1977–78 Colorado Rockies season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1977–78
Year:	1977
Team:	Colorado Rockies (NHL)Colorado Rockies
Record:	19–40–21
Conference:	Campbell
Division:	Smythe
Divisionrank:	2nd
Generalmanager:	Ray Miron
Coach:	Pat Kelly
Captain:	Wilf Paiement
Altcaptain:	None
Goalsfor:	257
Goalsagainst:	305
Prev Season:	1976–77
Next Season:	1978–79

The 1977–78 Colorado Rockies season was the fourth season of the franchise, and second as the Rockies. Despite winning only 19 games and finishing 21 games below .500, they finished runners-up in the weak Smythe Division and secured a playoff berth under the format in effect at the time. It was their first playoff appearance in franchise history, and the only one they would make while in Denver.

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 14, 1977	4–4	Vancouver Canucks (1977–78)	0–0–1
2	T	October 15, 1977	3–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78)	0–0–2
3	L	October 19, 1977	4–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78)	0–1–2
4	L	October 20, 1977	5–7	@ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78)	0–2–2
5	W	October 22, 1977	3–0	Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78)	1–2–2
6	T	October 25, 1977	4–4	Boston Bruins (1977–78)	1–2–3
7	W	October 28, 1977	8–1	Washington Capitals (1977–78)	2–2–3
8	W	October 29, 1977	6–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78)	3–2–3
9	W	November 2, 1977	6–2	New York Rangers (1977–78)	4–2–3
10	L	November 5, 1977	2–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78)	4–3–3
11	W	November 8, 1977	6–2	Vancouver Canucks (1977–78)	5–3–3
12	L	November 11, 1977	1–2	St. Louis Blues (1977–78)	5–4–3
13	L	November 12, 1977	1–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1977–78)	5–5–3
14	L	November 16, 1977	1–4	Montreal Canadiens (1977–78)	5–6–3
15	W	November 19, 1977	7–2	Cleveland Barons (1977–78)	6–6–3
16	L	November 22, 1977	2–4	@ New York Islanders (1977–78)	6–7–3
17	L	November 23, 1977	3–6	@ New York Rangers (1977–78)	6–8–3
18	L	November 25, 1977	1–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78)	6–9–3
19	T	November 26, 1977	4–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78)	6–9–4
20	T	November 30, 1977	3–3	New York Islanders (1977–78)	6–9–5
21	L	December 3, 1977	3–6	Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78)	6–10–5
22	T	December 6, 1977	3–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78)	6–10–6
23	L	December 9, 1977	2–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78)	6–11–6
24	L	December 10, 1977	4–6	@ St. Louis Blues (1977–78)	6–12–6
25	W	December 13, 1977	4–1	Buffalo Sabres (1977–78)	7–12–6
26	W	December 17, 1977	5–1	Minnesota North Stars (1977–78)	8–12–6
27	L	December 20, 1977	1–9	@ New York Islanders (1977–78)	8–13–6
28	L	December 21, 1977	3–6	@ Boston Bruins (1977–78)	8–14–6
29	L	December 23, 1977	2–6	Atlanta Flames (1977–78)	8–15–6
30	L	December 27, 1977	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78)	8–16–6
31	T	December 29, 1977	2–2	Los Angeles Kings (1977–78)	8–16–7
32	T	December 30, 1977	2–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78)	8–16–8
33	L	January 1, 1978	1–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78)	8–17–8
34	L	January 4, 1978	0–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78)	8–18–8
35	L	January 5, 1978	3–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78)	8–19–8
36	W	January 7, 1978	3–1	New York Rangers (1977–78)	9–19–8
37	L	January 10, 1978	4–7	@ New York Islanders (1977–78)	9–20–8
38	L	January 11, 1978	2–4	@ Atlanta Flames (1977–78)	9–21–8
39	L	January 13, 1978	1–2	St. Louis Blues (1977–78)	9–22–8
40	T	January 14, 1978	3–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78)	9–22–9
41	T	January 18, 1978	4–4	Detroit Red Wings (1977–78)	9–22–10
42	W	January 20, 1978	5–2	Los Angeles Kings (1977–78)	10–22–10
43	L	January 21, 1978	4–9	@ Cleveland Barons (1977–78)	10–23–10
44	T	January 25, 1978	3–3	@ Washington Capitals (1977–78)	10–23–11
45	L	January 26, 1978	3–4	@ Boston Bruins (1977–78)	10–24–11
46	W	January 28, 1978	6–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78)	11–24–11
47	L	January 31, 1978	3–5	Montreal Canadiens (1977–78)	11–25–11
48	L	February 2, 1978	0–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78)	11–26–11
49	T	February 4, 1978	2–2	@ Atlanta Flames (1977–78)	11–26–12
50	L	February 5, 1978	3–6	@ New York Rangers (1977–78)	11–27–12
51	L	February 7, 1978	2–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78)	11–28–12
52	W	February 10, 1978	3–2	Atlanta Flames (1977–78)	12–28–12
53	T	February 12, 1978	3–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78)	12–28–13
54	T	February 15, 1978	2–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78)	12–28–14
55	L	February 16, 1978	4–5	New York Islanders (1977–78)	12–29–14
56	L	February 18, 1978	4–9	@ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78)	12–30–14
57	T	February 19, 1978	4–4	@ New York Rangers (1977–78)	12–30–15
58	L	February 21, 1978	2–3	Boston Bruins (1977–78)	12–31–15
59	W	February 24, 1978	3–2	Minnesota North Stars (1977–78)	13–31–15
60	T	February 25, 1978	5–5	@ St. Louis Blues (1977–78)	13–31–16
61	L	February 28, 1978	4–7	@ Washington Capitals (1977–78)	13–32–16
62	L	March 2, 1978	2–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78)	13–33–16
63	T	March 3, 1978	2–2	Cleveland Barons (1977–78)	13–33–17
64	T	March 5, 1978	2–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78)	13–33–18
65	L	March 8, 1978	3–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78)	13–34–18
66	L	March 11, 1978	4–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78)	13–35–18
67	L	March 12, 1978	2–6	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78)	13–36–18
68	T	March 14, 1978	4–4	Atlanta Flames (1977–78)	13–36–19
69	T	March 15, 1978	2–2	@ Cleveland Barons (1977–78)	13–36–20
70	W	March 17, 1978	3–1	Vancouver Canucks (1977–78)	14–36–20
71	W	March 19, 1978	6–4	Detroit Red Wings (1977–78)	15–36–20
72	W	March 22, 1978	5–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78)	16–36–20
73	L	March 23, 1978	3–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78)	16–37–20
74	L	March 25, 1978	3–4	Buffalo Sabres (1977–78)	16–38–20
75	W	March 28, 1978	4–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78)	17–38–20
76	L	March 30, 1978	3–4	Washington Capitals (1977–78)	17–39–20
77	W	April 1, 1978	4–2	Minnesota North Stars (1977–78)	18–39–20
78	L	April 4, 1978	3–5	@ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78)	18–40–20
79	T	April 5, 1978	4–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78)	18–40–21
80	W	April 8, 1978	5–2	St. Louis Blues (1977–78)	19–40–21

Playoffs

The Rockies played a best-of-three preliminary round series against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers would sweep the series in two-straight games.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
	RW	80	31	56	87	114	−14	7	2	1
	D	75	22	38	60	89	−14	6	0	4
	D	80	12	42	54	87	−12	5	0	0
	C	46	30	22	52	29	−17	13	0	3
	LW	74	19	21	40	43	−7	3	0	1
	LW	62	17	22	39	24	−15	8	0	0
	C	78	15	18	33	31	−16	0	0	1
	C	60	10	22	32	12	−5	1	0	0
	D	60	8	23	31	25	−49	2	0	0
	LW	54	15	15	30	4	9	2	2	4
	C	37	12	9	21	28	−2	3	0	0
	C	68	10	11	21	47	−20	0	0	0
	C	71	9	12	21	8	−23	1	0	0
	RW	35	9	10	19	15	0	1	0	3
	D	60	4	15	19	56	−35	2	0	0
	D	61	2	17	19	45	−12	0	0	1
	RW	38	5	13	18	19	−16	1	0	0
	D/LW	71	4	13	17	12	−4	0	1	1
	C	44	6	9	15	8	−19	3	0	0
	D	20	5	7	12	10	10	1	0	0
	RW	29	4	8	12	10	−3	2	0	0
	D	35	2	8	10	28	−6	0	0	0
	LW	22	3	6	9	2	−10	1	0	0
	C	14	3	5	8	0	2	1	0	0
	LW	32	0	5	5	28	−5	0	0	0
	G	47	0	2	2	2	0	0	0	0
	D	16	0	2	2	12	−10	0	0	0
	D	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	D	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	G	12	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
	C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	G	25	0	0	0	12	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
	2663	47	13	20	11	159	3.58	1
	654	12	3	6	2	42	3.85	0
	1383	25	3	12	8	90	3.90	0
	100	2	0	2	0	9	5.40	0
Team:	4800	80	19	40	21	300	3.75	1

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
	C	2	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
	LW	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
	LW	2	1	0	1	0	1	0	0
	D	2	1	0	1	2	0	0	0
	RW	2	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
	D	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
	D	2	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	D	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	C	2	0	0	0	10	0	0	0
	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	D	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	D/LW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	RW	2	0	0	0	7	0	0	0
	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
	120	2	0	2	6	3.00	0
Team:	120	2	0	2	6	3.00	0

^[1]

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;

Draft picks

Colorado's draft picks at the 1977 NHL amateur draft held at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal.

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	2	Barry Beck		New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
3	38	Doug Berry		University of Denver (WCHA)
3	47	Randy Pierce		Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
5	74	Mike Dwyer		Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
6	92	Dan Lempe		University of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA)
7	110	Rick Doyle		London Knights (OMJHL)
8	126	Joe Contini		St. Catharines Fincups (OMJHL)
9	142	Jack Hughes		Harvard University (ECAC)

See also

• 1977–78 NHL season

Notes and References

1. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-02 . 1977-78 Colorado Rockies Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.