1976–77 Colorado Rockies season

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1976–77 Colorado Rockies
Division5th Smythe
Conference9th Campbell
1976–77 record20–46–14
Goals for226
Goals against307
Team information
General managerRay Miron
CoachJohnny Wilson
CaptainSimon Nolet
Alternate captainsNone
Team leaders
GoalsWilf Paiement (40)
AssistsWilf Paiement (41)
PointsWilf Paiement (81)
Penalty minutesSteve Durbano (129)
WinsMichel Plasse (12)
Goals against averageBill McKenzie (2.40)

The 1976–77 Colorado Rockies season was the Rockies' first season. The Kansas City Scouts relocated in the off-season to Denver.[1] 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.[2] The team moved from Kansas City, which was a two-year NHL franchise that struggled from the beginning.[3]

The team took to the ice for their first regular season against the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 6, 1976.[3] 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.[4] The final score was 4–2.

The team was competitive in the weak 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 played in only five games.[4]

Offseason[edit]

NHL draft[edit]

The draft was held while the franchise was in Kansas City.

Round # Player Nationality College/junior/club team
1 11 Paul Gardner (C)  Canada Oshawa Generals (OHA)
3 38 Mike Kitchen (D)  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
5 74 Rick McIntyre (LW)  Canada Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
6 92 Larry Skinner (C)  Canada Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)

Regular season[edit]

Final standings[edit]

Smythe Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
St. Louis Blues 80 32 39 9 239 276 73
Minnesota North Stars 80 23 39 18 240 310 64
Chicago Black Hawks 80 26 43 11 240 298 63
Vancouver Canucks 80 25 42 13 235 294 63
Colorado Rockies 80 20 46 14 226 307 54

[5]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[edit]

Smythe Division record vs. opponents


Schedule and results[edit]

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 5 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 1–0–0
2 L October 8 3–5 New York Rangers (1976–77) 1–1–0
3 L October 9 1–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 1–2–0
4 L October 13 2–3 St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 1–3–0
5 W October 15 5–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 2–3–0
6 L October 17 3–4 @ New York Rangers (1976–77) 2–4–0
7 L October 20 1–2 Boston Bruins (1976–77) 2–5–0
8 T October 22 3–3 Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 2–5–1
9 L October 24 3–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 2–6–1
10 W October 27 4–2 Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 3–6–1
11 L October 29 1–2 Washington Capitals (1976–77) 3–7–1
12 L October 30 1–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 3–8–1
13 L November 2 1–5 New York Islanders (1976–77) 3–9–1
14 L November 5 1–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 3–10–1
15 W November 7 3–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 4–10–1
16 L November 10 1–2 Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 4–11–1
17 T November 13 3–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 4–11–2
18 L November 14 3–5 @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) 4–12–2
19 L November 17 3–6 @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 4–13–2
20 W November 20 5–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 5–13–2
21 L November 21 1–3 @ Washington Capitals (1976–77) 5–14–2
22 L November 26 2–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 5–15–2
23 T November 28 6–6 Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 5–15–3
24 W November 30 5–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 6–15–3
25 W December 1 5–3 Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 7–15–3
26 W December 3 3–2 Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 8–15–3
27 L December 5 3–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 8–16–3
28 T December 8 3–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 8–16–4
29 T December 11 4–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 8–16–5
30 L December 15 2–8 Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 8–17–5
31 L December 18 2–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 8–18–5
32 L December 19 3–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 8–19–5
33 L December 22 1–2 St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 8–20–5
34 L December 26 3–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 8–21–5
35 L December 27 2–6 @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 8–22–5
36 W December 29 3–1 Washington Capitals (1976–77) 9–22–5
37 T December 31 2–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 9–22–6
38 W January 2 6–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 10–22–6
39 L January 5 4–6 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 10–23–6
40 T January 7 4–4 New York Rangers (1976–77) 10–23–7
41 L January 11 0–6 Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 10–24–7
42 W January 13 4–2 Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 11–24–7
43 L January 15 2–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 11–25–7
44 L January 16 0–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 11–26–7
45 T January 18 7–7 Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 11–26–8
46 W January 20 3–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 12–26–8
47 L January 22 1–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 12–27–8
48 L January 23 1–7 New York Islanders (1976–77) 12–28–8
49 W January 27 6–4 @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) 13–28–8
50 T January 28 3–3 @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 13–28–9
51 W January 30 4–2 Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 14–28–9
52 W February 1 5–2 New York Rangers (1976–77) 15–28–9
53 L February 3 4–6 Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 15–29–9
54 W February 6 5–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 16–29–9
55 W February 9 8–6 @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 17–29–9
56 L February 11 0–3 @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 17–30–9
57 L February 12 2–4 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 17–31–9
58 W February 15 6–2 Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 18–31–9
59 T February 18 3–3 @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 18–31–10
60 W February 20 3–2 Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 19–31–10
61 L February 22 1–2 @ New York Islanders (1976–77) 19–32–10
62 L February 25 2–5 Boston Bruins (1976–77) 19–33–10
63 L February 27 3–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 19–34–10
64 T March 2 2–2 St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 19–34–11
65 L March 5 3–6 @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 19–35–11
66 L March 6 0–5 New York Islanders (1976–77) 19–36–11
67 L March 9 0–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 19–37–11
68 L March 10 1–7 @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 19–38–11
69 T March 12 2–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 19–38–12
70 L March 13 2–6 Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 19–39–12
71 T March 16 4–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 19–39–13
72 L March 18 0–5 @ Washington Capitals (1976–77) 19–40–13
73 L March 20 1–4 Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 19–41–13
74 L March 22 2–9 @ New York Islanders (1976–77) 19–42–13
75 L March 23 3–5 @ New York Rangers (1976–77) 19–43–13
76 T March 25 2–2 Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 19–43–14
77 L March 26 1–2 Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 19–44–14
78 L March 31 5–7 @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 19–45–14
79 W April 1 6–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 20–45–14
80 L April 3 4–6 Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 20–46–14

Player statistics[edit]

Regular season[edit]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Wilf Paiement RW 78 41 40 81 101 −13 9 5 2
Paul Gardner C 60 30 29 59 25 −28 11 0 0
Gary Croteau LW 78 24 27 51 14 −18 5 0 2
Nelson Pyatt C 77 23 22 45 20 −17 2 0 4
Barry Dean LW 79 14 25 39 92 −26 2 0 0
Dave Hudson C 73 15 21 36 14 −3 1 0 2
Tom Edur D 80 7 25 32 39 14 3 0 1
Simon Nolet RW 52 12 19 31 10 0 1 1 2
Jim McElmury D 55 7 23 30 16 −15 1 0 1
Chuck Arnason RW 61 13 10 23 10 −23 3 0 1
Ron Andruff C 66 4 18 22 21 −18 0 0 0
Danny Gruen LW 29 8 10 18 12 −6 2 0 1
Denis Dupere LW 57 7 11 18 4 3 1 3 2
John Van Boxmeer D 41 2 11 13 32 −20 0 0 0
Colin Campbell D 54 3 8 11 67 −22 0 0 0
Tracy Pratt D 66 1 10 11 110 −27 0 0 0
Ron Delorme C 29 6 4 10 23 −11 0 0 2
Larry Skinner C 19 4 5 9 6 −13 3 0 0
Guy Delparte LW 48 1 8 9 18 −10 0 0 0
Mike Kitchen D 60 1 8 9 36 −2 0 0 0
Phil Roberto RW 22 1 5 6 23 −11 0 0 0
Bryan Lefley D/LW 58 0 6 6 27 −15 0 0 0
Sean Shanahan C/RW 30 1 3 4 40 −11 0 0 0
Larry Johnston D 25 0 3 3 35 −25 0 0 0
Roger Lemelin D 14 1 1 2 21 −6 0 0 0
Henry Boucha C 9 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 0
Steve Durbano D 19 0 2 2 129 −6 0 0 0
Don Cairns LW 2 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0
Michel Plasse G 54 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Doug Favell G 30 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0
Bill McKenzie G 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Randy Rota C/LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Michel Plasse 2986 54 12 29 10 190 3.82 0
Doug Favell 1614 30 8 15 3 105 3.90 0
Bill McKenzie 200 5 0 2 1 8 2.40 0
Team: 4800 80 20 46 14 303 3.79 0

[7]

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[edit]

Transactions[edit]

Farm teams[edit]

In 1976–77, the Rockies had affiliations with three different teams, including: the Flint Generals, the Greensboro Generals, and the Rhode Island Reds.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "HickokSports.com – History – NHL 1976–77 Season". Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  2. ^ Colorado Rockies (1976–1982)
  3. ^ a b "The Colorado Rockies 1976/77". Archived from the original on November 25, 2006. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  4. ^ a b "The Colorado Rockies 1976/77". Archived from the original on November 25, 2006. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  5. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.
  6. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  7. ^ "1976-77 Colorado Rockies Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 2, 2009.
  8. ^ "A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey – Co". Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2007.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1976–77_Colorado_Rockies_season&oldid=1225423425"