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RE-LIVE THE EDMONTON OILERS 1981-82 SEASON
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Robin Brownlee
Oct 2, 2015, 12:47 EDTUpdated: Invalid DateTime
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It was just their third NHL season, but everything about it looked like a coming out party for the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers won 48 games and finished second in league standings with 111 points, scoring an NHL record 417 goals along the way. Wayne Gretzky scored 50 goals in 39 games and finished with 92 goals and 212 points. What a bash it was shaping up to be.
A lot of people thought the record-setting Oilers might just steamroll their way to the Stanley Cup final and a date with the powerhouse New York Islanders in that third season, but a funny thing happened on the way to their date with destiny. That would be the Miracle On Manchester.
The Oilers blew a 5-0 lead to the Los Angeles Kings in the third period of the third game of the Smythe Division semifinal at The Great Western Forum on the way to a 6-5 overtime loss in a series the Kings, who finished 48 points behind them, would win in five games. Turn out the lights.
RECORD 48-17-15 111 pts. .694 
GD 417-295 plus-122  SH% 15.5 SV% —

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS

1982-03-09
Laurie Boschman traded by Toronto for Phil Drouilliard and Walt Poddubny.
1982-03-09
Doug Hicks traded to Washington for Todd Bidner.
1982-03-09
Stan Weir traded to Colorado for Ed Cooper.
1981-12-11
Eddie Mio traded to NY Rangers for Lance Nethery.
1981-10-08
Gary Edwards claimed on waivers by St. Louis.
1981-10-06
Ray Cote signed as free agent.
1981-08-21
Don Jackson traded by Minnesota with 3rd round pick in 1982 (Wally Champman (Minnesota)) for Don Murdoch.
1981-06-10
Grant Fuhr drafted 8th overall.
1981-06-10
Marc Habscheid drafted 113th overall.
1981-06-10
Gord Sherven drafted 197th overall.
1981-06-10
Steve Smith drafted 111th overall.
1981-06-10
Todd Strueby drafted 29th overall.
1981-05-05
John Blum signed as free agent.
With much of their core already assembled in the 1979 and 1980 drafts, the Oilers added goaltender Grant Fuhr and defenseman Steve Smith in the 1981 draft. They also acquired blueliner Don Jackson from Minnesota.

LEADING SCORERS

Scoring
Player
Pos 
Age 
GP 
G
A
PTS 
+/- 
PIM 
S
S%
Wayne Gretzky
C
21
80
92
120
212
81
26
369 
24.9 
Glenn Anderson
RW
21
80
38
67
105
46
71
252
15.1
Paul Coffey
D
20
80
29
60
89
35
106
234
12.4
Mark Messier
LW
21
78
50
38
88
21
119
235
21.3
Jari Kurri
LW
21
71
32
54
86
38
32
211
15.2
Dave Lumley
RW
27
66
32
42
74
12
96
148
21.6
Risto Siltanen
D
23
63
15
48
63
13
26
143
10.5
Matti Hagman
C
26
72
21
38
59
15
18
94
22.3
Pat Hughes
RW
26
68
24
22
46
21
99
167
14.4
Kevin Lowe
D
22
80
9
31
40
46
63
110
8.2

SEASON RECAP

No superlative seemed over-the-top in describing the Oilers rapid rise just three seasons after joining the NHL from the WHA. Most notably, there was Gretzky’s single-handed assault on the record book – his 50 goal in 39 games, his record 92 goals and 212 points. Gretzky finished 65 points ahead of runner-up Mike Bossy of the Islanders in the Art Ross Trophy race.
Edmonton’s 417 goals – the first time a team scored more than 400 goals – would leave them 32 ahead of the runner-up Islanders and 57 ahead of the third-place Montreal Canadiens. Simply put, with Gretzky, Glenn Anderson (105 points), Mark Messier (50 goals) and eight players boasting 20-or-more goals, the Oilers could score at will, and often did.
With all that firepower and Fuhr assuming the bulk of the workload in goal (48 appearances), the Oilers looked poised to keep a date with the Islanders. The Kings were supposed to be first-round patsies. Edmonton went into the post-season having won five of their last seven games, a stretch that included 6-2 and 7-3 wins over Los Angeles.

RETHINKING THE SEASON

There’s not much to re-think. With the Smythe Division semifinal tied 1-1 after two games in Edmonton, the Oilers season turned in a span of 17:09 in the third period of Game 3 at the Forum. With the Oilers up 5-0 after 40 minutes on two goals by Gretzky and others by Messier, Lee Fogolin and Risto Siltanen, the Kings staged what’s still considered the greatest rally in Cup history.
Jay Wells cut it to 5-1 at 2:46. Doug Smith made it 5-2 on a power play at 5:58 before Charlie Simmer and Mark Hardy cut it to 5-4 with 4:01 to go. With Edmonton’s Gary Unger in the box serving a five-minute major for high-sticking and goaltender Mario Lessard on the bench, the Kings came all the way back to tie it 5-5 when rookie Steve Bozek buried a rebound behind Fuhr with five seconds remaining in regulation time.
When Daryl Evans beat Fuhr high to the glove side off a face-off 2:35 into overtime, the Miracle was complete and the Kings led the series 2-1. The Oilers tied the series with a 3-2 win but the Kings completed their stunning upset with a 7-4 win back in Edmonton to advance to the next round, leaving the record-setting Oilers on the outside looking in.
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260.

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