The 1976–77 WHA season was the fifth season of the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

(WHA). Prior to the season, the

Toronto Toros The Toronto Toros were an ice hockey team based in Toronto that played in the World Hockey Association from 1973 to 1976. History The franchise was awarded to Doug Michel in 1971 for $25,000 to play in the WHA's inaugural 1972–73 WHA season, 19 ...

moved to

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

and became the Birmingham Bulls. The

Cleveland Crusaders The Cleveland Crusaders were a professional ice hockey team from Cleveland. They played in the World Hockey Association from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1975–76 WHA season, 1976. Their home ice was the Cleveland Arena from 1972 to 1974, and t ...

attempted to move to South Florida, but instead became the short-lived second incarnation of the

Minnesota Fighting Saints The Minnesota Fighting Saints was the name of two professional ice hockey teams based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that played in the World Hockey Association. The first team was one of the WHA's original twelve franchises, playing from 1972 to 1976 ...

and folded after playing 42 games. With the death of the Saints, the WHA left the last market it had been sharing with the NHL. The remaining 11 teams finished the season, playing 80 or 81 games. With the reduction of teams before the start of the season, the league returned to a two-division setup, eliminating the Canadian Division. The Avco World Trophy winners were the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

, defeating the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

four games to three; it was the only WHA final series that went the full seven games.

Regular season standings

Player stats

Scoring leaders

_{Bolded numbers indicate season leaders} ''GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes''

Leading goaltenders

_{Bolded numbers indicate season leaders} ''GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties, GA = Goals against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% =

Save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various Goal (sports), goal-scoring sports that track Save (goaltender), saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse and association football, it is a sta ...

; GAA =

Goals against average Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...

Regular season standings

Player stats

Scoring leaders

Leading goaltenders

Avco World Trophy Playoffs

WHA awards

Trophies

All-Star Team

References