1978–79 Indianapolis Racers season

The 1978–79 Indianapolis Racers season was the Racers' final season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The team folded after only 25 games.

1978–79 Indianapolis Racers
Division7th WHA
1978–79 record5–18–2
Goals for78
Goals against130
Team information
CoachPat Stapleton

Offseason

Nelson Skalbania, the owner of Indianapolis Racers, signed the 17-year-old future super-star, Wayne Gretzky to, at that time, a whopping personal contract worth between 1.125 and 1.75 million dollars over 4 to 7 years. Skalbania, knowing that the WHA was fading, felt owning the young star was more valuable than owning a WHA team.

Regular season

This was the first season of Wayne Gretzky's professional career. The Racers' management knew that the team was going to fold due to poor attendance, and sold Gretzky to the Edmonton Oilers after eight games. Skalbania needed cash and liquidated his greatest asset to his old friend and former partner, Peter Pocklington, owner of the Edmonton Oilers. Pocklington purchased Gretzky and two other Indianapolis players, goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll paying $700,000 for the contracts of the three players, although the announced price was actually $850,000.

Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points

WHA Team GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Edmonton Oilers8048302983402661220
Quebec Nordiques8041345872882711399
Winnipeg Jets8039356843073061342
New England Whalers8037349832982871090
Cincinnati Stingers8033416722742841651
Birmingham Bulls8032426702863111661
xIndianapolis Racers2551821278130557
#Soviet All-Stars64119272077
#Czechoslovakia614131433107
#Finland10100482

x-team folded during season #-played limited schedule

Game log
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1LOctober 14, 19783–6Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)0–1–0
2LOctober 15, 19783–9Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)0–2–0
3WOctober 18, 19784–0@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)1–2–0
4LOctober 20, 19783–4Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)1–3–0
5LOctober 22, 19783–6New England Whalers (1978–79)1–4–0
6LOctober 27, 19782–4@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)1–5–0
7WOctober 28, 19783–2Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)2–5–0
8TOctober 29, 19783–3@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)2–5–1
9LNovember 3, 19783–6@ New England Whalers (1978–79)2–6–1
10TNovember 4, 19786–6New England Whalers (1978–79)2–6–2
11LNovember 5, 19782–6@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)2–7–2
12LNovember 8, 19780–4@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)2–8–2
13LNovember 11, 19782–8@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)2–9–2
14LNovember 17, 19781–6@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)2–10–2
15LNovember 19, 19782–5@ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)2–11–2
16LNovember 23, 19781–5Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)2–12–2
17LNovember 24, 19785–8@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)2–13–2
18WNovember 25, 19786–3Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)3–13–2
19LNovember 28, 19782–8@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)3–14–2
20WDecember 1, 19786–3Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)4–14–2
21LDecember 2, 19782–4@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)4–15–2
22LDecember 3, 19782–4Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)4–16–2
23LDecember 7, 19784–9Winnipeg Jets (1978–79)4–17–2
24WDecember 10, 19786–4Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)5–17–2
25LDecember 12, 19784–7New England Whalers (1978–79)5–18–2

[1]

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Blaine StoughtonRW25991816−1830
Don LarwayRW258101839−2020
Rich LeDucC13591414−220
Claude LaroseLW1358130500
Michel ParizeauC2249134−100
Gary MacGregorC1784120−1210
Rene LeclercRW22571212210
Dave MorrowD/LW102101229−1300
Larry SacharukD15291125−1120
Al McLeodD250111122000
Bruce GreigLW21371064−500
Kevin NugentRW25281020−200
Dave InkpenD2518922−500
John HughesD2234748−1600
Wes GeorgeLW942623−1110
Claude St. SauveurC1742612−620
Wayne GretzkyC83360−300
Ken BlockD2223510−1100
Peter DriscollLW831417110
Angie MorettoC183142−610
Gerry LerouxLW100332−400
Bryon BaltimoreD21122−100
Don BurgessLW31120−400
Kevin MorrisonD50220−1000
Glen IrwinD24011124−1000
Dean MageeLW501110−200
Jerry RollinsD70117−400
Gary InnessG100009000
Mark MessierC50000−400
Eddie MioG50002000
Gary SmithG110008000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Gary Inness60910361515.020
Eddie Mio2425220133.221
Gary Smith664110101615.510
Team:15152551821254.951

[2]

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;

Awards and records

See also

References
  1. "1978–79 Indianapolis Racers Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
  2. "1978-79 Indianapolis Racers Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
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