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1977–78 New England Whalers season

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1977–78 New England Whalers
Division2nd WHA
1977–78 record44–31–5
Goals for335
Goals against269
Team information
General managerJack Kelley
CoachHarry Neale
CaptainRick Ley

The 1977–78 New England Whalers season was the Whalers' sixth season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). This season saw the debut of Gordie Howe and his sons with the Whalers' franchise. The trio helped the Whalers advance to the Avco Cup final, where they were defeated by the Winnipeg Jets.

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

WHA Team W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Winnipeg Jets 50 28 2 102 381 270 988
New England Whalers 44 31 5 93 335 269 1255
Houston Aeros 42 34 4 88 296 302 1543
Quebec Nordiques 40 37 3 83 349 347 1185
Edmonton Oilers 38 39 3 79 309 307 1296
Birmingham Bulls 36 41 3 75 287 314 2177
Cincinnati Stingers 35 42 3 73 298 332 1701
Indianapolis Racers 24 51 5 53 267 353 1189
Soviet All-Stars 3 4 1 7 27 36 120
Czechoslovakia All-Stars 1 6 1 3 21 40 87


Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 12, 1977 3–0 @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) 1–0–0
2 W October 15, 1977 5–2 Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 2–0–0
3 L October 16, 1977 2–6 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 2–1–0
4 T October 18, 1977 2–2 @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 2–1–1
5 W October 19, 1977 6–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 3–1–1
6 W October 21, 1977 5–2 @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 4–1–1
7 W October 26, 1977 7–1 Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 5–1–1
8 W October 29, 1977 7–2 Houston Aeros (1977–78) 6–1–1
9 W November 1, 1977 6–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 7–1–1
10 W November 4, 1977 4–3 Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 8–1–1
11 W November 6, 1977 5–2 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 9–1–1
12 W November 8, 1977 4–3 @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 10–1–1
13 W November 10, 1977 5–3 Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 11–1–1
14 W November 12, 1977 5–3 Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 12–1–1
15 W November 15, 1977 6–4 @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 13–1–1
16 W November 18, 1977 3–2 Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 14–1–1
17 W November 20, 1977 5–4 OT @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 15–1–1
18 L November 22, 1977 4–5 @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 15–2–1
19 T November 23, 1977 3–3 Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 15–2–2
20 L November 25, 1977 2–6 Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 15–3–2
21 L November 26, 1977 1–3 Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 15–4–2
22 T November 30, 1977 3–3 @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) 15–4–3
23 W December 2, 1977 4–1 Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 16–4–3
24 L December 3, 1977 2–5 Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 16–5–3
25 L December 6, 1977 2–5 @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 16–6–3
26 W December 7, 1977 6–3 @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 17–6–3
27 W December 9, 1977 2–1 OT @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 18–6–3
28 W December 14, 1977 7–2 Soviet All-Stars (1977–78) 19–6–3
29 W December 16, 1977 5–3 Czechoslovakia (1977–78) 20–6–3
30 L December 17, 1977 3–6 Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 20–7–3
31 L December 18, 1977 3–7 @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 20–8–3
32 W December 23, 1977 5–3 Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 21–8–3
33 W December 27, 1977 8–1 Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 22–8–3
34 W December 30, 1977 6–2 Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 23–8–3
35 W January 1, 1978 4–3 OT @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 24–8–3
36 L January 4, 1978 4–6 Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 24–9–3
37 L January 6, 1978 3–4 @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 24–10–3
38 W January 7, 1978 5–3 Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 25–10–3
39 L January 8, 1978 4–5 Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 25–11–3
40 W January 13, 1978 2–0 Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 26–11–3
41 L January 14, 1978 4–5 OT Houston Aeros (1977–78) 26–12–3
42 L January 18, 1978 0–1 @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 26–13–3
43 T January 20, 1978 4–4 @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 26–13–4
44 L January 21, 1978 2–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 26–14–4
45 W January 22, 1978 6–3 Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 27–14–4
46 L January 25, 1978 7–8 OT @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 27–15–4
47 W January 27, 1978 6–2 @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 28–15–4
48 W January 28, 1978 3–0 @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) 29–15–4
49 L January 29, 1978 4–6 @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) 29–16–4
50 W February 1, 1978 4–3 Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 30–16–4
51 L February 3, 1978 3–6 Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 30–17–4
52 L February 4, 1978 4–5 @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) 30–18–4
53 W February 11, 1978 8–7 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 31–18–4
54 W February 14, 1978 5–1 Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 32–18–4
55 L February 16, 1978 1–2 OT Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 32–19–4
56 W February 18, 1978 4–1 @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 33–19–4
57 L February 21, 1978 5–6 OT @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 33–20–4
58 L February 22, 1978 2–4 @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 33–21–4
59 L February 24, 1978 2–7 @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 33–22–4
60 W February 26, 1978 6–5 @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 34–22–4
61 L March 1, 1978 3–4 OT Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 34–23–4
62 L March 3, 1978 2–3 OT Houston Aeros (1977–78) 34–24–4
63 L March 4, 1978 2–5 Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 34–25–4
64 L March 5, 1978 1–2 @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 34–26–4
65 L March 9, 1978 4–6 @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) 34–27–4
66 W March 10, 1978 5–4 OT @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 35–27–4
67 W March 14, 1978 6–0 Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 36–27–4
68 W March 15, 1978 7–0 Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 37–27–4
69 W March 17, 1978 6–2 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 38–27–4
70 L March 18, 1978 3–5 @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 38–28–4
71 W March 21, 1978 6–3 Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 39–28–4
72 L March 22, 1978 3–5 Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 39–29–4
73 L March 24, 1978 0–1 Houston Aeros (1977–78) 39–30–4
74 W March 26, 1978 5–3 Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 40–30–4
75 W March 29, 1978 6–1 Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 41–30–4
76 W April 3, 1978 8–6 Houston Aeros (1977–78) 42–30–4
77 T April 5, 1978 4–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 42–30–5
78 L April 6, 1978 4–7 @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 42–31–5
79 W April 10, 1978 6–1 Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 43–31–5
80 W April 11, 1978 6–3 Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 44–31–5

Playoffs

New England Whalers 4, Edmonton Oilers 1 – Division Quarterfinals

Game Date Visitor Score Home Series
1 April 14 Edmonton Oilers 4–6 New England Whalers 1–0
2 April 16 Edmonton Oilers 1–4 New England Whalers 2–0
3 April 19 New England Whalers 0–2 Edmonton Oilers 2–1
4 April 21 New England 9–1 Edmonton Oilers 3–1
5 April 23 Edmonton Oilers 1–4 New England Whalers 4–1

New England Whalers 4, Quebec Nordiques 1 – Division Semifinals

Game Date Visitor Score Home Series
1 April 28 Quebec Nordiques 1–5 New England Whalers 1–0
2 April 30 Quebec Nordiques 3–2 New England Whalers 1–1
3 May 3 New England Whalers 5–4 Quebec Nordiques 2–1
4 May 5 New England Whalers 7–3 Quebec Nordiques 3–1
5 May 7 Quebec Nordiques 3–6 New England Whalers 4–1

Winnipeg Jets 4, New England Whalers 1 – Avco Cup Finals

Game Date Visitor Score Home Series
1 May 12 Winnipeg Jets 4–1 New England Whalers 0–1
2 May 14 Winnipeg Jets 2–5 New England Whalers 0–2
3 May 19 New England Whalers 2–10 Winnipeg Jets 0–3
4 May 22 New England Whalers 3–5 Winnipeg Jets 0–4

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Gordie Howe RW 76 34 62 96 85 46 16 0 0
Mark Howe D 70 30 61 91 32 30 4 0 0
Mike Rogers C 80 28 43 71 46 22 4 1 0
Mike Antonovich C 75 32 35 67 32 17 5 0 0
Dave Keon C 77 24 38 62 2 −4 1 5 0
Gordie Roberts D 78 15 46 61 118 17 5 0 0
John McKenzie RW 79 27 29 56 61 15 9 0 0
George Lyle LW 68 30 24 54 74 12 3 0 0
Rick Ley D 73 3 41 44 95 36 0 0 0
Larry Pleau C 54 16 18 34 4 12 2 0 0
Brad Selwood D 80 6 25 31 88 11 2 0 0
Al Hangsleben D 79 11 18 29 140 17 0 0 0
Jack Carlson LW 67 9 20 29 192 9 0 0 0
Greg Carroll C 48 9 14 23 27 3 0 2 0
Tom Webster RW 20 15 5 20 5 8 5 0 0
Jim Mayer RW 51 11 9 20 21 1 1 0 0
Marty Howe D 75 10 10 20 66 10 1 0 0
Tim Sheehy RW 25 8 11 19 14 −2 3 0 0
Bill Butters D 45 1 13 14 69 21 0 0 0
Steve Carlson C 38 6 7 13 11 7 1 1 0
Danny Bolduc LW 41 5 5 10 22 6 0 0 0
Ron Plumb D 27 1 9 10 18 6 0 0 0
Bryan Maxwell D 17 2 1 3 11 9 0 0 0
Al Smith G 55 0 3 3 4 0 0 0 0
Andre Peloffy C 10 2 0 2 2 −2 0 0 0
Jean-Louis Levasseur G 27 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Al Smith 3246 55 30 20 3 174 3.22 2
Jean-Louis Levasseur 1655 27 14 11 2 91 3.30 3
Team: 4901 80 44 31 5 265 3.24 5
Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Mike Antonovich C 14 10 7 17 4 0 0 1
Dave Keon C 14 5 11 16 4 0 0 1
Mark Howe D 14 8 7 15 18 0 0 0
John McKenzie RW 14 6 6 12 16 0 0 1
Mike Rogers C 14 5 6 11 8 0 0 0
Gordie Howe RW 14 5 5 10 15 0 0 2
Larry Pleau C 14 5 4 9 8 0 0 1
Steve Carlson C 13 2 7 9 2 0 0 0
Rick Ley D 14 1 8 9 4 0 0 0
Danny Bolduc LW 14 2 4 6 4 0 0 0
Ron Plumb D 14 1 5 6 16 0 0 1
Al Hangsleben D 14 1 4 5 37 0 0 0
Gordie Roberts D 14 0 5 5 29 0 0 0
Tim Sheehy RW 13 1 3 4 9 0 0 0
George Lyle LW 12 2 1 3 13 0 0 0
Brad Selwood D 14 0 3 3 8 0 0 0
Jack Carlson LW 9 1 1 2 14 0 0 0
Marty Howe D 14 1 1 2 13 0 0 1
Jean-Louis Levasseur G 12 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Andre Peloffy C 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Al Smith G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Jean-Louis Levasseur 719 12 8 4 31 2.59 0
Al Smith 120 3 0 2 14 7.00 0
Team: 839 14 8 6 45 3.22 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

Transactions

Draft picks

New England's draft picks at the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft.[2]

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
2 15 Moe Robinson (D)  Canada Kingston Canadians (OHA)
2 19 Randy Pierce (RW)  Canada Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
3 23 John Baby (D)  Canada Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
5 43 Brian Hill (RW)  Austria Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
6 52 Jim Korn (D)  United States Providence College (ECAC)

Farm teams

See also

References

  1. ^ "1977-78 New England Whalers Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
  2. ^ "1977 WHA Amateur Draft". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
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