1976–77 San Diego Mariners season

1976–77 San Diego Mariners
Division	3rd West
1976–77 record	40–37–4
Goals for	284
Goals against	283
Team information
Coach	Ron Ingram
Captain	Andre Lacroix
Alternate captains	Paul Shmyr Brent Hughes

The 1976–77 San Diego Mariners season was the third and final season of operation of the San Diego Mariners of the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Mariners finished third in the Western Division and qualified for the playoffs, losing in the first round to the Winnipeg Jets.

Regular season

Final standings

Western Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Houston Aeros	80	50	24	6	320	241	106
Winnipeg Jets	80	46	32	2	366	291	94
San Diego Mariners	81	40	37	4	284	283	85
Edmonton Oilers	81	34	43	4	243	304	72
Calgary Cowboys	81	31	43	7	252	296	69
Phoenix Roadrunners	80	28	48	4	281	383	60

Game log

Regular season schedule
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 9, 1976	7–7	Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77)	0–0–1
2	L	October 12, 1976	4–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77)	0–1–1
3	W	October 15, 1976	7–4	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77)	1–1–1
4	W	October 16, 1976	4–2	Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	2–1–1
5	W	October 17, 1976	3–1	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	3–1–1
6	T	October 21, 1976	4–4	Indianapolis Racers (1976–77)	3–1–2
7	L	October 24, 1976	0–6	@ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	3–2–2
8	L	October 26, 1976	1–3	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77)	3–3–2
9	W	October 27, 1976	5–1	@ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77)	4–3–2
10	L	October 29, 1976	2–4	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77)	4–4–2
11	L	October 31, 1976	4–6	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	4–5–2
12	W	November 2, 1976	4–3 OT	@ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77)	5–5–2
13	W	November 6, 1976	4–1	Houston Aeros (1976–77)	6–5–2
14	W	November 7, 1976	3–0	Indianapolis Racers (1976–77)	7–5–2
15	W	November 11, 1976	3–2	@ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77)	8–5–2
16	L	November 12, 1976	1–4	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77)	8–6–2
17	L	November 14, 1976	3–6	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	8–7–2
18	W	November 17, 1976	4–2	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	9–7–2
19	W	November 19, 1976	5–3	Houston Aeros (1976–77)	10–7–2
20	L	November 21, 1976	3–4	@ Birmingham Bulls (1976–77)	10–8–2
21	W	November 24, 1976	4–2	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	11–8–2
22	W	November 27, 1976	2–0	@ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	12–8–2
23	L	November 28, 1976	0–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	12–9–2
24	L	November 30, 1976	2–8	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	12–10–2
25	W	December 2, 1976	4–3	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	13–10–2
26	W	December 4, 1976	4–3	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	14–10–2
27	W	December 8, 1976	6–1	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77)	15–10–2
28	L	December 10, 1976	2–3	@ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77)	15–11–2
29	L	December 11, 1976	2–3	@ New England Whalers (1976–77)	15–12–2
30	W	December 12, 1976	4–2	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976–77)	16–12–2
31	W	December 14, 1976	6–1	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	17–12–2
32	W	December 16, 1976	3–0	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	18–12–2
33	W	December 18, 1976	4–3	Houston Aeros (1976–77)	19–12–2
34	W	December 19, 1976	5–3	Quebec Nordiques (1976–77)	20–12–2
35	W	December 22, 1976	5–4 OT	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	21–12–2
36	L	December 23, 1976	3–5	New England Whalers (1976–77)	21–13–2
37	W	December 26, 1976	2–1	Indianapolis Racers (1976–77)	22–13–2
38	W	December 30, 1976	4–3	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	23–13–2
39	W	January 5, 1977	2–1	@ New England Whalers (1976–77)	24–13–2
40	L	January 8, 1977	1–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77)	24–14–2
41	L	January 9, 1977	2–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77)	24–15–2
42	L	January 13, 1977	2–7	Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77)	24–16–2
43	L	January 15, 1977	3–5	Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	24–17–2
44	W	January 16, 1977	5–2	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77)	25–17–2
45	W	January 20, 1977	5–1	Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	26–17–2
46	L	January 22, 1977	0–6	Houston Aeros (1976–77)	26–18–2
47	L	January 23, 1977	3–5	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77)	26–19–2
48	L	January 27, 1977	3–5	New England Whalers (1976–77)	26–20–2
49	W	January 29, 1977	5–3	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	27–20–2
50	W	February 1, 1977	5–1	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	28–20–2
51	W	February 2, 1977	6–4	Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	29–20–2
52	L	February 4, 1977	2–8	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	29–21–2
53	L	February 6, 1977	2–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	29–22–2
54	W	February 8, 1977	6–5	@ Edmonton Oilers (1976–77)	30–22–2
55	W	February 11, 1977	5–3	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	31–22–2
56	W	February 12, 1977	3–2 OT	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77)	32–22–2
57	W	February 13, 1977	5–2	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	33–22–2
58	L	February 16, 1977	2–4	Quebec Nordiques (1976–77)	33–23–2
59	L	February 18, 1977	2–4	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77)	33–24–2
60	L	February 19, 1977	3–5	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77)	33–25–2
61	T	February 24, 1977	3–3	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	33–25–3
62	L	February 26, 1977	4–5	Houston Aeros (1976–77)	33–26–3
63	L	March 2, 1977	0–2	@ New England Whalers (1976–77)	33–27–3
64	L	March 4, 1977	4–7	@ Indianapolis Racers (1976–77)	33–28–3
65	L	March 5, 1977	0–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1976–77)	33–29–3
66	L	March 6, 1977	2–4	@ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	33–30–3
67	L	March 8, 1977	0–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	33–31–3
68	L	March 9, 1977	3–4	@ Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	33–32–3
69	L	March 12, 1977	6–7 OT	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	33–33–3
70	T	March 15, 1977	4–4	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	33–33–4
71	L	March 19, 1977	5–7	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	33–34–4
72	W	March 20, 1977	6–1	Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	34–34–4
73	W	March 24, 1977	6–2	Birmingham Bulls (1976–77)	35–34–4
74	W	March 25, 1977	7–3	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1976–77)	36–34–4
75	W	March 26, 1977	4–2	Calgary Cowboys (1976–77)	37–34–4
76	L	March 29, 1977	4–5	New England Whalers (1976–77)	37–35–4
77	W	March 31, 1977	4–3	Winnipeg Jets (1976–77)	38–35–4
78	W	April 2, 1977	6–3	Cincinnati Stingers (1976–77)	39–35–4
79	W	April 3, 1977	7–0	Quebec Nordiques (1976–77)	40–35–4
80	L	April 5, 1977	1–3	@ Houston Aeros (1976–77)	40–36–4
81	L	April 6, 1977	3–5	Houston Aeros (1976–77)	40–37–4

Playoffs

Winnipeg Jets 4, San Diego Mariners 3

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 10	San Diego Mariners	1–5	Winnipeg Jets	0–1
2	April 12	San Diego Mariners	1–4	Winnipeg Jets	0–2
3	April 16	Winnipeg Jets	4–5	San Diego Mariners	1–2
4	April 17	Winnipeg Jets	4–6	San Diego Mariners	2–2
5	April 20	San Diego Mariners	0–3	Winnipeg Jets	2–3
6	April 22	Winnipeg Jets	1–3	San Diego Mariners	3–3
7	April 24	San Diego Mariners	3–7	Winnipeg Jets	3–4

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Andre Lacroix C 81 32 82 114 79 2 11 3 0 Joe Noris C/D 73 35 57 92 30 2 9 6 5 Norm Ferguson RW 77 39 32 71 5 −5 10 0 8 Kevin Devine LW 81 30 20 50 114 −12 7 1 0 Paul Shmyr D 81 13 37 50 103 −4 3 0 0 Wayne Rivers RW 60 18 31 49 40 5 7 0 0 Don Burgess LW 77 20 22 42 8 −8 4 1 0 Kevin Morrison D 75 8 30 38 68 −30 4 0 0 John French C/LW 44 14 21 35 6 −3 2 0 0 Gary Veneruzzo W 40 14 11 25 18 4 3 0 0 Tony Cassolato RW 43 13 12 25 26 9 2 0 0 Bob Dobek C 58 7 17 24 17 −9 2 0 0 Brad Rhiness C 58 9 14 23 14 −17 0 0 0 Dick Sentes LW 24 10 11 21 16 7 2 0 0 Gerry Pinder LW 44 6 13 19 36 −24 2 0 0 Brent Hughes D 62 4 13 17 48 −3 0 0 0 Larry Hornung D 58 4 9 13 8 −7 0 0 0 Randy Legge D 69 1 9 10 69 −18 0 0 0 Peter McNamee D 41 3 6 9 38 −7 0 0 0 Ray Adduono C 13 2 5 7 5 1 1 0 0 Bob Falkenberg D 64 0 6 6 34 −11 0 0 0 Gregg Boddy D 18 1 2 3 19 −6 0 0 0 Norm Cournoyer C 19 1 2 3 8 −14 0 0 0 Tim O'Connell RW 16 0 3 3 4 −12 0 0 0 Ernie Wakely G 46 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Ken Lockett G 45 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0 Bob Winograd D 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Ernie Wakely 2506 46 22 18 3 129 3.09 3 Ken Lockett 2397 45 18 19 1 148 3.70 1 Team: 4903 81 40 37 4 277 3.39 4

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Andre Lacroix C 7 1 6 7 6 0 0 0 Norm Ferguson RW 7 2 4 6 0 0 0 1 Ray Adduono C 7 3 2 5 18 0 0 0 John French C/LW 7 2 3 5 2 0 0 0 Dick Sentes LW 5 4 0 4 12 0 0 2 Don Burgess LW 7 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 Kevin Devine LW 7 1 3 4 14 0 0 0 Kevin Morrison D 7 1 3 4 8 0 0 0 Brent Hughes D 7 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 Joe Noris C/D 7 2 1 3 6 0 0 0 Wayne Rivers RW 7 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 Paul Shmyr D 7 0 2 2 8 0 0 0 Brad Rhiness C 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Tony Cassolato RW 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 Bob Dobek C 5 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 Bob Falkenberg D 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Larry Hornung D 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Randy Legge D 7 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 Ken Lockett G 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Peter McNamee D 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Gary Veneruzzo W 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ernie Wakely G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Ernie Wakely 160 3 2 1 9 3.38 0 Ken Lockett 260 5 1 3 19 4.38 0 Team: 420 7 3 4 28 4.00 0

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Draft picks

San Diego's draft picks at the 1976 WHA Amateur Draft.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	5	Dave Farrish (D)	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
3	23	Romano Carlucci (F)	Canada	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA)
3	25	Mark Suzor (D)	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)
3	29	Tony Horvath (D)	Canada	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA)
4	41	John Smrke (C)	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
5	53	Archie King (RW)	Canada	Hamilton Fincups (OHA)
6	65	Rick Hodgson (D)	Canada	Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
7	77	Rob Tudor (C)	Canada	Regina Pats (WCHL)
8	89	Claude Legris (G)	Canada	Sorel Black Hawks (QMJHL)
9	100	Don Moores (C)	Canada	Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)
10	111	Ron Roscoe (D)	Canada	Hamilton Fincups (OHA)

See also

• 1976–77 WHA season