1977–78 Cleveland Barons season

The 1977–78 Cleveland Barons season was the team's second and final season in the NHL. The relocation to Cleveland did not cure the attendance problems that plagued the franchise from its inception in Oakland as the Seals in 1967. In June 1978, with both the Barons and the Minnesota North Stars on the verge of folding, the league approved an arrangement in which the two teams were permitted to merge under the ownership of Barons owner George Gund III. The merged franchise continued as the Minnesota North Stars, and assumed the Barons old place in the Adams Division. Fifteen seasons later, the North Stars relocated to Dallas and became the Stars, bringing the NHL to Texas for the first time. The NHL returned to the Buckeye State when the Columbus Blue Jackets began play in 2000.

Offseason

Amateur draft

Main article: 1977 NHL Amateur Draft

Cleveland's picks at the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft, which was held at the NHL's office in Montreal on June 14, 1977.^[1]^[2]

Players drafted by the Cleveland Barons in 1977 and their NHL career regular season statistics
Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	W	L	T	GAA
1	005 !5	Crombeen, MikeMike Crombeen	Forward	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OMJHL)	475	55	68	123	218	& —	& —	& —	& —
2	023 !23	Chicoine, DanDan Chicoine	Right Wing	Canada	Sherbrooke Beavers (QMJHL)	031 !31	01 !1	02 !2	003 !3	012 !12	& —	& —	& —	& —
3	041 !41	Kerr, RegReg Kerr	Defense	Canada	Kamloops Chiefs (WHL)	263	66	94	160	169	& —	& —	& —	& —
3	042 !42	Lash, GuyGuy Lash	Right Wing	Canada	Winnipeg Monarchs (WCHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
4	059 !59	Baby, JohnJohn Baby	Defense	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)	026 !26	02 !2	08 !8	010 !10	026 !26	& —	& —	& —	& —
5	077 !77	Lloyd, OwenOwen Lloyd	Defense	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
6	095 !95	Allan, JeffJeff Allan	Defense	Canada	Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)	004 !4	00 !0	00 !0	000 !0	002 !2	& —	& —	& —	& —
7	113	Toffolo, MarkMark Toffolo	Defense	United States	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
8	128	Eakin, GrantGrant Eakin	Left Wing	Canada	Lethbridge Broncos (WCHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —

Regular season

On December 11, 1977, Tom Bladon of the Philadelphia Flyers became the first defenceman in NHL history to score 8 points in one game.^[3] He scored four goals and four assists versus the Cleveland Barons. It was 25% of his point total for the entire season.

Final standings

Adams Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Boston Bruins	80	51	18	11	333	218	113
Buffalo Sabres	80	44	19	17	288	215	105
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	41	29	10	271	237	92
Cleveland Barons	80	22	45	13	230	325	57

^[4]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.^[5]

Schedule and results

Regular season

Game log

October: 4–5–0 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 2–2–0) Pts. 8
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
1	October 12, 1977	@ Los Angeles	0–2	Meloche	The Forum	11,643	0–1–0	0	^[6]
2	October 15, 1977	Washington	4–2	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	10,253	1–1–0	2	^[7]
3	October 19, 1977	Los Angeles	3–1	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	3,252	2–1–0	4	^[8]
4	October 20, 1977	@ Minnesota	7–4	Meloche	Met Center	7,270	3–1–0	6	^[9]
5	October 22, 1977	@ St. Louis	3–2	Meloche	The Checkerdome	10,644	4–1–0	8	^[10]
6	October 23, 1977	Pittsburgh	2–3	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,910	4–2–0	8	^[11]
7	October 25, 1977	N.Y. Rangers	0–5	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	4,556	4–3–0	8	^[12]
8	October 28, 1977	Chicago	2–4	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	6,273	4–4–0	8	^[13]
9	October 30, 1977	@ Chicago	1–6	Meloche	Chicago Stadium	10,505	4–5–0	8	^[14]

November: 3–8–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 1–6–1) Pts. 8
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
10	November 2, 1977	St. Louis	4–4	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	4,641	4–5–1	9	^[15]
11	November 5, 1977	@ Detroit	4–3	Meloche	Detroit Olympia	13,185	5–5–1	11	^[16]
12	November 6, 1977	Detroit	1–4	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	6,687	5–6–1	11	^[17]
13	November 9, 1977	@ Pittsburgh	3–5	Meloche	Civic Arena	7,516	5–7–1	11	^[18]
14	November 13, 1977	@ Boston	1–3	Edwards	Boston Garden	10,234	5–8–1	11	^[19]
15	November 15, 1977	@ Vancouver	4–5	Meloche	Pacific Coliseum	13,500	5–9–1	11	^[20]
16	November 16, 1977	@ Los Angeles	1–1	Edwards	The Forum	10,649	5–9–2	12	^[21]
17	November 19, 1977	@ Colorado	2–7	Meloche	McNichols Sports Arena	5,114	5–10–2	12	^[22]
18	November 23, 1977	Montreal	2–1	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	12,859	6–10–2	14	^[23]
19	November 25, 1977	@ Philadelphia	2–7	Edwards	Spectrum	17,077	6–11–2	14	^[24]
20	November 26, 1977	St. Louis	1–2	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	4,497	6–12–2	14	^[25]
21	November 29, 1977	@ Toronto	2–3	Edwards	Maple Leaf Gardens	16,485	6–13–2	14	^[26]
22	November 30, 1977	Toronto	5–3	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	3,930	7–13–2	16	^[27]

December: 3–10–2 (Home: 1–4–2 ; Road: 2–6–0) Pts. 8
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
23	December 2, 1977	@ Washington	3–2	Edwards	Capital Centre	12,371	8–13–2	18	^[28]
24	December 3, 1977	Boston	4–4	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	6,636	8–13–3	19	^[29]
25	December 7, 1977	Washington	3–5	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	3,842	8–14–3	19	^[30]
26	December 8, 1977	@ Buffalo	2–5	Edwards	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	16,433	8–15–3	19	^[31]
27	December 11, 1977	@ Philadelphia	1–11	Edwards	Spectrum	17,077	8–16–3	19	^[32]
28	December 12, 1977	Montreal	1–5	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,026	8–17–3	19	^[33]
29	December 15, 1977	@ Atlanta	6–3	Edwards	The Omni	7,829	9–17–3	21	^[34]
30	December 17, 1977	N.Y. Rangers	4–2	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	4,929	10–17–3	23	^[35]
31	December 18, 1977	@ Boston	1–2	Edwards	Boston Garden	11,255	10–18–3	23	^[36]
32	December 21, 1977	Philadelphia	0–4	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,112	10–19–3	23	^[37]
33	December 23, 1977	@ N.Y. Rangers	4–5	Edwards	Madison Square Garden	17,500	10–20–3	23	^[38]
34	December 27, 1977	@ Montreal	3–5	Meloche	Montreal Forum	15,730	10–21–3	23	^[39]
35	December 28, 1977	Boston	5–5	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	11,255	10–21–4	24	^[40]
36	December 30, 1977	Toronto	0–5	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	6,520	10–22–4	24	^[41]
37	December 31, 1977	@ Pittsburgh	3–6	Edwards	Civic Arena	7,237	10–23–4	24	^[42]

January: 7–7–0 (Home: 5–1–0 ; Road: 2–6–0) Pts. 14
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
38	January 3, 1978	@ Philadelphia	4–5	Meloche	Spectrum	17,077	10–23–4	24	^[43]
39	January 6, 1978	Vancouver	6–1	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,037	11–24–4	26	^[44]
40	January 7, 1978	@ N.Y. Islanders	3–5	Meloche	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	15,317	11–25–4	26	^[45]
41	January 11, 1978	N.Y. Islanders	5–3	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	2,704	12–25–4	28	^[46]
42	January 12, 1978	Buffalo	6–3	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	2,110	13–25–4	30	^[47]
43	January 13, 1978	Toronto	5–2	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	4,527	14–25–4	32	^[48]
44	January 14, 1978	@ Pittsburgh	2–4	Meloche	Civic Arena	11,461	14–25–4	32	^[49]
45	January 18, 1978	Montreal	4–7	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	7,011	14–27–4	32	^[50]
46	January 19, 1978	@ Buffalo	2–9	Meloche	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	16,433	14–28–4	32	^[51]
47	January 21, 1978	Colorado	9–4	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,226	15–28–4	34	^[52]
48	January 22, 1978	@ Boston	3–2	Edwards	Boston Garden	11,427	16–28–4	36	^[53]
49	January 26, 1978	@ Chicago	0–5	Edwards	Chicago Stadium	537	16–29–4	36	^[54]
50	January 28, 1978	@ Minnesota	2–1	Meloche	Met Center	8,958	17–29–4	38	^[55]
51	January 29, 1978	Atlanta	2–6	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	3,321	17–30–4	38	^[56]

February: 2–7–4 (Home: 2–3–3 ; Road: 0–4–1) Pts. 8
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
52	February 1, 1978	Detroit	2–0	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	7,841	18–30–4	40	^[57]
53	February 4, 1978	Philadelphia	2–2	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	13,110	18–30–5	41	^[58]
54	February 5, 1978	@ Detroit	3–4	Meloche	Detroit Olympia	10,216	18–31–5	41	^[59]
55	February 8, 1978	Buffalo	2–5	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	4,094	18–32–5	41	^[60]
56	February 10, 1978	Washington	1–4	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	4,193	18–33–5	41	^[61]
57	February 12, 1978	N.Y. Islanders	2–2	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	6,440	18–33–6	42	^[62]
58	February 15, 1978	Atlanta	5–5	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	2,696	18–33–7	43	^[63]
59	February 17, 1978	Vancouver	3–2	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	4,589	19–33–7	45	^[64]
60	February 22, 1978	@ Toronto	3–5	Edwards	Maple Leaf Gardens	16,449	19–34–7	45	^[65]
61	February 23, 1978	@ Montreal	1–5	Meloche	Montreal Forum	15,615	19–35–7	45	^[66]
62	February 25, 1978	Buffalo	3–13	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	10,324	19–36–7	45	^[67]
63	February 27, 1978	@ Vancouver	3–3	Edwards	Pacific Coliseum		19–36–8	46	^[68]
64	February 28, 1978	@ Los Angeles	2–4	Edwards	The Forum	9,529	19–37–8	46	^[69]

March: 2–6–4 (Home: 1–2–2 ; Road: 1–4–2) Pts. 8
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
65	March 3, 1978	@ Colorado	2–2	Meloche	McNichols Sports Arena	7,685	19–37–8	47	^[70]
66	March 4, 1978	@ Atlanta	3–9	Edwards	The Omni	10,014	19–38–8	47	^[71]
67	March 8, 1978	@ N.Y. Rangers	1–6	Meloche	Madison Square Garden	15,469	19–39–9	47	^[72]
68	March 11, 1978	@ Toronto	2–5	Edwards	Maple Leaf Gardens	16,485	19–40–9	47	^[73]
69	March 15, 1978	Colorado	2–2	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,266	19–40–10	48	^[74]
70	March 17, 1978	Minnesota	4–4	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	4,089	19–40–11	49	^[75]
71	March 18, 1978	@ Washington	3–8	Edwards	Capital Centre	10,381	19–41–11	49	^[76]
72	March 21, 1978	Boston	3–5	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	6,117	19–42–11	49	^[77]
73	March 24, 1978	Los Angeles	3–4	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	4,744	19–43–11	49	^[78]
74	March 25, 1978	@ N.Y. Islanders	4–4	Meloche	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	15,317	19–43–12	50	^[79]
75	March 29, 1978	Minnesota	7–3	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,345	20–43–12	52	^[80]
76	March 30, 1978	@ Buffalo	5–3	Meloche	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	16,433	21–43–12	54	^[81]

April: 1–2–1 (Home: 1–1–1 ; Road: 0–1–0) Pts. 3
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
77	April 1, 1978	@ St. Louis	1–3	Edwards	The Checkerdome	5,561	21–44–12	54	^[82]
78	April 2, 1978	Chicago	4–2	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,561	22–44–12	56	^[83]
79	April 5, 1978	Detroit	5–5	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	5,410	22–44–13	57	^[84]
80	April 9, 1978	Pittsburgh	2–3	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	7,364	22–45–13	57	^[85]

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Detailed records

Opponent	Home	Away	Total	Pts.	Goals scored	Goals allowed
Wales Conference
Adams Division
Boston Bruins	0–1–2	1–2–0	1–3–2	4	17	21
Buffalo Sabres	1–2–0	1–2–0	2–4–0	4	20	38
Cleveland Barons	–	–	–	–	–	–
Toronto Maple Leafs	2–1–0	0–3–0	2–4–0	4	17	23
	3–4–2	2–7–0	5–11–2	12	54	82
Norris Division
Detroit Red Wings	1–1–1	1–1–0	2–2–1	5	15	16
Los Angeles Kings	1–1–0	0–2–1	1–3–1	3	9	12
Montreal Canadiens	1–2–0	0–2–0	1–4–0	2	11	23
Pittsburgh Penguins	0–2–0	0–3–0	0–5–0	0	12	21
Washington Capitals	1–2–0	1–1–0	2–3–0	4	14	21
	4–8–1	2–9–1	6–17–2	14	61	93

Opponent	Home	Away	Total	Pts.	Goals scored	Goals allowed
Campbell Conference
Patrick Division
Atlanta Flames	0–1–1	1–1–0	1–2–1	3	16	23
New York Islanders	1–0–1	0–1–1	1–1–2	4	14	14
New York Rangers	1–1–0	0–2–0	1–3–0	2	9	18
Philadelphia Flyers	0–1–1	0–3–0	0–4–1	1	9	29
	2–3–3	1–7–1	3–10–4	10	48	84
Smythe Division
Chicago Black Hawks	1–1–0	0–2–0	1–3–0	2	7	17
Colorado Rockies	1–0–1	0–1–1	1–1–2	4	15	15
Minnesota North Stars	1–0–1	2–0–0	3–0–1	7	20	12
St. Louis Blues	0–1–1	1–1–0	1–2–1	3	9	11
Vancouver Canucks	2–0–0	0–1–1	2–1–1	5	16	11
	5–2–3	3–5–2	8–7–5	21	67	66

Player stats

Skaters

Note: GP= Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes; +/- = Plus/minus

		Regular season						Playoffs
Player	#	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
Dennis Maruk		76	36	35	71	50	-26	-	-	-	-	-	-
Mike Fidler		78	23	28	51	38	-13	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kris Manery		78	22	27	49	14	-15	-	-	-	-	-	-
Al MacAdam		80	16	32	48	42	-19	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Gardner		75	19	25	44	10	-16	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Murdoch		71	14	26	40	27	-18	-	-	-	-	-	-
Greg Smith		80	7	30	37	92	-26	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rick Hampton		77	18	18	36	19	-24	-	-	-	-	-	-
Chuck Arnason^†		40	21	13	34	8	-2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Walt McKechnie^†		53	12	22	34	12	-8	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jim Neilson		68	2	21	23	20	-25	-	-	-	-	-	-
J. P. Parise^†		40	9	13	22	27	-15	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rick Shinske		47	5	12	17	6	-12	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jean Potvin^†		40	3	14	17	30	-4	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Stewart		72	2	15	17	84	-25	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ken Kuzyk		28	5	4	9	6	-1	-	-	-	-	-	-
John Baby		24	2	7	9	26	-10	-	-	-	-	-	-
Fred Ahern^‡		36	3	4	7	48	-16	-	-	-	-	-	-
Mike Crombeen		48	3	4	7	13	-26	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wayne Merrick^‡		18	2	5	7	13		-	-	-	-	-	-
Mike Christie^‡		34	1	6	7	49	-14	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rick Jodzio^†		38	2	3	5	43		-	-	-	-	-	-
Randy Holt^†		48	1	4	5	229		-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Girard^‡		25	0	4	4	11		-	-	-	-	-	-
Ralph Klassen^‡		13	2	1	3	6		-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis O'Brien^†^‡		23	0	3	3	31	-13	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reg Kerr		7	0	2	2	7		-	-	-	-	-	-
Darcy Regier^‡		15	0	1	1	28		-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Edwards		30	0	1	1	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jeff Allan		4	0	0	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
Bjorn Johansson		5	0	0	0	6		-	-	-	-	-	-
Dan Chicoine		6	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
Gilles Meloche	27	54	0	0	0	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

^[86]

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Barons. Stats reflect time with the Barons only. ^‡Traded mid-season.

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

		Regular season								Playoffs
Player	#	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Gilles Meloche	27	54	3100	16	27	8	195	1	3.77	-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
Gary Edwards		30	1700	6	18	5	128	0	4.52	-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--

Transactions

The Barons were involved in the following transactions during the 1977–78 season:

Trades

August 17, 1977	To Cleveland Barons rights to Mike Eaves	To St. Louis Blues Len Frig
November 23, 1977	To Cleveland Barons Randy Holt	To Chicago Black Hawks Reg Kerr
December 9, 1977	To Cleveland Barons Walt McKechnie	To Washington Capitals Bob Girard 2nd round pick in 1978 Draft (Paul MacKinnon)
January 9, 1978	To Cleveland Barons Chuck Arnason Rick Jodzio	To Colorado Rockies Fred Ahern Ralph Klassen
January 10, 1978	To Cleveland Barons J. P. Parise Jean Potvin 4th round pick in 1978 Draft (cancelled by Barons-North Stars merger)	To New York Islanders Wayne Merrick Darcy Regier
January 12, 1978	To Cleveland Barons Dennis O'Brien	To Colorado Rockies Mike Christie

Additions and subtractions

Additions
Player	Former team	Via
Kris Manery	University of Michigan (NCAA)	free agency (1977-10)

Subtractions
Player	New team	Via
Phil Roberto	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)	free agency (1977-07)
Charlie Simmer	Los Angeles Kings	free agency (1977-08-08)
Gary Holt	St. Louis Blues	free agency (1977-10-20)
Dennis O'Brien	Boston Bruins	waivers (1978-03-10)

This sports-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Playoffs

The Barons did not qualify for the playoffs

References

California Golden Seals/Cleveland Barons NHL seasons

1960s	1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78

1977–78 NHL season

Patrick	Atlanta NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia

Adams	Boston Buffalo Cleveland Toronto

Norris	Detroit Los Angeles Montreal Pittsburgh Washington

Smythe	Chicago Colorado Minnesota St. Louis Vancouver

See also	Draft All-Star Game 1978 Stanley Cup Finals

Cleveland Barons

History	WHL years California Golden Seals

Franchise	Cleveland Barons Players Draft picks

Key personnel	Owner: Gordon Gund Coaches: Jack Evans Fred Glover

Arena	Richfield Coliseum

Seasons	1975–76 (California) 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 (Minnesota)

See also	California Golden Seals

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