1981-82
OFF-SEASON
Long-time Chicago Black Hawks defenseman Pat Stapleton retired after 1487 games over 22 seasons. The 41 year old was limited to just 10 games last season after battling injuries. Stapleton retires with 284 goals and 938 points in his career. He also played 179 playoff games and won 5 Stanley Cups with Chicago.
Joining Stapleton in retiring this year is another 41 year old as Toronto's Dave Keon decided 21 years in the NHL is enough for him. Keon had a solid final season, scoring 27 goals and 55 points while playing in all 80 games, giving him 1009 points, including 365 goals, in 1537 regular season games. Only Alex Delvecchio with 1716 played more games than Keon. Keon won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1960-61 and was on two Cup winning Toronto teams.
New players entering the league this season include Chris Chelios with Montreal, Grant Fuhr in Edmonton, Dale Hawerchuk with Winnipeg, Ron Francis in Hartford and Al MacInnis with Calgary.
REGULAR SEASON
A surprising transaction in late December as the Boston Bruins dealt Bobby Orr to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Craig Ramsay. The 31 year old Ramsay finished this season with 99 points, including 51 in 48 games as a Bruin. His career best was 1978-89 when he had 42 goals and 122 points with Buffalo. The 34 year old Orr had 51 points in 41 games with the Sabres before suffering an injury that cost him the last 2 weeks of the season. In 73 games between the Sabres and Bruins Orr still managed to put 82 points and surpass the 1000 assist plateau for his career. He has 1387 points in 1153 career games.
Wayne Gretzky had a huge season for Edmonton, scoring 58 goals and adding 99 assists as helped the Oilers to first place in the Smythe Division but the scoring title went to Montreal's Guy Lafleur. Lafleur scored 78 goals and a record 171 points on the season.
The Canadiens led the NHL with 136 points on the season. Patrick Division champion New York Rangers had 117 while Boston, with 111, and the Norris Division leading Toronto Maple Leafs at 106, rounded out the list of teams to surpass the 100 point mark.
Milestones achieved this season
Clark Gillies of the New York Islanders had the 3rd longest pointstreak in NHL history when he collected a point in 37 straight games. The streak came to an end in a 9-5 loss to Toronto. Only Maurice Richard (44 games) and Stan Mikita (38 games) have had longer streaks.
Montreal's Guy Lafleur had a 6 goal game in the Habs 9-4 win over the New York Rangers on new year's day. Lafleur also had one assist in the game. Here are the players who have scored at least 6 times in an NHL game.
Code:
GOALS IN A GAME
8- Bill Barber Philadelphia Feb 7, 1975 Phi 13 Min 0
7- Dickie Moore Montreal Mar 19, 1957 Mon 7 Tor 2
6- Carl Liscombe Detroit 1942-43(playoff game) Det 9 Tor 1
6- Yvon Cournoyer Montreal Mar 5, 1968 Mon 14 Oak 1
6- Darryl Sittler Toronto Oct 21, 1972 Tor 13 Cal 0
6- Jean Pronovost Boston Dec 14, 1980 Bos 10 LA 3
6- Guy Lafleur Montreal Jan 1, 1982 Mon 9 NYR 4
Dennis Maruk of Toronto had a 5 goal game in the Leafs 11-0 win over Winnipeg in October.
Minnesota's Tom McCarthy had 5 goals in the Stars 6-6 tie with the Islanders on December 4th
Glenn Anderson of Edmonton got 5 goals in the Oilers 10-5 win over Detroit on January 16th. Wayne Gretzky had 5 assists in that game. It was one of 4 games this season that Gretzky picked up 5 helpers.
Boston defensemen Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque each had 5 assists in the Bruins 9-1 win over the New York Islanders on November 23rd.
Jean Ratelle of the Rangers collected his 1500th career point
Jean Pronovost of Boston collected his 1200th career point
Marcel Dionne of Detroit earned his 900th career point
Guy Lafleur of Montreal scored his 400th career NHL goal
Steve Shutt of Buffalo scored his 400th career goal
Marcel Dionne of Detroit scored his 400th carer goal
Wayne Cashman of Boston scored his 300th career goal
Craig Ramsay of Boston scored his 300th career goal
Bobby Orr of Buffalo earned his 1000th career assist
Jean Ratelle of the Rangers got his 750th career assist
Don Marcotte of Boston got his 750th career assist
Jean Pronovost of Boston picked up his 750th career assist
1500 GAMES
Jean Ratelle NY Rangers
1250 GAMES
Nick Libett Pittsburgh
1000 GAMES
Wayne Cashman Boston
Bobby Clarke Philadelphia
Bernie Parent Boston
800 GAMES
Tony Esposito Montreal
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ADAMS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Montreal Canadiens 80 64 8 8 136
Boston Bruins 80 52 21 7 111
Buffalo Sabres 80 45 29 6 96
Quebec Nordiques 80 29 37 14 72
Hartford Whalers 80 18 53 9 45
PATRICK DIVISION GP W L T PTS
New York Rangers 80 55 18 7 117
New York Islanders 80 42 29 9 93
Philadelphia Flyers 80 39 31 10 88
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 17 47 16 50
Washington Capitals 80 9 65 6 24
NORRIS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 50 24 6 106
Minnesota North Stars 80 39 25 16 94
St Louis Blues 80 38 31 11 87
Winnipeg Jets 80 29 42 9 67
Chicago Black Hawks 80 24 46 10 58
Detroit Red Wings 80 23 49 8 54
SMYTHE DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Edmonton Oilers 80 42 27 11 95
Vancouver Canucks 80 38 29 13 89
Los Angeles Kings 80 32 38 10 74
Colorado Rockies 80 25 40 15 65
Calgary Flames 80 27 48 5 59
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Guy Lafleur MON 79 78 93 171
Wayne Gretzky EDM 77 58 99 157
Mike Bossy NYI 75 65 75 140
Gilbert Perreault BUF 80 44 90 134
Jean Ratelle NYR 75 65 63 128
Bryan Trottier NYI 80 32 93 125
Bernie Federko STL 80 39 84 123
Clark Gillies NYI 80 46 70 116
Dennis Maruk TOR 74 39 75 114
Lanny McDonald TOR 76 45 67 112
Brad Park NYR 80 39 73 112
Peter Statsny QUE 79 48 60 108
Neal Broten MIN 72 23 83 106
Blaine Stoughton CGY 80 56 49 105
Danny Gare BUF 78 52 53 105
Brian Propp PHI 80 40 65 105
John Tonelli MON 80 41 62 103
Anton Statsny QUE 80 36 67 103
Mike Rogers EDM 73 32 71 103
Rod Langway MON 77 30 73 103
Ray Bourque BOS 80 24 79 103
Dino Ciccarelli MIN 80 49 53 102
Jean Pronovost BOS 80 57 44 101
Marcel Dionne DET 78 45 56 101
Randy Carlyle TOR 68 32 69 101
Jari Kurri EDM 73 46 53 99
Craig Ramsay BUF-BOS 83 30 69 99
Steve Payne MIN 80 51 47 98
Denis Potvin NYI 69 19 78 97
Butch Goring LA 79 37 59 96
PLAYOFFS
The opening round of the playoffs gave us the first ever battle of Quebec as the Canadiens narrowly eliminated the pesky Nordiques in 5 games. Montreal took the first two of the series, winning 3-2 and 6-3 at home. Quebec rallied with two wins of it's own on home ice, by 8-4 in a fight filled contest and by 5-2 in the fourth game. The Nordiques led game five 2-0 after one period on goals by Mike Crombeen and Dale Hunter, but Montreal rallied for a 4-2 victory to win the series.
Edmonton also needed the full 5 games to eliminate Colorado but the final game was a laugher as Wayne Gretzky scored three times in a 7-0 Oilers win. Gretzky had 8 goals and 11 points in the series.
In the other opening round series Boston eliminated Buffalo in 4 games, as the Sabres felt the absence of the injured Bobby Orr. The Bruins will meet Montreal in the next round.
The Islanders and Rangers will meet in the quarterfinals after the Isles beat Philadelphia 3-games to one and the Rangers swept Pittsburgh. In the Norris it will be Toronto vs Minnesota after the Leafs swept Winnipeg and the Stars did the same to St Louis. The LA Kings swept Vancouver so they move on to play the Oilers in the quaterfinals.
The Boston Bruins, led by 5 goals from Craig Ramsay, upset Montreal in 5 games in their quarterfinal series. The Bruins will face the Rangers, who eliminated the Islanders in 5 games despite back to back hat tricks from Mike Bossy in the series.
The other semi-final has Toronto against Los Angeles as the Leafs and Kings each won in 6 games. Edmonton is eliminated despited 10 goals and 23 points in 11 post-season games from Gretzky.
SEMI-FINALS
Dennis Maruk had 4 assists as Toronto took Game One from Los Angeles 8-3 while in Boston the Rangers beat the hometown 3-2 thanks to a goal and an assist from Jean Ratelle.
Boston evened their series with a 3-2 overtime victory in Game Two while the Leafs went up 2 games after winning 2-1 at home.
The Rangers scored 3 times in the final 8 minutes of the game to beat Boston 6-5 on home ice in Game Three and take a 2-1 series lead. Meanwhile on the west coast Butch Goring had a three point night to help Los Angeles get it's first win of the series, beating Toronto 6-2.
The Leafs went up 3 games to one with a 4-1 victory in Game Four while the Bruins evened their series with the Rangers after scoring 3 third period goals, including 2 from Wayne Cashman in a 4-3 victory.
The Rangers go up 3-2 with a 6-3 victory in Game Five while the Kings stay alive with a 4-3 victory. Both series would come to an end two nights later as Toronto beat Los Angeles 4-2 while the Rangers overcame a 4-0 first period deficit to rally to a 5-4 overtime win over the Bruins. Jean Ratelle assisted on Guy Chouinard's OT winner. That point gave Ratelle 30 points in 14 playoff games.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
The Rangers-Toronto final is a rematch of 1973-74 and 76-77 which were both won by New York. The teams also met 3 times in the 1930's with Toronto winning on each occassion, during the Leafs string of 8 straight Cups.
The Rangers are lead by Jean Ratelle (15-15-30) and Bob Bourne (12-9-21) as well as some strong goaltending from Rick St. Croix (2.62 GAA in playoffs). Dennis Maruk (7-16-23), Lanny McDonald (8-12-20) and defenseman Randy Carlyle (6-11-17) are carrying the Leafs offense. Toronto is without Rick Kehoe, who missed most of the season with a concussion after scoring 118 points a year ago.
The series opened in New York with the visitors claiming a 5-4 victory behind a 2 goal performance from Leafs defenseman Randy Carlyle.
Real Cloutier was the hero of Game Two as the Leaf winger scored twice in the third period to give Toronto a come from behind 4-3 victory. Randy Carlyle assisted on both goals.
The Rangers got back on track after leaving Madison Square Garden as they pulled out a 5-2 victory in Game Three and seemed to be back in the series.
Lanny McDonald put the Leafs clearly back in chage in Game Four when the Leaf winger scored 5 goals as Toronto won a laugher 10-4 to take a 3 games to one series lead. Randy Caryle had a goal and 4 helpers in the win.
Game Five was also a rout but this time in New York's favour as the Rangers won 7-1 behind 2 goals from Bob Bourne.
Fans packed Maple Leafs Gardens for Game Six hoping to see the hometown team raise the Cup for the first time since 1965, but they left extremely nervous as the Rangers won for the second straight game, knotting the series at 3 wins apiece. Bob Bourne scored twice for the Rangers in their 5-2 win with Brad Park earning 3 assists.
The Rangers complete the comeback from a 3 games to 1 deficit by winning Game Seven at home 5-3. Jean Ratelle led the offense with a goal and 3 assists as the Leafs Cup drought reaches 17 years - during which time they have made 5 appearances in the finals but lost on each occassion.
Rangers captain Jean Ratelle, who set a new playoff record for points with 41 and tied Clark Gillies mark from last season with 19 goals, was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Wayne Gretzky Edmonton (77GP 58-99-157)
VEZINA TROPHY: Tony Esposito Montreal (49-6-6, 2.61)
NORRIS TROPHY: Rod Langway Montreal (77GP 30-73-103)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Guy Lafleuer Montreal (79GP 78-93-171)
CALDER TROPHY: Paul Gagne Colorado (75GP 35-48-83)
The game does not select the all-star team but I will start naming first and second team all-stars
Code:
POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM
G Tony Esposito Montreal Mike Liut Boston
D Rod Langway Montreal Randy Carlyle Toronto
D Brad Park NY Rangers Denis Potvin NY Islanders
C Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Jean Ratelle NY Rangers
LW Clark Gillies NY Islanders Lanny McDonald Toronto
RW Guy Lafleur Montreal Mike Bossy NY Islanders