1977–78 Houston Aeros season

1977–78 Houston Aeros (WHA)

Division

3rd WHA

1977–78 record

42–34–4

Goals for

296

Goals against

302

Team information

Coach

Bill Dineen

Team leaders

The 1977–78 Houston Aeros season was the Houston Aeros' sixth and final season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Aeros again qualified for the playoffs, but lost in the first round to the Quebec Nordiques.

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

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

^[1]

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG
Lacroix, AndreAndre Lacroix	C	78	36	77	113	57	8	7	0
Lukowich, MorrisMorris Lukowich	LW	80	40	35	75	131	13	13	0
Ruskowski, TerryTerry Ruskowski	C	78	15	57	72	170	13	3	1
Tonelli, JohnJohn Tonelli	LW	65	23	41	64	103	13	5	0
Larway, DonDon Larway	RW	69	24	35	59	52	1	5	0
Gray, JohnJohn Gray	RW	77	35	23	58	80	15	6	0
Preston, RichRich Preston	RW	73	25	25	50	52	3	7	3
Connor, CamCam Connor	RW	68	21	16	37	217	4	0	0
Campbell, ScottScott Campbell	D	75	8	29	37	116	10	1	0
Popiel, PoulPoul Popiel	D	80	6	31	37	53	-6	1	1
West, SteveSteve West	C	71	11	21	32	23	4	0	0
Schella, JohnJohn Schella	D	63	9	20	29	125	-2	4	0
Hughes, JohnJohn Hughes	D	79	3	25	28	130	20	1	0
Lund, LarryLarry Lund	C	76	9	17	26	36	-22	1	0
McLeod, AlAl McLeod	D	80	2	22	24	54	18	0	0
Hansis, RonRon Hansis	RW	78	13	9	22	51	0	1	0
Taylor, TedTed Taylor	LW	54	11	11	22	46	8	1	1
Hale, LarryLarry Hale	D	56	2	11	13	22	4	0	0
Hughes, FrankFrank Hughes	LW	11	3	2	5	2	-10	0	0
Wakely, ErnieErnie Wakely	G	51	0	4	4	2	0	0	0
Mortson, ClelandCleland Mortson	RW	6	0	1	1	7	-1	0	0
Irwin, GlenGlen Irwin	D	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mazur, JohnJohn Mazur	LW	1	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0
Rutledge, WayneWayne Rutledge	G	12	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Zimmerman, LynnLynn Zimmerman	G	20	0	0	0	4	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Wakely, ErnieErnie Wakely	3070	51	28	18	4	166	3.24	2
Zimmerman, LynnLynn Zimmerman	1166	20	10	9	0	84	4.32	0
Rutledge, WayneWayne Rutledge	634	12	4	7	0	47	4.45	0
Team:	4870	80	42	34	4	297	3.66	2

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GWG
Taylor, TedTed Taylor	LW	6	3	1	4	10	1
Lacroix, AndreAndre Lacroix	C	6	2	2	4	0	0
Tonelli, JohnJohn Tonelli	LW	6	1	3	4	8	0
Larway, DonDon Larway	RW	6	1	2	3	4	0
Lukowich, MorrisMorris Lukowich	LW	6	1	2	3	17	0
Gray, JohnJohn Gray	RW	6	0	3	3	10	0
Campbell, ScottScott Campbell	D	6	1	1	2	8	1
Hansis, RonRon Hansis	RW	6	1	1	2	4	0
Hughes, JohnJohn Hughes	D	6	1	1	2	6	0
Ruskowski, TerryTerry Ruskowski	C	4	1	1	2	5	0
Terbenche, PaulPaul Terbenche	D	6	1	1	2	0	0
Lund, LarryLarry Lund	C	6	0	2	2	2	0
Popiel, PoulPoul Popiel	D	6	0	2	2	13	0
Connor, CamCam Connor	RW	2	1	0	1	22	0
McLeod, AlAl McLeod	D	6	1	0	1	2	0
West, SteveSteve West	C	6	1	0	1	0	0
Mortson, ClelandCleland Mortson	RW	2	0	1	1	0	0
Schella, JohnJohn Schella	D	6	0	1	1	33	0
Rutledge, WayneWayne Rutledge	G	3	0	0	0	2	0
Zimmerman, LynnLynn Zimmerman	G	4	0	0	0	6	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA
Rutledge, WayneWayne Rutledge	239	3	1	2	21	5.27
Zimmerman, LynnLynn Zimmerman	131	4	1	2	8	3.66
Team:	370	6	2	4	29	4.70

^[2]

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;

References

↑ "1977–78 Houston Aeros Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
↑ "1977-78 Houston Aeros Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-28.

External links

1977–78 WHA season

Birmingham Cincinnati Edmonton Houston Indianapolis New England Quebec Winnipeg

Draft

1977–78 Houston Aeros season

Regular season

Final standings

Game log

Player stats

See also

References

External links