1977–78 Winnipeg Jets season

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1977–78 Winnipeg Jets
Avco Cup champions
Division1st WHA
1977–78 record50–28–2
Goals for381
Goals against270
Team information
General managerRudy Pilous
CoachLarry Hillman
CaptainLars-Erik Sjoberg
Alternate captainsTed Green
Anders Hedberg

The 1977–78 Winnipeg Jets season was the Jets' sixth season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Jets, finalists in 1977, qualified first for the playoffs and the championship against the New England Whalers in the Final. It was the Jets' second Avco Cup win.

As of 2024 this is the most recent season any Winnipeg-based major professional hockey team has won a division championship, although the Jets would go on to defend the Avco Cup the following year (their last as a WHA organization before joining the National Hockey League).

Offseason[edit]

Regular season[edit]

Final standings[edit]

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[edit]

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

Playoffs[edit]

Due to their victory over the Bulls, they earned a bye to the Finals while the other two Semifinal winners faced off against each other.

Winnipeg Jets 4, Birmingham Bulls 1[edit]

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 April 14 Birmingham Bulls 3–9 Winnipeg Jets 1–0
2 April 16 Birmingham Bulls 3–8 Winnipeg Jets 2–0
3 April 19 Winnipeg Jets 2–3 Birmingham Bulls 2–1
4 April 21 Winnipeg Jets 5–1 Birmingham Bulls 3–1
5 April 23 Birmingham Bulls 2–5 Winnipeg Jets 4–1

Winnipeg Jets 4, New England Whalers 0 – Avco Cup Finals[edit]

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

Player statistics[edit]

Regular season[edit]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Ulf Nilsson C 73 37 89 126 89 41 7 3
Anders Hedberg RW 77 63 59 122 60 60 17 6
Bobby Hull LW 77 46 71 117 23 55 10 0
Kent Nilsson C 80 42 65 107 8 27 18 0
Willy Lindstrom RW 77 30 30 60 42 4 7 0
Peter Sullivan C 77 16 39 55 43 −12 3 1
Lars-Erik Sjoberg D 78 11 39 50 72 60 0 1
Bobby Guindon LW 77 20 22 42 18 −1 0 4
Dave Kryskow LW 71 20 21 41 16 12 3 0
Dan Labraaten LW 47 18 16 34 30 7 5 0
Thommie Bergman D 62 5 28 33 43 22 0 0
Lynn Powis C 55 12 19 31 16 2 2 0
Barry Long D 78 7 24 31 42 10 1 1
Bill Lesuk LW 80 9 18 27 48 −4 0 0
Dave Dunn D 66 6 20 26 79 20 1 0
Ted Green D 73 4 22 26 52 19 2 0
Lyle Moffat LW 57 9 16 25 39 −6 0 0
Ken Baird D 49 14 7 21 29 5 2 0
Kent Ruhnke RW 21 8 9 17 2 9 0 0
Kim Clackson D 52 2 7 9 203 6 0 0
Larry Hornung D 19 1 4 5 2 17 0 0
Mike Amodeo D 3 1 1 2 0 3 0 0
Joe Daley G 37 0 2 2 2 0 0 0
Gary Bromley G 39 0 1 1 4 0 0 0
Bill Davis D 12 0 0 0 2 −9 0 0
Mike Ford D 3 0 0 0 0 −5 0 0
Fran Huck C 5 0 0 0 2 −2 0 0
Markus Mattsson G 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Gary Bromley 2252 39 25 12 1 124 3.30 1
Joe Daley 2075 37 21 11 1 114 3.30 1
Markus Mattsson 511 10 4 5 0 30 3.52 0
Team: 4838 80 50 28 2 268 3.32 2

Playoffs[edit]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Anders Hedberg RW 9 9 6 15 2 1
Ulf Nilsson C 9 1 13 14 12 0
Bobby Guindon LW 9 8 5 13 5 2
Lyle Moffat LW 9 5 7 12 9 0
Bobby Hull LW 9 8 3 11 12 2
Kent Nilsson C 9 2 8 10 10 0
Lars-Erik Sjoberg D 9 0 9 9 4 0
Dave Kryskow LW 9 4 4 8 2 1
Willy Lindstrom RW 8 3 4 7 17 0
Peter Sullivan C 9 3 4 7 4 1
Bill Lesuk LW 9 2 5 7 12 0
Barry Long D 9 0 5 5 6 0
Mike Amodeo D 7 1 3 4 19 0
Ken Baird D 7 0 4 4 7 0
Lynn Powis C 3 2 1 3 7 0
Dave Dunn D 9 1 2 3 0 0
Kent Ruhnke RW 5 2 0 2 0 1
Dan Labraaten LW 4 1 1 2 8 0
Ted Green D 8 0 2 2 2 0
Mike Ford D 2 1 0 1 0 0
Kim Clackson D 9 0 1 1 61 0
Joe Daley G 5 0 1 1 20 0
Gary Bromley G 5 0 0 0 2 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Gary Bromley 268 5 4 0 7 1.57 0
Joe Daley 271 5 4 1 13 2.88 0
Team: 539 9 8 1 20 2.23 0

[1]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records[edit]

Transactions[edit]

Draft picks[edit]

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

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 3 Ron Duguay (C)  Canada Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
1 8 Miles Zaharko (D)  Canada New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
3 28 Mark Lofthouse (RW)  Canada New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
4 37 Don Laurence (C)  Canada Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
5 46 Bill Stewart (D)  Canada Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA)
6 55 Ric Seiling (RW)  Canada St. Catharines Fincups (OHA)
7 64 Jim Hamilton (LW)  Canada London Knights (OHA)
8 72 Warren Holmes (C)  Canada Ottawa 67's (OHA)
9 80 Mike Keating (LW)  Canada St. Catharines Fincups (OHA)
10 88 Murray Bannerman (G)  Canada Victoria Cougars (WCHL)

Farm teams[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1977-78 Winnipeg Jets Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
  2. ^ "1977 WHA Amateur Draft". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.

External links[edit]

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