1978 - 79 WHA Season The 1978 – 79 WHA season was the seventh and final season of the World Hockey Association ( WHA ) . Prior to the start of the season , the Houston Aeros folded leaving seven teams to start the season . Only six would finish , however , as the Indianapolis Racers folded after 25 games on the December 15 , 1978 . The remaining six teams each played 80 games , including one game each per team against a Soviet All - Star squad and the Czechoslovakia National team , the second consecutive year for this arrangement . The Soviet team won four of their six games and tied another ; the Czech team only won once and tied once against four losses . In addition , to allow each regular team to play 80 games , the Edmonton Oilers played the Finnish National team ( with future Oiler Jari Kurri ) once at home , winning by a score of 8 - 4 . After the end of the season , an agreement was reached whereby four of the teams , the Edmonton Oilers , Quebec Nordiques , Winnipeg Jets and New England Whalers would be admitted to the National Hockey League ( NHL ) as expansion teams for the 1979 – 80 NHL season , and the WHA would cease operations . The Cincinnati and Birmingham franchises were paid to disband . Regular season and playoff format . The dying WHA would go to almost any length to try and stay afloat . The NHL had rules regarding the age of players that could play while the WHA didn ' t . Nelson Skalbania , the owner of Indianapolis Racers , signed the 17 year old future super - star , Wayne Gretzky to , at that time , a whopping personal contract worth between 1 . 125 and 1 . 75 million dollars over 4 to 7 years . Skalbania , knowing that the WHA was fading , felt owning the young star was more valuable than owning a WHA team . Eight games into the season , though , Skalbania needed cash and liquidated his greatest asset to his old friend and former partner , Peter Pocklington , owner of the Edmonton Oilers . Pocklington purchased Gretzky and two other Indianapolis players , goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll paying $ 700 , 000 for the contracts of the three players , although the announced price was actually $ 850 , 000 . On Gretzky ' s 18th birthday , ( January 26 , 1979 ) , Pocklington signed him to a 21 year personal services contract worth between 4 and 5 million dollars , the longest in hockey history . Gretzky would go on to capture the Lou Kaplan Trophy for rookie of the year , finish third in league scoring , and help the Oilers to first overall in the league . Nevertheless the Winnipeg Jets defeated Edmonton in the Avco World Trophy finals winning their third championship overall and second in a row . Playoff format : The top five teams in the league qualified for the playoffs . The 4th and 5th place teams started in a best - of - three quarterfinal series , while the top three finishers received byes into the semifinals . In the semifinals , the 1st place team played the 4th / 5th winner , while 2nd place played 3rd place . Both semifinal series were best - of - seven . Since the 2nd and 3rd place teams knew they ' d be playing each other in the semifinals , they started their series while the 4th / 5th mini - series was still going on . The finals , like the semifinals , were best four - out - of - seven games . Final standings . " Note : W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against , Pts = Points " " x - team folded during season " # - played limited schedule All - Star game . Wayne Gretzky appeared in the 1979 WHA All - Star Game . The format of the game was a three game series between the WHA All - Stars against Dynamo Moscow at Edmonton ' s Northlands Coliseum . The WHA All - Stars were coached by Jacques Demers and Demers asked Gordie Howe if it was okay to put him on a line with Wayne Gretzky and his son Mark Howe . In the first game , the line scored seven points , as the WHA All - Star won by a score of 4 - 2 . In the second game , Gretzky and Mark Howe each scored a goal and Gordie Howe picked up an assist as the WHA won 4 - 2 . The line did not score in the final game but the WHA won by a score of 4 - 3 . Avco World Trophy playoffs . The final game was played at the Winnipeg Arena , a 7 to 3 final score in favour of the Jets . The Oilers ' Dave Semenko scored late in the third period of the deciding game , to record the last goal in the history of the WHA . The goal was given up by the Winnipeg Jets Gary Smith .