1975–76 Phoenix Roadrunners season

1975–76 Phoenix Roadrunners
Division	2nd Western
1975–76 record	39–35–6
Goals for	302
Goals against	287
Team information
Coach	Sandy Hucul
Captain	Al McLeod
Alternate captains	Jim Niekamp Robbie Ftorek

The 1975–76 Phoenix Roadrunners season was the second season of operation of the Phoenix Roadrunners in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Roadrunners qualified for the playoffs but lost in the first round to the San Diego Mariners.

Regular season

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 10, 1975	6–5	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	1–0–0
2	W	October 11, 1975	4–2	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	2–0–0
3	L	October 12, 1975	0–4	Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	2–1–0
4	L	October 17, 1975	4–5	Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	2–2–0
5	W	October 19, 1975	6–5	Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	3–2–0
6	W	October 24, 1975	4–3	@ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	4–2–0
7	L	October 26, 1975	0–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	4–3–0
8	L	October 28, 1975	3–7	@ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	4–4–0
9	W	October 30, 1975	3–2	@ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	5–4–0
10	L	November 1, 1975	2–3	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	5–5–0
11	L	November 2, 1975	2–5	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	5–6–0
12	L	November 7, 1975	3–5	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	5–7–0
13	W	November 8, 1975	3–2	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	6–7–0
14	L	November 9, 1975	3–7	@ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	6–8–0
15	T	November 14, 1975	2–2	Toronto Toros (1975–76)	6–8–1
16	T	November 16, 1975	4–4	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	6–8–2
17	W	November 20, 1975	3–1	Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	7–8–2
18	L	November 22, 1975	5–7	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	7–9–2
19	L	November 27, 1975	1–5	Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	7–10–2
20	T	November 29, 1975	4–4	Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	7–10–3
21	L	November 30, 1975	1–2	Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	7–11–3
22	W	December 4, 1975	5–4	New England Whalers (1975–76)	8–11–3
23	W	December 6, 1975	6–5 OT	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	9–11–3
24	L	December 10, 1975	1–2	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	9–12–3
25	L	December 12, 1975	2–4	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	9–13–3
26	W	December 13, 1975	4–1	@ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	10–13–3
27	W	December 14, 1975	4–2	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	11–13–3
28	W	December 18, 1975	7–1	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	12–13–3
29	L	December 20, 1975	3–4	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	12–14–3
30	W	December 23, 1975	5–3	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	13–14–3
31	L	December 26, 1975	2–4	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	13–15–3
32	W	December 27, 1975	10–0	Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	14–15–3
33	W	December 28, 1975	5–2	@ Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	15–15–3
34	L	January 2, 1976	1–4	@ Toronto Toros (1975–76)	15–16–3
35	W	January 3, 1976	4–1	@ Quebec Nordiques (1975–76)	16–16–3
36	L	January 4, 1976	2–3	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	16–17–3
37	L	January 7, 1976	6–7 OT	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	16–18–3
38	W	January 8, 1976	7–1	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	17–18–3
39	W	January 10, 1976	8–5	Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics (1975–76)	18–18–3
40	W	January 16, 1976	3–1	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	19–18–3
41	L	January 17, 1976	2–4	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	19–19–3
42	T	January 20, 1976	4–4	New England Whalers (1975–76)	19–19–4
43	W	January 22, 1976	6–4	Toronto Toros (1975–76)	20–19–4
44	W	January 25, 1976	7–5	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	21–19–4
45	W	January 27, 1976	4–3 OT	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	22–19–4
46	W	January 28, 1976	5–0	Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	23–19–4
47	T	January 30, 1976	4–4	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	23–19–5
48	L	January 31, 1976	1–6	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	23–20–5
49	W	February 4, 1976	5–1	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	24–20–5
50	W	February 5, 1976	5–1	Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	25–20–5
51	W	February 7, 1976	4–2	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	26–20–5
52	T	February 8, 1976	3–3	Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	26–20–6
53	L	February 11, 1976	1–2	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	26–21–6
54	L	February 12, 1976	1–4	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	26–22–6
55	W	February 14, 1976	5–2	@ Minnesota Fighting Saints (1975–76)	27–22–6
56	W	February 15, 1976	4–2	@ Edmonton Oilers (1975–76)	28–22–6
57	L	February 18, 1976	3–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1975–76)	28–23–6
58	L	February 20, 1976	1–4	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	28–24–6
59	W	February 22, 1976	6–5	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	29–24–6
60	W	February 27, 1976	4–3	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	30–24–6
61	W	February 29, 1976	5–2	@ Calgary Cowboys (1975–76)	31–24–6
62	W	March 2, 1976	5–2	Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	32–24–6
63	L	March 5, 1976	3–6	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	32–25–6
64	L	March 6, 1976	3–5	New England Whalers (1975–76)	32–26–6
65	L	March 7, 1976	2–5	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	32–27–6
66	W	March 10, 1976	3–2	@ New England Whalers (1975–76)	33–27–6
67	W	March 12, 1976	5–2	@ Toronto Toros (1975–76)	34–27–6
68	L	March 13, 1976	4–6	@ Indianapolis Racers (1975–76)	34–28–6
69	W	March 14, 1976	3–2 OT	@ Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	35–28–6
70	L	March 17, 1976	4–7	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	35–29–6
71	L	March 19, 1976	5–6 OT	Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76)	35–30–6
72	W	March 20, 1976	4–3 OT	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	36–30–6
73	L	March 21, 1976	3–4	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	36–31–6
74	L	March 24, 1976	4–5	Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	36–32–6
75	W	March 26, 1976	3–1	San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	37–32–6
76	W	March 27, 1976	5–2	@ San Diego Mariners (1975–76)	38–32–6
77	L	March 28, 1976	4–7	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	38–33–6
78	W	March 31, 1976	7–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1975–76)	39–33–6
79	L	April 3, 1976	2–8	Houston Aeros (1975–76)	39–34–6
80	L	April 6, 1976	5–8	@ Houston Aeros (1975–76)	39–35–6

Playoffs

San Diego Mariners 3, Phoenix Roadrunners 2 - Preliminary Round

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 9	San Diego Mariners	2–3 OT	Phoenix Roadrunners	0–1
2	April 10	Phoenix Roadrunners	2–4	San Diego Mariners	1-1
3	April 13	San Diego Mariners	4–6	Phoenix Roadrunners	1–2
4	April 15	Phoenix Roadrunners	1–5	San Diego Mariners	2-2
5	April 17	San Diego Mariners	2–1	Phoenix Roadrunners	3–2

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Robbie Ftorek C/LW 80 41 72 113 109 36 10 0 4 Del Hall C 80 47 44 91 10 21 12 0 7 John Gray RW 79 35 45 80 136 22 6 0 5 Ron Huston C 79 22 44 66 4 0 4 4 2 Jim Boyd C 80 23 34 57 44 3 7 2 4 Pekka Rautakallio D 73 11 39 50 8 25 3 0 2 Gary Veneruzzo W 61 19 24 43 27 22 3 1 3 Cam Connor RW 73 18 21 39 295 23 1 0 0 Michel Cormier LW 46 21 15 36 4 5 4 0 1 Lauri Mononen RW 75 15 21 36 19 9 2 0 2 Barry Dean LW 71 9 25 34 110 17 1 0 4 Dave Gorman RW 67 11 20 31 28 0 1 0 1 Garry Lariviere D 79 7 17 24 100 15 1 0 0 Serge Beaudoin D 76 0 21 21 102 4 0 0 0 John Migneault LW 68 8 12 20 14 -9 0 0 2 Al McLeod D 80 2 18 20 82 12 1 0 0 Jim Niekamp D 79 4 14 18 77 21 1 0 1 Grant Erickson LW 33 4 7 11 6 0 0 1 0 Jim Clarke D 59 1 9 10 57 3 0 0 0 Gary Kurt G 40 0 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 Peter McNamee D 14 1 2 3 32 -6 0 0 0 Mike Sleep RW 9 2 0 2 0 -4 0 0 1 Mike Hobin C 9 1 1 2 2 1 0 0 0 Murray Keogan C 8 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 Jack Norris G 41 0 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 Clay Hebenton G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Jack Norris 2412 41 21 14 4 128 3.18 1 Gary Kurt 2369 40 18 20 2 147 3.72 1 Clay Hebenton 80 2 0 1 0 9 6.75 0 Team: 4861 80 39 35 6 284 3.51 2

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Jim Boyd C 5 3 2 5 2 0 0 0 Del Hall C 5 2 3 5 0 0 0 0 Robbie Ftorek C/LW 5 1 3 4 2 0 0 0 Lauri Mononen RW 5 1 3 4 2 0 0 0 Gary Veneruzzo W 5 2 0 2 7 0 0 0 John Gray RW 5 1 1 2 7 0 0 0 Ron Huston C 5 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Grant Erickson LW 5 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 Dave Gorman RW 5 0 2 2 24 0 0 0 Garry Lariviere D 5 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 Al McLeod D 5 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 Pekka Rautakallio D 5 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 Serge Beaudoin D 5 1 0 1 10 0 0 0 Cam Connor RW 5 1 0 1 21 0 0 0 Jim Niekamp D 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 John Migneault LW 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jack Norris G 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mike Sleep RW 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Jack Norris 298 5 2 3 17 3.42 0 Team: 298 5 2 3 17 3.42 0

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

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

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	9	Greg Vaydik (F)	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
2	23	Neil Lyseng (RW)	Canada	Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)
2	24	Mike O'Connell (D)	United States	Kingston Canadians (OHA)
3	39	Blair Davidson (D)	Canada	Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
4	54	Roger Swanson (G)	Canada	Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
5	68	Mike Sleep (RW)	Canada	New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
6	82	Dana Decker (LW)	United States	Michigan Tech University (WCHA)
7	95	Dale McMullin (LW)	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
8	107	Gary Morrison (F)	United States	University of Michigan (WCHA)

See also

• 1975–76 WHA season