1978-79 NHL season

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The 1978-79 NHL season was the 62nd season of the National Hockey League. This season saw the first reduction in the total number of teams since the Brooklyn Americans folded following the 1941-42 season. The financially unstable Cleveland Barons were merged with the also struggling Minnesota North Stars, reducing the number of teams to seventeen, with the North Stars assuming the Barons' place in the Adams Division. The remaining 17 teams played an 80 game season. This reduction would only be temporary, however, as the World Hockey Association would fold following this season and four of its teams would be admitted to the NHL as expansion franchises for the 1979-80 season.

The Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup finals four games to one for their fourth Cup in a row.

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.

Contents 1 Regular season 1.1 Final standings 1.1.1 Prince of Wales Conference 1.1.2 Clarence Campbell Conference 1.2 Scoring leaders 2 Stanley Cup playoffs 2.1 Playoff bracket 2.2 Preliminary Round 2.3 Quarterfinals 2.4 Semi-finals 2.5 Stanley Cup Finals 3 NHL awards 4 See also 5 References

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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

[edit] Prince of Wales Conference

Adams Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Boston Bruins	80	43	23	14	100	316	270	1222
Buffalo Sabres	80	36	28	16	88	280	263	1026
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	34	33	13	81	267	252	1440
Minnesota North Stars	80	28	40	12	68	257	289	1102

Norris Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Montreal Canadiens	80	52	17	11	115	337	204	803
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	36	31	13	85	281	279	1039
Los Angeles Kings	80	34	34	12	80	292	286	1134
Washington Capitals	80	24	41	15	63	273	338	1312
Detroit Red Wings	80	23	41	16	62	252	295	1359

[edit] Clarence Campbell Conference

Patrick Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
New York Islanders	80	51	15	14	116	358	214	1077
Philadelphia Flyers	80	40	25	15	95	281	248	1548
New York Rangers	80	40	29	11	91	316	292	1214
Atlanta Flames	80	41	31	8	90	327	280	1158

Smythe Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Chicago Black Hawks	80	29	36	15	73	244	277	1254
Vancouver Canucks	80	25	42	13	63	217	291	1134
St. Louis Blues	80	18	50	12	48	249	348	1055
Colorado Rockies	80	15	53	12	42	210	331	838

[edit] Scoring leaders

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Bryan Trottier	New York Islanders	76	47	87	134	50
Marcel Dionne	Los Angeles Kings	80	59	71	130	30
Guy Lafleur	Montreal Canadiens	80	52	77	129	28
Mike Bossy	New York Islanders	80	69	57	126	25
Bob MacMillan	Atlanta Flames	79	37	71	108	14
Guy Chouinard	Atlanta Flames	80	50	57	107	14
Denis Potvin	New York Islanders	73	31	70	101	58
Bernie Federko	St. Louis Blues	74	31	64	95	14
Dave Taylor	Los Angeles Kings	78	43	48	91	124
Clark Gillies	New York Islanders	75	35	56	91	68

[edit] Stanley Cup playoffs

All dates in 1979

[edit] Playoff bracket

	Preliminary Round					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
						2	Montreal Canadiens	4
						9	Toronto Maple Leafs	0
	6	Atlanta Flames	0
	9	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
											2	Montreal Canadiens	4
										3	Boston Bruins	3
						3	Boston Bruins	4
						8	Pittsburgh Penguins	0
	7	Buffalo Sabres	1
	8	Pittsburgh Penguins	2
																2	Montreal Canadiens	4
																5	New York Rangers	1
						1	New York Islanders	4
						11	Chicago Black Hawks	0
											1	New York Islanders	2
										5	New York Rangers	4
	4	Philadelphia Flyers	2
	12	Vancouver Canucks	1
						4	Philadelphia Flyers	1
						5	New York Rangers	4
	5	New York Rangers	2
	10	Los Angeles Kings	0

[edit] Preliminary Round

Vancouver Canucks vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 10	Vancouver Canucks	3	Philadelphia Flyers	2
April 12	Philadelphia Flyers	6	Vancouver Canucks	4
April 14	Vancouver Canucks	2	Philadelphia Flyers	7

Philadelphia wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1

Los Angeles Kings vs. New York Rangers

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 10	Los Angeles Kings	1	New York Rangers	7
April 12	New York Rangers	2	Los Angeles Kings	1	(OT)

NY Rangers win best-of-three series 2 games to 0

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Atlanta Flames

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 10	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	Atlanta Flames	1
April 12	Atlanta Flames	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	7

Toronto wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Buffalo Sabres

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 10	Pittsburgh Penguins	4	Buffalo Sabres	3
April 12	Buffalo Sabres	3	Pittsburgh Penguins	1
April 14	Pittsburgh Penguins	4	Buffalo Sabres	3	(OT)

Pittsburgh wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1

[edit] Quarterfinals

Chicago Black Hawks vs. New York Islanders

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 16	Chicago Black Hawks	2	New York Islanders	6
April 18	Chicago Black Hawks	0	New York Islanders	1	(OT)
April 20	New York Islanders	4	Chicago Black Hawks	0
April 22	New York Islanders	3	Chicago Black Hawks	1

NY Islanders win best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 16	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	Montreal Canadiens	5
April 18	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	Montreal Canadiens	5
April 21	Montreal Canadiens	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	3
April 22	Montreal Canadiens	5	Toronto Maple Leafs	4	(OT)

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Boston Bruins

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 16	Pittsburgh Penguins	2	Boston Bruins	6
April 18	Pittsburgh Penguins	3	Boston Bruins	4
April 21	Boston Bruins	2	Pittsburgh Penguins	1
April 22	Boston Bruins	4	Pittsburgh Penguins	1

Boston wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 16	New York Rangers	2	Philadelphia Flyers	3	(OT)
April 18	New York Rangers	7	Philadelphia Flyers	1
April 20	Philadelphia Flyers	1	New York Rangers	5
April 22	Philadelphia Flyers	0	New York Rangers	6
April 24	New York Rangers	8	Philadelphia Flyers	3

NY Rangers win best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

[edit] Semi-finals

New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 26	New York Rangers	4	New York Islanders	1
April 28	New York Rangers	3	New York Islanders	4	(OT)
May 1	New York Islanders	1	New York Rangers	3
May 3	New York Islanders	3	New York Rangers	2	(OT)
May 5	New York Rangers	4	New York Islanders	3
May 8	New York Islanders	1	New York Rangers	2

NY Rangers win best-of-seven series 4 games to 2

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

Game seven of the Montreal-Boston Semifinal is perhaps one of the most memorable in the history of the NHL. About a minute and a half after Boston's Rick Middleton scored with four minutes remaining in the third period to give the Bruins a 4-3 lead, linesman John D'Amico called a bench minor for too many men on the ice against the Bruins. Montreal's Guy Lafleur scored on the ensuing power play, sending the game to overtime where Yvon Lambert gave the Canadiens the win and a trip to their fourth straight Stanley Cup final.

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 26	Boston Bruins	2	Montreal Canadiens	4
April 28	Boston Bruins	2	Montreal Canadiens	5
May 1	Montreal Canadiens	1	Boston Bruins	2
May 3	Montreal Canadiens	3	Boston Bruins	4	(OT)
May 5	Boston Bruins	1	Montreal Canadiens	5
May 8	Montreal Canadiens	2	Boston Bruins	5
May 10	Boston Bruins	4	Montreal Canadiens	5	(OT)

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3

[edit] Stanley Cup Finals

New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens

Up to now. It was the last Stanley Cup Final where two Original Six teams met in a Stanley Cup Final.

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
May 13	New York Rangers	4	Montreal Canadiens	1
May 15	New York Rangers	2	Montreal Canadiens	6
May 17	Montreal Canadiens	4	New York Rangers	1
May 19	Montreal Canadiens	4	New York Rangers	3	(OT)
May 21	New York Rangers	1	Montreal Canadiens	4

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

[edit] NHL awards

Prince of Wales Trophy:	Montreal Canadiens
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:	New York Islanders
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:	Serge Savard, Montreal Canadiens
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Smith, Minnesota North Stars
Conn Smythe Trophy:	Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens
Frank J. Selke Trophy:	Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Jack Adams Award:	Al Arbour, New York Islanders
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Denis Potvin, New York Islanders
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Bob MacMillan, Atlanta Flames
Lester B. Pearson Award:	Marcel Dionne, Los Angeles Kings
NHL Plus/Minus Award:	Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Vezina Trophy:	Ken Dryden & Michel Larocque, Montreal Canadiens
Lester Patrick Trophy:	Bobby Orr

[edit] See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1978 NHL Amateur Draft
• 1979 Challenge Cup
• 1978-79 WHA season
• 1978 in sports
• 1979 in sports

[edit] References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com

NHL seasons
1974-75 | 1975-76 | 1976-77 | 1977-78 | 1978-79 | 1979-80 | 1980-81 | 1981-82 | 1982-83