1976-77 Houston Aeros Statistics
World Hockey Association (WHA)
Team Record: 50-24-6 - 106 points
Finishing 1st in the WHA's WHA West Division
Postseason: 6-5
Lost AVCO Cup semi-finals
Division Semi-Finals - Defeated Edmonton Oilers 4-1
Division Finals - Lost to Winnipeg Jets 4-2
Coach: Bill Dineen (50-24-6)
Location: Houston, Texas
1976-77 Houston Aeros RosterTeam Record: 50-24-6 - 106 points
Finishing 1st in the WHA's WHA West Division
Postseason: 6-5
Lost AVCO Cup semi-finals
Division Semi-Finals - Defeated Edmonton Oilers 4-1
Division Finals - Lost to Winnipeg Jets 4-2
Coach: Bill Dineen (50-24-6)
Location: Houston, Texas
1976-77 Houston Aeros Results
The Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association ended the 1976-77 season with a record of 50 wins and 24 losses and 6 ties for 106 points, finishing first in the WHA's WHA West Division. The team compiled a postseason mark of 6-5.
The Aeros scored 320 goals and allowed 241. Rich Preston netted 38 goals for Houston, and Cam Connor tallied 30 or more, too. Terry Ruskowski accounted for 60 assists. Ron Grahame earned 27 wins in front of the net for the squad, while Wayne Rutledge added 15 or more wins also. Ron Grahame recorded a 2.74 goals against average, leading regular goalies.
Bill Dineen coached the team. The 1976-77 Houston Aeros lost in the AVCO Cup semi-finals.
Click on column headings to sort.
Scoring:
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | PPA | SHG | SHA | GWG | GTG | SOG | SG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Ruskowski | C | 80 | 24 | 60 | 84 | 146 | 31 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 162 | 14.8 |
| Rich Preston | R | 80 | 38 | 41 | 79 | 54 | 37 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 216 | 17.6 |
| Mark Howe | D | 57 | 23 | 52 | 75 | 46 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 220 | 10.5 |
| Gordie Howe | R | 62 | 24 | 44 | 68 | 57 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 162 | 14.8 |
| Poul Popiel | D | 80 | 12 | 56 | 68 | 87 | 53 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 177 | 6.8 |
| Cam Connor | R | 76 | 35 | 32 | 67 | 224 | 23 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 217 | 16.1 |
| Larry Lund | C | 80 | 29 | 38 | 67 | 36 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 109 | 26.6 |
| John Tonelli | L | 80 | 24 | 31 | 55 | 109 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 179 | 13.4 |
| Ted Taylor | L | 78 | 16 | 35 | 51 | 90 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 145 | 11.0 |
| Morris Lukowich | L | 68 | 27 | 18 | 45 | 67 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 119 | 22.7 |
| Marty Howe | D | 80 | 17 | 28 | 45 | 103 | 29 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 226 | 7.5 |
| John Gray | R | 47 | 21 | 20 | 41 | 25 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 120 | 17.5 |
| Al McLeod | D | 51 | 7 | 21 | 28 | 20 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 10.1 |
| Don Larway | R | 75 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 112 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 152 | 7.2 |
| Larry Hale | D | 67 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0.0 |
| Frank Hughes | R | 27 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 2 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 7.5 |
| Ron Hansis | R | 22 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 16.7 |
| Glen Irwin | D | 44 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 168 | -12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 5.3 |
| John Schella | D | 20 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 28 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0.0 |
| Andre Hinse | L | 26 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 6.1 |
| Dwayne Pentland | D | 29 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 7.7 |
| Wayne Rutledge | G | 42 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gary Donaldson | R | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0.0 |
| Mike Fedorko | C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Ron Grahame | G | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Steve West | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Totals | 1322 | 320 | 532 | 852 | 1426 | 349 | 64 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 2517 | 12.7 |
Goaltenders:
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | T/OL | ENG | SHO | GA | GAA | Shts | SVS | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Grahame | 39 | 2345 | 27 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 107 | 2.74 | 1082 | 975 | .901 |
| Wayne Rutledge | 42 | 2512 | 23 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 132 | 3.15 | 1209 | 1077 | .891 |
| Totals | 81 | 4857 | 50 | 24 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 239 | 2.95 | 2530 | 2291 | .906 |
Postseason - Scoring:
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | PPA | SHG | SHA | GWG | GTG | SOG | SG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Ruskowski | C | 11 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 67 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Rich Preston | R | 11 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Mark Howe | D | 11 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Gordie Howe | R | 11 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Poul Popiel | D | 11 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Cam Connor | R | 11 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 47 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Larry Lund | C | 11 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 17 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| John Tonelli | L | 11 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ted Taylor | L | 11 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 28 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Morris Lukowich | L | 11 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Marty Howe | D | 11 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| John Gray | R | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Al McLeod | D | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Don Larway | R | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Larry Hale | D | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ron Hansis | R | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| John Schella | D | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Dwayne Pentland | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Wayne Rutledge | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ron Grahame | G | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Steve West | C | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Totals | 184 | 43 | 71 | 114 | 268 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
Postseason - Goaltenders:
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | T | ENG | SHO | GA | GAA | Shts | SVS | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Grahame | 9 | 561 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 3.85 | 265 | 229 | .864 |
| Wayne Rutledge | 2 | 120 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.00 | 54 | 50 | .926 |
| Totals | 11 | 681 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 3.52 | 359 | 319 | .889 |
