1975–76 Houston Aeros season

The 1975–76 Houston Aeros season was the Aeros' 4th season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). Aeros finished 1st in the Western Division and lost in the Avco World Trophy Finals to the Winnipeg Jets 4 games to 0.
==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 	W 	October 11, 1975 	5–0 	@ New England Whalers (1975–76) 	1–0–0
2 	L 	October 14, 1975 	3–6 	@ Toronto Toros (1975–76) 	1–1–0
3 	L 	October 18, 1975 	2–3 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) 	1–2–0
4 	W 	October 19, 1975 	6–5 	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76) 	2–2–0
5 	L 	October 23, 1975 	0–4 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	2–3–0
6 	L 	October 25, 1975 	4–7 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	2–4–0
7 	W 	October 30, 1975 	4–2 	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	3–4–0
8 	W 	November 1, 1975 	3–2 	@ Denver Spurs (1975–76) 	4–4–0
9 	W 	November 5, 1975 	6–4 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) 	5–4–0
10 	W 	November 7, 1975 	5–3 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	6–4–0
11 	W 	November 9, 1975 	3–2 	Denver Spurs (1975–76) 	7–4–0
12 	W 	November 11, 1975 	5–4 	Toronto Toros (1975–76) 	8–4–0
13 	L 	November 12, 1975 	1–4 	@ New England Whalers (1975–76) 	8–5–0
14 	L 	November 15, 1975 	5–8 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	8–6–0
15 	L 	November 16, 1975 	3–5 	@ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) 	8–7–0
16 	W 	November 18, 1975 	3–2 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76) 	9–7–0
17 	W 	November 21, 1975 	4–2 	Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) 	10–7–0
18 	W 	November 23, 1975 	4–0 	Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) 	11–7–0
19 	W 	November 25, 1975 	4–1 	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	12–7–0
20 	W 	November 28, 1975 	7–4 	Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) 	13–7–0
21 	W 	November 30, 1975 	8–4 	San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	14–7–0
22 	L 	December 2, 1975 	2–5 	New England Whalers (1975–76) 	14–8–0
23 	W 	December 5, 1975 	5–4 	Winnipeg Jets (1975–76) 	15–8–0
24 	L 	December 6, 1975 	5–6 OT 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	15–9–0
25 	W 	December 9, 1975 	6–4 	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	16–9–0
26 	W 	December 12, 1975 	4–2 	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	17–9–0
27 	L 	December 13, 1975 	3–4 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	17–10–0
28 	W 	December 14, 1975 	4–3 	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76) 	18–10–0
29 	L 	December 16, 1975 	2–4 	San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	18–11–0
30 	W 	December 20, 1975 	4–3 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	19–11–0
31 	L 	December 21, 1975 	1–3 	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	19–12–0
32 	W 	December 26, 1975 	9–4 	Denver Spurs (1975–76) 	20–12–0
33 	W 	December 27, 1975 	5–0 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) 	21–12–0
34 	L 	December 30, 1975 	3–5 	Winnipeg Jets (1975–76) 	21–13–0
35 	W 	January 3, 1976 	4–2 	Ottawa Civics (1975–76) 	22–13–0
36 	W 	January 6, 1976 	7–3 	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	23–13–0
37 	W 	January 9, 1976 	6–5 	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76) 	24–13–0
38 	W 	January 10, 1976 	4–1 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	25–13–0
39 	W 	January 11, 1976 	5–3 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) 	26–13–0
40 	L 	January 14, 1976 	1–4 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76) 	26–14–0
41 	W 	January 15, 1976 	5–4 OT 	@ Ottawa Civics (1975–76) 	27–14–0
42 	L 	January 17, 1976 	2–4 	@ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) 	27–15–0
43 	L 	January 20, 1976 	5–7 	Toronto Toros (1975–76) 	27–16–0
44 	W 	January 21, 1976 	9–3 	New England Whalers (1975–76) 	28–16–0
45 	W 	January 23, 1976 	2–0 	Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) 	29–16–0
46 	W 	January 25, 1976 	5–3 	Calgary Cowboys (1975–76) 	30–16–0
47 	W 	January 28, 1976 	6–5 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76) 	31–16–0
48 	L 	January 30, 1976 	1–2 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	31–17–0
49 	L 	January 31, 1976 	1–4 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	31–18–0
50 	W 	February 3, 1976 	8–4 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76) 	32–18–0
51 	W 	February 6, 1976 	4–3 	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	33–18–0
52 	W 	February 8, 1976 	5–2 	San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	34–18–0
53 	W 	February 12, 1976 	4–1 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	35–18–0
54 	L 	February 14, 1976 	1–5 	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	35–19–0
55 	L 	February 15, 1976 	2–4 	Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) 	35–20–0
56 	W 	February 17, 1976 	4–3 	New England Whalers (1975–76) 	36–20–0
57 	W 	February 19, 1976 	5–3 	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76) 	37–20–0
58 	L 	February 22, 1976 	1–2 	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76) 	37–21–0
59 	L 	February 24, 1976 	1–4 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76) 	37–22–0
60 	W 	February 26, 1976 	5–2 	@ New England Whalers (1975–76) 	38–22–0
61 	W 	February 27, 1976 	7–6 OT 	@ Toronto Toros (1975–76) 	39–22–0
62 	W 	February 28, 1976 	4–2 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	40–22–0
63 	W 	March 5, 1976 	6–3 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	41–22–0
64 	L 	March 6, 1976 	4–5 	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76) 	41–23–0
65 	W 	March 9, 1976 	9–2 	San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	42–23–0
66 	L 	March 11, 1976 	1–4 	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	42–24–0
67 	W 	March 13, 1976 	3–2 	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	43–24–0
68 	W 	March 17, 1976 	7–4 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	44–24–0
69 	W 	March 19, 1976 	8–3 	San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	45–24–0
70 	L 	March 20, 1976 	1–2 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	45–25–0
71 	W 	March 21, 1976 	4–3 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	46–25–0
72 	W 	March 24, 1976 	3–2 	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76) 	47–25–0
73 	L 	March 25, 1976 	3–4 OT 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	47–26–0
74 	W 	March 26, 1976 	5–1 	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76) 	48–26–0
75 	W 	March 28, 1976 	7–4 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	49–26–0
76 	L 	March 30, 1976 	3–4 	San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	49–27–0
77 	W 	April 1, 1976 	4–1 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76) 	50–27–0
78 	W 	April 3, 1976 	8–2 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	51–27–0
79 	W 	April 4, 1976 	5–2 	San Diego Mariners (1975–76) 	52–27–0
80 	W 	April 6, 1976 	8–5 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76) 	53–27–0
==Playoffs==
===Houston Aeros 4, San Diego Mariners 2===
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	April 21	San Diego Mariners	6–8 	Houston Aeros 	1–0
2	April 23	San Diego Mariners	1–3 	Houston Aeros 	2–0
3	April 25	Houston Aeros 	8–4 	San Diego Mariners	3–0
4	April 27	Houston Aeros 	2–3 	San Diego Mariners	3–1
5	April 28	San Diego Mariners	3–2 	Houston Aeros 	3–2
6	April 30	Houston Aeros 	3–2 	San Diego Mariners	4–2
===Houston Aeros 4, New England Whalers 3===
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	May 5 	New England Whalers	4–2 	Houston Aeros 	0–1
2	May 7 	New England Whalers	2–5 	Houston Aeros 	1–1
3	May 9 	Houston Aeros 	1–4 	New England Whalers	1–2
4	May 11	Houston Aeros 	4–3 	New England Whalers	2–2
5	May 13	New England Whalers	2–4 	Houston Aeros 	3–2
6	May 15	Houston Aeros 	1–6 	New England Whalers	3–3
5	May 16	New England Whalers	0–2 	Houston Aeros 	4–3
===Winnipeg Jets 4, Houston Aeros 0===
The line of Bobby Hull, Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg dominated the Finals, scoring 12 goals. Nilsson was voted the WHA Playoff MVP.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	May 20	Winnipeg Jets	4–3 	Houston Aeros	0–1
2	May 23	Winnipeg Jets	5–4 	Houston Aeros	0–2
3	May 25	Houston Aeros	3–6 	Winnipeg Jets	0–3
4	May 27	Houston Aeros	1–9 	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
9 	 	RW 	78	32	70	102	76 	14 	12 	1 	4
4 	 	D 	72	39	37	76 	38 	29 	13 	6 	8
7 	 	LW 	80	31	45	76 	26 	12 	12 	0 	6
16 	 	LW 	70	35	38	73 	6 	12 	12 	0 	6
13 	 	C 	73	24	49	73 	50 	3 	6 	1 	1
10 	 	C 	80	23	32	55 	18 	-1 	4 	0 	3
21 	 	RW 	77	22	33	55 	33 	30 	1 	2 	4
27 	 	RW 	79	30	20	50 	56 	9 	3 	0 	3
8 	 	C 	65	14	35	49 	100	18 	3 	0 	2
11 	 	RW 	80	20	26	46 	18 	-3 	3 	0 	8
6 	 	D 	78	10	36	46 	71 	29 	2 	2 	2
14 	 	LW 	68	15	26	41 	88 	-10	3 	0 	0
2 	 	D 	74	6 	32	38 	106	8 	0 	0 	0
3 	 	D 	80	14	23	37 	81 	40 	0 	0 	2
18 	 	LW 	79	17	14	31 	66 	11 	3 	1 	2
17 	 	D 	77	2 	12	14 	30 	7 	0 	0 	1
19 	 	LW 	67	4 	7 	11 	59 	-13	0 	0 	0
24 	 	D 	72	3 	8 	11 	116	3 	0 	0 	0
22 	 	D 	14	0 	4 	4 	18 	8 	0 	0 	0
29 	 	G 	57	0 	1 	1 	22 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	 	LW 	2 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
5 	 	D 	6 	0 	0 	0 	2 	-2 	0 	0 	0
30 	 	G 	25	0 	0 	0 	6 	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
4 	 	D 	17	6	10	16 	18 	0 	0 	0
18 	 	C 	16	6	10	16 	64 	0 	0 	0
8 	 	LW 	17	7	7 	14 	8 	0 	0 	0
27 	 	RW 	16	7	5 	12 	21 	0 	0 	0
9 	 	RW 	17	4	8 	12 	31 	0 	0 	0
21 	 	RW 	17	4	6 	10 	8 	0 	0 	0
10 	 	C 	17	2	8 	10 	14 	0 	0 	0
3 	 	D 	16	4	4 	8 	12 	0 	0 	0
6 	 	D 	17	3	5 	8 	16 	0 	0 	0
2 	 	D 	17	1	6 	7 	38 	0 	0 	0
7 	 	LW 	17	5	1 	6 	20 	0 	0 	0
16 	 	LW 	17	2	3 	5 	2 	0 	0 	0
11 	 	RW 	17	1	4 	5 	0 	0 	0 	0
17 	 	D 	17	0	5 	5 	8 	0 	0 	0
14 	 	LW 	11	2	2 	4 	17 	0 	0 	0
22 	 	D 	17	0	3 	3 	51 	0 	0 	0
13 	 	C 	5 	1	1 	2 	4 	0 	0 	0
19 	 	LW 	8 	1	1 	2 	4 	0 	0 	0
12 	 	C 	7 	0	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
24 	 	D 	5 	0	0 	0 	9 	0 	0 	0
30 	 	G 	4 	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
29 	 	G 	14	0	0 	0 	0 	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==
*Wayne Rutledge, Goalie, WHA Second Team All-Star
==Transactions==
==Draft Picks==
==Farm Teams==
==Gallery==
1975-Nov30-Hargreaves-Howe-Wakely.jpg|Jim Hargreaves, Gordie Howe, Ernie Wakely, November 30, 1975.
1976-Jan15-Newton-Taylor.jpg|Ted Taylor shoots on Cam Newton in the Civics last game, January 15, 1976. Note the jerseys still have the Spurs logo.
1976-Mar6-Howe-Newton-Ruskowski.jpg|Gordie Howe, Jim Harrison, Cam Newton, Terry Ruskowski, March 6, 1976.
1976-Mar21-Howe-Kurt-Beaudoin.jpg|Gordie Howe, Gary Kurt, Serge Beaudoin, March 21, 1976.
==See Also==
*1975–76 WHA season
==References==
Houston Aeros season, 1975–76
Houston Aeros season, 1975–76
category:Houston Aeros seasons