1977–78 Edmonton Oilers season

1977–78 Edmonton Oilers
Division	5th WHA
1977–78 record	38–39–3
Home record	24–15–2
Road record	14–24–1
Goals for	309 (4th)
Goals against	307 (4th)
Team information
General manager	Brian Conacher
Coach	Glen Sather
Captain	Paul Shmyr
Alternate captains	Ron Busniuk Ron Chipperfield Al Hamilton
Arena	Northlands Coliseum
Team leaders
Goals	Bill Flett (41)
Assists	Ron Chipperfield (52)
Points	Ron Chipperfield (85)
Penalty minutes	Ron Busniuk (157)
Plus/minus	Al Hamilton (+24)
Wins	Dave Dryden (21)
Goals against average	Dave Dryden (3.49)

The 1977–78 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' sixth season of operation. The Oilers placed fifth to qualify for the playoffs, losing in the first round.

Regular season

Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

WHA Team	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Winnipeg Jets	50	28	2	102	381	270	988
New England Whalers	44	31	5	93	335	269	1255
Houston Aeros	42	34	4	88	296	302	1543
Quebec Nordiques	40	37	3	83	349	347	1185
Edmonton Oilers	38	39	3	79	309	307	1296
Birmingham Bulls	36	41	3	75	287	314	2177
Cincinnati Stingers	35	42	3	73	298	332	1701
Indianapolis Racers	24	51	5	53	267	353	1189
Soviet All-Stars	3	4	1	7	27	36	120
Czechoslovakia All-Stars	1	6	1	3	21	40	87

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 12, 1977	3–7	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	0–1–0
2	W	October 14, 1977	4–2	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	1–1–0
3	L	October 15, 1977	2–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	1–2–0
4	L	October 19, 1977	3–6	New England Whalers (1977–78)	1–3–0
5	L	October 26, 1977	7–8 OT	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	1–4–0
6	W	October 28, 1977	3–2	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	2–4–0
7	L	October 30, 1977	2–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	2–5–0
8	L	November 2, 1977	3–6	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	2–6–0
9	W	November 4, 1977	3–1	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	3–6–0
10	W	November 6, 1977	7–1	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	4–6–0
11	L	November 8, 1977	3–7	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	4–7–0
12	L	November 10, 1977	3–5	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	4–8–0
13	W	November 11, 1977	3–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	5–8–0
14	T	November 12, 1977	1–1	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	5–8–1
15	W	November 16, 1977	6–4	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	6–8–1
16	W	November 18, 1977	4–3 OT	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	7–8–1
17	L	November 20, 1977	4–5 OT	New England Whalers (1977–78)	7–9–1
18	W	November 22, 1977	4–2	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	8–9–1
19	L	November 24, 1977	4–5 OT	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	8–10–1
20	W	November 26, 1977	3–1	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	9–10–1
21	W	November 30, 1977	4–2	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	10–10–1
22	L	December 2, 1977	5–7	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	10–11–1
23	W	December 4, 1977	3–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	11–11–1
24	W	December 7, 1977	5–4 OT	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	12–11–1
25	L	December 9, 1977	3–5	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	12–12–1
26	L	December 11, 1977	2–4	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	12–13–1
27	W	December 14, 1977	6–1	Czechoslovakia (1977–78)	13–13–1
28	L	December 18, 1977	2–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	13–14–1
29	L	December 20, 1977	4–6	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	13–15–1
30	W	December 21, 1977	5–2	Soviet All-Stars (1977–78)	14–15–1
31	W	December 27, 1977	9–3	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	15–15–1
32	W	December 30, 1977	8–5	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	16–15–1
33	L	January 1, 1978	1–2	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	16–16–1
34	L	January 6, 1978	1–4	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	16–17–1
35	W	January 8, 1978	4–2	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	17–17–1
36	W	January 11, 1978	2–0	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	18–17–1
37	L	January 13, 1978	0–2	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	18–18–1
38	L	January 14, 1978	4–7	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	18–19–1
39	W	January 15, 1978	4–3 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	19–19–1
40	W	January 18, 1978	1–0	New England Whalers (1977–78)	20–19–1
41	L	January 20, 1978	3–5	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	20–20–1
42	W	January 21, 1978	3–2	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	21–20–1
43	L	January 22, 1978	2–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	21–21–1
44	W	January 25, 1978	6–2	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	22–21–1
45	W	January 27, 1978	9–6	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	23–21–1
46	L	January 29, 1978	3–4	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	23–22–1
47	W	January 31, 1978	6–4	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	24–22–1
48	L	February 1, 1978	3–4	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	24–23–1
49	W	February 3, 1978	6–3	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	25–23–1
50	W	February 4, 1978	4–3 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	26–23–1
51	L	February 5, 1978	3–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	26–24–1
52	T	February 8, 1978	6–6	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	26–24–2
53	W	February 12, 1978	7–0	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	27–24–2
54	W	February 14, 1978	4–1	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	28–24–2
55	L	February 15, 1978	5–6	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	28–25–2
56	W	February 17, 1978	6–4	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	29–25–2
57	W	February 19, 1978	4–3 OT	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	30–25–2
58	L	February 22, 1978	5–6	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	30–26–2
59	W	February 24, 1978	5–4 OT	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	31–26–2
60	L	February 26, 1978	5–6	New England Whalers (1977–78)	31–27–2
61	L	March 1, 1978	4–6	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	31–28–2
62	L	March 3, 1978	6–8	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	31–29–2
63	W	March 5, 1978	4–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	32–29–2
64	L	March 7, 1978	3–4	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	32–30–2
65	L	March 9, 1978	5–6	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	32–31–2
66	L	March 11, 1978	0–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	32–32–2
67	L	March 14, 1978	3–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	32–33–2
68	L	March 15, 1978	4–8	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	32–34–2
69	W	March 17, 1978	6–2	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	33–34–2
70	W	March 19, 1978	4–2	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	34–34–2
71	L	March 22, 1978	3–5	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	34–35–2
72	W	March 24, 1978	4–0	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	35–35–2
73	L	March 26, 1978	3–5	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	35–36–2
74	W	March 28, 1978	4–3 OT	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	36–36–2
75	L	March 30, 1978	1–5	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	36–37–2
76	L	March 31, 1978	2–5	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	36–38–2
77	W	April 1, 1978	4–1	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	37–38–2
78	L	April 4, 1978	1–9	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	37–39–2
79	T	April 5, 1978	4–4	New England Whalers (1977–78)	37–39–3
80	W	April 7, 1978	4–2	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	38–39–3

Playoffs

New England Whalers 4, Edmonton Oilers 1 – Preliminary Round

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 14	Edmonton	4–6	New England	0–1
2	April 16	Edmonton	1–4	New England	0–2
3	April 19	New England	0–2	Edmonton	1–2
4	April 21	New England	9–1	Edmonton	1–3
5	April 23	Edmonton	1–4	New England	1–4

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Ron Chipperfield C 80 33 52 85 48 1 11 1 0 Bill Flett RW 74 41 28 69 34 9 8 1 0 Blair MacDonald RW 80 34 34 68 11 −12 7 4 0 Mike Zuke C 71 23 34 57 47 1 2 3 0 Al Hamilton D 59 11 43 54 46 24 6 0 0 Brett Callighen C 80 20 30 50 112 5 1 0 0 Paul Shmyr D 80 9 40 49 100 −9 3 0 0 Joe Micheletti D 56 14 34 48 56 8 3 0 0 Norm Ferguson RW 71 26 21 47 2 14 8 0 0 Juha Widing C 71 18 24 42 8 10 0 1 0 Pierre Guite LW 60 12 21 33 71 −7 2 0 0 Randy Rota C/LW 53 8 22 30 12 11 0 0 0 Dave Langevin D 62 6 22 28 90 11 1 0 0 Bryan Campbell C 53 7 13 20 12 −17 2 0 0 Ron Busniuk RW 59 2 18 20 157 −8 0 0 0 Ab DeMarco D 47 6 8 14 20 −7 3 0 0 Pierre Jarry LW 18 4 10 14 4 −1 0 0 0 Gary MacGregor C 37 11 2 13 29 −2 2 0 0 Dave Semenko LW 65 6 6 12 140 −4 0 0 0 Dennis Sobchuk C 13 6 3 9 4 −4 1 0 0 Don McLeod G 33 0 8 8 2 0 0 0 0 Ken Baird D 6 2 4 6 2 0 0 0 0 Warren Miller RW 18 2 4 6 18 1 0 0 0 Ray McKay D 14 1 4 5 4 3 0 0 0 Butch Deadmarsh LW 20 1 3 4 32 −1 0 0 0 Jerry Holland LW 22 2 1 3 14 −1 1 0 0 Cal Sandbeck D 11 1 2 3 39 1 1 0 0 Jim Troy RW 47 2 0 2 124 −11 0 0 0 Rick Morris LW 5 1 1 2 7 −7 0 1 0 Craig Topolnisky D 10 0 2 2 4 −1 0 0 0 Dave Dryden G 48 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Dave Inkpen D 19 0 1 1 16 −6 0 0 0 Owen Lloyd D 3 0 1 1 4 −1 0 0 0 Gerry Pinder LW 5 0 1 1 0 −1 0 0 0 Kevin Primeau RW 7 0 1 1 2 −1 0 0 0 Chris Ahrens D 4 0 0 0 15 −5 0 0 0 Ken Broderick G 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jim Cross LW 2 0 0 0 0 −3 0 0 0 Bob Falkenberg D 2 0 0 0 0 −1 0 0 0 Del Hall C 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dale McMullen LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Frank Turnbull G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Dave Dryden 2578 48 21 23 2 150 3.49 2 Don McLeod 1723 33 15 10 1 102 3.55 2 Ken Broderick 497 9 2 5 0 42 5.07 0 Frank Turnbull 60 1 0 1 0 6 6.00 0 Team: 4858 80 38 39 3 300 3.71 4

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Mike Zuke C 5 2 3 5 0 0 0 0 Paul Shmyr D 5 1 3 4 11 0 0 0 Ron Chipperfield C 5 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Pierre Guite LW 5 1 1 2 20 0 0 1 Blair MacDonald RW 5 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Randy Rota C/LW 5 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 Brett Callighen C 5 0 2 2 16 0 0 0 Dave Langevin D 5 0 2 2 10 0 0 0 Joe Micheletti D 5 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 Pierre Jarry LW 5 1 0 1 4 0 0 0 Dennis Sobchuk C 5 1 0 1 4 0 0 0 Ray McKay D 4 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 Juha Widing C 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Ron Busniuk RW 5 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 Ab DeMarco D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dave Dryden G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Norm Ferguson RW 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Don McLeod G 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kevin Primeau RW 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Cal Sandbeck D 5 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 Dave Semenko LW 5 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 Jim Troy RW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Don McLeod 207 4 1 3 16 4.64 1 Dave Dryden 91 2 0 1 6 3.96 0 Team: 298 5 1 4 22 4.43 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;

Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	4	Mike Crombeen (F)	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)
3	24	Kim Davis (C)	Canada	Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
4	33	Neil LaBatte (D)	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
4	34	Dan Clark (D)	Canada	Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)
5	42	Rocky Saganiuk (RW)	Canada	Lethbridge Broncos (WCHL)
6	51	Julian Baretta (G)	United States	University of Wisconsin (WCHA)
7	60	Dave Hoyda (LW)	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WCHL)
8	69	Ray Creasy (F)	Canada	New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
9	77	Guy Lash (RW)	Canada	Winnipeg Monarchs (WCHL)
10	85	Owen Lloyd (D)	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)

See also

• 1977–78 WHA season

References

• "1977–78 Edmonton Oilers Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-06.