SEVEN SEASONS: WHA 1972-78
SEASON SIX: Timeline by Paul
Newberry
Merger talks with NHL produce tentative
agreement to admit six teams into the older league:
Cincinnati, Edmonton, Houston, New England, Quebec
and Winnipeg. But the plan falls through and WHA
begins its sixth season with an eight-team format.
San Diego, Calgary and Phoenix are folded. Howe
family moves to New England. Winnipeg wins its second
championship.
WHA Regular Season
TEAM |
GP |
W |
L |
T |
PTS |
GF |
GA |
PIM |
Winnipeg Jets |
80 |
50 |
28 |
2 |
102 |
381 |
270 |
988 |
New-England Whalers |
80 |
44 |
31 |
5 |
93 |
335 |
269 |
1255 |
Houston Aeros |
80 |
42 |
34 |
4 |
88 |
296 |
302 |
1543 |
Quebec Nordiques |
80 |
40 |
37 |
3 |
83 |
349 |
347 |
1185 |
Edmonton Oilers |
80 |
38 |
39 |
3 |
79 |
309 |
307 |
1296 |
Birmingham Bulls |
80 |
36 |
41 |
3 |
75 |
287 |
314 |
2177 |
Cincinnati Stingers |
80 |
35 |
42 |
3 |
73 |
298 |
332 |
1701 |
Indianapolis Racers |
80 |
24 |
51 |
5 |
53 |
267 |
353 |
1189 |
|
AVCO World Trophy Playoffs
First
Round:
New England 4 Edmonton 1
Quebec 4 Houston 2
Second Round:
Winnipeg 4 Birmingham 1
New England 4 Quebec 1
AVCO Cup:
Winnipeg over New England, 4 games to 0
Bill Hunter Trophy Scoring
Leader
Year |
Player |
Gm |
G |
A |
Pts |
1978 |
Marc
Tardif,
Quebec Nordiques |
78 |
65 |
89 |
154 |
|
Ben Hatskin Trophy Best
Goaltender
Year
|
Player |
Record
|
GAA |
1978 |
Al Smith, New England
Whalers |
30-20-3 |
3.22 |
|
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy
Best Defenseman
Year
|
Player |
1978 |
Lars-Erik Sjoberg,
Winnipeg Jets |
|
Lou Kaplan Trophy Rookie
of the Year
Year |
Player |
G |
A |
Pts |
1978 |
Kent Nilsson, C, Winnipeg
Jets |
42 |
65 |
107 |
|
Paul Deneau Trophy
Most Gentlmenly Player
Year
|
Player |
1978 |
Dave Keon, New England
Whalers |
|
Howard Baldwin Trophy Coach
of the Year
Year |
Coach |
Improvement |
1978 |
Bill Dineen, Houston
Aeros |
50-24-6* |
to |
42-34-4 |
|
Note: *Won Division.
WHA Annual All-Star Game
Quebec City, Quebec.
Quebec 5, WHA 4
Attendance: 6,413
MVP: Marc Tardif, Mark Howe
|