1976–77 NHL season

The 1976–77 NHL season was the 60th season of the National Hockey League. Eighteen teams each played 80 games. 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 proposed for this season.

The Montreal Canadiens once again dominated the playoffs as for the second straight year, they swept their opponent four games to none in the final series for the Stanley Cup.

This season would be 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 second best winning percentage in NHL history, 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 26 points ahead of the second-place Boston Bruins, who were swept outright by Montreal in the 1977 Final.

Milestones

On February 2, 1977, Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Ian Turnbull would be the first player in NHL history to score five goals on five shots. ^[1]

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

Prince of Wales Conference

Clarence Campbell Conference

Scoring leaders

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

Playoffs

Playoff structure

For the 1976-77 Stanley Cup playoff tournament, the top three teams in each division were awarded playoff berths. These 12 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 quarter-finals, while the remaining 8 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 12th ranked team, the second top ranked non-division winner played the 11th ranked team, the third ranked non-division winner played the third-lowest ranked non-division winner (this would not necessarility be the 10th ranked team as it was possible for a 10th ranked team to win its division; and in fact this year St. Louis did win the Smythe division as the 10th ranked playoff team), and the remaining two non-division winners formed the 4th preliminary round pairing. The preliminary round consisted of a best-of-three series with the 1st 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 quarter-final, semi-final 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 would host games 3, 4 and 6.

The four preliminary round winners then joined the four division winners for the quarter-final round consisting of best-of-seven series. The matchup were determined according to regular season records without regard to divisional affiliations. Of the 8 remaining teams, the top ranked team played the lowest ranked remaining team, the second top ranked remaining team played the second lowest ranked remaining team, etc.

The four quarter-final winners advanced to the semi-finals 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 semi-final winners then played each other in the Stanley Cup Final.

Playoff bracket

NHL awards

All-Star teams

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):

• Don Edwards, Buffalo Sabres
• Bob Sauve, Buffalo Sabres
• Reed Larson, Detroit Red Wings
• Brian Engblom*, Montreal Canadiens
• Don Murdoch, New York Rangers
• Bernie Federko, St. Louis Blues
• Brian Sutter, St. Louis Blues
• Randy Carlyle, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Rick Green, Washington Capitals

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):

• Pat Quinn, Atlanta Flames
• Gilles Villemure, Chicago Black Hawks
• Jim Pappin, Cleveland Barons
• Simon Nolet, Colorado Rockies
• Bob Berry, Los Angeles Kings
• Ed Van Impe, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Vic Hadfield, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Barclay Plager, St. Louis Blues
• Roger Crozier, Washington Capitals

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1976 NHL Amateur Draft
• 1976 Canada Cup
• 30th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• 1976–77 WHA season
• 1976 in sports
• 1977 in sports

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com