1975–76 Phoenix Roadrunners season explained

League:	WHA
Season:	1975–76
Year:	1975
Team:	Phoenix Roadrunners (WHA)Phoenix Roadrunners
Record:	39–35–6
Division:	Western
Divisionrank:	2nd
Goalsfor:	302
Goalsagainst:	287
Next Season:	1976–77

The 1975–76 Phoenix Roadrunners season was the second season of operation of the Phoenix Roadrunners in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Roadrunners qualified for the playoffs but lost in the first round to the San Diego Mariners.

Regular season

Game log

Regular season schedule
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 10, 1975	6–5	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	1–0–0
2	W	October 11, 1975	4–2	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	2–0–0
3	L	October 12, 1975	0–4	Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	2–1–0
4	L	October 17, 1975	4–5	Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	2–2–0
5	W	October 19, 1975	6–5	Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	3–2–0
6	W	October 24, 1975	4–3	@ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	4–2–0
7	L	October 26, 1975	0–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	4–3–0
8	L	October 28, 1975	3–7	@ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	4–4–0
9	W	October 30, 1975	3–2	@ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	5–4–0
10	L	November 1, 1975	2–3	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	5–5–0
11	L	November 2, 1975	2–5	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	5–6–0
12	L	November 7, 1975	3–5	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	5–7–0
13	W	November 8, 1975	3–2	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	6–7–0
14	L	November 9, 1975	3–7	@ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	6–8–0
15	T	November 14, 1975	2–2	Toronto Toros (1975–76)	6–8–1
16	T	November 16, 1975	4–4	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	6–8–2
17	W	November 20, 1975	3–1	Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	7–8–2
18	L	November 22, 1975	5–7	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	7–9–2
19	L	November 27, 1975	1–5	Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	7–10–2
20	T	November 29, 1975	4–4	Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	7–10–3
21	L	November 30, 1975	1–2	Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	7–11–3
22	W	December 4, 1975	5–4	New England Whalers (1975–76)	8–11–3
23	W	December 6, 1975	6–5 OT	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	9–11–3
24	L	December 10, 1975	1–2	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	9–12–3
25	L	December 12, 1975	2–4	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	9–13–3
26	W	December 13, 1975	4–1	@ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	10–13–3
27	W	December 14, 1975	4–2	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	11–13–3
28	W	December 18, 1975	7–1	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	12–13–3
29	L	December 20, 1975	3–4	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	12–14–3
30	W	December 23, 1975	5–3	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	13–14–3
31	L	December 26, 1975	2–4	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	13–15–3
32	W	December 27, 1975	10–0	Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	14–15–3
33	W	December 28, 1975	5–2	@ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	15–15–3
34	L	January 2, 1976	1–4	@ Toronto Toros (1975–76)	15–16–3
35	W	January 3, 1976	4–1	@ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	16–16–3
36	L	January 4, 1976	2–3	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	16–17–3
37	L	January 7, 1976	6–7 OT	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	16–18–3
38	W	January 8, 1976	7–1	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	17–18–3
39	W	January 10, 1976	8–5	Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	18–18–3
40	W	January 16, 1976	3–1	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	19–18–3
41	L	January 17, 1976	2–4	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	19–19–3
42	T	January 20, 1976	4–4	New England Whalers (1975–76)	19–19–4
43	W	January 22, 1976	6–4	Toronto Toros (1975–76)	20–19–4
44	W	January 25, 1976	7–5	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	21–19–4
45	W	January 27, 1976	4–3 OT	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	22–19–4
46	W	January 28, 1976	5–0	Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	23–19–4
47	T	January 30, 1976	4–4	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	23–19–5
48	L	January 31, 1976	1–6	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	23–20–5
49	W	February 4, 1976	5–1	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	24–20–5
50	W	February 5, 1976	5–1	Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	25–20–5
51	W	February 7, 1976	4–2	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	26–20–5
52	T	February 8, 1976	3–3	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	26–20–6
53	L	February 11, 1976	1–2	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	26–21–6
54	L	February 12, 1976	1–4	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	26–22–6
55	W	February 14, 1976	5–2	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	27–22–6
56	W	February 15, 1976	4–2	@ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	28–22–6
57	L	February 18, 1976	3–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	28–23–6
58	L	February 20, 1976	1–4	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	28–24–6
59	W	February 22, 1976	6–5	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	29–24–6
60	W	February 27, 1976	4–3	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	30–24–6
61	W	February 29, 1976	5–2	@ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	31–24–6
62	W	March 2, 1976	5–2	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	32–24–6
63	L	March 5, 1976	3–6	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	32–25–6
64	L	March 6, 1976	3–5	New England Whalers (1975–76)	32–26–6
65	L	March 7, 1976	2–5	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	32–27–6
66	W	March 10, 1976	3–2	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	33–27–6
67	W	March 12, 1976	5–2	@ Toronto Toros (1975–76)	34–27–6
68	L	March 13, 1976	4–6	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	34–28–6
69	W	March 14, 1976	3–2 OT	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	35–28–6
70	L	March 17, 1976	4–7	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	35–29–6
71	L	March 19, 1976	5–6 OT	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	35–30–6
72	W	March 20, 1976	4–3 OT	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	36–30–6
73	L	March 21, 1976	3–4	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	36–31–6
74	L	March 24, 1976	4–5	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	36–32–6
75	W	March 26, 1976	3–1	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	37–32–6
76	W	March 27, 1976	5–2	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	38–32–6
77	L	March 28, 1976	4–7	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	38–33–6
78	W	March 31, 1976	7–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	39–33–6
79	L	April 3, 1976	2–8	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	39–34–6
80	L	April 6, 1976	5–8	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	39–35–6

^[1]

Playoffs

San Diego Mariners 3, Phoenix Roadrunners 2 - Preliminary Round

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 9		2–3 OT		0-1
2	April 10	Phoenix Roadrunners	2–4	San Diego Mariners	1-1
3	April 13	San Diego Mariners	4–6	Phoenix Roadrunners	1-2
4	April 15	Phoenix Roadrunners	1–5	San Diego Mariners	2-2
5	April 17	San Diego Mariners	2–1	Phoenix Roadrunners	3-2

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG C/LW 80 41 72 113 109 36 10 0 4 C 80 47 44 91 10 21 12 0 7 RW 79 35 45 80 136 22 6 0 5 C 79 22 44 66 4 0 4 4 2 C 80 23 34 57 44 3 7 2 4 D 73 11 39 50 8 25 3 0 2 W 61 19 24 43 27 22 3 1 3 RW 73 18 21 39 295 23 1 0 0 LW 46 21 15 36 4 5 4 0 1 RW 75 15 21 36 19 9 2 0 2 LW 71 9 25 34 110 17 1 0 4 RW 67 11 20 31 28 0 1 0 1 D 79 7 17 24 100 15 1 0 0 D 76 0 21 21 102 4 0 0 0 LW 68 8 12 20 14 -9 0 0 2 D 80 2 18 20 82 12 1 0 0 D 79 4 14 18 77 21 1 0 1 LW 33 4 7 11 6 0 0 1 0 D 59 1 9 10 57 3 0 0 0 G 40 0 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 D 14 1 2 3 32 -6 0 0 0 RW 9 2 0 2 0 -4 0 0 1 C 9 1 1 2 2 1 0 0 0 C 8 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 G 41 0 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO 2412 41 21 14 4 128 3.18 1 2369 40 18 20 2 147 3.72 1 80 2 0 1 0 9 6.75 0 Team: 4861 80 39 35 6 284 3.51 2

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG C 5 3 2 5 2 0 0 0 C 5 2 3 5 0 0 0 0 C/LW 5 1 3 4 2 0 0 0 RW 5 1 3 4 2 0 0 0 W 5 2 0 2 7 0 0 0 RW 5 1 1 2 7 0 0 0 C 5 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 LW 5 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 RW 5 0 2 2 24 0 0 0 D 5 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 D 5 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 D 5 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 D 5 1 0 1 10 0 0 0 RW 5 1 0 1 21 0 0 0 D 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 LW 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 RW 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO 298 5 2 3 17 3.42 0 Team: 298 5 2 3 17 3.42 0

^[2]

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;

Draft picks

Phoenix's draft picks at the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft.^[3]

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	9	Greg Vaydik (F)		Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
2	23	Neil Lyseng (RW)		Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)
2	24	Mike O'Connell (D)		Kingston Canadians (OHA)
3	39	Blair Davidson (D)		Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
4	54	Roger Swanson (G)		Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
5	68	Mike Sleep (RW)		New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
6	82	Dana Decker (LW)		Michigan Tech University (WCHA)
7	95	Dale McMullin (LW)		Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
8	107	Gary Morrison (F)		University of Michigan (WCHA)

See also

• 1975–76 WHA season

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1975–76 Phoenix Roadrunners Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-07-02 .
2. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-07-02 . 1975-76 Phoenix Roadrunners Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.
3. Web site: 1975 WHA Amateur Draft . hockeyDB.com . December 19, 2018.