1976–77 St. Louis Blues season

1976–77 St. Louis Blues
Smythe Division champions
Division1st Smythe
ConferenceCampbell
1976–77 record32–39–9
Goals for239
Goals against276
Team information
General managerEmile Francis
CoachEmile Francis
CaptainGarry Unger
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaSt. Louis Arena
Team leaders
GoalsGarry Unger (30)
AssistsBob MacMillan (39)
PointsBob MacMillan (58)
Penalty minutesBob Gassoff (254)
WinsEddie Johnston (13)
Goals against averageYves Belanger (3.00)

The 1976–77 St. Louis Blues season was the tenth for the franchise in St. Louis, Missouri. The Blues won the Smythe Division title with a record of 32 wins, 39 losses and nine ties, good for 73 points, and received a first-round bye in the 1977 NHL Playoffs. However, the Blues were no match for the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens, as the Montrealers swept the Blues in the quarter-finals.

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Smythe Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
St. Louis Blues 80 32 39 9 239 276 73
Minnesota North Stars 80 23 39 18 240 310 64
Chicago Black Hawks 80 26 43 11 240 298 63
Vancouver Canucks 80 25 42 13 235 294 63
Colorado Rockies 80 20 46 14 226 307 54

[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Smythe Division record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 L October 7, 1976 4–6 Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 0–1–0
2 W October 9, 1976 2–1 New York Rangers (1976–77) 1–1–0
3 W October 13, 1976 3–2 @ Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 2–1–0
4 W October 16, 1976 6–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 3–1–0
5 L October 17, 1976 2–6 @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 3–2–0
6 W October 19, 1976 6–5 Boston Bruins (1976–77) 4–2–0
7 L October 21, 1976 2–6 @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 4–3–0
8 W October 23, 1976 4–2 Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 5–3–0
9 L October 24, 1976 2–7 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 5–4–0
10 W October 26, 1976 5–2 Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 6–4–0
11 L October 28, 1976 2–5 @ New York Islanders (1976–77) 6–5–0
12 W October 30, 1976 3–1 Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 7–5–0
13 W November 3, 1976 6–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 8–5–0
14 W November 6, 1976 3–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 9–5–0
15 L November 9, 1976 1–8 Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 9–6–0
16 L November 10, 1976 0–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 9–7–0
17 L November 13, 1976 3–5 Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 9–8–0
18 L November 15, 1976 2–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 9–9–0
19 T November 17, 1976 5–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 9–9–1
20 W November 20, 1976 3–1 New York Rangers (1976–77) 10–9–1
21 W November 24, 1976 4–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 11–9–1
22 L November 26, 1976 2–5 @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 11–10–1
23 W November 27, 1976 3–2 Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 12–10–1
24 L November 30, 1976 3–5 Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 12–11–1
25 T December 3, 1976 2–2 @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 12–11–2
26 L December 4, 1976 0–1 Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 12–12–2
27 L December 7, 1976 2–4 @ New York Islanders (1976–77) 12–13–2
28 T December 8, 1976 4–4 @ New York Rangers (1976–77) 12–13–3
29 T December 11, 1976 1–1 Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 12–13–4
30 L December 12, 1976 3–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 12–14–4
31 L December 15, 1976 1–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 12–15–4
32 L December 16, 1976 2–5 @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) 12–16–4
33 L December 18, 1976 0–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 12–17–4
34 W December 19, 1976 6–4 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 13–17–4
35 W December 22, 1976 2–1 @ Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 14–17–4
36 W December 23, 1976 4–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 15–17–4
37 T December 28, 1976 4–4 New York Islanders (1976–77) 15–17–5
38 W January 1, 1977 3–1 Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 16–17–5
39 L January 2, 1977 1–2 @ Washington Capitals (1976–77) 16–18–5
40 W January 4, 1977 4–3 Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 17–18–5
41 L January 6, 1977 1–7 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 17–19–5
42 L January 8, 1977 2–5 Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 17–20–5
43 W January 12, 1977 7–2 Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 18–20–5
44 L January 14, 1977 2–3 @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 18–21–5
45 W January 15, 1977 4–0 Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 19–21–5
46 W January 19, 1977 5–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 20–21–5
47 W January 22, 1977 2–1 Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 21–21–5
48 L January 23, 1977 3–6 @ Washington Capitals (1976–77) 21–22–5
49 L January 27, 1977 0–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 21–23–5
50 L January 29, 1977 2–5 Washington Capitals (1976–77) 21–24–5
51 L January 30, 1977 2–5 @ New York Rangers (1976–77) 21–25–5
52 T February 1, 1977 3–3 Boston Bruins (1976–77) 21–25–6
53 L February 3, 1977 4–5 @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) 21–26–6
54 W February 5, 1977 6–5 Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 22–26–6
55 W February 8, 1977 6–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 23–26–6
56 W February 12, 1977 3–1 Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 24–26–6
57 L February 14, 1977 4–6 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 24–27–6
58 W February 15, 1977 5–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 25–27–6
59 W February 19, 1977 4–1 Washington Capitals (1976–77) 26–27–6
60 W February 21, 1977 4–0 @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 27–27–6
61 L February 22, 1977 0–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 27–28–6
62 L February 26, 1977 1–5 Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 27–29–6
63 L February 28, 1977 2–5 Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 27–30–6
64 T March 2, 1977 2–2 @ Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 27–30–7
65 W March 5, 1977 2–1 New York Islanders (1976–77) 28–30–7
66 L March 6, 1977 2–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 28–31–7
67 L March 8, 1977 1–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 28–32–7
68 W March 10, 1977 4–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 29–32–7
69 T March 12, 1977 3–3 Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 29–32–8
70 L March 15, 1977 1–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 29–33–8
71 L March 16, 1977 3–7 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 29–34–8
72 T March 19, 1977 4–4 Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 29–34–9
73 L March 20, 1977 3–5 @ New York Rangers (1976–77) 29–35–9
74 W March 22, 1977 4–2 Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 30–35–9
75 L March 24, 1977 1–6 @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 30–36–9
76 L March 26, 1977 2–5 @ New York Islanders (1976–77) 30–37–9
77 L March 28, 1977 4–5 @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 30–38–9
78 W March 30, 1977 4–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 31–38–9
79 W April 2, 1977 9–2 Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 32–38–9
80 L April 3, 1977 3–7 @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 32–39–9

Playoffs

The Blues lost to the Montreal Canadiens 4 – 0 in the quarter-finals.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Bob MacMillan RW 80 19 39 58 11 1 10 0 1
Garry Unger C 80 30 27 57 56 −12 7 0 5
Larry Patey C 80 21 29 50 41 11 1 2 2
Red Berenson C 80 21 28 49 8 −28 4 0 3
Claude Larose RW 80 29 19 48 22 5 1 1 2
Chuck Lefley LW 71 11 30 41 12 −15 3 0 1
Pierre Plante RW 76 18 20 38 77 −4 4 0 3
Jerry Butler RW 80 12 20 32 65 −31 0 0 0
Rod Seiling D 79 3 26 29 36 1 2 0 1
Ted Irvine LW 69 14 14 28 38 −16 1 0 2
Bruce Affleck D 80 5 20 25 24 −22 1 0 0
Bob Gassoff D 77 6 18 24 254 −2 0 0 3
Bernie Federko C 31 14 9 23 15 −6 6 0 3
Bob Hess D 53 4 18 22 14 −2 1 0 0
Derek Sanderson C 32 8 13 21 26 −8 3 0 2
Floyd Thomson LW 58 7 8 15 11 1 0 1 2
Rick Bourbonnais RW 33 6 8 14 10 −6 2 0 1
Brian Sutter LW 35 4 10 14 82 −8 0 0 0
Bob Plager D 54 1 9 10 23 −9 0 0 0
Jamie Masters D 16 1 7 8 2 −7 1 0 0
Gilles Marotte D 47 3 4 7 26 −13 0 0 1
Dave Hrechkosy LW 15 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 0
Joe Zanussi D 11 0 3 3 4 −6 0 0 0
Doug Palazzari C 12 1 0 1 0 −3 0 0 0
Yves Belanger G 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Barclay Plager D 2 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0
Rick Smith D 18 0 1 1 6 −3 0 0 0
Doug Grant G 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Eddie Johnston G 38 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brian Ogilvie C 3 0 0 0 0 −1 0 0 0
Ed Staniowski G 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Eddie Johnston 2111 38 13 16 5 108 3.07 1
Ed Staniowski 1589 29 10 16 1 108 4.08 0
Doug Grant 960 17 7 7 3 50 3.12 1
Yves Belanger 140 3 2 0 0 7 3.00 0
Team: 4800 80 32 39 9 273 3.41 2

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Bernie Federko C 4 1 1 2 2 0 0 0
Claude Larose RW 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Larry Patey C 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Brian Sutter LW 4 1 0 1 14 0 0 0
Rick Bourbonnais RW 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Bob Gassoff D 4 0 1 1 10 0 0 0
Chuck Lefley LW 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Bob MacMillan RW 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Garry Unger C 4 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Bruce Affleck D 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Red Berenson C 4 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Jerry Butler RW 4 0 0 0 14 0 0 0
Bob Hess D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ted Irvine LW 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Eddie Johnston G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gilles Marotte D 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Jamie Masters D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bob Plager D 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pierre Plante RW 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Rod Seiling D 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Ed Staniowski G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Floyd Thomson LW 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Eddie Johnston 138 3 0 2 9 3.91 0
Ed Staniowski 102 3 0 2 9 5.29 0
Team: 240 4 0 4 18 4.50 0

[3]

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

St. Louis's draft picks at the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft held in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 7 Bernie Federko  Canada Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
2 20 Brian Sutter  Canada Lethbridge Broncos (WCHL)
2 25 John Smrke  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
3 43 Jim Kirkpatrick  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
4 56 Mike Liut  Canada Bowling Green University (CCHA)
4 61 Paul Skidmore  United States Boston College (ECAC)
6 97 Nels Goddard  Canada Michigan Tech University (WCHA)
7 113 Mike Eaves  United States University of Wisconsin (WCHA)
8 121 Jacques Soguel   Switzerland Davos (Switzerland)
9 124 Dave Dornseif  United States Providence College (ECAC)
10 126 Brad Wilson  United States Providence College (ECAC)
11 128 Dan Hoene  United States University of Michigan (WCHA)
12 130 Goran Lindblom  Sweden Skelleftea (Sweden)
13 132 Jim Bales  Canada University of Denver (WCHA)
14 134 Anders Hakansson  Sweden Solna (Sweden)
15 135 Juhani Wallenius  Finland Rauma (Finland)

Farm teams

See also

References

  1. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "1976-77 St. Louis Blues Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 15, 2009.