| 1978-79 Wha Season |
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| 1979 in ice hockey | |
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The 1978-79 WHA season was the seventh and last Regular Season of the now defunct World Hockey Association (WHA). Prior to the start of the season, the Houston Aeros folded leaving seven teams to start the season, but only six finished. The Indianapolis Racers folded after only 25 games on the 15th Of December , 1978 . The other remaining 6 teams each played 80 games. At the end of the season when the WHA folded, the top four teams in the standings ( Edmonton Oilers , Quebec Nordiques , Winnipeg Jets , New England Whalers ) all joined the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 1979-80 NHL Season . The remaining two teams were paid hefty sums of money to disband. REGULAR SEASON The dying WHA would go to almost any length to try and stay afloat. The NHL had rules regarding the age of players that could play while the WHA didn't. Nelson Skalbania , the owner of Indianapolis Racers , signed the 17 year old future super-star, Wayne Gretzky to, at that time, a whopping personal contract worth between 1.125 and 1.75 million dollars over 4 to 7 years. Skalbania, knowing that the WHA was fading, felt owning the young star was more valuable than owning a WHA team. Eight games into the season, though, Skalbania needed cash and liquidated his greatest asset to his old friend and former partner, Peter Pocklington , owner of the Edmonton Oilers . Pocklington purchased Gretzky and two other Indianapolis players, goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll paying $700,000 for the contracts of the three players, although the announced price was actually $850,000. On Gretzky's 18th birthday, the 26th Of January , 1979 , Pocklington signed him to a 21 year personal services contract worth between 4 and 5 million dollars, the longest in hockey history. Gretzky would go on to capture the Lou Kaplan Trophy for rookie of the year, finish third in league scoring, and help the Oilers to first overall in the league. Unfortunately Gretzky couldn't help the Oilers win the Avco World Trophy as the Winnipeg Jets won their third overall and second in a row. Final standings ''Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points'' Scoring leaders All-Star game AVCO WORLD TROPHY PLAYOFFS ''']] Avco World Trophy finals The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4 games to 2, to win the last Avco Cup. The final game was played at the Winnipeg Arena , a 7 to 3 final score in favour of the Jets. The Oilers' Dave Semenko scored late in the third period of the deciding game, to record the last goal in the history of the WHA. WHA AWARDS SEE ALSO REFERENCES
1 Four WHA teams continued into the NHL. |
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