# 1975–76 Quebec Nordiques season

The 1975–76 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques fourth season, as they were coming off their best season to date in 1974–75, earning 92 points and finishing on top of the Canadian Division in the regular season, and making it to the Avco Cup finals in the playoffs, where they were swept by the Houston Aeros.
Quebec would have a very strong start to the season, and would battle with the Winnipeg Jets all season long on top of the Canadian Division. Quebec would finish the season with a franchise record 50 wins and 104 points, but would finish behind the Jets, who tied the Houston Aeros with the most points in the league at 106. The Nordiques scored a league high 371 goals, and finished with a very impressive record of 33–7–0 at home, tying the Aeros for the best home record in the league.
Offensively, Quebec was led by Marc Tardif, who had the most goals and points in the league with 71 and 148 respectively, while his 77 assists tied teammate J. C. Tremblay for the most in the WHA. Tremblay would finish the year with 89 points, leading the Nordiques blueline. Real Cloutier had a breakout season, scoring 60 goals and earning 114 points, as did Chris Bordeleau, who had 37 goals and 109 points. Rejean Houle and Serge Bernier also finished with over 100 points, as they earned 103 and 102 respectively. Gord Gallant had a team high 297 penalty minutes, while Pierre Roy was not too far behind with 259.
In goal, Richard Brodeur shattered the Nordiques record for wins, earning 44, while he posted a 3.69 GAA and earned 2 shutouts in 69 games. Michel DeGuise backed him up, winning 6 games.
In the opening round of the playoffs, Quebec would face the Calgary Cowboys, who finished the season 3rd in the Canadian Division with 86 points, which was 18 fewer than the Nordiques. Calgary would quiet the Nordiques home crowd in the first game, beating Quebec 3–1, then the Cowboys would win the second game by a score of 8–4 to take a 2–0 series lead. Quebec would fall behind 3–0 in the series after Calgary took the third game by a 3–2 score. The Nordiques managed to squeak out a 4–3 win in the fourth game, however, Calgary would end the series with a 6–4 win at Le Colisée in the fifth game, ending the Nordiques season much sooner than anyone expected.

## Season standings

| Canadian Division | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Winnipeg Jets | 81 | 52 | 27 | 2 | 345 | 254 | 106 |
| Quebec Nordiques | 81 | 50 | 27 | 4 | 371 | 316 | 104 |
| Calgary Cowboys | 80 | 41 | 35 | 4 | 307 | 282 | 86 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 81 | 27 | 49 | 5 | 268 | 345 | 59 |
| Toronto Toros | 81 | 24 | 52 | 5 | 335 | 398 | 53 |

## Schedule and results

1975–76 regular season :
October
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
1October 9Winnipeg Jets5–3Quebec Nordiques0–1–00
2October 11Toronto Toros3–7Quebec Nordiques1–1–02
3October 14Edmonton Oilers5–8Quebec Nordiques2–1–04
4October 18Houston Aeros2–3Quebec Nordiques3–1–06
5October 21New England Whalers1–6Quebec Nordiques4–1–08
6October 25Toronto Toros2–3Quebec Nordiques5–1–010
7October 28Quebec Nordiques2–5Toronto Toros5–2–010
8October 29Quebec Nordiques2–4New England Whalers5–3–010
9October 31Quebec Nordiques2–6Cleveland Crusaders5–4–010 :
November
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
10November 1Quebec Nordiques5–4Indianapolis Racers6–4–012
11November 2Quebec Nordiques1–0Winnipeg Jets7–4–014
12November 4Quebec Nordiques4–3Edmonton Oilers8–4–016
13November 5Quebec Nordiques2–4Calgary Cowboys8–5–016
14November 6Quebec Nordiques5–3Denver Spurs9–5–018
15November 8Indianapolis Racers2–3Quebec Nordiques10–5–020
16November 9Phoenix Roadrunners3–7Quebec Nordiques11–5–022
17November 11Minnesota Fighting Saints6–8Quebec Nordiques12–5–024
18November 15Quebec Nordiques3–1New England Whalers13–5–026
19November 18Cincinnati Stingers4–6Quebec Nordiques14–5–028
20November 20Winnipeg Jets3–2Quebec Nordiques14–6–028
21November 22Quebec Nordiques9–6Cincinnati Stingers15–6–030
22November 23Quebec Nordiques0–4Houston Aeros15–7–030
23November 27Quebec Nordiques1–5San Diego Mariners15–8–030
24November 29Quebec Nordiques4–4Phoenix Roadrunners15–8–131
25November 30Quebec Nordiques2–1Phoenix Roadrunners16–8–133 :
December
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
26December 2Cleveland Crusaders2–9Quebec Nordiques17–8–135
27December 5Quebec Nordiques4–7Toronto Toros17–9–135
28December 7Quebec Nordiques3–2Winnipeg Jets18–9–137
29December 9Quebec Nordiques1–4Calgary Cowboys18–10–137
30December 10Quebec Nordiques4–7Edmonton Oilers18–11–137
31December 12Quebec Nordiques4–6Toronto Toros18–12–137
32December 13Toronto Toros3–6Quebec Nordiques19–12–139
33December 16Calgary Cowboys3–7Quebec Nordiques20–12–141
34December 18Winnipeg Jets4–5Quebec Nordiques21–12–143
35December 20Calgary Flames7–8Quebec Nordiques22–12–145
36December 21Quebec Nordiques7–11Cincinnati Stingers22–13–145
37December 23Quebec Nordiques4–10San Diego Mariners22–14–145
38December 27Edmonton Oilers3–6Quebec Nordiques23–14–147
39December 28Quebec Nordiques6–1Toronto Toros24–14–149
40December 30Quebec Nordiques4–4Minnesota Fighting Saints24–14–250 :
January
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
41January 2Quebec Nordiques4–5Cleveland Crusaders24–15–250
42January 3Phoenix Roadrunners4–1Quebec Nordiques24–16–250
43January 10San Diego Mariners3–4Quebec Nordiques25–16–252
44January 15Calgary Cowboys3–5Quebec Nordiques26–16–254
45January 17Toronto Toros3–4Quebec Nordiques27–16–256
46January 21Indianapolis Racers2–3Quebec Nordiques28–16–258
47January 25Edmonton Oilers6–7Quebec Nordiques29–16–260
48January 27Cincinnati Stingers1–9Quebec Nordiques30–16–262
49January 30Quebec Nordiques3–3Toronto Toros30–16–363
50January 31Toronto Toros4–8Quebec Nordiques31–16–365 :
February
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
51February 3Winnipeg Jets4–5Quebec Nordiques32–16–367
52February 5Quebec Nordiques2–4Indianapolis Racers32–17–367
53February 7Quebec Nordiques4–4Calgary Cowboys32–17–468
54February 8Quebec Nordiques5–4Edmonton Oilers33–17–470
55February 11Quebec Nordiques6–4Winnipeg Jets34–17–472
56February 12Quebec Nordiques4–6Minnesota Fighting Saints34–18–472
57February 15Quebec Nordiques4–2Houston Aeros35–18–474
58February 17San Diego Mariners2–5Quebec Nordiques36–18–476
59February 22New England Whalers0–4Quebec Nordiques37–18–478
60February 24Houston Aeros1–4Quebec Nordiques38–18–480
61February 28Winnipeg Jets4–3Quebec Nordiques38–19–480 :
March
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
62March 2Quebec Nordiques2–5Toronto Toros38–20–480
63March 4Quebec Nordiques1–4Calgary Cowboys38–21–480
64March 5Quebec Nordiques5–4Edmonton Oilers39–21–482
65March 7Quebec Nordiques2–4Edmonton Oilers39–22–482
66March 9Quebec Nordiques4–7Calgary Cowboys39–23–482
67March 10Quebec Nordiques3–10Winnipeg Jets39–24–482
68March 12Quebec Nordiques10–8Winnipeg Jets40–24–484
69March 14Toronto Toros3–1Quebec Nordiques40–25–484
70March 16New England Whalers1–5Quebec Nordiques41–25–486
71March 19Quebec Nordiques4–3Toronto Toros42–25–488
72March 20Calgary Cowboys8–7Quebec Nordiques42–26–488
73March 21Quebec Nordiques6–3Edmonton Oilers43–26–490
74March 23Cleveland Crusaders3–1Quebec Nordiques43–27–490
75March 25Edmonton Oilers5–7Quebec Nordiques44–27–492
76March 27Calgary Cowboys4–6Quebec Nordiques45–27–494
77March 30Edmonton Oilers3–8Quebec Nordiques46–27–496 :
April
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPoints
78April 1Edmonton Oilers2–7Quebec Nordiques47–27–498
79April 3Toronto Toros1–5Quebec Nordiques48–27–4100
80April 4Quebec Nordiques5–4Toronto Toros49–27–4102
81April 6Toronto Toros6–10Quebec Nordiques50–27–4104 :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## Playoffs

1976 Avco Cup playoffs :
Quarterfinals vs. (C3) Calgary Cowboys – Cowboys win 4–1
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeSeries
1April 10Calgary Cowboys3–1Quebec Nordiques0–1
2April 11Calgary Cowboys8–4Quebec Nordiques0–2
3April 14Quebec Nordiques2–3Calgary Cowboys0–3
4April 16Quebec Nordiques4–3Calgary Cowboys1–3
5April 18Calgary Cowboys6–4Quebec Nordiques1–4 :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Season stats
### Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Marc Tardif | 81 | 71 | 77 | 148 | 79 |
| Real Cloutier | 80 | 60 | 54 | 114 | 27 |
| Chris Bordeleau | 74 | 37 | 72 | 109 | 42 |
| Rejean Houle | 81 | 51 | 52 | 103 | 61 |
| Serge Bernier | 70 | 34 | 68 | 102 | 91 |

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA | Save % |
| Richard Brodeur | 69 | 3967 | 44 | 21 | 2 | 244 | 2 | 3.69 | .890 |
| Michel DeGuise | 18 | 835 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 60 | 0 | 4.35 | .870 |
| Pete Donnelly | 4 | 129 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 4.65 | .846 |

## Playoff stats
### Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Real Cloutier | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| Serge Bernier | 5 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
| Dale Hoganson | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Steve Sutherland | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 17 |
| Pierre Roy | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 29 |

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | GAA |
| Richard Brodeur | 5 | 299 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 0 | 4.41 |

## Draft picks

Quebec's draft picks at the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 14 | Pierre Mondou | Canada | Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge (QMJHL) |
| 2 | 29 | Doug Halward | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHA) |
| 3 | 44 | Pierre Giroux | Canada | Hull Festivals (QMJHL) |
| 4 | 59 | Ted Bulley | Canada | Hull Festivals (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 73 | Andre LePage | Canada | Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 87 | Jean Trottier | Canada | Laval National (QMJHL) |
| 7 | 100 | Mike Backman | Canada | Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge (QMJHL) |
| 8 | 112 | Michel Brisebois | Canada | Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL) |
| 9 | 124 | Michel Hamel | Canada | Laval National (QMJHL) |
| 10 | 137 | Florent Fortier | Canada | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |