1975-76 Phoenix Roadrunners
Record: 39-35-6, 84 pts
Finish: 2nd, West
Playoffs: Lost in preliminary round to San Diego
Coach: Sandy Hucul
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Preview, 1975-76 • Pro Hockey 1975-76 WHA • by Dan Proudfoot
Nothing magical happened in Phoenix with the Roadrunners last year. It only seemed that way as coach Sandy Hucul employed 15 unknown players who had never appeared before in either the World Hockey Association or the National Hockey. League and somehow, made the playoffs in 1974-75. Hucul, of course, was named coach of the year. Bill Macfarland, the president and general manager, was executive of the year. The combination of wily management, sound coaching and a young lineup means Roadrunners figure to get better and .better. Meantime, their first season in the WHA is truly worthy of analysis. They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, by Quebec Nordiques, but the fact they got as far as they did surprised most knowledgeable hockey people. The WHA setup in 1974-75 called for the first two teams in each of the three divisions to make the playoffs. Then, of the remaining teams, the pair with the most points got to join the fight for the Avco World Trophy. The Runners had 86 points, only four fewer than San Diego, the second-place team in the West Division and a full 13 better than Cleveland, the second team in the East. The secret? Macfarland, the manager, provided coach Hucul with an outstanding group of hustlers. There wasn't a big name in the list of players, but the Roadrunner scouting had been through. Many expected Macfarland to stock his first team with veterans of the Western Hockey League, the now-defunct loop of which he had been president, but he looked elsewhere. "By the end of the season," Macfarland explains, "we only had two players left from the old Phoenix team — the one that had been in the WHL and then the Central League." Hucul, took the group of strangers and made things as simple as possible for them. The Hucul system was straightforward — the purely defensive style with the centers doing the fore-checking and the two wingers always quick to hang back and help the defensemen. The system worked, so well that only two teams ended up with fewer goals against. Two of the more talented rookies, John Hughes and Dennis Sobchuk, won't be back in 1975-76. The Roadrunners had the players on loan only for the single season, developing them until the Cincinnati Stingers entered the league this year. "Both Hughes and Sobchuk played very well for us," says MacFarland. "We can't expect anyone to move into their positions and improve on what they did. But, we do feel that the new fellows we've recruited are capable of making up for the loss. We've got Lauri Mononen and Pekka Rautakallio from the Finnish National team, Serge Beaudoin, Gary Lariviere, Ron Huston and Del Hall. We're pleased with the new names." Certainly, the impact of the new names the Roadrunners came up with last year suggest that their scouts recognize potential in players who have been overlooked before. Al Rollins, once an outstanding goaltender, leads Rudy Filion in the west and Murray Costello in the east in discovering fresh talent. "One area we do hope to improve in," says MacFarland, "is in short-handed situations. Whether we were the penalized team or playing with the man advantage, we simply weren't very good. Sandy (coach Hucul) never had the time to work on penalty killing or the powerplay last year, just because it took all of his efforts to get all of the new players using his system. This year, we will work on those special situations — and that's where we see improvement." |
Game Log ... (@ away game, * overtime)
Player Scoring
Goaltending
Transactions
• Del Hall and Ron Huston acquired from California (NHL) for rights to Gary Holt, Jun 1975
Splits versus opposing teams, home and away, and by month
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no.
Date
Opponent
Score
w-l-t
pts
gf-ga
no.
Date
Opponent
Score
w-l-t
pts
gf-ga
1. Oct 10 San Diego 6-5 W 1-0-0 2 6-5 41. Jan 17 Minnesota 2-4 L 19-19-3 41 150-143
2. Oct 11 @ San Diego 4-2 W 2-0-0 4 10-7 42. Jan 20 New England 4-4 T 19-19-4 42 154-147
3. Oct 12 Winnipeg 0-4 L 2-1-0 4 10-11 43. Jan 22 Toronto 6-4 W 20-19-4 44 160-151
4. Oct 17 Denver 4-5 L 2-2-0 4 14-16 44. Jan 25 San Diego 7-5 W 21-19-4 46 167-156
5. Oct 19 Winnipeg 6-5 W 3-2-0 6 20-21 45. Jan 27 @ San Diego *4-3 W 22-19-4 48 171-159
6. Oct 24 @ Calgary 4-3 W 4-2-0 8 24-24 46. Jan 28 Calgary 5-0 W 23-19-4 50 176-159
7. Oct 26 @ Winnipeg 0-5 L 4-3-0 8 24-29 47. Jan 30 Cleveland 4-4 T 23-19-5 51 180-163
8. Oct 28 @ Edmonton 3-7 L 4-4-0 8 27-36 48. Jan 31 @ San Diego 1-6 L 23-20-5 51 181-169
9. Oct 30 @ Denver 3-2 W 5-4-0 10 30-38 49. Feb 4 Cleveland 5-1 W 24-20-5 53 186-170
10. Nov 1 @ Minnesota 2-3 L 5-5-0 10 32-41 50. Feb 5 Edmonton 5-1 W 25-20-5 55 191-171
11. Nov 2 @ Cleveland 2-5 L 5-6-0 10 34-46 51. Feb 7 Minnesota 4-2 W 26-20-5 57 195-173
12. Nov 7 @ Houston 3-5 L 5-7-0 10 37-51 52. Feb 8 Minnesota 3-3 T 26-20-6 58 198-176
13. Nov 8 @ New England 3-2 W 6-7-0 12 40-53 53. Feb 11 @ Indianapolis 1-2 L 26-21-6 58 199-178
14. Nov 9 @ Quebec 3-7 L 6-8-0 12 43-60 54. Feb 12 Houston 1-4 L 26-22-6 58 200-182
15. Nov 14 Toronto 2-2 T 6-8-1 13 45-62 55. Feb 14 @ Minnesota 5-2 W 27-22-6 60 205-184
16. Nov 16 Cleveland 4-4 T 6-8-2 14 49-66 56. Feb 15 @ Edmonton 4-2 W 28-22-6 62 209-186
17. Nov 20 Edmonton 3-1 W 7-8-2 16 52-67 57. Feb 18 @ Winnipeg 3-4 L 28-23-6 62 212-190
18. Nov 22 @ New England 5-7 L 7-9-2 16 57-74 58. Feb 20 @ Cincinnati 1-4 L 28-24-6 62 213-194
19. Nov 27 Calgary 1-5 L 7-10-2 16 58-79 59. Feb 22 @ Indianapolis 6-5 W 29-24-6 64 219-199
20. Nov 29 Quebec 4-4 T 7-10-3 17 62-83 60. Feb 27 San Diego 4-3 W 30-24-6 66 223-202
21. Nov 30 Quebec 1-2 L 7-11-3 17 63-85 61. Feb 29 @ Calgary 5-2 W 31-24-6 68 228-204
22. Dec 4 New England 5-4 W 8-11-3 19 68-89 62. Mar 2 Indianapolis 5-2 W 32-24-6 70 233-206
23. Dec 6 Houston *6-5 W 9-11-3 21 74-94 63. Mar 5 @ Houston 3-6 L 32-25-6 70 236-212
24. Dec 10 Indianapolis 1-2 L 9-12-3 21 75-96 64. Mar 6 New England 3-5 L 32-26-6 70 239-217
25. Dec 12 Cincinnati 2-4 L 9-13-3 21 77-100 65. Mar 7 @ San Diego 2-5 L 32-27-6 70 241-222
26. Dec 13 @ Denver 4-1 W 10-13-3 23 81-101 66. Mar 10 @ New England 3-2 W 33-27-6 72 244-224
27. Dec 14 San Diego 4-2 W 11-13-3 25 85-103 67. Mar 12 @ Toronto 5-2 W 34-27-6 74 249-226
28. Dec 18 Indianapolis 7-1 W 12-13-3 27 92-104 68. Mar 13 @ Indianapolis 4-6 L 34-28-6 74 253-232
29. Dec 20 Houston 3-4 L 12-14-3 27 95-108 69. Mar 14 @ Cleveland *3-2 W 35-28-6 76 256-234
30. Dec 23 @ Cincinnati 5-3 W 13-14-3 29 100-111 70. Mar 17 Houston 4-7 L 35-29-6 76 260-241
31. Dec 26 @ San Diego 2-4 L 13-15-3 29 102-115 71. Mar 19 Cleveland *5-6 L 35-30-6 76 265-247
32. Dec 27 Denver 10-0 W 14-15-3 31 112-115 72. Mar 20 @ San Diego *4-3 W 36-30-6 78 269-250
33. Dec 28 @ Denver 5-2 W 15-15-3 33 117-117 73. Mar 21 @ Houston 3-4 L 36-31-6 78 272-254
34. Jan 2 @ Toronto 1-4 L 15-16-3 33 118-121 74. Mar 24 Cincinnati 4-5 L 36-32-6 78 276-259
35. Jan 3 @ Quebec 4-1 W 16-16-3 35 122-122 75. Mar 26 San Diego 3-1 W 37-32-6 80 279-260
36. Jan 4 @ Cleveland 2-3 L 16-17-3 35 124-125 76. Mar 27 @ San Diego 5-2 W 38-32-6 82 284-262
37. Jan 7 @ Minnesota *6-7 L 16-18-3 35 130-132 77. Mar 28 @ Houston 4-7 L 38-33-6 82 288-269
38. Jan 8 Cincinnati 7-1 W 17-18-3 37 137-133 78. Mar 31 @ Cincinnati 7-2 W 39-33-6 84 295-271
39. Jan 10 Ottawa 8-5 W 18-18-3 39 145-138 79. Apr 3 Houston 2-8 L 39-34-6 84 297-279
40. Jan 16 Minnesota 3-1 W 19-18-3 41 148-139 80. Apr 6 @ Houston 5-8 L 39-35-6 84 302-287
pos.
Player
D Beaudoin, Serge
C Boyd, Jim
D Clarke, Jim
RW Connor, Cam
LW Cormier, Michel
LW Dean, Barry
LW Erickson, Grant
C Ftorek, Robbie
RW Gorman, Dave
LW Gray, John
C Hall, Del
G Hebenton, Clay
C Hobin, Mike
C Huston, Ron
C Keogan, Murray
G Kurt, Gary
D Lariviere, Garry
RW McLeod, Al
D McNamee, Pete
LW Migneault, John
RW Mononen, Lauri
D Niekamp, Jim
G Norris, Jack
D Rautakallio, Pekka
D Sleep, Mike
LW Veneruzzo, Gary
Goaltender
Hebenton, Clay
Kurt, Gary
Norris, Jack
• Lauri Mononen, Pekka Rautakallio signed to contracts, Jun 1975
• Rights to Barry Dean acquired from Edmonton for two 1976 draft choices, Aug 1975
• Murray Keogan sold to Calgary, Oct 1975
• Gary Veneruzzo acquired from Cincinnati for Ron Serafini, Nov 1975
• Grant Erickson acquired from Cleveland for Rick Newell and Rob Watt, Nov 1975
• Pete McNamee traded to San Diego for Dave Walter, Dec 1975
opponent
overall
gf-ga
home
gf-ga
away
gf-ga
Calgary 3-1-0 15-10 1-1-0 6-5 2-0-0 9-5
Cincinnati 3-3-0 26-19 1-2-0 13-10 2-1-0 13-9
Cleveland 2-3-2 25-25 1-1-2 18-15 1-2-0 7-10
Denver-Ottawa 5-1-0 34-15 2-1-0 22-10 3-0-0 12-5
Edmonton 3-1-0 15-11 2-0-0 8-2 1-1-0 7-9
Houston 1-9-0 34-58 1-4-0 16-28 0-5-0 18-30
Indianapolis 3-3-0 24-18 2-1-0 13-5 1-2-0 11-13
Minnesota 3-3-1 25-22 2-1-1 12-10 1-2-0 13-12
New England 3-2-1 23-24 1-1-1 12-13 2-1-0 11-11
Quebec 1-2-1 12-14 0-1-1 5-6 1-1-0 7-8
San Diego 9-3-0 46-41 5-0-0 24-16 4-3-0 22-25
Toronto 2-1-1 14-12 1-0-1 8-6 1-1-0 6-6
Winnipeg 1-3-0 9-18 1-1-0 6-9 0-2-0 3-9
October 5-4-0 30-38 2-2-0 16-19 3-2-0 14-19
November 2-7-3 33-47 1-2-3 15-18 1-5-0 18-29
December 8-4-0 54-32 5-3-0 38-22 3-1-0 16-10
January 8-5-2 64-52 6-1-2 46-28 2-4-0 18-24
February 8-4-1 47-35 4-1-1 22-14 4-3-0 25-21
March 8-9-0 67-67 2-4-0 24-26 6-5-0 43-41
April 0-2-0 7-16 0-1-0 2-8 0-1-0 5-8
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