1981–82 Montreal Canadiens season



The 1981–82 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 73rd season. The Canadiens finished 1st in the Adams Division and lost in the Division Semi-finals to the Quebec Nordiques 3 games to 2.

Off-season
Montreal along with Hartford were moved to the Adams Division which was a more geographical grouping of teams, including Boston, Buffalo and Quebec. Before the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, general manager Irving Grundman announced that Bob Berry would be the new head coach of the Canadiens.

Quebec Nordiques 3, Montreal Canadiens 2
The Canadiens were seeded 3rd overall in the playoffs, while their opponents, the Quebec Nordiques were seeded 10th overall. The clubs were 27 points apart in the league standings. The fourth game of the series had a brawl in which every player from both teams was involved. The brawl lasted for twenty minutes. There were 149 penalty minutes, and two game misconducts. The fifth and final game of the series went into overtime. Twenty-two seconds into overtime, Quebec player Dale Hunter scored against Montreal goalie Rick Wamsley to clinch the series.

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

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

Awards and Records

 * William M. Jennings Trophy: Rick Wamsley & Denis Herron
 * Brian Engblom, Defense, NHL Second Team All-Star