1976–77 WHA season
| |
---|---|
League | World Hockey Association |
Sport | Ice hockey |
Regular season | |
Top scorer | Real Cloutier (Quebec) |
Avco World Trophy | |
Finals champions | Quebec Nordiques |
Runners-up | Winnipeg Jets |
WHA seasons | |
← 1975–76 1977–78 → | |
The 1976–77 WHA season was the fifth season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Prior to the season, the Toronto Toros moved to Birmingham, AL and became the Bulls. The Cleveland Crusaders attempted to move to South Florida but legal problems resulted in them moving to Minnesota to become the second version of the Fighting Saints. They met with little success there and folded after playing 42 games. The remaining 11 teams competed in the league, playing 80 or 81 games in the regular season. The Avco World Trophy Winners were the Quebec Nordiques.
Regular season standings
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quebec Nordiques | 81 | 47 | 31 | 3 | 353 | 295 | 97 |
Cincinnati Stingers | 81 | 39 | 37 | 5 | 354 | 303 | 83 |
Indianapolis Racers | 81 | 36 | 37 | 8 | 276 | 305 | 80 |
New England Whalers | 81 | 35 | 40 | 6 | 275 | 290 | 76 |
Birmingham Bulls | 81 | 31 | 46 | 4 | 289 | 309 | 66 |
Minnesota Fighting Saints | 42 | 19 | 18 | 5 | 136 | 129 | 43 |
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Houston Aeros | 80 | 50 | 24 | 6 | 320 | 241 | 106 |
Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 46 | 32 | 2 | 366 | 291 | 94 |
San Diego Mariners | 81 | 40 | 37 | 4 | 284 | 283 | 85 |
Edmonton Oilers | 81 | 34 | 43 | 4 | 243 | 304 | 72 |
Calgary Cowboys | 81 | 31 | 43 | 7 | 252 | 296 | 69 |
Phoenix Roadrunners | 80 | 28 | 48 | 4 | 281 | 383 | 60 |
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 | 76 | 66 | 75 | 141 | 39 |
Anders Hedberg | Winnipeg Jets | 68 | 70 | 61 | 131 | 48 |
Ulf Nilsson | Winnipeg Jets | 71 | 39 | 85 | 124 | 89 |
Robbie Ftorek | Phoenix Roadrunners | 80 | 46 | 71 | 117 | 86 |
Andre Lacroix | San Diego Mariners | 81 | 32 | 82 | 114 | 79 |
Marc Tardif | Quebec Nordiques | 62 | 49 | 60 | 109 | 65 |
Rich Leduc | Cincinnati Stingers | 81 | 52 | 55 | 107 | 75 |
Chris Bordeleau | Quebec Nordiques | 72 | 32 | 75 | 107 | 34 |
Blaine Stoughton | Cincinnati Stingers | 81 | 52 | 52 | 104 | 39 |
Mark Napier | Birmingham Bulls | 80 | 60 | 36 | 96 | 24 |
Dennis Sobchuk | Cincinnati Stingers | 81 | 44 | 52 | 96 | 38 |
Serge Bernier | Quebec Nordiques | 74 | 43 | 53 | 96 | 94 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ron Grahame | Houston Aeros | 39 | 2345 | 27 | 10 | 2 | 107 | 4 | 90.1 | 2.74 |
Ernie Wakely | San Diego Mariners | 46 | 2506 | 22 | 18 | 1 | 129 | 3 | 89.6 | 3.09 |
Cap Raeder | New England Whalers | 26 | 1328 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 69 | 2 | 90.2 | 3.12 |
Wayne Rutledge | Houston Aeros | 42 | 2512 | 23 | 14 | 4 | 132 | 3 | 89.8 | 3.15 |
Joe Daley | Winnipeg Jets | 65 | 3813 | 39 | 21 | 2 | 206 | 3 | 89.2 | 3.24 |
Avco World Trophy Playoffs
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
E1 | Quebec Nordiques | 4 | ||||||||||||
E4 | New England Whalers | 1 | ||||||||||||
E1 | Quebec Nordiques | 4 | ||||||||||||
Eastern Division | ||||||||||||||
E3 | Indianapolis Racers | 1 | ||||||||||||
E2 | Cincinnati Stingers | 0 | ||||||||||||
E3 | Indianapolis Racers | 4 | ||||||||||||
E1 | Quebec Nordiques | 4 | ||||||||||||
W2 | Winnipeg Jets | 3 | ||||||||||||
W1 | Houston Aeros | 4 | ||||||||||||
W4 | Edmonton Oilers | 1 | ||||||||||||
W1 | Houston Aeros | 2 | ||||||||||||
Western Division | ||||||||||||||
W2 | Winnipeg Jets | 4 | ||||||||||||
W2 | Winnipeg Jets | 4 | ||||||||||||
W3 | San Diego Mariners | 3 | ||||||||||||
WHA awards
Trophies
All-Star Team
Position | First Team | Second Team |
---|---|---|
Centre | Robbie Ftorek, Phoenix | Ulf Nilsson, Winnipeg |
Right Wing | Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg | Real Cloutier, Quebec |
Left Wing | Marc Tardif, Quebec | Rick Dudley, Cincinnati |
Defence | Darryl Maggs, Indianapolis | Poul Popiel, Houston |
Defence | Ron Plumb, Cincinnati | Mark Howe, Houston |
Goaltender | John Garrett, Birmingham | Joe Daley, Winnipeg |
References
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