1976–77 Toronto Maple Leafs season

1976–77 Toronto Maple Leafs
Division3rd Adams
Conference5th Wales
1976–77 record33–32–15
Goals for301
Goals against285
Team information
General managerJim Gregory
CoachRed Kelly
CaptainDarryl Sittler
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaMaple Leaf Gardens
Team leaders
GoalsLanny McDonald (46)
AssistsBorje Salming (66)
PointsDarryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald (90)
Penalty minutesTiger Williams (338)
WinsMike Palmateer (23)
Goals against averageMike Palmateer (3.21)

The 1976–77 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the franchise's 60th season, 50th as the Maple Leafs. The Leafs finished in third place in the Adams Division with a record of 33 wins, 32 losses and 15 ties for 81 points. In the playoffs, they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in the preliminary round 2–1 before falling to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games in the Quarter-finals.

Regular season

On February 2, 1977, Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Ian Turnbull would be the first player in NHL history to score five goals on five shots.[1]

Season standings

Adams Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Boston Bruins 80 49 23 8 312 240 106
Buffalo Sabres 80 48 24 8 301 220 104
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 33 32 15 301 285 81
Cleveland Barons 80 25 42 13 240 292 63

[2]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

Adams Division record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

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

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Lanny McDonald RW 80 46 44 90 77 12 16 4 5
Darryl Sittler C 73 38 52 90 89 8 12 1 5
Ian Turnbull D 80 22 57 79 84 47 4 2 0
Borje Salming D 76 12 66 78 46 45 1 0 0
Jack Valiquette C 66 15 30 45 7 5 0 3 1
Jim McKenny D 76 14 31 45 36 −26 3 0 3
Tiger Williams LW 77 18 25 43 338 11 1 0 0
Don Ashby C 76 19 23 42 24 −14 3 0 4
Inge Hammarstrom LW 78 24 17 41 16 8 5 0 3
Errol Thompson LW 41 21 16 37 8 −10 8 1 2
Pat Boutette C/RW 80 18 18 36 107 13 3 0 1
Bob Neely LW 70 17 16 33 16 −17 3 0 5
Stan Weir C 65 11 19 30 14 2 1 0 2
Scott Garland C 69 9 20 29 83 −18 3 0 1
George Ferguson C 50 9 15 24 24 0 0 2 0
Claire Alexander D 48 1 12 13 12 −4 0 0 0
Brian Glennie D 69 1 10 11 73 −1 0 0 0
Bruce Boudreau C 15 2 5 7 4 2 0 0 1
Kurt Walker D 26 2 3 5 24 5 0 0 0
Randy Carlyle D 45 0 5 5 51 −19 0 0 0
Paul Evans C/LW 7 1 1 2 19 3 0 0 0
Bob Warner D 10 1 1 2 4 4 0 0 0
Mike Palmateer G 50 0 2 2 8 0 0 0 0
Mike Pelyk D 13 0 2 2 4 −4 0 0 0
Tracy Pratt D 11 0 1 1 8 −7 0 0 0
Wayne Thomas G 33 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0
Blair MacKasey D 1 0 0 0 2
Gord McRae G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Mike Palmateer 2877 50 23 18 8 154 3.21 4
Wayne Thomas 1803 33 10 13 6 116 3.86 1
Gord McRae 120 2 0 1 1 9 4.50 0
Team: 4800 80 33 32 15 279 3.49 5

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Darryl Sittler C 9 5 16 21 4 3 0 0
Lanny McDonald RW 9 10 7 17 6 3 0 1
Borje Salming D 9 3 6 9 6 2 0 0
Tiger Williams LW 9 3 6 9 29 0 0 1
Ian Turnbull D 9 4 4 8 10 4 0 0
Bob Neely LW 9 1 3 4 6 1 0 0
Pat Boutette C/RW 9 0 4 4 17 0 0 0
Stan Weir C 7 2 1 3 0 1 0 1
George Ferguson C 9 0 3 3 7 0 0 0
Errol Thompson LW 9 2 0 2 0 0 0 1
Jim McKenny D 9 0 2 2 2 0 0 0
Mike Pelyk D 9 0 2 2 4 0 0 0
Don Ashby C 9 1 0 1 4 0 0 0
Randy Carlyle D 9 0 1 1 20 0 0 0
Bruce Boudreau C 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Paul Evans C/LW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brian Glennie D 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Inge Hammarstrom LW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Palmateer G 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tracy Pratt D 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wayne Thomas G 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bob Warner D 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Mike Palmateer 360 6 3 3 16 2.67 0
Wayne Thomas 202 4 1 2 12 3.56 0
Team: 562 9 4 5 28 2.99 0

[4]

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;

Transactions

The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1976–77 season.

Trades

September 9, 1976 To St. Louis Blues
FA Signing of Rod Seiling 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
2nd round pick in 1978 – Joel Quenneville
Cash
September 15, 1976 To Colorado Rockies
Doug Favell 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
Cash
September 27, 1976 To Washington Capitals
Cash 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
Blair MacKasey
September 28, 1976 To Chicago Black Hawks
Jim Harrison 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
2nd round pick in 1977 – Bob Gladney
March 8, 1977 To Colorado Rockies
3rd round pick in 1977 – Randy Pierce 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
Tracy Pratt

Free agents

Player New Team
Rod Seiling St. Louis Blues
Tom Cassidy Boston Bruins

Awards and records

Draft picks

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

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
2 30 Randy Carlyle  Canada Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
3 48 Alain Belanger  Canada Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
3 52 Gary McFayden  Canada Hull Festivals (QMJHL)
4 66 Tim Williams  Canada Victoria Cougars (WCHL)
5 84 Greg Hotham  Canada Kingston Canadians (OMJHL)
6 102 Dan Djakalovic  Canada Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
7 116 Charlie Skjodt  Canada Windsor Spitfires (OMJHL)

References

  1. ^ Hockey's Book of Firsts, p. 27, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9.
  2. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.
  3. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  4. ^ "1976-77 Toronto Maple Leafs Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.