1978-79
OFF-SEASON
Some big time stars have decided to retire as the game says farewell to Bobby Hull, Eddie Johnston, Yvan Cournoyer, Bob Nevin and Doug Jarrett.
Hull retires as the greatest goal scorer in league history, scoring a record 884 goals and 2032 points. Included in his totals are a single season record 75 goals scored in 78 games in 1972-73. He played 1459 games over 21 seasons, all with the Chicago Black Hawks. He led the NHL in goals 7 times and points on 3 occassions. A two time Hart Trophy winner and 13 time first team all-star, Hull won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1973 and played on 5 Stanley Cup winning Black Hawks teams.
Johnston began his career with Montreal but was traded to Chicago for Kenny Wharram before ever appearing in a game for the Habs. He would go on to win 9 Vezina Trophy's and 5 Stanley Cups with Chicago, compiling a 758-392-173 record with a 2.37 career goals against average. He rankes 3rd all-time behind Terry Sawchuk and Jacques Plante in wins and is also third behind those two in career shutouts with 166.
Doug Jarrett joined the Hawks as a 19 year old in 1963-64 and would win 3 Conn Smythe Trophy's and 2 Norris Trophys. He is also a 5 time Stanley Cup winner and played 837 carere NHL games, scoring 803 points. His brother Gary played 422 NHL games for Toronto and Vancouver.
Cournoyer played 14 seasons and 846 NHL games with the Montreal Canadiens and amassed 1001 points in his NHL career. He is one of only 18 players in league history to reach the 1000 point plateau. A two-time first team all-star, the 'Roadrunner' won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1969 and was a member of 3 Stanley Cup winning Montreal teams.
Nevin played 19 years and 1152 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring 326 goals and 833 points in his career. He won two Stanley Cups with the Leafs.
The Cleveland Barons franchise has been disbanded and all players in the organization have been given to the Minnesota North Stars as the two teams merge. Minnesota also gets two of the better known new young players entering the league as Bobby Smith and Steve Payne join the team. Other newcomvers include Al Secord in Boston, John Tonelli with the Islanders and Rod Langway to Montreal. I do not see Gretzky anywhere so I assume he will debut with Edmonton next season. Meanwhile, the WHA is down to 7 teams after Houston folds.
Prior to the start of training camp the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres made a huge deal with Buffalo sending 27 year old winger Rick Martin to the Rangers in echange for defenseman Dave Maloney and minor league Lance Nethery. Martin is coming of back to back 42 goal seasons with the Sabres and will immediately join Jean Ratelle and Rick Middleton on the Rangers top line. Maloney is just 22 years old and had 46 points last season, his third with the Rangers. He was a dominant presence in the playoffs and was rewarded with the Conn Smythe Trophy for his role in helping the Rangers win the Cup. With Brad Park, Ron Greschner and Andre Dupont the Rangers felt he was expendable.
REGULAR SEASON
The Sabres decision to deal Martin worked out perfectly for them as Craig Ramsay stepped in for Martin on the top line with Gilbert Perreault and Danny Gare. The result was the threesome finished 1-2-3 in NHL scoring and helped the Sabres to 98 points, their best showing in franchise history. Martin was anything but a bust so the Rangers made out just fine as their new winger had 38 goals and 95 points in 63 games before suffering a heel injury that shortened his season.
While the Sabres were certainly a mild surprise the biggest improvement came from the St Louis Blues, who more than doubled their point total from a year ago as they finished with 113 points and returned to the playoffs after a 5 year drought. The Blues got solid goaltending from veteran Gilles Villemure but it was their offense that really took off as the line of 22 year olds Bernie Federko (35-58-93) and Brian Sutter (46-61-107) along with 28 year old Orest Kindrachuk (48-44-92) all had career seasons. Rookie forward Wayne Babych (27-47-74) and 23 year old defenseman Jack Brownschidle (23-52-75) also made a big contribution.
The biggest drop-off belong to the Boston Bruins, who went from 103 points a year ago to just 71 this season and barely sneaking into the playoffs. Bernie Parent had a tough season in net and the offensive production dipped from most players although Jean Pronovost (46-66-112) and Bobby Orr (31-65-96) still had strong campaigns.
Chicago endured a similar drop to the Bruins but that can be greatly attributed to the retirements of Bobby Hull, Doug Jarrett and Eddie Johnston. With Hull gone, Stan Mikita saw his point total drop from 101 a year ago to 88 this season. Phil Esposito (22-24-46) continues his rapid decline at age 37 and he lost his spot on the top line by mid-season. Mikita found himself centering 26 year old Bob Nystrom (27-24-51), who was acquried from the Islanders a couple seasons back, and Swedish import Thomas Gradin (19-31-50) so it was a far cry from the Hawks glory days when the big line was setting the league on fire. On positive for Chicago is the development of second year defenseman Doug Wilson (21-41-62).
Chicago's Stan Mikita became the first player in NHL history to surpass the 2100 point plateau. The 38 year old had 88 points this season to give him 2105 in his 21 year career. He passed former teammate Bobby Hull's previous record of 2032 early in the season. Only 5 players have ever scored as many as 1500 career points and the next active player on the list behind Mikita is his linemate Phil Esposito, who has 1365 career points.
One of the bigger deals made this season saw Montreal ship former Norris Trophy winning defenseman Carol Vadnais to the New York Islanders in exchange for John Tonelli. The 33 year old Vadnais had 53 points in 63 games with the Habs and added another 21 points in 18 games for the Islanders. Tonelli, a 22 year old rookie finished the season playing in 68 games and had 26 goals and 49 points.
The trade helped both teams as the Islanders set a team record for points in season and had arguably the best top defensive pair in the league with Vadnais and 25 year old Denis Potvin (20-55-75). Second year winger Mike Bossy (41-43-84) was limited to just 64 games due to injury but his linemates Bryan Trottier (26-56-82) and Clark Gillies (39-56-95) each had strong seasons as did veteran forward Robbie Ftorek (47-47-94).
Montreal won the Norris Division for the 5th straight season and while they are no longer winning well over 50 games a season the Habs are still surpassing the 100 point mark, going 46-21-13 this year. Tony Esposito continues to provide solid goaltending while longtime back up Ken Dryden could likely be the starter on a dozen other teams. Guy Lafleur (46-67-113) and Steve Shutt (38-57-95) continue to dominate the Montreal offense and the search for a third member of the line since the retirement of Yvan Cournoyer continues. This year both Marc Tardif (19-48-67) and Mark Napier (23-41-64) spent time with them but eventually the role may go to newcomer Tonelli. The move of Vadnais was made easier by the emergence of Larry Robinson (14-55-69) and Brian Engblom (17-35-52) on the Montreal blueline.
Toronto finished first in the Adams Division for the second straight season despite a number of key injuries. At 27 defenseman Borje Salming (14-69-83) enjoyed the best season of his career and winger Lanny McDonald (47-51-98) had a breakout season. 22 year old Real Cloutier, who came over from the WHA Denver Spurs three years ago, is looking like he has the potential to be one of the best goal scorers in the league. He had 42 this season and has 135 goals in his first 3 years in the NHL after scoring 50 in the WHA as a 19 year old.
Milestones achieved
Fred Stanfield of Chicago reached 900 career points
Pat Stapleton of Chicago reached 900 career points
Phil Esposito of Chicago scored his 650th career goal
Jean Ratelle of the NY Rangers scored his 600th career goal
Nick Libett of Pittsburgh reached 500 career assists
Garry Unger of Toronto reached 500 career assists
Gilbert Perreault of Buffalo reached 500 career assists
Guy Lafleur of Montreal reached 500 career assists
1250 Games Played
Ted Green Boston
Jean Ratelle NY Rangers
Phil Esposito Chicago
1000 Games Played
Bruce MacGregor Colorado
Derek Sanderson Boston
Nick Libbet Pittsburgh
Pete Mahovlich Detroit
Don Awrey Boston
JP Parise Boston
Fred Stanfield Chicago
800 Games Played
Bernie Parent Boston
750 Games Played
Wayne Cashman Boston
Bobby Clarke Philadelphia
Michel Briere Pittsburgh
Guy Lafleur added 2 more games to his point streak from last season before it was snapped at 32 straight games with at least 1 point.
Buffalo's Gilbert Perreault had an 8 point game in a 10-2 win over Philadelphia on March 17th. Perreault scored twice and added 6 helpers in the game. Linemate Craig Ramsay had 7 points in the same game. Perreault also had a 7 point game in the Sabres 11-1 win over Atlanta just over a month earlier.
Wilf Paiement, who finished the season with 55 points, got 6 of them in one game in March as he scored once and added 5 assists in Colorado's 7-1 win over Pittsburgh.
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ADAMS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 46 20 14 106
Buffalo Sabres 80 43 25 12 98
Boston Bruins 80 30 39 11 71
Minnesota North Stars 80 28 47 5 61
NORRIS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Montreal Canadiens 80 46 21 13 105
Detroit Red Wings 80 33 37 10 76
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 24 48 8 56
Washington Capitals 80 18 47 15 51
Los Angeles Kings 80 18 54 8 44
PATRICK DIVISION GP W L T PTS
New York Rangers 80 52 18 10 114
Philadelphia Flyers 80 49 15 16 114
New York Islanders 80 41 26 13 95
Atlanta Flames 80 19 50 11 49
SMYTHE DIVISION GP W L T PTS
St Louis Blues 80 52 19 9 113
Chicago Black Hawks 80 33 36 11 77
Vancouver Canucks 80 29 39 12 70
Colorado Rockies 80 26 46 8 60
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Gilbert Perreault BUF 77 45 85 130
Craig Ramsay BUF 80 42 80 122
Danny Gare BUF 80 57 56 113
Guy Lafleur MON 80 46 67 113
Jean Pronovost BOS 80 46 66 112
Brian Sutter StL 78 46 61 107
Jean Ratelle NYR 80 56 48 104
Marcel Dionne DET 80 45 59 104
Bill Barber PHI 78 50 51 101
Lanny McDonald TOR 79 47 51 98
Rick Middleton NYR 78 44 54 98
Mel Bridgeman PHI 80 27 70 97
Ron Greschner NYR 80 19 78 97
Bobby Clarke PHI 80 40 56 96
Bobby Orr BOS 76 31 65 96
WHA REGULAR SEASON
The Edmonton Oilers led by WHA superstar defenseman Guy Lapointe finished with the league's best record. Lapointe missed becoming the first defenseman to win the scoring title by two points as Indianpolis forward Mike Rogers ended with 128 to Lapointe's 126.
Jack Valiquette of the Oilers led the WHA in goals with 63 but that was 10 shy of the single season record set by Dave Hudson in 1975-76. Hudson, the longtime New England Whaler, scored 28 goals this season and that allowed him to finish with 250 career goals, the most in WHA history.
Code:
WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION
STANDINGS GP W L T PTS
Edmonton Oilers 78 51 21 6 108
Indianapolis Racers 78 45 25 8 98
New England Whalers 78 41 33 4 86
Cincinnati Stingers 78 36 30 12 84
Quebec Nordiques 78 31 34 13 75
Winnipeg Jets 78 29 39 10 68
Birmingham Bulls 78 25 46 7 57
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Mike Rogers IND 78 47 81 128
Guy Lapointe EDM 78 28 98 126
Jack Valiquette EDM 74 63 49 112
Blair MacDonald IND 78 39 61 100
George Ferguson NE 78 48 47 95
Jamie Hislop EDM 78 31 54 85
Dave Hudson NE 78 28 54 82
Risto Siltanen IND 66 14 66 80
Anders Hedberg IND 78 42 37 79
Veli-Pekka Ketola BIR 75 44 34 78
Rejean Houle IND 74 35 38 73
Danny Bolduc CIN 77 32 39 71
Mark Howe CIN 65 18 52 70
Bill Nyrop EDM 78 19 48 67
Mike Antonovich CIN 57 32 33 65
PLAYOFFS
Philadelphia had no trouble with Minnesota in their preliminary round matchup as the Flyers won 6-4 and 3-2 despite Bobby Clarke being held pointless in the series. Each of the other 3 opening round series went the full 3 games.
The rapidly improving New York Islanders knocked off Boston with an 8-3 win in the deciding game as Denis Potvin scored three times for the winners. Detroit got an overtime goal from Dale McCourt to beat Chicago 6-5 in the final game of their series, giving the Hawks their earliest exit from the playoffs in well over a decade. The other series saw Buffalo get a 3-2 win over Vancouver with Perreault and Ramsay each scoring once and adding an assist.
Some interesting quarterfinal matchups as the New York Islanders face the St Louis Blues, Philadelphia meets Montreal, Detroit plays the defending Cup champion Rangers and Buffalo meets Toronto.
Montreal knocked off Philadelphia in 5 games as Flyer captain Bobby Clarke continued to struggle. Clarke failed to score a goal in any of the Flyers 7 playoff games and the teamhad another dissappointing end to it's season.
The New York Islanders advanced to the semis for the second straight season after eliminating St Louis in 6 games. Dennis Potvin has 17 points thru 9 playoff contests while Clark Gillies and veteran Carol Vadnais each have 16.
The Buffalo Sabres duo of Gil Perreault and Craig Ramsay continue to figure prominently on the scoresheet as the pair combined for 29 points so far in the playoffs and were a big reason the Sabres upset Toronto to advance to the semi-finals for the first time in franchise history.
Buffalo's opponent in the semi-finals will be Detroit after the Wings knocked off the Rangers in 6 game. The pairing of Marcel Dionne with 22 year old Dale McCourt is reminding Wings fans of the days of Delvecchio and Howe in the early 60s. Dionne has 15 points in 9 playoff games thru the quarterfinals and McCourt has 12.
SEMI-FINALS
A couple of interesting series on tap and we have a chance to see the first ever all-expansion team final as Buffalo meets Detroit while the New York Islanders take on Montreal.
The Buffalo Sabres had surprisingly little trouble disposing of Detroit in 4 straight games. Craig Ramsay scored 4 goals in a 6-2 win in Game Three and picked up 13 points in the series to give him 27 in the playoffs so far.
Montreal and the Islanders split the first four games but New York suffered a crucial injury when Mike Bossy was knocked out of the series with an injury in Game One. Clark Gillies took over, getting 4 points in a 5-2 Islanders win in Game Five and then scored a hat trick in a 7-2 series clinching win in Game Six.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
An all-expansion final as the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders meet to determine the Stanley Cup champion. The Islanders will likely play the entire series with forward Mike Bossy who is battling a hamstring injury. Buffalo enters the series with everyone healthy.
Denis Potvin scores twice and Clark Gillies has 3 assists to add to his playoff leading point total of 33 as the Islanders win the opener in Buffalo by a 4-3 score. Veteran Mike Walton, who came to the Island in a February deal with Toronto, got the game winner. Gerry Desjardins made 29 saves in the Islanders net while Chico Resch stopped 28 shots for Buffalo.
Another 4-3 win for the Islanders in Game Two. Robbie Ftorek scores twice for the winners while Bryan Trottier had a goal and 2 assists and Clark Gillies chipped in with 2 helpers. Gilbert Perreault had one of the Buffalo goals and assisted on the other two. The Sabres outshot the Islanders 36-25 but Desjardins was again outstanding in net for New York.
The series shifts to Uniondale for Game Three and it is another tight game with the Islanders ultimately prevailing 3-2 in overtime. Goals from Gillies and Brent Meeke staked the Islanders to a 2-0 first period lead but Craig Ramsay scored two, one in the second period and one early in the third, to tie the game for Buffalo. Stan Weir was the overtime hero for the Islanders as he scored just over a minute into overtime with Mike Walton and Denis Potvin drawing the assists.
In an unusual season that saw two expansion teams reach the finals for the first time you have to expect an unusual deciding game and Game Four of the Stanley Cup Finals was certainly that. The Islanders prevailed in a wild 8-7 contest that saw 6 goals scored in the final 10 minutes.
The Islanders chased Buffalo goaltender Resch in the first period with 4 goals on 8 shots and at the end of 20 minutes it was 4-1 New York and the game seemed to be over. But power play goals early in the second from Gilbert Perreault and Danny Gare brought the Sabres to within one only two see Clark Gillies score two goals 9 seconds apart to complete his hat trick and restore the 3 goal New York lead after two periods.
Trailing 6-3 entering the third Craig Ramsay would score 3 goals in 9 minutes sandwiched around a Mike Walton tally for New York and with 7:36 remaining in regulation the score was now 7-6 for the Islanders. At that point New York pulled Gerry Desjardins and replaced him with back-up Goran Hogosta.
Mike Walton's second of the period at 17:18 made it 8-6 New York but the Sabres were not done yet as Peter McNab scored with 59 second left to cut the lead to one. Buffalo stormed the New York net but could not get the tying goal and the Islanders held on for an 8-7 victory and their first Stanley Cup title.
Clark Gillies established a new NHL playoff record for goals with 19 and points with 39 but the Conn Smythe went to teammate Denis Potvin (13-24-37), who finished second in scoring and averaged nearly 28 minutes of ice time a game in the playoffs.
Here are the NHL single season playoff leaders:
Code:
PLAYOFF GOAL LEADERS
19 Clark Gillies NY Islanders 1978-79 19 games
18 Yvan Cournoyer Montreal 1968-69 16 games
14 Robbie Ftorek NY Islanders 1978-79 19 games
14 Rick Kehoe Toronto 1976-77 20 games
14 Bobby Hull Chicago 1967-68 16 games
14 Jean Ratelle NY Rangers 1974-75 19 games
PLAYOFF POINTS
39 Clark Gillies 19-20-39 in 19 games NY Islanders 1978-79
37 Denis Potvin 13-24-37 in 19 games NY Islanders 1978-79
33 Gilbert Perreault 11-22-33 in 17 games Buffalo 1978-79
33 Yvan Cournoyer 18-15-33 in 16 games Montreal 1968-69
32 Craig Ramsay 13-19-32 in 17 games Buffalo 1978-79
32 Carol Vadnais 4-28-32 in 19 games NY Islanders 1978-79
32 Stan Mikita 11-21-32 in 16 games Chicago 1967-68
31 Rich Kehoe 14-17-31 in 20 games Toronto 1976-77
29 Bobby Hull 14-15-29 in 16 games Chicago 1967-68
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Bobby Clarke Philadelphia (80GP 40-56-96)
VEZINA TROPHY: John Davidson New York Rangers (29-6-7, 2.29)
NORRIS TROPHY: Brad Park New York Rangers (80GP 28-67-95)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Gilbert Perreault Buffalo (77GP 45-85-130)
CALDER TROPHY: Ryan Walter Washington (80GP 26-47-73)
The game must have a love affair with Bobby Clarke as, while he had a strong season, I can't see how he wins the Hart Trophy over the years Perreault, Lafleur, Ramsay, Pronovost or Brian Sutter had.
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 Gilles Villemure St Louis Al Smith Philadelphia
D Brad Park NY Rangers Ron Greschner NY Rangers
D Bobby Orr Boston Borje Salming Toronto
C Gil Perreault Buffalo Guy Lafleur Montreal
LW Craig Ramsay Buffalo Brian Sutter St Louis
RW Jean Pronovost Boston Marcel Dionne Detroit
WHA PLAYOFFS
The Indianapolis Racers won what would prove to be the final Avco Cup as they knocked off the Edmonton Oilers in a 6 game final. Indianapolis had beaten New England in 6 in one semi-final while the Oilers, who won 5 of the 7 Avco Cups, needed 7 games to eliminate Cincinnati.
Mike Rogers, who won the regular season scoring title, was named playoff MVP after the Racers centre scored a playoff high 9 goals. His 20 points were tied with linemate Dave Hunter second only to the third member of their line - Blair MacDonald, who had 7 goals and 22 points to lead all playoff scorers.
Rogers was also named regular season MVP while Edmonton defenseman Guy Lapointe won his 6th straight top defenseman award. Indianapolis defenseman Risto Siltanen, who had 80 points in 66 games, was named the top rookie while Edmonton's Pierre Hamel was named the league's best goaltender.
The brief WHA era comes to an end so it will be interesting to see where the Indianapolis big guns end up next season.
In the meantime here are the all-time scoring leaders in the WHA
Code:
WHA ALL TIME POINT LEADERS
1- Guy Lapointe Edmonton 768
2- Dave Hudson New England 633
3- JP Bordeleau Edmonton 632
4- Mike Rogers Indianapolis 606
5- Gerry O'Flaherty Quebec 539
6- J Bob Kelly Edmonton 525
7- Blair MacDonald Indianapolis 511
8- Bobby Sheehan EDM-WPG 507
9- Anders Hedberg PHO-IND 483
10-Rob Walton MIN-WPG-CIN 473
WHA ALL-TIME GOAL LEADERS
1- Dave Hudson New England 250
2- J Bob Kelly Edmonton 244
3- Bobby Sheehan EDM/WPG 241
4- JP Bordeleau Edmonton 229
5- Blair MacDonald Indianapolis 226
WHA GOALIE ALL-TIME WINS LEADERS
1- Gilles Gilbert CLE-MIN-NE 208
2- Wayne Thomas CHI-NE 184
3- Dave Reece Edmonton 157
4- Ken Brown Quebec 156
5- Rocky Farr EDM-HOU-IND 155