Puneet Varma (Editor)

1978–79 NHL season

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League
  
National Hockey League

Season champions
  
New York Islanders

Champion
  
Montreal Canadiens

Top scorer
  
Bryan Trottier

Number of games
  
80

Finals champion
  
Montreal Canadiens

Sport
  
Ice hockey

Champions
  
Montreal Canadiens

Start date
  
1978

Season MVP
  
Bryan Trottier

Number of teams
  
17

Duration
  
October 11, 1978 – May 21, 1979

Playoffs Playoffs MVP
  
Bob Gainey, (Montreal Canadiens)

The 1978–79 NHL season was the 62nd season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup finals four games to one for their fourth Cup in a row. This was the last time that two of the "Original Six" teams met in the Finals until 2013. With the Boston Bruins joining the Canadiens and Rangers in the semifinals, this was the last time that three of the final four teams were Original six teams until 2014.

Contents

League business

This season saw the first reduction in the total number of teams since the Brooklyn Americans folded following the 1941–42 season. Fearing that two teams were on the verge of folding, the league approved the merger of the financially unstable Cleveland Barons and Minnesota North Stars franchises, reducing the number of teams to 17. The merged team continued as the Minnesota North Stars, but assumed the Barons' place in the Adams Division.

This reduction would only be temporary, however, as negotiations continued toward an agreement with the World Hockey Association that would see it fold following this season, with four of its teams joining the NHL as expansion franchises for 1979–80.

For the first time since the NHL All-Star Game became an annual tradition, it was not played. In its stead was the 1979 Challenge Cup, which saw Soviet Union players come over to North America to play against NHL players. The Soviets won the series two games to one.

This was the last season until the 2005-06 season that the St. Louis Blues missed the playoffs.

Regular season

For the past three seasons, the Montreal Canadiens had dominated the regular season, but times were changing. The New York Islanders had been steadily improving over the past few seasons and this season saw them beat out the Canadiens by one point for the best record in the league.

Final standings

GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points


       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

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. New York Islanders, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 116 points
  2. Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 115 points
  3. Boston Bruins, Adams Division champions – 100 points
  4. Philadelphia Flyers – 95 points
  5. New York Rangers – 91 points
  6. Atlanta Flames – 90 points
  7. Buffalo Sabres – 88 points
  8. Pittsburgh Penguins – 85 points
  9. Toronto Maple Leafs – 81 points
  10. Los Angeles Kings – 80 points
  11. Chicago Black Hawks, Smythe Division champions – 73 points
  12. Vancouver Canucks – 63 points

Playoff bracket

  • Division winners earned a bye to the Quarterfinals
  • Teams were re-seeded based on regular season record after the Preliminary and Quarterfinal rounds

    • Stanley Cup Finals

    Prior to 2013, this was the last time two Original Six clubs met in the finals. Both teams would next appear in the Stanley Cup Finals: Canadiens winning in 1986, Rangers winning in 1994.

    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

    Other statistics

    Plus-minus
  • Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders

    • Debuts

    The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1978–79 (listed with their first team, asterisk (*) marks debut in playoffs):

  • Joel Quenneville, Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Brad Marsh, Atlanta Flames
  • Reggie Lemelin, Atlanta Flames
  • Al Secord, Boston Bruins
  • Bobby Smith, Minnesota North Stars
  • Steve Payne, Minnesota North Stars
  • Rod Langway §, Montreal Canadiens
  • John Tonelli §, New York Islanders
  • Anders Hedberg §, New York Rangers
  • Ulf Nilsson §, New York Rangers
  • Ken Linseman §, Philadelphia Flyers
  • Pete Peeters, Philadelphia Flyers
  • Greg Millen, Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Wayne Babych, St. Louis Blues
  • Curt Fraser, Vancouver Canucks
  • Thomas Gradin, Vancouver Canucks
  • Stan Smyl, Vancouver Canucks
  • Ryan Walter, Washington Capitals

    • Players marked with § began their major professional career in the World Hockey Association.

    Last games

    The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1978–79 (listed with their last team):

  • Bobby Orr, Chicago Black Hawks
  • Joe Watson, Colorado Rockies
  • Danny Grant, Los Angeles Kings
  • J. P. Parise, Minnesota North Stars
  • Jacques Lemaire, Montreal Canadiens
  • Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens
  • Yvan Cournoyer, Montreal Canadiens
  • Ed Westfall, New York Islanders
  • Bernie Parent, Philadelphia Flyers
  • Garry Monahan, Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Pit Martin, Vancouver Canucks

    • References

    1978–79 NHL season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA