1976–77 Cleveland Barons season

The Barons played in the tough Adams Division and spent most of the season in last place. Midway through the season, majority owner Melvin Swig announced the team might have trouble finishing the season. The club missed payroll twice in February, and only a loan from the league and NHLPA kept the team afloat. Following the season, minority owner George Gund III purchased a controlling interest in the club.^[1]

Offseason

Amateur Draft

Main article: 1976 NHL Amateur Draft

The franchise participated in the 1976 Amateur Draft as the California Golden Seals, the move to Cleveland not being approved until mid-July.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	5.	Bjorn Johansson	Sweden	HK Örebro (Sweden Division 1)
2	23.	Vern Stenlund	Canada	London Knights (OMJHL)
3	41.	Mike Fidler	United States	Boston University Terriers (ECAC)
4	59.	Warren Young	Canada	Michigan Tech Huskies (WCHA)
5	77.	Darcy Regier	Canada	Lethbridge Broncos (WCHL)
5	79.	Cal Sandbeck	United States	University of Denver Pioneers (WCHA)
6	95.	Jouni Rinne	Finland	Lukko (SM-liiga)

Regular season

Adams Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Boston Bruins	80	49	23	8	312	240	106
Buffalo Sabres	80	48	24	8	301	220	104
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	33	32	15	301	285	81
Cleveland Barons	80	25	42	13	240	292	63

^[2]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.^[3]

Schedule and results

Regular season

Game log

October: 3–5–2 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 2–2–1) Pts. 8
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
1	October 6, 1976	Los Angeles	2–2	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	8,899	0–0–1	1	^[4]
2	October 9, 1976	Washington	6–3	Simmons	Coliseum at Richfield	5,209	1–0–1	3	^[5]
3	October 10, 1976	@ Boston	3–4	Meloche	Boston Garden	10,269	1–1–1	3	^[6]
4	October 13, 1976	Atlanta	2–4	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	3,812	1–2–1	3	^[7]
5	October 16, 1976	@ N.Y. Islanders	4–4	Simmons	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	14,289	1–2–2	4	^[8]
6	October 19, 1976	Chicago	3–0	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,653	2–2–2	6	^[9]
7	October 21, 1976	St. Louis	6–2	Simmons	Coliseum at Richfield	3,453	3–2–2	8	^[10]
8	October 26, 1976	N.Y. Rangers	2–5	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	4,716	3–3–2	8	^[11]
9	October 28, 1976	@ Vancouver	1–3	Meloche	Pacific Coliseum		3–4–2	8	^[12]
10	October 30, 1976	@ Los Angeles	3–4	Simmons	The Forum	10,840	3–5–2	8	^[13]

November: 3–6–4 (Home: 1–4–1 ; Road: 2–2–3) Pts. 10
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
11	November 1, 1976	Toronto	3–6	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	3,488	3–6–2	8	^[14]
12	November 3, 1976	Los Angeles	2–4	Simmons	Coliseum at Richfield	3,157	3–7–2	8	^[15]
13	November 5, 1976	Philadelphia	6–4	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	10,297	4–7–2	10	^[16]
14	November 7, 1976	Pittsburgh	2–2	Simmons	Coliseum at Richfield	4,617	4–7–3	11	^[17]
15	November 10, 1976	@ Colorado	2–1	Meloche	McNichols Sports Arena	6,447	5–7–3	13	^[18]
16	November 12, 1976	@ Atlanta	3–3	Simmons	The Omni	9,431	5–7–4	14	^[19]
17	November 14, 1976	@ Washington	3–2	Meloche	Capital Centre	7,287	6–7–4	16	^[20]
18	November 16, 1976	@ Los Angeles	0–0	Simmons	The Forum	9,724	6–7–5	17	^[21]
19	November 17, 1976	@ Minnesota	3–3	Meloche	Met Center	7,311	6–7–6	18	^[22]
20	November 19, 1976	@ Detroit	2–5	Simmons	Detroit Olympia	8,092	6–8–6	18	^[23]
21	November 24, 1976	Montreal	1–8	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	11,774	6–9–6	18	^[24]
22	November 26, 1976	Pittsburgh	1–3	Simmons	Coliseum at Richfield	6,374	6–10–6	18	^[25]
23	November 28, 1976	@ Toronto	1–5	Meloche	Maple Leaf Gardens	16,485	6–11–6	18	^[26]

December: 5–10–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 2–8–0) Pts. 11
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
24	December 1, 1976	@ Colorado	3–5	Simmons	McNichols Sports Arena	3,373	6–12–6	18	^[27]
25	December 3, 1976	St. Louis	2–2	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	3,444	6–12–7	19	^[28]
26	December 5, 1976	@ Philadelphia	2–6	Simmons	Spectrum	17,077	6–13–7	19	^[29]
27	December 6, 1976	@ Montreal	0–1	Meloche	Montreal Forum	15,821	6–14–7	19	^[30]
28	December 8, 1976	Buffalo	1–5	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	3,960	6–15–7	19	^[31]
29	December 10, 1976	Washington	7–1	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	3,774	7–15–7	21	^[32]
30	December 11, 1976	@ Washington	4–2	Meloche	Capital Centre	12,001	8–15–7	23	^[33]
31	December 15, 1976	Detroit	7–3	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	3,220	9–15–7	25	^[34]
32	December 16, 1976	@ Pittsburgh	4–5	Meloche	Civic Arena	7,127	9–16–7	25	^[35]
33	December 18, 1976	Boston	6–4	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	7,222	10–16–7	27	^[36]
34	December 19, 1976	@ N.Y. Rangers	2–3	Meloche	Madison Square Garden	17,500	10–17–7	27	^[37]
35	December 22, 1976	Minnesota	4–3	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	4,496	11–18–7	29	^[38]
36	December 26, 1976	@ Boston	3–6	Meloche	Boston Garden	13,703	11–18–7	29	^[39]
37	December 27, 1976	@ Montreal	2–4	Meloche	Montreal Forum	16,851	11–19–7	29	^[40]
38	December 29, 1976	Toronto	2–6	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,464	11–20–7	29	^[41]
39	December 31, 1976	@ Detroit	2–4	Simmons	Detroit Olympia	10,107	11–21–7	29	^[42]

January: 4–6–1 (Home: 1–3–1 ; Road: 3–3–0) Pts. 9
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
40	January 1, 1977	Philadelphia	2–7	Simmons	Coliseum at Richfield	5,331	11–22–7	29	^[43]
41	January 5, 1977	Boston	2–3	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	4,166	11–23–7	29	^[44]
42	January 7, 1977	Vancouver	8–4	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,368	12–23–7	31	^[45]
43	January 9, 1977	@ Buffalo	4–7	Meloche	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	16,433	12–24–7	31	^[46]
44	January 12, 1977	Detroit	3–1	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	3,429	13–24–7	33	^[47]
45	January 15, 1977	@ Vancouver	4–2	Meloche	Pacific Coliseum		14–24–7	35	^[48]
46	January 19, 1977	N.Y. Rangers	3–3	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	4,818	14–24–8	36	^[49]
47	January 21, 1977	Boston	2–5	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	6,371	14–25–8	36	^[50]
48	January 23, 1977	@ Buffalo	0–3	Edwards	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	16,433	12–26–8	36	^[51]
49	January 29, 1977	@ Detroit	3–4	Meloche	Detroit Olympia	8,197	15–26–8	38	^[52]
50	January 30, 1977	@ Chicago	3–9	Edwards	Chicago Stadium		15–27–8	38	^[53]

February: 4–7–2 (Home: 3–4–2 ; Road: 1–3–0) Pts. 10
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
51	February 1, 1977	Montreal	3–7	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,127	15–28–8	38	^[54]
52	February 3, 1977	Pittsburgh	0–0	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	4,179	15–28–9	39	^[55]
53	February 5, 1977	Chicago	3–2	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,236	16–28–9	41	^[56]
54	February 9, 1977	Los Angeles	6–3	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	3,225	17–28–9	43	^[57]
55	February 11, 1977	Colorado	3–0	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,112	18–28–9	45	^[58]
56	February 13, 1977	@ Boston	2–4	Edwards	Boston Garden	10,295	18–29–9	45	^[59]
57	February 16, 1977	Toronto	3–5	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	4,308	18–30–9	45	^[60]
58	February 18, 1977	Colorado	3–3	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	5,191	18–30–10	46	^[61]
59	February 20, 1977	@ Pittsburgh	1–4	Edwards	Civic Arena	10,599	18–31–10	46	^[62]
60	February 23, 1977	Buffalo	3–5	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	3,185	18–32–10	46	^[63]
61	February 25, 1977	N.Y. Islanders	1–2	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	6,449	18–33–10	46	^[64]
62	February 26, 1977	@ Montreal	3–5	Meloche	Montreal Forum	16,734	18–34–10	46	^[65]
63	February 28, 1977	@ St. Louis	5–2	Meloche	The Checkerdome	15,467	19–34–10	48	^[66]

March: 5–7–3 (Home: 1–2–3 ; Road: 2–5–0) Pts. 13
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
64	March 2, 1977	@ Toronto	4–1	Edwards	Maple Leaf Gardens	16,408	20–34–10	50	^[67]
65	March 5, 1977	@ Atlanta	2–1	Meloche	The Omni	13,341	21–34–10	52	^[68]
66	March 6, 1977	@ N.Y. Rangers	3–4	Edwards	Madison Square Garden	17,500	21–35–10	52	^[69]
67	March 10, 1977	@ Philadelphia	2–7	Meloche	Spectrum	17,077	21–36–10	52	^[70]
68	March 12, 1977	@ N.Y. Islanders	3–8	Edwards	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	15,317	21–37–10	52	^[71]
69	March 15, 1977	@ Washington	5–1	Meloche	Capital Centre	7,374	22–37–10	54	^[72]
70	March 16, 1977	Buffalo	2–6	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	11,189	22–38–10	54	^[73]
71	March 18, 1977	Minnesota	2–2	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	9,165	22–38–11	55	^[74]
72	March 20, 1977	Atlanta	5–4	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	10,829	23–38–11	57	^[75]
73	March 21, 1977	@ Toronto	7–2	Edwards	Maple Leaf Gardens	16,485	24–38–11	59	^[76]
74	March 23, 1977	@ Buffalo	2–4	Edwards	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	16,433	22–38–10	59	^[77]
75	March 25, 1977	Vancouver	4–4	Edwards	Coliseum at Richfield	11,816	24–39–12	60	^[78]
76	March 27, 1977	N.Y. Islanders	3–6	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	10,794	24–39–12	60	^[79]
77	March 29, 1977	@ Minnesota	2–4	Edwards	Met Center	9,548	24–39–12	60	^[80]
78	March 30, 1977	Philadelphia	3–3	Meloche	Coliseum at Richfield	10,216	24–40–13	61	^[81]

April: 1–1–0 (Road: 1–1–0) Pts. 2
#	Date	Opponent	Score	Decision	Arena	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
79	April 2, 1977	@ St. Louis	2–9	Edwards	The Checkerdome	16,841	24–42–13	61	^[82]
80	April 3, 1977	@ Chicago	4–2	Meloche	Chicago Stadium		25–42–13	63	^[83]

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	1–2–0	0–3–0	1–5–0	2	18	26
Buffalo Sabres	0–3–0	1–2–0	1–5–0	2	15	27
Cleveland Barons	–	–	–	–	–	–
Toronto Maple Leafs	0–3–0	2–1–0	2–4–0	4	20	25
	1–8–0	3–6–0	4–14–0	8	53	78
Norris Division
Detroit Red Wings	2–0–0	0–3–0	2–3–0	4	17	17
Los Angeles Kings	1–1–1	0–1–1	1–2–2	4	13	13
Montreal Canadiens	0–2–0	0–3–0	0–5–0	0	9	25
Pittsburgh Penguins	0–1–2	0–2–0	0–3–2	2	12	14
Washington Capitals	2–0–0	3–0–0	5–0–0	10	25	9
	5–4–3	3–9–1	8–13–4	20	76	78

Opponent	Home	Away	Total	Pts.	Goals scored	Goals allowed
Campbell Conference
Patrick Division
Atlanta Flames	1–1–0	1–0–1	2–1–1	5	12	12
New York Islanders	0–2–0	0–1–1	0–3–1	1	11	20
New York Rangers	0–1–1	0–2–0	0–3–1	1	10	15
Philadelphia Flyers	1–1–1	0–2–0	1–3–1	3	15	27
	1–5–2	2–5–2	3–10–4	10	48	74
Smythe Division
Chicago Black Hawks	2–0–0	1–1–0	3–1–0	6	13	13
Colorado Rockies	1–0–1	1–1–0	2–1–1	5	15	15
Minnesota North Stars	1–0–1	0–1–0	1–1–2	4	11	12
St. Louis Blues	1–0–1	1–1–0	2–1–1	4	15	15
Vancouver Canucks	1–0–1	1–1–0	2–1–1	5	17	13
	6–0–4	4–5–0	10–5–5	21	71	68

Player stats

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes

		Regular season					Playoffs
Player	#	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Dennis Maruk		80	28	50	78	68	-	-	-	-	-
Al MacAdam		80	22	41	63	68	-	-	-	-	-
Wayne Merrick		80	18	38	56	25	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Murdoch		57	23	19	42	30	-	-	-	-	-
Rick Hampton		57	16	24	40	13	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Gardner		76	16	22	38	9	-	-	-	-	-
Mike Fidler		46	17	16	33	17	-	-	-	-	-
Mike Christie		79	6	27	33	79	-	-	-	-	-
Ralph Klassen		80	14	18	32	23	-	-	-	-	-
Greg Smith		74	9	17	26	65	-	-	-	-	-
Frank Spring		26	11	10	21	6	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Girard		68	11	10	21	33	-	-	-	-	-
Brent Meeke		49	8	13	21	4	-	-	-	-	-
Jim Neilson		47	3	17	20	42	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Sabourin		33	7	11	18	4	-	-	-	-	-
Jim Moxey^‡		35	7	7	14	20	-	-	-	-	-
Juha Widing^†		29	6	8	14	10	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Stewart		73	1	12	13	108	-	-	-	-	-
Jim Pappin		24	2	8	10	8	-	-	-	-	-
Len Frig		66	2	7	9	213	-	-	-	-	-
Fred Ahern		25	4	4	8	20	-	-	-	-	-
Phil Roberto		21	3	4	7	8	-	-	-	-	-
Glenn Patrick		35	2	3	5	70	-	-	-	-	-
Ken Kuzyk		13	0	5	5	2	-	-	-	-	-
Angie Moretto		5	1	2	3	2	-	-	-	-	-
Gilles Meloche		51	0	3	3	18	-	-	-	-	-
Charlie Simmer		24	2	0	2	16	-	-	-	-	-
Bjorn Johansson		10	1	1	2	4	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Holt		2	0	1	1	2	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Edwards^†		17	0	1	1	2	-	-	-	-	-
Lyle Bradley		2	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
Tom Price^‡		2	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
Vern Stenlund		4	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
Rick Shinske		5	0	0	0	2	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Simmons^‡		15	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-

^[84]

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Barons. Stats reflect time with the Barons only. ^‡Traded/released 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		51	2961	19	24	6	171	2	3.47	-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
Gary Simmons^‡		15	840	2	8	4	51	1	3.64	-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--
Gary Edwards^†		17	999	4	10	3	68	2	4.08	-	-	-	-	-	-	-.--

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

Transactions

The Barons were involved in the following transactions during the 1976–77 season:

Trades

January 22, 1977

To Cleveland Barons

Gary Edwards
Juha Widing

To Los Angeles Kings

Jim Moxey
Gary Simmons

Additions and subtractions

Additions
Player	Former team	Via
Ken Kuzyk	Boston University (NCAA)	free agency (1976-09)
Phil Roberto	Colorado Rockies	free agency (1976-12-24)

Subtractions
Player	New team	Via
Tom Price	Pittsburgh Penguins	free agency (1977-02-28)

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

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

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

1976–77 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 Stanley Cup Finals

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