1976-77 WHA season

The 1976-77 WHA season was the 5th season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Quebec Nordiques defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4 games to 3 in the Finals to win their 1st Avco World Trophy.
==Off-season==
Prior to the season, the Toronto Toros moved to Birmingham, Alabama and became the Bulls. 
==Pre-season==
The second set of exhibition games between the NHL and WHA was held. The NHL was victorious in the series, winning 9 and losing 3 games with 1 tie.
September 21, 1976: Birmingham Bulls 7, Atlanta Flames 6
September 21, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 5, Houston Aeros 1
September 23, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 7, Calgary Cowboys 3
September 24, 1976: Winnipeg Jets 5, Pittsburgh Penguins 3 
September 26, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 3, Edmonton Oilers 1
September 26, 1976: Washington Capitals 2, Indianapolis Racers 1
September 26, 1976: Winnipeg Jets 6, St. Louis Blues 2 
September 28, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 7, Edmonton Oilers 3
September 29, 1976: Washington Capitals 3, Cincinnati Stingers 2
September 29, 1976: St. Louis Blues 5, Edmonton Oilers 4
September 30, 1976: Atlanta Flames 8, Houston Aeros 4
September 30, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 6, Indianapolis Racers 4
The game against St. Louis proved costly for the Jets as Bobby Hull fractured his wrist and missed 46 games of the regular season.
==Regular Season==
The Cleveland Crusaders, pushed out by the NHL's Cleveland Barons, attempted to move to South Florida but legal problems resulted in them moving to Minnesota to become the second version of the Fighting Saints. They met with little success there and folded after playing 42 games. The remaining 11 teams competed in the league, playing 80 or 81 games in the regular season. 
Anders Hedberg started the February 6, 1977 game versus the Calgary Cowboys with 48 goals in 48 games, having scored 4 goals and 2 assists in the February 4, 1977 match against the San Diego Mariners. After the Jets were held scoreless in the first period, Hedberg scored in the second period on a 5 on 3 power play. He missed the rest of the period with strained knee ligaments after being checked by Paul Terbenche. He returned for the third period and became the first player in a major professional league to score 50 goals in less than 50 games when he fired a short side past Cowboys goalie Gary Bromley. He then added an empty net goal in the Jets 6-4 triumph. Wayne Gretzky broke Hedberg's record on December 30, 1981 with his 50th goal in 39 games.
===Final Standings===
===Scoring Leaders===
Bolded numbers indicate season leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
Real Cloutier 	Quebec Nordiques 	76	66	75	141	39
Anders Hedberg 	Winnipeg Jets 	68	70	61	131	48
Ulf Nilsson 	Winnipeg Jets 	71	39	85	124	89
Robbie Ftorek 	Phoenix Roadrunners	80	46	71	117	86
André Lacroix 	San Diego Mariners 	81	32	82	114	79
Marc Tardif 	Quebec Nordiques 	62	49	60	109	65
Rich Leduc 	Cincinnati Stingers	81	52	55	107	75
Chris Bordeleau 	Quebec Nordiques 	72	32	75	107	34
Blaine Stoughton	Cincinnati Stingers	81	52	52	104	39
Mark Napier 	Birmingham Bulls 	80	60	36	96 	24
Dennis Sobchuk 	Cincinnati Stingers	81	44	52	96 	38
Serge Bernier 	Quebec Nordiques 	74	43	53	96 	94
===Leading Goaltenders===
Bolded numbers indicate season leaders
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Player 	Team 	GP	Min 	W 	L 	T	GA 	SO	SV% 	GAA
Ron Grahame 	Houston Aeros 	39	2345	27	10	2	107	4 	90.1	2.74
Ernie Wakely 	San Diego Mariners 	46	2506	22	18	1	129	3 	89.6	3.09
Cap Raeder 	New England Whalers	26	1328	12	10	1	69 	2 	90.2	3.12
Wayne Rutledge	Houston Aeros 	42	2512	23	14	4	132	3 	89.8	3.15
Joe Daley 	Winnipeg Jets 	65	3813	39	21	2	206	3 	89.2	3.24
===All-Star Game===
On January 18, 1977 at the Hartford Civic Center, a team comprised of the Eastern Division All-Stars defeated the Western Division All-Stars 4-2 before a crowd of 10,337 spectators. Goalie Jean-Louis Levasseur was the Eastern All-Stars MVP while Willy Lindstrom, who scored a goal and an assist, was the Western All-Stars MVP.
==Avco World Trophy Playoffs==
===Avco World Trophy Finals===
The Finals pitted the 1976 AVCO World Trophy winning Winnipeg Jets against the Quebec Nordiques. The series was characterized by wild swings in scoring with each team winning games by lopsided margins. 
The deciding Game 7 was initially a tight, close-checking game with no scoring in the first period. The Nordiques scored two quick goals to start the second period and then added a third at 6:29. The Jets Dan Labraaten cut into the Nordiques lead at 8:39 to make it 3-1. Less than a minute later, J.C. Tremblay fired a shot from center ice that beat Jets goalie Joe Daley. Totally deflated, the Jets surrendered four more goals before scoring a consolation marker, losing 8-2. Serge Bernier won the WHA Playoff MVP trophy, as he scored 36 points for the Nordiques in 17 post season games.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	May 11	Winnipeg Jets 	2–1 	Quebec Nordiques	1-0
2	May 15	Winnipeg Jets 	1–6 	Quebec Nordiques	1-1
3	May 18	Quebec Nordiques	1–6 	Winnipeg Jets 	1-2
4	May 20	Quebec Nordiques	4–2 	Winnipeg Jets 	2-2
5	May 22	Winnipeg Jets 	3–8 	Quebec Nordiques	2-3
6	May 24	Quebec Nordiques	3–12 	Winnipeg Jets 	3-3
7	May 26	Winnipeg Jets 	2–8 	Quebec Nordiques	3-4
==WHA Awards==
Avco World Trophy: 	Quebec Nordiques
Gordie Howe Trophy (MVP): 	Robbie Ftorek, Phoenix Roadrunners
Bill Hunter Trophy (Scoring Leader): 	Real Cloutier, Quebec Nordiques
Lou Kaplan Trophy (Rookie of the Year): 	George Lyle, New England Whalers
Ben Hatskin Trophy (Best Goaltender): 	Ron Grahame, Houston Aeros
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy (Best Defenseman): 	Ron Plumb, Cincinnati Stingers
Paul Deneau Trophy (Most Gentlemenly): 	Dave Keon, New England Whalers
Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy (Coach of the Year):	Bill Dineen, Houston Aeros
WHA Playoff MVP: 	Serge Bernier, Quebec Nordiques
==All-Star Teams==
Position 	First Team 	Second Team
Centre 	Robbie Ftorek, Phoenix 	Ulf Nilsson, Winnipeg
Right Wing	Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg 	Real Cloutier, Quebec
Left Wing 	Marc Tardif, Quebec 	Rick Dudley, Cincinnati
Defence 	Darryl Maggs, Indianapolis	Poul Popiel, Houston
Defence 	Ron Plumb, Cincinnati 	Mark Howe, Houston
Goaltender	John Garrett, Birmingham 	Joe Daley, Winnipeg
==Gallery==
76-77WHA_AS.jpg|1976-77 WHA All-Star Teams.
==Video==
WHA All-Star game, January 18, 1977.
1977 WHA All STAR GAME Gordie Howe Bobby Hull
Game 7 of the 1977 Avco World Trophy Finals, May 26, 1977
1977 WHA AVCO Cup Finals G 7 Winnipeg @ Quebec 5 26 1977
==References==
*WHA Database
*HockeyDB
Category:1977 in hockey
Category:List of WHA Seasons