Significant Games of 1976-77

1976-77

October 8, 1976 Bulls Win First in Land of Dixie BIRMINGHAM: The brand-new Bulls impressed the opening-night audience in Birmingham with a 4-2 verdict over the Houston Aeros. Tom Simpson started the scoring, and the Bulls never trailed in the contest. Simpson had an assist, while Jean-Luc Phaneuf scored and assisted as well. Gordie Howe scored late in the game, adding Birmingham to his long list of goal-scoring locales. Houston 0 1 1 - 2 Birmingham 1 2 1 - 4 1st period: 1. Bir: Simpson 1 (Phaneuf) 7:15 2nd period: 2. Bir: Phaneuf 1 (Simpson) 2:41; 3. Hou: Preston 1 (Mark Howe) 14:48; 4. Bir: Napier 1 (Kirk, Mahovlich) 15:34 3rd period: 5. Bir: Nistico 1 (Lagace) 3:31; 6. Hou: G. Howe 1 10:50 Shots: Hou: 12-7-8—27; Bir: 6-14-7—27 Goaltenders: Hou: Grahame; Bir: Garrett		October 26, 1976 Real Cloutier Scores Five Times, Nordiques Pound Roadrunners QUEBEC: Real Cloutier became the sixth player in WHA history to score five goals in a single game as he led the Nordiques to an easy 11-3 beating of the Roadrunners. Serge Bernier and Steve Sutherland each had a pair of goals, and Chris Bordeleau assisted on four goals. Phoenix 1 2 0 - 3 Quebec 4 5 2 - 11 1st period: 1. Que: Cloutier 10 (Tardif, C. Bordeleau) 1:08. 2. Que: Sutherland 1 (Roy, S. Bernier) 1:21. 3. Que: Sutherland 2 (P. Bordeleau, C. Bordeleau) 5:14. 4. Phx: Ftorek 11 8:51. 5. Que: Cloutier 11 (Baxter) 11:04. 2nd period: 6. Phx: Huston 4 (Rautakallio) 0:51. 7. Phx: Liddington 3 (Cormier, Hobin) 3:45. 8. Que: Cloutier 12 (Tardif, Tremblay) 8:03. 9. Que: Brackenbury 1 (Boudrias, Roy) 8:54. 10. Que: Tardif 5 (C. Bordeleau) 16:39. 11. Que: Cloutier 13 (Fitchner) 16:55. 12. Que: S. Bernier 10 (P. Bordeleau, Sutherland) 19:08. 3rd period: 13. Que: S. Bernier 11 8:47. 14. Que: Cloutier 14 (Lacombe, C. Bordeleau) 11:47. Shots: Phx: 9-14-7—30; Que: 11-12-19—42 Goaltenders: Phx: Hurt, Hebenton; Que: Brodeur		December 26, 1976 Cloutier and Constantin Hat Tricks Lead Nordiques' Dozen WINNIPEG: The Jets returned to Winnipeg after two weeks at the Izvestia Tournament in Moscow, only to be crushed by a 12-3 verdict at the hands of the Quebec Nordiques. The Nordiques spotted the Jets a 1-0 lead before scoring seven first-period goals. Charles Constantin scored three goals while Real Cloutier had seven points on three goals and four assists. Ulf Nilsson had two points in a losing cause. Quebec 7 3 2 - 12 Winnipeg 1 1 1 - 3 1st period: 1. Wpg: Hedberg 31 (Nilsson) 0:53; 2. Que: Constantin 8 (Baxter, Cloutier) 3:04; 3. Que: Sutherland 6 (P. Bordeleau) 6:23; 4. Que: Cloutier 28 (C. Bordeleau) 7:11; 5. Que: S. Bernier 26 (Cloutier, Tremblay) 9:57; 6. Que: Cloutier 29 (S. Bernier, Tremblay) 14:08; 7. Que: Roy 1 (Boudrias, Fitchner) 16:15; 8. Que: Constantin 9 (Cloutier, C. Bordeleau) 17:26 2nd period: 9. Que: C. Bordeleau 16 (Cloutier, Dorey) 8:49; 10. Wpg: Nilsson 14 (Hull, Bergman) 11:45; 11. Que: S. Berneir 27 (P. Bordeleau) 12:35; 12. Que: Constantin 10 (C. Bordeleau, Tremblay) 17:26 3rd period: 13. Que: Cloutier 30 (Boudrias, Dorey) 8:25; 14. Wpg: Ruhnke 5 (Long, Lesuk) 11:19; 15. Que: P. Bordeleau 19 (Boudrias, Weir) 16:56 Shots: Que: 17-12-11—40; Wpg: 7-5-12—24 Goaltenders: Que: Brodeur; Wpg: Daley, Larsson
February 1, 1977 Hedberg and Miller Score Four Each in Winnipeg Romp EDMONTON: Anders Hedberg and Perry Miller scored four goals apiece as Winnipeg scored 11 consecutive times to beat the Oilers, 11-1. Miller scored three times at defense and added two assists for a six-point night. Hedberg's four-goal game initiated a three-game spurt in which he scored eleven goals and became the first player ever to score 50 goals in less than 50 games. Winnipeg 2 6 3 - 11 Edmonton 1 0 0 - 1 1st period: 1. Edm: Campbell (Butters, Sather) 7:15. 2. Wpg: Hedberg 41 (Nilsson, Long) 9:07. 3. Wpg: Hedberg 42 (Nilsson, Bergman) 15:15. 2nd period: 4. Wpg: Lindstrom (Sullivan) 1:02. 5. Wpg: Miller (Nilsson, Hedberg) 10:23. 6. Wpg: Lindstrom (Miller, Lindh) 11:21. 7. Wpg: Moffat (Ketola) 11:28. 8. Wpg: Hedberg 43 (Nilsson, Lesuk) 15:02. 9. Wpg: Hedberg 44 (Nilsson, Miller) 15:54. 3rd period: 10. Wpg: Miller (Guindon, Mott) 6:18. 11. Wpg: Miller (Bergman, Ketola) 10:41. 12. Wpg: Miller (Guindon) 14:54. Shots: Wpg: 9-13-12—34; Edm: 10-11-11—31 Goaltenders: Wpg: Daley; Edm: Levasseur		February 6, 1977 Hedberg Scores Fastest 50th Goal Ever as Jets Best Cowboys WINNIPEG: Anders Hedberg's hat trick gave him 51 goals in his 47th game, and his teams 49th game, to set the record for fastest 50 goals ever. Hedberg achieved the feat after scoring 11 goals in a three-game span and playing with a bad knee that was heavily taped. Calgary 2 0 2 - 4 Winnipeg 0 4 2 - 6 1st period: 1. Cgy: Kryskow (Ford) 11:20. 2. Cgy: Driscoll (Deadmarsh) 18:02. 2nd period: 3. Wpg: Ketola 1:42. 4. Wpg: Ward (Guindon, Miller) 7:48. 5. Wpg: Hedberg 49 (Bergman, Ketola) 13:42. 6. Wpg: Sullivan (Riihiranta, Daley) 16:58. 3rd period: 7. Cgy: Evans (Driscoll) 8:24. 9. Wpg: Hedberg 50 (Lesuk, Miller) 11:21. 9. Cgy: Kryskow (Terbenche, Boyd) 17:08. 10. Wpg: Hedberg 51 (Nilsson) 19:59. Shots: Cgy: 8-12-12—32; Wpg: 11-15-11—37 Goaltenders: Cgy: Bromley; Wpg: Daley		April 9, 1977 Racers Outlast Stingers in Three Overtimes, the Longest Playoff Game in WHA History CINCINNATI: Indianapolis' Gene Peacosh's goal at 8:40 in the third overtime ended a five-hour battle between the Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati Stingers. The Racers overcame three separate one-goal deficits to achieve the victory. Mark Lomenda had a goal and two assists for the Racers. Indianapolis 1 1 1 0 0 1 - 4 Cincinnati 1 1 1 0 0 0 - 3 1st period: 1. Cin: Leduc 1 (Dudley, Stoughton) 4:58. 2. Ind: Lomenda 1 (Rochon, Paiement) 11:05. 2nd period: 3. Cin: Abgrall 1 (Leduc, Larose) 9:48. 4. Ind: Lomenda 2 (Peacosh, McDonald) 18:23. 3rd period: 5. Cin: Larose 1 (Roy, Carroll) 17:21. 6. Ind: Thomas 1 (Parizeau, McDonald) 18:56. Third Overtime: 7. Ind: Peacosh 1 (Lomenda, McDonald) 8:40. Shots: Ind: 12-10-5-8-12-5—52; Cin: 9-15-13-8-11-3—59 Goaltenders: Ind: Hoganson; Cin: Lapointe

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