| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 21 – May 20, 1979 |
| Season | 1978–79 |
| Teams | 5 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Winnipeg Jets (3rd title) |
| Runner-up | Edmonton Oilers |
| Semifinalists | |
The 1979 WHA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the World Hockey Association's 1978-1979 season. The seventh and final tournament concluded with five of the surviving six teams competing for the Avco World Trophy.
Among the notable events, phenom Wayne Gretzky made his first playoff appearance as a pro player as the Edmonton Oilers raced all the way to 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. They 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. [1] 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.
The Jets completed their WHA dynasty with their third championship in four seasons, doing so over the Edmonton Oilers in the Avco Cup Final. Wayne Gretzky led the playoffs in points with 20 on the strength of ten goals, which was only matched by Willy Lindström of the Jets, who had ten goals in ten games. In Game 5, 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. [2] [3] 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. [4] [5] [6]
Rich Preston of the Jets was the final person awarded the WHA Playoff MVP.
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Edmonton Oilers | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | New England Whalers | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | New England Whalers | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Cincinnati Stingers | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Edmonton Oilers | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Winnipeg Jets | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Quebec Nordiques | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Winnipeg Jets | 4 | ||||||||||||
| April 21 | Cincinnati Stingers | 3–5 (1–0, 0-2, 2–3) | New England Whalers | Springfield Civic Center |
| Mike Liut | Goalies | John Garrett | |||
| |||||
| 26 | Shots | 39 | |||
| April 22 | New England Whalers | 3–6 (0–3, 1–2, 2–1) | Cincinnati Stingers | Riverfront Coliseum |
| John Garrett / Al Smith | Goalies | Mike Liut | |||
| |||||
| 32 | Shots | 28 | |||
| April 24 | Cincinnati Stingers | 1–2 (1–1, 0–1, 0–0) | New England Whalers | Springfield Civic Center |
| Mike Liut | Goalies | Al Smith | |||
| |||||
| 33 | Shots | 34 | |||
| April 23 | Winnipeg Jets | 6–3 (1–1, 5-1, 0–1) | Quebec Nordiques | Colisée de Québec |
| Gary Smith | Goalies | Richard Brodeur / Jim Corsi | |||
| |||||
| 30 | Shots | 31 | |||
| April 25 | Winnipeg Jets | 9–2 (3–0, 3–1, 3–1) | Quebec Nordiques | Colisée de Québec |
| Gary Smith / Daley | Goalies | Jim Corsi / Richard Brodeur | |||
| |||||
| 32 | Shots | 23 | |||
| April 27 | Quebec Nordiques | 5–9 (1–2, 3–2, 1–5) | Winnipeg Jets | Winnipeg Arena |
| April 29 | Quebec Nordiques | 2–6 (1–1, 0–3, 1–2) | Winnipeg Jets | Winnipeg Arena |
| Richard Brodeur | Goalies | Gary Smith | |||
| |||||
| 14 | Shots | 50 | |||
| April 26 | New England Whalers | 2–6 (1–0, 0-3, 1-3) | Edmonton Oilers | Edmonton Coliseum |
| Al Smith | Goalies | Dave Dryden | |||
| |||||
| 21 | Shots | 29 | |||
| April 27 | New England Whalers | 5–9 (2–4, 1–2, 2–3) | Edmonton Oilers | Edmonton Coliseum |
| Al Smith / John Garrett | Goalies | Dave Dryden | |||
| |||||
| 27 | Shots | 39( | |||
| April 29 | Edmonton Oilers | 1–4 (1–2, 0–0, 0–2) | New England Whalers | Springfield Civic Center |
| Dave Dryden | Goalies | John Garrett | |||
| |||||
| 23 | Shots | 17 | |||
| May 1 | Edmonton Oilers | 4–5 (1–0, 1–4, 2–1) | New England Whalers | Springfield Civic Center |
| Dave Dryden | Goalies | John Garrett | |||
| |||||
| 27 | Shots | 30 | |||
| May 3 | New England Whalers | 2–5 (0–2, 0–1, 2–2) | Edmonton Oilers | Edmonton Coliseum |
| John Garrett | Goalies | Dave Dryden | |||
| |||||
| 21 | Shots | 30 | |||
| May 5 | Edmonton Oilers | 4–8 (0–4, 2–2, 2–2) | New England Whalers | Springfield Civic Center |
| Dave Dryden / Eddie Mio | Goalies | John Garrett | |||
| |||||
| 32 | Shots | 35 | |||
| May 8 | New England Whalers | 3–6 (1–2, 0–4, 2–0) | Edmonton Oilers | Edmonton Coliseum |
| John Garrett | Goalies | Dave Dryden | |||
| |||||
| 25 | Shots | 29 | |||
10,195 people saw the final WHA game when the Jets won the Avco Cup in Game 6 on May 20, 1979. [7]
| May 11 | Winnipeg Jets | 3–1 | Edmonton Oilers | Edmonton Coliseum | ||||
| 3:29 - Rich Preston (Peter Sullivan) 15:23 - Bill Lesuk (Roland Eriksson Lyle Moffat) | First period | 17:48 - Bill Flett (Paul Shmyr) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| 16:24 - Rich Preston (Kent Nilsson) | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gary Smith 23 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Dave Dryden 25 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| May 13 | Winnipeg Jets | 3–2 | Edmonton Oilers | Edmonton Coliseum | ||||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 6:12 - Dennis Sobchuk (Peter Driscoll) | ||||||
| 1:17 - Peter Sullivan (Terbenche) 11:53 - Morris Lukowich (Scott Campbell Terry Ruskowski) 15:24 - Willy Lindström (Barry Long Morris Lukowich) | Third period | 4:10 - Al Hamilton | ||||||
| Gary Smith 19 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | Dave Dryden 24 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| May 15 | Edmonton Oilers | 8–3 | Winnipeg Jets | Winnipeg Arena | ||||
| 9:03 - Al Hamilton (Wayne Gretzky) 9:44 (Peter Driscoll (Bill Goldsworthy) 12:45 - Ron Chipperfield (Paul Shmyr Peter Driscoll) 16:01 - Bill Goldsworthy (Al Hamilton Ron Chipperfield) | First period | 4:54 - Morris Lukowich (Terry Ruskowski Kent Nilsson) 15:53 - Willy Lindström | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 11:56 - Morris Lukowich (Paul MacKinnon Roland Eriksson) | ||||||
| 1:42 - Blair MacDonald (Risto Siltanen) 4:14 - Brett Callighen (Blair MacDonald Wayne Gretzky) 9:52 - Bengt Gustafsson (Dave Hunter Stan Weir) 11:00 - Dave Hunter (Bengt Gustafsson Al Hamilton) | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Dave Dryden 23 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Gary Smith / Joe Daley 19 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| May 16 | Edmonton Oilers | 2–3 | Winnipeg Jets | Winnipeg Arena | ||||
| 7:41 - Wayne Gretzky (Blair MacDonald Brett Callighen) | First period | 12:54 - Rich Preston (Peter Sullivan) | ||||||
| 13:42 - Brett Callighen (Wayne Gretzky Bengt Gustafsson) | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 9:24 - Morris Lukowich (Kent Nilsson Willy Lindström) 13:34 - Lyle Moffat (Bill Lesuk Roland Eriksson) | ||||||
| Dave Dryden 25 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Gary Smith 19 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| May 18 | Winnipeg Jets | 2–10 | Edmonton Oilers | Edmonton Coliseum | ||||
| No scoring | First period | 4:23 - Dennis Sobchuk (Ron Chipperfield Paul Shmyr) 16:28 - Gretzky (Brett Callighen Ron Chipperfield) 17:29 - Stan Weir (Joe Micheletti Dennis Sobchuk) 18:01 - Ron Chipperfield (Dave Langevin) | ||||||
| 0:22 - Rich Preston (Morris Lukowich Kent Nilsson) | Second period | 2:58 - Dennis Sobchuk (Paul Shmyr Stan Weir) 4:51 - Ron Chipperfield (Risto Siltanen Joe Micheletti) 10:45 - Ron Chipperfield (Peter Driscoll Dave Semenko) 14:23 - John Hughes (Dennis Sobchuk) | ||||||
| 3:14 - Kent Nilsson | Third period | 7:45 - Ron Chipperfield (Dave Semenko) 14:31 - Ron Chipperfield (Joe Micheletti Risto Siltanen) | ||||||
| Gary Smith / Joe Daley 32 saves / 42 shots | Goalie stats | Dave Dryden / Eddie Mio 19 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| May 20 | Edmonton Oilers | 3–7 | Winnipeg Jets | Winnipeg Arena | ||||
| No scoring | First period | 2:14 - Willy Lindström (Terry Ruskowski Morris Lukowich) 13:42 - Barry Long (Terry Ruskowski Morris Lukowich) | ||||||
| 18:45 - Ron Chipperfield (Peter Driscoll Risto Siltanen) | Second period | 5:22 - Paul MacKinnon (Peter Sullivan Glenn Hicks) 6:35 - Lyle Moffat (Roland Eriksson Morris Lukowich) 9:23 - Barry Long (Terry Ruskowski Paul MacKinnon) | ||||||
| 1:48 - Bill Flett (Al Hamilton) 19:48 - Dave Semenko (Ron Chipperfield Risto Siltanen) | Third period | 2:09 - Kent Nilsson (Peter Sullivan) 13:38 - Willy Lindström (Ruskowski) | ||||||
| Dave Dryden / Eddie Mio 27 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Gary Smith 27 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| Winnipeg won series 4–2 | |
These were the top ten skaters based on points. [8]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | 13 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 6 | 2 |
| Ron Chipperfield | Edmonton Oilers | 13 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 1 | 8 |
| Blair MacDonald | Edmonton Oilers | 13 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 1 | 6 |
| Brett Callighen | Edmonton Oilers | 13 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 5 | 15 |
| Willy Lindström | Winnipeg Jets | 10 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 7 | 9 |
| Morris Lukowich | Winnipeg Jets | 10 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 9 | 21 |
| Kent Nilsson | Winnipeg Jets | 10 | 3 | 11 | 14 | -1 | 4 |
| Peter Sullivan | Winnipeg Jets | 10 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 2 | 2 |
| Rich Preston | Winnipeg Jets | 10 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 15 |
| Terry Ruskowski | Winnipeg Jets | 8 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 23 |