The 1978–79 NHL season was the 62nd season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Final four games to one for their fourth consecutive Cup; two "Original Six" teams did not meet again in the Final for the next 34 years, when the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins in the 2013 Final. The Bruins faced the Canadiens in the 1979 semifinals, marking the last appearance by three Original Six teams in the final four for the next 35 years, when the Blackhawks, Canadiens and Rangers reached the semifinals of the 2014 playoffs.
The Cleveland Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars (continuing as the North Stars), reducing the NHL membership to 17 teams, the last time that a league in the "big four" major professional sports league contracted.
League business This season saw the first reduction in the total number of teams since the Brooklyn Americans folded following the 1941–42 season. Fearing that two teams were on the verge of folding, the league approved the merger of the financially unstable Cleveland Barons and Minnesota North Stars franchises, reducing the number of teams to 17. The merged team continued as the Minnesota North Stars but assumed the Barons' place in the Adams Division.
This reduction was only temporary, however, as negotiations continued toward an agreement with the World Hockey Association that would see it fold following this season, with four of its teams joining the NHL as expansion franchises for 1979–80.
A dispersal draft was then held on June 15, 1978. The merged North Stars was allowed to protect 14 players, then the five other worst teams in the previous 1977–78 season each had the option to pick one of the unprotected players.
The 1978 NHL amateur draft was also held on June 15, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Bobby Smith was selected first overall by the North Stars.
For the first time since the NHL All-Star Game became an annual tradition, it was not played. In its stead was the 1979 Challenge Cup, which saw Soviet Union players come over to North America to play against NHL players. The Soviets won the series two games to one.
Regular season For the past three seasons, the Montreal Canadiens had dominated the regular season, but times were changing. The New York Islanders had been steadily improving over the past few seasons and this season saw them beat out the Canadiens by one point for the best record in the league.
This was the last season until the 2005–06 season that the St. Louis Blues missed the playoffs.
Final standings
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
Prince of Wales Conference
Clarence Campbell Conference
Playoffs
Bracket The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system: in each round, the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth.
Regardless of playoff seed, all four division winners received a bye to the quarterfinals. Each series in the preliminary round was played in a best-of-three format while each series in the other three rounds were played in a best-of-seven format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).
Awards 1979 NHL awardsPrince of Wales Trophy:(Wales Conference regular season champion) Montreal CanadiensClarence S. Campbell Bowl:(Campbell Conference regular season champion) New York IslandersArt Ross Trophy:(Top scorer, regular season) Bryan Trottier, New York IslandersBill Masterton Memorial Trophy:(Perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication) Serge Savard, Montreal CanadiensCalder Memorial Trophy:(Top first-year player) Bobby Smith, Minnesota North StarsConn Smythe Trophy:(Most valuable player, playoffs) Bob Gainey, Montreal CanadiensFrank J. Selke Trophy:(Best defensive forward) Bob Gainey, Montreal CanadiensHart Memorial Trophy:(Most valuable player, regular season) Bryan Trottier, New York IslandersJack Adams Award:(Best coach) Al Arbour, New York IslandersJames Norris Memorial Trophy:(Best defenceman) Denis Potvin, New York IslandersLady Byng Memorial Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Bob MacMillan, Atlanta FlamesLester B. Pearson Award:(Outstanding player, regular season) Marcel Dionne, Los Angeles KingsVezina Trophy:(Goaltender(s) of team(s) with best goaltending record) Ken Dryden & Michel Larocque, Montreal Canadiens
All-Star teams First team Position Second teamKen Dryden, Montreal Canadiens GGlenn Resch, New York IslandersDenis Potvin, New York Islanders DBorje Salming, Toronto Maple LeafsLarry Robinson, Montreal Canadiens DSerge Savard, Montreal CanadiensBryan Trottier, New York Islanders CMarcel Dionne, Los Angeles KingsGuy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens RWMike Bossy, New York IslandersClark Gillies, New York Islanders LWBill Barber, Philadelphia Flyers
Player statistics
Scoring leaders GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Bryan Trottier New York Islanders 76 47 87 134 50 Marcel Dionne Los Angeles Kings 80 59 71 130 30 Guy Lafleur Montreal Canadiens 80 52 77 129 28 Mike Bossy New York Islanders 80 69 57 126 25 Bob MacMillan Atlanta Flames 79 37 71 108 14 Guy Chouinard Atlanta Flames 80 50 57 107 14 Denis Potvin New York Islanders 73 31 70 101 58 Bernie Federko St. Louis Blues 74 31 64 95 14 Dave Taylor Los Angeles Kings 78 43 48 91 124 Clark Gillies New York Islanders 75 35 56 91 68 Source: NHL.
Leading goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts Player Team GP MIN GA GAA W L T SOKen Dryden Montreal Canadiens 47 2814 108 2.30 30 10 7 5Chico Resch N.Y. Islanders 43 2539 106 2.50 26 7 10 2Bernie Parent Philadelphia Flyers 36 1979 89 2.70 16 12 7 4Michel Larocque Montreal Canadiens 34 1986 94 2.84 22 7 4 3Billy Smith N.Y. Islanders 40 2261 108 2.87 25 8 4 1Mike Palmateer Toronto Maple Leafs 58 3396 167 2.95 26 21 10 4Don Edwards Buffalo Sabres 54 3160 159 3.02 26 18 9 2Mario Lessard L.A. Kings 49 2860 148 3.10 23 15 10 4Glen Hanlon Vancouver Canucks 31 1821 94 3.10 12 13 5 3Gerry Cheevers Boston Bruins 43 2509 132 3.16 23 9 10 1
Other statistics Plus-minus Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Coaches
Patrick Division Atlanta Flames: Fred Creighton New York Islanders: Al Arbour New York Rangers: Fred Shero Philadelphia Flyers: Bob McCammon and Pat Quinn
Adams Division Boston Bruins: Don Cherry Buffalo Sabres: Billy Inglis Minnesota North Stars: Harry Howell and Glen Sonmor Toronto Maple Leafs: Roger Neilson
Norris Division Detroit Red Wings: Bobby Kromm Los Angeles Kings: Bob Berry Montreal Canadiens: Scotty Bowman Pittsburgh Penguins: Johnny Wilson Washington Capitals: Danny Belisle
Smythe Division Chicago Black Hawks: Bill White Colorado Rockies: Pat Kelly St. Louis Blues: Barclay Plager Vancouver Canucks: Harry Neale
Milestones
Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1978–79 (listed with their first team, asterisk (*) marks debut in playoffs): Joel Quenneville, Toronto Maple Leafs Brad Marsh, Atlanta Flames Reggie Lemelin, Atlanta Flames Al Secord, Boston Bruins Bobby Smith, Minnesota North Stars Steve Payne, Minnesota North Stars Rod Langway §, Montreal Canadiens John Tonelli §, New York Islanders Anders Hedberg §, New York Rangers Ulf Nilsson §, New York Rangers Ken Linseman §, Philadelphia Flyers Pete Peeters, Philadelphia Flyers Greg Millen, Pittsburgh Penguins Wayne Babych, St. Louis Blues Curt Fraser, Vancouver Canucks Thomas Gradin, Vancouver Canucks Stan Smyl, Vancouver Canucks Ryan Walter, Washington Capitals
Players marked with § began their major professional career in the World Hockey Association.
Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1978–79 (listed with their last team): Bobby Orr, Chicago Black Hawks Joe Watson, Colorado Rockies Danny Grant, Los Angeles Kings J. P. Parise, Minnesota North Stars Jacques Lemaire, Montreal Canadiens Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens Yvan Cournoyer, Montreal Canadiens Ed Westfall, New York Islanders Bernie Parent, Philadelphia Flyers Garry Monahan, Toronto Maple Leafs Pit Martin, Vancouver Canucks
Broadcasting Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games.
In the U.S., this was the fourth and final season that NHL games aired in national broadcast syndication under the NHL Network package. On February 10, CBS decided to televise Game 2 of the 1979 Challenge Cup, but that was the network's only involvement in broadcasting the NHL this season. Similarly, ABC only agreed to air Game 7 of the 1979 Stanley Cup Final had the series gone that far. The league then dissolved the NHL Network after the season, signing packages of regular season slates to the fledgling cable networks ESPN and UA-Columbia (later known as the USA Network). The Hughes Television Network, the NHL Network's distributor, also signed a new deal for regular season and postseason games.
See also List of Stanley Cup champions 1978 NHL amateur draft 1978–79 NHL transactions 1979 Challenge Cup 1978–79 WHA season Lester Patrick Trophy 1978 in sports 1979 in sports
Notes
Footnotes
References
External links Hockey Database NHL.com