1976–77 Houston Aeros season

The 1976–77 Houston Aeros season was the Aeros' 5th season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Aeros finished 1st in the Western Division and lost in the Semi-finals to the Winnipeg Jets 4 games to 2.
==Off-season==
The Aeros jerseys were the same design as in the 1973-74 season.
==Pre-season==
The Aeros had two exhibition games against teams from the NHL, losing both:
September 21, 1976: Pittsburgh Penguins 5, Houston Aeros 1
September 30, 1976: Atlanta Flames 8, Houston Aeros 4
==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 	L 	October 8, 1976 	2–4 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	0–1–0
2 	W 	October 9, 1976 	5–3 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	1–1–0
3 	W 	October 13, 1976 	2–1 	Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) 	2–1–0
4 	W 	October 16, 1976 	3–0 	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	3–1–0
5 	T 	October 19, 1976 	4–4 	New England Whalers (1976–77) 	3–1–1
6 	L 	October 21, 1976 	5–8 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	3–2–1
7 	L 	October 22, 1976 	2–5 	@ New England Whalers (1976–77) 	3–3–1
8 	L 	October 23, 1976 	2–6 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) 	3–4–1
9 	W 	October 26, 1976 	3–1 	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	4–4–1
10 	T 	October 28, 1976 	1–1 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77) 	4–4–2
11 	L 	October 30, 1976 	4–6 	@ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) 	4–5–2
12 	W 	October 31, 1976 	4–0 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	5–5–2
13 	W 	November 2, 1976 	3–1 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	6–5–2
14 	W 	November 5, 1976 	9–1 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	7–5–2
15 	L 	November 6, 1976 	1–4 	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	7–6–2
16 	W 	November 9, 1976 	7–2 	Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) 	8–6–2
17 	W 	November 12, 1976 	4–1 	San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	9–6–2
18 	W 	November 16, 1976 	4–2 	Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) 	10–6–2
19 	L 	November 19, 1976 	3–5 	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	10–7–2
20 	W 	November 20, 1976 	5–2 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	11–7–2
21 	W 	November 23, 1976 	5–3 	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	12–7–2
22 	T 	November 26, 1976 	1–1 	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	12–7–3
23 	T 	December 3, 1976 	0–0 	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	12–7–4
24 	L 	December 5, 1976 	2–7 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) 	12–8–4
25 	L 	December 8, 1976 	1–5 	@ New England Whalers (1976–77) 	12–9–4
26 	L 	December 10, 1976 	2–6 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) 	12–10–4
27 	L 	December 11, 1976 	1–4 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) 	12–11–4
28 	W 	December 12, 1976 	3–1 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) 	13–11–4
29 	W 	December 14, 1976 	8–3 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	14–11–4
30 	L 	December 17, 1976 	3–4 	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	14–12–4
31 	L 	December 18, 1976 	3–4 	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	14–13–4
32 	W 	December 19, 1976 	6–4 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	15–13–4
33 	W 	December 21, 1976 	4–0 	New England Whalers (1976–77) 	16–13–4
34 	W 	December 23, 1976 	6–5 OT 	Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) 	17–13–4
35 	L 	December 26, 1976 	2–6 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	17–14–4
36 	W 	December 28, 1976 	6–3 	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	18–14–4
37 	L 	January 2, 1977 	2–5 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	18–15–4
38 	W 	January 4, 1977 	5–3 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	19–15–4
39 	W 	January 5, 1977 	4–3 	@ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) 	20–15–4
40 	T 	January 7, 1977 	1–1 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77)	20–15–5
41 	L 	January 12, 1977 	2–4 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	20–16–5
42 	W 	January 14, 1977 	5–3 	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	21–16–5
43 	W 	January 16, 1977 	3–1 	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	22–16–5
44 	W 	January 21, 1977 	6–1 	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	23–16–5
45 	W 	January 22, 1977 	6–0 	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	24–16–5
46 	W 	January 23, 1977 	5–3 	San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	25–16–5
47 	W 	January 25, 1977 	5–2 	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	26–16–5
48 	W 	January 28, 1977 	4–1 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	27–16–5
49 	W 	January 29, 1977 	6–4 	@ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) 	28–16–5
50 	W 	February 1, 1977 	6–1 	Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) 	29–16–5
51 	L 	February 3, 1977 	3–5 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	29–17–5
52 	W 	February 4, 1977 	4–1 	New England Whalers (1976–77) 	30–17–5
53 	T 	February 8, 1977 	4–4 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) 	30–17–6
54 	W 	February 12, 1977 	7–3 	Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) 	31–17–6
55 	W 	February 15, 1977 	4–2 	Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) 	32–17–6
56 	W 	February 18, 1977 	4–2 	San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	33–17–6
57 	W 	February 19, 1977 	5–3 	San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	34–17–6
58 	L 	February 22, 1977 	2–3 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	34–18–6
59 	L 	February 23, 1977 	2–3 	@ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) 	34–19–6
60 	W 	February 25, 1977 	9–3 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	35–19–6
61 	W 	February 26, 1977 	5–4 	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	36–19–6
62 	W 	February 27, 1977 	5–4 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	37–19–6
63 	W 	March 1, 1977 	8–3 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	38–19–6
64 	L 	March 4, 1977 	2–3 	@ New England Whalers (1976–77) 	38–20–6
65 	W 	March 6, 1977 	7–3 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) 	39–20–6
66 	W 	March 8, 1977 	5–3 	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	40–20–6
67 	W 	March 11, 1977 	5–0 	Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) 	41–20–6
68 	W 	March 13, 1977 	5–0 	Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) 	42–20–6
69 	W 	March 15, 1977 	4–3 	Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) 	43–20–6
70 	W 	March 18, 1977 	6–3 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	44–20–6
71 	W 	March 20, 1977 	8–3 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) 	45–20–6
72 	L 	March 22, 1977 	2–6 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) 	45–21–6
73 	W 	March 25, 1977 	4–2 	Calgary Cowboys (1976–77) 	46–21–6
74 	L 	March 27, 1977 	3–5 	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	46–22–6
75 	W 	March 29, 1977 	5–2 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	47–22–6
76 	L 	March 30, 1977 	0–8 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	47–23–6
77 	W 	April 1, 1977 	5–4 	Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) 	48–23–6
78 	L 	April 3, 1977 	3–7 	Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) 	48–24–6
79 	W 	April 5, 1977 	3–1 	San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	49–24–6
80 	W 	April 6, 1977 	5–3 	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	50–24–6
==Playoffs==
===Houston Aeros 4, Edmonton Oilers 1===
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	Record
1	April 13	Edmonton Oilers	3–4 OT	Houston Aeros 	1–0
2	April 15	Edmonton Oilers	2–6 	Houston Aeros 	2–0
3	April 17	Houston Aeros 	2–7 	Edmonton Oilers	2–1
4	April 20	Houston Aeros 	4–1 	Edmonton Oilers	3–1
5	April 22	Edmonton Oilers	3–4 	Houston Aeros 	4–1
===Winnipeg Jets 4, Houston Aeros 2===
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	Record
1	April 26	Winnipeg Jets	4–3 OT	Houston Aeros	0–1
2	April 28	Winnipeg Jets	2–7 	Houston Aeros	1–1
3	April 30	Houston Aeros	3–4 	Winnipeg Jets	1–2
4	May 1 	Houston Aeros	4–6 	Winnipeg Jets	1–3
5	May 3 	Winnipeg Jets	2–3 	Houston Aeros	2–3
6	May 5 	Houston Aeros	3–6 	Winnipeg Jets	2–4
==Player Stats==
Regular Season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
# 	Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
8 	 	C 	80	24	60	84 	146	31 	7 	0 	5
21 	 	RW 	80	38	41	79 	54 	37 	6 	5 	5
4 	 	D 	57	23	52	75 	46 	41 	5 	3 	8
9 	 	RW 	62	24	44	68 	57 	27 	5 	1 	3
6 	 	D 	80	12	56	68 	87 	53 	2 	0 	0
15 	 	RW 	76	35	32	67 	224	23 	6 	1 	6
3,13 	 	C 	80	29	38	67 	36 	20 	7 	0 	11
18 	 	LW 	80	24	31	55 	109	14 	6 	1 	0
14 	 	LW 	78	16	35	51 	90 	28 	4 	0 	0
12 	 	LW 	68	27	18	45 	67 	20 	6 	0 	0
3 	 	D 	80	17	28	45 	103	29 	3 	0 	0
10 	 	RW 	47	21	20	41 	25 	22 	3 	0 	0
5 	 	D 	51	7 	21	28 	20 	19 	1 	0 	0
27 	 	RW 	75	11	13	24 	112	5 	3 	0 	0
17 	 	D 	67	0 	14	14 	18 	9 	0 	0 	0
7 	 	LW 	27	3 	8 	11 	2 	-5 	0 	0 	0
5,26 	 	RW 	22	4 	3 	7 	6 	-4 	0 	0 	0
24 	 	D 	44	2 	4 	6 	168	-12	0 	0 	0
2 	 	D 	20	0 	6 	6 	28 	8 	0 	0 	0
16 	 	LW 	26	2 	3 	5 	8 	-9 	0 	0 	0
19 	 	D 	29	1 	2 	3 	6 	3 	0 	0 	0
30 	 	G 	42	0 	3 	3 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0
20 	 	C 	3 	0 	0 	0 	2 	-3 	0 	0 	0
20 	 	C 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	 	RW 	5 	0 	0 	0 	6 	-3 	0 	0 	0
29 	 	G 	39	0 	0 	0 	0 	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
 	C 	11	6	11	17 	67 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	11	4	10	14 	2 	0 	0 	1
 	LW 	11	6	4 	10 	19 	0 	0 	1
 	C 	11	2	8 	10 	17 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	11	5	3 	8 	11 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	11	4	4 	8 	28 	0 	0 	2
 	RW 	11	3	5 	8 	10 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	11	3	4 	7 	47 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	11	3	4 	7 	12 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	11	0	7 	7 	10 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	11	3	1 	4 	10 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	10	1	3 	4 	9 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	1	2 	3 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	8 	1	1 	2 	4 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	11	0	2 	2 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	3 	1	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	6 	0	1 	1 	8 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	9 	0	1 	1 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	2 	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	6 	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	2 	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==
*Ben Hatskin Trophy (Best Goaltender): Ron Grahame
*Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy (Coach of the Year): Bill Dineen
*Poul Popiel, Defense, WHA Second Team All-Star
*Mark Howe, Defense, WHA Second Team All-Star
==Transactions==
==Draft Picks==
==Farm Teams==
*Oklahoma City Blazers, Central Hockey League
==See Also==
*1976–77 WHA season
==References==
Houston Aeros season, 1976–77
Houston Aeros season, 1976–77
category:Houston Aeros seasons