1978–79 Winnipeg Jets season

The 1978–79 Winnipeg Jets season was the franchise's seventh and final season in the World Hockey Association. The WHA folded after the season.

1978–79 Winnipeg Jets
Avco Cup champions
Division3rd WHA
1978–79 record39–35–6
Goals for307
Goals against306
Team information
General managerJohn Ferguson
CoachLarry Hillman (28-27-6)
Tom McVie (11-8-0)
CaptainBarry Long

Regular season

Head coach Larry Hillman, who had guided the Jets to the AVCO Cup the previous season, was fired 61 games into the season. Three days later, Tom McVie took over and coached the remaining 19 games and guided the team to a 3rd-place finish in the league, which due to the league's dwindling fortunes meant that the top five teams of the remaining seven in the league (Indianapolis folded midway in the season) went into the playoffs. They finished one point ahead of the rival Whalers for third, which meant that the Jets got a first round bye as New England and Cincinnati played each other. The Jets played the 2nd place team, Quebec. After sweeping the Nordiques, they went to their fifth and final AVCO Cup Finals against the Oilers. Fittingly, the Jets won the Cup 4-2 and clinched the series at Winnipeg Arena 7-3 in Game 6 to end a seven-year run in which they appeared in five AVCO Cups and won three of them (1976, 1978, 1979) before the WHA merged with the NHL with the Jets included.

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

Schedule and results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1WOctober 13, 19785–4 OT@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)1–0–0
2WOctober 14, 19786–3@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)2–0–0
3LOctober 15, 19783–4Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)2–1–0
4TOctober 18, 19784–4New England Whalers (1978–79)2–1–1
5LOctober 22, 19782–6Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)2–2–1
6WOctober 25, 19787–2Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)3–2–1
7WOctober 27, 19786–4@ New England Whalers (1978–79)4–2–1
8LOctober 28, 19782–3@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)4–3–1
9TOctober 29, 19783–3Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)4–3–2
10LNovember 3, 19783–4 OT@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)4–4–2
11WNovember 5, 19786–2Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)5–4–2
12WNovember 7, 19782–1@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)6–4–2
13LNovember 9, 19785–6@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)6–5–2
14LNovember 10, 19782–3@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)6–6–2
15LNovember 12, 19784–6Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)6–7–2
16LNovember 15, 19782–5@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)6–8–2
17WNovember 17, 197810–6Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)7–8–2
18WNovember 19, 19785–2Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)8–8–2
19LNovember 22, 19782–5@ New England Whalers (1978–79)8–9–2
20WNovember 23, 19785–1@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)9–9–2
21TNovember 26, 19782–2@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)9–9–3
22WNovember 29, 19784–2New England Whalers (1978–79)10–9–3
23LDecember 1, 19785–6Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)10–10–3
24LDecember 3, 19783–5@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)10–11–3
25WDecember 7, 19789–4@ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79)11–11–3
26TDecember 10, 19784–4Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)11–11–4
27LDecember 14, 19783–4Soviet All-Stars (1978–79)11–12–4
28WDecember 17, 19786–3Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)12–12–4
29WDecember 22, 19785–4@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)13–12–4
30WDecember 26, 19785–3Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)14–12–4
31LDecember 27, 19783–5@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)14–13–4
32TJanuary 1, 19793–3Czechoslovakia (1978–79)14–13–5
33WJanuary 7, 19793–2Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)15–13–5
34WJanuary 9, 19794–3 OTEdmonton Oilers (1978–79)16–13–5
35WJanuary 12, 19793–1@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)17–13–5
36WJanuary 13, 19793–1@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)18–13–5
37WJanuary 14, 19794–2@ New England Whalers (1978–79)19–13–5
38LJanuary 16, 19791–3@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)19–14–5
39LJanuary 17, 19793–6Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)19–15–5
40LJanuary 19, 19792–7Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)19–16–5
41LJanuary 20, 19791–10@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)19–17–5
42WJanuary 21, 19793–1Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)20–17–5
43TJanuary 24, 19795–5@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)20–17–6
44WJanuary 27, 19794–2@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)21–17–6
45LJanuary 28, 19796–8@ New England Whalers (1978–79)21–18–6
46LJanuary 30, 19792–5@ New England Whalers (1978–79)21–19–6
47WJanuary 31, 19796–3Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)22–19–6
48WFebruary 2, 19794–2Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)23–19–6
49WFebruary 4, 19798–1Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)24–19–6
50WFebruary 7, 19793–2Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)25–19–6
51LFebruary 9, 19790–4@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)25–20–6
52LFebruary 10, 19792–7@ New England Whalers (1978–79)25–21–6
53WFebruary 14, 19795–1@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)26–21–6
54LFebruary 16, 19791–2@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)26–22–6
55LFebruary 17, 19794–6@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)26–23–6
56LFebruary 18, 19791–7New England Whalers (1978–79)26–24–6
57LFebruary 20, 19792–5@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)26–25–6
58WFebruary 21, 19795–2New England Whalers (1978–79)27–25–6
59LFebruary 23, 19791–9@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)27–26–6
60WFebruary 25, 19797–5@ New England Whalers (1978–79)28–26–6
61LFebruary 27, 19792–5Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)28–27–6
62LMarch 2, 19791–4New England Whalers (1978–79)28–28–6
63LMarch 6, 19794–5@ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)28–29–6
64WMarch 7, 19795–3@ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)29–29–6
65WMarch 11, 19797–2Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)30–29–6
66LMarch 14, 19792–4Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)30–30–6
67WMarch 16, 19795–3Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)31–30–6
68WMarch 18, 19794–2Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)32–30–6
69LMarch 21, 19794–7Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)32–31–6
70WMarch 23, 19796–4@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)33–31–6
71WMarch 28, 19796–3Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79)34–31–6
72LMarch 30, 19790–2Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)34–32–6
73WApril 1, 19797–3@ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79)35–32–6
74LApril 4, 19792–4New England Whalers (1978–79)35–33–6
75LApril 6, 19791–2Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)35–34–6
76WApril 8, 19796–4New England Whalers (1978–79)36–34–6
77WApril 10, 19796–4@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)37–34–6
78WApril 11, 19792–1Birmingham Bulls (1978–79)38–34–6
79WApril 15, 19795–4 OTBirmingham Bulls (1978–79)39–34–6
80LApril 18, 19793–9@ Edmonton Oilers (1978–79)39–35–6

Playoffs

Winnipeg Jets 4, Quebec Nordiques 0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 23Winnipeg Jets6–3Quebec Nordiques1-0
2April 25Winnipeg Jets9–2Quebec Nordiques2-0
3April 27Quebec Nordiques5–9Winnipeg Jets3-0
4April 29Quebec Nordiques2–6Winnipeg Jets4-0

Winnipeg Jets 4, Edmonton Oilers 2 - Avco Cup Finals
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1May 11Winnipeg Jets3–1Edmonton Oilers1-0
2May 13Winnipeg Jets3–2Edmonton Oilers2-0
3May 15Edmonton Oilers8–3Winnipeg Jets2-1
4May 16Edmonton Oilers2–3Winnipeg Jets3-1
5May 18Winnipeg Jets2–10Edmonton Oilers3-2
6May 20Edmonton Oilers3–7Winnipeg Jets4-2

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Kent NilssonC7839681078180
Morris LukowichLW8065349911926160
Peter SullivanC8046408624-692
Terry RuskowskiC752066862111361
Willy LindstromRW79263662227110
Rich PrestonRW8028326088-561
Barry LongD805364142-200
Bill LesukLW7917153244-1400
Lyle MoffatLW7014183238-1401
Bobby GuindonLW718182621-1200
John GrayRW5710152551-760
Paul TerbencheD683222512-100
Mike AmodeoD644182229-100
Scott CampbellD7431518248500
Paul MacKinnonD732151770-300
Glenn HicksLW696101648-200
Roland ErikssonC33510152-530
Steve WestC18311146610
Kim ClacksonD7101212210-600
Bobby HullLW42350110
Bill DavisD51230-200
Lars-Erik SjobergD90332-100
Gary SmithG110332000
Ted GreenD2002216-700
Joe DaleyG230112000
John GibsonD90115100
Markus MattssonG520114000
Rich GosselinC30000-100
Dale YakiwchukC40000100
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Markus Mattsson299052252131813.630
Joe Daley1256237113904.300
Gary Smith62611730312.970
Team:487280393563023.720

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Willy LindstromRW101051591
Morris LukowichLW108715211
Peter SullivanC10591421
Kent NilssonC103111440
Rich PrestonRW108513150
Terry RuskowskiC811213231
Paul MacKinnonD1025740
Barry LongD1023500
Steve WestC623520
Roland ErikssonC1014500
Kim ClacksonD9055280
Lyle MoffatLW10314222
Bill LesukLW1013461
Bobby GuindonLW721300
Lars-Erik SjobergD1012341
Glenn HicksLW711240
Paul TerbencheD1011240
Scott CampbellD10022250
Gary SmithG1001140
Joe DaleyG300000
John GrayRW100000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Gary Smith5631082353.730
Joe Daley3730034.860
Team:6001082383.800

[1]

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

See also

References
  1. "1978-79 Winnipeg Jets Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
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