1978–79 Toronto Maple Leafs season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1978–79
Year:	1978
Team:	Toronto Maple Leafs
Conferencerank:	5th
Divisionrank:	3rd
Record:	34-33-13
Goalsfor:	267
Goalsagainst:	252
Altcaptain:	None
Goalsleader:	Lanny McDonald (43)
Assistsleader:	Darryl Sittler (51)
Pointsleader:	Darryl Sittler (87)
Pimleader:	Tiger Williams (298)
Winsleader:	Mike Palmateer (26)
Gaaleader:	Mike Palmateer (2.95)

The 1978–79 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the 62nd season of the Toronto NHL franchise, 52nd as the Maple Leafs. The Leafs placed third in the Adams Division to make the playoffs where the Leafs won their first round series against the Atlanta Flames, only to lose in the second series to the Montreal Canadiens. Until 2021, this would mark the last time the Maple Leafs and Canadiens would play each other in the postseason.

Offseason

NHL Draft

Round		Player	College/Junior/Club team
2	21	Joel Quenneville	Windsor Spitfires (OMJHL)
3	48	Mark Kirton	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
4	65	Bob Parent	Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
5	81	Jordy Douglas	Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
6	92	Mel Hewitt	Calgary Wranglers (WCHL)
6	98	Norm Lefebvre	Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)
7	115	John Scammell	Lethbridge Broncos (WCHL)
8	132	Kevin Reinhart	Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
9	149	Mike Waghorne	University of New Hampshire (ECAC)
10	166	Laurie Cuvelier	St. Francis Xavier University (CIAU)

^[1]

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 11, 1978	3–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79)	1–0–0
2	W	October 14, 1978	10–7	New York Islanders (1978–79)	2–0–0
3	L	October 15, 1978	2–4	@ Boston Bruins (1978–79)	2–1–0
4	W	October 18, 1978	2–0	Buffalo Sabres (1978–79)	3–1–0
5	L	October 19, 1978	0–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79)	3–2–0
6	W	October 21, 1978	2–0	Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79)	4–2–0
7	L	October 22, 1978	2–5	@ New York Rangers (1978–79)	4–3–0
8	T	October 25, 1978	4–4	Montreal Canadiens (1978–79)	4–3–1
9	L	October 26, 1978	0–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79)	4–4–1
10	L	October 28, 1978	3–5	Boston Bruins (1978–79)	4–5–1
11	W	November 1, 1978	4–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79)	5–5–1
12	W	November 3, 1978	3–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79)	6–5–1
13	T	November 4, 1978	4–4	@ Colorado Rockies (1978–79)	6–5–2
14	W	November 7, 1978	5–0	@ St. Louis Blues (1978–79)	7–5–2
15	L	November 8, 1978	1–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79)	7–6–2
16	L	November 11, 1978	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79)	7–7–2
17	T	November 15, 1978	2–2	Buffalo Sabres (1978–79)	7–7–3
18	W	November 16, 1978	6–4	@ Boston Bruins (1978–79)	8–7–3
19	W	November 18, 1978	3–1	St. Louis Blues (1978–79)	9–7–3
20	W	November 21, 1978	4–3	@ Atlanta Flames (1978–79)	10–7–3
21	T	November 22, 1978	3–3	@ New York Rangers (1978–79)	10–7–4
22	L	November 25, 1978	3–6	Colorado Rockies (1978–79)	10–8–4
23	W	November 26, 1978	8–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79)	11–8–4
24	W	November 29, 1978	5–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79)	12–8–4
25	W	December 2, 1978	5–2	New York Rangers (1978–79)	13–8–4
26	L	December 3, 1978	2–7	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79)	13–9–4
27	L	December 5, 1978	1–5	Boston Bruins (1978–79)	13–10–4
28	L	December 6, 1978	4–6	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79)	13–11–4
29	L	December 9, 1978	2–3	New York Islanders (1978–79)	13–12–4
30	L	December 10, 1978	3–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79)	13–13–4
31	W	December 13, 1978	5–1	Vancouver Canucks (1978–79)	14–13–4
32	W	December 16, 1978	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1978–79)	15–13–4
33	L	December 17, 1978	6–7	@ Washington Capitals (1978–79)	15–14–4
34	W	December 20, 1978	4–2	Minnesota North Stars (1978–79)	16–14–4
35	L	December 22, 1978	1–3	@ Atlanta Flames (1978–79)	16–15–4
36	W	December 23, 1978	6–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1978–79)	17–15–4
37	L	December 26, 1978	1–5	@ New York Islanders (1978–79)	17–16–4
38	T	December 27, 1978	1–1	Boston Bruins (1978–79)	17–16–5
39	T	December 30, 1978	5–5	Washington Capitals (1978–79)	17–16–6
40	L	January 3, 1979	1–4	Atlanta Flames (1978–79)	17–17–6
41	L	January 6, 1979	3–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79)	17–18–6
42	L	January 8, 1979	1–5	Vancouver Canucks (1978–79)	17–19–6
43	T	January 10, 1979	2–2	Minnesota North Stars (1978–79)	17–19–7
44	W	January 13, 1979	4–2	Colorado Rockies (1978–79)	18–19–7
45	W	January 16, 1979	3–2	@ Colorado Rockies (1978–79)	19–19–7
46	T	January 19, 1979	3–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79)	19–19–8
47	W	January 20, 1979	3–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79)	20–19–8
48	T	January 24, 1979	2–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79)	20–19–9
49	L	January 26, 1979	2–4	@ Atlanta Flames (1978–79)	20–20–9
50	T	January 28, 1979	2–2	@ Washington Capitals (1978–79)	20–20–10
51	W	January 31, 1979	5–1	St. Louis Blues (1978–79)	21–20–10
52	L	February 3, 1979	3–6	Montreal Canadiens (1978–79)	21–21–10
53	L	February 4, 1979	4–6	@ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79)	21–22–10
54	W	February 12, 1979	5–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79)	22–22–10
55	T	February 14, 1979	2–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79)	22–22–11
56	W	February 17, 1979	5–2	Los Angeles Kings (1978–79)	23–22–11
57	W	February 19, 1979	6–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79)	24–22–11
58	L	February 21, 1979	1–5	@ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79)	24–23–11
59	L	February 24, 1979	2–4	New York Rangers (1978–79)	24–24–11
60	L	February 26, 1979	1–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79)	24–25–11
61	L	February 28, 1979	4–6	Atlanta Flames (1978–79)	24–26–11
62	L	March 1, 1979	1–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79)	24–27–11
63	W	March 3, 1979	4–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79)	25–27–11
64	W	March 4, 1979	4–2	@ New York Rangers (1978–79)	26–27–11
65	W	March 7, 1979	2–0	Vancouver Canucks (1978–79)	27–27–11
66	W	March 10, 1979	9–4	Los Angeles Kings (1978–79)	28–27–11
67	W	March 11, 1979	4–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79)	29–27–11
68	L	March 14, 1979	1–4	Buffalo Sabres (1978–79)	29–28–11
69	L	March 15, 1979	2–6	@ New York Islanders (1978–79)	29–29–11
70	W	March 17, 1979	6–4	Minnesota North Stars (1978–79)	30–29–11
71	L	March 19, 1979	3–4	@ Boston Bruins (1978–79)	30–30–11
72	L	March 21, 1979	2–4	Detroit Red Wings (1978–79)	30–31–11
73	T	March 24, 1979	3–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79)	30–31–12
74	L	March 25, 1979	1–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79)	30–32–12
75	W	March 28, 1979	6–2	Washington Capitals (1978–79)	31–32–12
76	W	March 31, 1979	6–2	Minnesota North Stars (1978–79)	32–32–12
77	W	April 1, 1979	6–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79)	33–32–12
78	T	April 4, 1979	3–3	Boston Bruins (1978–79)	33–32–13
79	W	April 7, 1979	6–2	Buffalo Sabres (1978–79)	34–32–13
80	L	April 8, 1979	3–6	@ Boston Bruins (1978–79)	34–33–13

^[2]

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
C	70	36	51	87	69	9	12	0	4
RW	79	43	42	85	32	12	16	0	2
D	78	17	56	73	76	36	4	0	2
D	80	12	51	63	80	-7	4	0	0
C	79	25	36	61	18	21	7	1	6
LW	77	17	36	53	157	19	0	0	5
LW	77	19	20	39	298	-7	6	0	4
C/RW	80	14	19	33	136	3	0	0	2
RW	63	16	12	28	10	7	4	0	1
RW	71	15	11	26	10	2	0	0	2
D	79	4	15	19	235	36	0	0	0
RW	69	9	9	18	45	2	0	0	0
D	46	5	12	17	4	-10	4	0	0
RW	76	8	7	15	52	-2	0	2	2
D	65	2	11	13	28	-10	0	0	0
LW	62	4	7	11	25	4	0	2	0
D	61	2	9	11	60	7	0	0	1
C	11	7	2	9	0	0	2	0	1
RW/C	16	3	5	8	9	1	1	0	1
C	26	4	3	7	2	-3	0	0	0
LW	45	4	3	7	2	-6	0	0	1
D	40	1	4	5	48	1	0	0	0
G	58	0	5	5	24	0	0	0	0
C	3	0	0	0	0	-3	0	0	0
G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
G	25	0	0	0	10	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
	3396	58	26	21	10	167	2.95	4
	1403	25	8	12	3	82	3.51	1
	1	1	0	0	0	0	0.00	0
Team:	4800	80	34	33	13	249	3.11	5

Playoffs

Scoring

Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
C	6	5	4	9	17	2	0	0
C	6	4	3	7	7	0	1	1
LW	6	3	3	6	2	1	0	1
RW	6	3	2	5	0	0	0	0
C/RW	6	2	2	4	22	0	0	0
D	6	0	4	4	27	0	0	0
D	6	0	3	3	23	0	0	0
RW	6	1	1	2	2	0	0	0
RW	6	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
RW/C	3	1	0	1	5	0	0	0
D	6	0	1	1	7	0	0	0
C	6	0	1	1	4	0	0	0
D	6	0	1	1	4	0	0	0
D	6	0	1	1	8	0	0	0
D	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
RW	6	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
RW	6	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
G	5	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
LW	6	0	0	0	48	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA
	298	5	2	3	17	3.42
	91	2	0	1	7	4.62
Team:	389	6	2	4	24	3.70

^[3]

Playoffs

Preliminary round

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Atlanta Flames

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 10	Toronto	2	Atlanta	1
April 12	Atlanta	4	Toronto	7

Toronto wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0.

Quarter-finals

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 16	Toronto	2	Montreal	5
April 18	Toronto	1	Montreal	5
April 21	Montreal	4	Toronto	3	(OT)
April 22	Montreal	5	Toronto	4	(OT)

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0.

Transactions

The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1978–79 season.

Trades

September 13, 1978	To Vancouver Canucks Cash	To Toronto Maple Leafs Garry Monahan
October 5, 1978	To Minnesota North Stars 3rd round pick in 1980 – Randy Velischek	To Toronto Maple Leafs Walt McKechnie
October 19, 1978	To Colorado Rockies Jack Valiquette	To Toronto Maple Leafs 2nd round pick in 1981 – Gary Yaremchuk
March 13, 1979	To Colorado Rockies Don Ashby Trevor Johansen	To Toronto Maple Leafs Paul Gardner

Waivers

July 4, 1979	To Edmonton Oilers Stan Weir

Expansion Draft

June 13, 1979	To Hartford Whalers Jordy Douglas
June 13, 1979	To Winnipeg Jets Pierre Hamel
June 13, 1979	To Hartford Whalers Kevin Kemp
June 13, 1979	To Hartford Whalers Rick Ley

Awards and records

Borje Salming, Second Team NHL All-Star, Defense

References

Maple Leafs on Hockey Database

Notes and References

Web site: 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. HockeydB.com. 3 February 2012.
Web site: 1978–79 Toronto Maple Leafs Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-05-21 .
Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-05-28 . 1978-79 Toronto Maple Leafs Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.