1976–77 NHL season

League business

Not since the Ottawa Senators had relocated in 1934, becoming the St. Louis Eagles, had an NHL team moved. This year saw not one, but two teams relocate. The Kansas City Scouts moved to Denver, Colorado, and became the Colorado Rockies and the California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and became the Cleveland Barons. The instability, along with the poor performances of the Washington Capitals and the Scouts since the 1974 expansion, caused the league to shelve an expansion to Denver and Seattle that had been proposed for this season.

This season was Clarence Campbell's last as NHL President. He would be succeeded by John Ziegler.

Regular season

The previous season saw the Montreal Canadiens set new records in wins and points. Both of those records were broken again by the Canadiens this season as, with the highest points percentage in post-expansion NHL history (.825), they had 60 wins and 132 points. Their home record was an impressive 33 wins, 1 loss, and 6 ties. Scoring a remarkable two hundred goals more than they allowed, the Canadiens were a full 20 points ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers, however, were swept in four straight games by the third-place Boston Bruins in the semi-finals. The Bruins were in turn swept by the Canadiens in four straight in the finals.

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

Final standings

Playoffs

The New York Islanders won six consecutive games before the semi-final and were the only team from the preliminary round to make it to the semi-finals, where they lost to the first-ranked, defending champion and eventual champion Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens swept the St. Louis Blues, dispatched the Islanders in six to reach the final. The losses to the Islanders were the Canadiens' only losses of their playoff run. Second-ranked Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the quarter-final, before being swept by the third-ranked Boston Bruins in the semi-final.

Playoff structure

For the 1976–77 Stanley Cup playoff tournament, the top three teams in each division were awarded playoff berths. These twelve teams were then ranked 1 through 12 according to their regular season records, irrespective of divisional affiliation. The four division winners automatically qualified for the quarterfinals, while the remaining eight teams (2nd and 3rd place teams in each division) played a preliminary round. For the preliminary round, the top-ranked non-division winner played the twelfth-ranked team, the second top ranked non-division winner played the eleventh-ranked team, the third ranked non-division winner played the third-lowest ranked non-division winner. (This did not necessarily have to be the tenth-ranked team, as it was possible for a tenth-ranked team to win its division. In fact, St. Louis did win the Smythe Division as the tenth-ranked playoff team.) The remaining two non-division winners formed the fourth preliminary round pairing. The preliminary round consisted of a best-of-three series with the first game played on the home ice of the higher-ranked team, and the second game on the home ice of the lower-ranked team. If a third and deciding game was necessary, it was played on the home ice of the higher-ranked team.

For the quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds, each series was a best-of-seven, with home-ice advantage in games 1, 2, 5 and 7 going to the team with the better regular season record. The other team hosted games 3 and 4, and game 6 if it was necessary. The four preliminary round winners joined the four division winners for the quarterfinals. The matchups were determined according to regular season records without regard to divisional affiliations. Of the eight remaining teams, the top-ranked team played the lowest-ranked remaining team, the second-highest-ranked remaining team played the second-lowest-ranked remaining team, etc. The four quarterfinal winners advanced to the semifinals, with the match-ups again determined by regular season records. The highest-ranked remaining team played the lowest-ranked remaining team, and the other two teams formed the second match-up. The two semifinal winners played each other in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Playoff seeds

The twelve teams that qualified for the playoffs are ranked 1–12 based on regular season points.

Note: Only teams that qualified for the playoffs are listed here.

1. Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 132 points
2. Philadelphia Flyers, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 112 points
3. Boston Bruins, Adams Division champions – 106 points (49 wins)
4. New York Islanders – 106 points (47 wins)
5. Buffalo Sabres – 104 points
6. Los Angeles Kings – 83 points
7. Pittsburgh Penguins – 81 points (34 wins)
8. Toronto Maple Leafs – 81 points (33 wins)
9. Atlanta Flames – 80 points
10. St. Louis Blues, Smythe Division champions – 73 points
11. Minnesota North Stars – 64 points
12. Chicago Black Hawks – 63 points

Playoff bracket

Stanley Cup Finals

The defending champion Montreal Canadiens took on the "Original Six" rival, the third-ranked Boston Bruins in the Final. Both teams had swept a series and had lost only two games in the earlier rounds. The Canadiens swept the series in four games to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes

Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1976–77 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1976–77 (listed with their last team):