SEVEN SEASONS: WHA 1978-79
SEASON SEVEN: Timeline by Paul
Newberry
Beginning of the end, but not before
Houston folds and 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky begins
his pro career with Indianapolis. Birmingham signs
a talented group of teenage juniors who will become
known as the Baby Bulls. Gretzky is sold to Edmonton
not long before the Racers go out of business. WHA
finishes season with six teams. Winnipeg wins the
final Avco World Trophy.
1979: The Edmonton Oilers, Hartford
(formerly New England) Whalers, Quebec Nordiques
and Winnipeg Jets are admitted to the NHL. Cincinnati
and Birmingham fold.
WHA Regular Season
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 |
Indianapolis Racers |
25 |
5 |
18 |
2 |
12 |
78 |
130 |
557 |
|
AVCO World Trophy Playoffs
First
Round (best of 3):
New England 2 Cincinnati 1
Quebec, Winnipeg, and Edmonton - bye
Second Round:
Winnipeg 4 Quebec 0
Edmonton 4 New England 3
AVCO Cup:
Winnipeg over Edmonton, 4 games to 2
Bill Hunter Trophy Scoring
Leader
Year |
Player |
Gm |
G |
A |
Pts |
1979 |
Real Cloutier, Quebec
Nordiques |
77 |
75 |
54 |
129 |
|
Ben Hatskin Trophy Best
Goaltender
Year
|
Player |
Record
|
GAA |
1979 |
Dave
Dryden,
Edmonton Oilers |
41-17-2 |
2.89 |
|
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy
Best Defenseman
Year
|
Player |
1979 |
Rick
Ley,
New England Whalers |
|
Lou Kaplan Trophy Rookie
of the Year
Year |
Player |
G |
A |
Pts |
1979 |
Wayne Gretzky, C, Indianapolis
Racers - Edmonton Oilers |
46 |
64 |
110 |
|
Paul Deneau Trophy
Most Gentlmenly Player
Year
|
Player |
1979 |
Kent Nilsson, Winnipeg
Jets |
|
Howard Baldwin Trophy Coach
of the Year
Year |
Coach |
Improvement |
1979 |
John Brophy, Birmingham
Bulls |
36-41-3 |
to |
32-42-6 |
|
All WHA WHA
All Star Teams
Pos
|
1st
Team |
2nd
Team |
G |
Dave Dryden
Edmonton
|
Richard
Brodeur
Quebec
|
D |
Rick
Ley
New England |
Dave
Langevin
Edmonton |
D |
Rob
Ramage
Birmingham |
Paul
Shmyr
Edmonton |
C |
Robbie
Ftorek
Phoenix |
Wayne
Gretzky
Edmonton |
LW |
Real
Cloutier
Quebec |
BJ
MacDonald
Edmonton |
RW |
Mark
Howe
New England
|
Morris
Lukowich
Winnipeg |
|
WHA Annual All-Star Game
Edmonton, Alberta
WHA 4, Moscow 2 Attendance: 8,038
WHA 4, Moscow 2 Attendance: 11,220
WHA 4, Moscow 3 Attendance: 15,590
WHA
LINEUP |
DYNAMO
LINEUP |
G Dave Dryden Edmonton
G Markus Mattsson Winnipeg
D Paul Shmyr Edmonton
D Claire Alexander Edmonton
D Barry Long Winnipeg
D Rick Ley New England
D John Hughes Edmonton
D Rob Ramage Birmingham
F Wayne Gretzky Edmonton
F Blair MacDonald Edmonton
F Real Cloutier Quebec
F Marc Tardif Quebec
F Mark Howe New England
F Dave Keon New England
F Gordie Howe New England
F Robbie Ftorek Cincinnati
F Morris Lukowich Winnipeg
F Peter Sullivan Winnipeg
F Rick Dudley Cincinnati
|
G Sergei Babariko
G Vladimir Polupanov
D Nikolai Makarov
D Viktor Khatulev
D Vasili Pausov
D Vitali Fillipov
D Alexander Fillipov
D Sergei Gimaev
D Alexei Volchenkov
D Vladimir Orlov
D Mikhail Slipchenko
F Victor Shkourdiouk
F VladimirVikulov
F Alexander Lobanov
F Alexei Volchkov
F Pavel Ezovskikh
F Vladimir Popov
F Alexei Frolikov
F Mikhail Shostak
F Vladimir Golubovich
F Vladimir Semenov
F Piotr Priordin
F Sergei Tukachev
F Viacheslav Anisin |
|
|