1981–82 Detroit Red Wings season

1981–82 Detroit Red Wings
1981–82 Detroit Red Wings
Division	6th Norris
Conference	10th Campbell
1981–82 record	21–47–12
Home record	15–19–6
Road record	6–28–6
Goals for	270
Goals against	351
Team information
General manager	Jimmy Skinner
Coach	Wayne Maxner (Oct–Mar) ; Billy Dea (Mar–Apr)
Captain	Reed Larson
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Joe Louis Arena
Average attendance	12,496
Team leaders
Goals	John Ogrodnick (28)
Assists	Mark Osborne (41)
Points	Mark Osborne (67)
Penalty minutes	Reed Larson (112)
Plus/minus	Jim Schoenfeld (2)
Wins	Bob Sauve (11)
Goals against average	Bob Sauve (4.19)

The 1981–82 Detroit Red Wings season was the 50th season as the Red Wings, 56th overall for the franchise. They missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season.

Offseason

The National Hockey League realigned their divisions into geographically closer groupings. The Red Wings were the only team to remain in the Norris Division from the previous season, while the division itself was moved from the Prince of Wales Conference to the Campbell Conference, trading places with the Patrick Division. The Red Wings were joined in the Norris by the Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, and Winnipeg Jets.

Regular season

Final standings

Norris Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Minnesota North Stars	80	37	23	20	346	288	94
Winnipeg Jets	80	33	33	14	319	332	80
St. Louis Blues	80	32	40	8	315	349	72
Chicago Black Hawks	80	30	38	12	332	363	72
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	20	44	16	298	380	56
	80	21	47	12	270	351	54

^[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.

Record vs. opponents

Norris Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Norris Division

1981–82 NHL records^[2]
Team	CHI	DET	MIN	STL	TOR	WIN	Total
Chicago	—	3−3−1	3−3−1	2−4−1	3−4	2−3−2	13−17−5
	3−3−1	—	1−6	2−5	3−3−1	2−3−2	11−20−4
Minnesota	3−3−1	6−1	—	3−3−1	4−0−3	3−3−1	19−10−6
St. Louis	4−2−1	5−2	3−3−1	—	5−2	1−4−2	18−13−4
Toronto	4−3	3−3−1	0−4−3	2−5	—	2−4−1	11−19−5
Winnipeg	3−2−2	3−2−2	3−3−1	4−1−2	4−2−1	—	17−10−8

Vs. Smythe Division

1981–82 NHL records
Team	CGY	COL	EDM	LAK	VAN	Total
Chicago	2−0−1	1−2	1−1−1	3−0	1−2	8−5−2
	1−1−1	3−0	0−2−1	1−2	1−1−1	6−6−3
Minnesota	1−0−2	1−0−2	0−2−1	2−0−1	1−1−1	5−3−7
St. Louis	2−1	2−1	0−3	1−2	2−1	7−8−0
Toronto	0−1−2	1−0−2	1−2	2−1	0−2−1	4−6−5
Winnipeg	2−1	2−1	1−2	3−0	1−2	9−6−0

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Adams Division

1981–82 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	HFD	MTL	QUE	Total
Chicago	2−1	1−2	1−1−1	0−2−1	1−2	5−8−2
	0−2−1	0−3	0−2−1	1−2	0−3	1−12−2
Minnesota	2−1	1−1−1	2−1	0−1−2	2−0−1	7−4−4
St. Louis	1−1−1	1−2	1−2	0−2−1	1−2	4−9−2
Toronto	0−3	0−2−1	0−3	0−2−1	1−1−1	1−11−3
Winnipeg	0−3	0−1−2	1−2	0−1−2	0−2−1	1−9−5

Vs. Patrick Division

1981–82 NHL records
Team	NYI	NYR	PHI	PIT	WSH	Total
Chicago	0−3	0−3	1−1−1	1−0−2	2−1	4−8−3
	0−3	1−2	0−2−1	2−1	0−1−2	3−9−3
Minnesota	0−2−1	1−2	1−1−1	2−1	2−0−1	6−6−3
St. Louis	0−2−1	0−2−1	0−3	2−1	1−2	3−10−2
Toronto	0−3	1−1−1	1−2	1−0−2	1−2	4−8−3
Winnipeg	1−2	1−1−1	2–1	1–2	1−2	6–8–1

Schedule and results

1981–82 regular season^[3]

October

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 6, 1981	5–2	@ New York Rangers (1981–82)	1–0–0
2	T	October 9, 1981	2–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82)	1–0–1
3	L	October 10, 1981	3–6	@ Washington Capitals (1981–82)	1–1–1
4	W	October 15, 1981	6–3	St. Louis Blues (1981–82)	2–1–1
5	L	October 17, 1981	1–8	@ Hartford Whalers (1981–82)	2–2–1
6	W	October 18, 1981	3–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82)	3–2–1
7	T	October 22, 1981	2–2	Boston Bruins (1981–82)	3–2–2
8	L	October 24, 1981	3–8	@ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82)	3–3–2
9	L	October 25, 1981	1–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82)	3–4–2
10	W	October 29, 1981	12–4	Calgary Flames (1981–82)	4–4–2
11	L	October 31, 1981	4–5	@ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)	4–5–2

November

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
12	W	November 1, 1981	3–1	Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)	5–5–2
13	W	November 5, 1981	10–2	Los Angeles Kings (1981–82)	6–5–2
14	L	November 7, 1981	2–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1981–82)	6–6–2
15	L	November 9, 1981	3–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82)	6–7–2
16	T	November 11, 1981	5–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)	6–7–3
17	T	November 13, 1981	3–3	@ Washington Capitals (1981–82)	6–7–4
18	W	November 14, 1981	6–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)	7–7–4
19	L	November 18, 1981	1–8	@ Los Angeles Kings (1981–82)	7–8–4
20	L	November 19, 1981	3–8	@ Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)	7–9–4
21	T	November 21, 1981	4–4	@ Calgary Flames (1981–82)	7–9–5
22	L	November 23, 1981	4–8	@ Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)	7–10–5
23	L	November 25, 1981	1–3	Buffalo Sabres (1981–82)	7–11–5
24	L	November 28, 1981	3–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82)	7–12–5
25	L	November 29, 1981	3–6	Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)	7–13–5

December

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
26	L	December 1, 1981	5–7	@ St. Louis Blues (1981–82)	7–14–5
27	W	December 3, 1981	4–3	Montreal Canadiens (1981–82)	8–14–5
28	L	December 5, 1981	2–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82)	8–15–5
29	W	December 10, 1981	4–1	Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)	9–15–5
30	L	December 12, 1981	2–4	Buffalo Sabres (1981–82)	9–16–5
31	W	December 13, 1981	2–1	@ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82)	10–16–5
32	L	December 17, 1981	2–3	Quebec Nordiques (1981–82)	10–17–5
33	L	December 19, 1981	1–5	@ New York Islanders (1981–82)	10–18–5
34	L	December 20, 1981	3–5	New York Islanders (1981–82)	10–19–5
35	L	December 22, 1981	2–3	Hartford Whalers (1981–82)	10–20–5
36	L	December 26, 1981	3–8	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)	10–21–5
37	T	December 27, 1981	2–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82)	10–21–6
38	L	December 31, 1981	2–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)	10–22–6

January

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
39	W	January 2, 1982	3–1	@ Colorado Rockies (1981–82)	11–22–6
40	L	January 3, 1982	3–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)	11–23–6
41	L	January 6, 1982	2–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82)	11–24–6
42	W	January 7, 1982	5–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82)	12–24–6
43	L	January 9, 1982	2–4	Winnipeg Jets (1981–82)	12–25–6
44	W	January 14, 1982	3–1	Colorado Rockies (1981–82)	13–25–6
45	T	January 16, 1982	5–5	Washington Capitals (1981–82)	13–25–7
46	T	January 17, 1982	4–4	Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)	13–25–8
47	W	January 20, 1982	5–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)	14–25–8
48	L	January 21, 1982	4–7	Calgary Flames (1981–82)	14–26–8
49	T	January 23, 1982	2–2	Hartford Whalers (1981–82)	14–26–9
50	T	January 26, 1982	3–3	Winnipeg Jets (1981–82)	14–26–10
51	L	January 27, 1982	6–8	@ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)	14–27–10
52	L	January 30, 1982	3–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1981–82)	14–28–10

February

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
53	W	February 4, 1982	6–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)	15–28–10
54	L	February 6, 1982	2–6	@ New York Islanders (1981–82)	15–29–10
55	W	February 7, 1982	8–5	St. Louis Blues (1981–82)	16–29–10
56	T	February 11, 1982	4–4	Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)	16–29–11
57	L	February 13, 1982	1–6	@ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)	16–30–11
58	T	February 17, 1982	3–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)	16–30–12
59	W	February 18, 1982	4–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)	17–30–12
60	L	February 20, 1982	5–7	Boston Bruins (1981–82)	17–31–12
61	L	February 21, 1982	3–7	Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)	17–32–12
62	W	February 23, 1982	6–3	@ Colorado Rockies (1981–82)	18–32–12
63	L	February 24, 1982	3–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1981–82)	18–33–12
64	L	February 27, 1982	2–6	@ St. Louis Blues (1981–82)	18–34–12
65	L	February 28, 1982	4–5	Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)	18–35–12

March

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
66	L	March 3, 1982	4–6	@ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)	18–36–12
67	L	March 5, 1982	0–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82)	18–37–12
68	L	March 6, 1982	1–5	@ St. Louis Blues (1981–82)	18–38–12
69	L	March 8, 1982	3–6	@ New York Rangers (1981–82)	18–39–12
70	L	March 11, 1982	1–4	New York Rangers (1981–82)	18–40–12
71	L	March 13, 1982	3–5	@ Boston Bruins (1981–82)	18–41–12
72	L	March 18, 1982	4–7	St. Louis Blues (1981–82)	18–42–12
73	L	March 20, 1982	3–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)	18–43–12
74	L	March 21, 1982	2–8	@ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82)	18–44–12
75	L	March 24, 1982	4–6	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)	18–45–12
76	L	March 25, 1982	3–4	Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)	18–46–12
77	W	March 27, 1982	2–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)	19–46–12
78	W	March 28, 1982	6–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)	20–46–12
79	W	March 31, 1982	4–2	Winnipeg Jets (1981–82)	21–46–12

April

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
80	L	April 4, 1982	2–3	St. Louis Blues (1981–82)	21–47–12

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Mark Osborne	LW	80	26	41	67	61	-7	5	0	3
Reed Larson	D	80	21	39	60	112	-17	4	2	2
Mike Blaisdell	RW	80	23	32	55	48	-15	5	0	3
Walt McKechnie	C	74	18	37	55	35	-1	2	0	3
John Ogrodnick	LW	80	28	26	54	28	-15	3	2	3
Willie Huber	D	74	15	30	45	98	-16	5	0	2
Mark Kirton	C	74	14	28	42	62	-18	0	1	0
Vaclav Nedomansky	RW	68	12	28	40	22	-15	1	0	0
Greg Smith	D	69	10	22	32	79	-22	2	0	1
Dale McCourt	C	26	13	14	27	6	-3	6	0	0
Paul Woods	LW	75	10	17	27	48	-5	0	1	1
Mike Foligno	RW	26	13	13	26	28	-2	3	0	0
Eric Vail	LW	52	10	14	24	35	-21	3	0	0
Danny Gare	RW	36	13	9	22	74	-4	2	1	0
Don Murdoch	RW	49	9	13	22	23	1	1	0	1
Derek Smith	C/LW	49	6	14	20	10	-4	0	0	0
Jody Gage	RW	31	9	10	19	2	-1	0	0	1
Ted Nolan	C	41	4	13	17	45	-6	0	2	0
Jim Schoenfeld	D	39	5	9	14	69	2	0	0	0
John Barrett	D	69	1	12	13	93	-31	0	0	0
Jim Korn	D/LW	59	1	7	8	104	-19	0	0	0
Mark Lofthouse	RW/C	12	3	4	7	13	-7	0	0	0
Greg Joly	D	37	1	5	6	30	-5	0	1	0
George Lyle	LW	11	1	2	3	4	-2	0	0	0
Brad Smith	RW	33	2	0	2	80	-7	0	0	1
Claude Loiselle	C	4	1	0	1	2	-2	1	0	0
Brent Peterson	C	15	1	0	1	6	-6	0	0	0
Rejean Cloutier	D	2	0	1	1	2
Gilles Gilbert	G	27	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Claude Legris	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Corrado Micalef	G	18	0	0	0	9	0	0	0	0
Joe Paterson	LW	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Bob Sauve	G	41	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Greg Stefan	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA
Bob Sauve	2365	41	11	25	4	165	4.19
Gilles Gilbert	1478	27	6	10	6	105	4.26
Corrado Micalef	809	18	4	10	1	63	4.67
Claude Legris	28	1	0	0	1	0	0.00
Greg Stefan	120	2	0	2	0	10	5.00
Team:	4800	80	21	47	12	343	4.29

^[4]

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

Transactions

Draft picks

Detroit's draft picks at the 1981 NHL entry draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	23	Claude Loiselle	Canada	Windsor Spitfires (OMJHL)
3	44	Corrado Micalef	Canada	Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
5	86	Larry Trader	Canada	London Knights (OMJHL)
6	107	Gerard Gallant	Canada	Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
7	128	Greg Stefan	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
8	149	Rick Zombo	United States	Austin Mavericks (USHL)
9	170	Don LeBlanc	United States	Moncton Hawks (NBJHL)
10	191	Robert Nordmark	Sweden	Frolunda (Sweden)

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.
^ "1981-82 Detroit Red Wings Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
^ "1981-82 Detroit Red Wings Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 2, 2009.

[nhl-gd-standings-1] Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.

[2] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[Gamelog-3] "1981-82 Detroit Red Wings Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2025.

[4] "1981-82 Detroit Red Wings Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 2, 2009.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Detroit Red Wings
Founded in 1926 Based in Detroit, Michigan
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season
History	History (Original Six) Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Ilitch Holdings (Christopher Ilitch, chairman) General manager Steve Yzerman Head coach Todd McLellan Team captain Dylan Larkin Current roster
Arenas	Windsor Arena Olympia Stadium Joe Louis Arena Little Caesars Arena
Rivalries	Chicago Blackhawks Colorado Avalanche Toronto Maple Leafs
Affiliates	AHL Grand Rapids Griffins ECHL Toledo Walleye
Media	TV Bally Sports Detroit Radio WXYT WXYT-FM
Culture and lore	Victoria Cougars Al the Octopus Grind Line Hockeytown Legend of the Octopus Production Line Red Wings–Avalanche brawl Hakan Andersson "Stanley's Cup" (South Park) Russian Five Karen Newman Budd Lynch Al Sobotka London Lions "Don't Stop Believin'" "Without Me" Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F 1938 European tour 1954 prison game 2009 Winter Classic 2014 Winter Classic 2016 Stadium Series Centennial Classic 2025 Stadium Series
Category Commons

Detroit Red Wings seasons
1920s	1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
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 2024–25 2025–26
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

1981–82 NHL season
Patrick	NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh Washington
Adams	Boston Buffalo Hartford Montreal Quebec
Norris	Chicago Minnesota St. Louis Toronto Winnipeg
Smythe	Calgary Colorado Edmonton Los Angeles Vancouver
See also	Draft Waiver draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup playoffs Miracle on Manchester Towel Power Stanley Cup Finals

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference

Schedule and results

Player statistics

Regular season

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

See also

References