1977–78 Edmonton Oilers season

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The 1977–78 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' sixth season of operation. The Oilers placed fifth to qualify for the playoffs, losing in the first round.

1977–78 Edmonton Oilers
Division5th WHA
1977–78 record38–39–3
Home record24–15–2
Road record14–24–1
Goals for309 (4th)
Goals against307 (4th)
Team information
General managerBrian Conacher
CoachGlen Sather
CaptainPaul Shmyr
Alternate captainsNorm Ferguson
Bill Flett
Al Hamilton
ArenaNorthlands Coliseum
Minor league affiliate(s)Spokane Flyers (WIHL)
Team leaders
GoalsBill Flett (41)
AssistsRon Chipperfield (52)
PointsRon Chipperfield (85)
Penalty minutesRon Busniuk (157)
Plus/minusAl Hamilton (+24)
WinsDave Dryden (21)
Goals against averageDave Dryden (3.49)

Offseason

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

Playoffs

New England Whalers 4, Edmonton Oilers 1 – Preliminary Round

# Date Visitor Score Startseite Record
1 April 14 Edmonton 4–6 New England 0–1
2 April 16 Edmonton 1–4 New England 0–2
3 April 19 New England 0–2 Edmonton 1–2
4 April 21 New England 9–1 Edmonton 1–3
5 April 23 Edmonton 1–4 New England 1–4

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Ron Chipperfield C 80 33 52 85 48 1 11 1 0
Bill Flett RW 74 41 28 69 34 9 8 1 0
Blair MacDonald RW 80 34 34 68 11 −12 7 4 0
Mike Zuke C 71 23 34 57 47 1 2 3 0
Al Hamilton D 59 11 43 54 46 24 6 0 0
Brett Callighen C 80 20 30 50 112 5 1 0 0
Paul Shmyr D 80 9 40 49 100 −9 3 0 0
Joe Micheletti D 56 14 34 48 56 8 3 0 0
Norm Ferguson RW 71 26 21 47 2 14 8 0 0
Juha Widing C 71 18 24 42 8 10 0 1 0
Pierre Guite LW 60 12 21 33 71 −7 2 0 0
Randy Rota C/LW 53 8 22 30 12 11 0 0 0
Dave Langevin D 62 6 22 28 90 11 1 0 0
Bryan Campbell C 53 7 13 20 12 −17 2 0 0
Ron Busniuk RW 59 2 18 20 157 −8 0 0 0
Ab DeMarco D 47 6 8 14 20 −7 3 0 0
Pierre Jarry LW 18 4 10 14 4 −1 0 0 0
Gary MacGregor C 37 11 2 13 29 −2 2 0 0
Dave Semenko LW 65 6 6 12 140 −4 0 0 0
Dennis Sobchuk C 13 6 3 9 4 −4 1 0 0
Don McLeod G 33 0 8 8 2 0 0 0 0
Ken Baird D 6 2 4 6 2 0 0 0 0
Warren Miller RW 18 2 4 6 18 1 0 0 0
Ray McKay D 14 1 4 5 4 3 0 0 0
Butch Deadmarsh LW 20 1 3 4 32 −1 0 0 0
Jerry Holland LW 22 2 1 3 14 −1 1 0 0
Cal Sandbeck D 11 1 2 3 39 1 1 0 0
Jim Troy RW 47 2 0 2 124 −11 0 0 0
Rick Morris LW 5 1 1 2 7 −7 0 1 0
Craig Topolnisky D 10 0 2 2 4 −1 0 0 0
Dave Dryden G 48 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Dave Inkpen D 19 0 1 1 16 −6 0 0 0
Owen Lloyd D 3 0 1 1 4 −1 0 0 0
Gerry Pinder LW 5 0 1 1 0 −1 0 0 0
Kevin Primeau RW 7 0 1 1 2 −1 0 0 0
Chris Ahrens D 4 0 0 0 15 −5 0 0 0
Ken Broderick G 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jim Cross LW 2 0 0 0 0 −3 0 0 0
Bob Falkenberg D 2 0 0 0 0 −1 0 0 0
Del Hall C 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dale McMullin LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Frank Turnbull G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Dave Dryden 2578 48 21 23 2 150 3.49 2
Don McLeod 1723 33 15 10 1 102 3.55 2
Ken Broderick 497 9 2 5 0 42 5.07 0
Frank Turnbull 60 1 0 1 0 6 6.00 0
Team: 4858 80 38 39 3 300 3.71 4
Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Mike Zuke C 5 2 3 5 0 0 0 0
Paul Shmyr D 5 1 3 4 11 0 0 0
Ron Chipperfield C 5 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Pierre Guite LW 5 1 1 2 20 0 0 1
Blair MacDonald RW 5 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Randy Rota C/LW 5 1 1 2 4 0 0 0
Brett Callighen C 5 0 2 2 16 0 0 0
Dave Langevin D 5 0 2 2 10 0 0 0
Joe Micheletti D 5 0 2 2 4 0 0 0
Pierre Jarry LW 5 1 0 1 4 0 0 0
Dennis Sobchuk C 5 1 0 1 4 0 0 0
Ray McKay D 4 0 1 1 4 0 0 0
Juha Widing C 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Ron Busniuk RW 5 0 0 0 18 0 0 0
Ab DeMarco D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dave Dryden G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Norm Ferguson RW 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Don McLeod G 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kevin Primeau RW 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Cal Sandbeck D 5 0 0 0 10 0 0 0
Dave Semenko LW 5 0 0 0 8 0 0 0
Jim Troy RW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Don McLeod 207 4 1 3 16 4.64 1
Dave Dryden 91 2 0 1 6 3.96 0
Team: 298 5 1 4 22 4.43 1

[1]

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;

Awards and records

Transactions

Trades

Date To Edmonton Oilers Traded to Traded for
June 1977 Jim Troy New England Whalers Brett Callighen
June 16, 1977 (1977-06-16) Dave Dryden
Brett Callighen
1st round pick in 1977
4th round pick in 1977
New England Whalers Jean-Louis Levasseur
September 19, 1977 (1977-09-19) Jeff Jacques
Lou Nistico
Birmingham Bulls Chris Evans
Pete Laframboise
Danny Arndt
Blair MacDonald
Dave Inkpen
Mike Zuke
Indianapolis Racers Barry Wilkins
Ed Patenaude
Claude St. Sauveur
Kevin Devine
October 16, 1977 (1977-10-16) Dave Semenko Houston Aeros Future considerations
December 1977 Dennis Sobchuk
Del Hall
Cincinnati Stingers Butch Deadmarsh
Dave Debol
Future considerations
Pierre Guité
Don McLeod
Quebec Nordiques Dave Inkpen
Rick Morris
Warren Miller
Ken Broderick
March 1978 Pierre Jarry
Chris Ahrens
Minnesota North Stars (NHL) Future considerations

Players acquired

Date Player Former team
Jim Cross Portland Winter Hawks (WCHL)
Dale McMullin Tulsa Oilers (CHL)
Craig Topolnisky Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
May 1977 Norm Ferguson San Diego Mariners
May 31, 1977 (1977-05-31) Ken Baird Calgary Cowboys
Doug Berry
Ron Chipperfield
Butch Deadmarsh
Chris Evans
Don Micheletti
Joe Micheletti
Warren Miller
Perry Schnarr
Steve Stoyanovich
June 1977 Gerry Pinder San Diego Mariners
Paul Shmyr
Juha Widing Cleveland Crusaders
August 1977 Kevin Devine San Diego Mariners
Randy Legge
Kevin Morrison
September 14, 1977 (1977-09-14) Jerry Holland New York Rangers (NHL)
Gary MacGregor Indianapolis Racers
October 1977 Bob Falkenberg San Diego Mariners
November 1977 Frank Beaton Birmingham Bulls
March 1978 Ray McKay Birmingham Bulls
March 5, 1978 (1978-03-05) Kevin Primeau Alberta Golden Bears (CWUAA)

Players lost

Date Player New team
Bill Prentice Indianapolis Racers
November 6, 1977 (1977-11-06) Lou Nistico Colorado Rockies (NHL)
December 1977 Paul Stewart Cincinnati Stingers
Ken Baird Winnipeg Jets

Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft.[2]

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 4 Mike Crombeen (F)   Kanada Kingston Canadians (OHA)
3 24 Kim Davis (C)   Kanada Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
4 33 Neil LaBatte (D)   Kanada Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
4 34 Dan Clark (D)   Kanada Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)
5 42 Rocky Saganiuk (RW)   Kanada Lethbridge Broncos (WCHL)
6 51 Julian Baretta (G)   Vereinigte Staaten University of Wisconsin (WCHA)
7 60 Dave Hoyda (LW)   Kanada Portland Winter Hawks (WCHL)
8 69 Ray Creasy (F)   Kanada New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
9 77 Guy Lash (RW)   Kanada Winnipeg Monarchs (WCHL)
10 85 Owen Lloyd (D)   Kanada Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)

Farm teams

See also

References

  1. ^ "1977-78 Edmonton Oilers Statistics – Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
  2. ^ "1977 WHA Amateur Draft". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.