WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.700 Apple podcast title, The Deep Dive, the 1978 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:07.620 -79 NHL season mergers, Soviets, and the last 00:00:07.620 --> 00:00:10.400 original sixth dynasty. Apple podcast description. 00:00:11.019 --> 00:00:15.019 Join us for a deep dive into the 1978 -79 NHL 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:17.600 season, a pivotal turning point in sports history. 00:00:17.820 --> 00:00:20.160 We explore the Montreal Canadiens' incredible 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:23.000 Stanley Cup run, the shocking Cleveland Barons 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:25.899 merger, and the legendary 1979 Challenge Cup 00:00:25.899 --> 00:00:28.600 against the Soviet Union. Discover how the retirement 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:31.539 of icons like Bobby Orr and Ken Dryden, combined 00:00:31.539 --> 00:00:33.939 with massive changes in NHL broadcasting and 00:00:33.939 --> 00:00:36.759 the looming WHA merger, reshaped the game forever. 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:39.520 Whether you're a hockey historian or just love 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:41.159 a fascinating bit, business turnaround story. 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:44.179 This deep dive unpacks the stats, the stars, 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:46.359 and the milestones of a truly unforgettable year. 00:00:46.539 --> 00:00:48.780 Welcome to the deep dive. If you're a hockey 00:00:48.780 --> 00:00:50.579 fan, you know you probably already know the broad 00:00:50.579 --> 00:00:53.560 strokes of late 1970s. You know the rival World 00:00:53.560 --> 00:00:56.320 Hockey Association was looming, and you probably 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:58.179 know the New York Islanders were steadily brewing 00:00:58.179 --> 00:00:59.659 something special out on Long Island. Right, 00:00:59.700 --> 00:01:02.640 the foundations were shifting. Exactly. But today 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:04.900 we are sourcing our material directly from the 00:01:04.900 --> 00:01:07.459 comprehensive historical record of one very specific 00:01:07.459 --> 00:01:14.019 year, the 1978 -79 NHL season. And when you look 00:01:14.019 --> 00:01:16.620 at this season in isolation, it's just the sheer 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:20.280 volume of tectonic shifts that happened in just 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:24.640 12 months is staggering. It really is a crucible 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:27.340 year. When you dig into the source material for 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:30.629 this season, It reads less like a standard sports 00:01:30.629 --> 00:01:33.629 almanac and more like a case study of an industry 00:01:33.629 --> 00:01:36.049 in transition. You have an organization that 00:01:36.049 --> 00:01:38.409 is simultaneously peaking on the ice, facing 00:01:38.409 --> 00:01:41.069 near collapse in the front office, and desperately 00:01:41.069 --> 00:01:43.189 trying to reinvent its entire business model 00:01:43.189 --> 00:01:45.750 all at the exact same time. It's that painful 00:01:45.750 --> 00:01:48.170 friction between an old guard refusing to fade 00:01:48.170 --> 00:01:50.890 quietly and a modern era demanding to take over. 00:01:51.049 --> 00:01:53.060 Okay, let's unpack this. We have to start with 00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:54.260 the Kings of the Mountain, which, of course, 00:01:54.299 --> 00:01:56.159 are the Montreal Canadiens. If you want to understand 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:57.939 the landscape of this season, you really have 00:01:57.939 --> 00:01:59.760 to look at the franchise that cast the longest 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:02.140 shadow. In the Stanley Cup Finals that year, 00:02:02.379 --> 00:02:05.200 Montreal defeated the New York Rangers four games 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:07.799 to one, securing their fourth consecutive Stanley 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:11.680 Cup. And, you know, four in a row is a dynasty 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:13.879 by any definition. By any standard, yeah. But 00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:15.560 what stands out in the source text isn't just 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:18.560 the victory itself. It's the specific historical 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:21.599 milestone this matchup represented. Right, because 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:25.300 this was an original six final. You had Montreal 00:02:25.300 --> 00:02:27.360 and New York, two of the league's foundational 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.759 legacy franchises, going head -to -head for the 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:33.419 championship. And according to the records, it 00:02:33.419 --> 00:02:36.099 was the very last time two original six teams 00:02:36.099 --> 00:02:38.759 would meet in the finals for the next 34 years. 00:02:38.860 --> 00:02:41.300 Wow. Right. It didn't happen again until the 00:02:41.300 --> 00:02:43.560 Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins played 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:46.659 in 2013. And the context gets even deeper. With 00:02:46.659 --> 00:02:48.439 the Boston Bruins making it to the semifinals 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:52.039 that year, the 1978 -79 season marked the last 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:54.500 time three Original Six teams made the Final 00:02:54.500 --> 00:02:57.280 Four for 35 years. If we connect this to the 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:01.000 bigger picture, that 34 -year drought is an incredibly 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:03.759 telling statistic for you to think about. The 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:06.060 Original Six era built the entire foundation 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:09.560 of the sport for decades. And those legacy franchises 00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:12.460 had an absolute stranglehold on the league's 00:03:12.460 --> 00:03:14.780 culture, its play style, its success. They were 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:16.879 the establishment. Exactly. Seeing them dominate 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:19.699 the Final Four in 1979 was essentially their 00:03:19.699 --> 00:03:22.560 final collective roar. The sheer length of the 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:24.479 drought that followed proves that this season 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:26.699 marked the definitive end of the old guard's 00:03:26.699 --> 00:03:29.539 absolute dominance. The expansion teams that 00:03:29.539 --> 00:03:32.780 had been added since 1967 were finally maturing. 00:03:32.860 --> 00:03:35.360 The talent pool was spreading out and the power 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:37.419 dynamics of the entire sport were fundamentally 00:03:37.419 --> 00:03:39.800 shifting. And the end of that era wasn't just 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:42.219 reflected in the team standings. It was starkly 00:03:42.219 --> 00:03:44.919 visible in the individuals who defined the sport. 00:03:45.139 --> 00:03:46.819 When you look at the retirement list for this 00:03:46.819 --> 00:03:49.560 one specific season, it's actually quite sobering. 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:52.300 It really is a massive list. You lose Bobby Orr. 00:03:52.300 --> 00:03:56.020 You lose Montreal's iconic goalie, Ken Dryden, 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:59.159 along with his legendary teammates, Yvon Cournoyer 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:01.979 and Jacques Lemaire. And you lose Bernie Parent. 00:04:02.509 --> 00:04:05.110 from the Philadelphia Flyers. All of them hung 00:04:05.110 --> 00:04:07.770 up their skates in the exact same year. It's 00:04:07.770 --> 00:04:10.110 almost unprecedented to see so many foundational, 00:04:10.370 --> 00:04:13.409 transformational figures exit the stage at once. 00:04:13.569 --> 00:04:15.590 These weren't just great players. These were 00:04:15.590 --> 00:04:18.189 the faces of their franchises. Bobby Orr didn't 00:04:18.189 --> 00:04:20.810 just play defense. He completely revolutionized 00:04:20.810 --> 00:04:22.750 the position, proving a defenseman could control 00:04:22.750 --> 00:04:24.850 the entire offensive pace of the game. Changed 00:04:24.850 --> 00:04:27.069 the geometry of the rink, really. Precisely. 00:04:27.209 --> 00:04:29.709 And Ken Dryden and Bernie Parent were two of 00:04:29.709 --> 00:04:31.810 the most dominant goaltenders to ever put on. 00:04:31.850 --> 00:04:35.089 pads. Dryden walking away at age 31, right in 00:04:35.089 --> 00:04:38.370 his prime, left a massive vacuum. It wasn't just 00:04:38.370 --> 00:04:40.769 a few standard retirements. It was a mass exodus 00:04:40.769 --> 00:04:43.350 that effectively closed a golden chapter in hockey 00:04:43.350 --> 00:04:45.910 history. So you had these massive stars leaving 00:04:45.910 --> 00:04:48.290 the ice, taking their star power and presumably 00:04:48.290 --> 00:04:50.750 ticket sales with them. Yeah. And that lack of 00:04:50.750 --> 00:04:53.370 guaranteed star power leads directly to the financial 00:04:53.370 --> 00:04:55.610 panic we see happening off the ice. Yes. Here's 00:04:55.610 --> 00:04:57.959 where it gets really interesting. Because while 00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:00.439 the league was losing its biggest legends, the 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:03.500 league itself was literally shrinking. Facing 00:05:03.500 --> 00:05:06.000 a massive financial crisis, the NHL approved 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:09.579 a desperate merger. A completely wild move by 00:05:09.579 --> 00:05:13.040 today's standards. Unthinkable today. The financially 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:15.639 unstable Cleveland Barons merged with the Minnesota 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:18.540 North Stars. They kept the North Stars' name, 00:05:18.660 --> 00:05:20.879 and they assumed the Barons' place in the Adams 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:23.100 division. I really want you to pause and think 00:05:23.100 --> 00:05:25.839 about the historical weight of contraction. This 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:28.779 merger reduced the NHL membership down to 17 00:05:28.779 --> 00:05:32.439 teams. This remains the absolute last time that 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:34.879 a league in the big four major professional sports 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:37.339 in North America contracted. It's crazy to think 00:05:37.339 --> 00:05:39.660 about. In the modern multibillion -dollar sports 00:05:39.660 --> 00:05:42.319 landscape, the valuation of teams makes contraction 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.399 unthinkable. Imagine waking up tomorrow and hearing 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:47.879 that a struggling NFL franchise or an NBA team 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:50.180 is just folding and merging with another team 00:05:50.180 --> 00:05:53.589 to stay afloat. It's unfathomable today. But 00:05:53.589 --> 00:05:55.810 in 1978, the business of professional hockey 00:05:55.810 --> 00:05:57.949 was that fragile. Wait, I have to push back on 00:05:57.949 --> 00:06:00.629 that slightly. If the league was in such a fragile 00:06:00.629 --> 00:06:03.209 financial state that they literally had to contract 00:06:03.209 --> 00:06:06.509 a franchise just to keep the lights on, how on 00:06:06.509 --> 00:06:08.430 earth did they have the capital to negotiate 00:06:08.430 --> 00:06:12.170 absorbing four brand new World Hockey Association 00:06:12.170 --> 00:06:15.649 teams just a year later? The source explicitly 00:06:15.649 --> 00:06:18.350 notes this contraction was happening under the 00:06:18.350 --> 00:06:21.129 shadow of the WHA merger. That is an excellent 00:06:21.129 --> 00:06:23.230 point, and it's the central paradox of this era. 00:06:23.430 --> 00:06:26.110 It wasn't about having a surplus of capital to 00:06:26.110 --> 00:06:29.110 expand. The WHA merger was essentially a desperate 00:06:29.110 --> 00:06:32.810 peace treaty. For years, the NHL and the WHA 00:06:32.810 --> 00:06:35.430 had been engaged in a ruthless bidding war for 00:06:35.430 --> 00:06:37.850 talent, which was artificially inflating player 00:06:37.850 --> 00:06:40.209 salaries and driving teams in both leagues toward 00:06:40.209 --> 00:06:42.750 bankruptcy. So the NHL was shedding its dead 00:06:42.750 --> 00:06:44.949 weight, the Cleveland Barons, to stabilize its 00:06:44.949 --> 00:06:47.870 immediate cash flow. They contracted to 17 teams 00:06:47.870 --> 00:06:50.420 temporarily to stop the bleeding. All is a calculated 00:06:50.420 --> 00:06:52.819 retreat to prepare for absorbing the surviving 00:06:52.819 --> 00:06:56.079 WHA teams and ending the ruinous salary war once 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:58.699 and for all. That makes perfect sense. It's crisis 00:06:58.699 --> 00:07:01.959 management on a massive scale. And the logistical 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:04.040 mechanics of how they handled that contraction 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:06.959 are just wild to look back on. The dispersal 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:11.220 draft. Yes. In June of 1978, they held a dispersal 00:07:11.220 --> 00:07:13.920 draft. The newly merged Minnesota North Stars 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:17.740 were allowed to protect exactly 14 players. Then 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:20.360 the five worst teams from the previous NHL season 00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:22.920 got the option to pick one of the unprotected 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:26.509 players. It's such a bizarre mechanical solution 00:07:26.509 --> 00:07:29.329 to a massive corporate merger. Very mechanical. 00:07:29.629 --> 00:07:32.949 Imagine the modern equivalent, two major franchises 00:07:32.949 --> 00:07:35.810 merging and the bottom five teams just getting 00:07:35.810 --> 00:07:38.290 to pick over their unprotected rosters. It highlights 00:07:38.290 --> 00:07:40.389 how experimental the front office had to be. 00:07:40.529 --> 00:07:42.629 They were rewriting the rules of sports business 00:07:42.629 --> 00:07:45.449 survival in real time. And that experimental 00:07:45.449 --> 00:07:47.730 survival instinct wasn't just restricted to the 00:07:47.730 --> 00:07:50.389 boardroom. It bled right onto the ice, bringing 00:07:50.389 --> 00:07:54.100 a literal cold war into the arenas. late 70s, 00:07:54.100 --> 00:07:57.100 geopolitical tensions are high and the NHL decides 00:07:57.100 --> 00:07:59.480 to do something completely unprecedented with 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:01.920 its schedule. A huge pivot. For the first time 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:04.180 since it became an annual tradition, there was 00:08:04.180 --> 00:08:07.300 no NHL All -Star game. They just scrapped the 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:10.040 midseason showcase entirely. Which is a massive 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:12.529 business decision. You are talking about willingly 00:08:12.529 --> 00:08:15.509 sacrificing guaranteed revenue, television exposure 00:08:15.509 --> 00:08:19.430 and decades of tradition to cancel your own midseason 00:08:19.430 --> 00:08:21.750 showcase event. You need a highly compelling 00:08:21.750 --> 00:08:25.009 reason. And their reason was the 1979 Challenge 00:08:25.009 --> 00:08:28.509 Cup. Instead of having the NHL's best play against 00:08:28.509 --> 00:08:31.089 each other, Soviet Union players traveled to 00:08:31.089 --> 00:08:33.389 North America to play a grueling three -game 00:08:33.389 --> 00:08:36.110 series against the absolute best players the 00:08:36.110 --> 00:08:38.269 NHL had to offer. Right in the middle of the 00:08:38.269 --> 00:08:41.250 season. Exactly. It was the ultimate us -versus 00:08:41.250 --> 00:08:43.610 -them scenario. The best of the West against 00:08:43.610 --> 00:08:46.610 the Soviet machine. And the result? The Soviets 00:08:46.610 --> 00:08:49.350 won the series. Two games to one. This raises 00:08:49.350 --> 00:08:51.529 an important question. What did that loss actually 00:08:51.529 --> 00:08:53.870 mean for the identity of North American hockey? 00:08:54.169 --> 00:08:56.909 Because for decades, there is a deeply ingrained, 00:08:56.909 --> 00:08:59.409 almost arrogant assumption that the NHL was the 00:08:59.409 --> 00:09:01.870 undisputed absolute pinnacle of the sport. Right. 00:09:01.929 --> 00:09:03.889 The gold standard. The belief was that the best 00:09:03.889 --> 00:09:06.090 players in the world were in the NHL, period. 00:09:06.590 --> 00:09:09.090 But the Challenge Cup fundamentally shattered 00:09:09.090 --> 00:09:11.169 that illusion. Because it wasn't just an exhibition 00:09:11.169 --> 00:09:15.090 game. It was a three -game series, meaning both 00:09:15.090 --> 00:09:17.789 sides had time to adjust and adapt to each other. 00:09:17.950 --> 00:09:21.820 Exactly. It proved... on North American ice that 00:09:21.820 --> 00:09:24.720 the Soviet system of extreme conditioning, precise 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:28.279 puck possession and team cohesion was a legitimate 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:31.840 and arguably superior threat to the traditional 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:34.179 North American dump and chase physical style. 00:09:34.340 --> 00:09:36.960 It was a wake up call. A huge one. It forced 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:39.320 the NHL to confront the uncomfortable reality 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:42.100 that their style of play might be outdated. It 00:09:42.100 --> 00:09:44.240 changed the global landscape of the sport because 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:46.580 it proved that to truly be the best league in 00:09:46.580 --> 00:09:48.799 the world, the NHL was going to have to eventually 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:51.820 open its. doors and integrate international talent 00:09:51.820 --> 00:09:54.220 and international strategies. And you can actually 00:09:54.220 --> 00:09:57.220 see the beginnings of that stylistic shift happening 00:09:57.220 --> 00:09:59.659 in the regular season that same year. We mentioned 00:09:59.659 --> 00:10:01.720 earlier that Montreal won the cup, but I think 00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:03.720 it's crucial to point out that they did not have 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:05.759 the best regular season record. No, they didn't. 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:08.120 The New York Islanders had been steadily building 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:10.960 an absolute powerhouse, and they actually beat 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:13.200 out the Canadians for the top spot in the league 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:16.399 by a single point. The Islanders finished with 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:19.960 116 points, while Montreal finished with 115. 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:23.259 That one -point difference might seem small, 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:25.899 but it's the physical manifestation of the torch 00:10:25.899 --> 00:10:28.279 being passed. The Islanders were announcing that 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:30.379 the era of Montreal walking through the regular 00:10:30.379 --> 00:10:34.259 season unopposed was over. I'd push back on that 00:10:34.259 --> 00:10:36.580 slightly. The Islanders took the regular season, 00:10:36.759 --> 00:10:39.559 sure, but Montreal still won the Cup in five 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:42.350 games. It wasn't a complete passing of the torch 00:10:42.350 --> 00:10:44.889 just yet. It feels more like the Islanders were 00:10:44.889 --> 00:10:47.970 knocking incredibly loudly on the door, but Montreal 00:10:47.970 --> 00:10:50.450 was flat out refusing to open it. That's a very 00:10:50.450 --> 00:10:52.710 fair distinction. Montreal still had the championship 00:10:52.710 --> 00:10:55.029 pedigree and the playoff experience to lock it 00:10:55.029 --> 00:10:57.289 down when it mattered most. But those regular 00:10:57.289 --> 00:10:59.970 season points show that the statistical gap between 00:10:59.970 --> 00:11:02.470 the old gar and the new blood was officially 00:11:02.470 --> 00:11:05.009 closed. And the individual statistics from that 00:11:05.009 --> 00:11:07.350 year back that up completely. You want to talk 00:11:07.350 --> 00:11:09.409 about the new style of highly offensive hockey? 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:12.039 Let's look at Brian Trottier of the Islanders. 00:11:12.059 --> 00:11:15.360 Oh, what a season he had. He swept the major 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:17.840 awards. He was the league's top scorer, winning 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:21.340 the Art Ross Trophy with a staggering 134 points. 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:25.200 That is 47 goals and 87 assists in an 80 -game 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:27.860 season. And naturally, he also took home the 00:11:27.860 --> 00:11:30.820 Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP. Trottier 00:11:30.820 --> 00:11:33.159 was the engine of that Islanders team, and a 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:36.179 134 -point season is a clear indicator of the 00:11:36.179 --> 00:11:38.559 high -octane, highly -skilled style of play that 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:40.899 was taking over the league. But the awards that 00:11:40.899 --> 00:11:43.220 year also highlighted the diversity of talent 00:11:43.220 --> 00:11:45.620 emerging across the continent. Definitely. You 00:11:45.620 --> 00:11:48.279 had Montreal's Bob Ganey, who won the Conn Smythe 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:50.620 Trophy as the playoff MVP, and he also won the 00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:52.940 Frank J. Selk Trophy as the league's best defensive 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:55.500 forward. That combination of awards tells you 00:11:55.500 --> 00:11:58.139 exactly the kind of responsible, grinding hockey 00:11:58.139 --> 00:12:00.799 Montreal relied on to win that final cup. The 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:03.090 ultimate two -way player. Right. And out on the 00:12:03.090 --> 00:12:05.190 West Coast, you had Marcel Dion of the Los Angeles 00:12:05.190 --> 00:12:07.750 Kings winning the Lester B. Pearson Award for 00:12:07.750 --> 00:12:09.789 being the outstanding player in the regular season, 00:12:09.909 --> 00:12:12.649 as voted by his peers. The talent was spreading 00:12:12.649 --> 00:12:14.710 out geographically, and just as importantly, 00:12:14.929 --> 00:12:17.149 it was getting younger. With all those legends 00:12:17.149 --> 00:12:19.350 retiring, the rookies stepping onto the ice in 00:12:19.350 --> 00:12:22.769 the 1978 -79 season were foundational to the 00:12:22.769 --> 00:12:26.190 league's future. The Minnesota North Stars, fresh 00:12:26.190 --> 00:12:28.730 off that messy merger and dispersal draft, held 00:12:28.730 --> 00:12:30.769 the number one overall pick in the amateur draft. 00:12:31.230 --> 00:12:34.080 They selected Bobby Smith. And he immediately 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:36.059 validated that pick by winning the Calder Memorial 00:12:36.059 --> 00:12:38.980 Trophy as the top first year player. A great 00:12:38.980 --> 00:12:42.240 pick. And he was an incredible company. The list 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:44.759 of debuts from the source material is basically 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:48.519 a who's who of the 1980s NHL. You have future 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:51.100 legendary coach Joel Quenneville debuting as 00:12:51.100 --> 00:12:52.980 a player. You have Rod Langway starting his Hall 00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:55.279 of Fame career. You have John Tonelli debuting 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:57.220 for the Islanders. And connecting back to the 00:12:57.220 --> 00:13:00.519 looming WHA merger, you also started seeing major 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:03.059 crossover talent entering the NHL. Players like 00:13:03.059 --> 00:13:05.679 Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson debuted for the 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:08.019 New York Rangers after beginning their major 00:13:08.019 --> 00:13:10.840 professional careers in the WHA. Right. The talent 00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:13.620 pool is just expanding rapidly. It was overflowing 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:16.360 with new blood, which forced the league to rethink 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:19.559 how they structured their postseason to accommodate 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:22.080 all this parity. The playoff structure they used 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:24.440 that year is a completely different animal than 00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:27.570 what fans are used to today. The top two teams 00:13:27.570 --> 00:13:30.169 in each of the four divisions made it, plus the 00:13:30.169 --> 00:13:32.970 four next best regular season records acting 00:13:32.970 --> 00:13:35.730 as wildcards. Right. But instead of a fixed bracket 00:13:35.730 --> 00:13:37.570 where you can predict your path to the finals, 00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:41.610 the NHL used a reseeding system. Reseeding is 00:13:41.610 --> 00:13:44.070 fascinating because it prioritizes mathematical 00:13:44.070 --> 00:13:47.809 fairness over logistical convenience. In every 00:13:47.809 --> 00:13:50.529 single round, the highest remaining seed was 00:13:50.529 --> 00:13:52.750 matched against the lowest remaining seed. Which 00:13:52.750 --> 00:13:54.950 means if you are a lower seed that pulls off 00:13:54.950 --> 00:13:57.059 an upset. You don't just take the spot of the 00:13:57.059 --> 00:13:59.879 team you beat in a bracket. You get re -evaluated 00:13:59.879 --> 00:14:02.299 and immediately fed to the top dog in the next 00:14:02.299 --> 00:14:05.620 round. It's brutal. It ensured dynamic matchups, 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:07.919 but it made predicting the playoff picture incredibly 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:10.440 chaotic for the teams traveling and for the fans 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:12.779 watching. The division winners got a bye to the 00:14:12.779 --> 00:14:15.039 quarterfinals, the preliminary round was a quick 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:17.259 best of three, and then everything else was a 00:14:17.259 --> 00:14:20.220 grueling best of seven gauntlet. It was a gauntlet 00:14:20.220 --> 00:14:22.639 designed to test exactly how deep these newly 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:25.299 structured teams really were. But for all this 00:14:25.299 --> 00:14:27.559 incredible drama, the fall of the original six, 00:14:27.779 --> 00:14:30.519 the influx of rookies, the geopolitical tension 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:33.259 of the Challenge Cup, there is a massive elephant 00:14:33.259 --> 00:14:36.279 in the room regarding how people actually consumed 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:39.019 this product. Yes. So what does this all mean 00:14:39.019 --> 00:14:42.179 for the fans watching at home? You would think 00:14:42.179 --> 00:14:44.919 a season this packed with storylines, awards 00:14:44.919 --> 00:14:47.860 and international drama would be an absolute 00:14:47.860 --> 00:14:50.399 television goldmine. You would think so. Well, 00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:52.840 the source text reveals a shockingly bleak reality 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:55.139 for U .S. television coverage during this era. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.580 The CBS network televised exactly one single 00:14:58.580 --> 00:15:02.019 game all season, just one. And it wasn't even 00:15:02.019 --> 00:15:03.820 a regular season game or a playoff game. It was 00:15:03.820 --> 00:15:05.899 game two of the Challenge Cup against the Soviets. 00:15:06.100 --> 00:15:08.440 It is stunning to modern sensibilities to have 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:10.799 your entire national broadcast presence in the 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:13.580 United States whittled down to a single midseason 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:16.419 exhibition game shows how little faith traditional 00:15:16.419 --> 00:15:19.250 networks had in the sport's mass appeal. And 00:15:19.250 --> 00:15:21.450 the situation with the other major network was 00:15:21.450 --> 00:15:24.789 arguably worse. ABC had an agreement to air game 00:15:24.789 --> 00:15:28.009 seven of the Stanley Cup finals. But as we discussed, 00:15:28.309 --> 00:15:31.090 Montreal beat the Rangers in five games. So the 00:15:31.090 --> 00:15:33.649 finals never reached a game seven. Right. Which 00:15:33.649 --> 00:15:36.990 means ABC aired absolutely zero NHL hockey that 00:15:36.990 --> 00:15:39.690 entire year. Yeah. Between the two major American 00:15:39.690 --> 00:15:42.009 networks, the American public got to watch exactly 00:15:42.009 --> 00:15:45.220 one hockey game on national television. Wait, 00:15:45.259 --> 00:15:48.200 why didn't ABC just pivot and air Game 5 when 00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:49.899 they realized it was an elimination game and 00:15:49.899 --> 00:15:52.019 the Cup was going to be awarded? That highlights 00:15:52.019 --> 00:15:55.340 the fatal flaw of 1970s traditional network television. 00:15:55.740 --> 00:15:58.720 The schedules were incredibly rigid. Broadcast 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:01.480 networks had daytime soaps, evening news, and 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:03.879 primetime sitcoms locked in months in advance. 00:16:04.139 --> 00:16:06.100 They couldn't just preempt their highly profitable 00:16:06.100 --> 00:16:08.120 scheduled programming on a few days' notice for 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:10.779 a hockey game. Wow. Because of those rigid contracts, 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:13.279 the NHL had no backup plan if a series ended 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:15.799 early. That is a brutal lesson in media distribution. 00:16:16.330 --> 00:16:18.370 What's fascinating here is that this absolute 00:16:18.370 --> 00:16:21.549 rock bottom moment in broadcasting was actually 00:16:21.549 --> 00:16:24.250 the catalyst for the modern era of sports media. 00:16:24.549 --> 00:16:27.509 This was the fourth and final season that NHL 00:16:27.509 --> 00:16:29.970 games aired in national broadcast syndication 00:16:29.970 --> 00:16:32.950 under what was known as the NHL network package. 00:16:33.070 --> 00:16:35.629 Right. Because the major networks like CBS and 00:16:35.629 --> 00:16:37.850 ABC were giving them virtually zero airtime. 00:16:38.009 --> 00:16:40.309 And because the syndication model was failing 00:16:40.309 --> 00:16:43.029 them, the league was forced to completely dissolve 00:16:43.029 --> 00:16:45.289 that old strategy. They realized they couldn't 00:16:45.289 --> 00:16:47.350 rely. the big three networks to dictate their 00:16:47.350 --> 00:16:50.710 visibility anymore. So they pivoted. And according 00:16:50.710 --> 00:16:52.889 to the source, they pivoted toward the future. 00:16:53.610 --> 00:16:56.450 After this disastrous television season, the 00:16:56.450 --> 00:16:58.830 league signed packages with fledgling cable networks. 00:16:59.009 --> 00:17:01.629 They signed deals with UA Columbia, which would 00:17:01.629 --> 00:17:04.029 later become the USA Network, and another tiny 00:17:04.029 --> 00:17:07.099 startup called ESPN. That pivot is the turning 00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:09.279 point for the entire business. By being completely 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:11.440 shut out of traditional broadcast television, 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:14.539 the NHL accidentally became a pioneer in the 00:17:14.539 --> 00:17:16.960 explosive growth of cable sports broadcasting. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:19.500 They got in on the ground floor. They hitched 00:17:19.500 --> 00:17:21.720 their wagon to ESPN right at the very beginning 00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:25.319 of the cable revolution, realizing that a dedicated 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:27.579 sports network would never bump an elimination 00:17:27.579 --> 00:17:30.599 game for a sitcom. It's a perfect example of 00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:33.099 a crisis forcing an innovation that ultimately 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:35.259 secures the long -term future of the business. 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:38.119 When you lay all the pieces of the puzzle out 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:40.319 like that, it's almost hard to believe all of 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:43.500 this happened in a single calendar year. In the 00:17:43.500 --> 00:17:46.319 1978 -79 season alone, you have the Montreal 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:48.400 Canadiens securing their fourth straight cup, 00:17:48.579 --> 00:17:51.240 which ends up being the last gasp of original 00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:54.660 six dominance for over three decades. Yeah. You 00:17:54.660 --> 00:17:57.339 have the retirement of absolute titans like Bobby 00:17:57.339 --> 00:17:59.890 Orr and Ken Dryden. You have a desperate franchise 00:17:59.890 --> 00:18:02.450 merger between Cleveland and Minnesota, marking 00:18:02.450 --> 00:18:04.390 the last contraction in the Big Four sports. 00:18:04.710 --> 00:18:07.069 You have the humbling reality check loss to the 00:18:07.069 --> 00:18:09.450 Soviet Union in the Challenge Cup. And you have 00:18:09.450 --> 00:18:11.950 the absolute scarcity of U .S. television coverage, 00:18:12.109 --> 00:18:14.930 forcing the league to abandon syndication and 00:18:14.930 --> 00:18:17.029 gamble on this brand new concept called cable 00:18:17.029 --> 00:18:20.430 TV. It truly was a crucible year. It was painful, 00:18:20.650 --> 00:18:23.069 it was messy, and it required the shedding of 00:18:23.069 --> 00:18:25.910 a lot of old ways, old heroes, and old business 00:18:25.910 --> 00:18:29.269 models. But it was absolutely necessary to make 00:18:29.269 --> 00:18:31.869 room for the modern, global, highly televised 00:18:31.869 --> 00:18:34.529 NHL that we recognize today. It's an incredible 00:18:34.529 --> 00:18:37.380 story of survival and forced evolution. It is. 00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:39.500 And it leaves me with a final thought that I'd 00:18:39.500 --> 00:18:41.619 love for you to mull over. Think about a struggling 00:18:41.619 --> 00:18:43.640 industry or a business that you interact with 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:46.500 today. Maybe it's a legacy media brand or a massive 00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:48.500 tech company that feels like it's shrinking, 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:50.980 contracting its workforce, or failing to reach 00:18:50.980 --> 00:18:53.579 its audience, much like the NHL, with its franchise 00:18:53.579 --> 00:18:56.680 merger and its zero US TV coverage back in 1979. 00:18:57.420 --> 00:18:59.940 We have a tendency to look at contraction, loss 00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:02.160 of visibility, and the retirement of old leadership 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:04.400 as the definitive death rattle of an industry. 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:07.319 But what if, just like - Like hockey in 1979, 00:19:07.660 --> 00:19:10.099 that industry isn't actually dying at all. What 00:19:10.099 --> 00:19:12.380 if it is just executing one massive, painful 00:19:12.380 --> 00:19:14.859 pivot away from its past to prepare for its own 00:19:14.859 --> 00:19:17.400 next golden era? What a fantastic perspective 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:19.180 to leave us with. Thank you so much for joining 00:19:19.180 --> 00:19:23.640 us on this deep dive into the 1978 -79 NHL season. 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:25.539 It's been a blast unpacking the history with 00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:26.759 you. Until next time.