The Summit in 1974
WHA 72-79
WHA MVP 1977
Gordie Howe Trophy
1977
Robbie Ftorek
C, Phoenix Roadrunners

 

SEVEN SEASONS: WHA 1976-77

SEASON FIVE: Timeline by Paul Newberry

The league remains at 12 teams, but not without more franchise shifts. Toronto becomes the Birmingham Bulls. Cleveland tries to move to South Florida but winds up in St. Paul as a second incarnation of the Minnesota Fighting Saints. It fares even worse than the original team, folding after 42 games. Quebec wins its only WHA championship, beating Winnipeg in the final.

 WHA Regular Season

EASTERN DIVISION GP W L T PTS GF GA PIM
Quebec Nordiques 81 47 31 3 97 353 295 1485
Cincinnati Stingers 81 39 37 5 83 354 303 970
Indianapolis Racers 81 36 37 8 80 276 305 880
New-England Whalers 81 35 40 6 76 275 290 1254
Birmingham Bulls 81 31 46 4 66 289 309 1179
Minnesota Fighting Saints* 42 19 18 5 43 136 129 600
WESTERN DIVISION GP W L T PTS GF GA PIM
Houston Aeros 80 50 24 6 106 320 241 1432
Winnipeg Jets 80 46 32 2 94 366 291 991
San-Diego Mariners 81 40 37 4 84 284 283 834
Edmonton Oilers 81 34 43 4 72 243 304 1319
Calgary Cowboys 81 31 43 7 69 252 296 832
Phoenix Roadrunners 80 28 48 4 60 281 383 915

Notes:
  * Suspended operations after 42 games

AVCO World Trophy Playoffs

First Round:
Quebec 4 New England 1
Indianapolis 4 Cincinnati 0
Houston 4 Edmonton 1
Winnipeg 4 San Diego 3
Second Round:
Quebec 4 Indianapolis 1
Winnipeg 4 Houston 2

AVCO Cup:
Quebec over Winnipeg, 4 games to 3

Bill Hunter Trophy Scoring Leader

Year Player Gm G A Pts
1977 Real Cloutier, Quebec Nordiques 76 66 75 141

Ben Hatskin Trophy Best Goaltender

Year Player Record GAA
1977 Ron Grahame, Houston Aeros 27-10-2 2.74

Dennis A. Murphy Trophy Best Defenseman

Year Player
1977 Ron Plumb, Cincinnati Stingers

Lou Kaplan Trophy Rookie of the Year

Year Player G A Pts
1977 George Lyle, LW, New England Whalers 39 33 72

Paul Deneau Trophy Most Gentlmenly Player

Year Player
1977 Dave Keon, New England Whalers

Howard Baldwin Trophy Coach of the Year

Year Coach    Improvement
1977 Bill Dineen, Houston Aeros 53-27-0* to 50-24-6*

Note: *Won Division.

All WHA WHA All Star Teams

Pos 1st Team 2nd Team
G John Garrett
Birmingham
Joe Daley
Winnipeg
D Darryl Maggs
Indianapolis
Poul Popiel
Houston
D Ron Plumb
Cincinnati
Mark Howe
Houston
C Robbie Ftorek
Phoenix
Ulf Nilsson
Winnipeg
LW Anders Hedberg
Winnipeg
Real Cloutier
Quebec
RW Marc Tardif
Quebec
Rick Dudley
Cincinnati

WHA Annual All-Star Game 1/18/77 Hartford, Connecticut

East 4, West 2
Attendance: 10,337
MVPs: Louis Levasseur, Willy Lindstrom

WEST LINEUP EAST LINEUP
G Wayne Rutledge Houston
G Joe Daley Winnipeg
D Tommie Bergman Winnipeg
D Paul Shmyr Cleveland
D Kevin Morrison San Diego
D Barry Wilkins Edmonton
D Poul Popiel Houston
D Paul Terbenche Calgary
F Bobby Hull Winnipeg
F Anders Hedberg Winnipeg
F Ulf Nilsson Winnipeg
F Andre Lacroix San Diego
F Robbie Ftorek Phoenix
F Gordie Howe Houston
F Norm Ferguson San Diego
F Danny Lawson Calgary
F Cam Connor Houston
F Del Hall Phoenix
F Willy Lindstrom Winnipeg
F Joe Noris San Diego
G Lou Levasseur Minnesota/Edmonton
G John Garrett Birmingham
D Pat Stapleton Indianapolis
D JC Tremblay Quebec
D Ron Plumb Cincinnati
D Gordie Roberts New England
D John Hughes Cincinnati
D Tommy Abrahamsson New England
F Serge Bernier Quebec
F Real Cloutier Quebec
F Marc Tardif Quebec
F Michel Parizeau Indianapolis
F Hugh Harris Indianapolis
F Mark Napier Birmingham
F Mike Rogers New England
F Blair MacDonald Indianapolis
F George Lyle New England
F Dennis Sobchuk Cincinnati
F Rich Leduc Cincinnati
F Ralph Backstrom New England
Coach: Bobby Kromm Coach: Jacques Demers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Summit in 1974