1984–85 New Jersey Devils season

1984–85 New Jersey Devils
1984–85 New Jersey Devils
Division	5th Patrick
Conference	10th Wales
1984–85 record	22–48–10
Home record	13–21–6
Road record	9–27–4
Goals for	264
Goals against	346
Team information
General manager	Max McNab
Coach	Doug Carpenter
Captain	Mel Bridgman
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Brendan Byrne Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Mel Bridgman; Aaron Broten (22)
Assists	Dave Pichette (40)
Points	Mel Bridgman (61)
Penalty minutes	Pat Verbeek (162)
Plus/minus	Bob Lorimer (+6)
Wins	Chico Resch (15)
Goals against average	Ron Low (3.85)

The 1984–85 New Jersey Devils season was the 11th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974, and third season since the franchise relocated from Colorado prior to the 1982–83 NHL season.^[1] For the seventh consecutive season the team did not qualify for the playoffs.

Offseason

Lou Vairo joined the team as an assistant coach to Carpenter.^[2]

Regular season

Final standings

Patrick Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Philadelphia Flyers	80	53	20	7	348	241	113
Washington Capitals	80	46	25	9	322	240	101
New York Islanders	80	40	34	6	345	312	86
New York Rangers	80	26	44	10	295	345	62
	80	22	48	10	264	346	54
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	24	51	5	276	385	53

^[3]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

Patrick Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Patrick Division

1984–85 NHL records^[4]
Team	NJD	NYI	NYR	PHI	PIT	WSH	Total
	—	3−2−2	2−5	2−5	5−2	2−4−1	14−18−3
N.Y. Islanders	2−3−2	—	4−3	3−3−1	5−2	3−4	17−15−3
N.Y. Rangers	5−2	3−4	—	0−7	4−3	2−5	14−21−0
Philadelphia	5−2	3−3−1	7−0	—	5−2	5−1−1	25−8−2
Pittsburgh	2−5	2−5	3−4	2–5	—	0−6−1	9−25−1
Washington	4−2−1	4−3	5−2	1–5−1	6−0–1	—	20−13−2

Vs. Adams Division

1984–85 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	HFD	MTL	QUE	Total
	0−3	0−3	0−3	1−1−1	1−1−1	2−11−2
N.Y. Islanders	1−2	2−1	1−1−1	1−2	0−3	5−9−1
N.Y. Rangers	0−1−2	1−1−1	0−1−2	0−2−1	1−2	2−7−6
Philadelphia	2−1	1−1−1	2−0−1	1−2	1−1−1	7−5−3
Pittsburgh	1−2	0−2−1	1−2	1−2	0−3	3−11−1
Washington	2−1	1−2	1−2	1−1−1	2−1	7−7−1

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Norris Division

1984–85 NHL records
Team	CHI	DET	MIN	STL	TOR	Total
	0−3	1−1−1	1−1−1	0−2−1	3−0	5−7−3
N.Y. Islanders	3−0	2−1	1−1−1	3−0	2−1	11−3−1
N.Y. Rangers	0−3	1−2	1−2	2−0−1	2−0−1	6−7−2
Philadelphia	2−1	2−0−1	3−0	3−0	2−1	12−2−1
Pittsburgh	1−2	1−1−1	1−2	1−2	2−1	6−8−1
Washington	3−0	2−1	2−0−1	2−0−1	2−0−1	11−1−3

Vs. Smythe Division

1984–85 NHL records
Team	CGY	EDM	LAK	VAN	WIN	Total
	0−2−1	1−2	0−3	0−3	0−2−1	1−12−2
N.Y. Islanders	1−2	0−2−1	2−1	2−1	2−1	7−7−1
N.Y. Rangers	0−2−1	1−1−1	1−2	2−1	0−3	4−9−2
Philadelphia	2−1	3−0	1−1−1	3−0	0−3	9−5−1
Pittsburgh	2−0−1	1−1−1	0−3	2−1	1−2	6−7−2
Washington	2−1	0−1−2	2−1	3−0	1−2	8−5−2

Schedule and results

1984–85 regular season^[5]

October

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 12, 1984	7–2	New York Islanders (1984–85)	1–0–0
2	L	October 13, 1984	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1984–85)	1–1–0
3	L	October 16, 1984	4–6	@ New York Islanders (1984–85)	1–2–0
4	W	October 19, 1984	4–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1984–85)	2–2–0
5	L	October 20, 1984	3–8	@ St. Louis Blues (1984–85)	2–3–0
6	W	October 24, 1984	5–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1984–85)	3–3–0
7	L	October 25, 1984	2–11	New York Rangers (1984–85)	3–4–0
8	L	October 27, 1984	2–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1984–85)	3–5–0
9	L	October 31, 1984	6–7	Pittsburgh Penguins (1984–85)	3–6–0

November

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
10	T	November 2, 1984	2–2 OT	Minnesota North Stars (1984–85)	3–6–1
11	L	November 3, 1984	4–6	@ Washington Capitals (1984–85)	3–7–1
12	L	November 8, 1984	2–3	Edmonton Oilers (1984–85)	3–8–1
13	T	November 10, 1984	2–2 OT	Washington Capitals (1984–85)	3–8–2
14	L	November 15, 1984	3–5	@ Boston Bruins (1984–85)	3–9–2
15	L	November 17, 1984	0–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1984–85)	3–10–2
16	W	November 18, 1984	6–0	@ New York Rangers (1984–85)	4–10–2
17	L	November 21, 1984	1–8	@ Los Angeles Kings (1984–85)	4–11–2
18	L	November 23, 1984	4–5 OT	@ Minnesota North Stars (1984–85)	4–12–2
19	W	November 24, 1984	5–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1984–85)	5–12–2
20	W	November 27, 1984	3–2	Minnesota North Stars (1984–85)	6–12–2
21	W	November 29, 1984	2–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1984–85)	7–12–2

December

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
22	L	December 1, 1984	3–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1984–85)	7–13–2
23	L	December 4, 1984	1–4	@ Washington Capitals (1984–85)	7–14–2
24	T	December 7, 1984	3–3 OT	Calgary Flames (1984–85)	7–14–3
25	L	December 8, 1984	3–7	@ Quebec Nordiques (1984–85)	7–15–3
26	W	December 11, 1984	7–5	@ New York Islanders (1984–85)	8–15–3
27	T	December 13, 1984	4–4 OT	St. Louis Blues (1984–85)	8–15–4
28	W	December 15, 1984	8–3	Quebec Nordiques (1984–85)	9–15–4
29	W	December 17, 1984	5–2	Edmonton Oilers (1984–85)	10–15–4
30	W	December 19, 1984	3–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1984–85)	11–15–4
31	L	December 20, 1984	4–8	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1984–85)	11–16–4
32	L	December 22, 1984	3–5	New York Rangers (1984–85)	11–17–4
33	L	December 26, 1984	3–5	@ Hartford Whalers (1984–85)	11–18–4
34	W	December 27, 1984	4–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1984–85)	12–18–4
35	L	December 29, 1984	1–2	Buffalo Sabres (1984–85)	12–19–4
36	L	December 31, 1984	4–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1984–85)	12–20–4

January

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
37	L	January 3, 1985	4–6	Vancouver Canucks (1984–85)	12–21–4
38	W	January 5, 1985	5–4	Montreal Canadiens (1984–85)	13–21–4
39	L	January 6, 1985	4–5 OT	@ New York Rangers (1984–85)	13–22–4
40	L	January 10, 1985	2–3	New York Islanders (1984–85)	13–23–4
41	W	January 12, 1985	5–3	Washington Capitals (1984–85)	14–23–4
42	W	January 14, 1985	2–1	@ New York Rangers (1984–85)	15–23–4
43	L	January 15, 1985	2–3	Boston Bruins (1984–85)	15–24–4
44	L	January 18, 1985	6–9	New York Rangers (1984–85)	15–25–4
45	T	January 19, 1985	4–4 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1984–85)	15–25–5
46	L	January 23, 1985	3–6	@ Calgary Flames (1984–85)	15–26–5
47	L	January 25, 1985	2–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1984–85)	15–27–5
48	L	January 29, 1985	3–6	@ Los Angeles Kings (1984–85)	15–28–5
49	L	January 31, 1985	1–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1984–85)	15–29–5

February

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
50	W	February 1, 1985	3–2	New York Islanders (1984–85)	16–29–5
51	T	February 3, 1985	5–5 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1984–85)	16–29–6
52	W	February 7, 1985	6–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1984–85)	17–29–6
53	T	February 9, 1985	2–2 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1984–85)	17–29–7
54	L	February 14, 1985	0–4	Hartford Whalers (1984–85)	17–30–7
55	W	February 16, 1985	6–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1984–85)	18–30–7
56	T	February 17, 1985	2–2 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1984–85)	18–30–8
57	L	February 19, 1985	5–7	@ Vancouver Canucks (1984–85)	18–31–8
58	L	February 21, 1985	3–5	Los Angeles Kings (1984–85)	18–32–8
59	L	February 23, 1985	1–5	Calgary Flames (1984–85)	18–33–8
60	L	February 26, 1985	3–4	Buffalo Sabres (1984–85)	18–34–8
61	L	February 27, 1985	3–6	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1984–85)	18–35–8

March

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
62	L	March 1, 1985	1–4	Hartford Whalers (1984–85)	18–36–8
63	W	March 3, 1985	5–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1984–85)	19–36–8
64	L	March 5, 1985	1–4	@ Washington Capitals (1984–85)	19–37–8
65	T	March 7, 1985	4–4 OT	New York Islanders (1984–85)	19–37–9
66	W	March 9, 1985	8–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1984–85)	20–37–9
67	L	March 10, 1985	1–7	@ Winnipeg Jets (1984–85)	20–38–9
68	L	March 12, 1985	3–6	Winnipeg Jets (1984–85)	20–39–9
69	L	March 14, 1985	4–7	Boston Bruins (1984–85)	20–40–9
70	L	March 17, 1985	3–7	@ New York Rangers (1984–85)	20–41–9
71	L	March 19, 1985	1–4	@ Washington Capitals (1984–85)	20–42–9
72	L	March 21, 1985	2–3	Vancouver Canucks (1984–85)	20–43–9
73	L	March 23, 1985	3–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1984–85)	20–44–9
74	L	March 27, 1985	3–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1984–85)	20–45–9
75	W	March 28, 1985	3–2	Washington Capitals (1984–85)	21–45–9
76	W	March 30, 1985	6–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1984–85)	22–45–9

April

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
77	L	April 2, 1985	4–8	@ St. Louis Blues (1984–85)	22–46–9
78	L	April 3, 1985	0–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1984–85)	22–47–9
79	T	April 6, 1985	5–5 OT	@ New York Islanders (1984–85)	22–47–10
80	L	April 7, 1985	1–6	Philadelphia Flyers (1984–85)	22–48–10

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
Mel Bridgman	C	80	22	39	61	105	-16	5	3	3
Aaron Broten	LW/C	80	22	35	57	38	-18	10	0	2
Dave Pichette	D	71	17	40	57	41	-20	8	0	2
Kirk Muller	LW	80	17	37	54	69	-31	9	1	0
Tim Higgins	RW	71	19	29	48	30	-10	5	0	2
Paul Gagne	LW	79	24	19	43	28	-11	3	0	1
Doug Sulliman	RW	57	22	16	38	4	-11	6	0	1
Pat Verbeek	RW	78	15	18	33	162	-24	5	1	1
John MacLean	RW	61	13	20	33	44	-11	1	0	4
Bruce Driver	D	67	9	23	32	36	-22	3	1	0
Jan Ludvig	RW	74	12	19	31	53	-19	3	0	1
Rick Meagher	C	71	11	20	31	22	-13	1	1	1
Uli Hiemer	D	53	5	24	29	70	-14	3	0	0
Rich Preston	RW	75	12	15	27	26	-24	1	0	1
Joe Cirella	D	66	6	18	24	141	-45	2	0	0
Greg Adams	LW	36	12	9	21	14	-14	5	0	0
Phil Russell	D	66	4	16	20	110	-14	0	1	0
Don Lever	LW	67	10	8	18	31	-29	0	1	1
Dave Lewis	D	74	3	9	12	78	-29	0	0	2
Rocky Trottier	RW	33	5	3	8	2	-3	0	0	0
Bob Lorimer	D	46	2	6	8	35	6	0	0	0
Bob Hoffmeyer	D	37	1	6	7	65	-15	0	0	0
Gary McAdam	LW	4	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0
Rich Chernomaz	RW	3	0	2	2	2	2	0	0	0
Mitch Wilson	C	9	0	2	2	21	1	0	0	0
Hannu Kamppuri	G	13	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Ken Daneyko	D	1	0	0	0	10	-1	0	0	0
Alan Hepple	D	1	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Ron Low	G	26	0	0	0	21	0	0	0	0
Glenn Resch	G	51	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Glenn Resch	2884	51	15	27	5	200	4.16	0
Ron Low	1326	26	6	11	4	85	3.85	1
Hannu Kamppuri	645	13	1	10	1	54	5.02	0
Team:	4855	80	22	48	10	339	4.19	1

^[6]

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

New Jersey's draft picks at the 1984 NHL entry draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	2	Kirk Muller	Canada	Laval Voisins (QMJHL)
2	23	Craig Billington	Canada	Belleville Bulls (OHL)
3	44	Neil Davey	Canada	Michigan State (CCHA)
4	74	Paul Ysebaert	Canada	Petrolia Jets (WOJBHL)
5	86	Jon Morris	United States	Chelmsford High School (USHS-MA)
6	107	Kirk McLean	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
7	128	Ian Ferguson	United States	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
8	149	Vladimir Kames	Czechoslovakia	HC Dukla Jihlava (Czechoslovakia)
9	170	Mike Roth	United States	Hill-Murray High School (USHS-MN)
10	190	Mike Peluso	United States	Greenway High School (USHS-MN)
11	211	Jarkko Piiparinen	Finland	Kiekko-Reipas (Finland)
12	231	Chris Kiene	United States	Springfield Olympics (NEJHL)

References

^ National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.
^ "Lou Vairo Team Staff Profile". Elite Prospects. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
^ 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.
^ "1984-85 New Jersey Devils Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
^ "1984-85 New Jersey Devils Statistics – Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 2, 2009.

[1] National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.

[2] "Lou Vairo Team Staff Profile". Elite Prospects. Retrieved February 25, 2020.

[nhl-gd-standings-3] Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.

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

[Gamelog-5] "1984-85 New Jersey Devils Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 23, 2025.

[6] "1984-85 New Jersey Devils Statistics – Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 2, 2009.

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New Jersey Devils
Formerly the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies Founded in 1974 Based in Newark, New Jersey
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks expansion draft Seasons Current season
History	Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
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Media	TV MSG Sportsnet MSG 2 MSG Network WCBS-TV Radio WFAN WBBR
Culture and lore	John McMullen Arlette Roxburgh Don Koharski Jersey Devil A day with the Cup Mike "Doc" Emrick Hockey Night Live! "The Face Painter" (Seinfeld episode) N.J. Devil Neutral zone trap The Brodeur Rule "Howl" 334 Club "Hip Hop Hooray" "Hells Bells" 2014 Stadium Series 2024 Stadium Series
Category WikiProject Commons

New Jersey Devils seasons
Pre-1982	Kansas City Scouts Colorado Rockies
1980s	1980–81 . 1981–82 . 1982–83 1983–84 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
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

1984–85 NHL season
Patrick	NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh Washington
Adams	Boston Buffalo Hartford Montreal Quebec
Norris	Chicago Detroit Minnesota St. Louis Toronto
Smythe	Calgary Edmonton Los Angeles Vancouver Winnipeg
See also	Draft Waiver draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Campbell Conference

Schedule and results

Player statistics

Regular season

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

See also

References