# 1976–77 WHA season

The 1976–77 WHA season was the fifth season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Prior to the season, the Toronto Toros moved to Birmingham, Alabama and became the Birmingham Bulls. The Cleveland Crusaders attempted to move to South Florida, but instead became the short-lived second incarnation of the Minnesota Fighting Saints and folded after playing 42 games. With the death of the Saints, the WHA left the last market it had been sharing with the NHL. The remaining 11 teams finished the season, playing 80 or 81 games.
With the reduction of teams before the start of the season, the league returned to a two-division setup, eliminating the Canadian Division.
The Avco World Trophy winners were the Quebec Nordiques, defeating the Winnipeg Jets four games to three; it was the only WHA final series that went the full seven games.

## Regular season standings

Eastern Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
| Quebec Nordiques | 81 | 47 | 31 | 3 | 353 | 295 | 97 |
| Cincinnati Stingers | 81 | 39 | 37 | 5 | 354 | 303 | 83 |
| Indianapolis Racers | 81 | 36 | 37 | 8 | 276 | 305 | 80 |
| New England Whalers | 81 | 35 | 40 | 6 | 275 | 290 | 76 |
| Birmingham Bulls | 81 | 31 | 46 | 4 | 289 | 309 | 66 |
| Minnesota Fighting Saints | 42 | 19 | 18 | 5 | 136 | 129 | 43 |
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 |

## Player stats
### Scoring leaders

$_{Boldednumbersindicateseasonleaders}$
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Real Cloutier | Quebec Nordiques | 76 | 66 | 75 | 141 | 39 |
| Anders Hedberg | Winnipeg Jets | 68 | 70 | 61 | 131 | 48 |
| Ulf Nilsson | Winnipeg Jets | 71 | 39 | 85 | 124 | 89 |
| Robbie Ftorek | Phoenix Roadrunners | 80 | 46 | 71 | 117 | 86 |
| Andre Lacroix | San Diego Mariners | 81 | 32 | 82 | 114 | 79 |
| Marc Tardif | Quebec Nordiques | 62 | 49 | 60 | 109 | 65 |
| Rich Leduc | Cincinnati Stingers | 81 | 52 | 55 | 107 | 75 |
| Chris Bordeleau | Quebec Nordiques | 72 | 32 | 75 | 107 | 34 |
| Blaine Stoughton | Cincinnati Stingers | 81 | 52 | 52 | 104 | 39 |
| Mark Napier | Birmingham Bulls | 80 | 60 | 36 | 96 | 24 |
| Dennis Sobchuk | Cincinnati Stingers | 81 | 44 | 52 | 96 | 38 |
| Serge Bernier | Quebec Nordiques | 74 | 43 | 53 | 96 | 94 |

### Leading goaltenders

$_{Boldednumbersindicateseasonleaders}$
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| Ron Grahame | Houston Aeros | 39 | 2345 | 27 | 10 | 2 | 107 | 4 | 90.1 | 2.74 |
| Ernie Wakely | San Diego Mariners | 46 | 2506 | 22 | 18 | 1 | 129 | 3 | 89.6 | 3.09 |
| Cap Raeder | New England Whalers | 26 | 1328 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 69 | 2 | 90.2 | 3.12 |
| Wayne Rutledge | Houston Aeros | 42 | 2512 | 23 | 14 | 4 | 132 | 3 | 89.8 | 3.15 |
| Joe Daley | Winnipeg Jets | 65 | 3813 | 39 | 21 | 2 | 206 | 3 | 89.2 | 3.24 |

## Avco World Trophy Playoffs

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| E1 | Quebec Nordiques | 4 | | | | | | |
| E4 | New England Whalers | 1 | | | | | | |
| E4 | New England Whalers | 1 | E1 | Quebec Nordiques | 4 | | | |
| Eastern Division | Eastern Division | Eastern Division | E1 | Quebec Nordiques | 4 | | | |
| Eastern Division | Eastern Division | Eastern Division | E3 | Indianapolis Racers | 1 | | | |
| E2 | Cincinnati Stingers | 0 | E3 | Indianapolis Racers | 1 | | | |
| E3 | Indianapolis Racers | 4 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Indianapolis Racers | 4 | | | | E1 | Quebec Nordiques | 4 |
| | | | | | | W2 | Winnipeg Jets | 3 |
| W1 | Houston Aeros | 4 | | | | | | | W2 | Winnipeg Jets | 3 |
| W4 | Edmonton Oilers | 1 | | | | | | |
| W4 | Edmonton Oilers | 1 | W1 | Houston Aeros | 2 | | | |
| Western Division | Western Division | Western Division | W1 | Houston Aeros | 2 | | | |
| Western Division | Western Division | Western Division | W2 | Winnipeg Jets | 4 | | | |
| W2 | Winnipeg Jets | 4 | W2 | Winnipeg Jets | 4 | | | |
| W3 | San Diego Mariners | 3 | | | | | | |

## WHA awards
### Trophies

| Avco World Trophy: | Quebec Nordiques |
| Gordie Howe Trophy: | Robbie Ftorek, Phoenix Roadrunners |
| Bill Hunter Trophy: | Real Cloutier, Quebec Nordiques |
| Lou Kaplan Trophy: | George Lyle, New England Whalers |
| Ben Hatskin Trophy: | Ron Grahame, Houston Aeros |
| Dennis A. Murphy Trophy: | Ron Plumb, Cincinnati Stingers |
| Paul Deneau Trophy: | Dave Keon, New England Whalers |
| Howard Baldwin Trophy: | Bill Dineen, Houston Aeros |
| WHA Playoff MVP: | Serge Bernier, Quebec Nordiques |

### All-Star Team

| Position | First Team | Second Team |
| Centre | Robbie Ftorek, Phoenix | Ulf Nilsson, Winnipeg |
| Right Wing | Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg | Real Cloutier, Quebec |
| Left Wing | Marc Tardif, Quebec | Rick Dudley, Cincinnati |
| Defence | Darryl Maggs, Indianapolis | Poul Popiel, Houston |
| Defence | Ron Plumb, Cincinnati | Mark Howe, Houston |
| Goaltender | John Garrett, Birmingham | Joe Daley, Winnipeg |