NHL Saturday skates into the finals years of the WHA with a look at the 1976-1977 season, where the Quebec Nordiques won their only league championship ever. Of course, the Nordiques would be absorbed into the NHL eventually before moving to Denver before the 1995-1996 season. Every hockey fan should know what happened next, right? No need to recap it here, but this is where it all began … in Quebec!

1977 Gordie Howe Trophy: Robbie Ftorek, F, Phoenix (original); Rich LeDuc, C, Cincinnati (revised)

Despite finishing just seventh in points per game (1.46) and sixth in goals created per game (0.56), Phoenix Roadrunners forward Robbie Ftorek won the vote here. The league leader in both categories was Winnipeg Jets right wing Anders Hedberg (1.93, 0.80), the Kaplan vote winner in 1975. Ftorek added 86 PIMs, but his team still finished last in the West Division, missing the playoffs. We’re really not sure why this happened.

Needless to say, Ftorek won’t win our hardware; the top five players in the league in both categories above all played for either Quebec or Winnipeg, though, so maybe the voters saw Ftorek as a solo performer—which he certainly was, but with no value on a last-place team. So, who else rates the Top 10 in these categories for a playoff qualifier? Center Rich LeDuc of the Cincinnati Stingers is our only choice, really.

The Stingers finished second in the East, thanks to LeDuc’s sabermetric production (1.32, 5.4). With none of his teammates in the Top 10, he was the leader of a lesser-talented team that still pushed to a second-place standing. That is good enough for us; he had played 33 games for the Boston Bruins from 1972-1974, before jumping to the WHA at age 23 to get some playing time. With 107 points and 75 PIMs, he earned this one.

1977 Dennis A. Murphy Trophy: Ron Plumb, Cincinnati (original); Darryl Maggs, Indianapolis (revised)

After leading the WHA in plus/minus rating (plus-64), Cincinnati blueliner Ron Plumb won the Murphy vote here. He also added 69 points and 52 PIMs for a second-place team. Anyone else from a playoff team deserve consideration? Just Indianapolis Racers veteran Darryl Maggs (71 points, 114 PIMs), who helped his team to a third-place rank just three points behind the Stingers. We can see Maggs as more valuable.

Mostly, because his team finished lower, and he managed just a plus-4 rating despite posting “better” statistics—which says a lot about the Racers. Maggs was in his age-27 season and his fourth WHA year, after getting NHL shots with the Chicago Black Hawks and the California Golden Seals from 1971-1973. The Racers were his third WHA team, too, as he wasn’t able to earn a home elsewhere before this magnificence.

1977 Ben Hatskin Trophy: Ron Grahame, Houston (original, confirmed)

The Houston Aeros had the league’s best record by far, thanks to Hatskin vote winner Ron Grahame (27-10-2), who also won this vote in 1975. He led the league in GAA (2.74) and shutouts (four), so he clearly had a lot to do with the team’s success. Is there anyone else we want to check out? Jets netminder Joe Daley, our pick last year, led the WHA in wins, but his GAA was about half a goal higher. Big difference! We confirm.

1977 Lou Kaplan Trophy: George Lyle, LW, New England (original, confirmed)

By this time, it was really hard to identify the real “rookies”—guys making their major-league professional debut(s). Failed NHL players were still jumping to the new league despite years under their belts already at the top level; those were not “rookies” of course. So this vote went to New England Whalers left wing George Lyle (72 points, 62 PIMs). With the Whale claiming the last playoff berth in the East, this was value.

1977 WHA Playoff MVP: Serge Bernier, RW, Quebec (original, confirmed)

The Nordiques posted a 12-4 record in the postseason, including a seven-game victory in the WHA Finals over the Jets. That’s a Game 7 that would have been fun to watch! Quebec RW Serge Bernier (14A, 22G, 36P) won this sward vote; do we have any reason to disagree? No. He posted the highest assist, goal, and point totals in the postseason, which is a clean sweep, of course. It’s impossible to disagree with this decision.

Bernier had played a combined five seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings from 1968-1973 before migrating to the new league. This was his fourth year with the Nordiques, and he would return to the NHL with them in 1979 as well.