1981–82 Calgary Flames season

The 1981–82 Calgary Flames season was the second season in Calgary and tenth for the Flames franchise in the National Hockey League. The follow-up to the Flames' first season in Calgary proved to be disappointing on the ice. Twenty-nine wins represented the Flames lowest total since the franchise's inaugural season in Atlanta.^[1] Despite the poor record, Calgary finished in third place in the newly organized Smythe Division, earning a playoff match-up against the Vancouver Canucks. The Flames returned to their Atlanta form, being swept out of the post-season in three straight games, as the Canucks began their run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

1981–82 Calgary Flames
Division	3rd Smythe
Conference	5th Campbell
1981–82 record	29–34–17
Home record	20–11–9
Road record	9–23–8
Goals for	334 (5th)
Goals against	345 (T-13th)
Team information
General manager	Cliff Fletcher
Coach	Al MacNeil
Captain	Brad Marsh (Oct-Nov) Phil Russell (Nov-Apr)
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Stampede Corral
Average attendance	7,231
Minor league affiliate(s)	Oklahoma City Stars (CHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Lanny McDonald (40)
Assists	Guy Chouinard (57)
Points	Mel Bridgman (87)
Penalty minutes	Willi Plett (288)
Wins	Pat Riggin (19)
Goals against average	Pat Riggin (4.23)
← 1980–81 1982–83 →

The 1981–82 season saw the Flames acquire Lanny McDonald from the Colorado Rockies, bringing the Hanna, Alberta product home. Sporting his trademark moustache, McDonald would spend his final seven seasons with the Flames, and remains an icon in Calgary. McDonald would score 34 of his 40 goals that season in a Flames uniform.

Pekka Rautakallio was the Flames representative at the 1982 All-Star Game.^[2]

Regular season

Season 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

^[3]

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[4] 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 regular season[5]
October: 5–4–2 (home: 3–1–1; road: 2–3–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts 1 October 8 Vancouver 1 – 1 Calgary 0–0–1 1 2 October 10 Calgary 6 – 4 St.Louis 1–0–1 3 3 October 11 Calgary 0 – 3 Chicago 1–1–1 3 4 October 13 Calgary 3 – 4 Los Angeles 1–2–1 3 5 October 15 Winnipeg 5 – 4 Calgary 1–3–1 3 6 October 16 Calgary 4 – 8 Edmonton 1–4–1 3 7 October 20 Edmonton 5 – 4 Calgary 1–5–1 3 8 October 22 Pittsburgh 3 – 3 Calgary 1–5–2 4 9 October 24 Hartford 3 – 7 Calgary 2–5–2 6 10 October 28 Calgary 1 – 6 Minnesota 2–6–2 6 11 October 29 Calgary 4 – 12 Detroit 2–7–2 6
November: 5–5–4 (home: 5–2–2; road: 0–3–2) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts 12 November 1 Calgary 2 – 4 NY Rangers 2–8–2 6 13 November 3 Calgary 2 – 2 NY Islanders 2–8–3 7 14 November 4 Calgary 3 – 3 Buffalo 2–8–4 8 15 November 7 Calgary 2 – 4 St. Louis 2–9–4 8 16 November 8 Calgary 4 – 10 Chicago 2–10–4 8 17 November 10 St. Louis 7 – 0 Calgary 2–11–4 8 18 November 12 Quebec 2 – 3 Calgary 3–11–4 10 19 November 15 Vancouver 7 – 4 Calgary 3–12–4 10 20 November 17 Winnipeg 4 – 6 Calgary 4–12–4 12 21 November 19 Los Angeles 3 – 6 Calgary 5–12–4 14 22 November 21 Detroit 4 – 4 Calgary 5–12–5 15 23 November 24 Colorado 2 – 9 Calgary 6–12–5 17 24 November 26 Los Angeles 1 – 7 Calgary 7–12–5 19 25 November 28 Chicago 4 – 4 Calgary 7–12–6 20
December: 5–6–2 (home: 1–3–2; road: 4–3–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts 26 December 2 Calgary 3 – 9 Washington 7–13–6 20 27 December 3 Calgary 1 – 6 Philadelphia 7–14–6 20 28 December 5 Calgary 7 – 4 Montreal 8–14–6 22 29 December 8 Calgary 7 – 4 Quebec 9–14–6 24 30 December 12 NY Islanders 3 – 3 Calgary 9–14–7 25 31 December 13 Calgary 7 – 6 Vancouver 10–14–7 27 32 December 17 Edmonton 5 – 4 Calgary 10–15–7 27 33 December 19 Colorado 2 – 5 Calgary 11–15–7 29 34 December 20 Calgary 7 – 5 Edmonton 12–15–7 31 35 December 23 Minnesota 4 – 4 Calgary 12–15–8 32 36 December 26 Calgary 3 – 6 Colorado 12–16–8 32 37 December 28 Philadelphia 7 – 4 Calgary 12–17–8 32 38 December 30 Boston 4 – 2 Calgary 12–18–8 32
January: 7–4–4 (home: 5–0–1; road: 2–4–3) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts 39 January 2 Calgary 5 – 5 Los Angeles 12–18–9 33 40 January 5 Colorado 4 – 5 Calgary 13–18–9 35 41 January 7 Toronto 4 – 4 Calgary 13–18–10 36 42 January 9 Calgary 2 – 7 Edmonton 13–19–10 36 43 January 10 Edmonton 1 – 5 Calgary 14–19–10 38 44 January 13 Calgary 1 – 5 Vancouver 14–20–10 38 45 January 14 Los Angeles 2 – 5 Calgary 15–20–10 40 46 January 16 Pittsburgh 0 – 4 Calgary 16–20–10 42 47 January 17 Calgary 5 – 3 Colorado 17–20–10 44 48 January 20 Calgary 4 – 4 Toronto 17–20–11 45 49 January 21 Calgary 7 – 4 Detroit 18–20–11 47 50 January 23 Calgary 2 – 6 Montreal 18–21–11 47 51 January 25 Calgary 3 – 3 Boston 18–21–12 48 52 January 27 Calgary 1 – 3 Hartford 18–22–12 48 53 January 30 Buffalo 2 – 3 Calgary 19–22–12 50
February: 4–5–3 (home: 4–3–2; road: 0–2–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts 54 February 2 Montreal 5 – 3 Calgary 19–23–12 50 55 February 4 NY Rangers 4 – 4 Calgary 19–23–13 51 56 February 5 Calgary 4 – 6 Winnipeg 19–24–13 51 57 February 7 Toronto 2 – 8 Calgary 20–24–13 53 58 February 11 Washington 5 – 3 Calgary 20–25–13 53 59 February 13 Boston 3 – 6 Calgary 21–25–13 55 60 February 16 Hartford 2 – 7 Calgary 22–25–13 57 61 February 18 Minnesota 2 – 2 Calgary 22–25–14 58 62 February 20 Calgary 2 – 6 Los Angeles 22–26–14 58 63 February 23 Calgary 2 – 2 Vancouver 22–26–15 59 64 February 25 Vancouver 4 – 11 Calgary 23–26–15 61 65 February 27 Philadelphia 9 – 8 Calgary 23–27–15 61
March: 5–6–2 (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–5–2) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts 66 March 2 Calgary 3 – 6 NY Islanders 23–28–15 61 67 March 3 Calgary 2 – 4 NY Rangers 23–29–15 61 68 March 5 Calgary 6 – 8 Washington 23–30–15 61 69 March 7 Calgary 4 – 4 Pittsburgh 23–30–16 62 70 March 9 Calgary 9 – 4 Quebec 24–30–16 64 71 March 11 Vancouver 3 – 6 Calgary 25–30–16 66 72 March 13 Buffalo 1 – 4 Calgary 26–30–16 68 73 March 17 Calgary 4 – 9 Los Angeles 26–31–16 68 74 March 19 Calgary 3 – 3 Edmonton 26–31–17 69 75 March 20 Calgary 4 – 2 Colorado 27–31–17 71 76 March 25 Edmonton 7 – 2 Calgary 27–32–17 71 77 March 27 Calgary 2 – 7 Vancouver 27–33–17 71 78 March 30 Los Angeles 5 – 7 Calgary 28–33–17 73
April: 1–1–0 (home: 1–0–0; road: 0–1–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts 79 April 1 Colorado 0 – 11 Calgary 29–33–17 75 80 April 3 Calgary 1 – 3 Colorado 29–34–17 75
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1982 Stanley Cup playoffs[5]
Smythe Division Semifinals vs. Vancouver Canucks – Canucks win 3–0 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 April 7 Calgary 3 – 5 Vancouver Vancouver leads 1–0 2 April 8 Calgary 1 – 2 Vancouver OT Vancouver leads 2–0 3 April 10 Vancouver 3 – 1 Calgary Vancouver wins 3–0
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

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

			Regular season						Playoffs
Player	#		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Guy Chouinard	16		64	23	57	80	12		3	0	1	1	6
Mel Bridgman†	26		63	26	49	75	94		3	2	0	2	14
Pekka Rautakallio	4		80	17	51	68	40		3	0	0	0	0
Lanny McDonald†	9		55	34	33	67	37		3	0	1	1	6
Jim Peplinski	24		74	30	37	67	115		3	1	0	1	13
Kevin LaVallee	15		75	32	29	61	30		3	0	0	0	7
Paul Reinhart	23		62	13	48	61	17		3	0	1	1	2
Willi Plett	25		78	21	36	57	288		3	1	2	3	39
Kent Nilsson	14		41	26	29	55	8		3	0	3	3	2
Jamie Hislop	17		80	16	25	41	35		3	0	0	0	0
Phil Russell	5		71	4	25	29	110		3	0	1	1	2
Gary McAdam†	28		46	12	15	27	18		3	0	0	0	0
Denis Cyr	9/12		45	12	10	22	13		–	–	–	–	-
Dan Labraaten	21		43	10	12	22	6		3	0	0	0	0
Bob Murdoch	20		73	3	17	20	76		3	0	0	0	0
Don Lever‡	12		23	8	11	19	6		–	–	–	–	-
Steve Konroyd	3		63	3	14	17	78		3	0	0	0	12
Bill Clement	10		69	4	12	16	28		3	0	0	0	2
Charlie Bourgeois	2		54	2	13	15	112		3	0	0	0	7
Bob MacMillan‡	11		23	4	7	11	14		–	–	–	–	-
Eric Vail‡	27		6	4	1	5	0		–	–	–	–	-
Kari Eloranta‡	8		10	0	5	5	14		–	–	–	–	-
Pat Riggin	1		52	0	5	5	4		3	0	0	0	0
Dave Hindmarch	18		9	3	0	3	0		–	–	–	–	-
Bobby Gould‡	19		16	3	0	3	4		–	–	–	–	-
Eddy Beers	27		5	1	1	2	21		–	–	–	–	-
Mike Dwyer	29		5	0	2	2	0		–	–	–	–	-
Gord Wappel	21		11	1	0	1	6		–	–	–	–	-
Carl Mokosak	19		1	0	1	1	0		–	–	–	–	-
Brad Marsh‡	22		17	0	1	1	10		–	–	–	–	-
Rejean Lemelin	31		34	0	1	1	0		–	–	–	–	-
Randy Turnbull	22		1	0	0	0	2		–	–	–	–	-
Bruce Eakin	19		1	0	0	0	0		–	–	–	–	-
Bobby Lalonde	11		1	0	0	0	0		–	–	–	–	-
Tim Hunter	19		2	0	0	0	9		–	–	–	–	-
Al MacInnis	11		2	0	0	0	0		–	–	–	–	-
Pat Ribble†	22/8		3	0	0	0	2		–	–	–	–	-
Randy Holt‡	7		8	0	0	0	9		–	–	–	–	-

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

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; 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
Pat Riggin	1		52	2934	19	19	11	207	2	4.23		3	194	0	3	10	0	3.09
Rejean Lemelin	31		34	1866	10	15	6	135	0	4.34		–	–	–	–	–	–	-.--

Transactions

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1981–82 season.

Trades

November 10, 1981	To Calgary Flames Gary McAdam	To Detroit Red Wings Eric Vail
November 11, 1981	To Calgary Flames Mel Bridgman	To Philadelphia Flyers Brad Marsh
November 25, 1981	To Calgary Flames Lanny McDonald 4th round pick in 1983 entry draft (traded to New York Islanders; Islanders selected Mikko Makela)	To Colorado Rockies Don Lever Bob MacMillan
November 25, 1981	To Calgary Flames Pat Ribble 2nd round pick in 1983 entry draft (traded to Montreal Canadiens; Todd Francis)	To Washington Capitals Bobby Gould Randy Holt
March 8, 1982	To Calgary Flames Future Considerations	To St. Louis Blues Kari Eloranta

Free agents

Player Former team LW Gord Hampson University of Michigan (NCAA) LW Carl Mokosak Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) D Kari Eloranta Leksands IF (Elitserien) C Bobby Lalonde Boston Bruins C Kari Jalonen Kärpät (SM-liiga) LW Eddy Beers University of Denver (NCAA)

Player New team RW Dave Gorman Buffalo Sabres

Draft picks

Main article: List of Calgary Flames draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 1981 NHL entry draft, held in Montreal.^[6]

Rnd	Pick	Player	Nationality	Position	Team (league)	NHL statistics
						GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1	15	Al MacInnis	Canada	D	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)	1416	340	934	1274	1501
3	56	Mike Vernon	Canada	G	Calgary Wranglers (WHL)	781	385–273–92, 3.00 GAA
4	78	Peter Madach	Sweden	C	N/A
5	99	Mario Simioni	Canada	F	Toronto Marlboros (OHL)
6	120	Todd Hooey	Canada	F	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
7	141	Rick Heppner	United States	D	N/A
8	162	Dale DeGray	Canada	D	Oshawa Generals (OHL)	153	18	47	65	195
9	183	George Boudreau	United States	D	N/A
10	204	Bruce Eakin	Canada	F	Saskatoon Blades (OHL)	13	2	2	4	4

See also

• 1981–82 NHL season