1978–79 Indianapolis Racers season

The 1978–79 Indianapolis Racers season was the Racers' 5th and final season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The team ceased operations after only 25 games.
==Off-season==
Nelson Skalbania, the owner of Indianapolis Racers, signed the 17 year old future super-star, Wayne Gretzky to, at that time, a whopping personal contract worth between 1.125 and 1.75 million dollars over 4 to 7 years. Skalbania, knowing that the WHA was fading, felt owning the young star was more valuable than owning a WHA team.
The Racers jerseys were the same design as in the 1977-78 season.
==Regular Season==
This was the first season of Wayne Gretzky's professional career and he scored 3 goals and 3 assists in 8 games.
The Racers' management knew that the team was going to fold due to poor attendance, and sold Gretzky to the Edmonton Oilers after eight games. Skalbania needed cash and liquidated his greatest asset to his old friend and former partner, Peter Pocklington, owner of the Oilers. Pocklington purchased Gretzky and two other Indianapolis players, goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll paying $700,000 for the contracts of the three players, although the announced price was actually $850,000.
===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 14, 1978 	3–6 	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	0–1–0
2 	L 	October 15, 1978 	3–9 	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	0–2–0
3 	W 	October 18, 1978 	4–0 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	1–2–0
4 	L 	October 20, 1978 	3–4 	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	1–3–0
5 	L 	October 22, 1978 	3–6 	New England Whalers (1978–79) 	1–4–0
6 	L 	October 27, 1978 	2–4 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	1–5–0
7 	W 	October 28, 1978 	3–2 	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	2–5–0
8 	T 	October 29, 1978 	3–3 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	2–5–1
9 	L 	November 3, 1978 	3–6 	@ New England Whalers (1978–79)	2–6–1
10 	T 	November 4, 1978 	6–6 	New England Whalers (1978–79) 	2–6–2
11 	L 	November 5, 1978 	2–6 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	2–7–2
12 	L 	November 8, 1978 	0–4 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	2–8–2
13 	L 	November 11, 1978 	2–8 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 	2–9–2
14 	L 	November 17, 1978 	1–6 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	2–10–2
15 	L 	November 19, 1978 	2–5 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	2–11–2
16 	L 	November 23, 1978 	1–5 	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	2–12–2
17 	L 	November 24, 1978 	5–8 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)	2–13–2
18 	W 	November 25, 1978 	6–3 	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 	3–13–2
19 	L 	November 28, 1978 	2–8 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	3–14–2
20 	W 	December 1, 1978 	6–3 	Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	4–14–2
21 	L 	December 2, 1978 	2–4 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 	4–15–2
22 	L 	December 3, 1978 	2–4 	Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 	4–16–2
23 	L 	December 7, 1978 	4–9 	Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 	4–17–2
24 	W 	December 10, 1978 	6–4 	Edmonton Oilers (1978–79) 	5–17–2
25 	L 	December 12, 1978 	4–7 	New England Whalers (1978–79) 	5–18–2
==Playoffs==
*The Racers ceased operations before the post season.
==Player Stats==
===Regular Season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	RW 	25	9	9 	18 	16 	-18	3 	0 	
 	RW 	25	8	10	18 	39 	-20	2 	0 	
 	C 	13	5	9 	14 	14 	-2 	2 	0 	
 	LW 	13	5	8 	13 	0 	5 	0 	0 	
 	C 	22	4	9 	13 	4 	-1 	0 	0 	
 	C 	17	8	4 	12 	0 	-12	1 	0 	
 	RW 	22	5	7 	12 	12 	2 	1 	0 	
 	D/LW	10	2	10	12 	29 	-13	0 	0 	
 	D 	15	2	9 	11 	25 	-11	2 	0 	
 	D 	25	0	11	11 	22 	0 	0 	0 	
 	LW 	21	3	7 	10 	64 	-5 	0 	0 	
 	RW 	25	2	8 	10 	20 	-2 	0 	0 	
 	D 	25	1	8 	9 	22 	-5 	0 	0 	
 	D 	22	3	4 	7 	48 	-16	0 	0 	
 	LW 	9 	4	2 	6 	23 	-11	1 	0 	
 	C 	17	4	2 	6 	12 	-6 	2 	0 	
 	C 	8 	3	3 	6 	0 	-3 	0 	0 	
 	D 	22	2	3 	5 	10 	-11	0 	0 	
 	LW 	8 	3	1 	4 	17 	1 	1 	0 	
 	C 	18	3	1 	4 	2 	-6 	1 	0 	
 	LW 	10	0	3 	3 	2 	-4 	0 	0 	
 	D 	2 	1	1 	2 	2 	-1 	0 	0 	
 	LW 	3 	1	1 	2 	0 	-4 	0 	0 	
 	D 	5 	0	2 	2 	0 	-10	0 	0 	
 	D 	24	0	1 	1 	124	-10	0 	0 	
 	LW 	5 	0	1 	1 	10 	-2 	0 	0 	
 	D 	7 	0	1 	1 	7 	-4 	0 	0 	
 	C 	5 	0	0 	0 	0 	-4 	0 	0 	
 	G 	5 	0	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	
 	G 	10	0	0 	0 	9 	0 	0 	0 	
 	G 	11	0	0 	0 	8 	0 	0 	0 	
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W	L 	T	GA 	GAA 	SO
 	609 	10	3	6 	1	51 	5.02	0
 	242 	5 	2	2 	0	13 	3.22	1
 	664 	11	0	10	1	61 	5.51	0
Team: 	1515	25	5	18	2	125	4.95	1
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==
*The Racers did not win any awards this season.
==Transactions==
==Draft Picks==
==Farm Teams==
==Gallery==
78-79Racers.jpg|1978-79 Racers' media guide.
==Video==
Wayne Gretzky scores the first two goals of his professional career, October 20, 1978.
Wayne Gretzky First Two Pro Goals with the WHA Indy Racers
==See Also==
*1978–79 WHA season
==References==
Indianapolis Racers season, 1978–79
Indianapolis Racers season, 1978–79
category:Indianapolis Racers seasons