1978–79 Edmonton Oilers season

1978–79 Edmonton Oilers
Division1st WHA
1978–79 record48–30–2
Home record29–11–1
Road record19–19–1
Goals for340 (1st)
Goals against266 (1st)
Team information
General managerLarry Gordon
CoachGlen Sather
CaptainPaul Shmyr
Alternate captainsRon Chipperfield
Peter Driscoll
Al Hamilton
Blair MacDonald
ArenaNorthlands Coliseum
Minor league affiliate(s)Springfield Indians (AHL)
Dallas Black Hawks (CHL)
Team leaders
GoalsWayne Gretzky (43)
AssistsWayne Gretzky (61)
PointsWayne Gretzky (104)
Penalty minutesDave Semenko (158)
Plus/minusPaul Shmyr (+37)
WinsDave Dryden (41)
Goals against averageDave Dryden (2.89)

The 1978–79 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' seventh season of operation. The Oilers placed first and made it to the Avco Cup Final, losing to the Winnipeg Jets. This was the organization's last season in the WHA before joining the National Hockey League.

Offseason

Regular season

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 Oilers 80 48 30 2 98 340 266 1220
Quebec Nordiques 80 41 34 5 87 288 271 1399
Winnipeg Jets 80 39 35 6 84 307 306 1342
New England Whalers 80 37 34 9 83 298 287 1090
Cincinnati Stingers 80 33 41 6 72 274 284 1651
Birmingham Bulls 80 32 42 6 70 286 311 1661
xIndianapolis Racers 25 5 18 2 12 78 130 557
#Soviet All-Stars 6 4 1 1 9 27 20 77
#Czechoslovakia 6 1 4 1 3 14 33 107
#Finland 1 0 1 0 0 4 8 2

x-team folded during season #-played limited schedule


Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 13, 1978 3–2 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 1–0–0
2 L October 17, 1978 1–2 New England Whalers (1978–79) 1–1–0
3 W October 20, 1978 4–3 @ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) 2–1–0
4 L October 21, 1978 3–4 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 2–2–0
5 W October 22, 1978 6–2 @ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 3–2–0
6 L October 24, 1978 2–3 Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 3–3–0
7 L October 29, 1978 2–6 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 3–4–0
8 L October 31, 1978 4–5 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 3–5–0
9 W November 3, 1978 4–3 OT Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 4–5–0
10 L November 5, 1978 0–2 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 4–6–0
11 W November 8, 1978 6–5 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 5–6–0
12 L November 9, 1978 1–6 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 5–7–0
13 W November 11, 1978 5–3 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 6–7–0
14 L November 12, 1978 3–5 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 6–8–0
15 W November 17, 1978 6–1 Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) 7–8–0
16 W November 19, 1978 6–3 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 8–8–0
17 W November 21, 1978 4–1 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 9–8–0
18 W November 24, 1978 4–3 OT Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 10–8–0
19 W November 28, 1978 8–2 Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) 11–8–0
20 W December 1, 1978 8–2 New England Whalers (1978–79) 12–8–0
21 L December 3, 1978 0–7 New England Whalers (1978–79) 12–9–0
22 L December 6, 1978 3–6 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 12–10–0
23 L December 7, 1978 3–5 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 12–11–0
24 L December 9, 1978 2–6 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 12–12–0
25 L December 10, 1978 4–6 @ Indianapolis Racers (1978–79) 12–13–0
26 W December 12, 1978 5–2 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 13–13–0
27 W December 15, 1978 5–3 Soviet All-Stars (1978–79) 14–13–0
28 W December 19, 1978 5–2 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 15–13–0
29 L December 22, 1978 4–5 Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 15–14–0
30 L December 26, 1978 3–5 @ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 15–15–0
31 W December 27, 1978 5–3 Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 16–15–0
32 W December 30, 1978 5–1 Czechoslovakia (1978–79) 17–15–0
33 L January 9, 1979 3–4 OT @ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 17–16–0
34 W January 13, 1979 3–0 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 18–16–0
35 W January 16, 1979 3–1 Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 19–16–0
36 W January 17, 1979 6–3 @ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 20–16–0
37 W January 19, 1979 11–3 Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 21–16–0
38 L January 21, 1979 3–4 Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 21–17–0
39 W January 23, 1979 5–1 New England Whalers (1978–79) 22–17–0
40 L January 26, 1979 2–5 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 22–18–0
41 W January 28, 1979 3–0 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 23–18–0
42 L January 31, 1979 3–6 @ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 23–19–0
43 L February 2, 1979 2–4 @ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 23–20–0
44 L February 4, 1979 3–6 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 23–21–0
45 W February 6, 1979 6–2 Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 24–21–0
46 W February 7, 1979 8–5 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 25–21–0
47 W February 9, 1979 3–0 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 26–21–0
48 W February 11, 1979 4–3 OT Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 27–21–0
49 W February 13, 1979 6–1 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 28–21–0
50 W February 16, 1979 4–2 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 29–21–0
51 W February 18, 1979 6–3 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 30–21–0
52 W February 20, 1979 8–2 New England Whalers (1978–79) 31–21–0
53 W February 23, 1979 3–1 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 32–21–0
54 W February 25, 1979 5–4 Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 33–21–0
55 T February 27, 1979 1–1 New England Whalers (1978–79) 33–21–1
56 W March 2, 1979 5–2 Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 34–21–1
57 W March 3, 1979 6–4 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 35–21–1
58 L March 6, 1979 3–4 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 35–22–1
59 L March 7, 1979 3–6 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 35–23–1
60 T March 9, 1979 4–4 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 35–23–2
61 W March 11, 1979 4–0 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 36–23–2
62 L March 13, 1979 1–5 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 36–24–2
63 W March 16, 1979 6–1 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 37–24–2
64 L March 18, 1979 2–7 Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 37–25–2
65 W March 20, 1979 8–4 Finland (1978–79) 38–25–2
66 W March 21, 1979 7–4 @ Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 39–25–2
67 L March 23, 1979 4–6 Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 39–26–2
68 W March 25, 1979 6–5 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 40–26–2
69 L March 28, 1979 0–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 40–27–2
70 W March 30, 1979 3–1 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 41–27–2
71 W April 1, 1979 5–3 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 42–27–2
72 W April 3, 1979 5–1 @ Cincinnati Stingers (1978–79) 43–27–2
73 L April 4, 1979 2–4 @ Quebec Nordiques (1978–79) 43–28–2
74 W April 6, 1979 7–2 New England Whalers (1978–79) 44–28–2
75 W April 8, 1979 5–4 Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 45–28–2
76 L April 10, 1979 4–6 Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 45–29–2
77 W April 13, 1979 6–4 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 46–29–2
78 L April 14, 1979 6–7 @ Birmingham Bulls (1978–79) 46–30–2
79 W April 15, 1979 4–1 @ New England Whalers (1978–79) 47–30–2
80 W April 18, 1979 9–3 Winnipeg Jets (1978–79) 48–30–2

Playoffs

Edmonton Oilers 4, New England Whalers 3 – Semifinals

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 April 26 New England 2 – 6 Edmonton 1–0
2 April 27 New England 5 – 9 Edmonton 2–0
3 April 29 Edmonton 1 – 4 New England 2–1
4 May 1 Edmonton 4 – 5 New England 2–2
5 May 3 New England 2 – 5 Edmonton 3–2
6 May 6 Edmonton 8 – 4 New England 3–3
7 May 8 New England 3 – 6 Edmonton 4–3

Winnipeg Jets 4, Edmonton Oilers 2 – Avco Cup Finals

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 May 11 Winnipeg Jets 3–1 Edmonton Oilers 0–1
2 May 13 Winnipeg Jets 3–2 Edmonton Oilers 0–2
3 May 15 Edmonton Oilers 8–3 Winnipeg Jets 1–2
4 May 16 Edmonton Oilers 2–3 Winnipeg Jets 1–3
5 May 18 Winnipeg Jets 2–10 Edmonton Oilers 2–3
6 May 20 Edmonton Oilers 3–7 Winnipeg Jets 2–4

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Wayne Gretzky C 72 43 61 104 19 23 9 0 0
Blair MacDonald RW 80 34 37 71 44 35 3 4 0
Brett Callighen C 71 31 39 70 79 29 12 0 0
Ron Chipperfield C 55 32 37 69 47 25 6 0 0
Bill Flett RW 73 28 36 64 14 26 9 0 0
Dennis Sobchuk C 74 26 37 63 31 24 6 1 0
Stan Weir C 68 31 30 61 20 24 3 0 0
Joe Micheletti D 72 14 33 47 85 10 3 0 0
Paul Shmyr D 80 8 39 47 119 37 0 0 0
Al Hamilton D 80 6 38 44 38 22 2 0 0
Steve Carlson C 73 18 22 40 50 15 4 3 0
Peter Driscoll LW 69 17 23 40 115 16 3 0 0
Dave Hunter LW 72 7 25 32 134 7 0 0 0
Claire Alexander D 54 8 23 31 16 -5 2 1 0
Dave Langevin D 77 6 21 27 76 33 3 0 0
Dave Semenko LW 77 10 14 24 158 -12 2 0 0
John Hughes D 41 2 15 17 82 22 0 0 0
Doug Berry C 29 6 3 9 4 -9 1 0 0
Garnet Bailey LW 38 5 4 9 22 -8 1 0 0
Dave Dryden G 63 0 8 8 0 0 0 0 0
Risto Siltanen D 20 3 4 7 4 4 0 0 0
Bill Goldsworthy RW 17 4 2 6 14 -3 0 0 0
Jim Neilson D 35 0 5 5 18 5 0 0 0
Pierre Guite LW 12 1 1 2 8 -5 1 0 0
Eddie Mio G 22 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Wes George LW 3 0 0 0 11 1 0 0 0
Hannu Kamppuri G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jim Mayer RW 2 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0
Cal Sandbeck D 6 0 0 0 2 -2 0 0 0
Rudy Tajcnar D 2 0 0 0 0 -4 0 0 0
Ed Walsh G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Dave Dryden 3531 63 41 17 2 170 2.89 3
Eddie Mio 1068 22 7 10 0 71 3.99 1
Hannu Kamppuri 90 2 0 1 0 10 6.67 0
Ed Walsh 144 3 0 2 0 9 3.75 0
Team: 4833 80 48 30 2 260 3.23 4
Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Wayne Gretzky C 13 10 10 20 2 0 0 1
Ron Chipperfield C 13 9 10 19 8 0 0 0
Blair MacDonald RW 13 8 10 18 6 0 0 0
Brett Callighen C 13 5 10 15 15 0 0 1
Dennis Sobchuk C 12 6 6 12 4 0 0 1
Al Hamilton D 13 4 5 9 4 0 0 0
Joe Micheletti D 13 0 9 9 2 0 0 0
Risto Siltanen D 11 0 9 9 4 0 0 0
Bill Flett RW 10 5 2 7 2 0 0 1
Stan Weir C 13 2 5 7 2 0 0 1
Peter Driscoll LW 13 1 6 7 8 0 0 0
Dave Semenko LW 11 4 2 6 29 0 0 0
Paul Shmyr D 13 1 5 6 23 0 0 0
Dave Hunter LW 13 2 3 5 42 0 0 0
Bengt-Ake Gustafsson RW 2 1 2 3 0 0 0 0
Steve Carlson C 11 1 1 2 12 0 0 0
Bill Goldsworthy RW 4 1 1 2 11 0 0 1
John Hughes D 13 1 0 1 35 0 0 0
Dave Dryden G 13 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Dave Langevin D 13 0 1 1 25 0 0 0
Garnet Bailey LW 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Eddie Mio G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Dave Dryden 687 13 6 7 42 3.67 0
Eddie Mio 90 3 0 0 6 4.00 0
Team: 777 13 6 7 48 3.71 0

[1]

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

Regular Season
Player Milestone Reached
Claire Alexander 1st WHA Game
1st WHA Goal
1st WHA Assist
1st WHA Point		 October 13, 1978
Dave Hunter 1st WHA Game
Dave Hunter 1st WHA Assist
1st WHA Point		 October 20, 1978
Ed Walsh 1st WHA Game October 21, 1978
Doug Berry 1st WHA Goal
1st WHA Point		 October 22, 1978
Garnet Bailey 1st WHA Goal
1st WHA Point		 October 31, 1978
Brett Callighen 100th WHA Point November 8, 1978
Stan Weir 1st WHA Assist
1st WHA Point
Garnet Bailey 1st WHA Assist November 11, 1978
Doug Berry 1st WHA Assist November 19, 1978
Dave Hunter 1st WHA Goal
Stan Weir 1st WHA Goal November 21, 1978
Jim Neilson 1st WHA Assist November 24, 1978
Stan Weir 1st WHA Hat-Trick November 28, 1978
Wayne Gretzky 1st WHA Hat-Trick December 12, 1978
Dave Dryden 200th WHA Game December 19, 1978
Wayne Gretzky 2nd WHA Hat-Trick January 13, 1978
Dennis Sobchuk 300th WHA Point January 28, 1979
Ron Chipperfield 300th WHA Point February 7, 1979
Dave Dryden 100th WHA Win February 23, 1979
Paul Shmyr 300th WHA Point March 16, 1979
Risto Siltanen 1st WHA Goal March 18, 1979
Al Hamilton 300th WHA Point March 20, 1979
Hannu Kamppuri 1st WHA Game
Peter Driscoll 100th WHA Assist April 4, 1979
Bill Flett 100th WHA Goal
Wayne Gretzky 3rd WHA Hat-Trick April 10, 1979
Wayne Gretzky 100th WHA Point April 13, 1979
Joe Micheletti 100th WHA Point April 14, 1979
Wayne Gretzky 4th WHA Hat-Trick April 15, 1979

Transactions

Trades

Date To Edmonton Oilers Traded to Traded for
June 16, 1978 (1978-06-16) Bill Goldsworthy Indianapolis Racers Juha Widing
September 17, 1978 (1978-09-17) Larry Hendrick Minnesota North Stars (NHL) Cash
November 2, 1978 (1978-11-02) Peter Driscoll
Eddie Mio
Wayne Gretzky		 Indianapolis Racers ($850,000) Cash

Players acquired

Date Player Former team Term
June 8, 1978 (1978-06-08) Claire Alexander Vancouver Canucks (NHL) 1-year
June 15, 1978 (1978-06-15) Wes George Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) 3-year
Stan Weir Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) 2-year
June 22, 1978 (1978-06-22) Dave Hunter Montreal Canadiens (NHL) 5-year
Ed Walsh 2-year
July 6, 1978 (1978-07-06) Matti Hagman Quebec Nordiques
Mark Napier Birmingham Bulls
August 18, 1978 (1978-08-18) George Buat Seattle Breakers (WCHL)
Ron Carter Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL) 2-year
September 5, 1978 (1978-09-05) Jim Neilson Cleveland Barons (NHL)
November 19, 1978 (1978-11-19) Rudolf Tajcnár Maine Mariners (AHL)
December 17, 1978 (1978-12-17) John Hughes Indianapolis Racers
March 4, 1979 (1979-03-04) Mike Brown New York Rangers (NHL)
March 6, 1979 (1979-03-06) Hannu Kamppuri Jokerit Helsinki (Liiga) 1-year
Risto Siltanen Ilves Tampere (Liiga) 1-year
March 8, 1979 (1979-03-08) Mark Miller Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
March 21, 1979 (1979-03-21) Bengt-Åke Gustafsson Färjestad BK Karlstad (Elitserien) 2-year

Players lost

Date Player New team
Ron Busniuk Retired
Bryan Campbell
Bob Falkenberg
Norm Ferguson
Gavin Kirk Birmingham Bulls
Gary MacGregor Indianapolis Racers
Don McLeod Retired
Gerry Pinder
Randy Rota
July 6, 1978 (1978-07-06) Pierre Jarry Indianapolis Racers
Don McLeod
Jim Troy Cincinnati Stingers
September 29, 1978 (1978-09-29) Mike Zuke St. Louis Blues (NHL)
October 23, 1978 (1978-10-23) Ab DeMarco Boston Bruins (NHL)
December 14, 1978 (1978-12-14) Rudolf Tajcnár Released
March 1, 1979 (1979-03-01) Bryan Watson Cincinnati Stingers

Signings

Date Player Term
June 2, 1978 (1978-06-02) Al Hamilton 3-year
June 13, 1978 (1978-06-13) Doug Berry 3-year
Blair MacDonald 4-year
June 15, 1978 (1978-06-15) Bill Flett 1-year
September 22, 1978 (1978-09-22) Larry Hendrick
October 27, 1978 (1978-10-27) Garnet Bailey
January 26, 1979 (1979-01-26) Wayne Gretzky 10-year

Waivers

Date Player Team
September 4, 1978 (1978-09-04) Steve Carlson from New England Whalers
Jim Mayer

Farm teams

See also

References

  1. ^ "1978-79 Edmonton Oilers Statistics – Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2009.