| 1978–79 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 11, 1978 – May 21, 1979 |
| Games | 80 |
| Teams | 17 |
| TV partner(s) | CBC,SRC (Canada) NHL Network,CBS,[a]ABC[b] (United States) |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Bobby Smith |
| Picked by | Minnesota North Stars |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | New York Islanders |
| SeasonMVP | Bryan Trottier (Islanders) |
| Top scorer | Bryan Trottier (Islanders) |
| Playoffs | |
| PlayoffsMVP | Bob Gainey (Canadiens) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | Montreal Canadiens |
| Runners-up | New York Rangers |
| NHL seasons | |
← 1977–78 1979–80 → | |
The1978–79 NHL season was the62ndseason of theNational Hockey League. TheMontreal Canadiens beat theNew York Rangers in theStanley Cup finals four games to one for their fourth consecutive Cup; two "Original Six" teams did not meet again in the Finals for the next 34 years, when theChicago Blackhawks defeated theBoston Bruins in the2013 Finals. The Bruins faced the Canadiens in the 1979 semifinals, marking the last appearance by three Original Six teams in the final four for the next 35 years, when the Blackhawks, Canadiens and Rangers reached the semifinals of the2014 playoffs.
TheCleveland Barons merged with theMinnesota North Stars (continuing as the North Stars), reducing the NHL membership to 17 teams, the last time that a league in the "big four"major professional sports league contracted.
This season saw the first reduction in the total number of teams since theBrooklyn Americans folded following the1941–42 season. Fearing that two teams were on the verge of folding, the league approved the merger of the financially unstableCleveland Barons andMinnesota 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 was only temporary, however, as negotiations continued toward an agreement with theWorld Hockey Association that would see it fold following this season, with four of its teams joining the NHL as expansion franchises for1979–80.
Adispersal draft was then held on June 15, 1978. The merged North Stars was allowed to protect 14 players, then the five other worst teams in the previous 1977–78 season each had the option to pick one of the unprotected players.
The1978 NHL amateur draft was also held on June 15, at theQueen Elizabeth Hotel inMontreal,Quebec.Bobby Smith was selected first overall by the North Stars.
For the first time since theNHL All-Star Game became an annual tradition, it was not played. In its stead was the1979 Challenge Cup, which sawSoviet Union players come over to North America to play against NHL players. The Soviets won the series two games to one.
For the past three seasons, the Montreal Canadiens had dominated the regular season, but times were changing. TheNew 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.
This was the last season until the2005–06 season that the St. Louis Blues missed the playoffs.
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 inbold
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Bruins | 80 | 43 | 23 | 14 | 316 | 270 | 100 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 36 | 28 | 16 | 280 | 263 | 88 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 80 | 34 | 33 | 13 | 267 | 252 | 81 |
| Minnesota North Stars | 80 | 28 | 40 | 12 | 257 | 289 | 68 |
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 80 | 52 | 17 | 11 | 337 | 204 | 115 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 36 | 31 | 13 | 281 | 279 | 85 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 34 | 34 | 12 | 292 | 286 | 80 |
| Washington Capitals | 80 | 24 | 41 | 15 | 273 | 338 | 63 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 23 | 41 | 16 | 252 | 295 | 62 |
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.
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Islanders | 80 | 51 | 15 | 14 | 358 | 214 | 116 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 40 | 25 | 15 | 281 | 248 | 95 |
| New York Rangers | 80 | 40 | 29 | 11 | 316 | 292 | 91 |
| Atlanta Flames | 80 | 41 | 31 | 8 | 327 | 280 | 90 |
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Black Hawks | 80 | 29 | 36 | 15 | 244 | 277 | 73 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 80 | 25 | 42 | 13 | 217 | 291 | 63 |
| St. Louis Blues | 80 | 18 | 50 | 12 | 249 | 348 | 48 |
| Colorado Rockies | 80 | 15 | 53 | 12 | 210 | 331 | 42 |
The top two teams in each division made the playoffs, along with the four next-best regular-season records from teams in the entire league finishing third or lower. All 12 clubs then wereseeded 1–12 based on regular season points, regardless of conference or division.
Note: Only teams that qualified for the playoffs are listed here.
The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system: in each round, the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth.
Regardless of playoff seed, all four division winners received abye to the Quarterfinals. Each series in the Preliminary Round was played in abest-of-three format while each series in the other three rounds were played in abest-of-seven format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).
| Preliminary round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | NY Islanders | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Chicago | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | NY Islanders | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | NY Rangers | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Philadelphia | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Vancouver | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Philadelphia | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | NY Rangers | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | NY Rangers | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Los Angeles | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Montreal | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | NY Rangers | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Montreal | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Toronto | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Atlanta | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Toronto | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Montreal | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Boston | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Boston | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Pittsburgh | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Buffalo | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Pittsburgh | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1979 NHL awards | |
|---|---|
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (Wales Conference regular season champion) | Montreal Canadiens |
| Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: (Campbell Conference regular season champion) | New York Islanders |
| Art Ross Trophy: (Top scorer, regular season) | Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders |
| Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: (Perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication) | Serge Savard, Montreal Canadiens |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: (Top first-year player) | Bobby Smith, Minnesota North Stars |
| Conn Smythe Trophy: (Most valuable player, playoffs) | Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens |
| Frank J. Selke Trophy: (Best defensive forward) | Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens |
| Hart Memorial Trophy: (Most valuable player, regular season) | Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders |
| Jack Adams Award: (Best coach) | Al Arbour, New York Islanders |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy: (Best defenceman) | Denis Potvin, New York Islanders |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) | Bob MacMillan, Atlanta Flames |
| Lester B. Pearson Award: (Outstanding player, regular season) | Marcel Dionne, Los Angeles Kings |
| Vezina Trophy: (Goaltender(s) of team(s) with best goaltending record) | Ken Dryden &Michel Larocque, Montreal Canadiens |
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 |
Source: NHL.[2]
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | MIN | GA | GAA | W | L | T | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Dryden | Montreal Canadiens | 47 | 2814 | 108 | 2.30 | 30 | 10 | 7 | 5 |
| Chico Resch | N.Y. Islanders | 43 | 2539 | 106 | 2.50 | 26 | 7 | 10 | 2 |
| Bernie Parent | Philadelphia Flyers | 36 | 1979 | 89 | 2.70 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 4 |
| Michel Larocque | Montreal Canadiens | 34 | 1986 | 94 | 2.84 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Billy Smith | N.Y. Islanders | 40 | 2261 | 108 | 2.87 | 25 | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| Mike Palmateer | Toronto Maple Leafs | 58 | 3396 | 167 | 2.95 | 26 | 21 | 10 | 4 |
| Don Edwards | Buffalo Sabres | 54 | 3160 | 159 | 3.02 | 26 | 18 | 9 | 2 |
| Mario Lessard | L.A. Kings | 49 | 2860 | 148 | 3.10 | 23 | 15 | 10 | 4 |
| Glen Hanlon | Vancouver Canucks | 31 | 1821 | 94 | 3.10 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 3 |
| Gerry Cheevers | Boston Bruins | 43 | 2509 | 132 | 3.16 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 1 |
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):
Players marked with § began their major professional career in theWorld Hockey Association.
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):
Hockey Night in Canada onCBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games.
In the U.S., this was the fourth and final season that NHL games aired in nationalbroadcast syndication under theNHL Network package. On February 10,CBS decided to televise Game 2 of the1979 Challenge Cup, but that was the network's only involvement in broadcasting the NHL this season. Similarly,ABC only agreed to air Game 7 of the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals had the series gone that far. The league then dissolved the NHL Network after the season, signing packages of regular season slates to the fledgling cable networksESPN and UA-Columbia (later known as theUSA Network). TheHughes Television Network, the NHL Network's distributor, also signed a new deal for regular season and postseason games.