1976–77 Southern Hockey League season

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Southern Hockey League
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Southern Hockey League teams, 1976–1977.
Red pog.svg Active teams Black pog.svg Former teams

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 Winstom-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]

Standings[]

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[]

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[]

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[]

  1. ^ a b "1976–77 Southern Hockey League [SHL] standings". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  2. ^ a b c d "Southern Hockey League [1973–1977] history and statistics". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  3. ^ a b Crossley, Drew (2014-08-30). "Southern Hockey League 1973 Archives". Fun While It Lasted. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  4. ^ "SHL Closes Campaign on Sunday". Kannapolis Daily Independent. Kannapolis, North Carolina. January 27, 1977. p. 16.icon of an open green padlock
  5. ^ "Baltimore Clippers Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  6. ^ "Charlotte Checkers Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  7. ^ "Greensboro Generals Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  8. ^ "Hampton Gulls Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  9. ^ "Richmond Wildcats Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  10. ^ "Tidewater Sharks Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  11. ^ "Winston-Salem Polar Twins Parent Team affiliate history". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  12. ^ "SHL 1976–77 League Leaders". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
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