# 1979 WHA All-Star Games

The 1979 World Hockey Association All-Star Games were a three-game series that was held at Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Manitoba, the home of the Edmonton Oilers. In place of the usual one game played by the WHA with league all-stars, they elected to pit a set of their league All-Stars against Moscow Dynamo. The games were held from January 2-5, 1979. The WHA All-Stars consisted of players from the six surviving teams. Moscow did not elect to play their perceived best stars. Likely, the highlight of the series was the line of Wayne Gretzky with Gordie Howe and his son Mark Howe playing together, which scored three goals in Game 1.
Larry Hillman, coach of the defending Avco Cup champion Winnipeg Jets, coached the WHA, while Vladimir Kiselyov coached Moscow.

## Team Lineups
### WHA All-Stars

* Coach: Larry Hillman (Winnipeg Jets)
| Nat. | Player | Pos. | Team |
| Goaltenders ||||
| | Dave Dryden | Dave Dryden | Edmonton Oilers |
| | Markus Mattsson | Markus Mattsson | Winnipeg Jets |
| Defencemen ||||
| | John Hughes | John Hughes | Edmonton Oilers |
| | Paul Shmyr | Paul Shmyr | Edmonton Oilers |
| | Claire Alexander | Claire Alexander | Edmonton Oilers |
| | Rob Ramage | Rob Ramage | Birmingham Bulls |
| | Rick Ley | Rick Ley | New England Whalers |
| | Barry Long | Barry Long | Winnipeg Jets |
| Forwards ||||
| | Robbie Ftorek | Robbie Ftorek | Cincinnati Stingers |
| | Mike Gartner | Mike Gartner | Cincinnati Stingers |
| | Peter Marsh | Peter Marsh | Cincinnati Stingers |
| | Rick Dudley | Rick Dudley | Cincinnati Stingers |
| | Wayne Gretzky | Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers |
| | Blair MacDonald | Blair MacDonald | Edmonton Oilers |
| | Serge Bernier | Serge Bernier | Quebec Nordiques |
| | Real Cloutier | Real Cloutier | Quebec Nordiques |
| | Marc Tardif | Marc Tardif | Quebec Nordiques |
| | Morris Lukowich | Morris Lukowich | Winnipeg Jets |
| | Peter Sullivan | Peter Sullivan | Winnipeg Jets |
| | Dave Keon | Dave Keon | New England Whalers |
| | Gordie Howe | Gordie Howe | New England Whalers |
| | Mark Howe | Mark Howe | New England Whalers |

### Moscow Dynamo

Coach: Vladimir Kiselyov, Pavel Zhiburtovich (assistant).
* Player
* Goaltenders
* Sergei Babariko
* Vladimir Polupanov
* Defencemen
* Vasili Payusov
* Vitali Filippov
* Alexander Filippov
* Sergei Gimayev
* Alexei Volchenkov
* Vladimir Orlov
* Mikhail Slipchenko
* Forwards
* Viktor Shkurdyuk
* Vladimir Vikulov
* Alexander Lobanov
* Alexander Volchkov
* Pavel Yezovskikh
* Vladimir Popov
* Alexei Frolikov
* Mikhail Shostak
* Vladimir Golubovich
* Vladimir Semyonov
* Yevgeni Kotlov
* Vladimir Devyatov
* Sergei Tukmachyov
* Vyacheslav Anisin

## Game summary
### Game 1

| # | Score | Team | Goalscorer (Assist(s)) | Time |
| First period |||||
| 1 | 1-0 | WHA | Wayne Gretzky (Mark Howe, Paul Shmyr) | 1:35 |
| 2 | 1-1 | Moscow | Alexei Frolikov (Sergei Tukmachyov, Vitali Fillippov) | 14:20 |
| 3 | 2-1 | Moscow | Vladimir Semyonov (Veygeni Kotlov) | 18:08 |
| Second period |||||
| 4 | 2-2 | WHA | Wayne Gretzky (Gordie Howe, Mark Howe) | 16:29 |
| Penalties : Backstrom (WHA All-Stars) 14:58, Long (Moscow) 18:03 |||||
| Third period |||||
| 5 | 3-2 | WHA | Mark Howe (Gretzky, G. Howe) | 7:02 |
| 6 | 4-2 | WHA | Peter Sullivan | 19:51 |
Goaltenders :
* Moscow: Sergei Babariko
* WHA: Dave Dryden
Shots on goal :
* Moscow (21) 8 - 6 - 7
* WHA: (30) 12 - 8 - 10

### Game 2

| # | Score | Team | Goalscorer (Assist(s)) | Time |
| First period |||||
| 1 | 1-0 | WHA | Morris Lukowich (Ftorek, Mike Gartner) | 2:26 |
| 2 | 1-1 | Moscow | Mikhail Shostak (Filippov, Shkurdyuk) | 7:38 |
| 3 | 2-1 | WHA | Mark Howe (Goride Howe, Wayne Gretzky) | 9:27 |
| 4 | 3-1 | WHA | Mike Gartner (Lukowich, Sullivan) | 16:51 |
| Second period |||||
| 5 | 3-2 | Moscow | Shkurdyuk (Lobanov) | 19:44 |
| Third period |||||
| 6 | 4-2 | WHA | Gretzky (Ley) | 5:45 |
Goaltenders :
* Moscow: Sergei Babariko
* WHA: Markus Mattsson
Shots on goal :
* Moscow (22) 4 - 10 - 8
* WHA: (37) 17 - 8 - 12

### Game 3

| # | Score | Team | Goalscorer (Assist(s)) | Time |
| First period |||||
| 1 | 1-0 | WHA | Morris Lukowich (Gartner) | 1:46 |
| 2 | 2-0 | WHA | Ramage (MacDonald, Keon) | 6:41 |
| 3 | 2-1 | Moscow | Shkurdyuk (Anisin, Volchenkov) | 11:02 |
| 4 | 2-2 | Moscow | Mikhail Shostak (Slipchenko, Frolikov) | 11:43 |
| 5 | 3-2 | WHA | Peter Sullivan | 18:29 |
| Second period |||||
| 6 | 4-2 | WHA | Bernier (Ley, Gartner) | 14:03. |
| Third period |||||
| 7 | 4-3 | Moscow | Semyonov (Payusov, Lobanov) | 13:12 |
Goaltenders :
* Moscow: Sergei Babariko
* WHA: Markus Mattsson
Shots on goal :
* Moscow (19) 8 - 2 - 9
* WHA: (29) 13 - 11 - 5