1977–78 New England Whalers season

1977–78 New England Whalers
Division	2nd WHA
1977–78 record	44–31–5
Goals for	335
Goals against	269
Team information
General manager	Jack Kelley
Coach	Harry Neale
Captain	Rick Ley

The 1977–78 New England Whalers season was the Whalers' sixth season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). This season saw the debut of Gordie Howe and his sons with the Whalers' franchise. The trio helped the Whalers advance to the Avco Cup final, where they were defeated by the Winnipeg Jets.

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	W	October 12, 1977	3–0	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	1–0–0
2	W	October 15, 1977	5–2	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	2–0–0
3	L	October 16, 1977	2–6	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	2–1–0
4	T	October 18, 1977	2–2	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	2–1–1
5	W	October 19, 1977	6–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	3–1–1
6	W	October 21, 1977	5–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	4–1–1
7	W	October 26, 1977	7–1	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	5–1–1
8	W	October 29, 1977	7–2	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	6–1–1
9	W	November 1, 1977	6–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	7–1–1
10	W	November 4, 1977	4–3	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	8–1–1
11	W	November 6, 1977	5–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	9–1–1
12	W	November 8, 1977	4–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	10–1–1
13	W	November 10, 1977	5–3	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	11–1–1
14	W	November 12, 1977	5–3	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	12–1–1
15	W	November 15, 1977	6–4	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	13–1–1
16	W	November 18, 1977	3–2	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	14–1–1
17	W	November 20, 1977	5–4 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	15–1–1
18	L	November 22, 1977	4–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	15–2–1
19	T	November 23, 1977	3–3	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	15–2–2
20	L	November 25, 1977	2–6	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	15–3–2
21	L	November 26, 1977	1–3	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	15–4–2
22	T	November 30, 1977	3–3	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	15–4–3
23	W	December 2, 1977	4–1	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	16–4–3
24	L	December 3, 1977	2–5	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	16–5–3
25	L	December 6, 1977	2–5	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	16–6–3
26	W	December 7, 1977	6–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	17–6–3
27	W	December 9, 1977	2–1 OT	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	18–6–3
28	W	December 14, 1977	7–2	Soviet All-Stars (1977–78)	19–6–3
29	W	December 16, 1977	5–3	Czechoslovakia (1977–78)	20–6–3
30	L	December 17, 1977	3–6	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	20–7–3
31	L	December 18, 1977	3–7	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	20–8–3
32	W	December 23, 1977	5–3	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	21–8–3
33	W	December 27, 1977	8–1	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	22–8–3
34	W	December 30, 1977	6–2	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	23–8–3
35	W	January 1, 1978	4–3 OT	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	24–8–3
36	L	January 4, 1978	4–6	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	24–9–3
37	L	January 6, 1978	3–4	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	24–10–3
38	W	January 7, 1978	5–3	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	25–10–3
39	L	January 8, 1978	4–5	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	25–11–3
40	W	January 13, 1978	2–0	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	26–11–3
41	L	January 14, 1978	4–5 OT	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	26–12–3
42	L	January 18, 1978	0–1	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	26–13–3
43	T	January 20, 1978	4–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	26–13–4
44	L	January 21, 1978	2–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	26–14–4
45	W	January 22, 1978	6–3	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	27–14–4
46	L	January 25, 1978	7–8 OT	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	27–15–4
47	W	January 27, 1978	6–2	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	28–15–4
48	W	January 28, 1978	3–0	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	29–15–4
49	L	January 29, 1978	4–6	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	29–16–4
50	W	February 1, 1978	4–3	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	30–16–4
51	L	February 3, 1978	3–6	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	30–17–4
52	L	February 4, 1978	4–5	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	30–18–4
53	W	February 11, 1978	8–7	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	31–18–4
54	W	February 14, 1978	5–1	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	32–18–4
55	L	February 16, 1978	1–2 OT	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	32–19–4
56	W	February 18, 1978	4–1	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	33–19–4
57	L	February 21, 1978	5–6 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	33–20–4
58	L	February 22, 1978	2–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	33–21–4
59	L	February 24, 1978	2–7	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	33–22–4
60	W	February 26, 1978	6–5	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	34–22–4
61	L	March 1, 1978	3–4 OT	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	34–23–4
62	L	March 3, 1978	2–3 OT	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	34–24–4
63	L	March 4, 1978	2–5	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	34–25–4
64	L	March 5, 1978	1–2	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	34–26–4
65	L	March 9, 1978	4–6	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	34–27–4
66	W	March 10, 1978	5–4 OT	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	35–27–4
67	W	March 14, 1978	6–0	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	36–27–4
68	W	March 15, 1978	7–0	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	37–27–4
69	W	March 17, 1978	6–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	38–27–4
70	L	March 18, 1978	3–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	38–28–4
71	W	March 21, 1978	6–3	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	39–28–4
72	L	March 22, 1978	3–5	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	39–29–4
73	L	March 24, 1978	0–1	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	39–30–4
74	W	March 26, 1978	5–3	Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	40–30–4
75	W	March 29, 1978	6–1	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	41–30–4
76	W	April 3, 1978	8–6	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	42–30–4
77	T	April 5, 1978	4–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78)	42–30–5
78	L	April 6, 1978	4–7	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	42–31–5
79	W	April 10, 1978	6–1	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	43–31–5
80	W	April 11, 1978	6–3	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	44–31–5

Playoffs

New England Whalers 4, Edmonton Oilers 1 – Division Quarterfinals

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Series
1	April 14	Edmonton Oilers	4–6	New England Whalers	1–0
2	April 16	Edmonton Oilers	1–4	New England Whalers	2–0
3	April 19	New England Whalers	0–2	Edmonton Oilers	2–1
4	April 21	New England	9–1	Edmonton Oilers	3–1
5	April 23	Edmonton Oilers	1–4	New England Whalers	4–1

New England Whalers 4, Quebec Nordiques 1 – Division Semifinals

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Series
1	April 28	Quebec Nordiques	1–5	New England Whalers	1–0
2	April 30	Quebec Nordiques	3–2	New England Whalers	1–1
3	May 3	New England Whalers	5–4	Quebec Nordiques	2–1
4	May 5	New England Whalers	7–3	Quebec Nordiques	3–1
5	May 7	Quebec Nordiques	3–6	New England Whalers	4–1

Winnipeg Jets 4, New England Whalers 1 – Avco Cup Finals

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Series
1	May 12	Winnipeg Jets	4–1	New England Whalers	0–1
2	May 14	Winnipeg Jets	2–5	New England Whalers	0–2
3	May 19	New England Whalers	2–10	Winnipeg Jets	0–3
4	May 22	New England Whalers	3–5	Winnipeg Jets	0–4

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Gordie Howe RW 76 34 62 96 85 46 16 0 0 Mark Howe D 70 30 61 91 32 30 4 0 0 Mike Rogers C 80 28 43 71 46 22 4 1 0 Mike Antonovich C 75 32 35 67 32 17 5 0 0 Dave Keon C 77 24 38 62 2 −4 1 5 0 Gordie Roberts D 78 15 46 61 118 17 5 0 0 John McKenzie RW 79 27 29 56 61 15 9 0 0 George Lyle LW 68 30 24 54 74 12 3 0 0 Rick Ley D 73 3 41 44 95 36 0 0 0 Larry Pleau C 54 16 18 34 4 12 2 0 0 Brad Selwood D 80 6 25 31 88 11 2 0 0 Al Hangsleben D 79 11 18 29 140 17 0 0 0 Jack Carlson LW 67 9 20 29 192 9 0 0 0 Greg Carroll C 48 9 14 23 27 3 0 2 0 Tom Webster RW 20 15 5 20 5 8 5 0 0 Jim Mayer RW 51 11 9 20 21 1 1 0 0 Marty Howe D 75 10 10 20 66 10 1 0 0 Tim Sheehy RW 25 8 11 19 14 −2 3 0 0 Bill Butters D 45 1 13 14 69 21 0 0 0 Steve Carlson C 38 6 7 13 11 7 1 1 0 Danny Bolduc LW 41 5 5 10 22 6 0 0 0 Ron Plumb D 27 1 9 10 18 6 0 0 0 Bryan Maxwell D 17 2 1 3 11 9 0 0 0 Al Smith G 55 0 3 3 4 0 0 0 0 Andre Peloffy C 10 2 0 2 2 −2 0 0 0 Jean-Louis Levasseur G 27 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Al Smith 3246 55 30 20 3 174 3.22 2 Jean-Louis Levasseur 1655 27 14 11 2 91 3.30 3 Team: 4901 80 44 31 5 265 3.24 5

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Mike Antonovich C 14 10 7 17 4 0 0 1 Dave Keon C 14 5 11 16 4 0 0 1 Mark Howe D 14 8 7 15 18 0 0 0 John McKenzie RW 14 6 6 12 16 0 0 1 Mike Rogers C 14 5 6 11 8 0 0 0 Gordie Howe RW 14 5 5 10 15 0 0 2 Larry Pleau C 14 5 4 9 8 0 0 1 Steve Carlson C 13 2 7 9 2 0 0 0 Rick Ley D 14 1 8 9 4 0 0 0 Danny Bolduc LW 14 2 4 6 4 0 0 0 Ron Plumb D 14 1 5 6 16 0 0 1 Al Hangsleben D 14 1 4 5 37 0 0 0 Gordie Roberts D 14 0 5 5 29 0 0 0 Tim Sheehy RW 13 1 3 4 9 0 0 0 George Lyle LW 12 2 1 3 13 0 0 0 Brad Selwood D 14 0 3 3 8 0 0 0 Jack Carlson LW 9 1 1 2 14 0 0 0 Marty Howe D 14 1 1 2 13 0 0 1 Jean-Louis Levasseur G 12 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 Andre Peloffy C 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Al Smith G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Jean-Louis Levasseur 719 12 8 4 31 2.59 0 Al Smith 120 3 0 2 14 7.00 0 Team: 839 14 8 6 45 3.22 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;

Draft picks

New England's draft picks at the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	11	Ron Areshenkoff (C)	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
2	15	Moe Robinson (D)	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)
2	19	Randy Pierce (RW)	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
3	23	John Baby (D)	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
5	43	Brian Hill (RW)	Austria	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
6	52	Jim Korn (D)	United States	Providence College (ECAC)

See also

• 1977–78 WHA season

References

• "1977–78 New England Whalers Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-21.