| 1977–78 WHA season | |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Top Scorer: | Marc Tardif (Quebec) |
| Top Scorer Link: | Bill Hunter Trophy |
| Finals: | Avco World Trophy |
| Finals Champ: | Winnipeg Jets |
| Finals Runner-Up: | New England Whalers |
| Seasonslistnames: | WHA |
The 1977–78 WHA season was the sixth season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Eight teams played 80 games each. The Avco World Trophy winner was the Winnipeg Jets.
With a reduction of three teams from the end of the previous season (the San Diego Mariners, Phoenix Roadrunners, and Calgary Cowboys folded), the WHA abandoned its divisional format and grouped the remaining eight teams together. There had been a tentative merger agreement that would have had Cincinnati, Houston, New England, Winnipeg, Quebec, and Edmonton join the NHL but it could not be finalized.
In a unique move, two international All-Star teams, the Soviet All-Stars and Czechoslovakia All-Stars, played games that counted in the regular season standings. They played each WHA team once, on the WHA team's home ice. The Soviet team acquitted themselves well, winning three plus two additional games against WHA teams outside the regular standings, tying one and losing the other four; while the Czechoslovakian team only won once and tied once, losing six. This is the first time International teams competed in regular season competition in a major professional sports league in North America; those two teams as well as a Finnish team would come back to play the WHA teams the next year.
The best six teams qualified for the playoffs. However, instead of the standard schedule for a six-team playoff (i.e., giving the first and second place teams byes into the semifinals, with the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth place teams opening in the quarterfinals), the WHA came up with a unique twist. There were three quarterfinal series instead of two, with the teams paired top to bottom (i.e., 1st vs. 6th, 2nd vs. 5th, 3rd vs. 4th). The highest-seeded quarterfinal winner then received a semifinal bye and advanced directly to the finals, while the remaining two quarterfinal series winners played off in a single semifinal. All series were best four-out-of-seven games.
| 1977-78 World Hockey Association | ||||
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity | |
| Birmingham Bulls | Birmingham, Alabama | Birmingham-Jefferson County Civic Center | 16,723 | |
| Cincinnati Stingers | Cincinnati, Ohio | Riverfront Coliseum | 12,823 | |
| Edmonton Oilers | Edmonton, Alberta | Northlands Coliseum | 16,000 | |
| Houston Aeros | Houston, Texas | The Summit | 14,906 | |
| Indianapolis Racers | Indianapolis, Indiana | Market Square Arena | 15,993 | |
| New England Whalers | Hartford, Connecticut Springfield, Massachusetts | Hartford Civic Center Springfield Civic Center | 10,507 7,626 | |
| Quebec Nordiques | Quebec City, Quebec | Colisée de Québec | 10,004 | |
| Winnipeg Jets | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Winnipeg Arena | 10,100 | |
The Howe family of Gordie and his sons Mark and Marty moved to the New England Whalers from the Houston Aeros. The trio helped the Whalers to the Avco Cup final.
Bolded numbers indicate season leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78 | 65 | 89 | 154 | 50 | |||
| 73 | 56 | 73 | 129 | 19 | |||
| 73 | 37 | 89 | 126 | 89 | |||
| 77 | 63 | 59 | 122 | 60 | |||
| 77 | 46 | 71 | 117 | 23 | |||
| Andre Lacroix | 78 | 36 | 77 | 113 | 57 | ||
| 80 | 59 | 50 | 109 | 54 | |||
| 80 | 42 | 65 | 107 | 8 | |||
| 76 | 34 | 62 | 96 | 85 | |||
| 70 | 30 | 61 | 91 | 32 |
Bolded numbers indicate season leaders
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | SV% | GAA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 3246 | 30 | 20 | 3 | 174 | 2 | 88.5 | 3.22 | |||
| 37 | 2075 | 21 | 11 | 1 | 114 | 1 | 88.3 | 3.30 | |||
| 39 | 2252 | 25 | 12 | 1 | 124 | 1 | 88.6 | 3.30 | |||
| 27 | 1655 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 91 | 3 | 88.6 | 3.30 | |||
| Cincinnati – Houston | 57 | 3381 | 28 | 23 | 4 | 192 | 2 | 89.1 | 3.41 |
The 1978 WHA All-Star game pitted the defending champion Quebec Nordiques against the stars from the remaining WHA teams. The game was played on 17 January 1978, in Quebec City, and attracted 6,413 spectators.The Nordiques, coached by Marc Boileau, won the game 5–4. Marc Tardif and Mark Howe were named the players of the game.
New England Whalers 4, Edmonton Oilers 1
| Game | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Series | |
| 1 | April 14 | 4–6 | New England Whalers | 1–0 | ||
| 2 | April 16 | Edmonton Oilers | 1–4 | New England Whalers | 2–0 | |
| 3 | April 19 | New England Whalers | 0–2 | Edmonton Oilers | 2–1 | |
| 4 | April 21 | New England Whalers | 9–1 | Edmonton Oilers | 3–1 | |
| 5 | April 23 | Edmonton Oilers | 1–4 | New England Whalers | 4–1 |
Quebec Nordiques 4, Houston Aeros 2
| Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record | ||
| 1 | April 16 | 3–4 | Houston Aeros | 0–1 | ||
| 2 | April 18 | Quebec Nordiques | 5–4 | Houston Aeros (WHA) | Houston Aeros | 1–1 |
| 3 | April 20 | Houston Aeros (WHA) | Houston Aeros | 1–5 | Quebec Nordiques | 2–1 |
| 4 | April 21 | Houston Aeros (WHA) | Houston Aeros | 0–3 | Quebec Nordiques | 3–1 |
| 5 | April 23 | Quebec Nordiques | 2–5 | Houston Aeros | 3–2 | |
| 6 | April 25 | Houston Aeros | 2–11 | Quebec Nordiques | 4–2 |
Winnipeg Jets 4, Birmingham Bulls 1
| Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record | |||
| 1 | April 14 | 3–9 | Winnipeg Jets | 1–0 | |||
| 2 | April 16 | Birmingham Bulls | 3–8 | Winnipeg Jets (1972–96) | Winnipeg Jets | 2–0 | |
| 3 | April 19 | Winnipeg Jets (1972–96) | Winnipeg Jets | 2–3 | Birmingham Bulls | 2–1 | |
| 4 | April 21 | Winnipeg Jets (1972–96) | Winnipeg Jets | 5–1 | Birmingham Bulls | 3–1 | |
| 5 | April 23 | Birmingham Bulls | 2–5 | Winnipeg Jets (1972–96) | Winnipeg Jets | 4–1 |
The top ranked quarterfinal winner (Winnipeg) received a bye into the finals. New England Whalers 4, Quebec Nordiques 1
| Game | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Series | |
| 1 | April 28 | 1–5 | New England Whalers | 1–0 | ||
| 2 | April 30 | Quebec Nordiques | 3–2 | New England Whalers | 1–1 | |
| 3 | May 3 | New England Whalers | 5–4 | Quebec Nordiques | 2–1 | |
| 4 | May 5 | New England Whalers | 7–3 | Quebec Nordiques | 3–1 | |
| 5 | May 7 | Quebec Nordiques | 3–6 | New England Whalers | 4–1 |
Winnipeg Jets 4, New England Whalers 0
| Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record | ||
| 1 | May 12 | 1–4 | Winnipeg Jets | 1–0 | ||
| 2 | May 14 | New England Whalers | 2–5 | Winnipeg Jets | 2–0 | |
| 3 | May 19 | Winnipeg Jets | 10–2 | New England Whalers | 3–0 | |
| 4 | May 22 | Winnipeg Jets | 5–3 | New England Whalers | 4–0 |
| Position | First Team | Second Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centre | Robbie Ftorek, Cincinnati | ||
| Right Wing | Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg | ||
| Left Wing | Bobby Hull, Winnipeg | ||
| Defence | Rick Ley, New England | ||
| Defence | Barry Long, Winnipeg | ||
| Goaltender | Ernie Wakely, Houston |