1977–78 Houston Aeros season

The 1977–78 Houston Aeros season was the Houston Aeros' 6th and final season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Aeros finished 3rd in the league and lost in the Quarter-finals to the Quebec Nordiques 4 games to 2.
==Off-season==
The Aeros jerseys were the same design as in the 1973-74 season.
==Regular Season==
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results 	Regular Season Results
No. 	R 	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	L 	October 12, 1977 	0–3 	New England Whalers (1977–78) 	0–1–0
2 	L 	October 14, 1977 	3–5 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 	0–2–0
3 	W 	October 15, 1977 	5–1 	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 	1–2–0
4 	W 	October 21, 1977 	6–5 	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 	2–2–0
7 	L 	October 30, 1977 	4–5 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 	3–4–0
13 	W 	November 11, 1977 	5–3 	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 	5–8–0
14 	W 	November 18, 1977 	6–5 	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 	6–8–0
15 	L 	November 19, 1977 	3–4 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 	6–9–0
16 	W 	November 23, 1977 	3–0 	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 	7–9–0
17 	W 	November 25, 1977 	3–1 	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 	8–9–0
18 	T 	November 30, 1977 	3–3 	New England Whalers (1977–78) 	8–9–1
19 	L 	December 2, 1977 	2–4 	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 	8–10–1
20 	W 	December 4, 1977 	3–2 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	9–10–1
21 	L 	December 6, 1977 	3–4 OT 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 	9–11–1
22 	L 	December 7, 1977 	2–5 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 	9–12–1
23 	W 	December 9, 1977 	5–3 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 	10–12–1
24 	W 	December 11, 1977 	4–2 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 	11–12–1
25 	L 	December 13, 1977 	3–5 	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 	11–13–1
26 	T 	December 15, 1977 	3–3 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	11–13–2
27 	W 	December 18, 1977 	3–2 	Czechoslovakia (1977–78) 	12–13–2
28 	W 	December 20, 1977 	6–4 	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 	13–13–2
29 	L 	December 21, 1977 	3–4 	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 	13–14–2
30 	L 	December 23, 1977 	2–6 	Soviet All-Stars (1977–78) 	13–15–2
31 	W 	December 29, 1977 	7–1 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	14–15–2
32 	T 	December 30, 1977 	5–5 	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 	14–15–3
33 	W 	January 1, 1978 	2–1 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 	15–15–3
34 	L 	January 4, 1978 	3–5 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	15–16–3
35 	L 	January 6, 1978 	4–6 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 	15–17–3
36 	L 	January 7, 1978 	1–2 OT 	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 	15–18–3
37 	L 	January 8, 1978 	2–4 	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 	15–19–3
38 	W 	January 13, 1978 	3–2 	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 	16–19–3
39 	W 	January 14, 1978 	5–4 OT 	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	17–19–3
40 	W 	January 20, 1978 	4–3 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	18–19–3
41 	W 	January 21, 1978 	5–2 	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 	19–19–3
42 	W 	January 22, 1978 	4–2 	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 	20–19–3
43 	W 	January 24, 1978 	6–5 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 	21–19–3
44 	W 	January 26, 1978 	2–1 OT 	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 	22–19–3
45 	L 	January 28, 1978 	0–3 	New England Whalers (1977–78) 	22–20–3
46 	W 	January 29, 1978 	6–4 	New England Whalers (1977–78) 	23–20–3
47 	W 	January 31, 1978 	4–2 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 	24–20–3
48 	L 	February 3, 1978 	0–1 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	24–21–3
49 	W 	February 4, 1978 	5–4 	New England Whalers (1977–78) 	25–21–3
50 	W 	February 9, 1978 	2–1 	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 	26–21–3
51 	W 	February 11, 1978 	8–4 	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 	27–21–3
52 	L 	February 12, 1978 	5–6 	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 	27–22–3
53 	W 	February 15, 1978 	5–2 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	28–22–3
54 	L 	February 16, 1978 	2–5 	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 	28–23–3
55 	L 	February 17, 1978 	3–4 OT 	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 	28–24–3
56 	W 	February 18, 1978 	3–2 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 	29–24–3
57 	W 	February 22, 1978 	6–5 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 	30–24–3
58 	L 	February 24, 1978 	4–5 OT 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 	30–25–3
59 	L 	February 26, 1978 	6–9 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 	30–26–3
60 	L 	February 28, 1978 	2–5 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 	30–27–3
61 	L 	March 1, 1978 	1–5 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	30–28–3
62 	W 	March 3, 1978 	3–2 OT 	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	31–28–3
63 	T 	March 4, 1978 	3–3 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 	31–28–4
64 	W 	March 5, 1978 	4–3 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 	32–28–4
65 	W 	March 7, 1978 	4–3 	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 	33–28–4
66 	W 	March 9, 1978 	6–4 	New England Whalers (1977–78) 	34–28–4
67 	L 	March 11, 1978 	2–4 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	34–29–4
68 	W 	March 12, 1978 	6–3 	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 	35–29–4
69 	L 	March 17, 1978 	2–3 	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 	35–30–4
70 	L 	March 22, 1978 	2–9 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	35–31–4
71 	W 	March 24, 1978 	1–0 	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	36–31–4
72 	W 	March 25, 1978 	4–3 OT 	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 	37–31–4
73 	W 	March 28, 1978 	5–3 	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 	38–31–4
74 	W 	March 30, 1978 	5–1 	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 	39–31–4
75 	L 	April 2, 1978 	1–7 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 	39–32–4
76 	L 	April 3, 1978 	6–8 	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	39–33–4
77 	W 	April 4, 1978 	6–3 	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 	40–33–4
78 	L 	April 7, 1978 	3–5 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 	40–34–4
79 	W 	April 8, 1978 	5–4 	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 	41–34–4
80 	W 	April 9, 1978 	5–4 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) 	42–34–4
==Playoffs==
===Quebec Nordiques 4, Houston Aeros 2===
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	April 16	Quebec Nordiques	3–4 	Houston Aeros 	1–0
2	April 18	Quebec Nordiques	5–4 	Houston Aeros 	1–1
3	April 20	Houston Aeros 	1–5 	Quebec Nordiques	1–2
4	April 21	Houston Aeros 	0–3 	Quebec Nordiques	1–3
5	April 23	Quebec Nordiques	2–5 	Houston Aeros 	2–3
6	April 25	Houston Aeros 	2–11 	Quebec Nordiques	2–4
==Player Stats==
Regular Season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
# 	Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
7 	 	C 	78	36	77	113	57 	8 	7 	0 	0
12 	 	LW 	80	40	35	75 	131	13 	13 	0 	0
8 	 	C 	78	15	57	72 	170	13 	3 	1 	0
18 	 	LW 	65	23	41	64 	103	13 	5 	0 	0
27 	 	RW 	69	24	35	59 	52 	1 	5 	0 	0
10 	 	RW 	77	35	23	58 	80 	15 	6 	0 	0
21 	 	RW 	73	25	25	50 	52 	3 	7 	3 	0
15 	 	RW 	68	21	16	37 	217	4 	0 	0 	0
4 	 	D 	75	8 	29	37 	116	10 	1 	0 	0
6 	 	D 	80	6 	31	37 	53 	-6 	1 	1 	0
19 	 	C 	71	11	21	32 	23 	4 	0 	0 	0
2 	 	D 	63	9 	20	29 	125	-2 	4 	0 	0
20 	 	D 	79	3 	25	28 	130	20 	1 	0 	0
13 	 	C 	76	9 	17	26 	36 	-22	1 	0 	0
5 	 	D 	80	2 	22	24 	54 	18 	0 	0 	0
26 	 	RW 	78	13	9 	22 	51 	0 	1 	0 	0
14 	 	LW 	54	11	11	22 	46 	8 	1 	1 	0
17 	 	D 	56	2 	11	13 	22 	4 	0 	0 	0
16 	 	LW 	11	3 	2 	5 	2 	-10	0 	0 	0
31 	 	G 	51	0 	4 	4 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	 	RW 	6 	0 	1 	1 	7 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	 	LW 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
24 	 	D 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
30 	 	G 	12	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
1 	 	G 	20	0 	0 	0 	4 	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 	6 	3	1	4 	10 	0 	0 	1
 	C 	6 	2	2	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	6 	1	3	4 	8 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	6 	1	2	3 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	6 	1	2	3 	17 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	6 	0	3	3 	10 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	1	1	2 	8 	0 	0 	1
 	RW 	6 	1	1	2 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	1	1	2 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	4 	1	1	2 	5 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	1	1	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	6 	0	2	2 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	0	2	2 	13 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	2 	1	0	1 	22 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	1	0	1 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	6 	1	0	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	2 	0	1	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	0	1	1 	33 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	3 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	4 	0	0	0 	6 	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 and Records==
*Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy (Coach of the Year): Bill Dineen
*Ernie Wakely, Goalie, WHA Second Team All-Star
==Transactions==
==Draft Picks==
Houston's draft picks at the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft.
Round	# 	Player 	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	1 	Scott Campbell (D) 	 	London Knights (OHA)
1 	10	Dwight Foster (F) 	 	Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
2 	21	Dave Semenko (LW) 	 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
3 	30	Glen Hanlon (G) 	 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
4 	39	Reg Kerr (D) 	 	Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)
5 	48	Kevin McCarthy (D) 	 	Winnipeg Monarchs (WCHL)
6 	57	Markus Mattsson (G)	 	Ilves (Liiga)
7 	66	Harald Luckner (F) 	 	Farjestads BK (Elitserien)
8 	74	Matti Forss (F) 	 	Lukko Rauma (Liiga)
9 	82	Mike Dwyer (LW) 	 	Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA)
10 	90	Dave Parro (G) 	 	Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
==Farm Teams==
==Video==
Whalers-Aeros game from March 9, 1978.
WHA- New England Whalers vs. Houston Aeros – March 9, 1978
Jets-Aeros game from April 4, 1978.
WHA Houston Aeros - Winnipeg Jets 78-79
Nordiques-Aeros Quarter-finals Game 5, April 23, 1978.
WHA- Houston Aeros vs. Quebec Nordiques, Game 5, 1978 Quarterfinals
==See Also==
*1977–78 WHA season
==References==
Houston Aeros season, 1977–78
Houston Aeros season, 1977–78
category:Houston Aeros seasons