From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1978–79 Quebec Nordiques season was
the Nordiques' seventh season in the WHA, were coming off of a
40-37-3 record in the 1977–78 season and a loss in the playoff
semi-finals. The Nordiques improved to 41–34–5 to qualify for the
playoffs, but lost in the first round to eventual Avco Cup
champions Winnipeg
Jets.
After the season was finished, the WHA announced that four of
its teams, the Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers and Winnipeg Jets would
be admitted to the National Hockey League as
expansion teams for the 1979–80 NHL season, and that the WHA
would cease operations. During their seven seasons in the WHA,
Quebec had a record of 295-237-24, while winning the 1977 Avco
Cup.
Off-season
During the off-season, the league would lose the Houston
Aeros, as they elected to fold as the club was not part of an
NHL-WHA merger, leaving the WHA with seven teams. The league also
announced that games against all-star teams from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia
and Finland would once again
count in the standings. The Nordiques would hire a new head coach,
as Jacques
Demers would take over from Maurice Filion, who ended the previous
season as the interim head coach. Demers had previously coached the
Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati
Stingers.
Regular
season
The Nordiques would start the season slowly, going winless in
their opening five games, however, the team snapped out of their
slump, winning ten of their next thirteen games to push themselves
over the .500 mark. Quebec would stay consistent throughout the
season, easily clinching a playoff berth, as the Nordiques would
finish the season with a 41-34-5 record, finishing second in the
league behind the Edmonton Oilers, who had eleven more
points than Quebec.
Offensively, Quebec was led by Real Cloutier, who
won the Bill Hunter Trophy by earning a
league high 129 points. It was the fourth year in a row that a
player from the Nordiques (Marc Tardif in 1976 and 1978, and Cloutier
in 1977) would win that award. Cloutier scored a team record 75
goals, and added 54 assists. Marc Tardif had another solid season,
scoring 41 goals and 96 points, while Serge Bernier added 36 goals and 82
points. Rich Leduc
joined the 30 goal club, as he registered 30 goals and 62 points.
On defense, Paul
Baxter led the way, scoring 10 goals and 46 points, as well as
a team high 240 PIM. Forty year old J.C. Tremblay had a
productive year, earning 44 points in 56 games.
In goal, Richard Brodeur and Jim
Corsi split the action, with Brodeur winning a team high 25
games, as well as a club best 3.11 GAA. Corsi had 16 victories and
a 3.30 GAA, while both goaltenders earned three shutouts.
Season
standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF=
Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points
x-team folded during season #-played limited
schedule
Game log
Playoffs
In the opening round of the playoffs, Quebec would face the Winnipeg Jets in a
best of seven semi-final series. The Jets finished the season with
a 39-35-6 record, earning 84 points, and a third place finish. The
series opened with two games in Quebec, however, the Jets struck
first, easily dominating the Nordiques in the series opener, by
winning the game 6-3, before crushing Quebec in the second game 9-2
to take a two game series lead. The series moved to Winnipeg for
the next two games, and the Jets would stay hot, as they continued
to dominate the Nordiques in the third and fourth games of the
series, winning them 9-5 and 6-2 respectively to sweep Quebec out
of the playoffs.
Winnipeg Jets 4, Quebec
Nordiques 0
Player
stats
| Regular season |
| Scoring |
| Player |
Pos |
GP |
G |
A |
Pts |
PIM |
+/- |
PPG |
SHG |
GWG |
| Cloutier,
RealReal Cloutier |
RW |
77 |
75 |
54 |
129 |
48 |
23 |
21 |
0 |
0 |
| Tardif,
MarcMarc
Tardif |
LW |
74 |
41 |
55 |
96 |
98 |
25 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
| Bernier,
SergeSerge
Bernier |
RW |
65 |
36 |
46 |
82 |
71 |
7 |
9 |
3 |
0 |
| LeDuc,
RichRich
LeDuc |
C |
61 |
30 |
32 |
62 |
30 |
-1 |
12 |
1 |
0 |
| Baxter,
PaulPaul
Baxter |
D |
76 |
10 |
36 |
46 |
240 |
-5 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
| Fitchner,
BobBob
Fitchner |
C |
79 |
10 |
35 |
45 |
69 |
-3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Tremblay,
J.C.J.C. Tremblay |
D |
56 |
6 |
38 |
44 |
8 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Lariviere,
GarryGarry
Lariviere |
D |
50 |
5 |
33 |
38 |
54 |
-11 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Bordeleau,
PaulinPaulin
Bordeleau |
RW |
77 |
17 |
12 |
29 |
44 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| Cote,
AlainAlain
Cote |
LW |
79 |
14 |
13 |
27 |
23 |
-7 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Brackenbury,
CurtCurt
Brackenbury |
RW |
70 |
13 |
13 |
26 |
155 |
-5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Geoffrion,
DannyDanny Geoffrion |
RW |
77 |
12 |
14 |
26 |
74 |
-2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Lacombe,
FrancoisFrancois Lacombe |
D |
78 |
3 |
21 |
24 |
44 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Hoganson,
DaleDale
Hoganson |
D |
69 |
2 |
19 |
21 |
17 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Bordeleau,
ChristianChristian
Bordeleau |
C |
16 |
5 |
12 |
17 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Dube,
NormNorm
Dube |
LW |
36 |
2 |
13 |
15 |
4 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Bilodeau,
GillesGilles
Bilodeau |
LW |
36 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
141 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Weir,
WallyWally
Weir |
D |
68 |
2 |
7 |
9 |
166 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Morrison,
KevinKevin
Morrison |
D |
27 |
2 |
5 |
7 |
14 |
-2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| David,
RichardRichard
David |
LW |
14 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Brodeur,
RichardRichard
Brodeur |
G |
42 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Corsi,
JimJim Corsi |
G |
40 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
20 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Dorey,
JimJim Dorey |
D |
32 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
17 |
-5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Lagace,
PierrePierre
Lagace |
LW |
21 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Devine,
KevinKevin
Devine |
LW |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
-3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Leclerc,
ReneRene
Leclerc |
RW |
23 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
-2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Levasseur,
Jean-LouisJean-Louis
Levasseur |
G |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Goaltending |
| Player |
MIN |
GP |
W |
L |
T |
GA |
GAA |
SO |
| Brodeur,
RichardRichard
Brodeur |
2433 |
42 |
25 |
13 |
3 |
126 |
3.11 |
3 |
| Corsi,
JimJim Corsi |
2291 |
40 |
16 |
20 |
1 |
126 |
3.30 |
3 |
| Levasseur,
Jean-LouisJean-Louis
Levasseur |
140 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
14 |
6.00 |
0 |
| Team: |
4864 |
80 |
41 |
34 |
5 |
266 |
3.28 |
6 |
|
| Playoffs |
| Scoring |
| Player |
Pos |
GP |
G |
A |
Pts |
PIM |
PPG |
SHG |
GWG |
| Tardif,
MarcMarc
Tardif |
LW |
4 |
6 |
2 |
8 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Cloutier,
RealReal Cloutier |
RW |
4 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Fitchner,
BobBob
Fitchner |
C |
4 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Geoffrion,
DannyDanny Geoffrion |
RW |
4 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Brackenbury,
CurtCurt
Brackenbury |
RW |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Baxter,
PaulPaul
Baxter |
D |
4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| LeDuc,
RichRich
LeDuc |
C |
4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Bordeleau,
PaulinPaulin
Bordeleau |
RW |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Lacombe,
FrancoisFrancois Lacombe |
D |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Lagace,
PierrePierre
Lagace |
LW |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Lariviere,
GarryGarry
Lariviere |
D |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Weir,
WallyWally
Weir |
D |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Bernier,
SergeSerge
Bernier |
RW |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Bilodeau,
GillesGilles
Bilodeau |
LW |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
25 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Brodeur,
RichardRichard
Brodeur |
G |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Corsi,
JimJim Corsi |
G |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Cote,
AlainAlain
Cote |
LW |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Dorey,
JimJim Dorey |
D |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Hoganson,
DaleDale
Hoganson |
D |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Leclerc,
ReneRene
Leclerc |
RW |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Levasseur,
Jean-LouisJean-Louis
Levasseur |
G |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Goaltending |
|
|
[1]
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A =
Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG
= Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning
goals
MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins;
L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against
average; SO = Shutouts;
Awards &
records
Transactions
Draft
picks
See also
References