# 1981–82 New York Rangers season

The 1981–82 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 56th season. During the regular season, the Rangers finished second in the Patrick Division with 92 points and qualified for the NHL playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, New York defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, three games to one, to advance to the Patrick Division Finals. There, the Rangers lost to the New York Islanders in six games.

## Final standings

Patrick Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
| New York Islanders | 80 | 54 | 16 | 10 | 385 | 250 | 118 |
| New York Rangers | 80 | 39 | 27 | 14 | 316 | 306 | 92 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 38 | 31 | 11 | 325 | 313 | 87 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 31 | 36 | 13 | 310 | 337 | 75 |
| Washington Capitals | 80 | 26 | 41 | 13 | 319 | 338 | 65 |
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
1981–82 NHL records
Team
NYI
NYR
PHI
PIT
WSH
Total
N.Y. Islanders
—6−26−1−16−27−0−125−5−2
N.Y. Rangers
2−6—4−2−24−3−13−2−313−13−6
Philadelphia
1−6−12−4−2—5−2−13−4−111−16−5
Pittsburgh
2−63−4−12–5–1—5−2−112−17−3
Washington
0−7−12−3−34–3–12–5–1—8−18−6
Vs. Adams Division
1981–82 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
HFD
MTL
QUE
Total
N.Y. Islanders
1−21−22−0−12−11−1−17−6−2
N.Y. Rangers
1−22−0−11−1−11−21−1−16−6−3
Philadelphia
2−12−13−01−21−1−19−5−1
Pittsburgh
1−1−11−22−0−11−23−08−5−2
Washington
0−30−32−12−10−2−14−10−1
Vs. Campbell Conference
Vs. Norris Division
1981–82 NHL records
Team
CHI
DET
MIN
STL
TOR
WIN
Total
N.Y. Islanders
3−03−02−0−12−0−13−02−115−1−2
N.Y. Rangers
3−02−12−12−0−11−1−11−1−111−4−3
Philadelphia
1−1−12−0−11−1−13−02−11−210−5−3
Pittsburgh
0−1−21−21−21−20−1−22−15−9−4
Washington
1−21−0−20−2−12−12−12−18−7−3
Vs. Smythe Division
1981–82 NHL records
Team
CGY
COL
EDM
LAK
VAN
Total
N.Y. Islanders
1−0−22−0−11−1−11−22−17−4−4
N.Y. Rangers
2−0−12−0−10−32−13−09−4−2
Philadelphia
3−02−11−22−0−10−2−18−5−2
Pittsburgh
0−1−23−00−31−1−12−0−16−5−4
Washington
3−01−20−2−11−1−11−1−16−6−3 :

## Schedule and results

1981–82 Game Log :
October: 3–8–0 (Home: 2–4–0; Road: 1–4–0)
GameOctoberOpponentScoreRecord
16Detroit Red Wings5–20–1–0
29@ Winnipeg Jets8–30–2–0
310@ Minnesota North Stars7–00–3–0
414Vancouver Canucks2–11–3–0
517@ New York Islanders5–41–4–0
618St. Louis Blues5–32–4–0
721Los Angeles Kings5–22–5–0
824@ Toronto Maple Leafs5–33–5–0
925Montreal Canadiens4–23–6–0
1028Edmonton Oilers5–33–7–0
1131@ Boston Bruins7–33–8–0 :
November: 5–5–3 (Home: 3–2–2; Road: 2–3–1)
GameNovemberOpponentScoreRecord
121Calgary Flames4–24–8–0
134@ Pittsburgh Penguins6–34–9–0
145@ Philadelphia Flyers6–25–9–0
157@ Washington Capitals3–16–9–0
1611Buffalo Sabres7–37–9–0
1713@ Buffalo Sabres3–37–9–1
1815Edmonton Oilers5–37–10–1
1918Philadelphia Flyers5–28–10–1
2021@ New York Islanders4–38–11–1
2122New York Islanders7–28–12–1
2225Toronto Maple Leafs3–38–12–2
2328@ Quebec Nordiques7–48–13–2
2429Quebec Nordiques4–48–13–3 :
December: 7–4–2 (Home: 4–4–0; Road: 3–0–2)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreRecord
252@ Los Angeles Kings4–39–13–3
265@ Colorado Rockies2–110–13–3
276Hartford Whalers5–310–14–3
289Boston Bruins4–310–15–3
2912@ Philadelphia Flyers5–311–15–3
3014Pittsburgh Penguins5–412–15–3
3116Philadelphia Flyers7–312–16–3
3219@ Pittsburgh Penguins3–312–16–4
3320Washington Capitals3–212–17–4
3423Winnipeg Jets5–213–17–4
3526@ Washington Capitals4–413–17–5
3627Pittsburgh Penguins5–314–17–5
3730New York Islanders6–415–17–5 :
January: 9–3–2 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 5–2–1)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreRecord
382@ Montreal Canadiens6–516–17–5
393Washington Capitals4–316–18–5
407Vancouver Canucks4–117–18–5
419Chicago Black Hawks7–518–18–5
4211Minnesota North Stars5–319–18–5
4313@ Minnesota North Stars2–020–18–5
4415@ Winnipeg Jets4–420–18–6
4518@ Toronto Maple Leafs6–220–19–6
4620New York Islanders3–221–19–6
4723@ New York Islanders6–121–20–6
4824Washington Capitals4–421–20–7
4927@ Washington Capitals5–422–20–7
5029@ Colorado Rockies5–223–20–7
5131@ Los Angeles Kings6–324–20–7 :
February: 6–3–3 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 4–1–2)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreRecord
522@ Vancouver Canucks4–325–20–7
534@ Calgary Flames4–425–20–8
547@ Edmonton Oilers8–425–21–8
5510@ St. Louis Blues3–325–21–9
5613@ Hartford Whalers3–226–21–9
5714Quebec Nordiques5–227–21–9
5817@ Pittsburgh Penguins5–328–21–9
5918Colorado Rockies4–428–21–10
6021Montreal Canadiens4–228–22–10
6124Chicago Black Hawks6–429–22–10
6227@ Boston Bruins6–430–22–10
6328Pittsburgh Penguins4–230–23–10 :
March: 9–3–3 (Home: 4–1–2; Road: 5–2–1)
GameMarchOpponentScoreRecord
643Calgary Flames4–231–23–10
654@ Philadelphia Flyers4–431–23–11
666@ New York Islanders6–431–24–11
678Detroit Red Wings6–332–24–11
6810Philadelphia Flyers5–532–24–12
6911@ Detroit Red Wings4–133–24–12
7014Washington Capitals5–533–24–13
7117Philadelphia Flyers5–234–24–13
7220@ Washington Capitals4–335–24–13
7321St. Louis Blues8–536–24–13
7424@ Pittsburgh Penguins7–237–24–13
7526@ Buffalo Sabres8–538–24–13
7628@ Philadelphia Flyers3–138–25–13
7729New York Islanders7–338–26–13
7831@ Chicago Black Hawks4–139–26–13 :
April: 0–1–1 (Home: 0–1–0; Road: 0–0–1)
GameAprilOpponentScoreRecord
792Pittsburgh Penguins7–539–27–13
803@ Hartford Whalers3–339–27–14 :

## Playoffs

Key: Win Loss
1982 Stanley Cup playoffs :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| Mike Rogers | 80 | 38 | 65 | 103 | 2 | 43 |
| Ron Duguay | 72 | 40 | 36 | 76 | 18 | 82 |
| Mark Pavelich | 79 | 33 | 43 | 76 | 21 | 67 |
| Ed Johnstone | 68 | 30 | 28 | 58 | −5 | 57 |
| Don Maloney | 54 | 22 | 36 | 58 | 9 | 73 |
| Reijo Ruotsalainen | 78 | 18 | 38 | 56 | 18 | 27 |
| Dave Maloney | 64 | 13 | 36 | 49 | 2 | 105 |
| Barry Beck | 60 | 9 | 29 | 38 | 19 | 111 |
| Dave Silk | 64 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 17 | 39 |
| Robbie Ftorek$^†$ | 30 | 8 | 24 | 32 | 8 | 24 |
| Mikko Leinonen | 53 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 2 | 18 |
| Pat Hickey$^{†‡}$ | 53 | 15 | 14 | 29 | −15 | 32 |
| Mike Allison | 48 | 7 | 15 | 22 | −3 | 74 |
| Tom Laidlaw | 79 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 7 | 104 |
| Steve Vickers | 34 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 4 | 13 |
| Andre Dore | 56 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 10 | 64 |
| Nick Fotiu | 70 | 8 | 10 | 18 | −7 | 151 |
| Ron Greschner | 29 | 5 | 11 | 16 | −11 | 16 |
| Rob McClanahan$^‡$ | 22 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 10 |
| Dean Talafous | 29 | 6 | 7 | 13 | −3 | 8 |
| Jere Gillis$^‡$ | 26 | 3 | 9 | 12 | −2 | 16 |
| Carol Vadnais | 50 | 5 | 6 | 11 | −2 | 45 |
| Ed Hospodar | 41 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −8 | 152 |
| Peter Wallin | 40 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| Tom Younghans$^†$ | 47 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 17 |
| Tim Bothwell | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −5 | 10 |
| Steve Weeks | 49 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Morrison | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −5 | 0 |
| Mike Backman | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 4 |
| Anders Hedberg | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 0 |
| Lance Nethery$^‡$ | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Robbie Ftorek | 10 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 11 |
| Don Maloney | 10 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 10 |
| Reijo Ruotsalainen | 10 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 2 |
| Ed Johnstone | 10 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 25 |
| Rob McClanahan | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 |
| Mikko Leinonen | 7 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 20 |
| Mike Rogers | 9 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| Dave Silk | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Barry Beck | 10 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 14 |
| Mark Pavelich | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| Ron Duguay | 10 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 31 |
| Dave Maloney | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Cam Connor | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| Mike Allison | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 18 |
| Tom Laidlaw | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| Nick Fotiu | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Andre Dore | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| Carol Vadnais | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Gary Burns | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Claude Larose | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Backman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Tom Younghans | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO |
| Steve Weeks | 49 | 2852 | 23 | 16 | 9 | 179 | 3.77 | 1345 | .867 | 1 |
| Eddie Mio | 25 | 1500 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 89 | 3.56 | 767 | .884 | 0 |
| Steve Baker | 6 | 328 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 33 | 6.04 | 163 | .798 | 0 |
| John Davidson | 1 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.00 | 29 | .966 | 0 |
| John Vanbiesbrouck | 1 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.00 | 30 | .967 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Eddie Mio | 8 | 443 | 4 | 3 | 28 | 3.79 | 0 |
| Steve Weeks | 4 | 127 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 4.25 | 0 |
| John Davidson | 1 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5.45 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only. $^‡$Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
    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;

## Transactions

* September 8, 1981 – Rangers trade Doug Soetaert to the Winnipeg Jets for a 1983 3rd round pick.
* October 2, 1981 – Rangers acquire Mike Rogers from the Hartford Whalers for Chris Kotsopoulos, Doug Sulliman, and Gerry McDonald.
* October 16, 1981 – Rangers acquire Pat Hickey from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 1982 5th round pick.
* October 30, 1981 – Rangers acquire the rights to Tom Younghans from the Minnesota North Stars for cash.
* December 11, 1981 – Rangers acquire Eddie Mio from the Edmonton Oilers for Lance Nethery.
* December 30, 1981 – Rangers acquire Robbie Ftorek and a 1982 8th round pick from the Quebec Nordiques for Jere Gillis and Dean Talafous. Talafous, however, did not report to the Nordiques and an arbitrator awarded Pat Hickey to the Nordiques on March 8, 1982.
* February 2, 1982 – Rangers acquire Rob McClanahan from the Hartford Whalers for a 1982 10th round pick.

## Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1981 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal, Canada at the Montreal Forum.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 9 | James Patrick | D | Canada | Prince Albert Raiders (SJHL) |
| 2 | 30 | Jan Erixon | LW | Sweden | Skelleftea AIK (Elitserien) |
| 3 | 50 | Peter Sundstrom | LW | Sweden | Bjorkloven (Elitserien) |
| 3 | 51 | Mark Morrison | C | Canada | Victoria Cougars (WHL) |
| 4 | 72 | John Vanbiesbrouck | G | United States | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) |
| 6 | 114 | Eric Magnuson | C | United States | R.P.I. (NCAA) |
| 7 | 135 | Mike Guentzel | D | United States | Greenway (Minn H.S.) |
| 8 | 156 | Ari Lahteenmaki | RW | Finland | HIFK (FNL) |
| 9 | 177 | Paul Reifenberger | C | United States | Anoka High School (Minnesota) |
| 10 | 198 | Mario Proulx | G | Canada | Providence College (NCAA) |