The Summit in 1974
WHA 72-79
WHA MVP 1976
Gordie Howe Trophy
1976
Marc Tardif
LW, Quebec Nordiques

 

SEVEN SEASONS: WHA 1975-76

SEASON FOUR: Timeline by Paul Newberry

Vancouver morphs into the Calgary Cowboys, while Cincinnati Stingers and Denver Spurs are added as expansion teams, keeping the league at 14 teams. It will be 12 by the time the season concludes. Denver moves to Ottawa in January, plays three games as the Civics and folds. Minnesota closes shop a month later. A brawl during the playoffs in Quebec seriously injures Marc Tardif, the league's top scorer. Winnipeg wins its first Avco World Trophy.

 WHA Regular Season

CANADIAN DIVISION GP W L T PTS GF GA PIM
Winnipeg Jets 81 52 27 2 106 345 254 940
Quebec Nordiques 81 50 27 4 104 371 316 1654
Calgary Cowboys 80 41 35 4 86 307 282 1064
Edmonton Oilers 81 27 49 5 59 268 345 991
Toronto Toros 81 24 52 5 53 335 398 1099
EASTERN DIVISION GP W L T PTS GF GA PIM
Indianapolis Racers 80 35 39 6 76 245 247 1301
Cleveland Crusaders 80 35 40 5 75 273 279 1356
New-England Whalers 80 33 40 7 73 255 290 1012
Cincinnati Stingers 80 35 44 1 71 285 340 1344
WESTERN DIVISION GP W L T PTS GF GA PIM
Houston Aeros 80 53 27 0 106 341 263 1093
Phoenix Roadrunners 80 39 35 6 84 302 287 1292
San-Diego Mariners 80 36 38 6 78 303 290 716
Minnesota Fighting Saints* 59 30 25 4 64 211 212 1354
Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics** 41 14 26 1 29 134 172 536

Notes:
  * Suspended operations after 59 games;
** Suspended operations after 41 games

AVCO World Trophy Playoffs

First Round (best of 5):
New England 3 Cleveland 0
San Diego 3 Phoenix 2
Second Round:
Winnipeg 4 Edmonton 0
Calgary 4 Quebec 1
New England 4 Indianapolis 3
Houston 4 San Diego 2
Third Round:
Winnipeg 4 Calgary 1
Houston 4 New England 3

AVCO Cup:
Winnipeg over Houston, 4 games to 0

Bill Hunter Trophy Scoring Leader

Year Player Gm G A Pts
1976 Marc Tardif,
Quebec Nordiques
81 71 77 148

Ben Hatskin Trophy Best Goaltender

Year Player Record GAA
1976 Michel Dion, Indianapolis Racers 14-15-1 2.74

Dennis A. Murphy Trophy Best Defenseman

Year Player
1976 Paul Shmyr,
Cleveland Crusaders

Lou Kaplan Trophy Rookie of the Year

Year Player G A Pts
1976 Mark Napier, RW, Toronto Toros 43 50 93

Paul Deneau Trophy Most Gentlmenly Player

Year Player
1976 Vaclav Nedomansky, Toronto Toros

Howard Baldwin Trophy Coach of the Year

Year Coach    Improvement
1976 Bobby Kromm, Winnipeg Jets 38-35-5 to 52-27-2*

Note: *Won Division.

All WHA WHA All Star Teams

Pos 1st Team 2nd Team
G Joe Daley
Winnipeg
Ron Grahame
Houston
D JC Tremblay
Quebec
Kevin Morrison
San Diego
D Paul Shmyr
Cleveland
Pat Stapleton
Indianapolis
C Ulf Nilsson
Winnipeg
Robbie Ftorek
Phoenix
LW Anders Hedberg
Winnipeg
Real Cloutier
Quebec
RW Marc Tardif
Quebec
Bobby Hull
Winnipeg

WHA Annual All-Star Game 1/13/76 Cleveland, Ohio

Canada 6, USA 1
Attendance: 15,491
MVPs: Real Cloutier, Paul Shmyr

CAN LINEUP US LINEUP
G Joe Daley Winnipeg
(Injured-Did Not Play)
G Don McLeod Calgary
G Jim Shaw Toronto
D Lars-Erik Sjoberg Winnipeg
D JC Tremblay Quebec
(Injured-Did Not Play)
D Barry Long Edmonton
D Larry Hornung Winnipeg
D Thommie Bergman Winnipeg
D John Miszuk Calgary
D Paul Terbenche Calgary
F Vaclav Nedomansky Toronto
F Bobby Hull Winnipeg
F Anders Hedberg Winnipeg
F Ulf Nilsson Winnipeg
F Marc Tardif Quebec
F Real Cloutier Quebec
F Serge Bernier Quebec
F Chris Bordeleau Quebec
F Frank Mahovlich Toronto
F Serge Bernier Quebec
F Danny Lawson Calgary
F Rusty Patenaude Edmonton
G Gerry Cheevers Cleveland
G Christer Abrahamsson New England
D Paul Shmyr Cleveland
D Pat Stapleton Indianapolis
D Kevin Morrison San Diego
D John Schella Houston
D Marty Howe Houston
D Rick Ley New England
F Andre LaCoix San Diego
F Gene Peacosh San Diego
F Gordie Howe Houston
F Dave Keon Minnesota
F Claude Larose Cincinnati
F Mike Walton Minnesota
F Robbie Ftorek Phoenix
F Wayne Carleton New England
F Mark Howe Houston
F Ralph Backstrom Denver
F Tom Webster New England
F Don Borgeson Denver
Coach: Jean-Guy Gendron Quebec Coach: Bill Dineen Houston

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Summit in 1974