1977–78 Edmonton Oilers season

1977–78 Edmonton Oilers
Division	5th WHA
1977–78 record	38–39–3
Home record	24–15–2
Road record	14–24–1
Goals for	309 (4th)
Goals against	307 (4th)
Team information
General Manager	Brian Conacher
Coach	Glen Sather
Captain	Paul Shmyr
Alternate captains	Ron Busniuk Ron Chipperfield Al Hamilton
Arena	Northlands Coliseum
Team leaders
Goals	Bill Flett (41)
Assists	Ron Chipperfield (52)
Points	Ron Chipperfield (85)
Penalties in minutes	Ron Busniuk (157)
Plus/minus	Al Hamilton (+24)
Wins	Dave Dryden (21)
Goals against average	Dave Dryden (3.49)
<1976–77	1978–79>

The 1977–78 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' sixth season of operation. The Oilers placed fifth to qualify for the playoffs, losing in the first round.

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

WHA Team	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Winnipeg Jets	50	28	2	102	381	270	988
New England Whalers	44	31	5	93	335	269	1255
Houston Aeros	42	34	4	88	296	302	1543
Quebec Nordiques	40	37	3	83	349	347	1185
Edmonton Oilers	38	39	3	79	309	307	1296
Birmingham Bulls	36	41	3	75	287	314	2177
Cincinnati Stingers	35	42	3	73	298	332	1701
Indianapolis Racers	24	51	5	53	267	353	1189
Soviet All-Stars	3	4	1	7	27	36	120
Czechoslovakia All-Stars	1	6	1	3	21	40	87

Game log

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 12, 1977	3–7	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	0–1–0
2	W	October 14, 1977	4–2	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	1–1–0
3	L	October 15, 1977	2–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	1–2–0
4	L	October 19, 1977	3–6	New England Whalers (1977–78)	1–3–0
5	L	October 26, 1977	7–8 OT	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	1–4–0
6	W	October 28, 1977	3–2	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	2–4–0
7	L	October 30, 1977	2–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	2–5–0
8	L	November 2, 1977	3–6	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	2–6–0
9	W	November 4, 1977	3–1	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	3–6–0
10	W	November 6, 1977	7–1	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	4–6–0
11	L	November 8, 1977	3–7	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	4–7–0
12	L	November 10, 1977	3–5	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	4–8–0
13	W	November 11, 1977	3–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	5–8–0
14	T	November 12, 1977	1–1	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	5–8–1
15	W	November 16, 1977	6–4	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	6–8–1
16	W	November 18, 1977	4–3 OT	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	7–8–1
17	L	November 20, 1977	4–5 OT	New England Whalers (1977–78)	7–9–1
18	W	November 22, 1977	4–2	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	8–9–1
19	L	November 24, 1977	4–5 OT	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	8–10–1
20	W	November 26, 1977	3–1	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	9–10–1
21	W	November 30, 1977	4–2	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	10–10–1
22	L	December 2, 1977	5–7	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	10–11–1
23	W	December 4, 1977	3–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	11–11–1
24	W	December 7, 1977	5–4 OT	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	12–11–1
25	L	December 9, 1977	3–5	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	12–12–1
26	L	December 11, 1977	2–4	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	12–13–1
27	W	December 14, 1977	6–1	Czechoslovakia (1977–78)	13–13–1
28	L	December 18, 1977	2–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	13–14–1
29	L	December 20, 1977	4–6	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	13–15–1
30	W	December 21, 1977	5–2	Soviet All-Stars (1977–78)	14–15–1
31	W	December 27, 1977	9–3	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	15–15–1
32	W	December 30, 1977	8–5	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	16–15–1
33	L	January 1, 1978	1–2	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	16–16–1
34	L	January 6, 1978	1–4	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	16–17–1
35	W	January 8, 1978	4–2	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	17–17–1
36	W	January 11, 1978	2–0	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	18–17–1
37	L	January 13, 1978	0–2	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	18–18–1
38	L	January 14, 1978	4–7	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	18–19–1
39	W	January 15, 1978	4–3 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	19–19–1
40	W	January 18, 1978	1–0	New England Whalers (1977–78)	20–19–1
41	L	January 20, 1978	3–5	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	20–20–1
42	W	January 21, 1978	3–2	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	21–20–1
43	L	January 22, 1978	2–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	21–21–1
44	W	January 25, 1978	6–2	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	22–21–1
45	W	January 27, 1978	9–6	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	23–21–1
46	L	January 29, 1978	3–4	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	23–22–1
47	W	January 31, 1978	6–4	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	24–22–1
48	L	February 1, 1978	3–4	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	24–23–1
49	W	February 3, 1978	6–3	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	25–23–1
50	W	February 4, 1978	4–3 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	26–23–1
51	L	February 5, 1978	3–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	26–24–1
52	T	February 8, 1978	6–6	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	26–24–2
53	W	February 12, 1978	7–0	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	27–24–2
54	W	February 14, 1978	4–1	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	28–24–2
55	L	February 15, 1978	5–6	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	28–25–2
56	W	February 17, 1978	6–4	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	29–25–2
57	W	February 19, 1978	4–3 OT	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	30–25–2
58	L	February 22, 1978	5–6	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	30–26–2
59	W	February 24, 1978	5–4 OT	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	31–26–2
60	L	February 26, 1978	5–6	New England Whalers (1977–78)	31–27–2
61	L	March 1, 1978	4–6	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	31–28–2
62	L	March 3, 1978	6–8	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	31–29–2
63	W	March 5, 1978	4–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	32–29–2
64	L	March 7, 1978	3–4	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	32–30–2
65	L	March 9, 1978	5–6	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	32–31–2
66	L	March 11, 1978	0–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	32–32–2
67	L	March 14, 1978	3–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	32–33–2
68	L	March 15, 1978	4–8	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	32–34–2
69	W	March 17, 1978	6–2	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	33–34–2
70	W	March 19, 1978	4–2	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	34–34–2
71	L	March 22, 1978	3–5	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	34–35–2
72	W	March 24, 1978	4–0	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	35–35–2
73	L	March 26, 1978	3–5	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	35–36–2
74	W	March 28, 1978	4–3 OT	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	36–36–2
75	L	March 30, 1978	1–5	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	36–37–2
76	L	March 31, 1978	2–5	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	36–38–2
77	W	April 1, 1978	4–1	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	37–38–2
78	L	April 4, 1978	1–9	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	37–39–2
79	T	April 5, 1978	4–4	New England Whalers (1977–78)	37–39–3
80	W	April 7, 1978	4–2	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	38–39–3

Playoffs

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Chipperfield, RonRon Chipperfield C 80 33 52 85 48 1 11 1 0 Flett, BillBill Flett RW 74 41 28 69 34 9 8 1 0 MacDonald, BlairBlair MacDonald RW 80 34 34 68 11 -12 7 4 0 Zuke, MikeMike Zuke C 71 23 34 57 47 1 2 3 0 Hamilton, AlAl Hamilton D 59 11 43 54 46 24 6 0 0 Callighen, BrettBrett Callighen C 80 20 30 50 112 5 1 0 0 Shmyr, PaulPaul Shmyr D 80 9 40 49 100 -9 3 0 0 Micheletti, JoeJoe Micheletti D 56 14 34 48 56 8 3 0 0 Ferguson, NormNorm Ferguson RW 71 26 21 47 2 14 8 0 0 Widing, JuhaJuha Widing C 71 18 24 42 8 10 0 1 0 Guite, PierrePierre Guite LW 60 12 21 33 71 -7 2 0 0 Rota, RandyRandy Rota C/LW 53 8 22 30 12 11 0 0 0 Langevin, DaveDave Langevin D 62 6 22 28 90 11 1 0 0 Campbell, BryanBryan Campbell C 53 7 13 20 12 -17 2 0 0 Busniuk, RonRon Busniuk RW 59 2 18 20 157 -8 0 0 0 DeMarco, AbAb DeMarco D 47 6 8 14 20 -7 3 0 0 Jarry, PierrePierre Jarry LW 18 4 10 14 4 -1 0 0 0 MacGregor, GaryGary MacGregor C 37 11 2 13 29 -2 2 0 0 Semenko, DaveDave Semenko LW 65 6 6 12 140 -4 0 0 0 Sobchuk, DennisDennis Sobchuk C 13 6 3 9 4 -4 1 0 0 McLeod, DonDon McLeod G 33 0 8 8 2 0 0 0 0 Baird, KenKen Baird D 6 2 4 6 2 0 0 0 0 Miller, WarrenWarren Miller RW 18 2 4 6 18 1 0 0 0 McKay, RayRay McKay D 14 1 4 5 4 3 0 0 0 Deadmarsh, ButchButch Deadmarsh LW 20 1 3 4 32 -1 0 0 0 Holland, JerryJerry Holland LW 22 2 1 3 14 -1 1 0 0 Sandbeck, CalCal Sandbeck D 11 1 2 3 39 1 1 0 0 Troy, JimJim Troy RW 47 2 0 2 124 -11 0 0 0 Morris, RickRick Morris LW 5 1 1 2 7 -7 0 1 0 Topolnisky, CraigCraig Topolnisky D 10 0 2 2 4 -1 0 0 0 Dryden, DaveDave Dryden G 48 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Inkpen, DaveDave Inkpen D 19 0 1 1 16 -6 0 0 0 Lloyd, OwenOwen Lloyd D 3 0 1 1 4 -1 0 0 0 Pinder, GerryGerry Pinder LW 5 0 1 1 0 -1 0 0 0 Primeau, KevinKevin Primeau RW 7 0 1 1 2 -1 0 0 0 Ahrens, ChrisChris Ahrens D 4 0 0 0 15 -5 0 0 0 Broderick, KenKen Broderick G 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cross, JimJim Cross LW 2 0 0 0 0 -3 0 0 0 Falkenberg, BobBob Falkenberg D 2 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 Hall, DelDel Hall C 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 McMullen, DaleDale McMullen LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Turnbull, FrankFrank Turnbull G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Dryden, DaveDave Dryden 2578 48 21 23 2 150 3.49 2 McLeod, DonDon McLeod 1723 33 15 10 1 102 3.55 2 Broderick, KenKen Broderick 497 9 2 5 0 42 5.07 0 Turnbull, FrankFrank Turnbull 60 1 0 1 0 6 6.00 0 Team: 4858 80 38 39 3 300 3.71 4

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Zuke, MikeMike Zuke C 5 2 3 5 0 0 0 0 Shmyr, PaulPaul Shmyr D 5 1 3 4 11 0 0 0 Chipperfield, RonRon Chipperfield C 5 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Guite, PierrePierre Guite LW 5 1 1 2 20 0 0 1 MacDonald, BlairBlair MacDonald RW 5 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Rota, RandyRandy Rota C/LW 5 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 Callighen, BrettBrett Callighen C 5 0 2 2 16 0 0 0 Langevin, DaveDave Langevin D 5 0 2 2 10 0 0 0 Micheletti, JoeJoe Micheletti D 5 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 Jarry, PierrePierre Jarry LW 5 1 0 1 4 0 0 0 Sobchuk, DennisDennis Sobchuk C 5 1 0 1 4 0 0 0 McKay, RayRay McKay D 4 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 Widing, JuhaJuha Widing C 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Busniuk, RonRon Busniuk RW 5 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 DeMarco, AbAb DeMarco D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dryden, DaveDave Dryden G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ferguson, NormNorm Ferguson RW 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 McLeod, DonDon McLeod G 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Primeau, KevinKevin Primeau RW 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Sandbeck, CalCal Sandbeck D 5 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 Semenko, DaveDave Semenko LW 5 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 Troy, JimJim Troy RW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO McLeod, DonDon McLeod 207 4 1 3 16 4.64 1 Dryden, DaveDave Dryden 91 2 0 1 6 3.96 0 Team: 298 5 1 4 22 4.43 1

^[1]

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

Transactions

Roster

Draft picks

Farm teams

See also

• 1977–78 WHA season

References

• "1977–78 Edmonton Oilers Games". Hockey-reference.com. http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/EDO/1978_games.html. Retrieved 2009-05-06. 

External links

Edmonton Oilers Oilers Franchise NHL expansion draft History Players: NHL WHA Coaches General managers Seasons Records Draft picks NHL–WHA merger Owners Bill Hunter Nelson Skalbania Peter Pocklington Edmonton Investors Group Rexall Sports Culture Miracle on Manchester Heritage Classic Battle of Alberta Blue Mile Paul Lorieau Joey Moss Rod Phillips Oil Change Arenas Edmonton Gardens Rexall Place Edmonton Downtown arena Affiliates Oklahoma City Barons (AHL) Stockton Thunder (ECHL) The Edmonton portal

Edmonton Oilers seasons 1970s 1970–71 • 1971–72 • 1972–73 • 1973–74 • 1974–75 • 1975–76 • 1976–77 • 1977–78 • 1978–79 • 1979–80 1980s 1980–81 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84 • 1984–85 • 1985–86 • 1986–87 • 1987–88 • 1988–89 • 1989–90 1990s 1990–91 • 1991–92 • 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–00 2000s 2000–01 • 2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08 • 2008–09 • 2009–10 2010s 2010–11 • 2011–12 Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

1977–78 WHA season by team Birmingham • Cincinnati • Edmonton • Houston • Indianapolis • New England • Quebec • Winnipeg