The Summit in 1974
WHA 72-79
WHA MVP 1979
Gordie Howe Trophy
1979
Dave Dryden
G, Edmonton Oilers

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

The Summit in 1974