1976–77 Southern Hockey League season

The 1976–77 Southern Hockey League season was the fourth and final season of the Southern Hockey League. The Roanoke Valley Rebels ceased operations, and two new teams were added for the season.[1] The Baltimore Clippers transferred from the American Hockey League, and the Richmond Wildcats were an expansion team. Both the Richmond Wildcats and Greensboro Generals folded on January 3, 1977 due to financial problems.[2][3] On January 7, the Tidewater Sharks folded after missing payroll, and the Winston-Salem Polar Twins pulled the Polar Twins out of the league.[2][3] The remaining three teams considered adding a fourth team, but the league was short on funds when Greensboro and Winston-Salem defaulted on $25,000 loans.[4] The league also considered playing a round-robin tournament to determine a champion, or develop an interlocking schedule with either the North American Hockey League or the International Hockey League.[2] On January 22, 1977, both the NAHL and IHL rejected the proposal, and the final game was played on January 31, 1977, although the league planned on playing a 1977–78 season.[2]

Southern Hockey League
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
300km
200miles
Richmond
Baltimore
Tidewater
Hampton
Fayetteville
Winston-Salem
Suncoast
Roanoke
Macon
Greensboro
.
Charlotte
Southern Hockey League teams, 1976–1977.
Active teams Former teams

Standings

edit

Final standings of the regular season.[1]

GP W L T GF GA Pts
Hampton Gulls 50 32 16 2 198 152 66
Tidewater Sharks 41 26 13 2 158 131 54
Charlotte Checkers 50 22 25 3 180 186 47
Baltimore Clippers 47 21 24 2 182 169 44
Richmond Wildcats 38 21 16 1 160 144 43
Greensboro Generals 40 15 24 1 140 173 31
Winston-Salem Polar Twins 42 11 30 1 130 193 23

WHA/NHL affiliations

edit

Southern Hockey League franchises were primarily affiliated with World Hockey Association teams, however some also had agreements with National Hockey League teams. Summary of WHA/NHL affiliation agreements:

SHL team WHA parent clubs NHL parent clubs
Baltimore Clippers[5] Edmonton Oilers none
Charlotte Checkers[6] Birmingham Bulls
Winnipeg Jets
Buffalo Sabres
Greensboro Generals[7] none Atlanta Flames
Cleveland Barons
Colorado Rockies
Hampton Gulls[8] Cincinnati Stingers
Minnesota Fighting Saints
none
Richmond Wildcats[9] none New York Rangers
St. Louis Blues
Tidewater Sharks[10] Calgary Cowboys none
Winston-Salem Polar Twins[11] none New York Rangers

Scoring leaders

edit

Top 10 SHL points scoring leaders.[12]

Rank Player Team Goals Assists Points
1 Don Grierson Baltimore 30 45 75
2 Claude Chartre Hampton 20 38 58
3 Paul O'Neil Hampton 21 34 55
4 Jack Surbey Charlotte 21 32 53
5 Ted Long Hampton 16 36 52
5 Ron Morgan Hampton 21 31 52
7 Cam Colborne Greensboro/Charlotte 14 34 48
7 Dan Djakalovic Hampton 18 30 48
9 Pat Donnelly Hampton 23 24 47
9 Ken Gassoff Winston-Salem 16 31 47

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "1976–77 Southern Hockey League [SHL] standings". hockeydb.com. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "Southern Hockey League [1973–1977] history and statistics". hockeydb.com. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Crossley, Drew (August 30, 2014). "Southern Hockey League 1973 Archives". Fun While It Lasted. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  4. ^ "SHL Closes Campaign on Sunday". Kannapolis Daily Independent. Kannapolis, North Carolina. January 27, 1977. p. 16. 
  5. ^ "Baltimore Clippers Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  6. ^ "Charlotte Checkers Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  7. ^ "Greensboro Generals Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  8. ^ "Hampton Gulls Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  9. ^ "Richmond Wildcats Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  10. ^ "Tidewater Sharks Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  11. ^ "Winston-Salem Polar Twins Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  12. ^ "SHL 1976–77 League Leaders". hockeydb.com. Retrieved February 3, 2018.