1976-77
OFF-SEASON
While there may not be many big trades in the NHL there was a blockbuster in the WHA as the Edmonton Oilers in what looks like an effort to cut salary dealt Larry Pleau to the Minnesota Fighting Saints. The 29 year old Pleau had 59 goals and 138 points for the Oilers this past season. In return Edmonton gets 26 year old goaltender Ian Wilkie and 28 year old winger Don Gordon. Wilkie played 28 games for the Saints last season, going 7-8-3 with a 4.04 goals against average. He did have a big year for Winnipeg 3 seasons ago but has been the Fighting Saints backup to Gary Edwards the past 3 years. Gordon is a solid defensive winger and had 45 points for Minnesota last year. Gordon has 181 points in 305 career WHA games.
Retirements this season:
Norm Ullman retired at the age of 40 after 21 years with the New York Rangers. Ullman played 1469 career games, scoring 506 goals and 1508 points. Ullman is one of only 8 players to score 500 career NHL goals and is 5th all-time in points and 3rd in games played. He won 2 Stanley Cups with the Rangers.
Dave Balon, a 37 year old winger who played 1064 games for the New York Rangers, scoring 212 goals and 639 points. He was a key piece of the Rangers Cup win in 1972-73, scoring 11 points in 12 playoff games. He also played on the 1971-72 Rangers Cup winning squad.
Chico Maki, who played 1157 games and had 702 points over 17 seasons with the Black Hawks, retired at the age of 36. He had 36 points in 68 games last season. Maki won 5 Cups with Chicago and played in 176 playoff games, getting 114 points.
At the age of 40 after 852 games Willie O'Ree announced his retirement. He started with the Black Hawks in 1962-63 but really did not become a full-time NHL player until joining the North Stars when the league expanded. He got his name on the Cup by playing 1 playoff game for Chicago's first championship team in 1966. O'Ree had 375 points in 852 career games but his biggest claim to fame was being the NHL's version of Jackie Robinson.
At 28 after just 1 WHA season, Inge Hammarstrom decided to return to his native Sweden. Hammarstrom had planned on joining Borje Salming in Toronto but failed to crack the Leafs roster so he joined the Calgary Cowboys last year, scoring 30 goals and 77 points in 66 WHA games.
TEAM MOVEMENT
The California Golden Seals have moved to Cleveland and will be known as the Barons while the Kansas City Scouts have relocated to Denver and changed their name to the Colorado Rockies.
The Denver WHA franchise has folded as did the Minnesota Fighting Saints. The Cleveland Crusaders decided to move to Minnesota and will take the moniker Fighting Saints while the Toronto Toros have moved to Birmingham and will be called the Bulls.
With Denver folding, WHA MVP Real Cloutier signed with the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs while goaltender Richard Brodeur joined the Vancouver Canucks. The folded Minnesota Fighting Saints franchise saw goaltender Gary Edwards go to the Calgary Cowboys, point leader Steve West sign with the New England Whalers and recently acquired Larry Pleau went to the Indianapolis Racers.
Among the new crop of rookies entering the NHL are the first of the Sutter brothers as Brian joins St Louis along with Bernie Federko. Randy Carlyle joins the Toronto blueline, Reed Larson to Detroit and center Kent Nilsson to the Atlanta Flames.
REGULAR SEASON
Just like last season the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks ended up as division winners. Philadelphia and Toronto were the only other teams to top 100 points on the season.
Boston's Don Marcotte has emerged as a scoring star in the league, topping 50 goals for the second straight season and his 58 goals and 131 points led the league in each category. Injuries limited Bobby Orr to 57 games and even though he failed to reach the 100 point mark for the 5th straight season, Orr did finish with an impressive 81 points.
The Philadelphia Flyers continue to be a team to fear and if they could ever get a left winger to play with Bobby Clarke (49-76-125) and Bill Barber (44-72-116) they might be unstoppable. Mel Bridgeman was given a shot this year but he managed just 69 points.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are another good young team just a piece or two away from challenging for the Cup. Real Cloutier (44-36-80) returned from the WHA and had a big season playing with Darryl Sittler (26-55-81) and Errol Thompson (31-34-65). Unfortunately both Sittler and Cloutier suffered late season injuries and each will miss at least the first round of the playoffs. Toronto also had the league penalty minute leader as 22 year old Tiger Williams picked up 448 minutes but he was well short of the record set by Vancouver's Dave Schultz in 1972-73, which was 585 minutes.
Milestones achieved this year
Chicago's Phil Esposito gets his 1200th career point
Boston's Derek Sanderson gets his 900th career point
Boston winger JP Parise gets career point number 600
Montreal's Danny Grant gets career point number 600
Colorado's Bruce MacGregor gets career point number 600
Phil Esposito of Chicago got his 600th career goal
Dave Keon of Toronto got his 500th career assist
1250 CAREER GAMES
Stan Mikita Chicago
Pat Stapleton Chicago
1000 CAREER GAMES
JC Tremblay Montreal
750 GAMES
Bill Fairbairn NY Rangers
Bill Goldsworthy Boston
Don Marcotte Boston
Brad Park NY Rangers
Bobby Orr Boston
Johnny McKenzie Los Angeles
Doug Jarrett Chicago
Yvan Cournoyer Montreal
Jean Pronovost Boston
600 GAMES
Rogie Vachon Cleveland
Bruce Gamble Minnesota
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ADAMS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Boston Bruins 80 54 20 6 114
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 49 22 9 107
Buffalo Sabres 80 42 28 10 94
Cleveland Barons 80 19 50 11 49
NORRIS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Montreal Canadiens 80 57 14 9 123
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 31 34 15 77
Detroit Red Wings 80 27 42 11 65
Washington Capitals 80 17 49 14 48
Los Angeles Kings 80 13 57 10 36
PATRICK DIVISION GP W L T PTS
New York Rangers 80 57 12 11 125
Philadelphia Flyers 80 53 20 7 113
Atlanta Flames 80 25 40 15 65
New York Islanders 80 25 42 13 63
SMYTHE DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Chicago Black Hawks 80 52 20 8 112
Vancouver Canucks 80 31 39 10 72
Minnesota North Stars 80 29 39 12 70
St Louis Blues 80 22 44 14 58
Colorado Rockies 80 20 51 9 49
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Don Marcotte BOS 78 58 73 131
Bobby Clarke PHI 80 49 76 125
Guy Lafleur MON 80 39 78 117
Bill Barber PHI 80 44 72 116
Stan Mikita CHI 76 44 69 113
Gilbert Perreault BUF 80 31 82 113
Brad Park NYR 73 27 82 109
Steve Shutt MON 80 56 51 107
Jean Ratelle NYR 80 53 52 105
Bobby Hull CHI 73 40 61 101
Nick Libett PIT 80 36 63 99
Jean Pronovost BOS 67 41 54 95
Craig Ramsay BUF 80 31 63 94
Don Luce NYR 69 42 51 93
Marc Tardif MON 80 25 64 89
WHA REGULAR SEASON
The Edmonton Oilers again finished with the best record in the league but they faced stiff competition in their division from the high flying Phoenix Roadrunners. The Roadrunners rely on their European imports Ulf Nilsson (43-77-120) and Anders Hedberg (51-74-125) but the most potent offense in the league belonged to the Indianapolis Racers as Blair MacDonald (64-69-133) led the league in goals and Mike Rogers (53-102-155) led in points. Edmonton has plenty of offense but their strength is on defense led by Guy Lapointe (30-94-124) and having Dave Reece (48-6-2, 2.07), the best goaltender in the league.
Paul O'Neil of the San Diego Mariners tied a WHA record with a 5 goal game in an 8-6 victory over Houston in November. O'Neil is in his first season with the Mariners after playing 1 NHL game for Vancouver last year.
Code:
WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION
EASTERN DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Indianapolis Racers 80 58 16 6 122
New England Whalers 80 49 23 8 106
Quebec Nordiques 80 44 31 5 93
Cincinnati Stingers 80 34 41 5 73
Minn Fighting Saints 80 21 52 7 49
Birmingham Bulls 80 14 63 3 31
WESTERN DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Edmonton Oilers 80 68 9 3 139
Phoenix Roadrunners 80 63 15 2 128
Winnipeg Jets 80 39 35 6 84
Houston Aeros 80 26 43 11 63
Calgary Cowboys 80 27 45 8 62
San Diego Mariners 80 22 52 6 50
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Mike Rogers IND 80 53 102 155
Blair MacDonald IND 80 64 69 133
Anders Hedberg PHX 75 51 74 125
Guy Lapointe EDM 80 30 94 124
Ulf Nilsson PHX 69 43 77 120
Rejean Houle IND 79 41 74 115
J Bob Kelly EDM 80 51 56 107
JP Bordeleau EDM 80 43 63 106
Veli-Pekka Ketola PHX 71 39 56 95
Bob McNamara WPG 80 35 60 95
Dave Hudson NE 80 34 58 92
Michel Archambault HOU 80 31 58 89
Dave Kryskow NE 80 41 46 87
Gerry O"Flaherty QUE 80 26 60 86
PLAYOFFS
The opening playoff round matchups had Atlanta playing Philadelphia, Detroit against Toronto, Minnesota vs Buffalo and Vancouver meeting Pittsburgh. All four series went the distance with Atlanta, Toronto, Buffalo and Pittsburgh advancing. The Flames victory over Philadelphia was considered a huge upset but in a short 3 game series anything can happen.
The Flames dreams of a long playoff run came crashing down when they ran into the New York Rangers, specifically Jean Ratelle. Ratelle had hat tricks in both Games 1 and 2 and finished with 9 goals and 13 points as the Rangers swept the 4 game series.
Boston also earned a sweep beating Minnesota 4 straight. Reggie Leach had 12 points in the 4 games to lead the Bruins. The Bruins and Rangers would meet in one semi-final.
The other semi-final would be an All-Canadian matchup as Montreal takes on Toronto. The Habs knocked off Pittsburgh in 5 games while the Leafs outlasted Chicago in a 7 game series.
The Rangers knocked off Boston in 4 straight games despite losing Ratelle with a shoulder injury late in Game Two. Prior to the injury Ratelle picked up 5 points in the first two games. He is questionable for the Finals.
Toronto beat Montreal in 5 games as Rick Kehoe continues to be the key to the Leafs offense. The 25 year old winger has 12 goals and 24 points in 15 games to lead all playoff performers. Ernie Wakely has been terrific in the Toronto net as well.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
The Rangers and Leafs meet in a rematch of the 1973-74 final won by New York. It is the Rangers fourth straight trip to the finals. Each team will be missing a key piece of it's offense as Toronto is without Real Cloutier and the Rangers will be missing Ratelle for at least the first game.
The Rangers draw first blood with a 4-3 victory on home ice in Game One. Brad Park picks up a pair of assists and Steve Durbano, who scored just 7 times all year, gets the game winner early in the third period. Don Luce, filling in for Ratelle on the top line, gets one of the Ranger goals with Wayne Dillon and Terry Caffery also scoring. Rick Kehoe, Lanny McDonald and Errol Thompson reply for Toronto.
Jim Rutherford makes 24 saves to lead the Rangers to a 3-1 victory in Game Two. Tommy Williams scores once and sets up one of Don Murdoch's two goals for the winners, who again played without Ratelle. Darryl Sittler, in just his 6th playoff game after coming back from an injury of his own, got the Leaf goal.
Ranger fans are saying Jean who? after Ratelle's replacement on the top line, Don Luce, scores a hat trick in a 7-5 New York victory on the road in Game Three. Brad Park also scored 3 times for New York who beat Leaf goaltender Ernie Wakely 7 times on 35 shots. Tiger Williams used his hands for something different this game by scoring twice for the Leafs....although he did also have two fights in the game.
The Leafs stay alive with a 5-1 victory in Game Four as Darryl Sittler gets 4 assists and rookie goaltender Mike Palmateer replaces Wakely and makes 31 saves in the Leaf net. Rick Kehoe, Errol Thompson, Bob Nevin, Randy Carlyle and Dave Keon get the Toronto goals. Syl Apps Jr. scored for New York.
The Leafs inexplicably go back to Wakely and he gets shelled for 5 goals on 32 shots and is pulled after two periods. Mike Palmateer stops all 10 shots he faces in the third but it is too late as the Rangers win 5-2 to claim their third Stanley Cup title in the past 4 years.
Ratelle again is scratched for the game but Don Luce has 2 assists in his place. Brad Park scores once and adds two helpers to increase his playoff totals to 13 goals and 24 points. Park is second to Rick Kehoe of the Leafs who leads the playoffs in goals with 14 and points with 31 but Kehoe did play 7 more games than Park. Kehoe's 31 playoff points are the third highest total ever recorded trailing Yvan Cournoyer's 33 with Montreal in 1968-69 and Stan Mikita's 32 for Chicago in 1967-68.
Park is named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner for the second time in his career, having also won the award when the Rangers won their first Cup of the sim in 1973-74.
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Bobby Clarke Philadelphia (80GP 49-76-125)
VEZINA TROPHY: Tony Esposito Montreal (46-12-6, 2.27)
NORRIS TROPHY: Brad Park New York Rangers (73GP 27-82-109)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Don Marcotte Boston (78GP 58-73-131)
CALDER TROPHY: Mel Bridgeman Philadelphia (72GP 23-46-69)
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 Tony Esposito Montreal Jim Rutherford NY Rangers
D Brad Park NY Rangers Ron Greschner NY Rangers
D Serge Savard Montreal Bobby Orr Boston
C Bobby Clarke Philadelphia Guy Lafleur Montreal
LW Don Marcotte Boston Steve Shutt Montreal
RW Bill Barber Philadelphia Jean Pronovost Boston
WHA PLAYOFFS
The Edmonton Oilers run comes to an end as the Oilers fall to the Winnipeg Jets in a 6 game Avco Cup Final. It is the first time in WHA history that the Oilers failed to win the Cup. Edmonton did sweep Houston and Cincinnati before running into the Jets in the finals. The Cincinnati Stingers pulled off a huge upset in the opening round by eliminating the East Division's top team, the Indianapolis Racers.
The Jets seemed to be a team of destiny as they knocked off favoured Phoenix and New England each in 7 games to reach the finals. In both those rounds the Jets were forced to overcome a 3 games to one deficit in order to advance. In game one of the opening series against the Roadrunners, the Jets were embarassed 11-0 but they still won the series needing an overtime goal in Game Seven.
Earl Anderson led the Jets and the playoffs in scoring with 23 points, inclduing 10 goals in 20 playoff games. Winnipeg defenseman Dennis Kearns, who had 22 points in the playoffs, was named the post-season MVP.
Edmonton's Guy Lapointe was named the league's top defenseman for the fourth straight year and he was named regular season MVP for the third time in 4 years.