1977–78 Birmingham Bulls season

The 1977–78 Birmingham Bulls season was the Birmingham Bulls second season of operation in the World Hockey Association. The Bulls qualified for the playoffs, losing in the quarter-finals to the Winnipeg Jets.

Regular season

Final standings

Schedule and results

|1||W||October 14, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||1–0–0

|2||L||October 15, 1977||2–5 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1977–78) ||1–1–0

|3||L||October 22, 1977||5–8 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||1–2–0

|4||L||October 23, 1977||3–10 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||1–3–0

|5||L||October 25, 1977||4–5 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||1–4–0

|6||L||October 28, 1977||2–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||1–5–0

|7||L||October 29, 1977||2–6 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||1–6–0

|8||L||November 2, 1977||3–5 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||1–7–0

|9||L||November 4, 1977||2–4 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||1–8–0

|10||W||November 5, 1977||5–4 OT|| align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||2–8–0

|11||L||November 8, 1977||3–4 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1977–78) ||2–9–0

|12||L||November 9, 1977||1–2 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||2–10–0

|13||T||November 12, 1977||1–1 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||2–10–1

|14||T||November 16, 1977||2–2 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||2–10–2

|15||W||November 18, 1977||2–1 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||3–10–2

|16||W||November 19, 1977||4–3 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||4–10–2

|17||L||November 23, 1977||0–3 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||4–11–2

|18||W||November 24, 1977||12–2 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||5–11–2

|19||L||November 26, 1977||2–4 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||5–12–2

|20||W||November 27, 1977||4–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||6–12–2

|21||L||November 30, 1977||2–4 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||6–13–2

|22||W||December 2, 1977||7–5 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||7–13–2

|23||W||December 4, 1977||3–0 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||8–13–2

|24||L||December 7, 1977||3–6 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1977–78) ||8–14–2

|25||L||December 9, 1977||1–2 OT|| align="left"| New England Whalers (1977–78) ||8–15–2

|26||W||December 13, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||9–15–2

|27||W||December 15, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||10–15–2

|28||W||December 18, 1977||3–2 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||11–15–2

|29||W||December 21, 1977||5–0 || align="left"| Czechoslovakia (1977–78) ||12–15–2

|30||W||December 26, 1977||6–1 || align="left"| Soviet All-Stars (1977–78) ||13–15–2

|31||L||December 27, 1977||1–8 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1977–78) ||13–16–2

|32||W||December 29, 1977||7–1 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||14–16–2

|33||L||December 30, 1977||2–6 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1977–78) ||14–17–2

|34||L||January 1, 1978||2–5 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||14–18–2

|35||L||January 4, 1978||1–4 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||14–19–2

|36||W||January 6, 1978||6–4 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||15–19–2

|37||W||January 8, 1978||5–4 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1977–78) ||16–19–2

|38||L||January 10, 1978||4–6 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||16–20–2

|39||L||January 11, 1978||2–11 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||16–21–2

|40||W||January 14, 1978||4–3 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||17–21–2

|41||W||January 18, 1978||3–0 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||18–21–2

|42||W||January 20, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||19–21–2

|43||L||January 22, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||19–22–2

|44||W||January 25, 1978||6–2 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||20–22–2

|45||L||January 27, 1978||2–6 || align="left"| New England Whalers (1977–78) ||20–23–2

|46||W||January 28, 1978||8–5 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||21–23–2

|47||L||January 31, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||21–24–2

|48||L||February 2, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||21–25–2

|49||W||February 4, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||22–25–2

|50||L||February 5, 1978||1–6 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||22–26–2

|51||L||February 7, 1978||3–8 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||22–27–2

|52||L||February 8, 1978||0–9 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||22–28–2

|53||L||February 12, 1978||0–7 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||22–29–2

|54||L||February 14, 1978||1–4 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||22–30–2

|55||W||February 16, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||23–30–2

|56||W||February 17, 1978||5–4 OT|| align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||24–30–2

|57||L||February 18, 1978||2–3 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||24–31–2

|58||L||February 19, 1978||3–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||24–32–2

|59||W||February 23, 1978||7–3 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||25–32–2

|60||W||February 25, 1978||7–3 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||26–32–2

|61||L||February 26, 1978||3–6 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||26–33–2

|62||W||March 1, 1978||4–3 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||27–33–2

|63||W||March 4, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1977–78) ||28–33–2

|64||L||March 5, 1978||3–4 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||28–34–2

|65||W||March 9, 1978||9–2 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||29–34–2

|66||L||March 10, 1978||4–5 OT|| align="left"| New England Whalers (1977–78) ||29–35–2

|67||L||March 12, 1978||2–3 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||29–36–2

|68||L||March 14, 1978||0–6 || align="left"| @ New England Whalers (1977–78) ||29–37–2

|69||L||March 15, 1978||2–7 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||29–38–2

|70||W||March 17, 1978||3–2 || align="left"| @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||30–38–2

|71||T||March 19, 1978||3–3 || align="left"| Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||30–38–3

|72||W||March 21, 1978||5–4 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||31–38–3

|73||W||March 22, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||32–38–3

|74||L||March 24, 1978||3–4 OT|| align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) ||32–39–3

|75||L||March 25, 1978||1–3 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1977–78) ||32–40–3

|76||W||March 31, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) ||33–40–3

|77||W||April 1, 1978||5–1 || align="left"| Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||34–40–3

|78||L||April 5, 1978||4–5 || align="left"| @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) ||34–41–3

|79||W||April 7, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| Houston Aeros (1977–78) ||35–41–3

|80||W||April 9, 1978||9–7 || align="left"| @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) ||36–41–3

Legend:

Playoffs

| 1 || April 14 || Birmingham Bulls || 3–9 || Winnipeg Jets || 1–0

| 2 || April 16 || Birmingham Bulls || 3–8 || Winnipeg Jets || 2–0

| 3 || April 19 || Winnipeg Jets || 2–3 || Birmingham Bulls || 2–1

| 4 || April 21 || Winnipeg Jets || 5–1 || Birmingham Bulls || 3–1

| 5 || April 23 || Birmingham Bulls || 2–5 || Winnipeg Jets || 4–1

Legend:

Player statistics Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG C 71 38 38 76 1266540 C 80 28 43 71 539710 RW 80 37 29 66 2241110 RW 79 33 32 65 90−111400 D 80 9 35 44 4812300 RW 77 18 25 43 59−3400 RW 63 19 21 40 9318200 C 48 13 26 39 5213210 LW 72 14 24 38 22−5600 D 64 8 25 33 10514100 C/D 45 9 19 28 6−9000 RW 53 8 20 28 917000 D 78 3 21 24 4510000 D 42 7 16 23 24110000 D 52 3 18 21 5210000 LW 27 8 12 20 1117100 LW 56 6 9 15 279−8010 RW 39 7 6 13 33−2000 D 43 1 12 13 29−6000 D 77 2 10 12 97−7000 D 45 6 4 10 284−12100 RW 13 4 2 6 5−14200 RW 12 2 3 5 6−9100 LW 59 2 2 4 258−14000 D 12 1 2 3 4−7000 G 58 0 3 3 260000 G 32 0 3 3 220000 D 11 1 0 1 01000 LW 4 0 1 1 01000Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO 3306 58 24 31 1 210 3.81 2 1551 32 12 10 2 99 3.83 1 Team: 4857 80 36 41 3 309 3.82 3 Playoffs Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG C 5 2 2 4 15000 C 5 0 3 3 2000 LW 5 2 0 2 10000 RW 4 1 1 2 0000 RW 5 1 1 2 0000 LW 3 1 1 2 0000 C 5 1 1 2 6001 D 5 1 1 2 0000 D 4 0 2 2 16000 RW 5 0 2 2 14000 LW 5 1 0 1 5000 D 5 1 0 1 46000 RW 4 1 0 1 20000 D 5 0 1 1 48000 D 3 0 1 1 2000 LW 3 0 0 0 27000 RW 4 0 0 0 4000 G 5 0 0 0 0000 D 5 0 0 0 7000 D 5 0 0 0 12000 D 4 0 0 0 9000 G 1 0 0 0 0000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LGAGAA SO 271 5 1 4 26 5.76 0 29 1 0 0 3 6.21 0 Team: 300 5 1 4 29 5.80 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 Birmingham's draft picks at the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)16Rod Langway (D)University of New Hampshire (ECAC)212Brad Maxwell (D)New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)322Mark Johnson (F)University of Wisconsin (WCHA)431Norm Dupont (LW)Montreal Juniors (QMJHL)540Steve Baker (G)Union College (ECAC-2)649Greg Tebbutt (D)Regina Pats (WCHL)758Bob Suter (D)University of Wisconsin (WCHA)867Curt Christopherson (D)Colorado College (WCHA)975Jean Savard (F)Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)1083Ken Linseman (F)Kingston Canadians (OHA)

See also 1977–78 NHL season

References