1975–76 Houston Aeros season

The 1975–76 Houston Aeros season was the Aeros' fourth season of operation in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Aeros again qualified first for the playoffs and made it to the Avco Cup Final but lost the championship to the Winnipeg Jets. This was the first season that the Aeros played in the Summit after three seasons at Sam Houston Coliseum.

1975–76 Houston Aeros
Division	1st West
1975–76 record	53–27–0
Home record	33–7–0
Road record	20–20–0
Goals for	341
Goals against	263
Team information
Coach	Bill Dineen
Captain	Ted Taylor
Alternate captains	Gordie Howe Gord Labossiere Poul Popiel
Arena	The Summit
Team leaders
Goals	Mark Howe
Assists	Gordie Howe
Points	Gordie Howe

Regular season

Gordie Howe scored 102 points, while his son Mark led the team with 39 goals.

Final standings

Western Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Houston Aeros	80	53	27	0	106	341	263	1093
Phoenix Roadrunners	80	39	35	6	84	302	287	1292
San Diego Mariners	80	36	38	6	78	303	290	716
Minnesota Fighting Saints	59	30	25	4	64	211	212	1354

Game log

Regular season schedule
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 11, 1975	5–0	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	1–0–0
2	L	October 14, 1975	3–6	@ Toronto Toros (1975–76)	1–1–0
3	L	October 18, 1975	2–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	1–2–0
4	W	October 19, 1975	6–5	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	2–2–0
5	L	October 23, 1975	0–4	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	2–3–0
6	L	October 25, 1975	4–7	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	2–4–0
7	W	October 30, 1975	4–2	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	3–4–0
8	W	November 1, 1975	3–2	@ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	4–4–0
9	W	November 5, 1975	6–4	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	5–4–0
10	W	November 7, 1975	5–3	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	6–4–0
11	W	November 9, 1975	3–2	Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	7–4–0
12	W	November 11, 1975	5–4	Toronto Toros (1975–76)	8–4–0
13	L	November 12, 1975	1–4	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	8–5–0
14	L	November 15, 1975	5–8	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	8–6–0
15	L	November 16, 1975	3–5	@ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	8–7–0
16	W	November 18, 1975	3–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	9–7–0
17	W	November 21, 1975	4–2	Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	10–7–0
18	W	November 23, 1975	4–0	Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	11–7–0
19	W	November 25, 1975	4–1	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	12–7–0
20	W	November 28, 1975	7–4	Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	13–7–0
21	W	November 30, 1975	8–4	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	14–7–0
22	L	December 2, 1975	2–5	New England Whalers (1975–76)	14–8–0
23	W	December 5, 1975	5–4	Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	15–8–0
24	L	December 6, 1975	5–6 OT	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	15–9–0
25	W	December 9, 1975	6–4	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	16–9–0
26	W	December 12, 1975	4–2	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	17–9–0
27	L	December 13, 1975	3–4	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	17–10–0
28	W	December 14, 1975	4–3	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	18–10–0
29	L	December 16, 1975	2–4	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	18–11–0
30	W	December 20, 1975	4–3	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	19–11–0
31	L	December 21, 1975	1–3	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	19–12–0
32	W	December 26, 1975	9–4	Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	20–12–0
33	W	December 27, 1975	5–0	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	21–12–0
34	L	December 30, 1975	3–5	Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	21–13–0
35	W	January 3, 1976	4–2	Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	22–13–0
36	W	January 6, 1976	7–3	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	23–13–0
37	W	January 9, 1976	6–5	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	24–13–0
38	W	January 10, 1976	4–1	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	25–13–0
39	W	January 11, 1976	5–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	26–13–0
40	L	January 14, 1976	1–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	26–14–0
41	W	January 15, 1976	5–4 OT	@ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	27–14–0
42	L	January 17, 1976	2–4	@ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	27–15–0
43	L	January 20, 1976	5–7	Toronto Toros (1975–76)	27–16–0
44	W	January 21, 1976	9–3	New England Whalers (1975–76)	28–16–0
45	W	January 23, 1976	2–0	Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	29–16–0
46	W	January 25, 1976	5–3	Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	30–16–0
47	W	January 28, 1976	6–5	@ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	31–16–0
48	L	January 30, 1976	1–2	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	31–17–0
49	L	January 31, 1976	1–4	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	31–18–0
50	W	February 3, 1976	8–4	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	32–18–0
51	W	February 6, 1976	4–3	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	33–18–0
52	W	February 8, 1976	5–2	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	34–18–0
53	W	February 12, 1976	4–1	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	35–18–0
54	L	February 14, 1976	1–5	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	35–19–0
55	L	February 15, 1976	2–4	Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	35–20–0
56	W	February 17, 1976	4–3	New England Whalers (1975–76)	36–20–0
57	W	February 19, 1976	5–3	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	37–20–0
58	L	February 22, 1976	1–2	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	37–21–0
59	L	February 24, 1976	1–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	37–22–0
60	W	February 26, 1976	5–2	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	38–22–0
61	W	February 27, 1976	7–6 OT	@ Toronto Toros (1975–76)	39–22–0
62	W	February 28, 1976	4–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	40–22–0
63	W	March 5, 1976	6–3	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	41–22–0
64	L	March 6, 1976	4–5	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	41–23–0
65	W	March 9, 1976	9–2	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	42–23–0
66	L	March 11, 1976	1–4	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	42–24–0
67	W	March 13, 1976	3–2	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	43–24–0
68	W	March 17, 1976	7–4	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	44–24–0
69	W	March 19, 1976	8–3	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	45–24–0
70	L	March 20, 1976	1–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	45–25–0
71	W	March 21, 1976	4–3	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	46–25–0
72	W	March 24, 1976	3–2	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	47–25–0
73	L	March 25, 1976	3–4 OT	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	47–26–0
74	W	March 26, 1976	5–1	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	48–26–0
75	W	March 28, 1976	7–4	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	49–26–0
76	L	March 30, 1976	3–4	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	49–27–0
77	W	April 1, 1976	4–1	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	50–27–0
78	W	April 3, 1976	8–2	@ Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	51–27–0
79	W	April 4, 1976	5–2	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	52–27–0
80	W	April 6, 1976	8–5	Phoenix Roadrunners (1975–76)	53–27–0

Playoffs

The Aeros defeated the San Diego Mariners in the quarter-final round 4–2. The Aeros next defeated the New England Whalers 4–3 in the semi-final round to advance to the Final. While the Aeros won the series, they had nothing left for the Final and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Aeros 4–0 to win the Avco Cup.

Houston Aeros 4, San Diego Mariners 2 – Quarterfinals

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 21	San Diego Mariners	6–8	Houston Aeros	1–0
2	April 23	San Diego Mariners	1–3	Houston Aeros	2–0
3	April 25	Houston Aeros	8–4	San Diego Mariners	3–0
4	April 27	Houston Aeros	2–3	San Diego Mariners	3–1
5	April 28	San Diego Mariners	3–2	Houston Aeros	3–2
6	April 30	Houston Aeros	3–2	San Diego Mariners	4–2

Houston Aeros 4, New England Whalers 3 – Semifinals

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	May 5	New England Whalers	4–2	Houston Aeros	0–1
2	May 7	New England Whalers	2–5	Houston Aeros	1–1
3	May 9	Houston Aeros	1–4	New England Whalers	1–2
4	May 11	Houston Aeros	4–3	New England Whalers	2–2
5	May 13	New England Whalers	2–4	Houston Aeros	3–2
6	May 15	Houston Aeros	1–6	New England Whalers	3–3
5	May 16	New England Whalers	0–2	Houston Aeros	4–3

Winnipeg Jets 4, Houston Aeros 0 – Avco Cup Finals

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	May 20	Winnipeg Jets	4–3	Houston Aeros	0–1
2	May 23	Winnipeg Jets	5–4	Houston Aeros	0–2
3	May 25	Houston Aeros	3–6	Winnipeg Jets	0–3
4	May 27	Houston Aeros	1–9	Winnipeg Jets	0–4

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Gordie Howe RW 78 32 70 102 76 14 12 1 4 Mark Howe D 72 39 37 76 38 29 13 6 8 Frank Hughes LW 80 31 45 76 26 12 12 0 6 Andre Hinse LW 70 35 38 73 6 12 12 0 6 Larry Lund C 73 24 49 73 50 3 6 1 1 Gord Labossiere C 80 23 32 55 18 -1 4 0 3 Rich Preston RW 77 22 33 55 33 30 1 2 4 Don Larway RW 79 30 20 50 56 9 3 0 3 Terry Ruskowski C 65 14 35 49 100 18 3 0 2 Murray Hall RW 80 20 26 46 18 -3 3 0 8 Poul Popiel D 78 10 36 46 71 29 2 2 2 Ted Taylor LW 68 15 26 41 88 -10 3 0 0 John Schella D 74 6 32 38 106 8 0 0 0 Marty Howe D 80 14 23 37 81 40 0 0 2 John Tonelli LW 79 17 14 31 66 11 3 1 2 Larry Hale D 77 2 12 14 30 7 0 0 1 Jan Popiel LW 67 4 7 11 59 -13 0 0 0 Glen Irwin D 72 3 8 11 116 3 0 0 0 Bill Butters D 14 0 4 4 18 8 0 0 0 Ron Grahame G 57 0 1 1 22 0 0 0 0 Bob Liddington LW 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Wayne Rutledge G 25 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 Mike Stevens D 6 0 0 0 2 -2 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Ron Grahame 3343 57 39 17 0 182 3.27 3 Wayne Rutledge 1456 25 14 10 0 77 3.17 1 Team: 4799 80 53 27 0 259 3.24 4

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Mark Howe D 17 6 10 16 18 0 0 0 Terry Ruskowski C 16 6 10 16 64 0 0 0 John Tonelli LW 17 7 7 14 8 0 0 0 Don Larway RW 16 7 5 12 21 0 0 0 Gordie Howe RW 17 4 8 12 31 0 0 0 Rich Preston RW 17 4 6 10 8 0 0 0 Gord Labossiere C 17 2 8 10 14 0 0 0 Marty Howe D 16 4 4 8 12 0 0 0 Poul Popiel D 17 3 5 8 16 0 0 0 John Schella D 17 1 6 7 38 0 0 0 Frank Hughes LW 17 5 1 6 20 0 0 0 Andre Hinse LW 17 2 3 5 2 0 0 0 Murray Hall RW 17 1 4 5 0 0 0 0 Larry Hale D 17 0 5 5 8 0 0 0 Ted Taylor LW 11 2 2 4 17 0 0 0 Bill Butters D 17 0 3 3 51 0 0 0 Larry Lund C 5 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 Jan Popiel LW 8 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 Steve West C 7 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Ron Grahame G 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Glen Irwin D 5 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 Wayne Rutledge G 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Ron Grahame 817 14 6 8 54 3.97 1 Wayne Rutledge 200 4 2 1 10 3.00 0 Team: 1017 17 8 9 64 3.78 1

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

Houston's draft picks at the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	15	Richard Mulhern (D)	Canada	Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
2	30	Doug Jarvis (C)	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
3	45	Kevin Campbell (D)	Canada	St. Lawrence University (ECAC)
4	60	Dave Salvian (LW)	Canada	St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
5	74	Paul Crowley (RW)	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
6	88	Bill Cheropita (G)	Canada	St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
7	101	John Glynne (D)	United States	University of Vermont (ECAC)
8	113	Dave Taylor (F)	Canada	Clarkson University (ECAC)
9	125	Jim Maxfield (D)	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
10	138	Chad Campbell (LW)	Canada	University of Denver (WCHA)
11	150	Bill Oleschuk (G)	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
12	160	Jim Lundquist (D)	United States	Brown University (ECAC)
13	169	Rick St. Croix (G)	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHA)
14	175	Paul Jensen (D)	United States	Michigan Tech University (WCHA)

See also

• 1975–76 WHA season