1977–78 Winnipeg Jets season

1977–78 Winnipeg Jets
Avco Cup champions
Division	1st WHA
1977–78 record	50–28–2
Home record	28–11–2
Road record	22–17–0
Goals for	381
Goals against	270
Team information
General manager	Rudy Pilous
Coach	Larry Hillman
Captain	Lars-Erik Sjoberg
Alternate captains	Ted Green Anders Hedberg
Arena	Winnipeg Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Anders Hedberg (63)
Assists	Ulf Nilsson (89)
Points	Ulf Nilsson (126)
Penalty minutes	Kim Clackson (203)
Wins	Gary Bromley (25)
Goals against average	Gary Bromley Joe Daley (3.30)

The 1977–78 Winnipeg Jets season was the Jets' sixth season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Jets, finalists in 1977, qualified first for the playoffs and the championship against the New England Whalers in the Final. It was the Jets' second Avco Cup win.

As of 2025 this is the most recent season any Winnipeg-based major professional hockey team has won a division championship, although the Jets would go on to defend the Avco Cup the following year (their last as a WHA organization before joining the National Hockey League).

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

WHA Team	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Winnipeg Jets	50	28	2	102	381	270	988
New England Whalers	44	31	5	93	335	269	1255
Houston Aeros	42	34	4	88	296	302	1543
Quebec Nordiques	40	37	3	83	349	347	1185
Edmonton Oilers	38	39	3	79	309	307	1296
Birmingham Bulls	36	41	3	75	287	314	2177
Cincinnati Stingers	35	42	3	73	298	332	1701
Indianapolis Racers	24	51	5	53	267	353	1189
Soviet All-Stars	3	4	1	7	27	36	120
Czechoslovakia All-Stars	1	6	1	3	21	40	87

Schedule and results

1977–78 regular season[1]
October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 1 W October 12, 1977 7–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 1–0–0 2 W October 13, 1977 5–2 Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 2–0–0 3 W October 15, 1977 5–4 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 3–0–0 4 W October 16, 1977 9–1 Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 4–0–0 5 L October 21, 1977 2–5 New England Whalers (1977–78) 4–1–0 6 W October 23, 1977 10–3 Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 5–1–0 7 L October 26, 1977 3–5 @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 5–2–0 8 W October 28, 1977 3–2 Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 6–2–0 9 W October 30, 1977 5–2 Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 7–2–0
November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 10 W November 2, 1977 6–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 8–2–0 11 W November 4, 1977 4–2 @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 9–2–0 12 W November 5, 1977 6–1 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 10–2–0 13 W November 9, 1977 4–3 Houston Aeros (1977–78) 11–2–0 14 L November 11, 1977 2–3 OT Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 11–3–0 15 L November 13, 1977 2–3 Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 11–4–0 16 L November 15, 1977 6–7 OT @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 11–5–0 17 T November 16, 1977 2–2 Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 11–5–1 18 L November 18, 1977 2–3 @ New England Whalers (1977–78) 11–6–1 19 W November 19, 1977 6–4 @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 12–6–1 20 L November 22, 1977 2–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 12–7–1 21 L November 27, 1977 3–4 OT Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 12–8–1
December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 22 L December 2, 1977 1–4 @ New England Whalers (1977–78) 12–9–1 23 L December 3, 1977 5–6 @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 12–10–1 24 L December 4, 1977 2–3 Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 12–11–1 25 W December 7, 1977 5–2 Houston Aeros (1977–78) 13–11–1 26 L December 9, 1977 3–4 OT Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 13–12–1 27 W December 11, 1977 7–1 Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 14–12–1 28 W December 13, 1977 5–1 Czechoslovakia (1977–78) 15–12–1 29 W December 17, 1977 6–3 @ New England Whalers (1977–78) 16–12–1 30 W December 18, 1977 7–3 New England Whalers (1977–78) 17–12–1 31 W December 20, 1977 6–4 Soviet All-Stars (1977–78) 18–12–1 32 W December 21, 1977 4–3 @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) 19–12–1 33 W December 23, 1977 6–4 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 20–12–1 34 W December 26, 1977 9–4 Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 21–12–1
January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 35 W January 6, 1978 4–1 @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 22–12–1 36 W January 8, 1978 4–2 Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 23–12–1 37 W January 11, 1978 11–2 Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 24–12–1 38 L January 13, 1978 2–3 @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) 24–13–1 39 W January 14, 1978 6–3 @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 25–13–1 40 L January 15, 1978 3–4 OT Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 25–14–1 41 W January 18, 1978 5–1 Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 26–14–1 42 T January 20, 1978 4–4 New England Whalers (1977–78) 26–14–2 43 L January 22, 1978 4–5 Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 26–15–2 44 L January 25, 1978 2–6 @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 26–16–2 45 L January 26, 1978 1–2 OT @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) 26–17–2 46 L January 28, 1978 5–8 @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 26–18–2 47 W January 29, 1978 8–4 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 27–18–2 48 W January 31, 1978 7–2 @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 28–18–2
February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 49 W February 4, 1978 7–5 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 29–18–2 50 W February 5, 1978 4–3 Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 30–18–2 51 W February 8, 1978 9–0 Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 31–18–2 52 W February 10, 1978 10–2 Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 32–18–2 53 W February 11, 1978 5–3 @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 33–18–2 54 W February 12, 1978 6–5 @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) 34–18–2 55 W February 15, 1978 6–5 Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 35–18–2 56 W February 16, 1978 2–1 OT @ New England Whalers (1977–78) 36–18–2 57 W February 18, 1978 4–0 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 37–18–2 58 W February 19, 1978 5–2 Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 38–18–2 59 W February 22, 1978 4–2 New England Whalers (1977–78) 39–18–2 60 W February 24, 1978 7–2 New England Whalers (1977–78) 40–18–2 61 W February 26, 1978 9–6 Houston Aeros (1977–78) 41–18–2
March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 62 L March 1, 1978 3–4 @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 41–19–2 63 L March 3, 1978 1–5 Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78) 41–20–2 64 L March 4, 1978 6–8 @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 41–21–2 65 L March 5, 1978 3–4 Houston Aeros (1977–78) 41–22–2 66 W March 9, 1978 6–5 Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 42–22–2 67 W March 11, 1978 7–4 @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 43–22–2 68 W March 12, 1978 3–2 Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 44–22–2 69 W March 15, 1978 8–4 Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 45–22–2 70 L March 17, 1978 2–6 @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 45–23–2 71 W March 19, 1978 5–3 Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 46–23–2 72 W March 22, 1978 5–3 @ New England Whalers (1977–78) 47–23–2 73 W March 25, 1978 3–1 @ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78) 48–23–2 74 L March 28, 1978 3–5 @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) 48–24–2 75 W March 30, 1978 4–1 @ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78) 49–24–2
April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 76 L April 1, 1978 2–5 @ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78) 49–25–2 77 L April 4, 1978 3–6 @ Houston Aeros (1977–78) 49–26–2 78 W April 6, 1978 7–4 New England Whalers (1977–78) 50–26–2 79 L April 7, 1978 2–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1977–78) 50–27–2 80 L April 9, 1978 4–5 Houston Aeros (1977–78) 50–28–2
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

Due to their victory over the Bulls, they earned a bye to the Finals while the other two Semifinal winners faced off against each other.

1978 Avco Cup playoffs[1]
Quarterfinals vs. (6) Birmingham Bulls – Jets win 4–1 Game Date Visitor Score Home Series 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
Avco Cup Finals vs. (2) New England Whalers – Jets win 4–0 Game Date Visitor Score Home Series 1 May 12 New England Whalers 1–4 Winnipeg Jets 1–0 2 May 14 New England Whalers 2–5 Winnipeg Jets 2–0 3 May 19 Winnipeg Jets 10–2 New England Whalers 3–0 4 May 22 Winnipeg Jets 5–3 New England Whalers 4–0
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Ulf Nilsson	C	73	37	89	126	89	41	7	3
Anders Hedberg	RW	77	63	59	122	60	60	17	6
Bobby Hull	LW	77	46	71	117	23	55	10	0
Kent Nilsson	C	80	42	65	107	8	27	18	0
Willy Lindstrom	RW	77	30	30	60	42	4	7	0
Peter Sullivan	C	77	16	39	55	43	−12	3	1
Lars-Erik Sjoberg	D	78	11	39	50	72	60	0	1
Bobby Guindon	LW	77	20	22	42	18	−1	0	4
Dave Kryskow	LW	71	20	21	41	16	12	3	0
Dan Labraaten	LW	47	18	16	34	30	7	5	0
Thommie Bergman	D	62	5	28	33	43	22	0	0
Lynn Powis	C	55	12	19	31	16	2	2	0
Barry Long	D	78	7	24	31	42	10	1	1
Bill Lesuk	LW	80	9	18	27	48	−4	0	0
Dave Dunn	D	66	6	20	26	79	20	1	0
Ted Green	D	73	4	22	26	52	19	2	0
Lyle Moffat	LW	57	9	16	25	39	−6	0	0
Ken Baird	D	49	14	7	21	29	5	2	0
Kent Ruhnke	RW	21	8	9	17	2	9	0	0
Kim Clackson	D	52	2	7	9	203	6	0	0
Larry Hornung	D	19	1	4	5	2	17	0	0
Mike Amodeo	D	3	1	1	2	0	3	0	0
Joe Daley	G	37	0	2	2	2	0	0	0
Gary Bromley	G	39	0	1	1	4	0	0	0
Bill Davis	D	12	0	0	0	2	−9	0	0
Mike Ford	D	3	0	0	0	0	−5	0	0
Fran Huck	C	5	0	0	0	2	−2	0	0
Markus Mattsson	G	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Gary Bromley	2252	39	25	12	1	124	3.30	1
Joe Daley	2075	37	21	11	1	114	3.30	1
Markus Mattsson	511	10	4	5	0	30	3.52	0
Team:	4838	80	50	28	2	268	3.32	2

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Anders Hedberg	RW	9	9	6	15	2			1
Ulf Nilsson	C	9	1	13	14	12			0
Bobby Guindon	LW	9	8	5	13	5			2
Lyle Moffat	LW	9	5	7	12	9			0
Bobby Hull	LW	9	8	3	11	12			2
Kent Nilsson	C	9	2	8	10	10			0
Lars-Erik Sjoberg	D	9	0	9	9	4			0
Dave Kryskow	LW	9	4	4	8	2			1
Willy Lindstrom	RW	8	3	4	7	17			0
Peter Sullivan	C	9	3	4	7	4			1
Bill Lesuk	LW	9	2	5	7	12			0
Barry Long	D	9	0	5	5	6			0
Mike Amodeo	D	7	1	3	4	19			0
Ken Baird	D	7	0	4	4	7			0
Lynn Powis	C	3	2	1	3	7			0
Dave Dunn	D	9	1	2	3	0			0
Kent Ruhnke	RW	5	2	0	2	0			1
Dan Labraaten	LW	4	1	1	2	8			0
Ted Green	D	8	0	2	2	2			0
Mike Ford	D	2	1	0	1	0			0
Kim Clackson	D	9	0	1	1	61			0
Joe Daley	G	5	0	1	1	20			0
Gary Bromley	G	5	0	0	0	2			0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Gary Bromley	268	5	4	0	7	1.57	0
Joe Daley	271	5	4	1	13	2.88	0
Team:	539	9	8	1	20	2.23	0

^[2]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

Winnipeg's draft picks at the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft.^[3]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	3	Ron Duguay (C)	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
1	8	Miles Zaharko (D)	Canada	New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
3	28	Mark Lofthouse (RW)	Canada	New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
4	37	Don Laurence (C)	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
5	46	Bill Stewart (D)	Canada	Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA)
6	55	Ric Seiling (RW)	Canada	St. Catharines Fincups (OHA)
7	64	Jim Hamilton (LW)	Canada	London Knights (OHA)
8	72	Warren Holmes (C)	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
9	80	Mike Keating (LW)	Canada	St. Catharines Fincups (OHA)
10	88	Murray Bannerman (G)	Canada	Victoria Cougars (WCHL)

See also

• 1977–78 WHA season

References

1. "1977-78 Winnipeg Jets Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
2. "1977-78 Winnipeg Jets Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
3. "1977 WHA Amateur Draft". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.