1977–78 New England Whalers season

The 1977–78 New England Whalers season was the Whalers' sixth season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). This season saw the debut of Gordie Howe and his sons with the Whalers' franchise. On December 7, 1977, playing against the Birmingham Bulls at BJCC Coliseum in the first period, Howe became the first player to score 1,000 professional goals, doing so off goaltender John Garrett at 1:36 in the first period off assists by John McKenzie and Mike Antonovich.

On the early morning of January 18, 1978, the roof at the Hartford Civic Center collapsed. The team played their remaining home games at Springfield Civic Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Howe trio helped the Whalers advance to the Avco Cup Finals, where they were defeated by the Winnipeg Jets.

Regular season

Final standings

Schedule and results

|1||W||October 12, 1977||3–0 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||1–0–0

|2||W||October 15, 1977||5–2 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||2–0–0

|3||L||October 16, 1977||2–6 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||2–1–0

|4||T||October 18, 1977||2–2 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||2–1–1

|5||W||October 19, 1977||6–3 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||3–1–1

|6||W||October 21, 1977||5–2 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||4–1–1

|7||W||October 26, 1977||7–1 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||5–1–1

|8||W||October 29, 1977||7–2 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||6–1–1

|9||W||November 1, 1977||6–3 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||7–1–1

|10||W||November 4, 1977||4–3 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||8–1–1

|11||W||November 6, 1977||5–2 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||9–1–1

|12||W||November 8, 1977||4–3 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||10–1–1

|13||W||November 10, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||11–1–1

|14||W||November 12, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||12–1–1

|15||W||November 15, 1977||6–4 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||13–1–1

|16||W||November 18, 1977||3–2 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||14–1–1

|17||W||November 20, 1977||5–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||15–1–1

|18||L||November 22, 1977||4–5 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||15–2–1

|19||T||November 23, 1977||3–3 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||15–2–2

|20||L||November 25, 1977||2–6 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||15–3–2

|21||L||November 26, 1977||1–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||15–4–2

|22||T||November 30, 1977||3–3 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||15–4–3

|23||W||December 2, 1977||4–1 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||16–4–3

|24||L||December 3, 1977||2–5 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||16–5–3

|25||L||December 6, 1977||2–5 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||16–6–3

|26||W||December 7, 1977||6–3 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||17–6–3

|27||W||December 9, 1977||2–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||18–6–3

|28||W||December 14, 1977||7–2 || align="left"| Soviet All-Stars (1977–78) ||19–6–3

|29||W||December 16, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| Czechoslovakia (1977–78) ||20–6–3

|30||L||December 17, 1977||3–6 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||20–7–3

|31||L||December 18, 1977||3–7 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||20–8–3

|32||W||December 23, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||21–8–3

|33||W||December 27, 1977||8–1 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||22–8–3

|34||W||December 30, 1977||6–2 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||23–8–3

|35||W||January 1, 1978||4–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||24–8–3

|36||L||January 4, 1978||4–6 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||24–9–3

|37||L||January 6, 1978||3–4 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||24–10–3

|38||W||January 7, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||25–10–3

|39||L||January 8, 1978||4–5 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||25–11–3

|40||W||January 13, 1978||2–0 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||26–11–3

|41||L||January 14, 1978||4–5 OT|| align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||26–12–3

|42||L||January 18, 1978||0–1 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||26–13–3

|43||T||January 20, 1978||4–4 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||26–13–4

|44||L||January 21, 1978||2–3 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||26–14–4

|45||W||January 22, 1978||6–3 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||27–14–4

|46||L||January 25, 1978||7–8 OT|| align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||27–15–4

|47||W||January 27, 1978||6–2 || align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||28–15–4

|48||W||January 28, 1978||3–0 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||29–15–4

|49||L||January 29, 1978||4–6 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||29–16–4

|50||W||February 1, 1978||4–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||30–16–4

|51||L||February 3, 1978||3–6 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||30–17–4

|52||L||February 4, 1978||4–5 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||30–18–4

|53||W||February 11, 1978||8–7 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||31–18–4

|54||W||February 14, 1978||5–1 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||32–18–4

|55||L||February 16, 1978||1–2 OT|| align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||32–19–4

|56||W||February 18, 1978||4–1 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||33–19–4

|57||L||February 21, 1978||5–6 OT|| align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||33–20–4

|58||L||February 22, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||33–21–4

|59||L||February 24, 1978||2–7 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||33–22–4

|60||W||February 26, 1978||6–5 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||34–22–4

|61||L||March 1, 1978||3–4 OT|| align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||34–23–4

|62||L||March 3, 1978||2–3 OT|| align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||34–24–4

|63||L||March 4, 1978||2–5 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||34–25–4

|64||L||March 5, 1978||1–2 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||34–26–4

|65||L||March 9, 1978||4–6 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||34–27–4

|66||W||March 10, 1978||5–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||35–27–4

|67||W||March 14, 1978||6–0 || align="left"| Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) ||36–27–4

|68||W||March 15, 1978||7–0 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||37–27–4

|69||W||March 17, 1978||6–2 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||38–27–4

|70||L||March 18, 1978||3–5 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||38–28–4

|71||W||March 21, 1978||6–3 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||39–28–4

|72||L||March 22, 1978||3–5 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||39–29–4

|73||L||March 24, 1978||0–1 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||39–30–4

|74||W||March 26, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||40–30–4

|75||W||March 29, 1978||6–1 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||41–30–4

|76||W||April 3, 1978||8–6 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||42–30–4

|77||T||April 5, 1978||4–4 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||42–30–5

|78||L||April 6, 1978||4–7 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||42–31–5

|79||W||April 10, 1978||6–1 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||43–31–5

|80||W||April 11, 1978||6–3 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||44–31–5

Legend:

Playoffs

| 1 || April 14 || Edmonton Oilers || 4–6 || New England Whalers || 1–0

| 2 || April 16 || Edmonton Oilers || 1–4 || New England Whalers || 2–0

| 3 || April 19 || New England Whalers || 0–2 || Edmonton Oilers || 2–1

| 4 || April 21 || New England || 9–1 || Edmonton Oilers || 3–1

| 5 || April 23 || Edmonton Oilers || 1–4 || New England Whalers || 4–1

| 1 || April 28 || Quebec Nordiques || 1–5 || New England Whalers || 1–0

| 2 || April 30 || Quebec Nordiques || 3–2 || New England Whalers || 1–1

| 3 || May 3 || New England Whalers || 5–4 || Quebec Nordiques || 2–1

| 4 || May 5 || New England Whalers || 7–3 || Quebec Nordiques || 3–1

| 5 || May 7 || Quebec Nordiques || 3–6 || New England Whalers || 4–1

| 1 || May 12 || Winnipeg Jets || 4–1 || New England Whalers || 0–1

| 2 || May 14 || Winnipeg Jets || 2–5 || New England Whalers || 0–2

| 3 || May 19 || New England Whalers || 2–10 || Winnipeg Jets || 0–3

| 4 || May 22 || New England Whalers || 3–5 || Winnipeg Jets || 0–4

Legend:

Player statistics Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG RW 76 34 62 96 85461600 D 70 30 61 91 3230400 C 80 28 43 71 4622410 C 75 32 35 67 3217500 C 77 24 38 62 2−4150 D 78 15 46 61 11817500 RW 79 27 29 56 6115900 LW 68 30 24 54 7412300 D 73 3 41 44 9536000 C 54 16 18 34 412200 D 80 6 25 31 8811200 D 79 11 18 29 14017000 LW 67 9 20 29 1929000 C 48 9 14 23 273020 RW 20 15 5 20 58500 RW 51 11 9 20 211100 D 75 10 10 20 6610100 RW 25 8 11 19 14−2300 D 45 1 13 14 6921000 C 38 6 7 13 117110 LW 41 5 5 10 226000 D 27 1 9 10 186000 D 17 2 1 3 119000 G 55 0 3 3 40000 C 10 2 0 2 2−2000 G 27 0 0 0 20000Goaltending PlayerMINGPW LTGAGAA SO 3246 55 30 20 3 174 3.22 2 1655 27 14 11 2 91 3.30 3 Team: 4901 80 44 31 5 265 3.24 5 Playoffs Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG C 14 10 7 17 4001 C 14 5 11 16 4001 D 14 8 7 15 18000 RW 14 6 6 12 16001 C 14 5 6 11 8000 RW 14 5 5 10 15002 C 14 5 4 9 8001 C 13 2 7 9 2000 D 14 1 8 9 4000 LW 14 2 4 6 4000 D 14 1 5 6 16001 D 14 1 4 5 37000 D 14 0 5 5 29000 RW 13 1 3 4 9000 LW 12 2 1 3 13000 D 14 0 3 3 8000 LW 9 1 1 2 14000 D 14 1 1 2 13001 G 12 0 1 1 2000 C 2 0 0 0 0000 G 3 0 0 0 0000 Goaltending PlayerMINGPW LGAGAA SO 719 12 8 4 31 2.59 0 120 3 0 2 14 7.00 0 Team: 839 14 8 6 45 3.22 0

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; Draft picks New England's draft picks at the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)215Moe Robinson (D)Kingston Canadians (OHA)219Randy Pierce (RW)Sudbury Wolves (OHA)323John Baby (D)Sudbury Wolves (OHA)543Brian Hill (RW)Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)652Jim Korn (D)Providence College (ECAC)

See also 1977–78 WHA season

References