1975-76 Regular Season

The PHL entered the 1975-76 season mourning the loss of it's all-time greatest player, Skippy Cleveland. The former New York Civic and Calgary Wrangler had been killed the previous spring in a car accident. Both New York and Calgary paid tribute to their former legend with patches honoring him on their uniforms. Skippy's death motivated the defending champion Civics to a first-place finish in the Atlantic Division. The season saw several shifts in power in the PHL. The Detroit Mustangs were finally handed the bill for their dynasty, dropping out of the playoff picture entirely for the first time since 1960. A 42-goal season from Kirk Saunders was the lone bright spot for the Mustangs, who struggled to find chemistry after a large wave of retirements following Detroit's last Cup victory in 1974. The Philadelphia Redshirts enjoyed their first 100 point season, as their fans once again dared to believe that this could be their year. The Redshirts once again found themselves caught up in their rivalry with the hated Boston Bulldogs. On January 1, 1976, the Redshirts and Bulldogs engage in a brawl, much like the one in 1973, this time in Philadelphia. The brawl was spurred by a vicious elbow from Boston rookie Casey Oaks on Philadelphia's Kurt Hopkins. The battle culminated in a big fight at center ice between Philly's Mark Dent and Boston captain Johnny Bedford. Boston would return to the playoffs in 1976 on the strength of strong goaltending from Ricky Spooner, who took home the Whyte Trophy as the league's top goalie.

Boston vs Philadelphia was not the only rivalry to boil over in 1976. The battle of Quebec exploded on January 30, when Montreal defenseman Martin Gilbert delivered a devastating hit on Quebec's Denis Lambert. Lambert only missed three games but two nights after the hit, the benches cleared. Quebec tough guy Paul Ryan went after Gilbert, knocking him out cold with a sucker punch. Ryan then went on to take down two Royale players at once while goalies Jean-Claude Richard of Montreal and Andy Poole from the Nationale squared off at center ice.  Things were finally cleared up and the game was allowed to continue, resulting in a 5-2 Montreal win. Minnesota once again dominated the Western Conference with a club record 58 wins. Guy Dupont led the way for the Lumberjacks, winning the league scoring title. LA also enjoyed their best season yet, winning 55 games to claim the Pacific Division. The division title was unexpected, as Ray Fowler, the MVP from the previous season, suffered an ankle injury in December, keeping him out of the lineup for two months. Sheldong Hopkins picked up the slack for Fowler, scoring a career best 53 goals while Holly scored 56, the first time in PHL history that two players from the same team scored 50 goals in a year. David Appleby and the St. Louis Spirits finally reached the playoffs in 1976, with Appleby scoring 55 goals in only his second season. Meanwhile Grant Millen finally blossomed in his third season with the Spirits, scoring 36 goals. In Toronto, the Racers took full advantage of the expanded 16-team format. Despite a difficult 30-win season, the Racers barely managed to edge out Detroit for the final spot. Both clubs had 66 points but Toronto managed to get in with more wins. As Toronto hung on to a 2-1 victory over the rival Ottawa Beavers on the last day of the season, the celebration spilled out of the Queen Elizabeth Arena and into downtown Toronto as the Racers were headed back to the post season.