1975–76 Quebec Nordiques season explained

League:	WHA
Season:	1975–76
Year:	1975
Team:	Quebec Nordiques
Division:	Canadian
Divisionrank:	2nd
Record:	50–27–4
Homerecord:	33–7–0
Roadrecord:	17–20–4
Goalsfor:	371
Goalsagainst:	316
Goalsleader:	Marc Tardif (71)
Assistsleader:	Marc Tardif and J. C. Tremblay (77)
Pointsleader:	Marc Tardif (148)
Pimleader:	Gord Gallant (297)
Winsleader:	Richard Brodeur (44)
Gaaleader:	Richard Brodeur (3.69)

The 1975–76 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques fourth season, as they were coming off their best season to date in 1974–75, earning 92 points and finishing on top of the Canadian Division in the regular season, and making it to the Avco Cup finals in the playoffs, where they were swept by the Houston Aeros.

Quebec would have a very strong start to the season, and would battle with the Winnipeg Jets all season long on top of the Canadian Division. Quebec would finish the season with a franchise record 50 wins and 104 points, but would finish behind the Jets, who tied the Houston Aeros with the most points in the league at 106. The Nordiques scored a league high 371 goals, and finished with a very impressive record of 33–7–0 at home, tying the Aeros for the best home record in the league.

Offensively, Quebec was led by Marc Tardif, who had the most goals and points in the league with 71 and 148 respectively, while his 77 assists tied teammate J. C. Tremblay for the most in the WHA. Tremblay would finish the year with 89 points, leading the Nordiques blueline. Real Cloutier had a breakout season, scoring 60 goals and earning 114 points, as did Chris Bordeleau, who had 37 goals and 109 points. Rejean Houle and Serge Bernier also finished with over 100 points, as they earned 103 and 102 respectively. Gord Gallant had a team high 297 penalty minutes, while Pierre Roy was not too far behind with 259.

In goal, Richard Brodeur shattered the Nordiques record for wins, earning 44, while he posted a 3.69 GAA and earned 2 shutouts in 69 games. Michel DeGuise backed him up, winning 6 games.

In the opening round of the playoffs, Quebec would face the Calgary Cowboys, who finished the season 3rd in the Canadian Division with 86 points, which was 18 fewer than the Nordiques. Calgary would quiet the Nordiques home crowd in the first game, beating Quebec 3–1, then the Cowboys would win the second game by a score of 8–4 to take a 2–0 series lead. Quebec would fall behind 3–0 in the series after Calgary took the third game by a 3–2 score. The Nordiques managed to squeak out a 4–3 win in the fourth game, however, Calgary would end the series with a 6–4 win at Le Colisée in the fifth game, ending the Nordiques season much sooner than anyone expected.

Season standings

Canadian Division	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
	81	52	27	2	345	254	106
Quebec Nordiques	81	50	27	4	371	316	104
	80	41	35	4	307	282	86
	81	27	49	5	268	345	59
	81	24	52	5	335	398	53

Schedule and results

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	October 9		5–3	Quebec Nordiques	0–1–0	0
2	October 11		3–7	Quebec Nordiques	1–1–0	2
3	October 14		5–8	Quebec Nordiques	2–1–0	4
4	October 18		2–3	Quebec Nordiques	3–1–0	6
5	October 21		1–6	Quebec Nordiques	4–1–0	8
6	October 25		2–3	Quebec Nordiques	5–1–0	10
7	October 28	Quebec Nordiques	2–5		5–2–0	10
8	October 29	Quebec Nordiques	2–4		5–3–0	10
9	October 31	Quebec Nordiques	2–6		5–4–0	10
10	November 1	Quebec Nordiques	5–4		6–4–0	12
11	November 2	Quebec Nordiques	1–0		7–4–0	14
12	November 4	Quebec Nordiques	4–3		8–4–0	16
13	November 5	Quebec Nordiques	2–4		8–5–0	16
14	November 6	Quebec Nordiques	5–3		9–5–0	18
15	November 8		2–3	Quebec Nordiques	10–5–0	20
16	November 9		3–7	Quebec Nordiques	11–5–0	22
17	November 11		6–8	Quebec Nordiques	12–5–0	24
18	November 15	Quebec Nordiques	3–1		13–5–0	26
19	November 18		4–6	Quebec Nordiques	14–5–0	28
20	November 20		3–2	Quebec Nordiques	14–6–0	28
21	November 22	Quebec Nordiques	9–6		15–6–0	30
22	November 23	Quebec Nordiques	0–4		15–7–0	30
23	November 27	Quebec Nordiques	1–5		15–8–0	30
24	November 29	Quebec Nordiques	4–4		15–8–1	31
25	November 30	Quebec Nordiques	2–1		16–8–1	33
26	December 2		2–9	Quebec Nordiques	17–8–1	35
27	December 5	Quebec Nordiques	4–7		17–9–1	35
28	December 7	Quebec Nordiques	3–2		18–9–1	37
29	December 9	Quebec Nordiques	1–4		18–10–1	37
30	December 10	Quebec Nordiques	4–7		18–11–1	37
31	December 12	Quebec Nordiques	4–6		18–12–1	37
32	December 13		3–6	Quebec Nordiques	19–12–1	39
33	December 16		3–7	Quebec Nordiques	20–12–1	41
34	December 18		4–5	Quebec Nordiques	21–12–1	43
35	December 20		7–8	Quebec Nordiques	22–12–1	45
36	December 21	Quebec Nordiques	7–11		22–13–1	45
37	December 23	Quebec Nordiques	4–10		22–14–1	45
38	December 27		3–6	Quebec Nordiques	23–14–1	47
39	December 28	Quebec Nordiques	6–1		24–14–1	49
40	December 30	Quebec Nordiques	4–4		24–14–2	50
41	January 2	Quebec Nordiques	4–5		24–15–2	50
42	January 3		4–1	Quebec Nordiques	24–16–2	50
43	January 10		3–4	Quebec Nordiques	25–16–2	52
44	January 15		3–5	Quebec Nordiques	26–16–2	54
45	January 17		3–4	Quebec Nordiques	27–16–2	56
46	January 21		2–3	Quebec Nordiques	28–16–2	58
47	January 25		6–7	Quebec Nordiques	29–16–2	60
48	January 27		1–9	Quebec Nordiques	30–16–2	62
49	January 30	Quebec Nordiques	3–3		30–16–3	63
50	January 31		4–8	Quebec Nordiques	31–16–3	65
51	February 3		4–5	Quebec Nordiques	32–16–3	67
52	February 5	Quebec Nordiques	2–4		32–17–3	67
53	February 7	Quebec Nordiques	4–4		32–17–4	68
54	February 8	Quebec Nordiques	5–4		33–17–4	70
55	February 11	Quebec Nordiques	6–4		34–17–4	72
56	February 12	Quebec Nordiques	4–6		34–18–4	72
57	February 15	Quebec Nordiques	4–2		35–18–4	74
58	February 17		2–5	Quebec Nordiques	36–18–4	76
59	February 22		0–4	Quebec Nordiques	37–18–4	78
60	February 24		1–4	Quebec Nordiques	38–18–4	80
61	February 28		4–3	Quebec Nordiques	38–19–4	80
62	March 2	Quebec Nordiques	2–5		38–20–4	80
63	March 4	Quebec Nordiques	1–4		38–21–4	80
64	March 5	Quebec Nordiques	5–4		39–21–4	82
65	March 7	Quebec Nordiques	2–4		39–22–4	82
66	March 9	Quebec Nordiques	4–7		39–23–4	82
67	March 10	Quebec Nordiques	3–10		39–24–4	82
68	March 12	Quebec Nordiques	10–8		40–24–4	84
69	March 14		3–1	Quebec Nordiques	40–25–4	84
70	March 16		1–5	Quebec Nordiques	41–25–4	86
71	March 19	Quebec Nordiques	4–3		42–25–4	88
72	March 20		8–7	Quebec Nordiques	42–26–4	88
73	March 21	Quebec Nordiques	6–3		43–26–4	90
74	March 23		3–1	Quebec Nordiques	43–27–4	90
75	March 25		5–7	Quebec Nordiques	44–27–4	92
76	March 27		4–6	Quebec Nordiques	45–27–4	94
77	March 30		3–8	Quebec Nordiques	46–27–4	96
78	April 1		2–7	Quebec Nordiques	47–27–4	98
79	April 3		1–5	Quebec Nordiques	48–27–4	100
80	April 4	Quebec Nordiques	5–4		49–27–4	102
81	April 6		6–10	Quebec Nordiques	50–27–4	104

Playoffs

Calgary Cowboys 4, Quebec Nordiques 1

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 10		3–1	Quebec Nordiques	0–1
2	April 11		8–4	Quebec Nordiques	0–2
3	April 14	Quebec Nordiques	2–3		0–3
4	April 16	Quebec Nordiques	4–3		1–3
5	April 18		6–4	Quebec Nordiques	1–4

Season stats

Scoring leaders

GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
81	71	77	148	79
80	60	54	114	27
74	37	72	109	42
81	51	52	103	61
70	34	68	102	91

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA	Save %
	69	3967	44	21	2	244	2	3.69	.890
	18	835	6	5	2	60	0	4.35	.870
	4	129	0	1	0	10	0	4.65	.846

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
5	4	5	9	0
5	2	6	8	6
5	1	3	4	2
5	2	1	3	17
5	1	2	3	29

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
	5	299	1	4	22	0	4.41

Draft picks

Quebec's draft picks at the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft.^[1]

Round		Player	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	14		Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge (QMJHL)
2	29		Peterborough Petes (OHA)
3	44		Hull Festivals (QMJHL)
4	59		Hull Festivals (QMJHL)
5	73	Andre LePage	Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge (QMJHL)
6	87	Jean Trottier	Laval National (QMJHL)
7	100		Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge (QMJHL)
8	112	Michel Brisebois	Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
9	124	Michel Hamel	Laval National (QMJHL)
10	137		Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)

Notes and References

Web site: 1975 WHA Amateur Draft . hockeyDB.com . December 19, 2018.