1977–78 NHL season


The 1977–78 NHL season was the 61st season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens won their third Stanley Cup in a row, defeating the Boston Bruins four games to two in the Stanley Cup Finals.

League business

Prior to the start of the season, Clarence Campbell retired as NHL President. John Ziegler succeeded him in that capacity.
A trophy for the top defensive forward, the Frank J. Selke Trophy, made its debut this season and went to Bob Gainey, who played left wing for Montreal.
On June 14, 1978, the league approved the merger of the financially struggling Cleveland Barons and Minnesota North Stars franchises, reducing the number of teams to 17, with the North Stars assuming the Barons' place in the Adams Division. It was the first instance of a franchise dissolving since the Brooklyn Americans ceased operations in 1942. The next time the NHL had a team in Ohio would be the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2000–01 season.
The league changed the playoff qualification format for this season. Whereas before the top three teams in every division qualified, the format was changed to guarantee the top two teams in each division a playoff spot. The last four qualifiers were from the next-best four regular-season records from third and lower place finishers.
Teams were required to place the last names of players on the back of all jerseys starting with this season, but Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard initially refused, fearing that he would not be able to sell programs at his team's games. The NHL responded by threatening to levy a fine on the team in February 1978, so Ballard complied by making the letters the same color as the background they were on, which for the team's road jerseys was blue. The League threatened further sanctions, and despite playing more than one game with their "unreadable" sweaters, Ballard's Maple Leafs finally complied in earnest by making the letters white.

Regular season

sat out the season to rest his oft-injured knee in the hope that rest would allow him to return to play in 1978–79; he would return for that season, only playing in six games before retiring.
On December 11, 1977, the Philadelphia Flyers' Tom Bladon became the first defenseman in NHL history to score eight points in one game. He scored four goals and four assists versus the Cleveland Barons. It was 25% of his point total for the entire season.
The Colorado Rockies qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. They would not make the playoffs again until after the team had moved to New Jersey, in 1988. The next time the playoffs came to Colorado would be the Colorado Avalanche's championship season of 1996.

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

The playoffs were held in four rounds, preliminary, quarterfinals, semifinals and final. In the preliminary round, the Detroit Red Wings were the only lower-placed team to win over the higher-placed team. The Red Wings were then defeated in five games by the first-place Montreal Canadiens. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Los Angeles Kings to advance to the quarterfinals, where the Leafs upset the third-place New York Islanders in seven games, setting up an "Original Six" playoff against Montreal. The upsets ended there as the Canadiens swept the Leafs to advance to the final. In the other groupings, the higher-placed team won each round, and the second-place Boston Bruins advanced to the final to playoff against the first-place Canadiens. In the final, the Canadiens defeated the Bruins in six games to win their third consecutive Stanley Cup.
The Colorado Rockies made their one and only playoff appearance in the preliminary round against the Philadelphia Flyers, and were swept in two games. It would take another ten years before they got to the playoffs again in New Jersey. The Chicago Black Hawks were swept in the other "Original Six" matchup of the playoffs, losing to Boston in the quarterfinals.

Playoff seeds

The twelve teams that qualified for the playoffs are ranked 1–12 based on regular season points.
Note: Only teams that qualified for the playoffs are listed here.
  1. Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 129 points
  2. Boston Bruins, Adams Division champions – 113 points
  3. New York Islanders, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 111 points
  4. Philadelphia Flyers – 105 points
  5. Buffalo Sabres – 105 points
  6. Toronto Maple Leafs – 92 points
  7. Atlanta Flames – 87 points
  8. Chicago Black Hawks, Smythe Division champions – 83 points
  9. Detroit Red Wings – 78 points
  10. Los Angeles Kings – 77 points
  11. New York Rangers – 73 points
  12. Colorado Rockies – 59 points

    Playoff bracket

(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (8) Colorado Rockies

(2) Buffalo Sabres vs. (7) New York Rangers

(3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (6) Los Angeles Kings

(4) Atlanta Flames vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings

Quarterfinals

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (8) Detroit Red Wings

Game 4 was the final playoff game at the Detroit Olympia

(2) Boston Bruins vs. (7) Chicago Black Hawks

(3) New York Islanders vs. (6) Toronto Maple Leafs

(4) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (5) Buffalo Sabres

Semifinals

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) Toronto Maple Leafs

(2) Boston Bruins vs. (3) Philadelphia Flyers

Game five was Fred Shero's last game as head coach of the Flyers, and Gerry Cheevers left the ice without shaking hands with any of the Flyers.

Stanley Cup Finals

Awards

The league introduced the Frank J. Selke trophy this season. It rewards the forward judged to be the best at defensive abilities.

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
PlayerTeamGPGAPtsPIM
Guy LafleurMontreal Canadiens78607213226
Bryan TrottierNew York Islanders77467712346
Darryl SittlerToronto Maple Leafs804572117100
Jacques LemaireMontreal Canadiens7636619714
Denis PotvinNew York Islanders8030649481
Mike BossyNew York Islanders735338916
Terry O'ReillyBoston Bruins77296190211
Gilbert PerreaultBuffalo Sabres7941488920
Bobby ClarkePhiladelphia Flyers7121688983
Lanny McDonaldToronto Maple Leafs7447408754
Wilf PaiementColorado Rockies80315687114

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
PlayerTeamGPMINGAGAAWLTSO
Ken DrydenMontreal Canadiens5230711052.0537775
Bernie ParentPhiladelphia Flyers4929231082.22296137
Gilles GilbertBoston Bruins251326562.5315622
Chico ReschN.Y. Islanders4526371122.5528973
Tony EspositoChicago Black Hawks6438401682.632822145
Don EdwardsBuffalo Sabres7242091852.643816175
Billy SmithN.Y. Islanders382154952.6520882
Michel LarocqueMontreal Canadiens301729772.6722341
Mike PalmateerToronto Maple Leafs6337601722.74341995
Dan BouchardAtlanta Flames5833401532.752512192

Other statistics

;Plus-minus:

Patrick Division

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1977–78 :
Nedomansky began his 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 1977–78 :
NOTE: Goldsworthy and Neilson would finish their major professional careers in the World Hockey Association.