1981–82 Los Angeles Kings season

1981–82 Los Angeles Kings
1981–82 Los Angeles Kings
Division	4th Smythe
Conference	8th Campbell
1981–82 record	24–41–15
Home record	19–15–6
Road record	5–26–9
Goals for	314
Goals against	369
Team information
General manager	George Maguire
Coach	Parker MacDonald; Don Perry
Captain	Dave Lewis
Alternate captains	None
Arena	The Forum
Average attendance	10,742
Team leaders
Goals	Marcel Dionne (51)
Assists	Marcel Dionne (67)
Points	Marcel Dionne (117)
Penalty minutes	Jay Wells (145)
Plus/minus	John Gibson (4)
Wins	Mario Lessard (13)
Goals against average	Mario Lessard (4.39)

The 1981–82 Los Angeles Kings season, was the Kings' 15th season in the National Hockey League. It saw the Kings make the playoffs, winning the first round before falling in the second round to the Vancouver Canucks. The first round upset of the heavily favored Edmonton Oilers is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in NHL history.

Offseason

The Kings were moved to the Smythe Division. The Kings now were in a division with western teams.

Regular season

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	286	77
Calgary Flames	80	29	34	17	334	345	75
	80	24	41	15	314	369	63
Colorado Rockies	80	18	49	13	241	362	49

^[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

Smythe Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Smythe Division

1981–82 NHL records^[2]
Team	CGY	COL	EDM	LAK	VAN	Total
Calgary	—	6−2	2−5−1	4−3−1	3−3−2	15−13−4
Colorado	2−6	—	2−5−1	2−4−2	2−4−2	8−19−5
Edmonton	5−2−1	5−2−1	—	5−1−2	5−2−1	20−7−5
	3−4−1	4−2−2	1−5−2	—	3−2−3	11−13−8
Vancouver	3−3−2	4−2−2	2−5−1	2−3−3	—	11−13−8

Vs. Norris Division

1981–82 NHL records
Team	CHI	DET	MIN	STL	TOR	WIN	Total
Calgary	0−2−1	1−1−1	0−1−2	1−2	1−0−2	1−2	4−8−6
Colorado	2−1	0−3	0−1−2	1−2	0−1−2	1−2	4−10−4
Edmonton	1−1−1	2−0−1	2−0−1	3−0	2−1	2−1	12−3−3
	0−3	2−1	0−2−1	2−1	1−2	0−3	5−12−1
Vancouver	2−1	1−1−1	1−1−1	1−2	2−0−1	2−1	9−6−3

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Adams Division

1981–82 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	HFD	MTL	QUE	Total
Calgary	1−1−1	2−0−1	2−1	1−2	3−0	9−4−2
Colorado	0−3	0−3	2−0−1	0−2−1	1−2	3−10−2
Edmonton	0−1−2	2−1	2−0−1	0−1−2	1−2	5−5−5
	0−3	1−2	0−2−1	1−2	1−0−2	3−9−3
Vancouver	1−2	1−1−1	2−0−1	1−2	1−1−1	6−6−3

Vs. Patrick Division

1981–82 NHL records
Team	NYI	NYR	PHI	PIT	WSH	Total
Calgary	0−1−2	0−2−1	0−3	1−0−2	0−3	1−9−5
Colorado	0−2−1	0−2−1	1−2	0−3	2−1	3−10−2
Edmonton	1−1−1	3−0	2−1	3−0	2−0−1	11−2−2
	2−1	1−2	0−2−1	1−1−1	1−1−1	5−7−3
Vancouver	1−2	0−3	2−0–1	0–2−1	1−1−1	4–8–3

Schedule and results

1981–82 regular season^[3]

October

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 7, 1981	1–4	New York Islanders (1981–82)	0–1–0
2	L	October 10, 1981	4–7	Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)	0–2–0
3	W	October 13, 1981	4–3	Calgary Flames (1981–82)	1–2–0
4	W	October 15, 1981	10–2	Colorado Rockies (1981–82)	2–2–0
5	L	October 17, 1981	4–5	Boston Bruins (1981–82)	2–3–0
6	W	October 20, 1981	9–6	@ New York Islanders (1981–82)	3–3–0
7	W	October 21, 1981	5–2	@ New York Rangers (1981–82)	4–3–0
8	L	October 24, 1981	3–6	@ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)	4–4–0
9	L	October 25, 1981	4–9	@ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82)	4–5–0
10	W	October 27, 1981	8–7	Quebec Nordiques (1981–82)	5–5–0
11	W	October 29, 1981	4–3	Washington Capitals (1981–82)	6–5–0
12	L	October 31, 1981	4–5	@ St. Louis Blues (1981–82)	6–6–0

November

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
13	L	November 4, 1981	4–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)	6–7–0
14	L	November 5, 1981	2–10	@ Detroit Red Wings (1981–82)	6–8–0
15	L	November 7, 1981	4–9	Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)	6–9–0
16	W	November 10, 1981	4–2	Montreal Canadiens (1981–82)	7–9–0
17	W	November 12, 1981	5–2	St. Louis Blues (1981–82)	8–9–0
18	L	November 14, 1981	2–3	Winnipeg Jets (1981–82)	8–10–0
19	W	November 18, 1981	8–1	Detroit Red Wings (1981–82)	9–10–0
20	L	November 19, 1981	3–6	@ Calgary Flames (1981–82)	9–11–0
21	L	November 21, 1981	1–7	Buffalo Sabres (1981–82)	9–12–0
22	L	November 25, 1981	4–11	@ Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)	9–13–0
23	L	November 26, 1981	1–7	@ Calgary Flames (1981–82)	9–14–0
24	W	November 28, 1981	3–2	Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)	10–14–0

December

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
25	L	December 2, 1981	3–4	New York Rangers (1981–82)	10–15–0
26	L	December 5, 1981	2–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)	10–16–0
27	T	December 9, 1981	5–5	Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)	10–16–1
28	W	December 12, 1981	7–5	Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)	11–16–1
29	W	December 15, 1981	4–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82)	12–16–1
30	L	December 16, 1981	6–7	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82)	12–17–1
31	T	December 19, 1981	5–5	@ Hartford Whalers (1981–82)	12–17–2
32	L	December 20, 1981	4–6	@ Boston Bruins (1981–82)	12–18–2
33	L	December 22, 1981	2–4	@ Colorado Rockies (1981–82)	12–19–2
34	W	December 23, 1981	8–4	Colorado Rockies (1981–82)	13–19–2
35	T	December 26, 1981	2–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)	13–19–3
36	L	December 27, 1981	3–10	@ Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)	13–20–3
37	L	December 30, 1981	2–3	@ Colorado Rockies (1981–82)	13–21–3

January

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
38	T	January 2, 1982	5–5	Calgary Flames (1981–82)	13–21–4
39	L	January 5, 1982	3–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82)	13–22–4
40	T	January 7, 1982	3–3	@ Washington Capitals (1981–82)	13–22–5
41	L	January 9, 1982	3–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)	13–23–5
42	L	January 10, 1982	4–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82)	13–24–5
43	L	January 12, 1982	1–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1981–82)	13–25–5
44	L	January 14, 1982	2–5	@ Calgary Flames (1981–82)	13–26–5
45	T	January 15, 1982	3–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)	13–26–6
46	T	January 19, 1982	4–4	Colorado Rockies (1981–82)	13–26–7
47	T	January 21, 1982	3–3	Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)	13–26–8
48	T	January 23, 1982	3–3	@ Colorado Rockies (1981–82)	13–26–9
49	T	January 24, 1982	5–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)	13–26–10
50	T	January 27, 1982	4–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82)	13–26–11
51	W	January 30, 1982	7–4	St. Louis Blues (1981–82)	14–26–11
52	L	January 31, 1982	3–6	New York Rangers (1981–82)	14–27–11

February

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
53	L	February 2, 1982	3–5	Hartford Whalers (1981–82)	14–28–11
54	W	February 6, 1982	5–4	Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)	15–28–11
55	L	February 7, 1982	2–7	Montreal Canadiens (1981–82)	15–29–11
56	T	February 11, 1982	4–4	Quebec Nordiques (1981–82)	15–29–12
57	T	February 13, 1982	3–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82)	15–29–13
58	L	February 14, 1982	4–6	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82)	15–30–13
59	L	February 17, 1982	2–5	Washington Capitals (1981–82)	15–31–13
60	W	February 20, 1982	6–2	Calgary Flames (1981–82)	16–31–13
61	W	February 24, 1982	5–3	Detroit Red Wings (1981–82)	17–31–13
62	L	February 27, 1982	3–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82)	17–32–13

March

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
63	T	March 1, 1982	5–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82)	17–32–14
64	W	March 3, 1982	4–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82)	18–32–14
65	L	March 6, 1982	0–4	@ Boston Bruins (1981–82)	18–33–14
66	L	March 7, 1982	6–7	@ Hartford Whalers (1981–82)	18–34–14
67	W	March 9, 1982	2–0	@ Colorado Rockies (1981–82)	19–34–14
68	W	March 10, 1982	3–2	Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)	20–34–14
69	W	March 13, 1982	3–0	New York Islanders (1981–82)	21–34–14
70	T	March 15, 1982	3–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)	21–34–15
71	W	March 17, 1982	9–4	Calgary Flames (1981–82)	22–34–15
72	W	March 20, 1982	7–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82)	23–34–15
73	L	March 22, 1982	2–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82)	23–35–15
74	L	March 24, 1982	3–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82)	23–36–15
75	W	March 27, 1982	9–4	Colorado Rockies (1981–82)	24–36–15
76	L	March 28, 1982	2–6	Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)	24–37–15
77	L	March 30, 1982	5–7	@ Calgary Flames (1981–82)	24–38–15
78	L	March 31, 1982	3–7	@ Edmonton Oilers (1981–82)	24–39–15

April

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
79	L	April 3, 1982	0–6	Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)	24–40–15
80	L	April 4, 1982	4–7	@ Vancouver Canucks (1981–82)	24–41–15

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

Playoffs

Miracle on Manchester

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Marcel Dionne	C	78	50	67	117	50	-10	17	1	5
Dave Taylor	RW	78	39	67	106	130	-4	13	0	3
Jim Fox	RW	77	30	38	68	23	-15	5	1	0
Larry Murphy	D	79	22	44	66	95	-13	8	1	2
Steve Bozek	LW	71	33	23	56	68	-6	10	0	5
Mark Hardy	D	77	6	39	45	130	-12	1	0	0
Charlie Simmer	LW	50	15	24	39	42	-7	3	0	2
Greg Terrion	LW	61	15	22	37	23	-12	1	0	3
Dan Bonar	C	79	13	23	36	111	-4	1	0	0
Bernie Nicholls	C	22	14	18	32	27	2	8	1	1
Doug Smith	C	80	16	14	30	64	-13	1	0	1
Steve Jensen	LW	45	8	19	27	19	-14	1	0	1
Ian Turnbull	D	42	11	15	26	81	0	1	0	1
John Paul Kelly	LW	70	12	11	23	100	-21	0	0	0
Jerry Korab	D	50	5	13	18	91	-19	3	0	0
Mike Murphy	RW	28	5	10	15	20	0	0	2	0
Dean Hopkins	RW	41	2	13	15	102	-20	0	0	0
Dave Lewis	D	64	1	13	14	75	-19	0	0	0
Trevor Johansen	D	46	3	7	10	69	-14	0	0	0
Rick Chartraw	D/RW	33	2	8	10	56	-11	1	0	0
Jay Wells	D	60	1	8	9	145	2	0	0	0
Daryl Evans	LW	14	2	6	8	2	2	0	0	0
Al Hangsleben	D	18	2	6	8	65	3	0	0	0
Paul Mulvey	LW	11	0	7	7	50	0	0	0	0
Andre St. Laurent	C	16	2	4	6	28	2	0	1	0
Billy Harris	RW	16	1	3	4	6	-9	0	0	0
Rick Martin	LW	3	1	3	4	2	1	1	0	0
Scott Gruhl	LW	7	2	1	3	2	1	0	0	0
Al Sims	D	8	1	1	2	16	-3	0	0	0
Warren Holmes	C	3	0	2	2	0	1	0	0	0
Mario Lessard	G	52	0	2	2	6	0	0	0	0
Robert Palmer	D	5	0	2	2	0	1	0	0	0
Mike Blake	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
John Gibson	D	6	0	0	0	18	4	0	0	0
Glenn Goldup	RW	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Doug Keans	G	31	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dave Morrison	RW	4	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Jim Rutherford	G	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bobby Sheehan	C	4	0	0	0	2	-2	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Mario Lessard	2933	52	13	28	8	213	4.36	2
Doug Keans	1436	31	8	10	7	103	4.30	0
Jim Rutherford	380	7	3	3	0	43	6.79	0
Mike Blake	51	2	0	0	0	2	2.35	0
Team:	4800	80	24	41	15	361	4.51	2

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	GWG
Daryl Evans	LW	10	5	8	13	12	1	1
Marcel Dionne	C	10	7	4	11	0	4	0
Charlie Simmer	LW	10	4	7	11	22	1	1
Dave Taylor	RW	10	4	6	10	20	3	0
Larry Murphy	D	10	2	8	10	12	1	0
Steve Bozek	LW	10	4	1	5	6	2	1
Doug Smith	C	10	3	2	5	11	1	0
Dan Bonar	C	10	2	3	5	11	0	0
Jim Fox	RW	9	1	4	5	0	0	0
Bernie Nicholls	C	10	4	0	4	23	0	1
Jay Wells	D	10	1	3	4	41	0	0
Dean Hopkins	RW	10	0	4	4	15	0	0
Dave Lewis	D	10	0	4	4	36	0	0
Mike Murphy	RW	10	2	1	3	32	0	0
Mark Hardy	D	10	1	2	3	9	0	0
Rick Chartraw	D/RW	10	0	2	2	17	0	0
Jerry Korab	D	10	0	2	2	26	0	0
Mario Lessard	G	10	0	2	2	2	0	0
John Paul Kelly	LW	10	1	0	1	14	1	0
Doug Keans	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brock Tredway	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA
Mario Lessard	583	10	4	5	41	4.22
Doug Keans	32	2	0	1	1	1.88
Team:	615	10	4	6	42	4.10

^[4]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

The Kings were involved in the following transactions during the 1981–82 season.^[5]

Trades

August 10, 1981	To Los Angeles Kings 5th round pick in 1983 – Garry Galley	To Edmonton Oilers Jay McFarlane
August 10, 1981	To Los Angeles Kings Bob Gladney 6th round pick in 1983 – Kevin Stevens	To Toronto Maple Leafs Don Luce
November 11, 1981	To Los Angeles Kings Ian Turnbull	To Toronto Maple Leafs John Gibson Billy Harris

Free agent signings

May 11, 1981	From Cornell University (ECAC) Brock Tredway
July 8, 1981	From Colorado Rockies Bobby Sheehan
August 5, 1981	From Kingston Canadians (OHL) Howard Scruton
January 4, 1982	From Washington Capitals Alan Hangsleben
January 5, 1982	From Ohio State University (NCAA) Mike Blake
April 5, 1982	From University of North Dakota (WCHA) Phil Sykes

Waivers

October 5, 1981	From Hartford Whalers Al Sims
October 5, 1981	From Colorado Rockies Trevor Johansen
December 30, 1981	From Pittsburgh Penguins Paul Mulvey
February 19, 1982	To Toronto Maple Leafs Trevor Johansen
February 23, 1982	To Pittsburgh Penguins André St. Laurent

Draft picks

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

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	2	Doug Smith	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)
2	39	Dean Kennedy	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
4	81	Marty Dallman	Canada	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC)
6	123	Brad Thompson	Canada	London Knights (OMJHL)
7	134	Craig Hurley	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
7	144	Peter Sawkins	United States	St. Paul Academy (USHS-MN)
8	165	Dan Brennan	Canada	University of North Dakota (WCHA)
9	186	Al Tuer	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)
10	207	Jeff Baikie	Canada	Cornell University (ECAC)

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 Los Angeles Kings Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
^ "1981-82 Los Angeles Kings Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
^ "Hockey Transactions Search Results".

[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 Los Angeles Kings Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 27, 2025.

[4] "1981-82 Los Angeles Kings Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 25, 2009.

[5] "Hockey Transactions Search Results".

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Los Angeles Kings
Founded in 1967 Based in Los Angeles, California
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks expansion draft Seasons Current season
History	History 1967 expansion Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Philip Anschutz Ed Roski Jr. General manager Ken Holland Head coach Jim Hiller Team captain Anze Kopitar Current roster
Arenas	Long Beach Arena Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Kia Forum Crypto.com Arena
Rivalries	Anaheim Ducks Edmonton Oilers San Jose Sharks
Affiliates	AHL Ontario Reign ECHL Greenville Swamp Rabbits
Media	TV Bally Sports West Radio KABC (790 AM)
Culture and lore	Bailey Frozen Fury Miracle on Manchester Dieter Ruehle "I Love L.A." 1991 Las Vegas outdoor game Melrose Place Garnet Bailey and Mark Bavis That 70s Line The Love Guru "This is L.A." 2011 NHL Premiere 2014 Stadium Series 2015 Stadium Series Toyota Sports Performance Center 2020 Stadium Series Team monument "Hollywood Nights"
Category

Los Angeles Kings seasons
1960s	1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1979–79 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 Detroit Minnesota St. Louis Toronto Winnipeg
Smythe	Calgary Colorado Edmonton 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

Playoffs

Player statistics

Awards and records

Transactions

Trades

Free agent signings

Waivers

Draft picks

See also

References