1981–82 Vancouver Canucks season

1981–82 Vancouver Canucks
1981–82 Vancouver Canucks
Campbell Conference champions
Division	2nd Smythe
Conference	4th Campbell
1981–82 record	30–33–17
Home record	20–8–12
Road record	10–25–5
Goals for	290
Goals against	286
Team information
General manager	Jake Milford
Coach	Harry Neale (Oct–Mar) ; Roger Neilson (Mar–May)
Captain	Kevin McCarthy
Alternate captains	Stan Smyl; Harold Snepsts
Arena	Pacific Coliseum
Average attendance	12,858
Minor league affiliate(s)	Dallas Black Hawks (CHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Thomas Gradin (37)
Assists	Thomas Gradin (49)
Points	Thomas Gradin (86)
Penalty minutes	Tiger Williams (341)
Wins	Richard Brodeur (20)
Goals against average	Richard Brodeur (3.35)

The 1981–82 Vancouver Canucks season was the team's 12th in the NHL. The Vancouver Canucks made their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the New York Islanders 4 games to 0.

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.

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: 4-5-3 (Home: 3-1-1; Road: 1–4–2)
Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	October 6	Colorado	2 - 4	Vancouver	1-0-0	2
2	October 8	Vancouver	1 - 1	Calgary	1-0-1	3
3	October 9	Edmonton	2 - 6	Vancouver	2-0-1	5
4	October 11	Vancouver	2 - 2	Buffalo	2-0-2	6
5	October 14	Vancouver	1 - 2	NY Rangers	2-1-2	6
6	October 15	Vancouver	1 - 4	NY Islanders	2-2-2	6
7	October 17	Vancouver	4 - 10	Montreal	2-3-2	6
8	October 19	Vancouver	3 - 6	Quebec	2-4-2	6
9	October 23	Hartford	2 - 2	Vancouver	2-4-3	7
10	October 25	Pittsburgh	6 - 4	Vancouver	2-5-3	7
11	October 28	Washington	0 - 3	Vancouver	3-5-3	9
12	October 31	Vancouver	8 - 4	Philadelphia	4-5-3	11

November: 7-5-1 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 3–4–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
13	November 1	Vancouver	1 - 3	Detroit	4-6-3	11
14	November 4	Vancouver	4 - 1	Hartford	5-6-3	13
15	November 5	Vancouver	1 - 2	Boston	5-7-3	13
16	November 8	Winnipeg	1 - 5	Vancouver	6-7-3	15
17	November 11	Quebec	5 - 6	Vancouver	7-7-3	17
18	November 14	Montreal	4 - 1	Vancouver	7-8-3	17
19	November 15	Vancouver	7 - 4	Calgary	8-8-3	19
20	November 19	Detroit	3 - 8	Vancouver	9-8-3	21
21	November 21	Vancouver	3 - 8	Edmonton	9-9-3	21
22	November 22	Colorado	5 - 5	Vancouver	9-9-4	22
23	November 25	Chicago	2 - 6	Vancouver	10-9-4	24
24	November 27	Vancouver	6 - 3	Colorado	11-9-4	26
25	November 28	Vancouver	2 - 3	Los Angeles	11-10-4	26

December: 3–7–4 (Home: 3–2–4; Road: 0–5–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
26	December 2	Minnesota	0 - 5	Vancouver	12-10-4	28
27	December 4	Vancouver	3 - 7	Edmonton	12-11-4	28
28	December 5	Edmonton	3 - 3	Vancouver	12-11-5	29
29	December 9	NY Islanders	3 - 4	Vancouver	13-11-5	31
30	December 12	Vancouver	5 - 7	Los Angeles	13-12-5	31
31	December 13	Calgary	7 - 6	Vancouver	13-13-5	31
32	December 16	Toronto	6 - 6	Vancouver	13-13-6	32
33	December 18	Vancouver	1 - 3	Colorado	13-14-6	32
34	December 19	Vancouver	0 - 5	St. Louis	13-15-6	32
35	December 22	Minnesota	4 - 4	Vancouver	13-15-7	33
36	December 23	Vancouver	1 - 6	Edmonton	13-16-7	33
37	December 26	Los Angeles	2 - 2	Vancouver	13-16-8	34
38	December 29	Boston	5 - 3	Vancouver	13-17-8	34
39	December 31	Edmonton	1 - 3	Vancouver	14-17-8	36

January: 3–7–3 (Home: 3–2–3; Road: 0–5–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
40	January 2	Vancouver	2 - 5	Washington	14-18-8	36
41	January 4	Vancouver	1 - 4	NY Islanders	14-19-8	36
42	\| Vancouver	1 - 4	NY Rangers	14-20-8	36
43	January 9	Vancouver	3 - 4	Pittsburgh	14-21-8	36
44	January 10	Vancouver	2 - 3	Chicago	14-22-8	36
45	January 13	Calgary	1 - 5	Vancouver	15-22-8	38
46	January 15	Los Angeles	3 - 3	Vancouver	15-22-9	39
47	January 17	Pittsburgh	3 - 3	Vancouver	15-22-10	40
48	January 19	St. Louis	5 - 4	Vancouver	15-23-10	40
49	January 22	Edmonton	4 - 3	Vancouver	15-24-10	40
50	January 24	Los Angeles	5 - 5	Vancouver	15-24-11	41
51	January 27	Buffalo	3 - 4	Vancouver	16-24-11	43
52	January 30	Philadelphia	2 - 4	Vancouver	17-24-11	45

February: 7–3–3 (Home: 3–1–2; Road: 4–2–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
53	February 2	NY Rangers	4 - 3	Vancouver	17-25-11	45
54	February 3	Toronto	1 - 3	Vancouver	18-25-11	47
55	February 6	Vancouver	4 - 5	Los Angeles	18-26-11	47
56	February 10	Vancouver	4 - 1	Toronto	19-26-11	49
57	February 11	Vancouver	4 - 4	Detroit	19-26-12	50
58	February 13	Vancouver	3 - 2	St. Louis	20-26-12	52
59	February 15	Vancouver	4 - 1	Chicago	21-26-12	54
60	February 17	Boston	3 - 6	Vancouver	22-26-12	56
61	February 20	Hartford	2 - 4	Vancouver	23-26-12	58
62	February 23	Calgary	2 - 2	Vancouver	23-26-13	59
63	February 25	Vancouver	4 - 11	Calgary	23-27-13	59
64	February 26	Vancouver	4 - 3	Colorado	24-27-13	61
65	February 28	Philadelphia	3 - 3	Vancouver	24-27-14	62

March: 4–6–3 (Home: 3–1–1; Road: 1–5–2)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
66	March 3	Vancouver	2 - 3	Colorado	24-28-14	62
67	March 6	Vancouver	1 - 3	Minnesota	24-29-14	62
68	March 7	Vancouver	2 - 5	Winnipeg	24-30-14	62
69	March 10	Buffalo	7 - 4	Vancouver	24-31-14	62
70	March 11	Vancouver	3 - 6	Calgary	24-32-14	62
71	March 13	Vancouver	3 - 5	Edmonton	24-33-14	62
72	March 17	Vancouver	6 - 6	Washington	24-33-15	63
73	March 18	Vancouver	4 - 2	Montreal	25-33-15	65
74	March 20	Vancouver	3 - 3	Quebec	25-33-16	66
75	March 24	Colorado	4 - 5	Vancouver	26-33-16	68
76	March 27	Calgary	2 - 7	Vancouver	27-33-16	70
77	March 28	Winnipeg	0 - 5	Vancouver	28-33-16	72
78	March 31	Colorado	4 - 4	Vancouver	28-33-17	73

April: 2–0–0 (Home: 1–0–0; Road: 1–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
79	April 3	Vancouver	6 - 0	Los Angeles	29-33-17	75
80	April 4	Los Angeles	4 - 7	Vancouver	30-33-17	77

Playoffs

1982 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Smythe Division Final vs. Calgary - 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

Smythe Division Final vs. Los Angeles - Canucks win 4-1
Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	April 15	Los Angeles	2 – 3	Vancouver		Vancouver leads 1–0
2	April 16	Los Angeles	3 – 2	Vancouver	OT	Series tied 1–1
3	April 18	Vancouver	4 – 3	Los Angeles	OT	Vancouver leads 2–1
4	April 19	Vancouver	5 – 4	Los Angeles		Vancouver leads 3–1
5	April 21	Los Angeles	2 – 5	Vancouver		Vancouver wins 4-1

Campbell Conference Championship vs. Chicago - Canucks win 4–1
Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	April 27	Vancouver	2 – 1	Chicago	OT	Vancouver leads 1–0
2	April 29	Vancouver	1 – 4	Chicago		Series tied 1–1
3	May 1	Chicago	3 – 4	Vancouver		Vancouver leads 2–1
4	May 4	Chicago	3 – 5	Vancouver		Vancouver leads 3–1
5	May 6	Vancouver	6 – 2	Chicago		Vancouver wins 4-1

Stanley Cup Championship vs. New York - Islanders win 4–0
Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	May 8	Vancouver	5 – 6	New York	OT	New York leads 1–0
2	May 11	Vancouver	4 – 6	New York		New York leads 2-0
3	May 13	New York	3 – 0	Vancouver		New York leads 3-0
4	May 16	New York	3 – 1	Vancouver		New York wins 4-0

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
Thomas Gradin	23	76	37	49	86	32	17	9	10	19	10
Stan Smyl	12	80	34	44	78	144	17	9	9	18	25
Ivan Boldirev	9	78	33	40	73	45	17	8	3	11	4
Curt Fraser	24	79	28	39	67	175	17	3	7	10	98
Ivan Hlinka	21	72	23	37	60	16	12	2	6	8	4
Lars Molin	26	72	15	31	46	10	17	2	9	11	7
Kevin McCarthy	25	71	6	39	45	84	--	--	--	--	--
Darcy Rota	18	51	20	20	40	139	17	6	3	9	54
Tiger Williams	22	77	17	21	38	341	17	3	7	10	116
Blair MacDonald	14	59	18	15	33	20	3	0	0	0	0
Lars Lindgren	13	75	5	16	21	74	16	2	4	6	6
Per-Olov Brasar	16	53	6	12	18	6	6	0	0	0	0
Gary Lupul	7	41	10	7	17	26	10	2	3	5	4
Ron Delorme	19	59	9	8	17	177	15	0	2	2	31
Doug Halward	2	37	4	13	17	40	15	2	4	6	44
Harold Snepsts	27	68	3	14	17	153	17	0	4	4	50
Rick Lanz	4	39	3	11	14	48	--	--	--	--	--
Marc Crawford	28	40	4	8	12	29	14	1	0	1	11
Neil Belland	15	28	3	6	9	16	17	1	7	8	16
Anders Eldebrink	10	38	1	8	9	21	13	0	0	0	10
Tony Currie^†	-	12	5	3	8	2	3	0	0	0	10
Colin Campbell	5	47	0	8	8	131	16	2	2	4	89
Jerry Butler	-	25	3	1	4	15	--	--	--	--	--
Moe Lemay	-	5	1	2	3	0	--	--	--	--	--
Jim Nill^†	8	8	1	2	3	5	16	4	3	7	67
Jiri Bubla	29	23	1	1	2	16	--	--	--	--	--
Richard Brodeur	35	52	0	2	2	0	17	0	0	0	0
Joe McDonnell	3	7	0	1	1	12	--	--	--	--	--
Gerry Minor*	-	13	0	1	1	6	9	1	3	4	17
Andy Schliebener	6	22	0	1	1	10	3	0	0	0	0
Rick Heinz^†	31	3	0	0	0	0	--	--	--	--	--
Garth Butcher	-	5	0	0	0	9	1	0	0	0	0
Glen Hanlon*	1	28	0	0	0	0	--	--	--	--	--

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Vancouver. Stats reflect time with the Canucks only.

*Denotes player traded by Vancouver midway through the season. Stats reflect time with Canucks only.

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

		Regular season								Playoffs
Player	#	GP	Min	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA	GP	Min	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Rick Heinz^†	31	3	180	2	1	0	9	1	3.00	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Richard Brodeur	35	52	3010	20	18	12	168	2	3.35	17	1089	11	6	49	0	2.70
Glen Hanlon*	1	28	1610	8	14	5	106	1	3.95	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

Awards and records

Trophies and awards

Cyclone Taylor Award (Canucks MVP): Richard Brodeur
Cyrus H. McLean Trophy (Canucks Leading Scorer): Thomas Gradin
Babe Pratt Trophy (Canucks Outstanding Defenceman): Harold Snespts
Fred J. Hume Award (Canucks Unsung Hero): Lars Lindgren
Most Exciting Player Award: Thomas Gradin
Molson Cup (Most Three-Star selections): Richard Brodeur

Records achieved in the season

Note: Only records that stand as of 2007–08 are listed

Canucks team records

Fewest losses at home: (8) - repeated in 1994-95
Most ties at home: (12) - repeated in 1977-78
Longest road losing streak: 12 games, November 28, 1981 - February 7, 1982

Canucks individual records

Most points, rookie: Ivan Hlinka (60) - repeated in 1991-92 (Pavel Bure)
Most goals, one game: Rosaire Paiement (4) - repeated eleven times

Canucks team records

Most penalty minutes, one series: 285, 1982 Campbell Conference Finals versus Chicago Black Hawks
Shortest overtime: 1:23,[3] April 18, 1982, versus Los Angeles Kings (Colin Campbell)
Most penalty minutes, one game: 106, April 29, 1982, versus Chicago Black Hawks
Most penalty minutes, one game by opponent: 90, May 6, 1982, versus Chicago Black Hawks
Most penalty minutes, one game by both teams: 188, April 29, 1982, versus Chicago Black Hawks
Fewest shots on goal, one game: 16, April 19, 1982, versus Los Angeles Kings
Most goals against, one game: 4, May 11, 1982, versus New York Islanders (repeated 5 times)
Most shots on goal by opponent, one period: 19, April 29, 1982, versus Chicago Black Hawks (repeated in 1994)
Fastest goal to start game: 0:08, April 7, 1982, versus Calgary Flames (Stan Smyl)
Fastest goal to start period: 0:08, April 7, 1982, versus Calgary Flames (Stan Smyl)

Canucks individual records

Most penalty minutes, one year: Tiger Williams (116)
Longest assist streak: Lars Mollin (5)
Most penalty minutes, one series: Tiger Williams versus Chicago Black Hawks (51)
Fastest two goals in one period, opposition: Mike Bossy, New York Islanders, May 16, 1982 (3:00 in 2nd period)

Transactions

The Canucks were involved in the following transactions during the 1981-82 season.

Trades

July 15, 1981	To Vancouver Canucks Compensation for signing Ivan Hlinka and Jiri Bubla	To Winnipeg Jets Brent Ashton 4th round pick (Tom Martin) in 1982 NHL Entry Draft
March 9, 1982	To Vancouver Canucks Tony Currie Jim Nill Rick Heinz 4th round pick (Shawn Kilroy) in 1982 NHL Entry Draft	To St. Louis Blues Glen Hanlon

Draft picks

Vancouver's picks at the 1981 NHL Entry Draft.[4] The draft was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	10	Garth Butcher (D)	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)
3	51	Jean-Marc Lanthier (RW)	Canada	Sorel Black Hawks (QMJHL)
4	73	Wendell Young (G)	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
5	105	Moe Lemay (F)	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
6	115	Stu Kulak	Canada	Victoria Cougars (WHL)
7	136	Bruce Holloway (D)	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)
8	157	Petri Skriko (F)	Finland	SaiPa (Finland)
9	178	Frank Caprice (G)	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
10	199	Rejean Vignola (F)	Canada	Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)

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.
"Kings All-Time Playoff History". Retrieved May 3, 2010.
Slate, Ralph (2007). "1981 NHL Entry Draft". HockeyDB.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2008. Retrieved April 27, 2008.

Vancouver Canucks
Founded in 1970 Based in Vancouver, British Columbia
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Vancouver Canucks seasons
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1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
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2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

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 Miracle on Manchester Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals

1981–82 Vancouver Canucks season

Regular season

Final standings

Vs. Campbell Conference

Schedule and results

Playoffs

Player statistics

Skaters

Goaltenders

Awards and records

Trophies and awards

Records achieved in the season

Canucks team records

Canucks individual records

Canucks team records

Canucks individual records

Transactions

Trades

Draft picks

References

See also