1976 WHA playoffs

The 1976 WHA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the World Hockey Association's 1975–76 season. The fourth WHA tournament, it was the only one with ten teams in competition with each other. The Winnipeg Jets won the Avco Cup over the Houston Aeros for their first ever championship.^[1] Ulf Nilsson was named the WHA Playoff MVP.^[2]

• Houston Aeros, Western Division champions – 106 points
• Winnipeg Jets, Canadian Division champions – 106 points
• Quebec Nordiques – 104 points
• Calgary Cowboys – 86 points
• Phoenix Roadrunners– 84 points
• San Diego Mariners – 78 points
• Indianapolis Racers, Eastern Division champions – 76 points
• Cleveland Crusaders – 75 points
• New England Whalers – 73 points
• Edmonton Oilers – 59 points

Phoenix had gone 9–3 against San Diego in the regular season.^[3] In Game 1, left winger Del Hall took a pass from Robbie Ftorek at the blue line and skated for a shot on the goalie that was partially stopped by goaltender Ernie Wakely but defenseman Brent Hughes accidentally collied with Wakely when trying to get back into the play that saw the puck slip into the net for the game-winner in overtime.^[4] Apparently, in the pre-game session for Game 4, Mariners head coach Ron Ingram and the whole team was put under hypnosis by a local hypnotist; San Diego proceeded to dominate the matchup, taking the lead in the first two minutes of the game and never trailing.^[5] Unusually, Game 5 had no penalties called for the duration of the game; Norm Ferguson gave the Mariners the go-ahead goal to win a game where Phoenix failed on all ten shots in the third period.^[6] It also was the last playoff game played in the state of Arizona until the Arizona Coyotes played in 1997.

New England had gone 6–3–1 against Cleveland in the regular season.^[7] Mike Rogers delivered the go-ahead goal in Game 3 with four minutes remaining to eliminate Cleveland.^[8] This was the final game played by the Crusaders in Cleveland, as they relocated to Minnesota in the offseason when the National Hockey League approved the move of the California Golden Seals to Cleveland.

Winnipeg went 8–4–1 against Edmonton in the regular season.^[9] In Game 2, goaltender Joe Daley was involved in a high-sticking incident with Oilers player Rusty Patenaude that saw Edmonton coach Bill Hunter demand for Daley to receive a suspension. Daley was suspended for Game 3, but backup goalie Curt Larsson held firm with a 3-2 victory.^[10]

Calgary had gone 5–4–1 against Quebec.^[11] In a shocking upset, the Cowboys prevailed over the Nordiques. However, it mostly became known for an infamous brawl during Game 2 that saw eleven ejections, a coach suspended the rest of the series, and criminal matters. The incident began when Calgary's Rick Jodzio cross-checked Quebec's Marc Tardif in the head, causing both teams to leave their benches.^[12][13] The brawl lasted 20 minutes, and ended only when Quebec police gathered at the players benches and escorted the teams back to their dressing rooms.^[14] The game resumed following a 20-minute break to allow both teams to cool down, then resumed without eleven players who were ejected from the game.^[13] The incident caught the attention of Quebec's Solicitor General Fernand Lalonde, who had the incident investigated as a criminal matter.^[13] Tardif had a concussion and didn't play for the rest of the series. Jodzio was suspended indefinitely by the league, and later pleaded guilty in a Quebec court to a charge of assault over the incident.^[15] Cowboys coach Joe Crozier was suspended for the rest of the series.^[14]

Indianapolis had gone 7–2–3 against New England in the regular season.^[16] In a stunning upset that saw four shutouts, the New England Whalers won three of the first four games before Indianapolis won two straight to force a Game 7. New England won the series on the road with a 6–0 shutout. As it turned out, this was the only WHA postseason series where a team forced a Game 7 after being down 3–1.

Houston had gone 7–5 against San Diego in the regular season.^[17]

Winnipeg had gone 8–4 against Calgary in the regular season.^[18] In Game 3, Lynn Powis and Don Tannahill each recorded a goal three seconds apart from each other, the fastest in WHA history.

Houston went 4–2 against New England in the regular season.^[19] The Aeros set a club record in Game 2 with the fastest time to score three goals in the second period, with Terry Ruskowski, John Tonelli, and Ted Taylor scoring goals in the span of 1:17 to bolster an eventual 5-2 victory.^[20]

The series matched the Canadian Division champion Winnipeg Jets, as coached by Bobby Kromm versus the Western Division champion Houston Aeros, as coached by Bill Dineen. Due to the way that the games played out in scheduling, the Jets had eighteen days of layoff prior to Game 1 while the Aeros had four. If the series had gone to Game 7, it would've been played on June 1.^[21] As it turned out, this was the only time a WHA game was scheduled for June. The two teams had split their four regular season matchups.^[22]

The first two games were tight affairs that set new records for attendance at an Avco Cuo Final game. 14,794 attended Game 1 at the Summit and Bobby Hull broke a late tie with 3:17 remaining. Game 2 saw 15,256 reported fans and saw Bobby Hull score to break the 4-4 tie with 1:54 remaining. The Jets then rode a four-goal first period in Game 3 to win and set up the potential to clinch in Game 4. 10,386 people attended the game at Winnipeg Arena, the largest capacity to see a game all season. The Jets scored first on a goal by Bobby Hull five minutes into the game. Ted Taylor evened the score with his goal four minutes later, but Veli-Pekka Ketola broke the tie 37 seconds later with what ended up as the series-winning goal at 10:22 in the first period. The Jets scored another goal a minute later by Lyle Moffat to give them a 3–1 lead in the first period. The domination was on from there as Winnipeg scored four goals in the second period and two more in the third period to win 9–1 and make them the first Canadian team to win the Avco World Trophy.^[23]

Their strategy of play was noted in the press as emphasizing fast skating, fine passing and skill.^[24] The Cup victory was particularly enjoyable for Bobby Hull, who had been among the first players to sign with the Jets when they began as a franchise. It was the first championship for Hull since 1961, when he had won the Stanley Cup in his fourth year as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, which coincidentally had faced Gordie Howe, then captain of the Detroit Red Wings. Defenseman Ted Green, who won the inaugural Avco World Trophy with New England in the 1973 WHA playoffs, became the first player to win the Trophy with multiple teams. Ulf Nilsson was named WHA Playoff MVP, having scored seven goals and nineteen assists for 26 points during the postseason. For the city, it was the first championship since the 50th Grey Cup victory by the CFL Blue Bombers in 1962.^[25] A parade and banquet were announced for the city following their championship.^[26][27][28]

These were the top ten skaters based on points.^[29]

1975–76 Winnipeg Jets

WHA playoffs