# 1981–82 Edmonton Oilers season

The 1981–82 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' third season in the NHL. The Oilers dramatically improved on their previous two seasons, as they finished with a franchise record 48 wins and 111 points, winning the Smythe Division for the first time in team history. The Oilers set an NHL record with 417 goals, the first time in NHL history that a team finished with over 400 goals.
Wayne Gretzky continued rewriting the record books, scoring an NHL record 92 goals, which included 50 goals in 39 games, also an NHL record. Gretzky's 212 points was also a record, and it was the first time in NHL history that a player had over 200 points, as he won his third Hart Memorial Trophy and his second Art Ross Trophy.
Mark Messier broke the 50 goal plateau for the first time in his career, while Glenn Anderson got 105 points. Paul Coffey led the defense with 89 points.
In goal, Grant Fuhr became the starting goalie, and would break the Oilers franchise record for wins in a season with 28. He also led the club with a 3.31 GAA and a .898 save percentage.
For the first time in their short NHL history, the Oilers entered the Stanley Cup playoffs as a clear favorite to make a deep postseason run. Going into the playoffs, the Oilers faced the Los Angeles Kings, and after splitting the first 2 games, the Oilers held a 5–0 lead on the Kings heading into the 3rd period of game 3. Los Angeles came back to tie the game 5–5, before completing the comeback with an overtime goal, taking a 2–1 series lead. The game came to be known as the Miracle on Manchester. Edmonton came back to tie the series in game 4, but the Kings eliminated Edmonton in game 5, shocking the hockey world, and ending the Oilers season a lot sooner than expected.

## Season 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 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 24 | 41 | 15 | 314 | 369 | 63 |
| Colorado Rockies | 80 | 18 | 49 | 13 | 241 | 362 | 49 |
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
Team
CGY
COL
EDM
LAK
VAN
Total
Calgary
—6−22−5−14−3−13−3−215−13−4
Colorado
2−6—2−5−12−4−22−4−28−19−5
Edmonton
5−2−15−2−1—5−1−25−2−120−7−5
Los Angeles
3−4−14−2−21−5−2—3−2−311−13−8
Vancouver
3−3−24−2−22−5−12−3−3—11−13−8
Vs. Norris Division
1981–82 NHL records
Team
CHI
DET
MIN
STL
TOR
WIN
Total
Calgary
0−2−11−1−10−1−21−21−0−21−24−8−6
Colorado
2−10−30−1−21−20−1−21−24−10−4
Edmonton
1−1−12−0−12−0−13−02−12−112−3−3
Los Angeles
0−32−10−2−12−11−20−35−12−1
Vancouver
2−11−1−11−1−11−22−0−12−19−6−3
Vs. Wales Conference
Vs. Adams Division
1981–82 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
HFD
MTL
QUE
Total
Calgary
1−1−12−0−12−11−23−09−4−2
Colorado
0−30−32−0−10−2−11−23−10−2
Edmonton
0−1−22−12−0−10−1−21−25−5−5
Los Angeles
0−31−20−2−11−21−0−23−9−3
Vancouver
1−21−1−12−0−11−21−1−16−6−3
Vs. Patrick Division
1981–82 NHL records
Team
NYI
NYR
PHI
PIT
WSH
Total
Calgary
0−1−20−2−10−31−0−20−31−9−5
Colorado
0−2−10−2−11−20−32−13−10−2
Edmonton
1−1−13−02−13−02−0−111−2−2
Los Angeles
2−11−20−2−11−1−11−1−15−7−3
Vancouver
1−20−32−0–10–2−11−1−14–8–3 :

## Schedule and results

1981–82 Game Log :

## Playoffs

1982 Stanley Cup playoffs :

## Season stats
### Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Wayne Gretzky | 80 | 92 | 120 | 212 | 26 |
| Glenn Anderson | 80 | 38 | 67 | 105 | 71 |
| Paul Coffey | 80 | 29 | 60 | 89 | 106 |
| Mark Messier | 78 | 50 | 38 | 88 | 119 |
| Jari Kurri | 71 | 32 | 54 | 86 | 32 |

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | Save % | GAA |
| Grant Fuhr | 48 | 2847 | 28 | 5 | 14 | 157 | 0 | .898 | 3.31 |
| Ron Low | 29 | 1554 | 17 | 7 | 1 | 100 | 0 | .874 | 3.86 |
| Andy Moog | 8 | 399 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 32 | 0 | .842 | 4.81 |

## Playoff stats
### Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Wayne Gretzky | 5 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 8 |
| Glenn Anderson | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 |
| Jari Kurri | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 10 |
| Risto Siltanen | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Dave Lumley | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 21 |

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | Save % | GAA |
| Grant Fuhr | 5 | 309 | 2 | 3 | 26 | 0 | N/A | 5.05 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

* Art Ross Trophy: Wayne Gretzky
* Associated Press Athlete of the Year: Wayne Gretzky
** Note: He would win that award on January 12, 1983
* Hart Memorial Trophy: Wayne Gretzky
* Lou Marsh Trophy: Wayne Gretzky
* Lester B. Pearson Award: Wayne Gretzky
* NHL Plus/Minus Award: Wayne Gretzky
* First NHL All-Star team: Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier
* Second NHL All-Star team: Grant Fuhr and Paul Coffey

### Records

* 417: An NHL team record for most goals in a single season.
      * 400: A new NHL team record for most goals in a single season on March 26, 1982.
* 212: An NHL record for most points in a single season by Wayne Gretzky.
      * 165: A new NHL record for most points in a single season by Wayne Gretzky on February 19, 1982.
* 200: First NHL player to hit a 200-point-milestone by Wayne Gretzky on March 25, 1982.
* 120: An NHL record for most assists in a single season by Wayne Gretzky.
      * 110: A new NHL record for most assists in a single season by Wayne Gretzky on March 19, 1982.
* 92: An NHL record for most goals in a single season by Wayne Gretzky.
      * 77: A new NHL record for most goals in a single season by Wayne Gretzky on February 24, 1982.
* 68: An NHL record for most even strength goals in a single season by Wayne Gretzky.
      * 53: A new NHL record for most even strength goals in a single season by Wayne Gretzky on February 17, 1982.

### Milestones

Regular Season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Walt Poddubny | 1st NHL Game | October 7, 1981 |
| Garry Unger | 1,000th NHL PIM | October 7, 1981 |
| Grant Fuhr | 1st NHL Game | October 14, 1981 |
| Mark Messier | 100th NHL Point | October 14, 1981 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 200th NHL Assist | October 18, 1981 |
| Doug Hicks | 500th NHL Game | October 18, 1981 |
| Grant Fuhr | 1st NHL Win | October 21, 1981 |
| Risto Siltanen | 100th NHL Point | October 21, 1981 |
| Grant Fuhr | 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point | October 23, 1981 |
| Lee Fogolin | 100th NHL Assist | October 24, 1981 |
| Lee Fogolin | 500th NHL Game | October 27, 1981 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 7th NHL Hat-trick 2nd Four-Goal NHL Game | October 31, 1981 |
| Matti Hagman | 100th NHL Point | October 31, 1981 |
| Paul Coffey | 100th NHL Game | November 11, 1981 |
| Dave Semenko | 300th NHL PIM | November 12, 1981 |
| Pat Hughes | 300th NHL PIM | November 14, 1981 |
| Lee Fogolin | 700th NHL PIM | November 17, 1981 |
| Stan Weir | 300th NHL Point | November 19, 1981 |
| Ken Berry | 1st NHL Game | November 21, 1981 |
| Glenn Anderson | 3rd NHL Hat-trick | November 23, 1981 |
| Todd Strueby | 1st NHL Game | November 23, 1981 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 8th NHL Hat-trick 3rd Four-Goal NHL Game | November 25, 1981 |
| Marc Habscheid | 1st NHL Game 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point | November 25, 1981 |
| Marc Habscheid | 1st NHL Goal | November 29, 1981 |
| Pat Hughes | 200th NHL Game | December 1, 1981 |
| Mark Messier | 2nd NHL Hat-trick | December 2, 1981 |
| Ken Berry | 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point | December 4, 1981 |
| Mike Forbes | 1st NHL Goal | December 5, 1981 |
| Dave Lumley | 100th NHL Point | December 9, 1981 |
| Jari Kurri | 100th NHL Game | December 16, 1981 |
| Jari Kurri | 100th NHL Point | December 17, 1981 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 9th NHL Hat-trick | December 19, 1981 |
| Dave Lumley | 1st NHL Hat-trick | December 19, 1981 |
| Kevin Lowe | 200th NHL PIM | December 23, 1981 |
| Ken Berry | 1st NHL Goal | December 27, 1981 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 400th NHL Point 10th NHL Hat-trick 4th Four-Goal NHL Game | December 27, 1981 |
| Doug Hicks | 400th NHL PIM | December 27, 1981 |
| Glenn Anderson | 100th NHL Point | December 30, 1981 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 50th Goal in 39 Games 11th NHL Hat-trick 2nd Five-Goal NHL Game | December 30, 1981 |
| Matti Hagman | 200th NHL Game | December 30, 1981 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 200th NHL Game | January 2, 1982 |
| Glenn Anderson | 100th NHL Game | January 6, 1982 |
| Paul Coffey | 200th NHL PIM | January 14, 1982 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 12th NHL Hat-trick | January 20, 1982 |
| Paul Coffey | 100th NHL Point | January 26, 1982 |
| Pat Hughes | 100th NHL Point | January 29, 1982 |
| Mark Messier | 200th NHL Game | January 29, 1982 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 13th NHL Hat-trick | January 31, 1982 |
| Kevin Lowe | 200th NHL Game | February 6, 1982 |
| Paul Coffey | 2nd NHL Gordie Howe hat trick | February 12, 1982 |
| Dave Hunter | 200th NHL Game | February 12, 1982 |
| Mark Messier | 300th NHL PIM | February 12, 1982 |
| Mark Messier | 3rd NHL Hat-trick | February 17, 1982 |
| Risto Siltanen | 100th NHL Assist | February 17, 1982 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 14th NHL Hat-trick | February 19, 1982 |
| Dave Hunter | 100th NHL Point | February 21, 1982 |
| Garry Unger | 800th NHL Point | February 21, 1982 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 15th NHL Hat-trick 4th NHL Natural Hat-trick | February 24, 1982 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 300th NHL Assist | March 10, 1982 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 16th NHL Hat-trick | March 17, 1982 |
| Risto Siltanen | 200th NHL Game | March 17, 1982 |
| Wayne Gretzky | 500th NHL Point | March 19, 1982 |
| Laurie Boschman | 3rd NHL Gordie Howe Hat-trick | March 25, 1982 |
| Risto Siltanen | 100th NHL PIM | March 26, 1982 |
| Garry Lariviere | 200th NHL Game | March 28, 1982 |
| Dave Lumley | 300th NHL PIM 1st NHL Gordie Howe Hat-trick 200th NHL Game | March 28, 1982 |
| Dave Semenko | 400th NHL PIM | March 28, 1982 |
| Lee Fogolin | 800th NHL PIM | March 31, 1982 |
| Mark Messier | 50th Goal in 79 Games | March 31, 1982 |
Playoffs :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Grant Fuhr | 1st NHL Game | April 7, 1982 |
| Charlie Huddy | 1st NHL Game 1st NHL Goal 1st NHL Point | April 7, 1982 |
| Tom Roulston | 1st NHL Game 1st NHL Goal 1st NHL Point | April 7, 1982 |
| Risto Siltanen | 1st NHL Assist | April 7, 1982 |
| Grant Fuhr | 1st NHL Win | April 8, 1982 |
| Charlie Huddy | 1st NHL Assist | April 8, 1982 |
| Dave Hunter | 1st NHL Assist | April 8, 1982 |
| Dave Lumley | 1st NHL Assist | April 8, 1982 |
| Lee Fogolin | 1st NHL Goal | April 10, 1982 |
| Randy Gregg | 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point | April 10, 1982 |
| Dave Hunter | 50th NHL PIM | April 10, 1982 |
| Garry Unger | 100th NHL PIM | April 10, 1982 |
| Grant Fuhr | 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point | April 12, 1982 |
| Garry Unger | 50th NHL Game | April 12, 1982 |
| Randy Gregg | 1st NHL Game | TBD |

## Transactions
### Trades

| August 10, 1981 | To Los Angeles Kings 5th round pick in 1983 – Garry Galley | To Edmonton Oilers Jay McFarlane |
| August 21, 1981 | To Minnesota North Stars Don Murdoch | To Edmonton Oilers Don Jackson *3rd round pick in 1982 – Wally Chapman |
| December 11, 1981 | To New York Rangers Eddie Mio | To Edmonton Oilers Lance Nethery |
| March 9, 1982 | To Colorado Rockies Stan Weir | To Edmonton Oilers Ed Cooper |
| March 9, 1982 | To Toronto Maple Leafs Walt Poddubny Phil Drouillard | To Edmonton Oilers Laurie Boschman |
| March 9, 1982 | To Washington Capitals Doug Hicks | To Edmonton Oilers Todd Bidner |
* Later traded to the Minnesota North Stars

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team |
| October 5, 1981 (1981-10-05) | Gary Edwards | to St. Louis Blues |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term |
| July 7, 1981 (1981-07-07) | Matti Hagman | 1-year |
| July 7, 1981 (1981-07-07) | Dave Hunter | 3-year |

### Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 1981 NHL Entry Draft
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 8 | Grant Fuhr | Canada | Victoria Cougars (WHL) |
| 2 | 29 | Todd Strueby | Canada | Regina Pats (WHL) |
| 4 | 71 | Paul Houck | Canada | Kelowna Buckaroos (BCJHL) |
| 5 | 92 | Phil Drouillard | Canada | Niagara Falls Flyers (OHL) |
| 6 | 111 | Steve Smith | Canada | London Knights (OHL) |
| 7 | 132 | Marc Habscheid | Canada | Saskatoon Blades (WHL) |
| 8 | 155 | Mike Sturgeon | Canada | Kelowna Buckaroos (BCJHL) |
| 9 | 176 | Miloslav Horava | Czechoslovakia | Kladno Poldi (Czechoslovak Extraliga) |
| 10 | 197 | Gord Sherven | Canada | Weyburn Beavers (SSHL) |