1978–79 Edmonton Oilers season

The 1978–79 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' seventh season of operation. The Oilers placed first and made it to the Avco Cup Final, losing to the Winnipeg Jets. This was the Oilers' last season in the WHA before the merger.

1978–79 Edmonton Oilers
Division	1st WHA
1978–79 record	48–30–2
Home record	29–11–1
Road record	19–19–1
Goals for	340 (1st)
Goals against	266 (1st)
Team information
General Manager	Larry Gordon
Coach	Glen Sather
Captain	Paul Shmyr
Alternate captains	Ron Chipperfield Peter Driscoll Al Hamilton Blair MacDonald
Arena	Northlands Coliseum
Team leaders
Goals	Wayne Gretzky (43)
Assists	Wayne Gretzky (61)
Points	Wayne Gretzky (104)
Penalty minutes	Dave Semenko (158)
Plus/minus	Paul Shmyr (+37)
Wins	Dave Dryden (41)
Goals against average	Dave Dryden (2.89)

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points

WHA 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
xIndianapolis Racers	25	5	18	2	12	78	130	557
#Soviet All-Stars	6	4	1	1	9	27	20	77
#Czechoslovakia	6	1	4	1	3	14	33	107
#Finland	1	0	1	0	0	4	8	2

x-team folded during season #-played limited schedule

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 13, 1978	3–2	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	1–0–0
2	L	October 17, 1978	1–2	New England Whalers (1978–79)	1–1–0
3	W	October 20, 1978	4–3	@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	2–1–0
4	L	October 21, 1978	3–4	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	2–2–0
5	W	October 22, 1978	6–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	3–2–0
6	L	October 24, 1978	2–3	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	3–3–0
7	L	October 29, 1978	2–6	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	3–4–0
8	L	October 31, 1978	4–5	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	3–5–0
9	W	November 3, 1978	4–3 OT	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	4–5–0
10	L	November 5, 1978	0–2	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	4–6–0
11	W	November 8, 1978	6–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	5–6–0
12	L	November 9, 1978	1–6	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	5–7–0
13	W	November 11, 1978	5–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	6–7–0
14	L	November 12, 1978	3–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	6–8–0
15	W	November 17, 1978	6–1	Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	7–8–0
16	W	November 19, 1978	6–3	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	8–8–0
17	W	November 21, 1978	4–1	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	9–8–0
18	W	November 24, 1978	4–3 OT	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	10–8–0
19	W	November 28, 1978	8–2	Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	11–8–0
20	W	December 1, 1978	8–2	New England Whalers (1978–79)	12–8–0
21	L	December 3, 1978	0–7	New England Whalers (1978–79)	12–9–0
22	L	December 6, 1978	3–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	12–10–0
23	L	December 7, 1978	3–5	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	12–11–0
24	L	December 9, 1978	2–6	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	12–12–0
25	L	December 10, 1978	4–6	@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	12–13–0
26	W	December 12, 1978	5–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	13–13–0
27	W	December 15, 1978	5–3	Soviet All-Stars (1978–79)	14–13–0
28	W	December 19, 1978	5–2	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	15–13–0
29	L	December 22, 1978	4–5	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	15–14–0
30	L	December 26, 1978	3–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	15–15–0
31	W	December 27, 1978	5–3	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	16–15–0
32	W	December 30, 1978	5–1	Czechoslovakia (1978–79)	17–15–0
33	L	January 9, 1979	3–4 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	17–16–0
34	W	January 13, 1979	3–0	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	18–16–0
35	W	January 16, 1979	3–1	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	19–16–0
36	W	January 17, 1979	6–3	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	20–16–0
37	W	January 19, 1979	11–3	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	21–16–0
38	L	January 21, 1979	3–4	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	21–17–0
39	W	January 23, 1979	5–1	New England Whalers (1978–79)	22–17–0
40	L	January 26, 1979	2–5	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	22–18–0
41	W	January 28, 1979	3–0	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	23–18–0
42	L	January 31, 1979	3–6	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	23–19–0
43	L	February 2, 1979	2–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	23–20–0
44	L	February 4, 1979	3–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	23–21–0
45	W	February 6, 1979	6–2	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	24–21–0
46	W	February 7, 1979	8–5	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	25–21–0
47	W	February 9, 1979	3–0	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	26–21–0
48	W	February 11, 1979	4–3 OT	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	27–21–0
49	W	February 13, 1979	6–1	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	28–21–0
50	W	February 16, 1979	4–2	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	29–21–0
51	W	February 18, 1979	6–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	30–21–0
52	W	February 20, 1979	8–2	New England Whalers (1978–79)	31–21–0
53	W	February 23, 1979	3–1	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	32–21–0
54	W	February 25, 1979	5–4	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	33–21–0
55	T	February 27, 1979	1–1	New England Whalers (1978–79)	33–21–1
56	W	March 2, 1979	5–2	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	34–21–1
57	W	March 3, 1979	6–4	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	35–21–1
58	L	March 6, 1979	3–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	35–22–1
59	L	March 7, 1979	3–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	35–23–1
60	T	March 9, 1979	4–4	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	35–23–2
61	W	March 11, 1979	4–0	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	36–23–2
62	L	March 13, 1979	1–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	36–24–2
63	W	March 16, 1979	6–1	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	37–24–2
64	L	March 18, 1979	2–7	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	37–25–2
65	W	March 20, 1979	8–4	Finland (1978–79)	38–25–2
66	W	March 21, 1979	7–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	39–25–2
67	L	March 23, 1979	4–6	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	39–26–2
68	W	March 25, 1979	6–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	40–26–2
69	L	March 28, 1979	0–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	40–27–2
70	W	March 30, 1979	3–1	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	41–27–2
71	W	April 1, 1979	5–3	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	42–27–2
72	W	April 3, 1979	5–1	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	43–27–2
73	L	April 4, 1979	2–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)	43–28–2
74	W	April 6, 1979	7–2	New England Whalers (1978–79)	44–28–2
75	W	April 8, 1979	5–4	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	45–28–2
76	L	April 10, 1979	4–6	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	45–29–2
77	W	April 13, 1979	6–4	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	46–29–2
78	L	April 14, 1979	6–7	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)	46–30–2
79	W	April 15, 1979	4–1	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	47–30–2
80	W	April 18, 1979	9–3	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)	48–30–2

Playoffs

Edmonton Oilers 4, New England Whalers 3 – Semifinals

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 26	New England	2 – 6	Edmonton	1–0
2	April 27	New England	5 – 9	Edmonton	2–0
3	April 29	Edmonton	1 – 4	New England	2–1
4	May 1	Edmonton	4 – 5	New England	2–2
5	May 3	New England	2 – 5	Edmonton	3–2
6	May 6	Edmonton	8 – 4	New England	3–3
7	May 8	New England	3 – 6	Edmonton	4–3

Winnipeg Jets 4, Edmonton Oilers 2 – Avco Cup Finals

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	May 11	Winnipeg Jets	3–1	Edmonton Oilers	0–1
2	May 13	Winnipeg Jets	3–2	Edmonton Oilers	0–2
3	May 15	Edmonton Oilers	8–3	Winnipeg Jets	1–2
4	May 16	Edmonton Oilers	2–3	Winnipeg Jets	1–3
5	May 18	Winnipeg Jets	2–10	Edmonton Oilers	2–3
6	May 20	Edmonton Oilers	3–7	Winnipeg Jets	2–4

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Wayne Gretzky C 72 43 61 104 19 23 9 0 0 Blair MacDonald RW 80 34 37 71 44 35 3 4 0 Brett Callighen C 71 31 39 70 79 29 12 0 0 Ron Chipperfield C 55 32 37 69 47 25 6 0 0 Bill Flett RW 73 28 36 64 14 26 9 0 0 Dennis Sobchuk C 74 26 37 63 31 24 6 1 0 Stan Weir C 68 31 30 61 20 24 3 0 0 Joe Micheletti D 72 14 33 47 85 10 3 0 0 Paul Shmyr D 80 8 39 47 119 37 0 0 0 Al Hamilton D 80 6 38 44 38 22 2 0 0 Steve Carlson C 73 18 22 40 50 15 4 3 0 Peter Driscoll LW 69 17 23 40 115 16 3 0 0 Dave Hunter LW 72 7 25 32 134 7 0 0 0 Claire Alexander D 54 8 23 31 16 -5 2 1 0 Dave Langevin D 77 6 21 27 76 33 3 0 0 Dave Semenko LW 77 10 14 24 158 -12 2 0 0 John Hughes D 41 2 15 17 82 22 0 0 0 Doug Berry C 29 6 3 9 4 -9 1 0 0 Garnet Bailey LW 38 5 4 9 22 -8 1 0 0 Dave Dryden G 63 0 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 Risto Siltanen D 20 3 4 7 4 4 0 0 0 Bill Goldsworthy RW 17 4 2 6 14 -3 0 0 0 Jim Neilson D 35 0 5 5 18 5 0 0 0 Pierre Guite LW 12 1 1 2 8 -5 1 0 0 Eddie Mio G 22 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Wes George LW 3 0 0 0 11 1 0 0 0 Hannu Kamppuri G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jim Mayer RW 2 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 Cal Sandbeck D 6 0 0 0 2 -2 0 0 0 Rudy Tajcnar D 2 0 0 0 0 -4 0 0 0 Ed Walsh G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Dave Dryden 3531 63 41 17 2 170 2.89 3 Eddie Mio 1068 22 7 10 0 71 3.99 1 Hannu Kamppuri 90 2 0 1 0 10 6.67 0 Ed Walsh 144 3 0 2 0 9 3.75 0 Team: 4833 80 48 30 2 260 3.23 4

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Wayne Gretzky C 13 10 10 20 2 0 0 1 Ron Chipperfield C 13 9 10 19 8 0 0 0 Blair MacDonald RW 13 8 10 18 6 0 0 0 Brett Callighen C 13 5 10 15 15 0 0 1 Dennis Sobchuk C 12 6 6 12 4 0 0 1 Al Hamilton D 13 4 5 9 4 0 0 0 Joe Micheletti D 13 0 9 9 2 0 0 0 Risto Siltanen D 11 0 9 9 4 0 0 0 Bill Flett RW 10 5 2 7 2 0 0 1 Stan Weir C 13 2 5 7 2 0 0 1 Peter Driscoll LW 13 1 6 7 8 0 0 0 Dave Semenko LW 11 4 2 6 29 0 0 0 Paul Shmyr D 13 1 5 6 23 0 0 0 Dave Hunter LW 13 2 3 5 42 0 0 0 Bengt-Ake Gustafsson RW 2 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 Steve Carlson C 11 1 1 2 12 0 0 0 Bill Goldsworthy RW 4 1 1 2 11 0 0 1 John Hughes D 13 1 0 1 35 0 0 0 Dave Dryden G 13 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Dave Langevin D 13 0 1 1 25 0 0 0 Garnet Bailey LW 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 Eddie Mio G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Dave Dryden 687 13 6 7 42 3.67 0 Eddie Mio 90 3 0 0 6 4.00 0 Team: 777 13 6 7 48 3.71 0

[1]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Awards and records

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached
Claire Alexander	1st WHA Game 1st WHA Goal 1st WHA Assist 1st WHA Point	October 13, 1978
Dave Hunter	1st WHA Game
Dave Hunter	1st WHA Assist 1st WHA Point	October 20, 1978
Ed Walsh	1st WHA Game	October 21, 1978
Doug Berry	1st WHA Goal 1st WHA Point	October 22, 1978
Garnet Bailey	1st WHA Goal 1st WHA Point	October 31, 1978
Brett Callighen	100th WHA Point	November 8, 1978
Stan Weir	1st WHA Assist 1st WHA Point
Garnet Bailey	1st WHA Assist	November 11, 1978
Doug Berry	1st WHA Assist	November 19, 1978
Dave Hunter	1st WHA Goal
Stan Weir	1st WHA Goal	November 21, 1978
Jim Neilson	1st WHA Assist	November 24, 1978
Stan Weir	1st WHA Hat-Trick	November 28, 1978
Wayne Gretzky	1st WHA Hat-Trick	December 12, 1978
Dave Dryden	200th WHA Game	December 19, 1978
Wayne Gretzky	2nd WHA Hat-Trick	January 13, 1978
Dennis Sobchuk	300th WHA Point	January 28, 1979
Ron Chipperfield	300th WHA Point	February 7, 1979
Dave Dryden	100th WHA Win	February 23, 1979
Paul Shmyr	300th WHA Point	March 16, 1979
Risto Siltanen	1st WHA Goal	March 18, 1979
Al Hamilton	300th WHA Point	March 20, 1979
Hannu Kamppuri	1st WHA Game
Peter Driscoll	100th WHA Assist	April 4, 1979
Bill Flett	100th WHA Goal
Wayne Gretzky	3rd WHA Hat-Trick	April 10, 1979
Wayne Gretzky	100th WHA Point	April 13, 1979
Joe Micheletti	100th WHA Point	April 14, 1979
Wayne Gretzky	4th WHA Hat-Trick	April 15, 1979

Transactions

Farm teams

See also

• 1978–79 WHA season

References

1. "1978-79 Edmonton Oilers Statistics – Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-29.

• "1978–79 Edmonton Oilers Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
• "Teenager Gretzky Pulls 'Hat Trick' On Stingers, 5-2".

External links