1977-78 Houston Aeros Statistics
World Hockey Association (WHA)
Team Record: 42-34-4 - 88 points
Finishing 3rd in the WHA
Postseason: 2-4
Lost AVCO Cup quarter-finals
Quarter-Finals - Lost to Quebec Nordiques 4-2
Coach: Bill Dineen (42-34-4)
Location: Houston, Texas
1977-78 Houston Aeros RosterTeam Record: 42-34-4 - 88 points
Finishing 3rd in the WHA
Postseason: 2-4
Lost AVCO Cup quarter-finals
Quarter-Finals - Lost to Quebec Nordiques 4-2
Coach: Bill Dineen (42-34-4)
Location: Houston, Texas
1977-78 Houston Aeros Results
The Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association ended the 1977-78 season with a record of 42 wins and 34 losses and 4 ties for 88 points, finishing third in the WHA. The team compiled a postseason mark of 2-4.
The Aeros netted 296 goals and allowed 302. Morris Lukowich scored 40 goals for Houston, while John Gray and Andre Lacroix tallied 30 or more also. Andre Lacroix contributed 77 assists. Ernie Wakely earned 28 wins in front of the net for the squad and a team-best 3.24 goals against average, leading goaltenders with enough qualifying appearances.
Bill Dineen coached the team. The 1977-78 Houston Aeros lost in the AVCO Cup quarter-finals.
Click on column headings to sort.
Scoring:
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | PPA | SHG | SHA | GWG | GTG | SOG | SG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andre Lacroix | C | 78 | 36 | 77 | 113 | 57 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 193 | 18.7 |
| Morris Lukowich | L | 80 | 40 | 35 | 75 | 131 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 199 | 20.1 |
| Terry Ruskowski | C | 78 | 15 | 57 | 72 | 170 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 144 | 10.4 |
| John Tonelli | L | 65 | 23 | 41 | 64 | 103 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 146 | 15.8 |
| Don Larway | R | 69 | 24 | 35 | 59 | 52 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 176 | 13.6 |
| John Gray | R | 77 | 35 | 23 | 58 | 80 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 151 | 23.2 |
| Rich Preston | R | 73 | 25 | 25 | 50 | 52 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 213 | 11.7 |
| Cam Connor | R | 68 | 21 | 16 | 37 | 217 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 152 | 13.8 |
| Scott Campbell | D | 75 | 8 | 29 | 37 | 116 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 113 | 7.1 |
| Poul Popiel | D | 80 | 6 | 31 | 37 | 53 | -6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 126 | 4.8 |
| Steve West | C | 71 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 18.3 |
| John Schella | D | 63 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 125 | -2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 139 | 6.5 |
| John Hughes | D | 79 | 3 | 25 | 28 | 130 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 4.8 |
| Larry Lund | C | 76 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 36 | -22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 15.0 |
| Al McLeod | D | 80 | 2 | 22 | 24 | 54 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85 | 2.4 |
| Ron Hansis | R | 78 | 13 | 9 | 22 | 51 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 21.0 |
| Ted Taylor | L | 54 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 46 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 14.9 |
| Larry Hale | D | 56 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 12.5 |
| Frank Hughes | R | 11 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | -10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 10.3 |
| Ernie Wakely | G | 51 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cleland Mortson | R | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Glen Irwin | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wayne Rutledge | G | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| John Mazur | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lynn Zimmerman | G | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 1404 | 296 | 512 | 808 | 1535 | 92 | 56 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2202 | 13.4 |
Goaltenders:
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | T/OL | ENG | SHO | GA | GAA | Shts | SVS | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ernie Wakely | 51 | 3070 | 28 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 166 | 3.24 | 1608 | 1442 | .897 |
| Lynn Zimmerman | 20 | 1166 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 84 | 4.32 | 641 | 557 | .869 |
| Wayne Rutledge | 12 | 634 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 4.45 | 360 | 313 | .869 |
| Totals | 83 | 4870 | 42 | 34 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 297 | 3.66 | 2906 | 2609 | .898 |
Postseason - Scoring:
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | PPA | SHG | SHA | GWG | GTG | SOG | SG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andre Lacroix | C | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Morris Lukowich | L | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 17 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Terry Ruskowski | C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| John Tonelli | L | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Don Larway | R | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| John Gray | R | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Cam Connor | R | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Scott Campbell | D | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Poul Popiel | D | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Steve West | C | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| John Schella | D | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 33 | -8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| John Hughes | D | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Larry Lund | C | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Al McLeod | D | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ron Hansis | R | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ted Taylor | L | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Cleland Mortson | R | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Wayne Rutledge | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Paul Terbenche | D | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Lynn Zimmerman | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Totals | 105 | 16 | 24 | 40 | 152 | -21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Postseason - Goaltenders:
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | T | ENG | SHO | GA | GAA | Shts | SVS | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lynn Zimmerman | 4 | 239 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 5.27 | 0 | ||
| Wayne Rutledge | 3 | 131 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3.66 | 0 | ||
| Totals | 7 | 370 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 4.70 | 0 |
