dave Langevin, Edmonton Defence Rob Ramage, Birmingham Paul Shmyr, Edmonton Goaltender Dave Dryden, Edmonton Richard Brodeur, Quebec See also 1978–79 NHL season 1979 NHL Expansion Draft 1978 in sports 1979 in sports References Notes Bibliography The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association, p. 219, McLelland and Stewart, Toronto, ON, 0-7710-8947-3. External links HockeyDB 1977–78 WHA season None1 WHA seasons 1 Four of the WHA teams were admitted to the NHL as expansion franchises instead—the New England/Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, and Winnipeg Jets. 2 2 Category:World Hockey Association seasons WHA WHA WHA