1977-78
OFF-SEASON
Three time Norris Trophy winning defenseman Jacques Laperriere has announced his retirement. A veteran of 1221 NHL games, Laperriere played 15 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens before joining Kansas City in the 1974 expansion draft. Last season with the Colorado Rockies he played all 80 games and had 36 points. A 6 time first team all-star, Laperriere won 5 Stanley Cups with Montreal and was a Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 1970-71. He had 190 goals and 826 points in his career.
Pit Martin also retired after 845 games with the Detroit Red Wings. The 33 year old had 65 points last season giving him 691 points, including 311 goals in his career.
After a number of injuries Dave Schultz has retired at the age of 27. Schultz played 468 games for Philadelphia and Vancouver, scoring 62 goals and 133 points but he was best known for his 2667 penalty minutes including an NHL record 585 in 1972-73. He ranks 8th all-time in penalty minutes despite playing about half as many games as most of those ahead of him.
Four WHA teams fold as Calgary, Minnesota, Phoenix and San Diego all cease operations. No changes in the NHL. New players entering the league are led by Mike Bossy with the Islanders and Doug Wilson in Chicago. Mark Howe also debuts this season as he elected to sign with the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA.
With the 4 WHA teams folding Ulf Nilsson of Phoenix went to the Detroit Red Wings while Anders Hedberg signed with the WHA's Indianapolis Racers. Calgary Cowboys goaltender Dan Bouchard moved to the New York Islanders while San Diego Mariners goalie Glenn Resch ended up with the Buffalo Sabres.
REGULAR SEASON
Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita made history this season as the two Chicago stars passed the 2000 career point mark. Now 39 years old, Hull had a down season by his standards as he failed to reach the 100 point mark for the first time since 1966-67. The Golden Jet did finish with 91 points to give him 2032 in his career. He also scored 33 goals and sits at 884 in 1459 NHL games. The 37 year old Mikita had 101 points to finish the season with 2017 in his 1348 game career. The retired Alex Delvecchio is number 3 all-time in points with 1727 or 305 less than Hull. The third member of the big Chicago line, Phil Esposito, scored 37 goals this year to move into a tie with Delvecchio for second all-time at 645. The two trail only Bobby Hull's 884.
Chicago again won the Smythe Division easily but the Black Hawks dropped to 6th overall with 101 points. The defendind Cup champion New York Rangers finished with the league's best record and 134 points with their Patrick Division rivals from Philadelphia finishing second overall with 118 points. Bobby Clarke, the heart and soul of the Flyers, led the NHL in points with 137.
Toronto edged out Boston for the Adams Division title with the Montreal Canadiens again winning the Norris with little difficulty.
Milestones this year
Brad Park of the New York Rangers got his 900th career point
Paul Henderson of Detroit got his 900th career point
Garry Unger of Toronto got his 900th career point
Stan Mikita of Chicago scored his 600th career goal
Yvan Cournoyer of Montreal scored his 500th career goal
Garry Unger of Toronto scored his 400th career goal
Don Marcotte of Boston scored his 400th career goal
Paul Henderson of Detroit scored his 400th career goal
1250 GAMES PLAYED
Dave Keon Toronto
1000 GAMES PLAYED
Gary Bergman Chicago
Ken Hodge Chicago
Ed Westfall Boston
750 GAMES
Mike Walton Toronto
Garry Unger Toronto
Jimmy Roberts Vancouver
Bob Plager St Louis
Syl Apps Jr New York Rangers
Jacques Lemaire Montreal
In the notable accomplishments department, Rosaire Paiement of the Colorado Rockies had a 5 goal game in a 10-2 drubbing of Atlanta in February. The 32 year old Paiement, who also played for Boston and Atlanta in his career, finished the season with 17 goals and 29 points in 79 games. In 571 career games he has 132 goals and 286 points. His brother and Colorado teammate Wilf Paiement would score 4 times in a game a little later in the season. The younger Paiement had 41 points this season and has 60 goals and 114 points in 210 career games, all with the Rockies franchise.
Steve Shutt of Montreal hd a 5 goal game in a 7-1 Habs win over Detroit on April 9th. Guy Lafleur had 4 assists in that game to extend his point streak to 30 games to end the regular season. The streak, which could continue next season, is the third longest in NHL history. Maurice Richard had a 44 game streak in 1943-44 and Chicago's Stan Mikita had a 38 gamer to end the 1972-73 season. Mikita's streak stalled as he was held pointless in the season opener the following season.
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ADAMS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 48 22 10 106
Boston Bruins 80 45 22 13 103
Buffalo Sabres 80 42 27 11 95
Cleveland Barons 80 21 51 8 50
NORRIS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Montreal Canadiens 80 47 23 10 104
Detroit Red Wings 80 37 32 11 85
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 21 43 16 58
Washington Capitals 80 20 45 15 55
Los Angeles Kings 80 10 59 11 31
PATRICK DIVISION GP W L T PTS
New York Rangers 80 63 9 8 134
Philadelphia Flyers 80 55 17 8 118
New York Islanders 80 33 30 17 83
Atlanta Flames 80 29 42 9 67
SMYTHE DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Chicago Black Hawks 80 43 22 15 101
Minnesota North Stars 80 31 38 11 73
Colorado Rockies 80 23 41 16 62
Vancouver Canucks 80 23 44 13 59
St Louis Blues 80 24 48 8 56
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Bobby Clarke PHI 80 42 95 137
Guy Lafleur MON 80 51 83 134
Jean Ratelle NYR 80 63 69 132
Brad Park NYR 80 45 77 122
Gilbert Perreault BUF 79 43 77 120
Bobby Orr BOS 80 25 86 111
Marcel Dionne DET 80 52 57 109
Steve Shutt MON 80 51 57 108
Bill Barber PHI 60 45 63 108
Don Luce NYR 80 40 68 108
Stan Mikita CHI 80 34 67 101
Rick Martin BUF 80 42 57 99
Danny Gare BUF 80 48 47 95
Real Cloutier TOR 74 49 44 93
Kent Nilsson ATL 73 33 60 93
WHA REGULAR SEASON
Despite late season injuries that cost them forwards Ron Chipperfield (52-58-110) and Blair MacDonald (42-44-86) for extended periods and a broken elbow that limited Anders Hedberg (16-27-43) to just 29 games the Indianapolis Racers were the class of the WHA. The Racers had the league's best offense and also received strong goaltending from Cap Raeder.
Down to 8 teams and just 1 division the Edmonton Oilers found themselves in second place for the first time in franchise history. The Oilers leader remained all-world defenseman Guy Lapointe, who led the team with 107 points. Toronto Maple Leaf castoff Jack Valiquette (53-49-102) had a huge rookie season as a 24 year old.
Among the notable achievements this season Winnipeg Jets forward Paulin Bordeleau had a 7 point night, including 3 goals, in a 10-3 win over Birmingham in December. Meanwhile, Indianapolis centre Ron Chipperfield had a 5 goal game in the Racers 9-0 win over Quebec in February and New England's Pierre Jarry would score 5 times in a 6-6 tie with Indianapolis in March.
Edmonton's Guy Lapointe became the first player to get 600 career points in the WHA. He finished the season with 642 and was joined in the 600 point club on the season's final day by his Edmonton teammate JP Bordeleau, who ended the year with 601 points.
Code:
WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION
STANDINGS GP W L T PTS
Indianapolis Racers 78 57 14 7 121
Edmonton Oilers 78 52 21 5 109
New England Whalers 78 42 32 4 88
Winnipeg Jets 78 41 32 5 87
Cincinnati Stingers 78 37 34 7 81
Houston Aeros 78 34 38 6 74
Quebec Nordiques 78 33 41 4 70
Birmingham Bulls 78 11 63 4 26
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Mike Rogers IND 78 52 96 148
Rejean Houle IND 76 51 70 121
Ron Chipperfield IND 73 52 58 110
Guy Lapointe EDM 75 23 84 107
Jack Valiquette EDM 74 53 49 102
Mike Antonovich CIN 78 44 49 93
Norm Gratton EDM 78 44 44 88
Blair MacDonald IND 56 42 44 86
Dave Kryskow NE 68 24 59 83
Al Sims QUE 78 17 66 83
Jamie Hislop EDM 68 34 45 79
Earl Anderson WPG 77 38 40 78
George Lyle CIN 78 38 40 78
PLAYOFFS
Three of the four preliminary round playoff series ended in 2 games as Boston beat Altanta, the New York Islanders swept Detroit and Philadelphia avoided the embarassment of last season's preliminary round loss by sweeping Colorado. Only the Minnesota- Buffalo series needed a third game and the Stars prevailed 1-0 in the deciding game thanks to a 33 save shutout from Bruce Gamble.
The defending Cup champion Rangers had little trouble knocking Minnesota out of the playoffs with a 4-1 victory in their quarter-final series. New York was all abuzz about another team this season as the Islanders not only won their first playoff series in franchise history but also advanced to the semi-finals with a 4 game sweep over Toronto in the quarters. Rookie Mike Bossy had 5 goals and 11 points in the Islanders first 6 playoff games.
The Chicago Black Hawks pulled off the biggest comeback in playoff history. Philadelphia won the first 3 games only to blow a two-goal lead in Game Four and lose on an overtime goal from Chicago's Thomas Gradin. The Hawks would then even the series with wins in Games Five and Six and then would complete the comeback with an overtime goal from Dan Maloney in Game Seven.
The remaining quarterfinal also went the full seven games with Boston needing an overtime goal in the deciding game from Reggie Leach to eliminate Montreal.
The semi-final matchups had New York residents dreaming of an all New York final. The Rangers would face Boston while the surprising Islanders drew Chicago. That dream would die quickly as Chicago put an end to the Cinderella Islanders run with a 4 game sweep. However, the defending Cup champion Rangers did advance to the finals with a 5 game win over Boston.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
The New York Rangers make their fifth straight appearance in the finals with virtually the same cast that led them to 3 Cups in the previous 4 years. Chicago lost to the Rangers 3 years ago and last sipped from the Cup in 1972-73, the year before the Rangers took over.
Game One was all New York as the Rangers scored twice in the first period and then relied on the goaltending of Jim Rutherford for a 2-0 shutout victory. Walt Tkaczuk and Dave Maloney were the Rangers goal scorers.
Despite being outshot by New York 45-20 the Chicago Black Hawks evened the series with a 3-1 victory in Game Two. Dave Debol and Brett Callighen scored in the first period for the Hawks with veteran Phil Esposito adding an insurance marker midway through the third. Rick Middleton was the only Ranger to solve Chicago netminder Gilles Meloche.
The series shifts to Chicago but it's the visiting Rangers who take the series lead with a 5-3 victory. Rick Middleton and Ron Duguay each score twice for New York while Brad Park gets two asssists. Thomas Gradin scores twice for Chicago.
The Rangers go up 3 games to one with a 4-2 victory in Game Four. Rick Middleton gets another goal while Brad Park scores once and adds an assist for the winners, who outshot the Hawks 40-16 in the contest. Chicago's big line of Mikita, Hull and Esposito continues to be all but invisible in the series.
The party starts early and lasts all night at Madison Square Garden as the Rangers score 5 goals in the first period and cruise to an 8-1 victory and another Stanley Cup championship. Jean Ratelle had a hat trick in the first period while Pat Hickey picked up 4 assists in the contest. Defenseman Dave Maloney had a goal and two helpers to finish the playoffs with 16 points in 15 games and claim the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Ratelle led the playoffs in goals with 12 and points with 20, followed by the Rangers Pat Hickey and Boston Bruin Reggie Leach, who each had 18 points.
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Bobby Clarke Philadelphia (80GP 42-95-137)
VEZINA TROPHY: Eddie Johnston Chicago (27-16-9, 2.68)
NORRIS TROPHY: Brad Park New York Rangers (80GP 45-77-122)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Bobby Clarke Philadelphia (80GP 42-95-137)
CALDER TROPHY: Mike Bossy New York Islanders (80GP 42-43-85)
The game does not select the all-star team but I will start naming first and second team all-stars
Code:
POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM
G Al Smith Philadelphia Tony Esposito Montreal
D Brad Park NY Rangers Ron Greschner NY Rangers
D Bobby Orr Boston Denis Potvin NY Islanders
C Bobby Clarke Philadelphia Guy Lafleur Montreal
LW Steve Shutt Montreal Rick Martin Buffalo
RW Marcel Dionne Detroit Bill Barber Philadelphia
WHA PLAYOFFS
The Indianapolis Racers eliminated defending Avco Cup champion Winnipeg in 5 games in one semi-final while the Edmonton Oilers swept New England in the other series. The finals was a high scoring affair, featuring the two best offenses in the WHA. It went the full seven games with the Oilers winning game six on the road 5-3 and then taking the deciding game 5-2 on home ice. The Oilers have won 5 of the six Avco Cups.
Edmonton defenseman Guy Lapointe, who had 15 points in 11 games was named the playoff MVP for the fourth time in his career. Mike Rogers of Indianapolis led all playoff point producers with 19 while his linemate Rejean Houle scored a playoff best 12 goals.
Lapointe was named the league's best defenseman for the 5th year. Rogers was awarded the regular season MVP award while the rookie of the year went to Ron Chipperfield of Indianapolis. Gilles Gilbert, who joined the New England Whalers this season after 5 year with the defunct Cleveland-Minnesota franchise, was named the league's top goaltender.