1975–76 WHA season
Professional ice hockey league season
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The 1975–76 WHA season was the fourth season of the World Hockey Association. After the Baltimore Blades and Chicago Cougars folded, the league stayed at 14 teams by adding the Cincinnati Stingers and Denver Spurs. In addition, the Vancouver Blazers franchise moved to Calgary and became the Cowboys. Midway through the season, the Spurs moved to Ottawa and became the Civics, though the team folded shortly thereafter when the sale of the franchise fell through. The Minnesota Fighting Saints became the second team to fold mid-season when the franchise was not financially successful, despite having a winning record at the time. Theoretically, fourteen teams would play 80 games each, but only twelve teams finished the season, with cancelled games involving the Civics or Saints being rescheduled on the fly, and four of five Canadian Division teams played 81 games, as a result.
| 1975–76 WHA season | |
|---|---|
| League | World Hockey Association |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 9, 1975 – May 27, 1976 |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Claude Larose |
| Picked by | Cincinnati Stingers |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Houston Aeros |
| Season MVP | Marc Tardif (Quebec) |
| Top scorer | Marc Tardif (Quebec) |
| Playoffs | |
| Playoffs MVP | Ulf Nilsson (Jets) |
| Avco Cup Final | |
| Champions | Winnipeg Jets |
| Runners-up | Houston Aeros |
Regular season
Final standings
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West Division 
East Division 
Canadian Division*Denver Spurs moved to Ottawa mid-way through the season as the Ottawa Civics before quickly folding.
Note: Minnesota Fighting Saints folded mid-way through the season.
| Canadian Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg Jets | 81 | 52 | 27 | 2 | 106 | 345 | 254 | 940 |
| Quebec Nordiques | 81 | 50 | 27 | 4 | 104 | 371 | 316 | 1654 |
| Calgary Cowboys | 80 | 41 | 35 | 4 | 86 | 307 | 282 | 1064 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 81 | 27 | 49 | 5 | 59 | 268 | 345 | 991 |
| Toronto Toros | 81 | 24 | 52 | 5 | 53 | 335 | 398 | 1099 |
| Denver Spurs / Ottawa Civics+ | 41 | 14 | 26 | 1 | 29 | 134 | 172 | 536 |
+team started season in Western Division when playing in Denver; transferred by league to Canadian Division shortly after moving to Ottawa.
| Eastern Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis Racers | 80 | 35 | 39 | 6 | 76 | 245 | 247 | 1301 |
| Cleveland Crusaders | 80 | 35 | 40 | 5 | 75 | 273 | 279 | 1356 |
| New England Whalers | 80 | 33 | 40 | 7 | 73 | 255 | 290 | 1012 |
| Cincinnati Stingers | 80 | 35 | 44 | 1 | 71 | 285 | 340 | 1344 |
| Western Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Aeros | 80 | 53 | 27 | 0 | 106 | 341 | 263 | 1093 |
| Phoenix Roadrunners | 80 | 39 | 35 | 6 | 84 | 302 | 287 | 1292 |
| San Diego Mariners | 80 | 36 | 38 | 6 | 78 | 303 | 290 | 716 |
| Minnesota Fighting Saints | 59 | 30 | 25 | 4 | 64 | 211 | 212 | 1354 |
Player stats
Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marc Tardif | Quebec Nordiques | 81 | 71 | 77 | 148 | 79 |
| Bobby Hull | Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 53 | 70 | 123 | 30 |
| Real Cloutier | Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 60 | 54 | 114 | 27 |
| Ulf Nilsson | Winnipeg Jets | 78 | 38 | 76 | 114 | 54 |
| Robbie Ftorek | Phoenix Roadrunners | 80 | 41 | 72 | 113 | 109 |
| Chris Bordeleau | Quebec Nordiques | 74 | 37 | 72 | 109 | 42 |
| Anders Hedberg | Winnipeg Jets | 76 | 50 | 55 | 105 | 48 |
| Rejean Houle | Quebec Nordiques | 81 | 51 | 52 | 103 | 61 |
| Serge Bernier | Quebec Nordiques | 70 | 34 | 68 | 102 | 91 |
| Gordie Howe | Houston Aeros | 78 | 32 | 70 | 102 | 76 |
Leading goaltenders
Bolded numbers indicate season leaders
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michel Dion | Indianapolis Racers | 31 | 1860 | 14 | 15 | 1 | 85 | 0 | 91.0 | 2.74 |
| Joe Daley | Winnipeg Jets | 62 | 3612 | 41 | 17 | 1 | 171 | 5 | 90.3 | 2.84 |
| Wayne Rutledge | Houston Aeros | 25 | 1456 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 77 | 1 | 90.1 | 3.17 |
| Jack Norris | Phoenix Roadrunners | 41 | 2412 | 21 | 14 | 4 | 128 | 1 | 89.1 | 3.18 |
| Ernie Wakely | San Diego Mariners | 67 | 3824 | 35 | 27 | 4 | 208 | 3 | 89.5 | 3.25 |
All-Star game
The 4th annual WHA All-Star Game featured a Canadian-based All-Star team vs a United States-based All-Star team, with the game taking place in Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland, Ohio. The Canadians won the game 6–1, with Real Cloutier and Paul Shmyr being named MVPs.
Avco World Trophy playoffs
For the only time, the World Hockey Association had ten teams compete in a postseason. New England played Cleveland in order to play Indianapolis while San Diego played Phoenix to play Houston. The team reverted to the 8-team format for next season. The fragmented scheduling led to Winnipeg, who beat Calgary in the Semifinals on May 2, having to wait 18 days to play Houston in the Avco Cup Final. It did not affect them, however, as they swept Houston in four games.
| Quarterfinals April 9-30 | Semifinals April 23 - May 16 | Avco Cup May 20-27 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Houston Aeros | 4 | |||||||||||
| W3 | San Diego Mariners | 2 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Houston Aeros | 4 | |||||||||||
| E3 | New England Whalers | 3 | |||||||||||
| E3 | New England Whalers | 4 | |||||||||||
| ' | |||||||||||||
| E1 | Indianapolis Racers | 3 | |||||||||||
| C1 | Winnipeg Jets | 4 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Houston Aeros | 0 | |||||||||||
| C3 | Calgary Cowboys | 4 | |||||||||||
| C2 | Quebec Nordiques | 1 | |||||||||||
| C1 | Winnipeg Jets | 4 | |||||||||||
| C3 | Calgary Cowboys | 1 | |||||||||||
| C1 | Winnipeg Jets | 4 | |||||||||||
| C4 | Edmonton Oilers | 0 | |||||||||||
| Preliminary Round | Preliminary Round | ||||||||||||
| New England Whalers | 3 | San Diego Mariners | 3 | ||||||||||
| Cleveland Crusaders | 0 | Phoenix Roadrunners | 2 | ||||||||||
AVCO World Trophy finals
(1) Winnipeg Jets VS. (1) Houston Aeros:[1] Jets sweep series 4–0
- Game 1 (May 20) @ Houston: Winnipeg 4, Houston 3
- Game 2 (May 23) @ Houston: Winnipeg 5, Houston 4
- Game 3 (May 25) @ Winnipeg: Winnipeg 6, Houston 3
- Game 4 (May 27) @ Winnipeg: Winnipeg 9, Houston 1
WHA awards
Trophies
All-Star Team
| Position | First Team | Second Team |
|---|---|---|
| Centre | Ulf Nilsson, Winnipeg | Robbie Ftorek, Phoenix |
| Right Wing | Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg | Real Cloutier, Quebec |
| Left Wing | Marc Tardif, Quebec | Bobby Hull, Winnipeg |
| Defence | Paul Shmyr, Cleveland | Kevin Morrison, San Diego |
| Defence | J. C. Tremblay, Quebec | Pat Stapleton, Indianapolis |
| Goaltender | Joe Daley, Winnipeg | Ron Grahame, Houston |