1978–79 Quebec Nordiques season

The 1978–79 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques' 7th season and final in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Nordiques finished 2nd in the league and lost in the Semi-finals to the Winnipeg Jets 4 games to 0.
==Off-season==
During the off-season, the league would lose the Houston Aeros, as they elected to fold as the club was not part of an NHL-WHA merger, leaving the WHA with seven teams. The league also announced that games against all-star teams from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Finland would once again count in the standings. The Nordiques hired a new head coach, as Jacques Demers would take over from Maurice Filion, who ended the previous season as the interim head coach. Demers had previously coached the Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati Stingers.
The Nordiques jerseys remained the same design as in the 1975-76 season.
==Regular Season==
The Nordiques would start the season slowly, going winless in their opening five games, however, the team snapped out of their slump, winning ten of their next thirteen games to push themselves over the .500 mark. Quebec would stay consistent throughout the season, easily clinching a playoff berth, as the Nordiques would finish the season with a 41-34-5 record, finishing second in the league behind the Edmonton Oilers, who had eleven more points than Quebec.
Offensively, Quebec was led by Real Cloutier, who won the Bill Hunter Trophy by earning a league high 129 points. It was the fourth year in a row that a player from the Nordiques (Marc Tardif in 1976 and 1978, and Cloutier in 1977) would win that award. Cloutier scored a team record 75 goals, and added 54 assists. Marc Tardif had another solid season, scoring 41 goals and 96 points, while Serge Bernier added 36 goals and 82 points. Rich Leduc joined the 30 goal club, as he registered 30 goals and 62 points. On defense, Paul Baxter led the way, scoring 10 goals and 46 points, as well as a team high 240 PIM. Forty year old J.C. Tremblay had a productive year, earning 44 points in 56 games.
In goal, Richard Brodeur and Jim Corsi split the action, with Brodeur winning a team high 25 games, as well as a club best 3.11 GAA. Corsi had 16 victories and a 3.30 GAA, while both goaltenders earned three shutouts.
After the season was finished, the WHA announced that four of its teams, the Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers and Winnipeg Jets would be admitted to the National Hockey League as expansion teams for the 1979–80 NHL season, and that the WHA would cease operations. During their seven seasons in the WHA, Quebec had a record of 295-237-24, while winning the 1977 Avco Cup.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record 	Pts
1 	October 15 	New England Whalers 	6–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	0–1–0 	0
2 	October 17 	Cincinnati Stingers 	5–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	0–1–1 	1
3 	October 18 	Indianapolis Racers 	4–0 	Quebec Nordiques 	0–2–1 	1
4 	October 21 	Quebec Nordiques 	1–7 	New England Whalers	0–3–1 	1
5 	October 22 	Birmingham Bulls 	8–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	0–4–1 	1
6 	October 25 	Cincinnati Stingers 	3–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	1–4–1 	3
7 	October 26 	New England Whalers 	5–8 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–4–1 	5
8 	October 28 	Quebec Nordiques 	3–4 	Cincinnati Stingers	2–5–1 	5
9 	October 29 	Quebec Nordiques 	6–2 	Edmonton Oilers 	3–5–1 	7
10	October 31 	Quebec Nordiques 	5–4 	Edmonton Oilers 	4–5–1 	9
11	November 3 	Quebec Nordiques 	3–2 	Birmingham Bulls 	5–5–1 	11
12	November 4 	Quebec Nordiques 	3–1 	Birmingham Bulls 	6–5–1 	13
13	November 5 	Edmonton Oilers 	0–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	7–5–1 	15
14	November 7 	Winnipeg Jets 	2–1 	Quebec Nordiques 	7–6–1 	15
15	November 8 	Edmonton Oilers 	6–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	7–7–1 	15
16	November 11	Indianapolis Racers 	2–8 	Quebec Nordiques 	8–7–1 	17
17	November 12	Quebec Nordiques 	6–4 	Winnipeg Jets 	9–7–1 	19
18	November 15	Winnipeg Jets 	2–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	10–7–1 	21
19	November 21	Quebec Nordiques 	1–4 	Edmonton Oilers 	10–8–1 	21
20	November 24	Quebec Nordiques 	3–4 	Edmonton Oilers 	10–9–1 	21
21	November 26	Winnipeg Jets 	2–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	10–9–2 	22
22	November 29	Birmingham Bulls 	4–7 	Quebec Nordiques 	11–9–2 	24
23	December 2 	Cincinnati Stingers 	0–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	12–9–2 	26
24	December 3 	Winnipeg Jets 	3–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	13–9–2 	28
25	December 6 	Edmonton Oilers 	3–6 	Quebec Nordiques 	14–9–2 	30
26	December 9 	Cincinnati Stingers 	3–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	15–9–2 	32
27	December 10	Quebec Nordiques 	4–4 	Winnipeg Jets 	15–9–3 	33
28	December 12	Soviet All-Stars 	6–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	15–10–3	33
29	December 14	Birmingham Bulls 	2–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	16–10–3	35
30	December 16	Quebec Nordiques 	1–2 	New England Whalers	16–11–3	35
31	December 17	New England Whalers 	4–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	16–11–4	36
32	December 22	Quebec Nordiques 	5–1 	Birmingham Bulls 	17–11–4	38
33	December 23	Quebec Nordiques 	2–6 	Cincinnati Stingers	17–12–4	38
34	December 28	Czechoslovakian All-Stars	0–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	18–12–4	40
35	December 30	Birmingham Bulls 	2–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	19–12–4	42
36	January 7 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–3 	Winnipeg Jets 	19–13–4	42
37	January 9 	Quebec Nordiques 	4–3 	Cincinnati Stingers	20–13–4	44
38	January 12 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–1 	Cincinnati Stingers	21–13–4	46
39	January 18 	Quebec Nordiques 	4–2 	New England Whalers	22–13–4	48
40	January 20 	Winnipeg Jets 	1–10 	Quebec Nordiques 	23–13–4	50
41	January 21 	Quebec Nordiques 	1–3 	Winnipeg Jets 	23–14–4	50
42	January 23 	Quebec Nordiques 	7–5 	Birmingham Bulls 	24–14–4	52
43	January 27 	Winnipeg Jets 	4–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	24–15–4	52
44	January 30 	Quebec Nordiques 	1–2 	Birmingham Bulls 	24–16–4	52
45	February 1 	Quebec Nordiques 	5–7 	Birmingham Bulls 	24–17–4	52
46	February 2 	Quebec Nordiques 	1–4 	New England Whalers	24-18–4	52
47	February 4 	Edmonton Oilers 	3–6 	Quebec Nordiques 	25–18–4	54
48	February 6 	New England Whalers 	5–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	25–19–4	54
49	February 9 	Quebec Nordiques 	0–3 	Edmonton Oilers 	25–20–4	54
50	February 13	Quebec Nordiques 	1–6 	Edmonton Oilers 	25–21–4	54
51	February 17	Quebec Nordiques 	1–4 	New England Whalers	25–22–4	54
52	February 18	Quebec Nordiques 	4–2 	Cincinnati Stingers	26–22–4	56
53	February 20	Quebec Nordiques 	7–3 	Birmingham Bulls 	27–22–4	58
54	February 23	Quebec Nordiques 	4–5 	New England Whalers	27–23–4	58
55	February 24	New England Whalers 	0–6 	Quebec Nordiques 	28–23–4	60
56	February 25	Cincinnati Stingers 	1–1 	Quebec Nordiques 	28–23–5	61
57	March 3 	Birmingham Bulls 	2–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	29–23–5	63
58	March 4 	Birmingham Bulls 	4–5 	Quebec Nordiques 	30–23–5	65
59	March 6 	Edmonton Oilers 	3–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	31–23–5	67
60	March 7 	Edmonton Oilers 	3–6 	Quebec Nordiques 	32–23–5	69
61	March 9 	Quebec Nordiques 	3–1 	New England Whalers	33–23–5	71
62	March 10 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–5 	Cincinnati Stingers	33–24–5	71
63	March 11 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–7 	Winnipeg Jets 	33–25–5	71
64	March 14 	Quebec Nordiques 	4-2 	Winnipeg Jets 	34–25–5	73
65	March 16 	Quebec Nordiques 	1–6 	Edmonton Oilers 	34–26–5	73
66	March 18 	Quebec Nordiques 	7–2 	Edmonton Oilers 	35–26-5	75
67	March 20 	New England Whalers 	7–6 	Quebec Nordiques 	35–27–5	75
68	March 23 	Quebec Nordiques 	3–5 	New England Whalers	35–28–5	75
69	March 24 	Quebec Nordiques 	5–2 	Cincinnati Stingers	36–28–5	77
70	March 25 	Birmingham Bulls 	2–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	37–28–5	79
71	March 28 	Edmonton Oilers 	0-3 	Quebec Nordiques 	38–28–5	81
72	March 30 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–0 	Winnipeg Jets 	39–28–5	83
73	April 1 	Winnipeg Jets 	7–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	39–29–5	83
74	April 3 	Quebec Nordiques 	3–5 	Birmingham Bulls 	39–30–5	83
75	April 4 	Edmonton Oilers 	2–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	40–30–5	85
76	April 7 	Quebec Nordiques 	2–6 	Cincinnati Stingers	40–31–5	85
77	April 10 	New England Whalers 	5–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	40–32–5	85
78	April 11 	Cincinnati Stingers 	6–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	40–33–5	85
79	April 15 	Cincinnati Stingers 	2–4 	Quebec Nordiques 	41–33–5	87
80	April 17 	New England Whalers 	6–2 	Quebec Nordiques 	41–34–5	87
==Playoffs==
In the opening round of the playoffs, Quebec faced the Winnipeg Jets in a best of seven Semi-finals series. The Jets finished the season with a 39-35-6 record, earning 84 points, and a third place finish. The series opened with two games in Quebec, however, the Jets struck first, easily dominating the Nordiques in the series opener, by winning the game 6-3, before crushing Quebec in the second game 9-2 to take a two game series lead. The series moved to Winnipeg for the next two games, and the Jets would stay hot, as they continued to dominate the Nordiques in the third and fourth games of the series, winning them 9-5 and 6-2 respectively to sweep Quebec out of the playoffs.
===Winnipeg Jets 4, Quebec Nordiques 0===
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	April 23	Winnipeg Jets 	6–3 	Quebec Nordiques	0-1
2	April 25	Winnipeg Jets 	9–2 	Quebec Nordiques	0-2
3	April 27	Quebec Nordiques	5–9 	Winnipeg Jets 	0-3
4	April 29	Quebec Nordiques	2–6 	Winnipeg Jets 	0-4
==Player Stats==
Regular Season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	RW 	77	75	54	129	48 	23 	21 	0 	0
 	LW 	74	41	55	96 	98 	25 	12 	0 	0
 	RW 	65	36	46	82 	71 	7 	9 	3 	0
 	C 	61	30	32	62 	30 	-1 	12 	1 	0
 	D 	76	10	36	46 	240	-5 	6 	0 	0
 	C 	79	10	35	45 	69 	-3 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	56	6 	38	44 	8 	10 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	50	5 	33	38 	54 	-11	1 	0 	0
 	RW 	77	17	12	29 	44 	1 	2 	1 	0
 	LW 	79	14	13	27 	23 	-7 	0 	1 	0
 	RW 	70	13	13	26 	155	-5 	1 	0 	0
 	RW 	77	12	14	26 	74 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	78	3 	21	24 	44 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	69	2 	19	21 	17 	1 	1 	0 	0
 	C 	16	5 	12	17 	0 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	36	2 	13	15 	4 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	36	3 	6 	9 	141	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	68	2 	7 	9 	166	9 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	27	2 	5 	7 	14 	-2 	1 	0 	0
 	LW 	14	0 	4 	4 	4 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	42	0 	3 	3 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	40	0 	2 	2 	20 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	32	0 	2 	2 	17 	-5 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	21	0 	1 	1 	12 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	5 	0 	0 	0 	6 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	23	0 	0 	0 	8 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	LW 	4 	6	2	8 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	4 	2	2	4 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	4 	1	3	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	4 	1	2	3 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	4 	1	1	2 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	0	2	2 	7 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	4 	0	2	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	4 	1	0	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	0	1	1 	7 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	3 	0	1	1 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	0	1	1 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	0	1	1 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	1 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	3 	0	0	0 	25 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	2 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	4 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	4 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	1 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals 
MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts 
==Awards & Records==
*Bill Hunter Trophy (Scoring Leader): Real Cloutier
*Real Cloutier, Right Wing, WHA First Team All-Star
*Richard Brodeur, Goalie, WHA Second Team All-Star
==Transactions==
==Draft Picks==
==Gallery==
1978-Nov25-Gordie-Tremblay.jpg|Gordie Howe and J.C. Tremblay, November 25, 1978.
==See Also==
* 1978–79 WHA season
==References==
*SHRP Sports
*The Internet Hockey Database
Quebec Nordiques season, 1978–79
Quebec Nordiques season, 1978–79
Category:Quebec Nordiques seasons