1979 WHA playoffs

• Edmonton Oilers, regular season champions – 98 points • Quebec Nordiques – 87 points • Winnipeg Jets – 84 points • New England Whalers – 83 points • Cincinnati Stingers – 72 points ==Bracket==

In the regular season, Cincinnati had gone 7–6–2 against New England. In Game 1, Mark Howe led the way for the Whalers with two goals, with his late third-period goal giving New England the go-ahead win. In Game 2, Jamie Hislop tied a WHA playoff record with four assists as the Stingers scored five goals before the second period was even half over, with three of them being from Robbie Ftorek. The Whalers took out John Garrett in the third period for Al Smith and got a few goals in the third. In Game 3, the two teams traded goals in the first period before Blaine Stoughton gave New England the lead with 17 seconds to play in the second period on his goal. The two teams held firm for a scoreless third period as New England eliminated Cincinnati. ==Semifinals==

(2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (3) Quebec Nordiques In the fourteen regular season contests, the teams went 6–6–2 against each other. In Game 1, each team scored in the final three minutes of the period, with Lyle Moffat's tip-in goal for Winnipeg being followed by Marc Tardif scoring 29 seconds later for Quebec. But Winnipeg scored five goals in the second period (with Bobby Guindon scoring two of them) before Quebec could even get one on the board. Quebec scored a goal in the third period but were stymied in the third period to just five shots as Jets goaltender Gary Smith stopped 28 of 31 shots. The last couple of minutes saw a commotion as Gilles Bilodeau (nicknamed "Bad News") was deployed on the ice and quickly went out on the ice and put his stick onto Winnipeg players, even hitting Scott Campbell in the mouth that saw the latter lose his temper. Nordiques head coach Jacques Demers stated that he didn't send Bilodeau out there to hit players but merely because he was missing three forwards, citing a sore back for Real Cloutier, an aggravated knee for Serge Bernier and a hurt shoulder for Paulin Bordeleau. With 7:09 remaining in the third period, Willy Lindstrom scored to close out the scoring for Winnipeg and also set a record for most points in a four-game series, having collected six goals and four assists (the previous record was shared by Gordie Howe, Ulf Nilsson, and Reg Thomas. The Jets also set a record for most goals in a four-game sweep with 30. (1) Edmonton Oilers vs. (4) New England Whalers The favored Oilers had gone 9–4–1 against the Whalers in the regular season (while winning eight of the last nine). However, the home team wound up winning each game in a tight series that went the distance. Wayne Gretzky had 15 points in the series, a record for a seven-game playoff and the most for a WHA semifinal in history. Edmonton scored 34 goals in the series and New England scored 30 to combine for 64, also a record for a seven-game series that topped the previous mark of the 1974 Semifinal. ==Avco Cup Final==

(1) Edmonton Oilers vs. (3) Winnipeg Jets The series matched the Edmonton Oilers, as coached by Glen Sather against the Winnipeg Jets, as coached by Tom McVie. In fourteen regular season matchups, each team won seven times. With the layoff between playoff series, Winnipeg formulated a potential game plan for Gretzky by Lars-Erik Sjöberg and McVie to try and chase him out as often as possible so he would have to pass the puck on his backhand rather than his forehand, which is where Sjöberg would meet him. Winnipeg prevailed in the first two games in Edmonton with tight battles. 11,871 fans watched the first Avco Cup championship game in Edmonton. In Game 1, Rich Preston gave them the lead three minutes into Game 1 on his goal before Bill Lesuk gave the Jets a 2–0 lead on his goal eleven minutes later. Bill Flett scored for Edmonton with 2:12 remaining in the first period on a shot from the corner that bounced of the heel of Gary Smith's stick and into the net. Preston added in a second goal with 3:36 remaining in the third period. In Game 2 (with 11,405 attending fans), the Oilers led in the second period on a Dennis Sobchuk goal, but the Jets scored three goals, with Willy Lindstrom breaking the 2–2 tie with 4:36 remaining in regulation. For the next two games in Winnipeg, the two teams split victories. The road team won again with Game 3, now in Winnipeg (with 9,130 attending fans) that saw eight different players score for the Oilers in an 8–3 victory; it was the first time Winnipeg had lost a playoff game since Game 3 of the 1978 WHA Quarterfinals, a streak of 12 games. On the day of Game 4, Oilers goaltender Dave Dryden was named the final recipient of the Gordie Howe Trophy for most valuable player in the season. Also announced was the First and Second Team honors, which saw the Jets have one player receive honors with Morris Lukowich as Second Team for left wing while Edmonton had Dryden for First Team and four players on the Second Team with Paul Shmyr (D), Dave Langevin (D), Wayne Gretzky (C), and Blair MacDonald (RW). Later that day to 10,295 fans in Winnipeg, the two teams each scored a goal in the first period before Oilers took a 2–1 lead into the third period on a goal by Brett Callighen. Morris Lukowich tied the game for the Jets nine minutes into the third period on a power-play goal before Lyle Moffat scored the go-ahead goal with 6:26 remaining in the game. Now trailing 3–1 in the series, the Oilers returned to Edmonton to a crowd of 13,308 and rocked the Jets early with four goals in the first period on their way to a 10–2 victory, which notably saw Ron Chipperfield score five goals while Winnipeg's Terry Ruskowski injured his shoulder. Winnipeg took out goaltender Gary Smith 10:45 into the second period for Joe Daley. 32 total penalties (26 minors) were issued during the game. 10,195 people saw what would end up being the final WHA game when the Jets played the Oilers in Game 6 on May 20, 1979. The Oilers would miss the services of Dennis Sobchuk, who contracted food poisoning when eating a steak sandwich at a Winnipeg restaurant, while Ruskowski returned from his one-game absence, later crediting team trainer Bill Bozak for his aid. The Jets held court from the get-go, with Willy Lindstrom giving the Jets an early lead two minutes into the game on a goal. After being up 2–0 in the first period, the Jets then scored three goals in the span of four minutes to rocket up to a 5–0 lead, with Lyle Moffat having the series-clinching goal at 6:35 in the period. Three players led the Jets in goals for the series with four by Rich Preston, Morris Lukowich, and Willy Lindstrom. This was the first and only time that the Avco World Trophy was won by a team that did not finish first or second for points in the league. A parade was held on May 22 in downtown Winnipeg. ==Player statistics==

These were the top ten skaters based on points. ==Championship roster==

of Winnipeg won the fifth and final WHA Playoff MVP awarded by the league 1978–79 Winnipeg Jets ==References==