1981–82 Hartford Whalers season

1981–82 Hartford Whalers
Division 5th Adams
1981–82 record 21–41–18
Goals for 264
Goals against 351
Team information
General Manager Larry Pleau
Coach Larry Pleau
Captain Dave Keon
Alternate captains None
Team leaders
<1980–81 1982–83>

Regular season

October

The Whalers opened the 1981–82 season on the road against the Quebec Nordiques in front of a sold out crowd at Le Colisée on October 6, losing a close one to the Nordiques, by a 6-5 score. Two nights later, Hartford earned their first point of the season, as the Whalers and Montreal Canadiens skated to a 5-5 tie.

Hartford had their home opener on October 10 against their new divisional rivals, the Boston Bruins, in front of 13,107 fans at the Civic Center. The Whalers and Bruins fought to a 1-1 tie, as Hartford goaltender Greg Millen led the way with 23 saves, while Blaine Stoughton scored the only goal for the team.

After going winless in their first four games of the season (0-2-2), the Whalers finally earned their first victory, as Rick Meagher recorded a hat trick, as Hartford crushed the Detroit Red Wings by an 8-1 score.

The victory over Detroit would be the Whalers only win of the month, as Hartford finished October with a five-game winless streak (0-2-3), finishing October with a 1-4-5 record, earning seven points, and sat in last place in the Adams Division, six points behind the Buffalo Sabres for fourth place.

November

Hartford opened November with a pair of 4-1 losses to the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks to fall to 1-6-5 on the season, before earning their second win of the year, a 4-2 decision against the Minnesota North Stars on November 9.

The Whalers would follow the victory with a four-game winless skid (0-2-2), to fall to 2-8-7 on the season through their first 17 games of the year. Hartford would snap the winless streak with an 8-5 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. A highlight in the game was when Ron Francis scored his first career goal.

Wins would be scarce for the Whalers in November, as they would record only one more victory in November, and ended the month with a record of 3-7-3 in 13 games, and fall to 4-11-8 on the season, earning 16 points, in last place in the Adams Division, 14 points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final playoff spot.

December

The Whalers opened December with their first road win of the season, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on December 2. Overall, Hartford would win three of their first four games of the month, as they recorded wins against the New York Rangers and the St. Louis Blues.

After their 3-1-0 start to the month, Hartford fell into a five-game winless streak (0-4-1), getting their only point in a 5-5 tie against the Los Angeles Kings, before earning a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings to snap their skid in their final game before Christmas.

The team then went 2-2-0 in their final four games of December, to finish the month with a 6-7-1 record in 14 games, and post a 10-18-9 record on the season. The Whalers remained in last place in the Adams Division, 14 points behind the fourth place Quebec Nordiques.

January

Hartford got off to a terrible start in January, as the club dropped their first five games of the month, before finally earning a tie against the Boston Bruins on January 16, as Blaine Stoughton scored two goals in a 3-3 tie. Hartford then lost their next game by a 7-1 score against the Buffalo Sabres the next night to extend their winless skid to seven games.

The team ended their winless skid with a solid 4-2 victory over the Quebec Nordiques on January 20. This marked the start of a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2) for the Whalers to end the month.

Hartford managed to post a 4-6-3 record in 13 games in January, and an overall record of 14-24-12 on the season, earning 40 points. The Whalers were stuck in the Adams Division cellar, 18 points behind the fourth place Quebec Nordiques.

February

The Whalers continued to stay hot at the start of February, as Hartford went 2-0-2 on a four-game road trip, and extended their overall unbeaten streak to a team record 10 games (6-0-4). The unbeaten streak came to an end on February 13, as the New York Rangers defeated Hartford by a 3-2 score.

The loss to the Rangers began a string of losses for the Whalers, as the team went on a six-game losing streak, before snapping the skid with a 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins on February 24. Hartford then lost their last two games of the month, and eight of nine overall.

The club went 3-8-2 in their 13 February games, slipping to a 17-32-14 record on the season, registering 48 points, and 23 points behind the Quebec Nordiques.

March/April

The team opened March with two ties against the Buffalo Sabres, followed by a two-game winning streak, defeating the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets. The Whalers four game unbeaten streak came to an end on March 13, as the Montreal Canadiens shutout Hartford 5-0. The club lost their second straight game the next night, 4-3 to the Colorado Rockies.

The Whalers managed to snap their two-game losing streak, and won consecutive games, beating the Quebec Nordiques and Buffalo Sabres. Those wins were the Whalers last of the season, as the team finished the season with a nine-game winless streak (0-7-2).

Hartford finished the year with a 21-41-18 record for the second straight season, earning 60 points, and were the last place team in the Adams Division, 22 points behind the Quebec Nordiques for the fourth and final playoff spot in the division.

Final standings

Adams Division
  GP W L T GF GA PIM PTS
Montreal Canadiens 80 46 17 17 360 223 1463 109
Boston Bruins 80 43 27 10 323285 1266 96
Buffalo Sabres 80 39 26 15 307 273 1425 93
Quebec Nordiques 80 33 31 16 356 345 1757 82
Hartford Whalers 80 21 41 18 264 351 1493 60

[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.

Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1LOctober 6, 19815–6 @ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) 0–1–0
2TOctober 8, 19815–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1981–82) 0–1–1
3TOctober 10, 19811–1 Boston Bruins (1981–82) 0–1–2
4LOctober 15, 19812–7 Montreal Canadiens (1981–82) 0–2–2
5WOctober 17, 19818–1 Detroit Red Wings (1981–82) 1–2–2
6LOctober 21, 19812–5 @ Edmonton Oilers (1981–82) 1–3–2
7TOctober 23, 19812–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1981–82) 1–3–3
8LOctober 24, 19813–7 @ Calgary Flames (1981–82) 1–4–3
9TOctober 29, 19816–6 New York Islanders (1981–82) 1–4–4
10TOctober 31, 19812–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) 1–4–5
11LNovember 1, 19811–4 @ Boston Bruins (1981–82) 1–5–5
12LNovember 4, 19811–4 Vancouver Canucks (1981–82) 1–6–5
13WNovember 7, 19814–2 Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) 2–6–5
14TNovember 8, 19812–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) 2–6–6
15TNovember 11, 19814–4 Edmonton Oilers (1981–82) 2–6–7
16LNovember 12, 19813–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82) 2–7–7
17LNovember 14, 19810–4 Washington Capitals (1981–82) 2–8–7
18WNovember 18, 19818–5 Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) 3–8–7
19LNovember 19, 19811–6 @ Boston Bruins (1981–82) 3–9–7
20LNovember 21, 19813–7 @ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) 3–10–7
21TNovember 25, 19813–3 Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) 3–10–8
22WNovember 28, 19816–2 Washington Capitals (1981–82) 4–10–8
23LNovember 29, 19813–6 @ Montreal Canadiens (1981–82) 4–11–8
24WDecember 2, 19815–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) 5–11–8
25LDecember 4, 19812–4 Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) 5–12–8
26WDecember 6, 19815–3 @ New York Rangers (1981–82) 6–12–8
27WDecember 9, 19815–1 St. Louis Blues (1981–82) 7–12–8
28LDecember 12, 19812–4 Colorado Rockies (1981–82) 7–13–8
29LDecember 13, 19813–8 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) 7–14–8
30LDecember 16, 19811–6 Montreal Canadiens (1981–82) 7–15–8
31TDecember 19, 19815–5 Los Angeles Kings (1981–82) 7–15–9
32LDecember 20, 19812–8 @ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) 7–16–9
33WDecember 22, 19813–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1981–82) 8–16–9
34LDecember 26, 19816–9 Boston Bruins (1981–82) 8–17–9
35WDecember 27, 19817–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) 9–17–9
36LDecember 29, 19811–6 @ St. Louis Blues (1981–82) 9–18–9
37WDecember 30, 19816–1 @ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) 10–18–9
38LJanuary 2, 19824–9 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82) 10–19–9
39LJanuary 3, 19824–6 Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82) 10–20–9
40LJanuary 6, 19823–5 Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) 10–21–9
41LJanuary 9, 19822–3 Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) 10–22–9
42LJanuary 11, 19822–6 @ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) 10–23–9
43TJanuary 16, 19823–3 @ Boston Bruins (1981–82) 10–23–10
44LJanuary 17, 19821–7 @ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) 10–24–10
45WJanuary 20, 19824–2 Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) 11–24–10
46TJanuary 23, 19822–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1981–82) 11–24–11
47WJanuary 25, 19826–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) 12–24–11
48WJanuary 27, 19823–1 Calgary Flames (1981–82) 13–24–11
49WJanuary 30, 19823–2 Boston Bruins (1981–82) 14–24–11
50TJanuary 31, 19824–4 Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) 14–24–12
51WFebruary 2, 19825–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1981–82) 15–24–12
52TFebruary 5, 19824–4 @ Colorado Rockies (1981–82) 15–24–13
53WFebruary 6, 19824–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1981–82) 16–24–13
54TFebruary 10, 19823–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82) 16–24–14
55LFebruary 13, 19822–3 New York Rangers (1981–82) 16–25–14
56LFebruary 14, 19821–9 New York Islanders (1981–82) 16–26–14
57LFebruary 16, 19822–7 @ Calgary Flames (1981–82) 16–27–14
58LFebruary 19, 19824–7 @ Edmonton Oilers (1981–82) 16–28–14
59LFebruary 20, 19822–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1981–82) 16–29–14
60LFebruary 22, 19827–8 @ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) 16–30–14
61WFebruary 24, 19824–3 Boston Bruins (1981–82) 17–30–14
62LFebruary 27, 19821–7 @ Washington Capitals (1981–82) 17–31–14
63LFebruary 28, 19820–5 Montreal Canadiens (1981–82) 17–32–14
64TMarch 3, 19823–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) 17–32–15
65TMarch 6, 19822–2 Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) 17–32–16
66WMarch 7, 19827–6 Los Angeles Kings (1981–82) 18–32–16
67WMarch 10, 19826–2 Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) 19–32–16
68LMarch 13, 19820–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1981–82) 19–33–16
69LMarch 14, 19823–4 Colorado Rockies (1981–82) 19–34–16
70WMarch 16, 19827–5 @ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) 20–34–16
71WMarch 18, 19824–1 Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) 21–34–16
72LMarch 20, 19822–5 Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82) 21–35–16
73LMarch 21, 19823–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82) 21–36–16
74TMarch 24, 19823–3 Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) 21–36–17
75LMarch 27, 19824–5 @ New York Islanders (1981–82) 21–37–17
76LMarch 28, 19822–5 Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) 21–38–17
77LMarch 30, 19824–6 @ Montreal Canadiens (1981–82) 21–39–17
78LMarch 31, 19821–5 Montreal Canadiens (1981–82) 21–40–17
79TApril 3, 19823–3 New York Rangers (1981–82) 21–40–18
80LApril 4, 19822–7 @ Boston Bruins (1981–82) 21–41–18

Roster

1981–82 Hartford Whalers
Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

Centers

Draft picks

Hartford's draft picks from the 1981 NHL Entry Draft which was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, on June 10, 1981.

Round # Player Nationality College/junior/club team (league)
14 Ron Francis  Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
361 Paul MacDermid  Canada Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
467 Mike Hoffman  Canada Brantford Alexanders (OHL)
593 Bill Maguire  Canada Niagara Falls Flyers (OHL)
5103 Dan Bourbonnais  Canada Calgary Wranglers (WHL)
7130 John Mokosak  Canada Victoria Cougars (WHL)
8151 Denis Dore  Canada Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
9172 Jeff Poeschl  United States Northern Michigan University (WCHA)
10193 Larry Power  Canada Kitchener Ranger B's (MWJHL)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.

External links

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