1976 – 77 Colorado Rockies season The 1976 – 77 Colorado Rockies season was the Rockies ' first season . The former Kansas City Scouts relocated in the off - season to Denver . With the World Hockey Association ' s Denver Spurs leaving Denver in a midnight move to Ottawa , Ontario just about 10 months earlier , Denver would get a franchise and the team would be anointed the Colorado Rockies . The team moved from Kansas City , which was a two - year NHL franchise that struggled from the beginning . < ref name = " The Colorado Rockies 1976 / 77 " > The Colorado Rockies 1976 / 77 < / ref > The team took to the ice for their first regular season against the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 6 , 1976 . Rockies goalie Doug Favell played extremely well stopping 39 of the Toronto 41 shots on net . Wilf Paiement notching one goal , two assists and a fight . Rookie Larry Skinner scored the first NHL regular season goal for the franchise . The final score was 4 – 2 . The team was competitive in the Smythe Division for a major portion of the season . Early in the season , the Rockies picked up wins by either the goon tactics of Steve Durbano , or through the heroic feats of their goalies , Doug Favell and Michel Plasse . Bill McKenzie was also a goalie for the Rockies but only got into five games . Offseason . NHL draft . • The draft was held while the franchise was in Kansas City . Regular season . On some nights , the Rockies could come back from two and three goal deficits to get ties or the occasional win , but then the next night the team would be overmatched by one of the elite teams in the league . Steve Durbano . Goonery was a big part of hockey in 1976 and the Rockies goon was Steve Durbano . After losing three in a row , Durbano tried to get the Rockies going with goon tactics . One particular incident included one game against the Blackhawks . Durbano took out Blackhawk star Stan Mikita behind the Colorado net . Jim Harrison of the Blackhawks came off the bench to get after Durbano , who was already at the Rockies bench . A fight began , and Durbano began to drop the mitts . Harrison was kicked out of the game . Rockies coach Johnny Wilson was quick to point out that the Durbano fight inspired the team and a late - game fight between legendary Bobby Orr and Rockie Roger Lemelin helped secure the victory . The Rockies really gelled as a team after the scrap . Winger Colin Campbell beat Blackhawk goalie Tony Esposito less than one - and - one - half minutes later to cut the Blackhawk lead to 2 – 1 . The next goal was off the stick of Wilf Paiement , his second of the season , to tie the game . Then Gary Croteau scored to stake the Rockies to a 3 – 2 lead at the end of the second period . Despite the goonery , Durbano did not last long with the franchise . One of Durbano ' s last games with the Rockies was against the St . Louis Blues . Again the Rockies were down 2 – 0 when Durbano tried to change the course of the game . Blues player Bob Plager was involved with interference . This drew an immediate response by Durbano , who retaliated by spearing Plager . Blues player Pierre Plante immediately went after Durbano . The two were eventually separated . As Durbano was being taken to the penalty box by linesman Malcolm Ashford he broke free , grabbed his helmet and fired it at Plager as he was in the penalty box . Durbano was ejected from the game . Reacting to the incident , Paiement scored shorthanded on the resulting Blues power play to cut the Blues lead to 2 – 1 . This would be the final score as the Rockies effort fell just short . Goaltending . Teams were launching over 40 and 50 shots on net against Plasse and Favell . After a November game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens , Plasse was noticeably hurt . The Canadiens were blasting the puck towards Plasse all game . One shot off the stick of Canadiens player Murray Wilson put Plasse down in the second period with an arm injury , but the goalie was able to get up and finish the game . The Rockies ' forwards were able to come back twice from two - goal deficits to finally tie the game at three a piece with just about nine minutes left in the third . However it was Plasse preserved the tie stand by stopping 47 of 50 shots , 20 in the third period . Ray Miron . A November 2 – 1 loss to the Cleveland Barons raised the ire of General Manager Ray Miron . During the second intermission , Miron burst into the locker room and said that if the Rockies didn ' t pull the game out , he was going to call up three minor leaguers and send down three Rockies . Miron kept his word after the 2 – 1 Rockies loss and called up Mike Kitchen , Paul Gardner and Jim McElmury . Gardner made a quick impact , tallying five goals in his first four NHL games . Kitchen helped shore up the defense . Despite a 5 – 3 loss to the Bruins , Bruin coach Don Cherry raved that he was " impressed " with the Rockies . Playoff contention . The Rockies would be successful in upending divisional rivals the Minnesota North Stars . It took three goals in the third period , including two in the final two minutes , to win the game 4 - 2 . After the game , coach Johnny Wilson was raving for his team . The Rockies had taken over sole possession of third place in the Smythe Division with the win . By February 1 , the Rockies had a two - point third - place lead over Minnesota and Vancouver . The Rockies would face the New York Rangers on February 1 , and the goaltender Plasse would stop 48 of 50 Ranger shots . His performance would help the Rockies to a 5 - 2 win . The win extended their third place lead to four points . A February 6 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins saw the Rockies score four unanswered third period goals to win the game 5 - 2 . The Rockies had a former member of the WHA ’ s Denver Spurs on the club . Ron Delorme , the former Spur , would score the game winner in his first stint with the team . He had been playing with Baltimore in the Southern Hockey League . The Rockies continued to be successful . The club enjoyed an 8 - 6 win against Minnesota , as it extended their third place margin to five points ahead of them . The Rockies were only five points behind second - place Chicago . On February 16 , the Rockies won their fourth game of the season against the Detroit Red Wings . A February 20 triumph against the North Stars would be the last highlight of the season for the club . By March 27 , the Rockies were officially out of the playoff hunt . This was attributed to an 18 - game winless streak that began on February 22 . The goaltending of Doug Favell and Plasse kept the team in contention during many games . A typical night saw the goaltenders facing 50 shots . When the Rockies were based in Kansas City , the Scouts had finished their tenure in Kansas City by only winning one game in their final 44 . The winless streak finally stopped in a 6 - 3 win against the Vancouver Canucks . This was the second - to - the - last game of the season . The Rockies season ended with a loss to the LA Kings . Farm teams . In 1976 – 77 , the Rockies had affiliations with three different teams , including : the Flint Generals , the Greensboro Generals , and the Rhode Island Reds . References . < / div >