1979 WHA Playoffs

The 1979 WHA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the World Hockey Association's 1978–79 season. The seventh and final tournament concluded with five of the surviving six teams competing for the Avco World Trophy; the merger between the WHA and the National Hockey League loomed ahead after the announcement of a merger in late March, with the four teams to move to the NHL already selected. The playoffs were threatened to not be played entirely due to a dispute over the playoff pool in which the league wanted to cut the pool to $88,000 less than last year due to less games being played. It was noted at the time that the original WHA playoff pool was at one point $740,000 but now was considerably less than that; the dispute was tabled to after the playoffs.

Among the notable events, phenom Wayne Gretzky made his first playoff appearance as a professional player as the Edmonton Oilers raced all the way to the Avco Cup Final. Winnipeg lost the entire "Hot Line" of Bobby Hull (who played four games before retiring), Anders Hedberg & Ulf Nilsson (who each left for the NHL), which had scored 146 combined goals the previous season and even replaced their Avco Cup champion coach (Larry Hillman) after 61 games for Tom McVie. Team captain Lars-Erik Sjoberg played just nine games due to a torn Achilles tendon that he suffered in the preseason. The Jets were bolstered by the acquisition of several players from the liquidated Houston Aeros such as Rich Preston, Morris Lukowich, and Terry Ruskowski. Gary Smith was a late addition to the team, having gone from going winless in eleven starts with the extinct Indianapolis Racers to playing 11 games to end the season for the Jets on his way to being tabbed as the goaltender for their playoff run. The New England Whalers, still without the services of the Hartford Civic Center, played their last games as "New England" at the Springfield Civic Center while the Cincinnati Stingers played their last games as a franchise.

For only the second time in WHA history and first since 1976, the team with the best regular season record failed to win the championship. The Winnipeg Jets completed their WHA dynasty with their third championship in four seasons, doing so over the regular season champion Edmonton Oilers in the Avco Cup Final. Rookie Wayne Gretzky led the playoffs in points with 20 on the strength of ten goals for the Oilers, which was only matched by Willy Lindstrom of the Jets, who had ten goals in ten games. In Game 5 of the Avco Cup Final, Ron Chipperfield scored five goals to set the new WHA record for goals scored in a postseason game as the Oilers forced a Game 6 with a 10-2 victory. In Game 6, the Jets scored five goals in the first two periods and dominated their way to a 7-3 win on home ice to complete the WHA. Dave Semenko of the Oilers scored the final goal in WHA history, doing so with twelve seconds left in the third period.

Rich Preston of the Jets was the final person awarded the WHA Playoff MVP.

Playoff seeds

#Edmonton Oilers – 98 points
#Quebec Nordiques – 87 points
#Winnipeg Jets – 84 points
#New England Whalers – 83 points
#Cincinnati Stingers – 72 points

Bracket

Quarterfinals

The go-ahead goal that wound up winning the series was scored by Blaine Stoughton with 17 seconds to play in the second period.

Semifinals

(2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (3) Quebec Nordiques

(1) Edmonton Oilers vs. (4) New England Whalers

The favored Oilers had gone 9–4–1 against the Whalers in the regular season (while winning eight of the last nine). However, the home team wound up winning each game in a tight series that went the distance. Wayne Gretzky had 15 points in the series, a record for a seven-game playoff and the most for a WHA semifinal in history. Edmonton scored 34 goals in the series and New England scored 30 to combine for 64, also a record for a seven-game series that topped the previous mark of the 1974 Semifinal.

Avco Cup Final

(1) Edmonton Oilers vs. (3) Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg prevailed in the first two games in Edmonton with tight battles. In Game 1, Rich Preston gave them the lead three minutes into Game 1 and the Jets never trailed from there as they scored two more goals to win. In Game 2, the Oilers led in the second period on a Dennis Sobchuk goal, but the Jets scored three goals, with Willy Lindstrom breaking the 2-2 tie with 4:36 remaining in regulation. For the next two games in Winnipeg, the two teams split victories, with Edmonton rocking the Jets in Game 3 with an 8–3 victory that saw eight different players score for the Oilers. In Game 4, the teams each scored a goal in the first period, and the Oilers took a 2-1 lead into the third period on a goal by Brett Callighen. Morris Lukowich tied the game for the Jets midway into the period before Lyle Moffat scored the go-ahead goal with 6:26 remaining in the game. Now trailing 3-1 in the series, the Oilers returned to Edmonton and rocked the Jets early with four goals in the first period on their way to a 10-2 victory, which notably saw Ron Chipperfield score five goals. 10,195 people saw what would end up being the final WHA game when the Jets played the Oilers in Game 6 on May 20, 1979. The Jets held court from the get-go, with Willy Lindstrom giving the Jets an early lead two minutes into the game on a goal. After being up 2-0 in the first period, the Jets then scored three goals in the span of four minutes to rocket up to a 5-0 lead, with Lyle Moffat having the series-clinching goal at 6:35 in the period. Three players led the Jets in goals for the series with four by Rich Preston, Morris Lukowich, and Willy Lindström. A parade was held on May 22 in downtown Winnipeg.

Player statistics

These were the top ten skaters based on points.

Championship roster

1978–79 Winnipeg Jets

References

External links

Playoffs

{{WHA seasons

1978–79 WHA season
World Hockey Association playoffs