1976–77 Calgary Cowboys season

The 1976–77 Calgary Cowboys season was the Calgary Cowboys' 2nd and final season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Cowboys finished 5th in the Western Division and did not qualify for the playoffs.
==Off-season==
The Cowboys jerseys were the same design as in the 1975-76 season.
==Pre-season==
On September 23, 1976, the Cowboys lost an exhibition game 7-3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
==Regular Season==
Anders Hedberg of the Winnipeg Jets started the February 6, 1977 game versus the Calgary Cowboys with 48 goals in 48 games, having scored 4 goals and 2 assists in the February 4, 1977 match against the San Diego Mariners. After the Jets were held scoreless in the first period, Hedberg scored in the second period on a 5 on 3 power play. He missed the rest of the period with strained knee ligaments after being checked by Paul Terbenche. He returned for the third period and became the first player in a major professional league to score 50 goals in less than 50 games when he fired a short side past Cowboys goalie Gary Bromley. He then added an empty net goal in the Jets 6-4 triumph. Wayne Gretzky broke Hedberg's record on December 30, 1981 with his 50th goal in 39 games.
===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 	1–4 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	0–1–0
2 	L 	October 9, 1976 	2–5 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) 	0–2–0
3 	L 	October 12, 1976 	2–6 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	0–3–0
4 	L 	October 13, 1976 	1–2 	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77) 	0–4–0
5 	L 	October 16, 1976 	2–4 	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	0–5–0
6 	L 	October 21, 1976 	2–4 	Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) 	0–6–0
7 	T 	October 22, 1976 	2–2 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77)	0–6–1
8 	W 	October 24, 1976 	6–0 	San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	1–6–1
9 	W 	October 26, 1976 	9–3 	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	2–6–1
10 	W 	October 30, 1976 	6–4 	Houston Aeros (1976–77) 	3–6–1
11 	W 	November 2, 1976 	4–3 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77) 	4–6–1
12 	W 	November 4, 1976 	4–2 	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	5–6–1
13 	W 	November 7, 1976 	4–2 	New England Whalers (1976–77) 	6–6–1
14 	W 	November 11, 1976 	7–5 	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	7–6–1
15 	L 	November 14, 1976 	0–2 	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	7–7–1
16 	L 	November 16, 1976 	2–4 	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77) 	7–8–1
17 	W 	November 18, 1976 	2–1 OT 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	8–8–1
18 	W 	November 19, 1976 	4–1 	Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) 	9–8–1
19 	L 	November 21, 1976 	1–5 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77)	9–9–1
20 	L 	November 23, 1976 	1–3 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	9–10–1
21 	T 	November 24, 1976 	3–3 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	9–10–2
22 	L 	November 27, 1976 	0–2 	San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	9–11–2
23 	L 	December 1, 1976 	4–8 	@ New England Whalers (1976–77) 	9–12–2
24 	L 	December 2, 1976 	1–2 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) 	9–13–2
25 	L 	December 3, 1976 	4–6 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) 	9–14–2
26 	W 	December 5, 1976 	6–0 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	10–14–2
27 	L 	December 8, 1976 	2–4 	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	10–15–2
28 	L 	December 10, 1976 	2–4 	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77)	10–16–2
29 	W 	December 11, 1976 	3–0 	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	11–16–2
30 	W 	December 18, 1976 	4–2 	Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) 	12–16–2
31 	L 	December 21, 1976 	1–4 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	12–17–2
32 	W 	December 23, 1976 	2–1 	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77) 	13–17–2
33 	W 	December 26, 1976 	6–3 	Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) 	14–17–2
34 	W 	January 1, 1977 	5–1 	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	15–17–2
35 	L 	January 5, 1977 	3–4 	Houston Aeros (1976–77) 	15–18–2
36 	L 	January 7, 1977 	1–4 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	15–19–2
37 	W 	January 8, 1977 	4–3 	Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) 	16–19–2
38 	L 	January 11, 1977 	3–4 OT 	Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) 	16–20–2
39 	L 	January 14, 1977 	3–5 	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	16–21–2
40 	W 	January 15, 1977 	5–3 	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	17–21–2
41 	W 	January 16, 1977 	5–4 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	18–21–2
42 	T 	January 21, 1977 	1–1 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) 	18–21–3
43 	L 	January 22, 1977 	3–5 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) 	18–22–3
44 	L 	January 23, 1977 	5–10 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	18–23–3
45 	W 	January 25, 1977 	7–3 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	19–23–3
46 	L 	January 29, 1977 	4–6 	Houston Aeros (1976–77) 	19–24–3
47 	T 	January 30, 1977 	1–1 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	19–24–4
48 	L 	February 1, 1977 	1–6 	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77) 	19–25–4
49 	L 	February 2, 1977 	4–6 	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	19–26–4
50 	W 	February 5, 1977 	4–1 	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	20–26–4
51 	L 	February 6, 1977 	4–6 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	20–27–4
52 	W 	February 11, 1977 	3–1 	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	21–27–4
53 	L 	February 13, 1977 	2–5 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	21–28–4
54 	T 	February 15, 1977 	2–2 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	21–28–5
55 	L 	February 16, 1977 	3–7 	Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) 	21–29–5
56 	W 	February 18, 1977 	5–3 	Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) 	22–29–5
57 	L 	February 20, 1977 	0–5 	New England Whalers (1976–77) 	22–30–5
58 	W 	February 23, 1977 	3–2 	Houston Aeros (1976–77) 	23–30–5
59 	L 	February 25, 1977 	2–3 	New England Whalers (1976–77) 	23–31–5
60 	W 	February 27, 1977 	2–1 	Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) 	24–31–5
61 	W 	March 1, 1977 	6–1 	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	25–31–5
62 	W 	March 3, 1977 	4–2 	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	26–31–5
63 	W 	March 6, 1977 	4–2 	San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	27–31–5
64 	W 	March 9, 1977 	4–3 	San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	28–31–5
65 	L 	March 11, 1977 	1–4 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	28–32–5
66 	L 	March 12, 1977 	2–9 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) 	28–33–5
67 	L 	March 15, 1977 	1–3 	@ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77) 	28–34–5
68 	L 	March 16, 1977 	3–4 	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77) 	28–35–5
69 	L 	March 18, 1977 	1–3 	@ New England Whalers (1976–77) 	28–36–5
70 	L 	March 19, 1977 	0–8 	@ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77) 	28–37–5
71 	L 	March 20, 1977 	0–9 	@ New England Whalers (1976–77) 	28–38–5
72 	L 	March 22, 1977 	4–7 	@ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	28–39–5
73 	L 	March 25, 1977 	2–4 	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77) 	28–40–5
74 	L 	March 26, 1977 	2–4 	@ San Diego Mariners (1976–77) 	28–41–5
75 	W 	March 27, 1977 	5–4 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	29–41–5
76 	W 	March 29, 1977 	9–5 	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77) 	30–41–5
77 	W 	April 1, 1977 	3–1 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	31–41–5
78 	T 	April 2, 1977 	4–4 	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77) 	31–41–6
79 	L 	April 3, 1977 	4–6 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	31–42–6
80 	T 	April 5, 1977 	4–4 	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77) 	31–42–7
81 	L 	April 7, 1977 	4–6 	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77) 	31–43–7
==Playoffs==
*The Cowboys did not qualify for the post season.
==Player Stats==
Regular Season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
# 	Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
10 	 	C 	63	30	30	60 	40 	4 	4 	1 	0
17 	 	RW 	80	23	32	55 	51 	11 	2 	0 	0
7 	 	C 	81	27	27	54 	32 	-10	5 	0 	0
24 	 	LW 	76	23	29	52 	120	-8 	4 	0 	0
11 	 	RW 	64	24	19	43 	26 	-13	2 	1 	0
4 	 	D 	81	7 	27	34 	60 	12 	0 	0 	0
16 	 	LW 	45	16	17	33 	47 	-14	3 	1 	0
21 	 	D 	80	9 	24	33 	30 	-14	0 	0 	0
5 	 	LW 	72	10	22	32 	4 	-9 	0 	4 	0
15 	 	LW 	38	13	17	30 	77 	-5 	3 	0 	0
9 	 	LW 	63	11	19	30 	10 	-10	2 	0 	0
23 	 	D 	79	2 	26	28 	57 	5 	0 	0 	0
3 	 	D 	54	5 	20	25 	14 	-8 	2 	0 	0
8 	 	LW 	29	10	14	24 	8 	17 	1 	0 	0
15 	 	C 	33	6 	11	17 	9 	-4 	1 	0 	0
25 	 	D 	37	1 	15	16 	38 	-26	1 	0 	0
12 	 	C 	25	5 	6 	11 	4 	-2 	1 	0 	0
 	 	C 	9 	5 	5 	10 	0 	2 	1 	0 	0
 	 	C 	17	4 	6 	10 	2 	-17	1 	0 	0
18 	 	LW 	46	4 	6 	10 	61 	-13	0 	0 	0
1 	 	G 	67	0 	9 	9 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
8 	 	C 	22	3 	4 	7 	2 	-5 	1 	0 	0
 	 	D 	14	3 	3 	6 	10 	-5 	2 	0 	0
6 	 	D 	34	0 	6 	6 	32 	-8 	0 	0 	0
25 	 	RW 	21	2 	3 	5 	0 	-9 	0 	0 	0
20 	 	C 	8 	2 	1 	3 	2 	-1 	0 	0 	0
12 	 	LW 	9 	1 	2 	3 	19 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	 	C 	17	0 	3 	3 	2 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	 	D 	13	2 	0 	2 	25 	-3 	0 	0 	0
2 	 	D 	17	2 	0 	2 	2 	-7 	2 	0 	0
 	 	LW 	7 	1 	1 	2 	10 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	 	RW 	2 	0 	2 	2 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	 	C 	5 	0 	2 	2 	12 	-3 	0 	0 	0
20 	 	C 	13	0 	2 	2 	6 	-7 	0 	0 	0
 	 	LW 	1 	1 	0 	1 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
25 	 	RW 	6 	0 	1 	1 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	 	LW 	2 	0 	0 	0 	2 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	 	LW 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-2 	0 	0 	0
6 	 	D 	5 	0 	0 	0 	4 	-9 	0 	0 	0
 	 	D 	7 	0 	0 	0 	2 	-2 	0 	0 	0
29 	 	G 	28	0 	0 	0 	2 	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==
*The Cowboys did not win any awards this season.
==Transactions==
==Draft Picks==
==Farm Teams==
*Erie Blades, NAHL
==Gallery==
76-77WHACalgaryGameAd.jpg
76-77WHAExhCalgaryGameAd.jpg|Pre-season @ Calgary
==See Also==
*1976–77 WHA season
==References==
Calgary Cowboys season, 1976–77
Calgary Cowboys season, 1976–77
Category:Calgary Cowboys seasons