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1978–79 Indianapolis Racers season
World Hockey Association team season
World Hockey Association team season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| League | WHA |
| Season | 1978–79 |
| year | 1978 |
| Team | Indianapolis Racers |
| Record | 5–18–2 |
| HomeRecord | 4–8–1 |
| RoadRecord | 1–10–1 |
| LeagueRank | 7th |
| GoalsFor | 78 |
| GoalsAgainst | 130 |
| Coach | Pat Stapleton |
| Arena | Market Square Arena |
| GoalsLeader | Blaine Stoughton (9) |
| AssistsLeader | Al McLeod (11) |
| PointsLeader | Don Larway |
| Blaine Stoughton (18) | |
| PIMLeader | Glen Irwin (124) |
| WinsLeader | Gary Inness (3) |
| GAALeader | Eddie Mio (3.22) |
Blaine Stoughton (18) The 1978–79 Indianapolis Racers season was the Racers' final season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The team folded after only 25 games.
Offseason
Nelson Skalbania, the owner of Indianapolis Racers, signed the 17-year-old future super-star, Wayne Gretzky to, at that time, a whopping personal contract worth between 1.125 and 1.75 million dollars over 4 to 7 years. Skalbania, knowing that the WHA was fading, felt owning the young star was more valuable than owning a WHA team.
Regular season
This was the first season of Wayne Gretzky's professional career. The Racers' management knew that the team was going to fold due to poor attendance, and sold Gretzky to the Edmonton Oilers after eight games. Skalbania needed cash and liquidated his greatest asset 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, although the announced price was actually $850,000.
Final standings
Schedule and results
|- |1||L||October 14, 1978||3–6 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) ||0–1–0 |- |2||L||October 15, 1978||3–9 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||0–2–0 |- |3||W||October 18, 1978||4–0 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) ||1–2–0 |- |4||L||October 20, 1978||3–4 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) ||1–3–0 |- |5||L||October 22, 1978||3–6 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1978–79) ||1–4–0 |- |6||L||October 27, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) ||1–5–0 |- |7||W||October 28, 1978||3–2 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) ||2–5–0 |- |8||T||October 29, 1978||3–3 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) ||2–5–1
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| Legend:
Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RW | 25 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 16 | −18 | 3 | 0 | ||
| RW | 25 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 39 | −20 | 2 | 0 | ||
| C | 13 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 14 | −2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| LW | 13 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| C | 22 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 4 | −1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| C | 17 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 0 | −12 | 1 | 0 | ||
| RW | 22 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||
| D/LW | 10 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 29 | −13 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 15 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 25 | −11 | 2 | 0 | ||
| D | 25 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| LW | 21 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 64 | −5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| RW | 25 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 20 | −2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 25 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 22 | −5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 22 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 48 | −16 | 0 | 0 | ||
| LW | 9 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 23 | −11 | 1 | 0 | ||
| C | 17 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 2 | 0 | ||
| C | 8 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | −3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 22 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | −11 | 0 | 0 | ||
| LW | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| C | 18 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | −6 | 1 | 0 | ||
| LW | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | −4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | −1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| LW | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | −4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | −10 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 24 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 124 | −10 | 0 | 0 | ||
| LW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | −2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | −4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| G | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| G | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 609 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 51 | 5.02 | 0 | |
| 242 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 3.22 | 1 | |
| 664 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 61 | 5.51 | 0 | |
| **Team:** | 1515 | 25 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 125 | 4.95 | 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;
References
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References
- "1978-79 Indianapolis Racers Schedule".
- "1978-79 Indianapolis Racers Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com.
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