1978–79 AHL season

Sports season

1978–79 AHL season

League| American Hockey League
Sport| Ice hockey
Regular season
F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy| Maine Mariners
Season MVP| Rocky Saganiuk
Top scorer| Bernie Johnston
Playoffs
Champions| Maine Mariners
Runners-up| New Haven Nighthawks
AHL seasons

← 1977–78

1979–80 →

The 1978–79 AHL season was the 43rd season of the American Hockey League. The league inaugurated the Ken McKenzie Award, for the most outstanding marketing executive, showing its commitment to marketing and public relations.

Nine teams were scheduled to play 80 games each. The Maine Mariners repeated as first overall in the regular season, and won their second consecutive Calder Cup championship.

## Team changes

[edit]

* The Hampton Gulls do not resume operations.
* The New Brunswick Hawks join the AHL as an expansion team, based in Moncton, New Brunswick, playing in the North Division.
* The Binghamton Dusters switch divisions from North to South.

## Final standings

[edit]

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points;

North  | GP  | W  | L  | T  | Pts  | GF  | GA

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Maine Mariners (PHI) | 80 | 45 | 22 | 13 | 103 | 350 | 252
New Brunswick Hawks (CHI/TOR) | 80 | 41 | 29 | 10 | 92 | 315 | 288
Nova Scotia Voyageurs (MTL) | 80 | 39 | 37 | 4 | 82 | 313 | 302
Springfield Indians (LAK) | 80 | 33 | 38 | 9 | 75 | 289 | 290
South  | GP  | W  | L  | T  | Pts  | GF  | GA

|
|
|
|
|
|
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New Haven Nighthawks (NYR) | 80 | 46 | 25 | 9 | 101 | 346 | 271
Hershey Bears (BUF/WSH) | 79 | 35 | 36 | 8 | 78 | 311 | 324
Binghamton Dusters (PIT) | 79 | 32 | 42 | 5 | 69 | 300 | 320
Rochester Americans (BOS) | 80 | 26 | 42 | 12 | 64 | 289 | 349
Philadelphia Firebirds (CLR) | 80 | 23 | 49 | 8 | 54 | 230 | 347

## Scoring leaders

[edit]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player  | Team  | GP  | G  | A  | Pts  | PIM

|
|
|
|
|
|

Bernie Johnston | Maine Mariners | 70 | 29 | 66 | 95 | 40
Wayne Schaab | Maine Mariners | 80 | 41 | 50 | 91 | 43
Kirk Bowman | New Brunswick Hawks | 80 | 26 | 56 | 82 | 44
Bobby Sheehan | New Haven Nighthawks | 70 | 33 | 48 | 81 | 26
Rick Meagher | Nova Scotia Voyageurs | 79 | 35 | 46 | 81 | 57
Dave Lumley | Nova Scotia Voyageurs | 61 | 22 | 58 | 80 | 160
Claude Noel | Hershey Bears | 76 | 30 | 50 | 80 | 27
Dale Lewis | New Haven Nighthawks | 76 | 29 | 51 | 80 | 20
Rocky Saganiuk | New Brunswick Hawks | 61 | 47 | 29 | 76 | 91
Andre Peloffy | Springfield Indians | 77 | 28 | 48 | 76 | 138

* complete list

## Calder Cup playoffs

[edit]

Main article: 1979 Calder Cup playoffs

| Division Semifinals | | | Division Finals | | | Calder Cup Final |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| | | | 1 | Maine | 4 | |
| North Division |
| | | 3 | Nova Scotia | 2 |
| 2 | New Brunswick | 2 |

| 3 | Nova Scotia | 3 |
| | N1 | Maine | 4 |
|  |
| | | S1 | New Haven | 0 |
| | |

| |
| | 1 | New Haven | 4 |
| South Division |
| | | 3 | Binghamton | 2 |
| 2 | Hershey | 1 |

| 3 | Binghamton | 3 |

## Trophy and award winners

[edit]

Team awards
Calder Cup
Playoff champions: | Maine Mariners

|

F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy
Regular Season champions, North Division: | Maine Mariners
John D. Chick Trophy
Regular Season champions, South Division: | New Haven Nighthawks

Individual awards
Les Cunningham Award
Most valuable player: | Rocky Saganiuk \- New Brunswick Hawks

|

John B. Sollenberger Trophy
Top point scorer: | Bernie Johnston \- Maine Mariners
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award
Rookie of the year: | Mike Meeker \- Binghamton Dusters
Eddie Shore Award
Defenceman of the year: | Terry Murray \- Maine Mariners
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award
Lowest goals against average: | Pete Peeters & Robbie Moore \- Maine Mariners
Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award
Coach of the year: | Parker MacDonald \- New Haven Nighthawks
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award
Sportsmanship / Perseverance: | Bernie Johnston \- Maine Mariners

Other awards
James C. Hendy Memorial Award
Most outstanding executive: | Harry Sinden

|

James H. Ellery Memorial Awards
Outstanding media coverage: | Eddie St. Pierre, Moncton, (newspaper)
Arnie Patterson, Nova Scotia, (radio)
Jack O'Neil, Springfield, (television)
Ken McKenzie Award
Outstanding marketing executive: | Roy Mlakar, New Haven Nighthawks

## See also

[edit]

* List of AHL seasons

## References

[edit]

* AHL official site
* AHL Hall of Fame
* HockeyDB

Preceded by

1977–78 AHL season

|  AHL seasons | Succeeded by

1979–80 AHL season

|
|

* v
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American Hockey League

| Eastern Conference| Western Conference

|

Atlantic

Bridgeport Islanders

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* Seasons
* Arenas
* Calder Cup
* Champions
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* Draft
* Players
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* Captains

* Les Cunningham Award
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* Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award
* Eddie Shore Award
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* Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award
* Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award
* Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award
* Yanick Dupre Memorial Award
* Jack A. Butterfield Trophy
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* Robert W. Clarke Trophy
* Frank Mathers Trophy
* Norman R. "Bud" Poile Trophy
* Emile Francis Trophy
* F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy
* Sam Pollock Trophy
* John D. Chick Trophy
* James C. Hendy Memorial Award
* Thomas Ebright Memorial Award
* James H. Ellery Memorial Awards
* Ken McKenzie Award
* Michael Condon Memorial Award
* President's Awards

* Category
* Portal
* 2024–25 season

* v
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Defunct American Hockey League teams

* Abbotsford Heat
* Adirondack Flames
* Adirondack Red Wings
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* Albany Devils
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* Baltimore Bandits
* Baltimore Clippers
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* Cape Breton Oilers
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* Cleveland Barons (1937–1973)
* Cleveland Barons (2001–2006)
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* Maine Mariners
* Manchester Monarchs
* Moncton Alpines
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* Montreal Voyageurs
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* Oklahoma City Barons
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* Pittsburgh Hornets (1936–1956)
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