1978–79 New England Whalers season

The 1978–79 New England Whalers season was the Whalers' 7th and final season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Whalers finished 4th in the league and lost in the Semi-finals to the Edmonton Oilers 4 games to 3.
==Off-season==
The Whalers jerseys were the same design as in the 1974-75 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 15, 1978 	6–5 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	1–0–0
2 	W 	October 17, 1978 	2–1 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	2–0–0
3 	T 	October 18, 1978 	4–4 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	2–0–1
4 	W 	October 21, 1978 	7–1 	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	3–0–1
5 	W 	October 22, 1978 	6–3 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	4–0–1
6 	W 	October 24, 1978 	2–1 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	5–0–1
7 	L 	October 26, 1978 	5–8 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	5–1–1
8 	L 	October 27, 1978 	4–6 	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	5–2–1
9 	L 	October 29, 1978 	4–7 	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 	5–3–1
10 	W 	November 3, 1978 	6–3 	Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) 	6–3–1
11 	T 	November 4, 1978 	6–6 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	6–3–2
12 	L 	November 5, 1978 	4–5 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	6–4–2
13 	W 	November 9, 1978 	6–1 	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	7–4–2
14 	W 	November 11, 1978 	2–1 	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 	8–4–2
15 	T 	November 14, 1978 	5–5 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	8–4–3
16 	T 	November 15, 1978 	4–4 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	8–4–4
17 	L 	November 17, 1978 	1–7 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	8–5–4
18 	L 	November 18, 1978 	2–3 	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	8–6–4
19 	W 	November 22, 1978 	5–2 	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	9–6–4
20 	W 	November 25, 1978 	5–2 	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	10–6–4
21 	W 	November 26, 1978 	9–3 	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	11–6–4
22 	L 	November 29, 1978 	2–4 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	11–7–4
23 	L 	December 1, 1978 	2–8 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	11–8–4
24 	W 	December 3, 1978 	7–0 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	12–8–4
25 	T 	December 5, 1978 	2–2 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	12–8–5
26 	W 	December 7, 1978 	5–3 	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	13–8–5
27 	L 	December 9, 1978 	4–7 	Soviet All-Stars (1978–79) 	13–9–5
28 	W 	December 12, 1978 	7–4 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)	14–9–5
29 	W 	December 16, 1978 	2–1 	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	15–9–5
30 	T 	December 17, 1978 	4–4 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	15–9–6
31 	W 	December 23, 1978 	4–3 	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	16–9–6
32 	W 	December 27, 1978 	10–4 	Czechoslovakia (1978–79) 	17–9–6
33 	W 	December 29, 1978 	5–0 	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	18–9–6
34 	L 	December 30, 1978 	1–2 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	18–10–6
35 	W 	January 7, 1979 	5–4 	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 	19–10–6
36 	L 	January 13, 1979 	0–3 	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	19–11–6
37 	L 	January 14, 1979 	2–4 	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	19–12–6
38 	L 	January 18, 1979 	2–4 	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	19–13–6
39 	W 	January 20, 1979 	3–1 	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 	20–13–6
40 	L 	January 23, 1979 	1–5 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	20–14–6
41 	L 	January 26, 1979 	4–5 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	20–15–6
42 	W 	January 28, 1979 	8–6 	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	21–15–6
43 	W 	January 30, 1979 	5–2 	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	22–15–6
44 	W 	February 2, 1979 	4–1 	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	23–15–6
45 	T 	February 3, 1979 	2–2 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	23–15–7
46 	W 	February 6, 1979 	5–3 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	24–15–7
47 	W 	February 10, 1979 	7–2 	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	25–15–7
48 	L 	February 11, 1979 	2–5 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	25–16–7
49 	L 	February 14, 1979 	4–7 	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	25–17–7
50 	L 	February 16, 1979 	2–4 	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	25–18–7
51 	W 	February 17, 1979 	4–1 	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	26–18–7
52 	W 	February 18, 1979 	7–1 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	27–18–7
53 	L 	February 20, 1979 	2–8 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	27–19–7
54 	L 	February 21, 1979 	2–5 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	27–20–7
55 	W 	February 23, 1979 	5–4 OT 	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	28–20–7
56 	L 	February 24, 1979 	0–6 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	28–21–7
57 	L 	February 25, 1979 	5–7 	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	28–22–7
58 	T 	February 27, 1979 	1–1 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	28–22–8
59 	W 	March 2, 1979 	4–1 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	29–22–8
60 	L 	March 4, 1979 	3–4 OT 	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 	29–23–8
61 	L 	March 9, 1979 	1–3 	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	29–24–8
62 	W 	March 11, 1979 	2–1 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	30–24–8
63 	W 	March 13, 1979 	4–3 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	31–24–8
64 	L 	March 15, 1979 	3–4 OT 	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	31–25–8
65 	T 	March 16, 1979 	5–5 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	31–25–9
66 	L 	March 18, 1979 	1–4 	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 	31–26–9
67 	W 	March 20, 1979 	7–6 OT 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	32–26–9
68 	W 	March 23, 1979 	5–3 	Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	33–26–9
69 	L 	March 24, 1979 	3–4 	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	33–27–9
70 	L 	March 27, 1979 	1–3 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	33–28–9
71 	L 	March 30, 1979 	1–3 	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	33–29–9
72 	L 	April 1, 1979 	3–5 	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	33–30–9
73 	W 	April 4, 1979 	4–2 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	34–30–9
74 	L 	April 6, 1979 	2–7 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	34–31–9
75 	L 	April 8, 1979 	4–6 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	34–32–9
76 	W 	April 10, 1979 	5–2 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	35–32–9
77 	W 	April 12, 1979 	4–0 	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 	36–32–9
78 	L 	April 14, 1979 	0–4 	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 	36–33–9
79 	L 	April 15, 1979 	1–4 	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	36–34–9
80 	W 	April 17, 1979 	3–2 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	37–34–9
==Playoffs==
===New England Whalers 3, Cincinnati Stingers 0===
Game	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Series
1 	April 21	Cincinnati Stingers	3 – 5	New England Whalers	1–0
2 	April 22	New England Whalers	3 – 6	Cincinnati Stingers	1–1
3 	April 24	New England Whalers	2 – 1	Cincinnati Stingers	2–1
===Edmonton Oilers 4, New England Whalers 3===
Game	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Series
1 	April 26	New England Whalers	2 – 6	Edmonton Oilers 	0–1
2 	April 27	New England Whalers	5 – 9	Edmonton Oilers 	0–2
3 	April 29	Edmonton Oilers 	1 – 4	New England Whalers	1–2
4 	May 1 	Edmonton Oilers 	4 – 5	New England Whalers	2–2
5 	May 3 	New England Whalers	2 – 5	Edmonton Oilers 	2–3
6 	May 6 	Edmonton Oilers 	8 – 4	New England Whalers	3–3
7 	May 8 	New England Whalers	3 – 6	Edmonton Oilers 	3–4
==Player Stats==
===Regular Season===
;Scoring
Player	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
 	77	42	65	107	32
 	78	32	56	88 	34
 	80	27	45	72 	31
 	79	22	43	65 	2
 	79	11	46	57 	113
 	77	26	23	49 	44
 	69	20	27	47 	35
 	76	19	28	47 	115
 	58	19	24	43 	51
 	59	17	18	35 	54
 	77	10	19	29 	148
 	73	7 	20	27 	135
 	66	9 	15	24 	31
 	78	4 	16	20 	33
 	51	6 	10	16 	15
 	42	4 	12	16 	47
 	41	6 	9 	15 	20
 	36	9 	3 	12 	2
 	28	6 	6 	12 	6
 	34	2 	7 	9 	61
 	41	0 	7 	7 	15
 	40	0 	3 	3 	35
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	2
 	12	0 	0 	0 	19
 	41	0 	0 	0 	6
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T	GA 	GAA 	SA 	SV 	SV% 	SO
 	2496	41	20	17	4	149	3.58	1180	1031	.874	2
 	2396	40	17	17	5	132	3.31	1124	992 	.883	1
Team: 	4892	80	37	34	9	281	3.45	2304	2023	.878	3
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
 	10	3	9	12 	2
 	10	3	7	10 	10
 	10	5	3	8 	14
 	10	4	4	8 	0
 	9 	3	5	8 	25
 	10	2	6	8 	2
 	10	0	8	8 	28
 	7 	4	3	7 	4
 	6 	4	2	6 	6
 	10	4	0	4 	23
 	10	3	1	4 	4
 	9 	1	3	4 	0
 	9 	0	4	4 	11
 	10	0	4	4 	10
 	10	2	1	3 	0
 	10	1	2	3 	12
 	5 	0	1	1 	4
 	9 	0	1	1 	8
 	1 	0	0	0 	0
 	3 	0	0	0 	12
 	4 	0	0	0 	0
 	8 	0	0	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA 	SA	SV	SV%	SO
 	447	8 	4	3	 	32	4.30	 	 	 	0
 	153	4 	1	2	 	12	4.71	 	 	 	0
Team: 	600	10	5	5	 	44	4.40	 	 	 	0
==Awards and Records==
*Dennis A. Murphy Trophy (Best Defenseman): Rick Ley
*Mark Howe, Left Wing, WHA First Team All-Star
*Rick Ley, Defense, WHA First Team All-Star
==Transactions==
==Draft Picks==
==Farm Teams==
==Gallery==
1978-Nov25-Gordie-Tremblay.jpg|Gordie Howe and J.C. Tremblay, November 25, 1978.
1979-McKenzie-Pleau.jpg|John McKenzie and Larry Pleau in 1978-79 season action.
1979-McKenzie-Gretzky-Marty.jpg|John McKenzie, Wayne Gretzky, Marty Howe in 1978-79 season action.
==Video==
Whalers-Jet game from January 30, 1979.
1979 WHA New England Whalers Winnipeg Jets
==See Also==
*1978–79 WHA season
==References==
* 
New England Whalers season, 1978–79
New England Whalers season, 1978–79
category:Hartford Whalers seasons
category:New England Whalers seasons