1978-79 NHL season

The 1978-79 NHL season was the 62nd season of the National Hockey League. The 17 teams of the league played an 80 game season.
The Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup finals four games to one for their fourth Cup in a row.
==League Business==
This season saw the first reduction in the total number of teams since the Brooklyn Americans folded following the 1941-42 season. The financially unstable Cleveland Barons were merged with the also struggling Minnesota North Stars (now the Dallas Stars), reducing the number of teams to seventeen, with the North Stars assuming the Barons' place in the Adams Division.
This reduction would only be temporary, however, as the World Hockey Association would fold following this season and four of its teams, the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets and Hartford Whalers, would be admitted to the NHL as expansion franchises for the 1979-80 season.
For the first time since the NHL All-Star Game became an annual tradition, it was not played. In its stead was the 1979 Challenge Cup, which saw Soviet Union players come over to North America to play against NHL players. The Soviets won the series two games to one.
==Regular Season==
For the past three seasons, the Montreal Canadiens had dominated the regular season, but times were changing. The New York Islanders had been steadily improving over the past few seasons and this season saw them beat out the Canadiens by one point for the best record in the league.
===Final Standings===
====Prince of Wales Conference====
====Clarence Campbell Conference====
===Scoring Leaders===
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
Bryan Trottier	New York Islanders	76	47	87	134	50
Marcel Dionne 	Los Angeles Kings 	80	59	71	130	30
Guy Lafleur 	Montreal Canadiens	80	52	77	129	28
Mike Bossy 	New York Islanders	80	69	57	126	25
Bob MacMillan 	Atlanta Flames 	79	37	71	108	14
Guy Chouinard 	Atlanta Flames 	80	50	57	107	14
Denis Potvin 	New York Islanders	73	31	70	101	58
Bernie Federko	St. Louis Blues 	74	31	64	95 	14
Dave Taylor 	Los Angeles Kings 	78	43	48	91 	124
Clark Gillies 	New York Islanders	75	35	56	91 	68
===Leading Goaltenders===
Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts
Player 	Team 	GP	MIN 	GA 	GAA 	W 	L 	T 	SO
Ken Dryden 	Montreal Canadiens 	47	2814	108	2.30	30	10	7 	5
Chico Resch 	N.Y. Islanders 	43	2539	106	2.50	26	7 	10	2
Bernie Parent 	Philadelphia Flyers	36	1979	89 	2.70	16	12	7 	4
Michel Larocque	Montreal Canadiens 	34	1986	94 	2.84	22	7 	4 	3
Billy Smith 	N.Y. Islanders 	40	2261	108	2.87	25	8 	4 	1
Mike Palmateer 	Toronto Maple Leafs	58	3396	167	2.95	26	21	10	4
Don Edwards 	Buffalo Sabres 	54	3160	159	3.02	26	18	9 	2
Mario Lessard 	L.A. Kings 	49	2860	148	3.10	23	15	10	4
Glen Hanlon 	Vancouver Canucks 	31	1821	94 	3.10	12	13	5 	3
Gerry Cheevers 	Boston Bruins 	43	2509	132	3.16	23	9 	10	1
==Stanley Cup Playoffs==
All dates in 1979
===Playoff Bracket===
* Division winners earned a bye to the Quarterfinals
* Teams were re-seeded based on regular season record after the Preliminary and Quarterfinal rounds
===Preliminary Round===
Vancouver Canucks vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 10	Vancouver 	3 	Philadelphia	2 	
April 12	Philadelphia	6 	Vancouver 	4 	
April 14	Vancouver 	2 	Philadelphia	7 	
Philadelphia wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1
Los Angeles Kings vs. New York Rangers
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 10	Los Angeles	1 	New York 	7 	
April 12	New York 	2 	Los Angeles	1 	(OT)
NY Rangers win best-of-three series 2 games to 0
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Atlanta Flames
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 10	Toronto	2 	Atlanta	1 	
April 12	Atlanta	4 	Toronto	7 	
Toronto wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Buffalo Sabres
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 10	Pittsburgh	4 	Buffalo 	3 	
April 12	Buffalo 	3 	Pittsburgh	1 	
April 14	Pittsburgh	4 	Buffalo 	3 	(OT)
Pittsburgh wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1
===Quarter-finals===
Chicago Black Hawks vs. New York Islanders
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 16	Chicago 	2 	New York	6 	
April 18	Chicago 	0 	New York	1 	(OT)
April 20	New York	4 	Chicago 	0 	
April 22	New York	3 	Chicago 	1 	
NY Islanders win best-of-seven series 4 games to 0
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 16	Toronto 	2 	Montreal	5 	
April 18	Toronto 	1 	Montreal	5 	
April 21	Montreal	4 	Toronto 	3 	
April 22	Montreal	5 	Toronto 	4 	(OT)
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Boston Bruins
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 16	Pittsburgh	2 	Boston 	6 	
April 18	Pittsburgh	3 	Boston 	4 	
April 21	Boston 	2 	Pittsburgh	1 	
April 22	Boston 	4 	Pittsburgh	1 	
Boston wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0
New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 16	New York 	2 	Philadelphia	3 	(OT)
April 18	New York 	7 	Philadelphia	1 	
April 20	Philadelphia	1 	New York 	5 	
April 22	Philadelphia	0 	New York 	6 	
April 24	New York 	8 	Philadelphia	3 	
NY Rangers win best-of-seven series 4 games to 1
===Semi-finals===
New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 26	Rangers 	4 	Islanders	1 	
April 28	Rangers 	3 	Islanders	4 	(OT)
May 1 	Islanders	1 	Rangers 	3 	
May 3 	Islanders	3 	Rangers 	2 	(OT)
May 5 	Rangers 	4 	Islanders	3 	
May 8 	Islanders	1 	Rangers 	2 	
NY Rangers win best-of-seven series 4 games to 2
Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens
Game seven of the Montreal-Boston Semifinal is perhaps one of the most memorable in the history of the NHL. About a minute and a half after Boston's Rick Middleton scored with four minutes remaining in the third period to give the Bruins a 4-3 lead, linesman John D'Amico called a bench minor for too many men on the ice against the Bruins. Montreal's Guy Lafleur scored on the ensuing power play, sending the game to overtime where Yvon Lambert gave the Canadiens the win and a trip to their fourth straight Stanley Cup final.
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 26	Boston 	2 	Montreal	4 	
April 28	Boston 	2 	Montreal	5 	
May 1 	Montreal	1 	Boston 	2 	
May 3 	Montreal	3 	Boston 	4 	(OT)
May 5 	Boston 	1 	Montreal	5 	
May 8 	Montreal	2 	Boston 	5 	
May 10 	Boston 	4 	Montreal	5 	(OT)
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3
===Finals===
New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens
As of 2007. It was the last Stanley Cup Final where two Original Six teams met in a Stanley Cup Final.
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
May 13	New York	4 	Montreal	1 	
May 15	New York	2 	Montreal	6 	
May 17	Montreal	4 	New York	1 	
May 19	Montreal	4 	New York	3 	(OT)
May 21	New York	1 	Montreal	4 	
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1
==NHL Awards==
Prince of Wales Trophy: 	Montreal Canadiens
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: 	New York Islanders
Art Ross Memorial Trophy: 	Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:	Serge Savard, Montreal Canadiens
Calder Memorial Trophy: 	Bobby Smith, Minnesota North Stars
Conn Smythe Trophy: 	Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens
Frank J. Selke Trophy: 	Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens
Hart Memorial Trophy: 	Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Jack Adams Award: 	Al Arbour, New York Islanders
James Norris Memorial Trophy: 	Denis Potvin, New York Islanders
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: 	Bob MacMillan, Atlanta Flames
Lester B. Pearson Award: 	Marcel Dionne, Los Angeles Kings
NHL Plus/Minus Award: 	Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Vezina Trophy: 	Ken Dryden & Michel Larocque, Montreal Canadiens
Lester Patrick Trophy: 	Bobby Orr
==All-Star Teams==
First Team 	  Position  	Second Team
Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens 	G 	Glenn Resch, New York Islanders
Denis Potvin, New York Islanders 	D 	Borje Salming, Toronto Maple Leafs
Larry Robinson, Montreal Canadiens	D 	Serge Savard, Montreal Canadiens
Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders	C 	Marcel Dionne, Los Angeles Kings
Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens 	RW 	Mike Bossy, New York Islanders
Clark Gillies, New York Islanders 	LW 	Bill Barber, Philadelphia Flyers
==Debuts==
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1978-79 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
*Brad Marsh, Atlanta Flames
*Reggie Lemelin, Atlanta Flames
*Al Secord, Boston Bruins
*Bobby Smith, Minnesota North Stars
*Steve Payne, Minnesota North Stars
*Rod Langway, Montreal Canadiens
*John Tonelli, New York Islanders
*Anders Hedberg, New York Rangers
*Ulf Nilsson, New York Rangers
*Ken Linseman, Philadelphia Flyers
*Pete Peeters, Philadelphia Flyers
*Greg Millen, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Wayne Babych, St. Louis Blues
*Curt Fraser, Vancouver Canucks
*Thomas Gradin, Vancouver Canucks
*Stan Smyl, Vancouver Canucks
*Ryan Walter, Washington Capitals
==Last Games==
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1978-79 (listed with their last team):
*Bobby Orr, Chicago Black Hawks
*Joe Watson, Colorado Rockies
*Danny Grant, Los Angeles Kings
*Jean-Paul Parise, Minnesota North Stars
*Jacques Lemaire, Montreal Canadiens
*Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens
*Yvan Cournoyer, Montreal Canadiens
*Ed Westfall, New York Islanders
*Bernie Parent, Philadelphia Flyers
*Garry Monahan, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Pit Martin, Vancouver Canucks
==See Also==
*List of Stanley Cup champions
*1978 NHL Amateur Draft
*1979 Challenge Cup
*1978-79 WHA season
==References==
*Hockey Database
*NHL.com