1976–77 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 5, 1976 – May 14, 1977
Number of games	80
Number of teams	18
TV partner(s)	CBC, SRC (Canada) NHL Network (United States)
Draft
Top draft pick	Rick Green
Picked by	Washington Capitals
Regular season
Season champions	Montreal Canadiens
Season MVP	Guy Lafleur (Canadiens)
Top scorer	Guy Lafleur (Canadiens)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP	Guy Lafleur (Canadiens)
Stanley Cup
Champions	Montreal Canadiens
Runners-up	Boston Bruins
NHL seasons
← 1975–76 1977–78 →

The 1976–77 NHL season was the 60th season of the National Hockey League. The Kansas City Scouts moved to Denver, Colorado, and became the Colorado Rockies and the California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and became the Cleveland Barons. The Montreal Canadiens once again dominated the playoffs as, for the second straight year, they swept their opponent four games to none in the final series for the Stanley Cup.

League business

Two teams relocated: The Kansas City Scouts moved to Denver, Colorado, and became the Colorado Rockies and the California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and became the Cleveland Barons. These were the first franchise moves since the original Ottawa Senators had relocated in 1934 to become the St. Louis Eagles. Instability and the poor performances of the Washington Capitals and the Scouts since the 1974 expansion caused the league to shelve an expansion to Denver and Seattle that had been proposed for this season. Seattle would not have a team until the expansion Seattle Kraken in the 2021–22 season.

This season was Clarence Campbell's last as NHL President before he was succeeded by John Ziegler.

Teams

1976-77 National Hockey League
Prince of Wales Conference
Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Adams	Boston Bruins	Boston, Massachusetts	Boston Garden	14,697
	Buffalo Sabres	Buffalo, New York	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	16,433
	Cleveland Barons	Richfield, Ohio	Richfield Coliseum	18,544
	Toronto Maple Leafs	Toronto, Ontario	Maple Leaf Gardens	16,316
Norris	Detroit Red Wings	Detroit, Michigan	Detroit Olympia	15,000
	Montreal Canadiens	Montreal, Quebec	Montreal Forum	19,000
	Los Angeles Kings	Inglewood, California	The Forum	16,005
	Pittsburgh Penguins	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Civic Arena	16,404
	Washington Capitals	Landover, Maryland	Capital Centre	18,130
Campbell Conference
Patrick	Atlanta Flames	Atlanta, Georgia	Omni Coliseum	15,141
	New York Islanders	Uniondale, New York	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	15,317
	New York Rangers	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden	17,500
	Philadelphia Flyers	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Spectrum	17,077
Smythe	Chicago Black Hawks	Chicago, Illinois	Chicago Stadium	16,666
	Colorado Rockies	Denver, Colorado	McNichols Sports Arena	15,900
	Minnesota North Stars	Bloomington, Minnesota	Metropolitan Sports Center	15,000
	St. Louis Blues	St. Louis, Missouri	St. Louis Arena	18,006
	Vancouver Canucks	Vancouver, British Columbia	Pacific Coliseum	15,570

Regular season

The previous season saw the Montreal Canadiens set new records in wins and points. Both of those records were broken again by the Canadiens this season as, with the highest points percentage in post-expansion NHL history (.825), they had 60 wins and 132 points. Their home record was 33 wins, 1 loss, and 6 ties. Scoring 216 more goals than they allowed, the Canadiens were a full 20 points ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers, however, were swept in four straight games by the third-place Boston Bruins in the semi-finals. The Bruins were in turn swept by the Canadiens in four straight in the finals.

On February 2, 1977, Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Ian Turnbull became the first player in NHL history to score five goals on five shots.^[1]

Final standings

Prince of Wales Conference

Adams Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Boston Bruins	80	49	23	8	312	240	106
Buffalo Sabres	80	48	24	8	301	220	104
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	33	32	15	301	285	81
Cleveland Barons	80	25	42	13	240	292	63

^[2]

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	80	60	8	12	387	171	132
Los Angeles Kings	80	34	31	15	271	241	83
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	34	33	13	240	252	81
Washington Capitals	80	24	42	14	221	307	62
Detroit Red Wings	80	16	55	9	183	309	41

^[2]

Clarence Campbell Conference

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Philadelphia Flyers	80	48	16	16	323	213	112
New York Islanders	80	47	21	12	288	193	106
Atlanta Flames	80	34	34	12	264	265	80
New York Rangers	80	29	37	14	272	310	72

^[2]

Smythe Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
St. Louis Blues	80	32	39	9	239	276	73
Minnesota North Stars	80	23	39	18	240	310	64
Chicago Black Hawks	80	26	43	11	240	298	63
Vancouver Canucks	80	25	42	13	235	294	63
Colorado Rockies	80	20	46	14	226	307	54

^[2]

Playoffs

The New York Islanders won six consecutive games before the semifinal and were the only team from the preliminary round to make it to the semifinals, where they lost to the first-ranked, defending, and eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens swept the St. Louis Blues and dispatched the Islanders in six to reach the final. The losses to the Islanders were the Canadiens' only losses of their playoff run. Second-ranked Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the quarterfinals, before being swept by the third-ranked Boston Bruins in the semifinals.

Playoff structure

For the 1977 playoffs, the top three teams in each division were awarded playoff berths. These twelve teams were then ranked 1–12 according to their regular season records, regardless of divisional affiliation. The four division winners automatically qualified for the quarterfinals, while the remaining eight teams (2nd and 3rd place teams in each division) played a preliminary round. For the preliminary round, the best non-division winner played the twelfth-ranked team, the second-best non-division winner played the eleventh-ranked team, and the third-best non-division winner played the third-lowest ranked non-division winner. (This did not necessarily have to be the tenth-ranked team, as a tenth-ranked team could win its division. St. Louis did win the Smythe Division as the tenth-ranked playoff team.) The remaining two non-division winners formed the final preliminary round pairing. The preliminary round consisted of a best-of-three series with game one played on the home ice of the higher-ranked team, and game two on the home ice of the lower-ranked team. If a deciding game three was necessary, it was played on the home ice of the higher-ranked team.

For the quarterfinal, semifinal, and the Stanley Cup Finals, each series was a best-of-seven, with home-ice advantage in games 1, 2, 5, and 7 (if necessary) going to the team with the better regular season record. The other team hosted games 3, 4, and 6 (if necessary). The four preliminary round winners joined the four division winners for the quarterfinals. The matchups were determined according to regular season records regardless of divisional affiliations. Of the eight remaining teams, the top-ranked team played the lowest-ranked remaining team, the second-highest-ranked remaining team played the second-lowest-ranked remaining team, and so on. The four quarterfinal winners advanced to the semifinals, with the match-ups again being reseeded by regular season records. The highest-ranked remaining team played the lowest-ranked remaining team, and the other two teams formed the second semifinal. The two semifinal winners played each other in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Playoff seeds

The twelve teams that qualified for the playoffs are ranked 1–12 based on regular season points.

Note: Only teams that qualified for the playoffs are listed here.

1. Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 132 points
2. Philadelphia Flyers, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 112 points
3. Boston Bruins, Adams Division champions – 106 points (49 wins)
4. New York Islanders – 106 points (47 wins)
5. Buffalo Sabres – 104 points
6. Los Angeles Kings – 83 points
7. Pittsburgh Penguins – 81 points (34 wins)
8. Toronto Maple Leafs – 81 points (33 wins)
9. Atlanta Flames – 80 points
10. St. Louis Blues, Smythe Division champions – 73 points
11. Minnesota North Stars – 64 points
12. Chicago Black Hawks – 63 points

Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=1976–77_NHL_season
Text je dostupný za podmienok Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 Unported; prípadne za ďalších podmienok. Podrobnejšie informácie nájdete na stránke Podmienky použitia.

---