# 1976–77 San Diego Mariners season

The 1976–77 San Diego Mariners season was the third and final season of operation of the San Diego Mariners of the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Mariners finished third in the Western Division and qualified for the playoffs, losing in the first round to the Winnipeg Jets.

## Regular season
### Final standings

Western Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
| Houston Aeros | 80 | 50 | 24 | 6 | 320 | 241 | 106 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 46 | 32 | 2 | 366 | 291 | 94 |
| San Diego Mariners | 81 | 40 | 37 | 4 | 284 | 283 | 85 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 81 | 34 | 43 | 4 | 243 | 304 | 72 |
| Calgary Cowboys | 81 | 31 | 43 | 7 | 252 | 296 | 69 |
| Phoenix Roadrunners | 80 | 28 | 48 | 4 | 281 | 383 | 60 |

### Game log

Regular season schedule :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | T | October 9, 1976 | 7–7 | Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) | 0–0–1 |
| 2 | L | October 12, 1976 | 4–6 | @ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) | 0–1–1 |
| 3 | W | October 15, 1976 | 7–4 | @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77) | 1–1–1 |
| 4 | W | October 16, 1976 | 4–2 | Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) | 2–1–1 |
| 5 | W | October 17, 1976 | 3–1 | Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) | 3–1–1 |
| 6 | T | October 21, 1976 | 4–4 | Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) | 3–1–2 |
| 7 | L | October 24, 1976 | 0–6 | @ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) | 3–2–2 |
| 8 | L | October 26, 1976 | 1–3 | @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77) | 3–3–2 |
| 9 | W | October 27, 1976 | 5–1 | @ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) | 4–3–2 |
| 10 | L | October 29, 1976 | 2–4 | @ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) | 4–4–2 |
| 11 | L | October 31, 1976 | 4–6 | @ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) | 4–5–2 |
| 12 | W | November 2, 1976 | 4–3 OT | @ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) | 5–5–2 |
| 13 | W | November 6, 1976 | 4–1 | Houston Aeros (1976–77) | 6–5–2 |
| 14 | W | November 7, 1976 | 3–0 | Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) | 7–5–2 |
| 15 | W | November 11, 1976 | 3–2 | @ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) | 8–5–2 |
| 16 | L | November 12, 1976 | 1–4 | @ Houston Aeros (1976–77) | 8–6–2 |
| 17 | L | November 14, 1976 | 3–6 | @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 8–7–2 |
| 18 | W | November 17, 1976 | 4–2 | Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) | 9–7–2 |
| 19 | W | November 19, 1976 | 5–3 | Houston Aeros (1976–77) | 10–7–2 |
| 20 | L | November 21, 1976 | 3–4 | @ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) | 10–8–2 |
| 21 | W | November 24, 1976 | 4–2 | Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) | 11–8–2 |
| 22 | W | November 27, 1976 | 2–0 | @ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) | 12–8–2 |
| 23 | L | November 28, 1976 | 0–4 | @ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) | 12–9–2 |
| 24 | L | November 30, 1976 | 2–8 | @ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) | 12–10–2 |
| 25 | W | December 2, 1976 | 4–3 | Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 13–10–2 |
| 26 | W | December 4, 1976 | 4–3 | @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 14–10–2 |
| 27 | W | December 8, 1976 | 6–1 | @ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) | 15–10–2 |
| 28 | L | December 10, 1976 | 2–3 | @ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) | 15–11–2 |
| 29 | L | December 11, 1976 | 2–3 | @ New England Whalers (1976–77) | 15–12–2 |
| 30 | W | December 12, 1976 | 4–2 | @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77) | 16–12–2 |
| 31 | W | December 14, 1976 | 6–1 | @ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) | 17–12–2 |
| 32 | W | December 16, 1976 | 3–0 | Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) | 18–12–2 |
| 33 | W | December 18, 1976 | 4–3 | Houston Aeros (1976–77) | 19–12–2 |
| 34 | W | December 19, 1976 | 5–3 | Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) | 20–12–2 |
| 35 | W | December 22, 1976 | 5–4 OT | @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 21–12–2 |
| 36 | L | December 23, 1976 | 3–5 | New England Whalers (1976–77) | 21–13–2 |
| 37 | W | December 26, 1976 | 2–1 | Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) | 22–13–2 |
| 38 | W | December 30, 1976 | 4–3 | Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) | 23–13–2 |
| 39 | W | January 5, 1977 | 2–1 | @ New England Whalers (1976–77) | 24–13–2 |
| 40 | L | January 8, 1977 | 1–2 | @ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) | 24–14–2 |
| 41 | L | January 9, 1977 | 2–5 | @ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) | 24–15–2 |
| 42 | L | January 13, 1977 | 2–7 | Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) | 24–16–2 |
| 43 | L | January 15, 1977 | 3–5 | Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) | 24–17–2 |
| 44 | W | January 16, 1977 | 5–2 | Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) | 25–17–2 |
| 45 | W | January 20, 1977 | 5–1 | Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) | 26–17–2 |
| 46 | L | January 22, 1977 | 0–6 | Houston Aeros (1976–77) | 26–18–2 |
| 47 | L | January 23, 1977 | 3–5 | @ Houston Aeros (1976–77) | 26–19–2 |
| 48 | L | January 27, 1977 | 3–5 | New England Whalers (1976–77) | 26–20–2 |
| 49 | W | January 29, 1977 | 5–3 | Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) | 27–20–2 |
| 50 | W | February 1, 1977 | 5–1 | Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 28–20–2 |
| 51 | W | February 2, 1977 | 6–4 | Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) | 29–20–2 |
| 52 | L | February 4, 1977 | 2–8 | @ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) | 29–21–2 |
| 53 | L | February 6, 1977 | 2–4 | @ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) | 29–22–2 |
| 54 | W | February 8, 1977 | 6–5 | @ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) | 30–22–2 |
| 55 | W | February 11, 1977 | 5–3 | @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 31–22–2 |
| 56 | W | February 12, 1977 | 3–2 OT | Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) | 32–22–2 |
| 57 | W | February 13, 1977 | 5–2 | Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 33–22–2 |
| 58 | L | February 16, 1977 | 2–4 | Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) | 33–23–2 |
| 59 | L | February 18, 1977 | 2–4 | @ Houston Aeros (1976–77) | 33–24–2 |
| 60 | L | February 19, 1977 | 3–5 | @ Houston Aeros (1976–77) | 33–25–2 |
| 61 | T | February 24, 1977 | 3–3 | Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 33–25–3 |
| 62 | L | February 26, 1977 | 4–5 | Houston Aeros (1976–77) | 33–26–3 |
| 63 | L | March 2, 1977 | 0–2 | @ New England Whalers (1976–77) | 33–27–3 |
| 64 | L | March 4, 1977 | 4–7 | @ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) | 33–28–3 |
| 65 | L | March 5, 1977 | 0–6 | @ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) | 33–29–3 |
| 66 | L | March 6, 1977 | 2–4 | @ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) | 33–30–3 |
| 67 | L | March 8, 1977 | 0–5 | @ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) | 33–31–3 |
| 68 | L | March 9, 1977 | 3–4 | @ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) | 33–32–3 |
| 69 | L | March 12, 1977 | 6–7 OT | Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 33–33–3 |
| 70 | T | March 15, 1977 | 4–4 | Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 33–33–4 |
| 71 | L | March 19, 1977 | 5–7 | @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 33–34–4 |
| 72 | W | March 20, 1977 | 6–1 | Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 34–34–4 |
| 73 | W | March 24, 1977 | 6–2 | Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) | 35–34–4 |
| 74 | W | March 25, 1977 | 7–3 | @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 36–34–4 |
| 75 | W | March 26, 1977 | 4–2 | Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) | 37–34–4 |
| 76 | L | March 29, 1977 | 4–5 | New England Whalers (1976–77) | 37–35–4 |
| 77 | W | March 31, 1977 | 4–3 | Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) | 38–35–4 |
| 78 | W | April 2, 1977 | 6–3 | Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) | 39–35–4 |
| 79 | W | April 3, 1977 | 7–0 | Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) | 40–35–4 |
| 80 | L | April 5, 1977 | 1–3 | @ Houston Aeros (1976–77) | 40–36–4 |
| 81 | L | April 6, 1977 | 3–5 | Houston Aeros (1976–77) | 40–37–4 |

## Playoffs
### Winnipeg Jets 4, San Diego Mariners 3

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record |
| 1 | April 10 | San Diego Mariners | 1–5 | Winnipeg Jets | 0–1 |
| 2 | April 12 | San Diego Mariners | 1–4 | Winnipeg Jets | 0–2 |
| 3 | April 16 | Winnipeg Jets | 4–5 | San Diego Mariners | 1–2 |
| 4 | April 17 | Winnipeg Jets | 4–6 | San Diego Mariners | 2–2 |
| 5 | April 20 | San Diego Mariners | 0–3 | Winnipeg Jets | 2–3 |
| 6 | April 22 | Winnipeg Jets | 1–3 | San Diego Mariners | 3–3 |
| 7 | April 24 | San Diego Mariners | 3–7 | Winnipeg Jets | 3–4 |

## Player stats

Regular season :
Scoring :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Andre Lacroix | C | 81 | 32 | 82 | 114 | 79 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 0 |
| Joe Noris | C/D | 73 | 35 | 57 | 92 | 30 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 5 |
| Norm Ferguson | RW | 77 | 39 | 32 | 71 | 5 | −5 | 10 | 0 | 8 |
| Kevin Devine | LW | 81 | 30 | 20 | 50 | 114 | −12 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Paul Shmyr | D | 81 | 13 | 37 | 50 | 103 | −4 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Wayne Rivers | RW | 60 | 18 | 31 | 49 | 40 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Burgess | LW | 77 | 20 | 22 | 42 | 8 | −8 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Kevin Morrison | D | 75 | 8 | 30 | 38 | 68 | −30 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| John French | C/LW | 44 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 6 | −3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Veneruzzo | W | 40 | 14 | 11 | 25 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Cassolato | RW | 43 | 13 | 12 | 25 | 26 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Dobek | C | 58 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 17 | −9 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Brad Rhiness | C | 58 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 14 | −17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dick Sentes | LW | 24 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry Pinder | LW | 44 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 36 | −24 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Brent Hughes | D | 62 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 48 | −3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Hornung | D | 58 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 8 | −7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Randy Legge | D | 69 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 69 | −18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peter McNamee | D | 41 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 38 | −7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Adduono | C | 13 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Falkenberg | D | 64 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 34 | −11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gregg Boddy | D | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 19 | −6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Norm Cournoyer | C | 19 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | −14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim O'Connell | RW | 16 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | −12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ernie Wakely | G | 46 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Lockett | G | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Winograd | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending :
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Ernie Wakely | 2506 | 46 | 22 | 18 | 3 | 129 | 3.09 | 3 |
| Ken Lockett | 2397 | 45 | 18 | 19 | 1 | 148 | 3.70 | 1 |
| Team: | 4903 | 81 | 40 | 37 | 4 | 277 | 3.39 | 4 |
Playoffs :
Scoring :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Andre Lacroix | C | 7 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Norm Ferguson | RW | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ray Adduono | C | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John French | C/LW | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dick Sentes | LW | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Don Burgess | LW | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Devine | LW | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Morrison | D | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brent Hughes | D | 7 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Noris | C/D | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wayne Rivers | RW | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Shmyr | D | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brad Rhiness | C | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Cassolato | RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Dobek | C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Falkenberg | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Hornung | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Randy Legge | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Lockett | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peter McNamee | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Veneruzzo | W | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ernie Wakely | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending :
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Ernie Wakely | 160 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 3.38 | 0 |
| Ken Lockett | 260 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 4.38 | 0 |
| Team: | 420 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 28 | 4.00 | 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

San Diego's draft picks at the 1976 WHA Amateur Draft.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 5 | Dave Farrish (D) | Canada | Sudbury Wolves (OHA) |
| 3 | 23 | Romano Carlucci (F) | Canada | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA) |
| 3 | 25 | Mark Suzor (D) | Canada | Kingston Canadians (OHA) |
| 3 | 29 | Tony Horvath (D) | Canada | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA) |
| 4 | 41 | John Smrke (C) | Canada | Toronto Marlboros (OHA) |
| 5 | 53 | Archie King (RW) | Canada | Hamilton Fincups (OHA) |
| 6 | 65 | Rick Hodgson (D) | Canada | Calgary Centennials (WCHL) |
| 7 | 77 | Rob Tudor (C) | Canada | Regina Pats (WCHL) |
| 8 | 89 | Claude Legris (G) | Canada | Sorel Black Hawks (QMJHL) |
| 9 | 100 | Don Moores (C) | Canada | Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL) |
| 10 | 111 | Ron Roscoe (D) | Canada | Hamilton Fincups (OHA) |