1977–78 NHL season

League business

Prior to the start of the season, Clarence Campbell retired as NHL President. John Ziegler succeeded him in that capacity.

A trophy for the top defensive forward, the Frank J. Selke Trophy, made its debut this season and went to Bob Gainey, who played left wing for Montreal.

The league changed the playoff qualification format for this season. Whereas before the top three teams in every division qualified, the format was changed to guarantee the top two teams in each division a playoff spot. The last four qualifiers were from the next-best four regular-season records from teams finishing third or lower.

The 1977 NHL amateur draft was held on June 14, at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Dale McCourt was selected first overall by the Detroit Red Wings.

Teams were required to place the last names of players on the back of all jerseys starting with this season, but Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard initially refused, fearing that he would not be able to sell programs at his team's games. The NHL responded by threatening to levy a fine on the team in February 1978, so Ballard complied by making the letters the same color as the background they were on, which for the team's road jerseys was blue. The League threatened further sanctions, and despite playing more than one game with their "unreadable" sweaters, Ballard's Maple Leafs finally complied in earnest by making the letters white on the blue road jerseys. (Blue letter names would not come to the white home jerseys until the following year.)

Officials began wearing their surnames on the back of their sweaters instead of being identified by numbers, as they were previously. The NHL returned to using uniform numbers for officials for the 1994–95 season.

Arena changes

The St. Louis Blues's home arena, St. Louis Arena, was renamed the Checkerdome after Ralston Purina purchased both the team and the arena, referencing the pet food company's checkerboard logo.

Regular season

Bobby Orr sat out the season to rest his oft-injured knee in the hope that rest would allow him to return to play in 1978–79; he would return for that season, only playing in six games before retiring. However, defenseman Doug Wilson proved to be an excellent replacement for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Detroit Red Wings made changes, adding rookie Dale McCourt and Andre St. Laurent, who led the Wings to their first playoff appearance since 1970.

On December 11, 1977, the Philadelphia Flyers' Tom Bladon became the first defenceman in NHL history to score eight points in one game. He scored four goals and four assists versus the Cleveland Barons. It was 25% of his point total for the entire season.

The Colorado Rockies qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. They would not make the playoffs again until after the team had moved to New Jersey, in 1988. The next time the playoffs came to Colorado would be the Colorado Avalanche's championship season of 1996.

Final standings

GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties in minutes ''Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in '''bold'''''

Prince of Wales Conference

Clarence Campbell Conference

Playoffs

For the first time in NHL history, all of the Original Six teams qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The playoffs were held in four rounds, preliminary, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. In the preliminary round, the Detroit Red Wings was the only lower-placed team to win over the higher-placed team. The Red Wings were then defeated in five games by the first-place Montreal Canadiens. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Los Angeles Kings to advance to the quarterfinals, where the Leafs upset the third-place New York Islanders in seven games, setting up an Original Six playoff against Montreal. The upsets ended there as the Canadiens swept the Leafs to advance to the finals. In the other groupings, the higher-placed team won each round, and the second-place Boston Bruins advanced to the finals against the first-place Canadiens. In the finals, the Canadiens defeated the Bruins in six games to win their third consecutive Stanley Cup.

The Colorado Rockies made their one and only playoff appearance in the preliminary round against the Philadelphia Flyers, and were swept in two games. It would take another ten years before they got to the playoffs again in New Jersey. The Chicago Black Hawks were swept in the other Original Six matchup of the playoffs, losing to Boston in the quarterfinals.

Playoff seeds

Under the new postseason format, the top two teams in each division made the playoffs, along with the four next-best regular-season records from teams in the entire league finishing third or lower. All 12 clubs then were seeded 1–12 based on regular season points, regardless of conference or division.

Note: Only teams that qualified for the playoffs are listed here.

1. Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions, NHL regular season champions – 129 points
2. Boston Bruins, Adams Division champions – 113 points
3. New York Islanders, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 111 points
4. Philadelphia Flyers – 105 points (45 wins)
5. Buffalo Sabres – 105 points (44 wins)
6. Toronto Maple Leafs – 92 points
7. Atlanta Flames – 87 points
8. Chicago Black Hawks, Smythe Division champions – 83 points
9. Detroit Red Wings – 78 points
10. Los Angeles Kings – 77 points
11. New York Rangers – 73 points
12. Colorado Rockies – 59 points

Playoff bracket

The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system: in each round, the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth.

Regardless of playoff seed, all four division winners received a bye to the Quarterfinals. Each series in the Preliminary Round was played in a best-of-three format while each series in the other three rounds were played in a best-of-seven format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).

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Preliminary round

(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (8) Colorado Rockies

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams. It was the Rockies' only playoff appearance in their first eight seasons before moving to New Jersey in 1982 (including two years in Kansas City and six in Denver).

|1-1-1 =Denis Dupere (1) – pp – 17:45 |1-1-2 =11:57 – pp – Rick MacLeish (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =19:31 – Bobby Clarke (1) |1-3-1 =Dave Hudson (1) – 01:48 |1-3-2 =No scoring |1-4-1 =No scoring |1-4-2 =00:23 – Mel Bridgman (1) |goalie1-1 =Doug Favell |goalie1-2 =Bernie Parent

|2-1-1 =06:59 – Dennis Owchar (1) |2-1-2 =Reggie Leach (1) – 02:41 |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =Don Saleski (1) – 01:13 Bob Kelly (1) – 10:36 |goalie2-1 =Doug Favell |goalie2-2 =Bernie Parent

(2) Buffalo Sabres vs. (7) New York Rangers

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =16:41 – Gilbert Perrault (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =12:28 – Richard Martin (1) |1-3-1 =Steve Vickers (1) – 02:35 |1-3-2 =08:33 – Jocelyn Guevremont (1) 17:50 – Gary McAdam (1) |goalie1-1 =Wayne Thomas |goalie1-2 =Don Edwards

|2-1-1 =14:36 – Steve Vickers (2) 19:59 – Pat Hickey (1) |2-1-2 =Rene Robert (1) – 03:06 Derek Smith (1) – 16:29 |2-2-1 =15:07 – pp – Ron Duguay (1) |2-2-2 =Danny Gare (1) – pp – 18:04 |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |2-4-1 =01:37 – Don Murdoch (1) |2-4-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =John Davidson |goalie2-2 =Don Edwards

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =Pat Hickey (2) – pp – 19:18 |3-2-2 =08:04 – Gilbert Perreault (2) 14:23 – pp – Craig Ramsay (1) 15:56 – Danny Gare (2) |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =10:32 – Rene Robert (2) |goalie3-1 =Wayne Thomas |goalie3-2 =Don Edwards

(3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (6) Los Angeles Kings

This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. The only previous meeting was in the 1975 preliminary round, in which Toronto won the series 2–1.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =06:35 – pp – Stan Weir (1) 15:53 – Jerry Butler (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =12:48 – Tiger Williams (1) 13:24 – Borje Salming (1) |1-3-1 =Pete Stemkowski (1) – 09:41 Darryl Edestrand (1) – 17:52 Glenn Goldup (1) – 19:13 |1-3-2 =02:18 – George Ferguson (1) 04:48 – George Ferguson (2) 09:51 – George Ferguson (3) |goalie1-1 =Rogie Vachon |goalie1-2 =Mike Palmateer

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =Ron Ellis (1) – 01:12 Lanny McDonald (1) – 10:38 Jimmy Jones (1) – 15:29 |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =Darryl Sittler (1) – pp – 13:15 |goalie2-1 =Rogie Vachon |goalie2-2 =Mike Palmateer

(4) Atlanta Flames vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings

This was the first playoff series between these two teams; they would not meet again in Stanley Cup play until 2004, after the Flames had relocated to Calgary. (The Flames never won a playoff series while representing Atlanta, losing all six over an eight-year period.)

For Detroit, it was their only playoff series win in the twenty years between 1967 and 1986.

|1-1-1 =Dale McCourt (1) – pp – 04:52 Errol Thompson (1) – pp – 07:05 Vaclav Nedomansky (1) – pp – 07:32 Dennis Hextall (1) – sh – 15:18 |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =05:26 – Guy Chouinard (1) |1-3-1 =Andre St. Laurent (1) – 19:59 |1-3-2 =00:09 – Eric Vail (1) 08:07 – Dick Redmond (1) |goalie1-1 =Ron Low |goalie1-2 =Dan Bouchard

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =12:09 – Vaclav Nedomansky (2) |2-2-2 =Tom Lysiak (1) – 06:29 |2-3-1 =08:58 – Bill Lochead (1) 18:26 – Bill Lochead (2) |2-3-2 =Bobby Lalonde (1) |goalie2-1 =Jim Rutherford |goalie2-2 =Dan Bouchard

Quarterfinals

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (8) Detroit Red Wings

This was the 12th playoff series meeting between these two teams. Detroit led 7–4 in previous playoff meetings. Montreal won their most recent meeting in six games in the 1966 Stanley Cup Finals. When Detroit won game two 4–2, the Red Wings victory marked the only time in the 1978 Stanley Cup playoffs that the Canadiens lost a game on home ice.

Game 4 was the final playoff game at the Detroit Olympia.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Bill Lochead (3) – 07:45 Dale McCourt (2) – 18:56 |1-2-2 =05:53 – Doug Jarvis (1) 06:46 – Rejean Houle (1) 14:39 – Yvan Cournoyer (1) 17:31 – Steve Shutt (1) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =03:25 – Yvan Cournoyer (2) 07:25 – Pierre Mondou (1) |goalie1-1 =Ron Low |goalie1-2 =Ken Dryden

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =Dale McCourt (3) – 18:06 Dale McCourt (4) – pp – 19:22 |2-2-2 =03:37 – pp – Larry Robinson (1) 15:19 – Yvan Cournoyer (3) |2-3-1 =Errol Thompson (2) – 00:22 Nick Libett (1) – 19:22 |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Jim Rutherford |goalie2-2 =Ken Dryden

|3-1-1 =07:54 – pp – Nick Libett (2) |3-1-2 =Steve Shutt (2) – pp – 08:38 |3-2-1 =13:48 – Nick Libett (3) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Jacques Lemaire (1) – 00:30 Pierre Larouche (1) – 03:46 Yvan Cournoyer (4) – 12:38 |goalie3-1 =Ron Low |goalie3-2 =Ken Dryden

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Doug Risebrough (1) – sh – 13:00 Bob Gainey (1) – sh – 13:24 Guy Lafleur (1) – pp – 15:51 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Jacques Lemaire (2) – 01:24 Pierre Mondou (2) – pp – 05:46 Steve Shutt (3) – 07:54 Guy Lafleur (2) – 11:30 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Steve Shutt (4) – 17:37 |goalie4-1 =Jim Rutherford |goalie4-2 =Ken Dryden

|5-1-1 =Vaclav Nedomansky (3) – 09:40 |5-1-2 =00:20 – Rejean Houle (2) 11:09 – pp – Guy Lapointe (1) |5-2-1 =Dennis Polonich (1) – 06:40 |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =01:37 – pp – Doug Jarvis (2) 17:36 – Doug Jarvis (3) |goalie5-1 =Ron Low |goalie5-2 =Ken Dryden

(2) Boston Bruins vs. (7) Chicago Black Hawks

This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams. Boston won four of the previous five meetings. Chicago won their last series meeting 2–1 in the 1975 preliminary round.

|1-1-1 =Grant Mulvey (1) – pp – 15:29 |1-1-2 =00:24 – Brad Park (1) 06:04 – pp – Wayne Cashman (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =00:21 – Peter McNab (1) 06:12 – Peter McNab (2) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =06:11 – pp – Bobby Schmautz (1) 17:58 – Terry O'Reilly (1) |goalie1-1 =Tony Esposito 35 saves / 41 shots |goalie1-2 =Ron Grahame 24 saves / 25 shots

|2-1-1 =Doug Hicks (1) – pp – 05:41 Stan Mikita (1) – 18:48 |2-1-2 =12:03 – Don Marcotte (1) |2-2-1 =Bob Murray (1) – 19:13 |2-2-2 =16:59 – pp – Wayne Cashman (2) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =05:17 – Rick Middleton (1) |2-4-1 =No scoring |2-4-2 =01:50 – Terry O'Reilly (2) |goalie2-1 =Tony Esposito 20 saves / 24 shots |goalie2-2 =Ron Grahame 9 saves / 12 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =John Wensink (1) – 13:01 John Wensink (2) – 15:49 |3-2-1 =15:43 – pp – Stan Mikita (2) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =13:04 – Grant Mulvey (2) 19:33 – Cliff Koroll (1) |3-3-2 =Terry O'Reilly (3) – 01:14 |3-4-1 =No scoring |3-4-2 =Peter McNab (3) – 10:17 |goalie3-1 =Tony Esposito 26 saves / 30 shots |goalie3-2 =Gerry Cheevers 26 saves / 29 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Peter McNab (4) – 00:51 Terry O'Reilly (4) – pp – 06:14 Peter McNab (5) – 08:15 Brad Park (2) – 11:40 |4-2-1 =09:59 – pp – Stan Mikita (3) |4-2-2 =Brad Park (3) – 19:39 |4-3-1 =17:55 – Ted Bulley (1) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Tony Esposito 17 saves / 22 shots |goalie4-2 =Gerry Cheevers 12 saves / 14 shots

(3) New York Islanders vs. (6) Toronto Maple Leafs

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.

Lanny McDonald scored the game-winning goal at 4:13 of overtime in game seven to win the series for the Maple Leafs.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =07:58 – Mike Kaszycki (1) 14:09 – Bobby Nystrom (1) 16:39 – Mike Bossy (1) |1-2-1 =Darryl Sittler (2) – pp – 12:48 |1-2-2 =14:06 – Wayne Merrick (1) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Mike Palmateer 23 saves / 27 shots |goalie1-2 =Glenn Resch 29 saves / 30 shots

|2-1-1 =Ian Turnbull (1) – pp – 13:03 |2-1-2 =16:28 – pp – Clark Gillies (1) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =George Ferguson (4) – 09:41 |2-3-2 =03:24 – Bob Bourne (1) |2-4-1 =No scoring |2-4-2 =02:50 – Mike Bossy (2) |goalie2-1 =Mike Palmateer 37 saves / 40 shots |goalie2-2 =Glenn Resch 28 saves / 30 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =14:37 – Ron Ellis (2) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =05:37 – Ian Turnbull (2) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Mike Palmateer 19 saves / 19 shots |goalie3-2 =Glenn Resch 21 saves / 23 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =03:53 – Borje Salming (2) 04:09 – Stan Weir (2) |4-2-2 =Bobby Nystrom (2) – pp – 10:54 |4-3-1 =04:49 – Pat Boutette (1) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Mike Palmateer 31 saves / 32 shots |goalie4-2 =Glenn Resch 25 saves / 28 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =No scoring |5-2-1 =Ian Turnbull (3) – 01:10 |5-2-2 =13:39 – Denis Potvin (1) |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =No scoring |5-4-1 =No scoring |5-4-2 =08:02 – Bobby Nystrom (3) |goalie5-1 =Mike Palmateer 38 saves / 40 shots |goalie5-2 =Glenn Resch 29 saves / 30 shots

|6-1-1 =02:49 – Darryl Sittler (3) 03:40 – pp – Jack Valiquette (1) 11:03 – pp – Lanny McDonald (2) 12:53 – Stan Weir (3) |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =04:36 – Pat Boutette (2) |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =Clark Gillies (2) – 04:51 Bob Bourne (2) – pp – 17:53 |goalie6-1 =Mike Palmateer 35 saves / 37 shots |goalie6-2 =Billy Smith 16 saves / 17 shots Glenn Resch 3 saves / 7 shots

|7-1-1 =No scoring |7-1-2 =05:18 – Denis Potvin (2) |7-2-1 =Ian Turnbull (4) – 03:42 |7-2-2 =No scoring |7-3-1 =No scoring |7-3-2 =No scoring |7-4-1 =Lanny McDonald (3) – 04:13 |7-4-2 =No scoring |goalie7-1 =Mike Palmateer 22 saves / 23 shots |goalie7-2 =Glenn Resch 25 saves / 27 shots

(4) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (5) Buffalo Sabres

This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. Philadelphia won the only previous meeting in six games in the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals.

|1-1-1 =Terry Martin (1) – 06:34 |1-1-2 =06:19 – pp – Rick MacLeish (2) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =01:08 – Bob Kelly (2) 06:13 – Rick MacLeish (3) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =01:28 – Bill Barber (1) |goalie1-1 =Don Edwards 24 saves / 28 shots |goalie1-2 =Bernie Parent 24 saves / 25 shots

|2-1-1 =Richard Martin (2) – pp – 11:58 |2-1-2 =07:16 – pp – Bill Barber (2) |2-2-1 =Danny Gare (3) – pp – 14:20 |2-2-2 =04:09 – Andre Dupont (1) 10:31 – Rick MacLeish (4) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Don Edwards 31 saves / 34 shots |goalie2-2 =Bernie Parent 20 saves / 22 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Rick MacLeish (5) – pp – 08:36 |3-2-1 =09:18 – Gary McAdam (2) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =00:43 – Gilbert Perreault (3) 03:17 – Derek Smith (2) 12:25 – Danny Gare (4) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Don Edwards 20 saves / 21 shots |goalie3-2 =Bernie Parent 29 saves / 33 shots

|4-1-1 =15:13 – Craig Ramsay (2) |4-1-2 =Bob Kelly (3) – 05:56 Ross Lonsberry (1) – pp – 08:02 Rick MacLeish (6) – 14:13 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =16:57 – Craig Ramsay (3) |4-3-2 =Bill Barber (3) – 14:59 |goalie4-1 =Don Edwards 23 saves / 27 shots |goalie4-2 =Bernie Parent 31 saves / 33 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =13:43 – pp – Bobby Clarke (2) |5-2-1 =Terry Martin (2) – 10:53 |5-2-2 =11:07 – Paul Holmgren (1) 14:34 – Ross Lonsberry (2) |5-3-1 =Derek Smith (3) – 13:04 |5-3-2 =06:59 – Don Saleski (2) |goalie5-1 =Don Edwards 22 saves / 26 shots |goalie5-2 =Bernie Parent 26 saves / 28 shots

Semifinals

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) Toronto Maple Leafs

This was the 14th playoff series meeting between these two teams. Toronto lead 7–6 in previous meetings. Toronto won the most recent meeting in six games in the 1967 Stanley Cup Finals.

|1-1-1 =Ron Ellis (3) – 02:25 |1-1-2 =00:23 – Serge Savard (1) 17:06 – Yvan Cournoyer (5) 19:13 – Jacques Lemaire (3) |1-2-1 =Ian Turnbull (5) – 08:27 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Pat Boutette (3) – 14:32 |1-3-2 =03:14 – Yvan Cournoyer (6) 08:54 – Guy Lafleur (3) |goalie1-1 =Mike Palmateer 31 saves / 36 shots |goalie1-2 =Ken Dryden 12 saves / 15 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =04:01 – pp – Larry Robinson (2) 06:46 – Guy Lafleur (4) |2-2-1 =Ian Turnbull (6) – 05:47 Dan Maloney (1) – pp – 08:35 |2-2-2 =15:32 – pp – Guy Lafleur (5) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Mike Palmateer 23 saves / 26 shots |goalie2-2 =Ken Dryden 21 saves / 23 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Steve Shutt (5) – pp – 01:34 Rick Chartraw (1) – 13:09 Yvon Lambert (1) – 17:00 |3-2-1 =08:50 – George Ferguson (5) |3-2-2 =Guy Lafleur (6) – 11:02 Jacques Lemaire (4) – 12:26 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Guy Lafleur (7) – 05:08 |goalie3-1 =Mike Palmateer 33 saves / 39 shots |goalie3-2 =Ken Dryden 23 saves / 24 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Jacques Lemaire (5) – 07:21 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Steve Shutt (6) – pp – 02:15 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Mike Palmateer 27 saves / 29 shots |goalie4-2 =Ken Dryden 23 saves / 23 shots

(2) Boston Bruins vs. (3) Philadelphia Flyers

This was the fourth playoff series meeting between these two teams. Philadelphia won two of the previous three meetings. This was the third straight semifinal meeting following Philadelphia's win in five games in 1976 and Boston's four-game sweep last season.

Game five was Fred Shero's last game as head coach of the Flyers, and Bernie Parent's final playoff game.

|1-1-1 =Reggie Leach (2) – pp – 15:24 |1-1-2 =07:45 – Jean Ratelle (1) |1-2-1 = No scoring |1-2-2 =15:28 – Don Marcotte (2) |1-3-1 =Bobby Clarke (3) – 05:02 |1-3-2 =No scoring |1-4-1 =No scoring |1-4-2 =01:43 – Rick Middleton (2) |goalie1-1 =Bernie Parent 22 saves / 25 shots |goalie1-2 =Gerry Cheevers 21 saves / 23 shots

|2-1-1 =Orest Kindrachuk (1) – pp – 17:48 |2-1-2 =06:01 – pp – Bobby Schmautz (2) 08:55 – Rick Middleton (3) 12:31 – pp – Wayne Cashman (3) 19:51 – Jean Ratelle (2) |2-2-1 =Bill Barber (4) – 05:22 Rick MacLeish (7) – 08:06 Bob Dailey (1) – 19:20 |2-2-2 =02:36 – Bobby Schmautz (3) |2-3-1 =Bobby Clarke (4) – 01:41 |2-3-2 =14:24 – Rick Middleton (4) 16:39 – Gregg Sheppard (1) |goalie2-1 =Bernie Parent 26 saves / 33 shots |goalie2-2 =Gerry Cheevers 20 saves / 25 shots

|3-1-1 =10:36 – André Dupont (2) |3-1-2 =Brad Park (4) – pp – 13:42 |3-2-1 =11:56 – Orest Kindrachuk (2) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =03:32 – Bill Barber (5) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Bernie Parent 24 saves / 25 shots |goalie3-2 =Ron Grahame 21 saves / 24 shots

|4-1-1 =No Scoring |4-1-2 =Bobby Schmautz (4) – 06:20 Don Marcotte (3) – 15:43 |4-2-1 =16:26 – Jimmy Watson (1) |4-2-2 =Wayne Cashman (4) – 13:57 |4-3-1 =06:34 – pp – Orest Kindrachuk (3) |4-3-2 =Bobby Schmautz (5) – en – 19:25 |goalie4-1 =Bernie Parent 12 saves / 15 shots |goalie4-2 =Gerry Cheevers 28 saves / 30 shots

|5-1-1 =No Scoring |5-1-2 =17:04 – Mike Milbury (1) |5-2-1 =Bill Barber (6) – 02:56 Orest Kindrachuk (4) – 13:40 Orest Kindrachuk (5) – 13:51 |5-2-2 =04:29 – pp – Brad Park (5) 17:58 – Bobby Schmautz (6) |5-3-1 =No Scoring |5-3-2 =06:18 – Don Marcotte (4) 12:22 – Peter McNab (6) 18:56 – en – Jean Ratelle (3) |goalie5-1 =Bernie Parent 27 saves / 32 shots |goalie5-2 =Gerry Cheevers 21 saves / 24 shots

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1978 Stanley Cup Finals

This was the 17th playoff series (and the last Finals) meeting between these two teams. Montreal led 14–2 in previous meetings. This was a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Finals, in which Montreal won in a four-game sweep.

|1-1-1 =Brad Park (6) – pp – 02:31 |1-1-2 =04:31 – pp – Guy Lafleur (8) 09:53 – pp – Yvon Lambert (2) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =13:54 – Steve Shutt (7) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =03:55 – Yvan Cournoyer (7) |goalie1-1 =Gerry Cheevers 23 saves / 27 shots |goalie1-2 =Ken Dryden 15 saves / 16 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =Brad Park (7) – 03:57 |2-2-2 =07:00 – Steve Shutt (8) |2-3-1 =Rick Smith (1) – 15:48 |2-3-2 =12:12 – Bob Gainey (2) |2-4-1 =No scoring |2-4-2 =13:09 – Guy Lafleur (9) |goalie2-1 =Gerry Cheevers 32 saves / 35 shots |goalie2-2 =Ken Dryden 30 saves / 32 shots

|3-1-1 =00:59 – Gary Doak (1) 05:11 – Rick Middleton (5) |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =02:54 – Peter McNab (7) 15:39 – Terry O'Reilly (5) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Gerry Cheevers 16 saves / 16 shots |goalie3-2 =Ken Dryden 32 saves / 36 shots

|4-1-1 =00:25 – Gregg Sheppard (2) |4-1-2 =Doug Risebrough (2) – 03:26 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Larry Robinson (3) – 07:00 |4-3-1 =09:19 – Peter McNab (8) 13:20 – Brad Park (8) |4-3-2 =Guy Lafleur (10) – 19:27 |4-4-1 =06:22 – Bobby Schmautz (7) |4-4-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Gerry Cheevers 27 saves / 30 shots |goalie4-2 =Ken Dryden 20 saves / 24 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =07:46 – Larry Robinson (4) 11:10 – pp – Pierre Mondou (3) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =13:04 – pp Pierre Larouche (2) 18:42 – Jacques Lemaire (6) |5-3-1 =Don Marcotte (5) – pp – 11:22 |5-3-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Gerry Cheevers 21 saves / 25 shots Ron Grahame 5 saves / 5 shots |goalie5-2 =Ken Dryden 29 saves / 30 shots

|6-1-1 =04:05 – pp – Brad Park (9) |6-1-2 =Steve Shutt (9) – 07:01 Mario Tremblay (1) – 09:20 |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =Mario Tremblay (2) – 13:37 Rejean Houle (3) – 17:46 |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Gerry Cheevers 20 saves / 24 shots |goalie6-2 =Ken Dryden 15 saves / 16 shots

Awards

The league introduced the Frank J. Selke trophy this season. It rewards the forward judged to be the best at defensive abilities.

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes

Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Other statistics

;Plus-minus:

• Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens

Coaches

Patrick Division

• Atlanta Flames: Fred Creighton
• New York Islanders: Al Arbour
• New York Rangers: Jean-Guy Talbot
• Philadelphia Flyers: Fred Shero and Bob McCammon

Adams Division

• Boston Bruins: Don Cherry
• Buffalo Sabres: Marcel Pronovost
• Cleveland Barons: Jack Evans
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Roger Neilson

Norris Division

• Detroit Red Wings: Bobby Kromm
• Los Angeles Kings: Ron Stewart
• Montreal Canadiens: Scotty Bowman
• Pittsburgh Penguins: Johnny Wilson
• Washington Capitals: Tom McVie

Smythe Division

• Chicago Black Hawks: Bob Pulford
• Colorado Rockies: Patrick Kelly
• Minnesota North Stars: Andre Beaulieu and Lou Nanne
• St. Louis Blues: Leo Boivin and Barclay Plager
• Vancouver Canucks: Orland Kurtenbach

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1977–78 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Doug Wilson, Chicago Black Hawks
• Barry Beck, Colorado Rockies
• Dale McCourt, Detroit Red Wings
• Vaclav Nedomansky, Detroit Red Wings
• Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings
• Mike Bossy, New York Islanders
• Ron Duguay, New York Rangers
• Glen Hanlon, Vancouver Canucks
• Murray Bannerman, Vancouver Canucks
• Robert Picard, Washington Capitals

Nedomansky began his major professional career in the World Hockey Association.

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1977–78 (listed with their last team):

• Johnny Bucyk, Boston Bruins
• Eddie Johnston, Chicago Black Hawks
• Jim Neilson, Cleveland Barons
• Dennis Hull, Detroit Red Wings
• Ed Giacomin, Detroit Red Wings
• Bill Goldsworthy, New York Rangers
• Dallas Smith, New York Rangers
• Ken Hodge, New York Rangers
• Rod Gilbert, New York Rangers
• Gary Dornhoefer, Philadelphia Flyers
• Derek Sanderson, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Claude Larose, St. Louis Blues
• Bob Plager, St. Louis Blues
• Jim Roberts, St. Louis Blues
• Red Berenson, St. Louis Blues
• Cesare Maniago, Vancouver Canucks

NOTE: Goldsworthy and Neilson would finish their major professional careers in the World Hockey Association.

Broadcasting

Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games.

In the U.S., this was the third season that NHL games aired in national broadcast syndication under the NHL Network package. Starting in the 1978 playoffs, the NHL Network began simulcasting most games with HNIC/CBC.

References

• {{cite book |last1=Fischler |first1=Stan |last2=Fischler |first2=Shirley

;Notes

References

1. DeLaere, Matt. (17 August 2017). "What's in a Number?". Impressions.
2. Hockey's Book of Firsts, p.27, James Duplacey, JG Press, {{ISBN. 978-1-57215-037-9
3. "DropYourGloves.com".