1981–82 Winnipeg Jets season

The 1981–82 Winnipeg Jets season was the team's third season in the National Hockey League and tenth season overall. The club's on-ice performance vastly improved compared to the previous season when the Jets won only nine games. The Jets finished with a .500 record and, for the first time in its history, qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs

1981–82 Winnipeg Jets (1972–96)
Division2nd Norris
1981–82 record33–33–14
Goals for319
Goals against332
Team information
General ManagerJohn Ferguson
CoachTom Watt
CaptainDave Christian
Alternate captainsNone
Minor league affiliate(s)Tulsa Oilers (CHL)

Offseason

After a very disappointing 1980-81, in which the Jets won only nine games and finished in last place in the National Hockey League, the club announced on May 14, 1981, that Tom Watt would become the new head coach of the team. Watt spent the 1980-81 season as an assistant coach under Harry Neale on the Vancouver Canucks. This would be Watt's first NHL head coaching job. The Jets also announced that Dave Christian would become the new captain of the team. Christian, who was a part of the 1980 US Olympic Team that won the gold medal, became the third captain of the team since the Jets joined the NHL.

The NHL announced a new divisional realignment based on geography, as the Jets were shifted from the Smythe Division to the Norris Division, where they would join the Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota North Stars, St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs. On June 10, 1981, the Jets went into the 1981 NHL Entry Draft with the first overall selection, and the club used it to select Dale Hawerchuk from the Cornwall Royals of the QMJHL. Hawerchuk scored 81 goals and 183 points in 72 games with Cornwall, followed by 15 goals and 35 points in 19 playoff games with the team, leading them to the President's Cup. At the 1981 Memorial Cup, Hawerchuk had eight goals and 12 points in five games, leading Cornwall to the championship. With their second selection, Winnipeg selected Scott Arniel, who also played with the Cornwall Royals. Arniel had 52 goals and 123 points with Cornwall, followed by 14 goals and 33 points in 19 playoff games, and six goals and eight points in five Memorial Cup games, helping the Royals win the 1981 Memorial Cup.

On July 3, 1981, Winnipeg acquired Bryan Maxwell, Ed Staniowski and Paul MacLean from the St. Louis Blues for Scott Campbell and John Markell. Maxwell, a stay-at-home defenseman, had three goals and 13 points in 40 games with the Blues in 1980-81, while Staniowski posted a 10-3-3 record with a 4.28 GAA in 19 games as a backup to Mike Liut in St. Louis. MacLean had 36 goals and 78 points in 80 games with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the CHL.

Twelve days later on July 15, 1981, the Jets were involved in a three-way deal with the Colorado Rockies and Vancouver Canucks. Winnipeg originally traded Ivan Hlinka to the Vancouver Canucks for Brent Ashton and the Canucks fourth round draft pick at the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. The Jets then traded Ashton and their own third round pick in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft to the Colorado Rockies for Lucien DeBlois. DeBlois had 26 goals and 42 points in 74 games with Colorado during the 1980-81 season.

One day before the regular season began, on October 5, 1981, the Jets picked up Serge Savard from the Montreal Canadiens in the waiver draft. Savard, who played with the Canadiens since the 1966-67 season, had four goals and 17 points in 77 games during the 1980-81 season. Savard was a seven time Stanley Cup champion.

Regular season

Final standings
Norris Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Minnesota North Stars8037232034628894
Winnipeg Jets8033331431933280
St. Louis Blues803240831534972
Chicago Black Hawks8030381233236372
Toronto Maple Leafs8020441629838056
Detroit Red Wings8021471227035154

[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, 19811–6Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)0–1–0
2WOctober 9, 19818–3New York Rangers (1981–82)1–1–0
3WOctober 14, 19814–2@ Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)2–1–0
4WOctober 15, 19815–4@ Calgary Flames (1981–82)3–1–0
5LOctober 18, 19813–4Colorado Rockies (1981–82)3–2–0
6TOctober 21, 19812–2@ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82)3–2–1
7TOctober 23, 19815–5Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)3–2–2
8WOctober 25, 19819–4Los Angeles Kings (1981–82)4–2–2
9LOctober 28, 19816–7@ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)4–3–2
10WOctober 31, 19816–5@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)5–3–2
11WNovember 3, 19815–3@ Colorado Rockies (1981–82)6–3–2
12WNovember 6, 19814–3Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)7–3–2
13LNovember 8, 19811–5@ Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)7–4–2
14LNovember 10, 19813–5New York Islanders (1981–82)7–5–2
15LNovember 11, 19812–15@ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)7–6–2
16WNovember 14, 19813–2@ Los Angeles Kings (1981–82)8–6–2
17LNovember 17, 19814–6@ Calgary Flames (1981–82)8–7–2
18LNovember 18, 19814–6Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)8–8–2
19TNovember 21, 19811–1@ St. Louis Blues (1981–82)8–8–3
20WNovember 22, 19815–4St. Louis Blues (1981–82)9–8–3
21WNovember 25, 19817–2Colorado Rockies (1981–82)10–8–3
22TNovember 27, 19815–5Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)10–8–4
23LNovember 29, 19812–10Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)10–9–4
24LDecember 1, 19811–2@ Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82)10–10–4
25LDecember 2, 19812–4@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82)10–11–4
26LDecember 4, 19813–7@ Washington Capitals (1981–82)10–12–4
27WDecember 6, 19815–2New York Islanders (1981–82)11–12–4
28TDecember 9, 19813–3@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)11–12–5
29TDecember 11, 19815–5Montreal Canadiens (1981–82)11–12–6
30LDecember 13, 19811–2Detroit Red Wings (1981–82)11–13–6
31TDecember 16, 19813–3@ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)11–13–7
32WDecember 17, 19814–2@ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)12–13–7
33LDecember 19, 19814–8Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)12–14–7
34WDecember 20, 19815–4St. Louis Blues (1981–82)13–14–7
35LDecember 22, 19812–5@ New York Islanders (1981–82)13–15–7
36LDecember 23, 19812–5@ New York Rangers (1981–82)13–16–7
37LDecember 26, 19812–3Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)13–17–7
38TDecember 27, 19812–2Detroit Red Wings (1981–82)13–17–8
39LDecember 30, 19811–6Hartford Whalers (1981–82)13–18–8
40LJanuary 3, 19825–8Boston Bruins (1981–82)13–19–8
41WJanuary 6, 19825–3@ Hartford Whalers (1981–82)14–19–8
42LJanuary 7, 19826–8@ Boston Bruins (1981–82)14–20–8
43WJanuary 9, 19824–2@ Detroit Red Wings (1981–82)15–20–8
44TJanuary 10, 19824–4Montreal Canadiens (1981–82)15–20–9
45WJanuary 13, 19826–1Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82)16–20–9
46TJanuary 15, 19824–4New York Rangers (1981–82)16–20–10
47LJanuary 17, 19825–7Quebec Nordiques (1981–82)16–21–10
48WJanuary 20, 19823–0Washington Capitals (1981–82)17–21–10
49WJanuary 22, 19826–5Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)18–21–10
50TJanuary 26, 19823–3@ Detroit Red Wings (1981–82)18–21–11
51WJanuary 27, 19824–3@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)19–21–11
52LJanuary 30, 19821–2@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82)19–22–11
53LFebruary 2, 19826–10@ St. Louis Blues (1981–82)19–23–11
54WFebruary 5, 19826–4Calgary Flames (1981–82)20–23–11
55LFebruary 10, 19823–4@ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82)20–24–11
56LFebruary 13, 19823–7@ Montreal Canadiens (1981–82)20–25–11
57LFebruary 16, 19823–7@ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82)20–26–11
58TFebruary 19, 19824–4Quebec Nordiques (1981–82)20–26–12
59LFebruary 21, 19823–6Washington Capitals (1981–82)20–27–12
60WFebruary 24, 19826–2Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82)21–27–12
61TFebruary 26, 19824–4Buffalo Sabres (1981–82)21–27–13
62WFebruary 28, 19825–2St. Louis Blues (1981–82)22–27–13
63WMarch 2, 19827–6@ Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82)23–27–13
64WMarch 3, 19824–2@ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)24–27–13
65WMarch 5, 19822–0Detroit Red Wings (1981–82)25–27–13
66WMarch 7, 19825–2Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)26–27–13
67LMarch 10, 19822–6@ Hartford Whalers (1981–82)26–28–13
68LMarch 11, 19824–7@ Boston Bruins (1981–82)26–29–13
69WMarch 13, 198210–2@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)27–29–13
70WMarch 16, 19827–3@ St. Louis Blues (1981–82)28–29–13
71WMarch 17, 19823–2@ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)29–29–13
72WMarch 20, 19827–0Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)30–29–13
73WMarch 21, 19828–2Detroit Red Wings (1981–82)31–29–13
74WMarch 24, 19825–3Los Angeles Kings (1981–82)32–29–13
75TMarch 26, 19824–4St. Louis Blues (1981–82)32–29–14
76LMarch 28, 19820–5@ Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)32–30–14
77WMarch 30, 19827–5@ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)33–30–14
78LMarch 31, 19822–4@ Detroit Red Wings (1981–82)33–31–14
79LApril 2, 19822–5Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)33–32–14
80LApril 4, 19821–2@ Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)33–33–14

Playoffs

They faced the St. Louis Blues in the Division Semifinals, losing 3 games to 1.

Player statistics

Awards and records

Transactions

Trades
July 3, 1981 To St. Louis Blues
Scott Campbell
John Markell		 To Winnipeg Jets
Bryan Maxwell
Ed Staniowski
Paul MacLean
July 15, 1981 To Vancouver Canucks
Ivan Hlinka		 To Winnipeg Jets
Brent Ashton
4th round pick in 1982 - Tom Martin
July 15, 1981 To Colorado Rockies
Brent Ashton
2nd round pick in 1982 - Dave Kasper		 To Winnipeg Jets
Lucien DeBlois
July 27, 1981 To Minnesota North Stars
Lindsay Middlebrook		 To Winnipeg Jets
Cash
September 8, 1981 To New York Rangers
3rd round pick in 1983 - Vesa Salo		 To Winnipeg Jets
Doug Soetaert
December 19, 1981 To Montreal Canadiens
6th round pick in 1982 - Ernie Vargas		 To Winnipeg Jets
Serge Savard

Waivers
October 5, 1981 From Montreal Canadiens
Craig Levie

Free agents
Acquired PlayerFormer Team
Bengt LundholmUndrafted Free Agent
Departing PlayerNew Team
Michel DionPittsburgh Penguins

Roster
1981-82 Winnipeg Jets
Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

Centres

Draft picks

The Jets selected the following players at the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, on June 10, 1981.[2]

NHL Amateur Draft
Round Pick Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team
11Dale Hawerchuk (C) CanadaCornwall Royals (QMJHL)
222Scott Arniel (LW) CanadaCornwall Royals (QMJHL)
343Jyrki Seppa (D) FinlandIlves Tampere (SM-liiga)
464Kirk McCaskill (LW) CanadaUniversity of Vermont (NCAA)
585Marc Behrend (G) United StatesUniversity of Wisconsin (NCAA)
6106Bob O'Connor (G) United StatesBoston College (NCAA)
7127Peter Nilsson (D) SwedenHammarby IK (SEL)
8148Dan McFall (D) United StatesBuffalo Jr. Sabres (NYPJHL)
9169Greg Dick (D) United StatesSaint Mary's University of Minnesota (NCAA)
10190Vladimir Kadlec (D) Czech RepublicHC Vitkovice (Czech.)
11211Dave Kirwin (D) United StatesIrondale (MN) High School

Farm teams

See also

References
  1. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
  2. "1981 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
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