From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
1977–78 New England Whalers season
World Hockey Association team season
World Hockey Association team season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| League | WHA |
| Season | 1977–78 |
| year | 1977 |
| Arena | Hartford Civic Center (23 games) |
| Springfield Civic Center (18 games) | |
| Team | New England Whalers |
| Record | 44–31–5 |
| HomeRecord | 26–14–1 |
| RoadRecord | 18–17–4 |
| Division | WHA |
| DivisionRank | 2nd |
| GeneralManager | Jack Kelley |
| Coach | Harry Neale |
| Captain | Rick Ley |
| GoalsFor | 335 |
| GoalsAgainst | 269 |
| GoalsLeader | Gordie Howe (34) |
| AssistsLeader | Gordie Howe (62) |
| PointsLeader | Gordie Howe (96) |
| PIMLeader | Jack Carlson (192) |
| WinsLeader | Al Smith (30) |
| GAALeader | Al Smith (3.22) |
Springfield Civic Center (18 games) 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. On the early morning of January 18, 1978, the roof at the Hartford Civic Center collapsed. The team played their remaining home games at Springfield Civic Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The trio helped the Whalers advance to the Avco Cup final, where they were defeated by the Winnipeg Jets.
Regular season
Final standings
Schedule and results
|- |1||W||October 12, 1977||3–0 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||1–0–0 |- |2||W||October 15, 1977||5–2 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||2–0–0 |- |3||L||October 16, 1977||2–6 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||2–1–0 |- |4||T||October 18, 1977||2–2 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||2–1–1 |- |5||W||October 19, 1977||6–3 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||3–1–1 |- |6||W||October 21, 1977||5–2 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||4–1–1 |- |7||W||October 26, 1977||7–1 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||5–1–1 |- |8||W||October 29, 1977||7–2 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||6–1–1
| - |
|---|
| 9 |
| - |
| 10 |
| - |
| 11 |
| - |
| 12 |
| - |
| 13 |
| - |
| 14 |
| - |
| 15 |
| - |
| 16 |
| - |
| 17 |
| - |
| 18 |
| - |
| 19 |
| - |
| 20 |
| - |
| 21 |
| - |
| 22 |
| - |
| - |
| 23 |
| - |
| 24 |
| - |
| 25 |
| - |
| 26 |
| - |
| 27 |
| - |
| 28 |
| - |
| 29 |
| - |
| 30 |
| - |
| 31 |
| - |
| 32 |
| - |
| 33 |
| - |
| 34 |
| - |
| - |
| 35 |
| - |
| 36 |
| - |
| 37 |
| - |
| 38 |
| - |
| 39 |
| - |
| 40 |
| - |
| 41 |
| - |
| 42 |
| - |
| 43 |
| - |
| 44 |
| - |
| 45 |
| - |
| 46 |
| - |
| 47 |
| - |
| 48 |
| - |
| 49 |
| - |
| - |
| 50 |
| - |
| 51 |
| - |
| 52 |
| - |
| 53 |
| - |
| 54 |
| - |
| 55 |
| - |
| 56 |
| - |
| 57 |
| - |
| 58 |
| - |
| 59 |
| - |
| 60 |
| - |
| - |
| 61 |
| - |
| 62 |
| - |
| 63 |
| - |
| 64 |
| - |
| 65 |
| - |
| 66 |
| - |
| 67 |
| - |
| 68 |
| - |
| 69 |
| - |
| 70 |
| - |
| 71 |
| - |
| 72 |
| - |
| 73 |
| - |
| 74 |
| - |
| 75 |
| - |
| - |
| 76 |
| - |
| 77 |
| - |
| 78 |
| - |
| 79 |
| - |
| 80 |
| - |
| - |
| Legend:
Playoffs
|- | 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
| - |
|---|
| 1 |
| - |
| 2 |
| - |
| 3 |
| - |
| 4 |
| - |
| 5 |
| - |
| - |
| 1 |
| - |
| 2 |
| - |
| 3 |
| - |
| 4 |
| - |
| - |
| Legend:
Player statistics
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RW | 76 | 34 | 62 | 96 | 85 | 46 | 16 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 70 | 30 | 61 | 91 | 32 | 30 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 80 | 28 | 43 | 71 | 46 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| C | 75 | 32 | 35 | 67 | 32 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 77 | 24 | 38 | 62 | 2 | −4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |
| D | 78 | 15 | 46 | 61 | 118 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 79 | 27 | 29 | 56 | 61 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 68 | 30 | 24 | 54 | 74 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 73 | 3 | 41 | 44 | 95 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 54 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 80 | 6 | 25 | 31 | 88 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 79 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 140 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 67 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 192 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 48 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| RW | 20 | 15 | 5 | 20 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 51 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 75 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 66 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 25 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 14 | −2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 45 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 69 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 38 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| LW | 41 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 27 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 17 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 55 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - |
|---|
|
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3246 | 55 | 30 | 20 | 3 | 174 | 3.22 | 2 | |
| 1655 | 27 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 91 | 3.30 | 3 | |
| **Team:** | 4901 | 80 | 44 | 31 | 5 | 265 | 3.24 | 5 |
|- |}
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | 14 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 14 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 14 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 14 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 14 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 14 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| C | 14 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 13 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 14 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 14 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 14 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 14 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 14 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| G | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - |
|---|
|
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 719 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 31 | 2.59 | 0 | |
| 120 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 7.00 | 0 | |
| **Team:** | 839 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 45 | 3.22 | 0 |
|- |}
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;
Draft picks
New England's draft picks at the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft.
| 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) |
References
References
- "1977-78 New England Whalers Schedule".
- "1977-78 New England Whalers Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com.
- "1977 WHA Amateur Draft".
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.
Ask Mako anything about 1977–78 New England Whalers season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report