1978–79 AHL season

The 1978–79 AHL season was the 43rd season of the American Hockey League. The league inaugurates the Ken McKenzie Award, for the most outstanding marketing executive, showing its commitment to marketing and public relations.
Nine teams were scheduled to play 80 games each. The Maine Mariners repeated as first overall in the regular season, and won their second consecutive Calder Cup championship.
==Team changes==
* The Hampton Gulls do not resume operations. 
* The New Brunswick Hawks join the AHL as an expansion team, based in Moncton, New Brunswick, playing in the North Division.
* The Binghamton Dusters switch divisions from North to South.
==Final standings==
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; 
North 	GP	W 	L 	T 	Pts	GF 	GA
Maine Mariners 	80	45	22	13	103	350	252
New Brunswick Hawks 	80	41	29	10	92 	315	288
Nova Scotia Voyageurs	80	39	37	4 	82 	313	302
Springfield Indians 	80	33	38	9 	75 	289	290
South 	GP	W 	L 	T 	Pts	GF 	GA
New Haven Nighthawks 	80	46	25	9 	101	346	271
Hershey Bears 	79	35	36	8 	78 	311	324
Binghamton Dusters 	79	32	42	5 	69 	300	320
Rochester Americans 	80	26	42	12	64 	289	349
Philadelphia Firebirds	80	23	49	8 	54 	230	347
==Scoring leaders==
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
Bernie Johnston	Maine Mariners 	70	29	66	95 	40
Wayne Schaab 	Maine Mariners 	80	41	50	91 	43
Kirk Bowman 	New Brunswick Hawks 	80	26	56	82 	44
Bobby Sheehan 	New Haven Nighthawks 	70	33	48	81 	26
Rick Meagher 	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	79	35	46	81 	57
Dave Lumley 	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	61	22	58	80 	160
Claude Noel 	Hershey Bears 	76	30	50	80 	27
Dale Lewis 	New Haven Nighthawks 	76	29	51	80 	20
Rocky Saganiuk 	New Brunswick Hawks 	61	47	29	76 	91
Andre Peloffy 	Springfield Indians 	77	28	48	76 	138
* complete list
==Calder Cup playoffs==
See 1979 Calder Cup Playoffs
==Trophy and award winners==
;Team awards
Calder CupPlayoff champions: 	Maine Mariners
F. G. "Teddy" Oke TrophyRegular Season champions, North Division:	Maine Mariners
John D. Chick TrophyRegular Season champions, South Division: 	New Haven Nighthawks
;Individual awards
Les Cunningham AwardMost valuable player: 	Rocky Saganiuk - New Brunswick Hawks
John B. Sollenberger TrophyTop point scorer: 	Bernie Johnston - Maine Mariners
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial AwardRookie of the year: 	Mike Meeker - Binghamton Dusters
Eddie Shore AwardDefenceman of the year: 	Terry Murray - Maine Mariners
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial AwardLowest goals against average:	Pete Peeters & Robbie Moore - Maine Mariners
Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial AwardCoach of the year: 	Parker MacDonald - New Haven Nighthawks
Fred T. Hunt Memorial AwardSportsmanship / Perseverance: 	Bernie Johnston - Maine Mariners
;Other awards
James C. Hendy Memorial AwardMost outstanding executive: 	Harry Sinden
James H. Ellery Memorial Awards Outstanding media coverage:	Eddie St. Pierre, Moncton, (newspaper)Arnie Patterson, Nova Scotia, (radio)Jack O'Neil, Springfield, (television)
Ken McKenzie AwardOutstanding marketing executive: 	Roy Mlakar, New Haven Nighthawks
==Team Photos==
78-79NBHawks.jpg|New Brunswick Hawks
78-79RocAme.jpg|Rochester Americans
==Game Ads==
78-79AHLMonctonGameAd.jpg|Moncton
==See also==
*List of AHL seasons
==References==
*AHL official site
*AHL Hall of Fame
*HockeyDB
Category:American Hockey League seasons
Category:1979 in hockey