1979 NHL Offseason News and Notes
The 7th AVCO cup goes to the
Birmingham Bulls, who upset the first place
Oilers.
Here are the skating leaders from the 78/79 NHL season.
Here are the goalie leaders.
Here are the playoff leaders.
This game doesn’t seem to like record breakers. Again we see someone break some serious records, and the Hart Trophy goes to a different player.
Guy Lafleur had the best statistical season ever for the team that won the most ever, and won their first cup. He was the best player in the league.
Marcel Dionne wins the award instead. It’s his 6th time winning it. He’s 27!!!
I screwed up this year. The real NHL added the
Frank J Selke trophy last season, but I forgot to add it into the game. The Selke award is given to the forward who best displays the most skill in the defensive components of the game.
Frank Selke is a former GM of both the
Montreal Canadiens and
Toronto Maple Leafs, who won 9 cups in real life. I’ll add that this offseason, and it will presented for the first time next year!
Long time
NY Rangers Gary Bergman has retired. He’s a player I probably have never mentioned here. Lets face it, I can’t see or talk about everyone! Some guys slip through the cracks.
Bergman played 20 years for the
Rangers, amassing 1393 games, and 540 points. He also played in 144 playoff games. The
Rangers announced they will be retiring his number 22! So that’s why I'm mentioning him now.
The Rangers are retiring Bergman's number!
Toronto also loses
JP Parise to retirement.
Parise leaves the game at age 37, coming off a 71 point season. He spent his whole 17 year career in
Toronto, playing 1209 games, and reaching 1096 points.
Parise was a impact player, who was a key part of the NHL’s greatest dynasty. His number 71 will be retired by the
Toronto Maple Leafs.
Parise spent his whole career in Toronto
Montreal’s Yvan Cournoyer retires at age 35. That’s young, but his production slowed and his skills eroded over the last 2 years.
Montreal stole
Cournoyer from
Toronto back in 64, and enjoyed one of the best all around players for 15 years.
Yvan retires with 823 career points in 979 games.
Montreal will honour his number 9!
The
WHA is no more. After finishing the last season with just 6 clubs, the league was on the brink of a financial disaster. Unable to meet payroll, the
WHA and
NHL agreed to somewhat of a merger. The
Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and
Winnipeg Jets were all granted NHL franchises.
First things first, the
Oilers and
Jets will play in the Smythe Division. The
Whalers have changed their name to
Hartford and will play in the Norris division and the
Nordiques will play in the Adams division. With 21 teams, the playoff format has changed….
Divisions now only matter in terms of who wins them, and the seed they get in the playoffs. Each team will player each other team 4 times. Other then first place, the divisions are just for show.
As soon as the ink dried on the new agreement, players without NHL rights were allowed to sign with any NHL teams.
Wayne Gretzky is one of those players. The 18 year old has signed a 3 year contract worth 185,000 per year.
Wayne Gretzky, is a
Hartford Whaler!!!
The next day, it looks like there is an expansion draft. The new WHA teams do not look like they have been allowed to keep any players they had in their league. I don’t know the rules of this draft. I don’t know who is eligible, and who can be protected. So here are the results.
Top pick
Mike Palmateer stays with
Edmonton after starting for them the last few years. There are some decent players picked. Many of them were WHA players who the NHL obviously thought are expendable.
Palmateer remains an Oiler
The next day, the NHL entry draft takes place. The
New York Islanders select
Ray Bourque first overall. Clearly the most talented player available,
Bourque gives
NY a legitimate franchise player to build around.
It’s an insanely deep draft. Players taken later on that you don’t see include
Tim Kerr, Dale Hunter, Rick Vaive, Mats Naslund, Dirk Graham, Hakan Loob, Mike Foligno, Thomas Steen, and many more!! Here is a look at top pick
Ray Bourque.
Looking at the pic, it's obvious that Ray Bourque has yet to sign with the Islanders on opening day!
The amount of players signing new contracts this year is huge. Players who have no NHL rights and players who do, like
Mike Bossy, who has joined the
Washington Capitals for 280,000 a year. There are simply too many to keep track of. I’ll point out any big big names, or any surprises…
Bossy is in the NHL after a two year WHA stint.
Midway through August, and I'm fascinated with the
Atlanta Flames. After making it to the semi finals, the opportunity to really improve to a legit contender came with the end of the
WHA!
Brian Sutter, Steve Shutt, Rick Middleton, Al MacAdam and
Dough Risebrough are all atop of the
Flames depth chart. They were all impact players in the WHA. They all remain unsigned!
Atlanta, get your **** together, sign these guys and take a shot at a cup!!
Will WHA career scoring leader Al MacAdam join the Flames?
Gordie Howe and
Johnny Bucyk have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. There really isn’t anything I can say about
Gordie Howe that I haven’t already. He’s simply the best player we have seen. He produced for a very very long time.
Johnny Bucyk left the NHL for the WHA in the new leagues first year. He did well there, but will always be remembered as a
Bruin. If he stayed in the NHL, he would have scored well over 1000 points.
The
Chicago Blackhawks are the first team that will get to sign a iron curtain player. 27 year old winger
Jaroslav Pouzar will come over from Czechoslovakia. He’s a slick puck handler, and a fairly defensive minded player. He won’t hit a lot, but he will play good hockey in his own zone.
Pouzar is listed on
Chicago’s 2nd line.
The newest Hawk
The
Minnesota North Stars are the 2nd team to be selected. They will sign 21 year old, stud defenseman
Slava Fetisov!! The Russian is an extremely talented player who will rival any defenseman in the league with his defensive skill. After picking up
Jiri Bubla last year, getting
Tiger Williams from the WHA, drafting
Dino Ciccarelli, and now getting
Fetisov, I think the
North Stars are finally ready to stop teasing the fans, and are about to be real contenders!
Fetisov joins a talented North Star blueline!