1978–79 Winnipeg Jets season

1978–79 Winnipeg Jets (1972–96)
Avco Cup Champions
Division 3rd WHA
1978–79 record 39–35–6
Goals for 307
Goals against 306
Team information
General Manager John Ferguson
Coach Larry Hillman (28-27-6)
Tom McVie (11-8-0)
Captain Barry Long
Team leaders

This was the final year of the World Hockey Association before the league folded.

Regular season

Hillman 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

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points

WHA Team GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Edmonton Oilers 80 48 30 2 98 340 266 1220
Quebec Nordiques 80 41 34 5 87 288 271 1399
Winnipeg Jets 80 39 35 6 84 307 306 1342
New England Whalers 80 37 34 9 83 298 287 1090
Cincinnati Stingers 80 33 41 6 72 274 284 1651
Birmingham Bulls 80 32 42 6 70 286 311 1661
xIndianapolis Racers 25 5 18 2 12 78 130 557
#Soviet All-Stars 6 4 1 1 9 27 20 77
#Czechoslovakia 6 1 4 1 3 14 33 107
#Finland 1 0 1 0 0 4 8 2

x-team folded during season #-played limited schedule

Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1WOctober 13, 19785–4 OT @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 1–0–0
2WOctober 14, 19786–3 @ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) 2–0–0
3LOctober 15, 19783–4 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 2–1–0
4TOctober 18, 19784–4 New England Whalers (1978–79) 2–1–1
5LOctober 22, 19782–6 Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 2–2–1
6WOctober 25, 19787–2 Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 3–2–1
7WOctober 27, 19786–4 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 4–2–1
8LOctober 28, 19782–3 @ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) 4–3–1
9TOctober 29, 19783–3 Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) 4–3–2
10LNovember 3, 19783–4 OT @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 4–4–2
11WNovember 5, 19786–2 Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) 5–4–2
12WNovember 7, 19782–1 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 6–4–2
13LNovember 9, 19785–6 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 6–5–2
14LNovember 10, 19782–3 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 6–6–2
15LNovember 12, 19784–6 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 6–7–2
16LNovember 15, 19782–5 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 6–8–2
17WNovember 17, 197810–6 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 7–8–2
18WNovember 19, 19785–2 Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) 8–8–2
19LNovember 22, 19782–5 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 8–9–2
20WNovember 23, 19785–1 @ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) 9–9–2
21TNovember 26, 19782–2 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 9–9–3
22WNovember 29, 19784–2 New England Whalers (1978–79) 10–9–3
23LDecember 1, 19785–6 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 10–10–3
24LDecember 3, 19783–5 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 10–11–3
25WDecember 7, 19789–4 @ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) 11–11–3
26TDecember 10, 19784–4 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 11–11–4
27LDecember 14, 19783–4 Soviet All-Stars (1978–79) 11–12–4
28WDecember 17, 19786–3 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 12–12–4
29WDecember 22, 19785–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 13–12–4
30WDecember 26, 19785–3 Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 14–12–4
31LDecember 27, 19783–5 @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 14–13–4
32TJanuary 1, 19793–3 Czechoslovakia (1978–79) 14–13–5
33WJanuary 7, 19793–2 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 15–13–5
34WJanuary 9, 19794–3 OT Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 16–13–5
35WJanuary 12, 19793–1 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 17–13–5
36WJanuary 13, 19793–1 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 18–13–5
37WJanuary 14, 19794–2 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 19–13–5
38LJanuary 16, 19791–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 19–14–5
39LJanuary 17, 19793–6 Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 19–15–5
40LJanuary 19, 19792–7 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 19–16–5
41LJanuary 20, 19791–10 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 19–17–5
42WJanuary 21, 19793–1 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 20–17–5
43TJanuary 24, 19795–5 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 20–17–6
44WJanuary 27, 19794–2 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 21–17–6
45LJanuary 28, 19796–8 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 21–18–6
46LJanuary 30, 19792–5 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 21–19–6
47WJanuary 31, 19796–3 Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 22–19–6
48WFebruary 2, 19794–2 Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 23–19–6
49WFebruary 4, 19798–1 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 24–19–6
50WFebruary 7, 19793–2 Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 25–19–6
51LFebruary 9, 19790–4 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 25–20–6
52LFebruary 10, 19792–7 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 25–21–6
53WFebruary 14, 19795–1 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 26–21–6
54LFebruary 16, 19791–2 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 26–22–6
55LFebruary 17, 19794–6 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 26–23–6
56LFebruary 18, 19791–7 New England Whalers (1978–79) 26–24–6
57LFebruary 20, 19792–5 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 26–25–6
58WFebruary 21, 19795–2 New England Whalers (1978–79) 27–25–6
59LFebruary 23, 19791–9 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 27–26–6
60WFebruary 25, 19797–5 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 28–26–6
61LFebruary 27, 19792–5 Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 28–27–6
62LMarch 2, 19791–4 New England Whalers (1978–79) 28–28–6
63LMarch 6, 19794–5 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 28–29–6
64WMarch 7, 19795–3 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 29–29–6
65WMarch 11, 19797–2 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 30–29–6
66LMarch 14, 19792–4 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 30–30–6
67WMarch 16, 19795–3 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 31–30–6
68WMarch 18, 19794–2 Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 32–30–6
69LMarch 21, 19794–7 Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 32–31–6
70WMarch 23, 19796–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 33–31–6
71WMarch 28, 19796–3 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 34–31–6
72LMarch 30, 19790–2 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 34–32–6
73WApril 1, 19797–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 35–32–6
74LApril 4, 19792–4 New England Whalers (1978–79) 35–33–6
75LApril 6, 19791–2 Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 35–34–6
76WApril 8, 19796–4 New England Whalers (1978–79) 36–34–6
77WApril 10, 19796–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 37–34–6
78WApril 11, 19792–1 Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 38–34–6
79WApril 15, 19795–4 OT Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 39–34–6
80LApril 18, 19793–9 @ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 39–35–6

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Nilsson, KentKent Nilsson C 78 39 68 107 8180
Lukowich, MorrisMorris Lukowich LW 80 65 34 99 11926160
Sullivan, PeterPeter Sullivan C 80 46 40 86 24-692
Ruskowski, TerryTerry Ruskowski C 75 20 66 86 2111361
Lindstrom, WillyWilly Lindstrom RW 79 26 36 62 227110
Preston, RichRich Preston RW 80 28 32 60 88-561
Long, BarryBarry Long D 80 5 36 41 42-200
Lesuk, BillBill Lesuk LW 79 17 15 32 44-1400
Moffat, LyleLyle Moffat LW 70 14 18 32 38-1401
Guindon, BobbyBobby Guindon LW 71 8 18 26 21-1200
Gray, JohnJohn Gray RW 57 10 15 25 51-760
Terbenche, PaulPaul Terbenche D 68 3 22 25 12-100
Amodeo, MikeMike Amodeo D 64 4 18 22 29-100
Campbell, ScottScott Campbell D 74 3 15 18 248500
MacKinnon, PaulPaul MacKinnon D 73 2 15 17 70-300
Hicks, GlennGlenn Hicks LW 69 6 10 16 48-200
Eriksson, RolandRoland Eriksson C 33 5 10 15 2-530
West, SteveSteve West C 18 3 11 14 6610
Clackson, KimKim Clackson D 71 0 12 12 210-600
Hull, BobbyBobby Hull LW 4 2 3 5 0110
Davis, BillBill Davis D 5 1 2 3 0-200
Sjoberg, Lars-ErikLars-Erik Sjoberg D 9 0 3 3 2-100
Smith, GaryGary Smith G 11 0 3 3 2000
Green, TedTed Green D 20 0 2 2 16-700
Daley, JoeJoe Daley G 23 0 1 1 2000
Gibson, JohnJohn Gibson D 9 0 1 1 5100
Mattsson, MarkusMarkus Mattsson G 52 0 1 1 4000
Gosselin, RichRich Gosselin C 3 0 0 0 0-100
Yakiwchuk, DaleDale Yakiwchuk C 4 0 0 0 0100
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Mattsson, MarkusMarkus Mattsson 2990 52 25 21 3 181 3.63 0
Daley, JoeJoe Daley 1256 23 7 11 3 90 4.30 0
Smith, GaryGary Smith 626 11 7 3 0 31 2.97 0
Team: 4872 80 39 35 6 302 3.72 0

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Lindstrom, WillyWilly Lindstrom RW 10 10 5 15 91
Lukowich, MorrisMorris Lukowich LW 10 8 7 15 211
Sullivan, PeterPeter Sullivan C 10 5 9 14 21
Nilsson, KentKent Nilsson C 10 3 11 14 40
Preston, RichRich Preston RW 10 8 5 13 150
Ruskowski, TerryTerry Ruskowski C 8 1 12 13 231
MacKinnon, PaulPaul MacKinnon D 10 2 5 7 40
Long, BarryBarry Long D 10 2 3 5 00
West, SteveSteve West C 6 2 3 5 20
Eriksson, RolandRoland Eriksson C 10 1 4 5 00
Clackson, KimKim Clackson D 9 0 5 5 280
Moffat, LyleLyle Moffat LW 10 3 1 4 222
Lesuk, BillBill Lesuk LW 10 1 3 4 61
Guindon, BobbyBobby Guindon LW 7 2 1 3 00
Sjoberg, Lars-ErikLars-Erik Sjoberg D 10 1 2 3 41
Hicks, GlennGlenn Hicks LW 7 1 1 2 40
Terbenche, PaulPaul Terbenche D 10 1 1 2 40
Campbell, ScottScott Campbell D 10 0 2 2 250
Smith, GaryGary Smith G 10 0 1 1 40
Daley, JoeJoe Daley G 3 0 0 0 00
Gray, JohnJohn Gray RW 1 0 0 0 00
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Smith, GaryGary Smith 563 10 8 2 35 3.73 0
Daley, JoeJoe Daley 37 3 0 0 3 4.86 0
Team: 600 10 8 2 38 3.80 0

[1]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

See also

References

  1. ↑ "1978-79 Winnipeg Jets Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.

External links