1977-78 WHA Season

By Wikipedia

The 1977-78 season was the sixth regular season of the now defunct World Hockey Association (WHA). Merger talks with the NHL heated up, with a preliminary agreement that would have seen Winnipeg, Cincinnati, Edmonton, Houston, New England, and Quebec admitted to the older league eventually abandoned. With San Diego, Phoenix and Calgary gone, the league carries on with eight teams. The Winnipeg Jets won the second AVCO World Trophy in three years.

See also: Statistical Leaders for 1977-78, Complete League Attendance, 1977 WHA Draft

With a reduction of 4 teams from the start of the previous season, the WHA abandoned its divisional format and grouped the remaining 8 teams together. The best six teams qualified for the playoffs. However, instead of the standard schedule for a six-team playoff (i.e., giving the 1st and 2nd place teams byes into the semifinals, with the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th place teams opening in the quarterfinals), the WHA came up with a unique twist. There were three quarterfinal series instead of two, with the teams paired top to bottom (i.e., 1st vs. 6th, 2nd vs. 5th, 3rd vs. 4th). The highest-seeded quarterfinal winner then received a semifinal bye and advanced directly to the finals, while the remaining two quarterfinal series winners played off in the semifinals. All series were best four-out-of-seven games.

Key: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties in Minutes
* Indicates teams that qualifies for the playoffs

AVCO World Trophy Playoffs

In one of the more bizarre playoff formats, the #1 and #6 seeds squared off in the first round for the right to appear in the finals while seeds number 2 through 5 battled it out in the other bracket.

Robert Guindon was named AVCO Playoffs MVP for leading the Winnipeg Jets to another title.

WHA All Star Game

The sixth World Hockey Association All-Star game was played January 17, 1978 in Quebec City, Quebec. This game featured the defending champion Nordiques at home against the WHA All-Stars. The Nordiques beat the WHA 5-4 in front of 6,413 spectators on the strength of a power play goal by Matti Hagman set up by Marc Tardiff's fifth point. It was Hagman's second goal of the night. Marc Tardif and Mark Howe were named co-MVPs.

WHA Bibliography
The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association by Ed Willes
The Complete Historical and Statistical Reference to the World Hockey Association by Scott Adam Surgent
WHA Pro Hockey '75 - '76 by Dan Proudfoot
WHA Media Guides (each team published one each year)

These and many other WHA items can be found at eBay - check our links on the far right of this page!