# 1976–77 Minnesota Fighting Saints season

The 1976–77 Minnesota Fighting Saints season was the last season of WHA hockey in Minnesota. The original Fighting Saints disbanded and the Cleveland Crusaders relocated to become the new Minnesota Fighting Saints. The season came to an early end on January 14, 1977, when the Saints played their last game without finishing the season.

## Regular season
### Final 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 |

### Game log

Regular season schedule :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 3 | W | October 10, 1976 | 4–1 | Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) | 1–2–0 |
| 6 | W | October 17, 1976 | 6–1 | Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) | 2–4–0 |
| 8 | T | October 22, 1976 | 2–2 | Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) | 2–5–1 |
| 11 | L | October 30, 1976 | 1–5 | @ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) | 3–6–2 |
| 13 | L | November 3, 1976 | 2–4 | @ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) | 3–8–2 |
| 14 | L | November 5, 1976 | 2–9 | @ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) | 3–9–2 |
| 15 | L | November 7, 1976 | 1–3 | Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) | 3–10–2 |
| 16 | T | November 11, 1976 | 3–3 | New England Whalers (1976–77) | 3–10–3 |
| 17 | W | November 13, 1976 | 4–2 | @ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) | 4–10–3 |
| 18 | L | November 18, 1976 | 5–9 | Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) | 4–11–3 |
| 19 | T | November 20, 1976 | 3–3 | @ New England Whalers (1976–77) | 4–11–4 |
| 20 | W | November 21, 1976 | 5–1 | Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) | 5–11–4 |
| 21 | W | November 23, 1976 | 4–0 | Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) | 6–11–4 |
| 22 | W | November 26, 1976 | 4–2 | Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) | 7–11–4 |
| 23 | W | November 27, 1976 | 3–1 | @ New England Whalers (1976–77) | 8–11–4 |
| 24 | W | November 28, 1976 | 3–1 | @ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) | 9–11–4 |
| 25 | L | December 3, 1976 | 3–4 | Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) | 9–12–4 |
| 26 | W | December 5, 1976 | 5–1 | Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) | 10–12–4 |
| 27 | W | December 7, 1976 | 4–2 | New England Whalers (1976–77) | 11–12–4 |
| 28 | W | December 10, 1976 | 4–2 | Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) | 12–12–4 |
| 29 | L | December 12, 1976 | 2–4 | San Diego Mariners (1976–77) | 12–13–4 |
| 30 | L | December 15, 1976 | 0–5 | @ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) | 12–14–4 |
| 31 | W | December 16, 1976 | 5–3 | @ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) | 13–14–4 |
| 32 | W | December 18, 1976 | 4–3 | Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) | 14–14–4 |
| 33 | L | December 22, 1976 | 3–4 | Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) | 14–15–4 |
| 34 | L | December 23, 1976 | 1–2 | @ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) | 14–16–4 |
| 35 | L | December 26, 1976 | 2–3 | @ New England Whalers (1976–77) | 14–17–4 |
| 36 | W | December 28, 1976 | 5–4 | New England Whalers (1976–77) | 15–17–4 |
| 37 | W | December 30, 1976 | 4–2 | @ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) | 16–17–4 |
| 38 | W | January 2, 1977 | 3–1 | Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) | 17–17–4 |
| 39 | T | January 7, 1977 | 1–1 | Houston Aeros (1976–77) | 17–17–5 |
| 40 | W | January 8, 1977 | 5–0 | Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) | 18–17–5 |
| 41 | L | January 12, 1977 | 3–4 | Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) | 18–18–5 |
| 42 | W | January 14, 1977 | 9–5 | Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) | 19–18–5 |

## Player stats

Regular season :
Scoring :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Dave Keon | C | 42 | 13 | 38 | 51 | 2 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Mike Antonovich | C | 42 | 27 | 21 | 48 | 28 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron Ward | C | 41 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| John McKenzie | RW | 40 | 17 | 13 | 30 | 52 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Al McDonough | RW | 42 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Adduono | C | 40 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 17 | −14 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| John Arbour | D | 33 | 3 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Gruen | LW | 34 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Craig Patrick | RW | 30 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Butch Deadmarsh | LW | 35 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 51 | −5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Carlson | C | 21 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerry Zrymiak | D | 40 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray McKay | D | 42 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 28 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pat Westrum | D | 40 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 42 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gord Gallant | LW | 37 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 64 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Carlson | LW | 36 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 55 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Butters | D | 42 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 133 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Stewart | LW | 15 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | −6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Hanson | D | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 35 | −9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jean-Louis Levasseur | G | 30 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Clearwater | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | −3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Curran | G | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Barry Legge | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Milani | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending :
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Jean-Louis Levasseur | 1715 | 30 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 78 | 2.73 | 2 |
| Mike Curran | 848 | 16 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 50 | 3.54 | 0 |
| Team: | 2563 | 42 | 19 | 18 | 5 | 128 | 3.00 | 2 |
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

Minnesota's draft picks (selected while still known as the Cleveland Crusaders) at the 1976 WHA Amateur Draft.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 3 | Glen Sharpley (C) | Canada | Hull Festivals (QMJHL) |
| 2 | 14 | Rod Schutt (LW) | Canada | Sudbury Wolves (OHA) |
| 3 | 27 | Jeff McDill (RW) | Canada | Victoria Cougars (WCHL) |
| 4 | 39 | Rocky Maze (LW) | Canada | Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL) |
| 5 | 47 | Vern Stenlund (C) | Canada | London Knights (OHA) |
| 5 | 51 | Bob Miller (W) | United States | U.S. National Team |
| 6 | 63 | Rob Flockhart (LW) | Canada | Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL) |
| 7 | 75 | Mark Earp (G) | Canada | Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL) |
| 8 | 87 | Ron Zanussi (F) | Canada | London Knights (OHA) |
| 9 | 98 | Charlie Skjodt (C) | Canada | Windsor Spitfires (OHA) |
| 10 | 109 | Larry McRae (G) | Canada | Windsor Spitfires (OHA) |