1981–82 Colorado Rockies season

1981–82 Colorado Rockies
1981–82 Colorado Rockies
Division	5th Smythe
Conference	Campbell
1981–82 record	18-49-13
Team information
General manager	Bill MacMillan
Coach	Bill MacMillan
Captain	Lanny McDonald (Oct.–Nov.); Rob Ramage (Nov.–Apr.)
Alternate captains	None
Arena	McNichols Sports Arena
Average attendance	8,180
Minor league affiliate(s)	Fort Worth Texans (CHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Steve Tambellini (29)
Assists	Brent Ashton (36)
Points	Brent Ashton (60)
Penalty minutes	Rob Ramage (201)
Wins	Glenn Resch (16)
Goals against average	Glenn Resch (4.03)
	← 1980–81 1982–83 (New Jersey) →

The 1981–82 Colorado Rockies season was the sixth and final season for the Rockies in Colorado. The franchise would relocate to New Jersey for the 1982–83 season and be renamed the New Jersey Devils. In 1995 the Devils would win the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. The same year, NHL hockey would return to Colorado with the Quebec Nordiques relocating there to become the Avalanche, for the 1995–96 season. They went on to become Stanley Cup champions in their first season in Denver.

Offseason

NHL Draft

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	5	Joe Cirella	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
2	26	Rich Chernomaz	Canada	Victoria Cougars (WHL)
3	48	Uli Hiemer	West Germany	EV Fussen (West Germany)
4	66	Gus Greco	Canada	Windsor Spitfires (OMJHL)
5	87	Doug Speck	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
6	108	Bruce Driver	Canada	University of Wisconsin (WCHA)
7	129	Jeff Larmer	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
8	150	Tony Arima	Finland	Jokerit (Finland)
9	171	Tim Army	United States	East Providence High School (USHS-RI)
10	192	John Johannson	United States	University of Wisconsin (WCHA)

Regular season

Final standings

Smythe Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Edmonton Oilers	80	48	17	15	417	295	111
Vancouver Canucks	80	30	33	17	290	286	77
Calgary Flames	80	29	34	17	334	345	75
Los Angeles Kings	80	24	41	15	314	369	63
Colorado Rockies	80	18	49	13	241	362	49

^[1]

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.

Record vs. opponents

Smythe Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Smythe Division

1981–82 NHL records^[2]
Team	CGY	COL	EDM	LAK	VAN	Total
Calgary	—	6−2	2−5−1	4−3−1	3−3−2	15−13−4
Colorado	2−6	—	2−5−1	2−4−2	2−4−2	8−19−5
Edmonton	5−2−1	5−2−1	—	5−1−2	5−2−1	20−7−5
Los Angeles	3−4−1	4−2−2	1−5−2	—	3−2−3	11−13−8
Vancouver	3−3−2	4−2−2	2−5−1	2−3−3	—	11−13−8

Vs. Norris Division

1981–82 NHL records
Team	CHI	DET	MIN	STL	TOR	WIN	Total
Calgary	0−2−1	1−1−1	0−1−2	1−2	1−0−2	1−2	4−8−6
Colorado	2−1	0−3	0−1−2	1−2	0−1−2	1−2	4−10−4
Edmonton	1−1−1	2−0−1	2−0−1	3−0	2−1	2−1	12−3−3
Los Angeles	0−3	2−1	0−2−1	2−1	1−2	0−3	5−12−1
Vancouver	2−1	1−1−1	1−1−1	1−2	2−0−1	2−1	9−6−3

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Adams Division

1981–82 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	HFD	MTL	QUE	Total
Calgary	1−1−1	2−0−1	2−1	1−2	3−0	9−4−2
Colorado	0−3	0−3	2−0−1	0−2−1	1−2	3−10−2
Edmonton	0−1−2	2−1	2−0−1	0−1−2	1−2	5−5−5
Los Angeles	0−3	1−2	0−2−1	1−2	1−0−2	3−9−3
Vancouver	1−2	1−1−1	2−0−1	1−2	1−1−1	6−6−3

Vs. Patrick Division

1981–82 NHL records
Team	NYI	NYR	PHI	PIT	WSH	Total
Calgary	0−1−2	0−2−1	0−3	1−0−2	0−3	1−9−5
Colorado	0−2−1	0−2−1	1−2	0−3	2−1	3−10−2
Edmonton	1−1−1	3−0	2−1	3−0	2−0−1	11−2−2
Los Angeles	2−1	1−2	0−2−1	1−1−1	1−1−1	5−7−3
Vancouver	1−2	0−3	2−0–1	0–2−1	1−1−1	4–8–3

Schedule and results

1981–82 game log

October: 2–7–2 (home: 1–3–1; road: 1–4–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
1	October 6	Colorado	2–4	Vancouver	Resch		0–1–0	0
2	October 7	Colorado	4–7	Edmonton	Myre		0–2–0	0
3	October 10	N.Y. Islanders	2–2	Colorado	Resch		0–2–1	1
4	October 15	Colorado	2–10	Los Angeles	Resch		0–3–1	1
5	October 16	Boston	6–1	Colorado	Myre		0–4–1	1
6	October 18	Colorado	4–3	Winnipeg	Resch		1–4–1	3
7	October 20	Colorado	3–5	Pittsburgh	Myre		1–5–1	3
8	October 21	Colorado	4–4	Toronto	Resch		1–5–2	4
9	October 24	Edmonton	3–1	Colorado	Resch		1–6–2	4
10	October 28	Quebec	3–1	Colorado	Resch		1–7–2	4
11	October 31	Washington	4–6	Colorado	Resch		2–7–2	6

November: 1–10–3 (home: 0–5–1; road: 1–5–2)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
12	November 3	Winnipeg	3–5	Colorado	Myre		2–8–2	6
13	November 6	Toronto	4–4	Colorado	Myre		2–8–3	7
14	November 7	Colorado	5–4	Edmonton	Resch		3–8–3	9
15	November 11	Montreal	9–0	Colorado	Resch		3–9–3	9
16	November 14	St. Louis	4–2	Colorado	Myre		3–10–3	9
17	November 15	Colorado	0–10	Chicago	Myre		3–11–3	9
18	November 18	Colorado	1–7	Washington	Janaszak		3–12–3	9
19	November 20	Buffalo	4–3	Colorado	Myre		3–13–3	9
20	November 22	Colorado	5–5	Vancouver	Resch		3–13–4	10
21	November 24	Colorado	2–9	Calgary	Myre		3–14–4	10
22	November 25	Colorado	2–7	Winnipeg	Resch		3–15–4	10
23	November 27	Vancouver	6–3	Colorado	Resch		3–16–4	10
24	November 28	Colorado	2–4	St. Louis	Resch		3–17–4	10
25	November 30	Colorado	2–2	Minnesota	Resch		3–17–5	11

December: 6–6–1 (home: 5–2–0; road: 1–4–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
26	December 2	Chicago	2–3	Colorado	Resch		4–17–5	13
27	December 5	N.Y. Rangers	2–1	Colorado	Resch		4–18–5	13
28	December 9	Colorado	1–7	Buffalo	Resch		4–19–5	13
29	December 12	Colorado	4–2	Hartford	Resch		5–19–5	15
30	December 13	Colorado	1–5	Boston	Myre		5–20–5	15
31	December 16	Edmonton	7–4	Colorado	Myre		5–21–5	15
32	December 18	Vancouver	1–3	Colorado	Myre		6–21–5	17
33	December 19	Colorado	2–5	Calgary	Resch		6–22–5	17
34	December 22	Los Angeles	2–4	Colorado	Resch		7–22–5	19
35	December 23	Colorado	4–8	Los Angeles	Myre		7–23–5	19
36	December 26	Calgary	3–6	Colorado	Resch		8–23–5	21
37	December 28	Colorado	4–4	Minnesota	Resch		8–23–6	22
38	December 30	Los Angeles	2–3	Colorado	Resch		9–23–6	24

January: 2–11–2 (home: 2–4–1; road: 0–7–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
39	January 2	Detroit	3–1	Colorado	Resch		9–24–6	24
40	January 5	Colorado	4–5	Calgary	Resch		9–25–6	24
41	January 6	Colorado	3–5	Edmonton	Myre		9–26–6	24
42	January 8	St. Louis	1–7	Colorado	Resch		10–26–6	26
43	January 10	Colorado	4–5	Philadelphia	Myre		10–27–6	26
44	January 13	Colorado	1–2	Toronto	Resch		10–28–6	26
45	January 14	Colorado	1–3	Detroit	Resch		10–29–6	26
46	January 17	Calgary	5–3	Colorado	Resch		10–30–6	26
47	January 19	Colorado	4–4	Los Angeles	Myre		10–30–7	27
48	January 20	Minnesota	3–1	Colorado	Resch		10–31–7	27
49	January 23	Los Angeles	3–3	Colorado	Resch		10–31–8	28
50	January 24	Colorado	4–7	Edmonton	Myre		10–32–8	28
51	January 26	Philadelphia	4–7	Colorado	Resch		11–32–8	30
52	January 29	N.Y. Rangers	5–2	Colorado	Resch		11–33–8	30
53	January 31	Colorado	2–4	Boston	Resch		11–34–8	30

February: 3–5–3 (home: 3–3–1; road: 0–2–2)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
54	February 2	Colorado	7–8	Quebec	Myre		11–35–8	30
55	February 5	Hartford	4–4	Colorado	Resch		11–35–9	31
56	February 6	Montreal	5–3	Colorado	Resch		11–36–9	31
34th All-Star Game in Landover, MD
57	February 12	Quebec	2–9	Colorado			12–36–9	33
58	February 14	Washington	3–5	Colorado	Resch		13–36–9	35
59	February 16	Colorado	3–3	Montreal	Resch		13–36–10	36
60	February 18	Colorado	4–4	N.Y. Rangers	Resch		13–36–11	37
61	February 20	Colorado	2–3	N.Y. Islanders	Resch		13–37–12	38
62	February 21	Colorado	2–6	Buffalo	Resch		13–38–11	37
63	February 23	Detroit	6–3	Colorado	Resch		13–39–11	37
64	February 26	Vancouver	4–3	Colorado	Resch		13–40–11	37
65	February 28	Chicago	3–5	Colorado	Resch		14–40–11	39

March: 3–8–2 (home: 2–4–1; road: 1–4–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
66	March 3	Vancouver	2–3	Colorado	Resch		15–40–11	41
67	March 6	Edmonton	2–5	Colorado	Resch		16–40–11	43
68	March 9	Los Angeles	2–0	Colorado	Resch		16–41–11	43
69	March 11	Colorado	1–5	Philadelphia	Resch		16–42–11	43
70	March 13	Colorado	2–6	Pittsburgh	Myre		16–43–11	43
71	March 14	Colorado	4–3	Hartford	Myre		17–43–11	45
72	March 17	N.Y. Islanders	5–2	Colorado	Myre		17–44–11	45
73	March 20	Calgary	4–2	Colorado	Resch		17–45–11	45
74	March 21	Pittsburgh	6–0	Colorado	Myre		17–46–11	45
75	March 24	Colorado	4–5	Vancouver	Myre		17–47–11	45
76	March 26	Edmonton	6–6	Colorado	Resch		17–47–12	46
77	March 27	Colorado	4–9	Los Angeles	Resch		17–48–12	46
78	March 31	Colorado	4–4	Vancouver	Resch		17–48–13	47

April: 1–1–0 (home: 1–0–0; road: 0–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
79	April 1	Colorado	0–11	Calgary	Myre		17–49–13	47
80	April 3	Calgary	1–3	Colorado	Resch		18–49–13	49

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

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Brent Ashton	LW	80	24	36	60	26	-31	3	0	4
Steve Tambellini	C	79	29	30	59	14	-33	9	0	0
Don Lever	LW	59	22	28	50	20	-10	3	0	1
Bob MacMillan	RW	57	18	32	50	27	-9	3	0	1
Rob Ramage	D	80	13	29	42	201	-47	6	0	0
Merlin Malinowski	C	69	13	28	41	32	-22	0	1	0
Aaron Broten	LW/C	58	15	24	39	6	-11	5	1	5
Dwight Foster	RW	70	12	19	31	41	-53	1	1	0
Bob Miller	C	56	11	20	31	27	-24	1	0	2
Dave Cameron	C	66	11	12	23	103	-14	0	1	0
Paul Gagne	LW	59	10	12	22	17	-27	2	0	0
Tapio Levo	D	34	9	13	22	14	-13	3	0	0
Bob Lorimer	D	79	5	15	20	68	-19	1	0	0
Joe Cirella	D	65	7	12	19	52	-36	2	0	1
Lanny McDonald	RW	16	6	9	15	20	-3	0	0	1
Joel Quenneville	D	64	5	10	15	55	-29	0	0	0
Veli-Pekka Ketola	C	44	9	5	14	4	-17	4	0	1
Kevin Maxwell	C	34	5	5	10	44	-16	0	0	1
Graeme Nicolson	D	41	2	7	9	51	-16	0	0	0
Mike Kitchen	D	63	1	8	9	60	-18	0	0	0
John Wensink	LW	57	5	3	8	152	-13	1	0	0
Joe Micheletti	D	21	2	6	8	4	-4	0	0	0
Jukka Porvari	RW	31	2	6	8	0	-22	0	0	0
Stan Weir	C	10	2	3	5	10	-7	0	0	1
Yvon Vautour	RW	14	1	2	3	18	-6	1	0	0
Bill Baker	D	14	0	3	3	17	-13	0	0	0
Paul Miller	C	3	0	3	3	0	2	0	0	0
Jeff Larmer	LW	8	1	1	2	8	-3	0	0	0
Phil Myre	G	24	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Glenn Resch	G	61	0	2	2	8	0	0	0	0
Ed Cooper	LW	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Rich Chernomaz	RW	2	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Jim Dobson	RW	3	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Peter Gustavsson	LW	2	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Jack Hughes	D	8	0	0	0	13	-7	0	0	0
Steve Janaszak	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Christer Kellgren	RW	5	0	0	0	0	-4	0	0	0
Rick LaFerriere	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Randy Pierce	RW	5	0	0	0	4	-1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA
Glenn Resch	3424	61	16	31	11	230	4.03
Phil Myre	1256	24	2	17	2	112	5.35
Steve Janaszak	100	2	0	1	0	13	7.80
Rick LaFerriere	20	1	0	0	0	1	3.00
Team:	4800	80	18	49	13	356	4.45

^[3]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts;

Farm teams

References

^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ "1981-82 Colorado Rockies Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.

External links

"1981–82 Colorado Rockies Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
Rockies on Hockey Database

[nhl-gd-standings-1] Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.

[2] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[3] "1981-82 Colorado Rockies Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e 1981–82 NHL season
Patrick	NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh Washington
Adams	Boston Buffalo Hartford Montreal Quebec
Norris	Chicago Detroit Minnesota St. Louis Toronto Winnipeg
Smythe	Calgary Colorado Edmonton Los Angeles Vancouver
See also	Draft Waiver Draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup playoffs Miracle on Manchester Towel Power Stanley Cup Finals