# 1975–76 Winnipeg Jets season

The 1975–76 Winnipeg Jets season was the Jets' fourth season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). After qualifying first in the Canadian Division, the Jets then proceeded to win three rounds of the playoffs to win their first Avco Cup, sweeping the Houston Aeros 4–0 in the final.

## Regular season
### Final standings

| Canadian Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
| Winnipeg Jets | 81 | 52 | 27 | 2 | 106 | 345 | 254 | 940 |
| Quebec Nordiques | 81 | 50 | 27 | 4 | 104 | 371 | 316 | 1654 |
| Calgary Cowboys | 80 | 41 | 35 | 4 | 86 | 307 | 282 | 1064 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 81 | 27 | 49 | 5 | 59 | 268 | 345 | 991 |
| Toronto Toros | 81 | 24 | 52 | 5 | 53 | 335 | 398 | 1099 |
| Denver Spurs / Ottawa Civics+ | 41 | 14 | 26 | 1 | 29 | 134 | 172 | 536 |
+team started season in Western Division when playing in Denver; transferred by league to Canadian Division shortly after moving to Ottawa.

## Schedule and results

| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | October 9, 1975 | 5–3 | @ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | W | October 12, 1975 | 4–0 | @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | W | October 16, 1975 | 7–3 | @ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76) | 3–0–0 |
| 4 | L | October 18, 1975 | 1–2 | @ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) | 3–1–0 |
| 5 | L | October 19, 1975 | 5–6 | @ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) | 3–2–0 |
| 6 | W | October 21, 1975 | 7–0 | Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) | 4–2–0 |
| 7 | W | October 24, 1975 | 5–2 | Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76) | 5–2–0 |
| 8 | W | October 26, 1975 | 5–0 | Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) | 6–2–0 |
| 9 | W | October 30, 1975 | 4–0 | Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) | 7–2–0 |
| 10 | L | November 2, 1975 | 0–1 | Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) | 7–3–0 |
| 11 | W | November 4, 1975 | 3–2 OT | New England Whalers (1975–76) | 8–3–0 |
| 12 | W | November 9, 1975 | 5–3 | Toronto Toros (1975–76) | 9–3–0 |
| 13 | L | November 11, 1975 | 2–3 | Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76) | 9–4–0 |
| 14 | W | November 13, 1975 | 4–2 | @ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) | 10–4–0 |
| 15 | W | November 14, 1975 | 6–1 | Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 11–4–0 |
| 16 | W | November 16, 1975 | 2–1 | Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) | 12–4–0 |
| 17 | L | November 18, 1975 | 2–3 | Houston Aeros (1975–76) | 12–5–0 |
| 18 | W | November 20, 1975 | 3–2 OT | @ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) | 13–5–0 |
| 19 | L | November 22, 1975 | 3–6 | @ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76) | 13–6–0 |
| 20 | W | November 23, 1975 | 3–2 | @ New England Whalers (1975–76) | 14–6–0 |
| 21 | W | November 26, 1975 | 11–3 | @ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) | 15–6–0 |
| 22 | L | November 27, 1975 | 1–3 | @ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) | 15–7–0 |
| 23 | W | November 28, 1975 | 5–3 | @ Toronto Toros (1975–76) | 16–7–0 |
| 24 | W | November 30, 1975 | 5–3 | Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) | 17–7–0 |
| 25 | W | December 2, 1975 | 4–3 OT | @ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76) | 18–7–0 |
| 26 | W | December 4, 1975 | 5–4 | @ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) | 19–7–0 |
| 27 | L | December 5, 1975 | 4–5 | @ Houston Aeros (1975–76) | 19–8–0 |
| 28 | L | December 7, 1975 | 2–3 | Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) | 19–9–0 |
| 29 | W | December 10, 1975 | 6–5 OT | Toronto Toros (1975–76) | 20–9–0 |
| 30 | W | December 12, 1975 | 4–2 | Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) | 21–9–0 |
| 31 | W | December 14, 1975 | 3–1 | @ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 22–9–0 |
| 32 | W | December 16, 1975 | 4–3 | @ Toronto Toros (1975–76) | 23–9–0 |
| 33 | L | December 18, 1975 | 4–5 | @ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) | 23–10–0 |
| 34 | L | December 20, 1975 | 3–6 | @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) | 23–11–0 |
| 35 | L | December 21, 1975 | 1–3 | Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) | 23–12–0 |
| 36 | W | December 23, 1975 | 6–2 | @ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 24–12–0 |
| 37 | L | December 26, 1975 | 4–5 | Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) | 24–13–0 |
| 38 | L | December 28, 1975 | 4–6 | @ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) | 24–14–0 |
| 39 | W | December 30, 1975 | 5–3 | @ Houston Aeros (1975–76) | 25–14–0 |
| 40 | W | January 3, 1976 | 6–3 | @ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) | 26–14–0 |
| 41 | W | January 4, 1976 | 8–1 | @ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 27–14–0 |
| 42 | L | January 6, 1976 | 0–5 | @ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) | 27–15–0 |
| 43 | W | January 7, 1976 | 8–2 | Toronto Toros (1975–76) | 28–15–0 |
| 44 | L | January 9, 1976 | 1–2 OT | Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) | 28–16–0 |
| 45 | W | January 11, 1976 | 6–5 OT | Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76) | 29–16–0 |
| 46 | W | January 14, 1976 | 4–1 | Houston Aeros (1975–76) | 30–16–0 |
| 47 | L | January 16, 1976 | 1–5 | Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 30–17–0 |
| 48 | W | January 18, 1976 | 8–0 | New England Whalers (1975–76) | 31–17–0 |
| 49 | W | January 21, 1976 | 4–1 | Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) | 32–17–0 |
| 50 | W | January 23, 1976 | 4–2 | Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 33–17–0 |
| 51 | L | January 28, 1976 | 2–6 | @ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) | 33–18–0 |
| 52 | W | January 30, 1976 | 6–3 | @ New England Whalers (1975–76) | 34–18–0 |
| 53 | W | January 31, 1976 | 5–2 | @ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) | 35–18–0 |
| 54 | W | February 1, 1976 | 2–1 | @ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) | 36–18–0 |
| 55 | L | February 3, 1976 | 4–5 | @ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) | 36–19–0 |
| 56 | W | February 6, 1976 | 7–6 | @ Toronto Toros (1975–76) | 37–19–0 |
| 57 | T | February 7, 1976 | 4–4 | @ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76) | 37–19–1 |
| 58 | W | February 8, 1976 | 8–4 | Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) | 38–19–1 |
| 59 | L | February 11, 1976 | 4–6 | Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) | 38–20–1 |
| 60 | W | February 15, 1976 | 7–6 | Toronto Toros (1975–76) | 39–20–1 |
| 61 | T | February 17, 1976 | 4–4 | @ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 39–20–2 |
| 62 | W | February 18, 1976 | 4–3 | Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) | 40–20–2 |
| 63 | W | February 20, 1976 | 4–2 | Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 41–20–2 |
| 64 | W | February 25, 1976 | 5–2 | Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76) | 42–20–2 |
| 65 | W | February 27, 1976 | 4–3 | Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 43–20–2 |
| 66 | W | February 28, 1976 | 4–3 OT | @ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) | 44–20–2 |
| 67 | L | February 29, 1976 | 7–11 | @ Toronto Toros (1975–76) | 44–21–2 |
| 68 | W | March 7, 1976 | 3–1 | Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) | 45–21–2 |
| 69 | W | March 9, 1976 | 5–2 | @ Toronto Toros (1975–76) | 46–21–2 |
| 70 | W | March 10, 1976 | 10–3 | Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) | 47–21–2 |
| 71 | L | March 12, 1976 | 8–10 | Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) | 47–22–2 |
| 72 | W | March 14, 1976 | 4–2 | Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 48–22–2 |
| 73 | W | March 17, 1976 | 3–2 | Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) | 49–22–2 |
| 74 | L | March 19, 1976 | 1–2 | @ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 49–23–2 |
| 75 | L | March 21, 1976 | 2–5 | @ Toronto Toros (1975–76) | 49–24–2 |
| 76 | L | March 24, 1976 | 2–3 | Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 49–25–2 |
| 77 | W | March 28, 1976 | 6–1 | San Diego Mariners (1975–76) | 50–25–2 |
| 78 | W | March 31, 1976 | 5–3 | Toronto Toros (1975–76) | 51–25–2 |
| 79 | L | April 2, 1976 | 1–4 | @ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) | 51–26–2 |
| 80 | L | April 4, 1976 | 2–5 | @ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) | 51–27–2 |
| 81 | W | April 6, 1976 | 5–3 | @ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) | 52–27–2 |

## Playoffs
### Winnipeg Jets 4, Edmonton Oilers 0

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record |
| 1 | April 9 | Edmonton Oilers | 3–7 | Winnipeg Jets | 1–0 |
| 2 | April 11 | Edmonton Oilers | 4–5 OT | Winnipeg Jets | 2–0 |
| 3 | April 14 | Winnipeg Jets | 3–2 | Edmonton Oilers | 3–0 |
| 4 | April 16 | Winnipeg Jets | 7–2 | Edmonton Oilers | 4–0 |

### Winnipeg Jets 4, Calgary Cowboys 1

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record |
| 1 | April 23 | Calgary Cowboys | 1–6 | Winnipeg Jets | 1–0 |
| 2 | April 25 | Calgary Cowboys | 2–3 | Winnipeg Jets | 2–0 |
| 3 | April 28 | Winnipeg Jets | 6–3 | Calgary Cowboys | 3–0 |
| 4 | April 30 | Winnipeg Jets | 3–7 | Calgary Cowboys | 3–1 |
| 5 | May 2 | Calgary Cowboys | 0–4 | Winnipeg Jets | 4–1 |

### Winnipeg Jets 4, Houston Aeros 0 – Avco Cup Finals

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record |
| 1 | May 20 | Winnipeg Jets | 4–3 | Houston Aeros | 1–0 |
| 2 | May 23 | Winnipeg Jets | 5–4 | Houston Aeros | 2–0 |
| 3 | May 25 | Houston Aeros | 3–6 | Winnipeg Jets | 3–0 |
| 4 | May 27 | Houston Aeros | 1–9 | Winnipeg Jets | 4–0 |

## Player statistics
### Regular season
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Bobby Hull | LW | 80 | 53 | 70 | 123 | 30 | 62 | 14 | 0 | 10 |
| Ulf Nilsson | C | 78 | 38 | 76 | 114 | 84 | 65 | 7 | 3 | 8 |
| Anders Hedberg | RW | 76 | 50 | 55 | 105 | 48 | 60 | 9 | 6 | 10 |
| Peter Sullivan | C | 78 | 32 | 39 | 71 | 22 | −4 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Veli-Pekka Ketola | C | 80 | 32 | 36 | 68 | 32 | −4 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| Willy Lindstrom | RW | 81 | 23 | 36 | 59 | 32 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| Mike Ford | D | 81 | 13 | 43 | 56 | 70 | 39 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Norm Beaudin | RW | 80 | 16 | 31 | 47 | 38 | −1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Thommie Bergman | D | 81 | 11 | 30 | 41 | 111 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Lars-Erik Sjoberg | D | 81 | 5 | 36 | 41 | 12 | 46 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Lesuk | LW | 81 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 92 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Mats Lindh | C | 65 | 19 | 15 | 34 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| Ted Green | D | 79 | 5 | 23 | 28 | 73 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lyle Moffat | LW | 42 | 13 | 9 | 22 | 44 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Larry Hornung | D | 76 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 26 | −6 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Freeman Asmundson | D/RW | 72 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Perry Miller | D | 47 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 41 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Hillman | D | 71 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 62 | −3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Heikki Riihiranta | D | 70 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Guindon | LW | 29 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 | −7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Daley | G | 62 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Curt Larsson | G | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry Odrowski | D | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | −8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Randy Legge | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Joe Daley | 3612 | 62 | 41 | 17 | 1 | 171 | 2.84 | 5 |
| Curt Larsson | 1287 | 23 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 83 | 3.87 | 0 |
| Team: | 4899 | 81 | 52 | 27 | 2 | 254 | 3.11 | 5 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Ulf Nilsson | C | 13 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 6 |
| Bobby Hull | LW | 13 | 12 | 8 | 20 | 4 |
| Anders Hedberg | RW | 13 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 15 |
| Peter Sullivan | C | 13 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 0 |
| Thommie Bergman | D | 13 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 8 |
| Mike Ford | D | 12 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 8 |
| Veli-Pekka Ketola | C | 13 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 2 |
| Willy Lindstrom | RW | 13 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 2 |
| Bobby Guindon | LW | 13 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| Lyle Moffat | LW | 13 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| Freeman Asmundson | D/RW | 13 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| Norm Beaudin | RW | 13 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Lars-Erik Sjoberg | D | 13 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| Bill Lesuk | LW | 13 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Mats Lindh | C | 13 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Heikki Riihiranta | D | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Larry Hornung | D | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Ted Green | D | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| Larry Hillman | D | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 32 |
| Joe Daley | G | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Curt Larsson | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Joe Daley | 671 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 29 | 2.59 | 1 |
| Curt Larsson | 110 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3.27 | 0 |
| Team: | 781 | 13 | 12 | 1 | 35 | 2.69 | 1 |
    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;

## Draft picks

Winnipeg's draft picks at the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 8 | Brad Gassoff (LW) | Canada | Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL) |
| 2 | 22 | Russ Anderson (D) | United States | University of Minnesota (WCHA) |
| 3 | 38 | Glen Richardson (LW) | Canada | Hamilton Fincups (OHA) |
| 4 | 53 | Ted Long (LW) | Canada | Hamilton Fincups (OHA) |
| 6 | 81 | Nick Bobstock | Canada | Acadia University |
| 9 | 119 | Jim Gustafson (LW) | Canada | Victoria Cougars (WCHL) |
| 10 | 132 | Dag Bredberg (F) | Sweden | Farjestads BK (Sweden) |
| 11 | 145 | Emil Meszaros (F) | Sweden | Vastra Frolunda (Sweden) |
| 12 | 156 | Torbjorn Nilsson (F) | Sweden | Skelleftea AIK (Sweden) |
| 13 | 166 | Bengt Lundholm (F) | Sweden | AIK IF (Sweden) |