1978–79 WHA season

The 1978–79 WHA season was the seventh and final season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Prior to the start of the season, the Houston Aeros folded leaving seven teams to start the season. Only six would finish however, as the Indianapolis Racers folded after 25 games on December 15, 1978. The remaining six teams each played 80 games, including one game each per team against a Soviet All-Star squad and the Czechoslovakian National Team, the second consecutive year for this arrangement. The Soviet team won four of their six games and tied another; the Czechoslovak team only won once and tied once against four losses. In addition, because the Racers had folded after playing an odd number of games, the Edmonton Oilers played the Finnish National Team (with future Oiler Jari Kurri) once at home so as to allow each of the six surviving WHA teams to play 80 regular season games. The Oilers won by a score of 8-4, a result which in itself made no difference by the end of the regular season which Edmonton won by an eleven point margin over the Quebec Nordiques.

1978–79 WHA season
LeagueWorld Hockey Association
SportIce hockey
DurationNovember 8, 1978-May 18, 1979
Regular season
Season championsWinnipeg Jets
Season MVPWayne Gretzky (Edmonton)
Top scorerReal Cloutier (Quebec)
Avco Cup Playoffs
North championsWinnipeg Jets
  North runners-upQuebec Nordiques
South championsEdmonton Oilers
  South runners-upNew England Whalers
Avco Cup Playoffs MVPWayne Gretzky (Edmonton )
Avco World Trophy
ChampionsWinnipeg Jets
  Runners-upEdmonton Oilers

During the season, an agreement was reached whereby four of the WHA's teams, the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets and New England Whalers would be admitted to the National Hockey League (NHL) as expansion teams for the 1979–80 NHL season, and the WHA would cease operations. The Cincinnati and Birmingham franchises were paid a sum to fold.

Regular season and playoff format

Nelson Skalbania, the owner of Indianapolis Racers, signed the 17-year-old future superstar Wayne Gretzky to, at that time, an unprecedented personal contract worth between $1.125 and $1.75 million over 4 to 7 years; then as now, the National Hockey League's rules did not permit the signing of 17-year-olds. Skalbania, knowing that the WHA's long-term prospects were poor, felt owning the young star was more valuable than owning a WHA team. Eight games into the season, though, Skalbania needed cash and sold Gretzky to his old friend and former partner, Peter Pocklington, owner of the Edmonton Oilers. Pocklington purchased Gretzky and two other Indianapolis players, goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll, paying $700,000 for the contracts of the three players. On Gretzky's 18th birthday, Pocklington signed him to a 21-year personal services contract worth between $4 and $5 million, the longest in hockey history. Gretzky would go on to capture the Lou Kaplan Trophy for rookie of the year,[1] finish third in league scoring, and help the Oilers to first overall in the league. Nevertheless the Winnipeg Jets defeated Edmonton in the Avco World Trophy finals winning their third championship overall and second in a row.

Playoff format: The top five teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. The 4th and 5th place teams started in a best-of-three quarterfinal series, while the top three finishers received byes into the semifinals. In the semifinals, the 1st place team played the 4th/5th winner, while 2nd place played 3rd place. Both semifinal series were best-of-seven. Since the 2nd and 3rd place teams knew they'd be playing each other in the semifinals, they started their series while the 4th/5th mini-series was still going on. The finals, like the semifinals, were best four-out-of-seven games.

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 Oilers8048302983402661220
Quebec Nordiques8041345872882711399
Winnipeg Jets8039356843073061342
New England Whalers8037349832982871090
Cincinnati Stingers8033416722742841651
Birmingham Bulls8032426702863111661
x Indianapolis Racers2551821278130557
Soviet All-Stars6411*272077
Czechoslovakia6141*1433107
Finland1010*482

x-team folded during season *-games counted in standings of the regular WHA teams

Player stats

Scoring leaders

Bolded numbers indicate season leaders

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Real CloutierQuebec Nordiques77755412948
Robbie FtorekCincinnati Stingers80397711687
Wayne GretzkyIndianapolis/Edmonton80466411019
Mark HoweNew England Whalers77426510732
Kent NilssonWinnipeg Jets7839681078
Morris LukowichWinnipeg Jets80653499119
Marc TardifQuebec Nordiques7441559698
Andre LacroixNew England Whalers7832568834
Peter SullivanWinnipeg Jets8046408624
Terry RuskowskiWinnipeg Jets75206686211

Leading goaltenders

Bolded numbers indicate season leaders

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player Team GP Min W L T GA SO SV% GAA
Dave DrydenEdmonton Oilers63353141172170389.02.89
Richard BrodeurQuebec Nordiques42243325133126390.13.11
Jim CorsiQuebec Nordiques40229116201126389.93.30
Al SmithNew England Whalers40239617175132188.33.31
Michel DionCincinnati Stingers3016811014293087.33.32

All-Star series: Howe and Gretzky

A WHA all-star team played three games against Dynamo Moscow at Edmonton's Northlands Coliseum. The WHA All-Stars were coached by Jacques Demers, who asked Gordie Howe if it was okay to put him on a line with his son Mark Howe and with Wayne Gretzky .[2] In the first game, this line scored seven points, as the WHA All-Stars won by a score of 4-2.[2] In the second game, Gretzky and Mark Howe each scored a goal and Gordie Howe picked up an assist as the WHA won 4-2.[2] The line did not score in the final game but the WHA won by a score of 4-3.

Avco World Trophy playoffs

Playoff Bracket
  Quarterfinals     Semifinals     Finals
                           
      1 Edmonton Oilers 4  
  4 New England Whalers 2     4 New England Whalers 3    
  5 Cincinnati Stingers 1         1 Edmonton Oilers 2
      3 Winnipeg Jets 4
      2 Quebec Nordiques 0    
        3 Winnipeg Jets 4  

Quarterfinals - New England Whalers 2, Cincinnati Stingers 1
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 21Cincinnati Stingers3–5New England Whalers1–0
2April 22New England Whalers3–6Cincinnati Stingers1–1
3April 24New England Whalers2–1Cincinnati Stingers2–1

Semifinals - Winnipeg Jets 4, Quebec Nordiques 0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 23Winnipeg Jets6–3Quebec Nordiques1–0
2April 25Winnipeg Jets9–2Quebec Nordiques2–0
3April 27Quebec Nordiques5–9Winnipeg Jets3–0
4April 29Quebec Nordiques2–6Winnipeg Jets4–0

Semifinals - Edmonton Oilers 4, New England Whalers 3
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 26New England Whalers2–6Edmonton Oilers1–0
2April 27New England Whalers5–9Edmonton Oilers2–0
3April 29Edmonton Oilers1–4New England Whalers2–1
4May 1Edmonton Oilers4–5New England Whalers2–2
5May 3New England Whalers2–5Edmonton Oilers3–2
6May 6Edmonton Oilers4–8New England Whalers3–3
7May 8New England Whalers3–6Edmonton Oilers4–3

Avco Cup Finals - Winnipeg Jets 4, Edmonton Oilers 2
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1May 11Winnipeg Jets3–1Edmonton Oilers0–1
2May 13Winnipeg Jets3–2Edmonton Oilers0–2
3May 15Edmonton Oilers8–3Winnipeg Jets1–2
4May 16Edmonton Oilers2–3Winnipeg Jets1–3
5May 18Winnipeg Jets2–10Edmonton Oilers2–3
6May 20Edmonton Oilers3–7Winnipeg Jets2–4

The Oilers' Dave Semenko scored late in the third period of the deciding game, to record the last goal in the history of the WHA.[3] The goal was given up by the Winnipeg Jets Gary Smith.

WHA awards

Trophies
Avco World Trophy:Winnipeg Jets
Gordie Howe Trophy:Dave Dryden, Edmonton Oilers
Bill Hunter Trophy:Real Cloutier, Quebec Nordiques
Lou Kaplan Trophy:Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
Ben Hatskin Trophy:Dave Dryden, Edmonton Oilers
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy:Rick Ley, New England Whalers
Paul Deneau Trophy:Kent Nilsson, Winnipeg Jets
Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy:John Brophy, Birmingham Bulls
WHA Playoff MVP:Rich Preston, Winnipeg Jets

All-Star Team
PositionFirst TeamSecond Team
CentreRobbie Ftorek, CincinnatiWayne Gretzky, Edmonton
Right WingReal Cloutier, QuebecBlair MacDonald, Edmonton
Left WingMark Howe, New EnglandMorris Lukowich, Winnipeg
DefenceRick Ley, New EnglandDave Langevin, Edmonton
DefenceRob Ramage, BirminghamPaul Shmyr, Edmonton
GoaltenderDave Dryden, EdmontonRichard Brodeur, Quebec
gollark: https://cglab.ca/~abeinges/blah/too-many-lists/book/
gollark: There's actually a book for learning Rust via linked lists.
gollark: They're kind of bad.
gollark: Just don't do doubly linked lists.
gollark: Due to the ownership rules, though, it can know when a thing has nothing pointing to it and deallocate it without GCing.

See also

References

Notes
  1. McLelland and Stewart, p. 219.
  2. McLelland and Stewart, p 221.
  3. McLelland and Stewart, p. 241.

Bibliography
  • The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association, p. 219, McLelland and Stewart, Toronto, ON, ISBN 0-7710-8947-3.
Preceded by
1977–78 WHA season		 WHA seasons Succeeded by
None1

1 Four of the WHA teams were admitted to the NHL as expansion franchises — the New England/Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, and Winnipeg Jets.

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