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1976–77 Cleveland Barons season

NHL season

Field	Value
League	NHL
Season	1976–77
year	1976
Team	Cleveland Barons (NHL)Cleveland Barons
Conference	Wales
ConferenceRank	7th
Division	Adams
DivisionRank	4th
Record	25–42–13
HomeRecord	14–17–9
RoadRecord	11–25–4
GoalsFor	240
GoalsAgainst	292
GeneralManager	Bill McCreary
Coach	Jack Evans
Captain	Jim Neilson and Bob Stewart
AltCaptain	None
Arena	Coliseum at Richfield
GoalsLeader	Dennis Maruk (28)
AssistsLeader	Dennis Maruk (50)
PointsLeader	Dennis Maruk (78)
PlusMinusLeader	Jim Pappin (+5)
PIMLeader	Len Frig (213)
WinsLeader	Gilles Meloche (19)
GAALeader	Gilles Meloche (3.47)
prev_season	[1975–76 (California)](1975-76-california-golden-seals-season)
next_season	[1977–78](1977-78-cleveland-barons-season)

The 1976–77 Cleveland Barons season was the first season for this franchise in Cleveland, after nine seasons in the San Francisco Bay Area as the Oakland Seals/California Golden Seals. The Barons displaced the World Hockey Association's Cleveland Crusaders, who elected to relocate to Minnesota and become the Minnesota Fighting Saints.

The Barons played in the tough Adams Division and spent most of the season in last place. Midway through the season, majority owner Melvin Swig announced the team might have trouble finishing the season. The club missed payroll twice in February, and only a loan from the league and NHLPA kept the team afloat. Following the season, minority owner George Gund III purchased a controlling interest in the club.

Offseason

Amateur draft

Main article: 1976 NHL amateur draft

The franchise participated in the 1976 Amateur Draft as the California Golden Seals, the move to Cleveland not being approved until mid-July.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	5.	Bjorn Johansson	Sweden	HK Örebro (Sweden Division 1)
2	23.	Vern Stenlund	Canada	London Knights (OMJHL)
3	41.	Mike Fidler	United States	Boston University Terriers (ECAC)
4	59.	Warren Young	Canada	Michigan Tech Huskies (WCHA)
5	77.	Darcy Regier	Canada	Lethbridge Broncos (WCHL)
5	79.	Cal Sandbeck	United States	University of Denver Pioneers (WCHA)
6	95.	Jouni Rinne		Lukko (SM-liiga)

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

Regular season

|- | 1 || October 6, 1976 || Los Angeles || 2–2 || Meloche || Coliseum at Richfield || 8,899 || 0–0–1 || 1 || |- | 2 || October 9, 1976 || Washington || 6–3 || Simmons || Coliseum at Richfield || 5,209 || 1–0–1 || 3 || |- | 3 || October 10, 1976 || @ Boston || 3–4 || Meloche || Boston Garden || 10,269 || 1–1–1 || 3 || |- | 4 || October 13, 1976 || Atlanta || 2–4 || Meloche || Coliseum at Richfield || 3,812 || 1–2–1 || 3 || |- | 5 || October 16, 1976 || @ N.Y. Islanders || 4–4 || Simmons || Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum || 14,289 || 1–2–2 || 4 || |- | 6 || October 19, 1976 || Chicago || 3–0 || Meloche || Coliseum at Richfield || 5,653 || 2–2–2 || 6 || |- | 7 || October 21, 1976 || St. Louis || 6–2 || Simmons || Coliseum at Richfield || 3,453 || 3–2–2 || 8 || |- | 8 || October 26, 1976 || N.Y. Rangers || 2–5 || Meloche || Coliseum at Richfield || 4,716 || 3–3–2 || 8 || |- | 9 || October 28, 1976 || @ Vancouver || 1–3 || Meloche || Pacific Coliseum || || 3–4–2 || 8 || |- | 10 || October 30, 1976 || @ Los Angeles || 3–4 || Simmons || The Forum || 10,840 || 3–5–2 || 8 ||

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;Detailed records

Opponent	Home	Away	Total	Pts.	Goals scored	Goals allowed
Adams Division
Boston Bruins	1–2–0	0–3–0	1–5–0	2	18	26
Buffalo Sabres	0–3–0	1–2–0	1–5–0	2	15	27
Cleveland Barons	–	–	–	–	–	–
Toronto Maple Leafs	0–3–0	2–1–0	2–4–0	4	20	25
	1–8–0	3–6–0	4–14–0	8	53	78
Norris Division
Detroit Red Wings	2–0–0	0–3–0	2–3–0	4	17	17
Los Angeles Kings	1–1–1	0–1–1	1–2–2	4	13	13
Montreal Canadiens	0–2–0	0–3–0	0–5–0	0	9	25
Pittsburgh Penguins	0–1–2	0–2–0	0–3–2	2	12	14
Washington Capitals	2–0–0	3–0–0	5–0–0	10	25	9
	5–4–3	3–9–1	8–13–4	20	76	78

Opponent	Home	Away	Total	Pts.	Goals scored	Goals allowed
Patrick Division
Atlanta Flames	1–1–0	1–0–1	2–1–1	5	12	12
New York Islanders	0–2–0	0–1–1	0–3–1	1	11	20
New York Rangers	0–1–1	0–2–0	0–3–1	1	10	15
Philadelphia Flyers	1–1–1	0–2–0	1–3–1	3	15	27
	1–5–2	2–5–2	3–10–4	10	48	74
Smythe Division
Chicago Black Hawks	2–0–0	1–1–0	3–1–0	6	13	13
Colorado Rockies	1–0–1	1–1–0	2–1–1	5	15	15
Minnesota North Stars	1–0–1	0–1–0	1–1–2	4	11	12
St. Louis Blues	1–0–1	1–1–0	2–1–1	4	15	15
Vancouver Canucks	1–0–1	1–1–0	2–1–1	5	17	13
	6–0–4	4–5–0	10–5–5	21	71	68

Player stats

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes

		Regular season		Playoffs	#	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
21	Dennis Maruk	C	80	28	50	78	68	–	–	–	–	-
25	Al MacAdam	RW	80	22	41	63	68	–	–	–	–	-
9	Wayne Merrick	C	80	18	38	56	25	–	–	–	–	-
20	Bob Murdoch	RW	57	23	19	42	30	–	–	–	–	-
2	Rick Hampton	LW	57	16	24	40	13	–	–	–	–	-
7	Dave Gardner	C	76	16	22	38	9	–	–	–	–	-
12	Mike Fidler	LW	46	17	16	33	17	–	–	–	–	-
3	Mike Christie	D	79	6	27	33	79	–	–	–	–	-
10	Ralph Klassen	C	80	14	18	32	23	–	–	–	–	-
5	Greg Smith	D	74	9	17	26	65	–	–	–	–	-
28	Frank Spring	RW	26	11	10	21	6	–	–	–	–	-
26	Bob Girard	LW	68	11	10	21	33	–	–	–	–	-
24	Brent Meeke	LW	49	8	13	21	4	–	–	–	–	-
15	Jim Neilson	D	47	3	17	20	42	–	–	–	–	-
11	Gary Sabourin	RW	33	7	11	18	4	–	–	–	–	-
19	Jim Moxey‡	RW	35	7	7	14	20	–	–	–	–	-
8	Juha Widing†	C	29	6	8	14	10	–	–	–	–	-
4	Bob Stewart	D	73	1	12	13	108	–	–	–	–	-
8	Jim Pappin	RW	24	2	8	10	8	–	–	–	–	-
6	Len Frig	D	66	2	7	9	213	–	–	–	–	-
16	Fred Ahern	RW	25	4	4	8	20	–	–	–	–	-
8	Phil Roberto	RW	21	3	4	7	8	–	–	–	–	-
18	Glenn Patrick	D	35	2	3	5	70	–	–	–	–	-
17	Ken Kuzyk	RW	13	0	5	5	2	–	–	–	–	-
18	Angie Moretto	C	5	1	2	3	2	–	–	–	–	-
27	Gilles Meloche	G	51	0	3	3	18	–	–	–	–	-
17	Charlie Simmer	LW	24	2	0	2	16	–	–	–	–	-
13	Bjorn Johansson	D	10	1	1	2	4	–	–	–	–	-
8	Gary Holt	LW	2	0	1	1	2	–	–	–	–	-
1	Gary Edwards†	G	17	0	1	1	2	–	–	–	–	-
19	Lyle Bradley	C	2	0	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	-
17	Tom Price‡	D	2	0	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	-
11	Vern Stenlund	C	4	0	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	-
22	Rick Shinske	C	5	0	0	0	2	–	–	–	–	-
31	Gary Simmons‡	G	15	0	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	-

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Barons. Stats reflect time with the Barons only. ‡Traded/released mid-season

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

	Regular season		Playoffs	Player	#	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA	GP	TOI
Gilles Meloche	51	2961	19	24	6	171	2	3.47	–	–	–	–	–	–	-.--
Gary Simmons‡	15	840	2	8	4	51	1	3.64	–	–	–	–	–	–	-.--
Gary Edwards†	17	999	4	10	3	68	2	4.08	–	–	–	–	–	–	-.--

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Seals. Stats reflect time with the Seals only. ‡Traded mid-season

Transactions

The Barons were involved in the following transactions during the 1976–77 season:

Trades

January 22, 1977	To Cleveland Barons Gary Edwards
Juha Widing	To Los Angeles Kings Jim Moxey
Gary Simmons

Additions and subtractions

Phil Roberto	Colorado Rockies	free agency (1976-12-24)

Tom Price	Pittsburgh Penguins	free agency (1977-02-28)

References

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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