# 1978–79 New England Whalers season

The 1978–79 New England Whalers season was the seventh season of the Whalers' franchise. This was the second of three seasons where the Whalers played at Springfield Civic Center. This was the final season in the World Hockey Association, which ceased operations after the season. The Whalers (along with the Winnipeg Jets, the Edmonton Oilers, and the Quebec Nordiques) were admitted to the National Hockey League as expansion teams. The Whalers (as part of the agreement suggested by the Boston Bruins) changed their name to the Hartford Whalers. The Whalers made the playoffs, with only five teams participating in the postseason. Don Blackburn took over the team as coach before the season ended, and he became the first coach of the team in the NHL.

## Regular season
### Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points
| WHA Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
| Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 48 | 30 | 2 | 98 | 340 | 266 | 1220 |
| Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 41 | 34 | 5 | 87 | 288 | 271 | 1399 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 39 | 35 | 6 | 84 | 307 | 306 | 1342 |
| New England Whalers | 80 | 37 | 34 | 9 | 83 | 298 | 287 | 1090 |
| Cincinnati Stingers | 80 | 33 | 41 | 6 | 72 | 274 | 284 | 1651 |
| Birmingham Bulls | 80 | 32 | 42 | 6 | 70 | 286 | 311 | 1661 |
| xIndianapolis Racers | 25 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 12 | 78 | 130 | 557 |
| #Soviet All-Stars | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 27 | 20 | 77 |
| #Czechoslovakia | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 33 | 107 |
| #Finland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
x-team folded during season #-played limited schedule

## Schedule and results

1978–79 regular season :
October
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
1WOctober 15, 19786–5@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)1–0–0
2WOctober 17, 19782–1@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)2–0–0
3TOctober 18, 19784–4@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)2–0–1
4WOctober 21, 19787–1Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)3–0–1
5WOctober 22, 19786–3@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)4–0–1
6WOctober 24, 19782–1@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)5–0–1
7LOctober 26, 19785–8@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)5–1–1
8LOctober 27, 19784–6Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)5–2–1
9LOctober 29, 19784–7Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)5–3–1 :
November
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
10WNovember 3, 19786–3Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)6–3–1
11TNovember 4, 19786–6@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)6–3–2
12LNovember 5, 19784–5@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)6–4–2
13WNovember 9, 19786–1Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)7–4–2
14WNovember 11, 19782–1Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)8–4–2
15TNovember 14, 19785–5@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)8–4–3
16TNovember 15, 19784–4@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)8–4–4
17LNovember 17, 19781–7@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)8–5–4
18LNovember 18, 19782–3Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)8–6–4
19WNovember 22, 19785–2Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)9–6–4
20WNovember 25, 19785–2Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)10–6–4
21WNovember 26, 19789–3Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)11–6–4
22LNovember 29, 19782–4@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)11–7–4 :
December
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
23LDecember 1, 19782–8@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)11–8–4
24WDecember 3, 19787–0@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)12–8–4
25TDecember 5, 19782–2@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)12–8–5
26WDecember 7, 19785–3Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)13–8–5
27LDecember 9, 19784–7Soviet All-Stars (1978–79)13–9–5
28WDecember 12, 19787–4@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)14–9–5
29WDecember 16, 19782–1Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)15–9–5
30TDecember 17, 19784–4@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)15–9–6
31WDecember 23, 19784–3Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)16–9–6
32WDecember 27, 197810–4Czechoslovakia (1978–79)17–9–6
33WDecember 29, 19785–0Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)18–9–6
34LDecember 30, 19781–2@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)18–10–6 :
January
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
35WJanuary 7, 19795–4Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)19–10–6
36LJanuary 13, 19790–3Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)19–11–6
37LJanuary 14, 19792–4Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)19–12–6
38LJanuary 18, 19792–4Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)19–13–6
39WJanuary 20, 19793–1Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)20–13–6
40LJanuary 23, 19791–5@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)20–14–6
41LJanuary 26, 19794–5@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)20–15–6
42WJanuary 28, 19798–6Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)21–15–6
43WJanuary 30, 19795–2Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)22–15–6 :
February
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
44WFebruary 2, 19794–1Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)23–15–6
45TFebruary 3, 19792–2@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)23–15–7
46WFebruary 6, 19795–3@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)24–15–7
47WFebruary 10, 19797–2Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)25–15–7
48LFebruary 11, 19792–5@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)25–16–7
49LFebruary 14, 19794–7Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)25–17–7
50LFebruary 16, 19792–4Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)25–18–7
51WFebruary 17, 19794–1Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)26–18–7
52WFebruary 18, 19797–1@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)27–18–7
53LFebruary 20, 19792–8@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)27–19–7
54LFebruary 21, 19792–5@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)27–20–7
55WFebruary 23, 19795–4 OTQuebec Nordiques (1978–79)28–20–7
56LFebruary 24, 19790–6@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)28–21–7
57LFebruary 25, 19795–7Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)28–22–7
58TFebruary 27, 19791–1@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)28–22–8 :
March
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
59WMarch 2, 19794–1@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)29–22–8
60LMarch 4, 19793–4 OTCincinnati Stingers (1978–79)29–23–8
61LMarch 9, 19791–3Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)29–24–8
62WMarch 11, 19792–1@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)30–24–8
63WMarch 13, 19794–3@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)31–24–8
64LMarch 15, 19793–4 OTBirmingham Bulls (1978–79)31–25–8
65TMarch 16, 19795–5@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)31–25–9
66LMarch 18, 19791–4Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)31–26–9
67WMarch 20, 19797–6 OT@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)32–26–9
68WMarch 23, 19795–3Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)33–26–9
69LMarch 24, 19793–4Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)33–27–9
70LMarch 27, 19791–3@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)33–28–9
71LMarch 30, 19791–3Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)33–29–9 :
April
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
72LApril 1, 19793–5Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)33–30–9
73WApril 4, 19794–2@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)34–30–9
74LApril 6, 19792–7@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)34–31–9
75LApril 8, 19794–6@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)34–32–9
76WApril 10, 19795–2@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)35–32–9
77WApril 12, 19794–0Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)36–32–9
78LApril 14, 19790–4Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)36–33–9
79LApril 15, 19791–4Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)36–34–9
80WApril 17, 19793–2@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)37–34–9 :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## Playoffs

1979 Avco Cup playoffs :
Preliminary Round vs. Cincinnati Stingers – Whalers win 3–0
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeSeries
1April 21Cincinnati Stingers3 – 5New England Whalers1–0
2April 22New England Whalers3 – 6Cincinnati Stingers1–1
3April 24New England Whalers2 – 1Cincinnati Stingers2–1 :
Semifinals vs. Edmonton Oilers – Oilers win 4–3
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeSeries
1April 26New England Whalers2 – 6Edmonton Oilers0–1
2April 27New England Whalers5 – 9Edmonton Oilers0–2
3April 29Edmonton Oilers1 – 4New England Whalers1–2
4May 1Edmonton Oilers4 – 5New England Whalers2–2
5May 3New England Whalers2 – 5Edmonton Oilers2–3
6May 6Edmonton Oilers8 – 4New England Whalers3–3
7May 8New England Whalers3 – 6Edmonton Oilers3–4 :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

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

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Mark Howe | 77 | 42 | 65 | 107 | 32 |
| Andre Lacroix | 78 | 32 | 56 | 88 | 34 |
| Mike Rogers | 80 | 27 | 45 | 72 | 31 |
| Dave Keon | 79 | 22 | 43 | 65 | 2 |
| Gordie Roberts | 79 | 11 | 46 | 57 | 113 |
| Warren Miller | 77 | 26 | 23 | 49 | 44 |
| Mike Antonovich | 69 | 20 | 27 | 47 | 35 |
| John McKenzie | 76 | 19 | 28 | 47 | 115 |
| Gordie Howe | 58 | 19 | 24 | 43 | 51 |
| George Lyle | 59 | 17 | 18 | 35 | 54 |
| Alan Hangsleben | 77 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 148 |
| Rick Ley | 73 | 7 | 20 | 27 | 135 |
| Marty Howe | 66 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 31 |
| Ron Plumb | 78 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 33 |
| Jordy Douglas | 51 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 15 |
| Brad Selwood | 42 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 47 |
| Jim Warner | 41 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 20 |
| Blaine Stoughton | 36 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 2 |
| Larry Pleau | 28 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 6 |
| Jack Carlson | 34 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 61 |
| Dave Inkpen | 41 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 15 |
| Al Smith | 40 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 35 |
| Jeff Brubaker | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| John Garrett | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Pierre Roy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SA | SV | SV% | SO |
| John Garrett | 2496 | 41 | 20 | 17 | 4 | 149 | 3.58 | 1180 | 1031 | .874 | 2 |
| Al Smith | 2396 | 40 | 17 | 17 | 5 | 132 | 3.31 | 1124 | 992 | .883 | 1 |
| Team: | 4892 | 80 | 37 | 34 | 9 | 281 | 3.45 | 2304 | 2023 | .878 | 3 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Dave Keon | 10 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 2 |
| John McKenzie | 10 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 10 |
| Mike Antonovich | 10 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 14 |
| Andre Lacroix | 10 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| George Lyle | 9 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 25 |
| Mike Rogers | 10 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| Warren Miller | 10 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 28 |
| Blaine Stoughton | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| Mark Howe | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Jordy Douglas | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 23 |
| Gordie Howe | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Ron Plumb | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Rick Ley | 9 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 11 |
| Gordie Roberts | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| Larry Pleau | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Al Hangsleben | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| Marty Howe | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Dave Inkpen | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Jeff Brubaker | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| John Garrett | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Smith | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Warner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| John Garrett | 447 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 32 | 4.30 | 0 |
| Al Smith | 153 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 4.71 | 0 |
| Team: | 600 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 44 | 4.40 | 0 |