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RetroSeasons
RetroSeasons recaps past sports seasons through stories, photos, videos, and stats from every team, league, and stadium in history. Coverage includes the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, as well as vintage media from defunct teams and leagues.
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World Hockey Association logo

World Hockey Association (WHA)
1977-78 WHA Teams

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Leagues Hockey WHA 1978 Teams

Recap

With a reduction of 3 teams from the end of the previous season (the San Diego Mariners, Phoenix Roadrunners, and Calgary Cowboys folded), the WHA abandoned its divisional format and grouped the remaining 8 teams together. There had been a tentative merger agreement that would have had Cincinnati, Houston, New England, Winnipeg, Quebec, and Edmonton join the NHL but it could not be finalized.

In a unique move, two international All-Star teams, the Soviet All-Stars and Czechoslovakia All-Stars, played games that counted in the regular season standings. They played each WHA team once, on the WHA team's home ice. The Soviet team acquitted themselves well, winning three plus two additional games against WHA teams outside the regular standings, tying one and losing the other four; while the Czechoslovakian team only won once and tied once, losing six. This is the first time International teams competed in regular season competition in a major professional sports league in North America; those two teams as well as a Finnish team would come back to play the WHA teams the next year.

The best six teams qualified for the playoffs. However, instead of the standard schedule for a six-team playoff (i.e., giving the 1st and 2nd place teams byes into the semifinals, with the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th place teams opening in the quarterfinals), the WHA came up with a unique twist. There were three quarterfinal series instead of two, with the teams paired top to bottom (i.e., 1st vs. 6th, 2nd vs. 5th, 3rd vs. 4th). The highest-seeded quarterfinal winner then received a semifinal bye and advanced directly to the finals, while the remaining two quarterfinal series winners played off in a single semifinal. All series were best four-out-of-seven games.

Close
Other hockey leagues in 1978:    
NHL
1977-78 Winnipeg Jets Season
1977-78 Winnipeg Jets
50-28 (.638)
Won WHA Finals
1977-78 New England Whalers Season
1977-78 New England Whalers
44-31 (.581)
Lost WHA Finals
1977-78 Quebec Nordiques Season
1977-78 Quebec Nordiques
40-37 (.519)
Lost Semifinals
1977-78 Houston Aeros Season
1977-78 Houston Aeros
42-34 (.550)
Lost Quarterfinals
1977-78 Edmonton Oilers Season
1977-78 Edmonton Oilers
38-39 (.494)
Lost Quarterfinals
1977-78 Birmingham Bulls Season
1977-78 Birmingham Bulls
36-41 (.469)
Lost Quarterfinals
1977-78 Cincinnati Stingers Season
1977-78 Cincinnati Stingers
35-42 (.456)
Missed Playoffs
1977-78 Soviet All-Stars Season
1977-78 Soviet All-Stars
3-4 (.438)
Missed Playoffs
1977-78 Indianapolis Racers Season
1977-78 Indianapolis Racers
24-51 (.331)
Missed Playoffs
1977-78 Czechoslovakia All-Stars Season
1977-78 Czechoslovakia All-Stars
1-6 (.188)
Missed Playoffs

1978 WHA

  • Season Overview
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