1978–79 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1978–79 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the 62nd season of the Toronto NHL franchise, 52nd as the Maple Leafs. The Leafs placed third in the Adams Division to make the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year, where they won their first round series against the Atlanta Flames, only to lose in their second round series to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens. The Maple Leafs and Canadiens would not play each other in the postseason again until the 2021 season.

Offseason

NHL draft Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team221Joel QuennevilleWindsor Spitfires (OMJHL)348Mark Kirton Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)465Bob Parent Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)581Jordy Douglas Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)692Mel Hewitt Calgary Wranglers (WCHL)698Norm Lefebvre Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)7115John Scammell Lethbridge Broncos (WCHL)8132Kevin Reinhart Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)9149Mike Waghorne University of New Hampshire (ECAC)10166Laurie Cuvelier St. Francis Xavier University (CIAU)

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||W||October 11, 1978||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||1–0–0

|2||W||October 14, 1978||10–7 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Islanders (1978–79) ||2–0–0

|3||L||October 15, 1978||2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||2–1–0

|4||W||October 18, 1978||2–0 || style="text-align:left;"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||3–1–0

|5||L||October 19, 1978||0–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||3–2–0

|6||W||October 21, 1978||2–0 || style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||4–2–0

|7||L||October 22, 1978||2–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||4–3–0

|8||T||October 25, 1978||4–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||4–3–1

|9||L||October 26, 1978||0–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||4–4–1

|10||L||October 28, 1978||3–5 || style="text-align:left;"| Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||4–5–1

|11||W||November 1, 1978||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||5–5–1

|12||W||November 3, 1978||3–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||6–5–1

|13||T||November 4, 1978||4–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||6–5–2

|14||W||November 7, 1978||5–0 || style="text-align:left;"| @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||7–5–2

|15||L||November 8, 1978||1–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||7–6–2

|16||L||November 11, 1978||2–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||7–7–2

|17||T||November 15, 1978||2–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||7–7–3

|18||W||November 16, 1978||6–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||8–7–3

|19||W||November 18, 1978||3–1 || style="text-align:left;"| St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||9–7–3

|20||W||November 21, 1978||4–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||10–7–3

|21||T||November 22, 1978||3–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||10–7–4

|22||L||November 25, 1978||3–6 || style="text-align:left;"| Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||10–8–4

|23||W||November 26, 1978||8–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||11–8–4

|24||W||November 29, 1978||5–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||12–8–4

|25||W||December 2, 1978||5–2 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Rangers (1978–79) ||13–8–4

|26||L||December 3, 1978||2–7 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||13–9–4

|27||L||December 5, 1978||1–5 || style="text-align:left;"| Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||13–10–4

|28||L||December 6, 1978||4–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||13–11–4

|29||L||December 9, 1978||2–3 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Islanders (1978–79) ||13–12–4

|30||L||December 10, 1978||3–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||13–13–4

|31||W||December 13, 1978||5–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||14–13–4

|32||W||December 16, 1978||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||15–13–4

|33||L||December 17, 1978||6–7 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||15–14–4

|34||W||December 20, 1978||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||16–14–4

|35||L||December 22, 1978||1–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||16–15–4

|36||W||December 23, 1978||6–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||17–15–4

|37||L||December 26, 1978||1–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Islanders (1978–79) ||17–16–4

|38||T||December 27, 1978||1–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||17–16–5

|39||T||December 30, 1978||5–5 || style="text-align:left;"| Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||17–16–6

|40||L||January 3, 1979||1–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||17–17–6

|41||L||January 6, 1979||3–5 || style="text-align:left;"| Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||17–18–6

|42||L||January 8, 1979||1–5 || style="text-align:left;"| Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||17–19–6

|43||T||January 10, 1979||2–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||17–19–7

|44||W||January 13, 1979||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||18–19–7

|45||W||January 16, 1979||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||19–19–7

|46||T||January 19, 1979||3–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||19–19–8

|47||W||January 20, 1979||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||20–19–8

|48||T||January 24, 1979||2–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||20–19–9

|49||L||January 26, 1979||2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||20–20–9

|50||T||January 28, 1979||2–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||20–20–10

|51||W||January 31, 1979||5–1 || style="text-align:left;"| St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||21–20–10

|52||L||February 3, 1979||3–6 || style="text-align:left;"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||21–21–10

|53||L||February 4, 1979||4–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||21–22–10

|54||W||February 12, 1979||5–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||22–22–10

|55||T||February 14, 1979||2–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||22–22–11

|56||W||February 17, 1979||5–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||23–22–11

|57||W||February 19, 1979||6–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||24–22–11

|58||L||February 21, 1979||1–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||24–23–11

|59||L||February 24, 1979||2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Rangers (1978–79) ||24–24–11

|60||L||February 26, 1979||1–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||24–25–11

|61||L||February 28, 1979||4–6 || style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||24–26–11

|62||L||March 1, 1979||1–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||24–27–11

|63||W||March 3, 1979||4–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||25–27–11

|64||W||March 4, 1979||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||26–27–11

|65||W||March 7, 1979||2–0 || style="text-align:left;"| Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||27–27–11

|66||W||March 10, 1979||9–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||28–27–11

|67||W||March 11, 1979||4–0 || style="text-align:left;"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||29–27–11

|68||L||March 14, 1979||1–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||29–28–11

|69||L||March 15, 1979||2–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Islanders (1978–79) ||29–29–11

|70||W||March 17, 1979||6–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||30–29–11

|71||L||March 19, 1979||3–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||30–30–11

|72||L||March 21, 1979||2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||30–31–11

|73||T||March 24, 1979||3–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||30–31–12

|74||L||March 25, 1979||1–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||30–32–12

|75||W||March 28, 1979||6–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||31–32–12

|76||W||March 31, 1979||6–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||32–32–12

|77||W||April 1, 1979||6–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||33–32–12

|78||T||April 4, 1979||3–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||33–32–13

|79||W||April 7, 1979||6–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||34–32–13

|80||L||April 8, 1979||3–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||34–33–13

Legend:

Player statistics

Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG C 70 36 51 87 6991204 RW 79 43 42 85 32121602 D 78 17 56 73 7636402 D 80 12 51 63 80-7400 C 79 25 36 61 1821716 LW 77 17 36 53 15719005 LW 77 19 20 39 298-7604 C/RW 80 14 19 33 1363002 RW 63 16 12 28 107401 RW 71 15 11 26 102002 D 79 4 15 19 23536000 RW 69 9 9 18 452000 D 46 5 12 17 4-10400 RW 76 8 7 15 52-2022 D 65 2 11 13 28-10000 LW 62 4 7 11 254020 D 61 2 9 11 607001 C 11 7 2 9 00201 RW/C 16 3 5 8 91101 C 26 4 3 7 2-3000 LW 45 4 3 7 2-6001 D 40 1 4 5 481000 G 58 0 5 5 240000 C 3 0 0 0 0-3000 G 1 0 0 0 00000 G 25 0 0 0 100000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO 3396 58 26 21 10 167 2.95 4 1403 25 8 12 3 82 3.51 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 0 Team: 4800 80 34 33 13 249 3.11 5

Playoffs Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG C 6 5 4 9 17200 C 6 4 3 7 7011 LW 6 3 3 6 2101 RW 6 3 2 5 0000 C/RW 6 2 2 4 22000 D 6 0 4 4 27000 D 6 0 3 3 23000 RW 6 1 1 2 2000 RW 6 0 2 2 0000 RW/C 3 1 0 1 5000 D 6 0 1 1 7000 C 6 0 1 1 4000 D 6 0 1 1 4000 D 6 0 1 1 8000 D 3 0 1 1 0000 RW 6 0 0 0 4000 G 2 0 0 0 0000 RW 6 0 0 0 4000 G 5 0 0 0 6000 LW 6 0 0 0 48000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LGAGAA SO 298 5 2 3 17 3.42 0 91 2 0 1 7 4.62 0 Team: 389 6 2 4 24 3.70 0

Playoffs

Preliminary round Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Atlanta Flames Date Away Score Home Score Notes April 10 Toronto 2 Atlanta 1 April 12 Atlanta 4 Toronto 7 Toronto wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0.

Quarter-finals Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens Date Away Score Home Score Notes April 16 Toronto 2 Montreal 5 April 18 Toronto 1 Montreal 5 April 21 Montreal 4 Toronto 3 (OT) April 22 Montreal 5 Toronto 4 (OT) Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0.

Awards and records Borje Salming, Second Team NHL All-Star, Defence

Transactions The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1978–79 season.

Trades September 13, 1978To Vancouver CanucksCashTo Toronto Maple LeafsGarry Monahan October 5, 1978To Minnesota North Stars3rd round pick in 1980 – Randy VelischekTo Toronto Maple LeafsWalt McKechnie October 19, 1978To Colorado RockiesJack ValiquetteTo Toronto Maple Leafs2nd round pick in 1981 – Gary Yaremchuk March 13, 1979To Colorado RockiesDon Ashby Trevor JohansenTo Toronto Maple LeafsPaul Gardner

Waivers July 4, 1979To Edmonton OilersStan Weir

Expansion draft June 13, 1979To Hartford WhalersJordy Douglas June 13, 1979To Winnipeg JetsPierre Hamel June 13, 1979To Hartford WhalersKevin Kemp June 13, 1979To Hartford WhalersRick Ley

References Maple Leafs on Hockey Database