1981–82 Edmonton Oilers season

1981–82 Edmonton Oilers
Division	1st Smythe
Conference	1st Campbell
1981–82 record	48–17–15
Home record	31–5–4
Road record	17–12–11
Goals for	417 (1st)
Goals against	295 (7th)
Team information
General manager	Glen Sather
Coach	Glen Sather
Captain	Lee Fogolin
Alternate captains	none
Arena	Northlands Coliseum
Team leaders
Goals	Wayne Gretzky (92)
Assists	Wayne Gretzky (120)
Points	Wayne Gretzky (212)
Penalty minutes	Dave Semenko (194)
Plus/minus	Wayne Gretzky (+81)
Wins	Grant Fuhr (28)
Goals against average	Grant Fuhr (3.31)

The 1981–82 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' 3rd season in the NHL, as they finished with a franchise record 48 wins and 111 points, and won the Smythe Division for the first time in team history. The Oilers set an NHL record win 417 goals, the first time in NHL history that a team finished with over 400 goals.

Regular Season

Wayne Gretzky continued rewriting the record books, scoring an NHL record 92 goals, which included 50 goals in 39 games, also an NHL record. Gretzky's 212 points was also a record, and it was the first time in NHL history that a player had over 200 points, as he would win his 3rd Hart Trophy and his 2nd Art Ross Trophy.

Mark Messier broke the 50 goal plateau for the first time in his career, while Glenn Anderson got 105 points. Paul Coffey led the defense with 89 points.

In goal, Grant Fuhr became the starting goalie and broke the Oilers franchise record for wins in a season with 28. He would also lead the club with a 3.31 GAA and a .898 save percentage.

Going into the playoffs, the Oilers faced the Los Angeles Kings and after splitting the first 2 games, the Oilers held a 5–0 lead on the Kings heading into the 3rd period of game 3. Los Angeles came back to tie the game 5–5, before completing the comeback with an overtime goal, taking a 2–1 series lead. Edmonton came back to tie the series in game 4, but the Kings eliminated Edmonton in game 5, shocking the hockey world, and ending the Oilers season a lot sooner than expected.

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	288	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

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	October 7	Colorado Rockies	4–7	Edmonton Oilers	1–0–0	2
2	October 9	Edmonton Oilers	2–6	Vancouver Canucks	1–1–0	2
3	October 10	Edmonton Oilers	7–4	Los Angeles Kings	2–1–0	4
4	October 14	Winnipeg Jets	4–2	Edmonton Oilers	2–2–0	4
5	October 16	Calgary Flames	4–8	Edmonton Oilers	3–2–0	6
6	October 18	Edmonton Oilers	5–7	Chicago Black Hawks	3–3–0	6
7	October 20	Edmonton Oilers	5–4	Calgary Flames	4–3–0	8
8	October 21	Hartford Whalers	2–5	Edmonton Oilers	5–3–0	10
9	October 23	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–8	Edmonton Oilers	6–3–0	12
10	October 24	Edmonton Oilers	3–1	Colorado Rockies	7–3–0	14
11	October 27	Edmonton Oilers	3–4	New York Islanders	7–4–0	14
12	October 28	Edmonton Oilers	5–3	New York Rangers	8–4–0	16
13	October 31	Quebec Nordiques	4–11	Edmonton Oilers	9–4–0	18
14	November 4	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–6	Edmonton Oilers	10–4–0	20
15	November 7	Colorado Rockies	5–4	Edmonton Oilers	10–5–0	20
16	November 11	Edmonton Oilers	4–4	Hartford Whalers	10–5–1	21
17	November 12	Edmonton Oilers	2–5	Boston Bruins	10–6–1	21
18	November 14	Edmonton Oilers	5–5	New York Islanders	10–6–2	22
19	November 15	Edmonton Oilers	5–3	New York Rangers	11–6–2	24
20	November 17	Edmonton Oilers	5–1	St. Louis Blues	12–6–2	26
21	November 18	Edmonton Oilers	2–2	Minnesota North Stars	12–6–3	27
22	November 21	Vancouver Canucks	3–8	Edmonton Oilers	13–6–3	29
23	November 23	Detroit Red Wings	4–8	Edmonton Oilers	14–6–3	31
24	November 25	Los Angeles Kings	4–11	Edmonton Oilers	15–6–3	33
25	November 27	Chicago Black Hawks	1–8	Edmonton Oilers	16–6–3	35
26	November 29	Edmonton Oilers	10–2	Winnipeg Jets	17–6–3	37
27	December 1	Edmonton Oilers	3–3	Montreal Canadiens	17–6–4	38
28	December 2	Edmonton Oilers	8–9	Quebec Nordiques	17–7–4	38
29	December 4	Vancouver Canucks	3–7	Edmonton Oilers	18–7–4	40
30	December 5	Edmonton Oilers	3–3	Vancouver Canucks	18–7–5	41
31	December 9	Edmonton Oilers	5–5	Los Angeles Kings	18–7–6	42
32	December 13	New York Islanders	3–4	Edmonton Oilers	19–7–6	44
33	December 16	Edmonton Oilers	7–4	Colorado Rockies	20–7–6	46
34	December 17	Edmonton Oilers	5–4	Calgary Flames	21–7–6	48
35	December 19	Minnesota North Stars	6–9	Edmonton Oilers	22–7–6	50
36	December 20	Calgary Flames	7–5	Edmonton Oilers	22–8–6	50
37	December 23	Vancouver Canucks	1–6	Edmonton Oilers	23–8–6	52
38	December 27	Los Angeles Kings	3–10	Edmonton Oilers	24–8–6	54
39	December 30	Philadelphia Flyers	5–7	Edmonton Oilers	25–8–6	56
40	December 31	Edmonton Oilers	1–3	Vancouver Canucks	25–9–6	56
41	January 2	Boston Bruins	4–4	Edmonton Oilers	25–9–7	57
42	January 6	Colorado Rockies	3–5	Edmonton Oilers	26–9–7	59
43	January 9	Calgary Flames	2–7	Edmonton Oilers	27–9–7	61
44	January 10	Edmonton Oilers	1–5	Calgary Flames	27–10–7	61
45	January 13	Edmonton Oilers	6–6	Washington Capitals	27–10–8	62
46	January 14	Edmonton Oilers	2–8	Philadelphia Flyers	27–11–8	62
47	January 16	Edmonton Oilers	1–7	Toronto Maple Leafs	27–12–8	62
48	January 17	Edmonton Oilers	4–4	Detroit Red Wings	27–12–9	63
49	January 20	St. Louis Blues	6–8	Edmonton Oilers	28–12–9	65
50	January 22	Edmonton Oilers	4–3	Vancouver Canucks	29–12–9	67
51	January 24	Colorado Rockies	4–7	Edmonton Oilers	30–12–9	69
52	January 26	Edmonton Oilers	6–4	St. Louis Blues	31–12–9	71
53	January 27	Edmonton Oilers	3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	31–12–10	72
54	January 29	Buffalo Sabres	1–3	Edmonton Oilers	32–12–10	74
55	January 31	Philadelphia Flyers	4–7	Edmonton Oilers	33–12–10	76
56	February 3	Montreal Canadiens	6–3	Edmonton Oilers	33–13–10	76
57	February 6	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–5	Edmonton Oilers	34–13–10	78
58	February 7	New York Rangers	4–8	Edmonton Oilers	35–13–10	80
59	February 12	Washington Capitals	3–5	Edmonton Oilers	36–13–10	82
60	February 14	Boston Bruins	2–2	Edmonton Oilers	36–13–11	83
61	February 17	Minnesota North Stars	4–7	Edmonton Oilers	37–13–11	85
62	February 19	Hartford Whalers	4–7	Edmonton Oilers	38–13–11	87
63	February 21	Edmonton Oilers	7–3	Detroit Red Wings	39–13–11	89
64	February 24	Edmonton Oilers	6–3	Buffalo Sabres	40–13–11	91
65	February 27	Edmonton Oilers	4–1	Pittsburgh Penguins	41–13–11	93
66	February 28	Edmonton Oilers	4–1	Washington Capitals	42–13–11	95
67	March 2	Edmonton Oilers	2–2	Montreal Canadiens	42–13–12	96
68	March 3	Edmonton Oilers	3–6	Quebec Nordiques	42–14–12	96
69	March 6	Edmonton Oilers	2–5	Colorado Rockies	42–15–12	96
70	March 10	Edmonton Oilers	2–3	Los Angeles Kings	42–16–12	96
71	March 12	Buffalo Sabres	3–2	Edmonton Oilers	42–17–12	96
72	March 13	Vancouver Canucks	3–5	Edmonton Oilers	43–17–12	98
73	March 15	Los Angeles Kings	3–3	Edmonton Oilers	43–17–13	99
74	March 17	Pittsburgh Penguins	4–10	Edmonton Oilers	44–17–13	101
75	March 19	Calgary Flames	3–3	Edmonton Oilers	44–17–14	102
76	March 25	Edmonton Oilers	7–2	Calgary Flames	45–17–14	104
77	March 26	Edmonton Oilers	6–6	Colorado Rockies	45–17–15	105
78	March 28	Edmonton Oilers	6–2	Los Angeles Kings	46–17–15	107
79	March 31	Los Angeles Kings	3–7	Edmonton Oilers	47–17–15	109
80	April 4	Winnipeg Jets	1–2	Edmonton Oilers	48–17–15	111

Playoffs

Los Angeles Kings 3, Edmonton Oilers 2

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 7	Los Angeles Kings	10–8	Edmonton Oilers	0–1
2	April 8	Los Angeles Kings	2–3	Edmonton Oilers	1–1
3	April 10	Edmonton Oilers	5–6	Los Angeles Kings	1–2
4	April 12	Edmonton Oilers	3–2	Los Angeles Kings	2–2
5	April 13	Los Angeles Kings	7–4	Edmonton Oilers	2–3

Season Stats

Scoring Leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Wayne Gretzky	80	92	120	212	26
Glenn Anderson	80	38	67	105	71
Paul Coffey	80	29	60	89	106
Mark Messier	78	50	38	88	119
Jari Kurri	71	32	54	86	32

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	Save %	GAA
Grant Fuhr	48	2847	28	5	14	157	0	.898	3.31
Ron Low	29	1554	17	7	1	100	0	.874	3.86
Andy Moog	8	399	3	5	0	32	0	.842	4.81

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Wayne Gretzky	5	5	7	12	8
Glenn Anderson	5	2	5	7	8
Jari Kurri	5	2	5	7	10
Risto Siltanen	5	3	2	5	10
Dave Lumley	5	2	1	3	21

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	Save %	GAA
Grant Fuhr	5	309	2	3	26	0	N/A	5.05

Awards and Records

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Wayne Gretzky
• Associated Press Athlete of the Year: Wayne Gretzky
• Hart Memorial Trophy: Wayne Gretzky
• Lou Marsh Trophy: Wayne Gretzky
• Lester B. Pearson Award: Wayne Gretzky
• NHL Plus/Minus Award: Wayne Gretzky
• Wayne Gretzky, Center, NHL First Team All-Star
• Mark Messier, Left Wing, NHL First Team All-Star
• Paul Coffey, Defense, NHL Second Team All-Star

Transactions

Trades

August 10, 1981	To Los Angeles Kings 5th round pick in 1983 - Garry Galley	To Edmonton Oilers Jay McFarlane
August 21, 1981	To Minnesota North Stars Don Murdoch	To Edmonton Oilers Don Jackson *3rd round pick in 1982 - Wally Chapman
December 11, 1981	To New York Rangers Eddie Mio	To Edmonton Oilers Lance Nethery
March 9, 1982	To Colorado Rockies Stan Weir	To Edmonton Oilers Ed Cooper
March 9, 1982	To Toronto Maple Leafs Walt Poddubny Phil Drouillard	To Edmonton Oilers Laurie Boschman
March 9, 1982	To Washington Capitals Doug Hicks	To Edmonton Oilers Todd Bidner

* Later traded to the Minnesota North Stars

Draft Picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 1981 NHL Entry Draft

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	8	Grant Fuhr	Canada	Victoria Cougars (WHL)
2	29	Todd Strueby	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)
4	71	Paul Houck	Canada	Kelowna Buckaroos (BCJHL)
5	92	Phil Drouillard	Canada	Niagara Falls Flyers (OHL)
6	111	Steve Smith	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
7	132	Marc Habscheid	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
8	155	Mike Sturgeon	Canada	Kelowna Buckaroos (BCJHL)
9	176	Miloslav Horava	Czechoslovakia	Kladno Poldi (Czech.)
10	197	Gord Sherven	Canada	Weyburn Beavers (SSHL)

References

• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007