1979–80 Colorado Rockies season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1979–80
Year:	1979
Team:	Colorado Rockies (NHL)Colorado Rockies
Conference:	Campbell
Conferencerank:	11th
Division:	Smythe
Divisionrank:	5th
Record:	19-48-13
Generalmanager:	Ray Miron
Coach:	Don Cherry
Captain:	Mike Christie
Altcaptain:	None
Attendance:	9,787 (61.6%)
Goalsleader:	Rene Robert (28)
Assistsleader:	Rene Robert (35)
Pointsleader:	Rene Robert (63)
Pimleader:	Rob Ramage (135)
Winsleader:	Hardy Astrom (9) Bill McKenzie (9)
Gaaleader:	Bill McKenzie (3.49)
Arena:	McNichols Sports Arena
Prev Season:	1978–79
Next Season:	1980–81

The 1979–80 Colorado Rockies season was the franchise's fourth season in Colorado and their sixth in the NHL. Trying to jolt the fan base and create some excitement for the club, the team hired Don Cherry, who had been fired by the Boston Bruins, and installed him as the new head coach. In addition, a major mid-season trade netted the Rockies legendary goal-scorer and future Hall-of-Famer Lanny McDonald from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

With the first pick overall in the draft, the Rockies selected offensive-minded defenseman Rob Ramage. It was the first time that the Rockies had the first pick overall.

Offseason

NHL Draft

Round		Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team
1	1		Defense		London Knights (OHL)
4	64	Steve Peters	Center		Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
5	85	Gary Dillon	Center		Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
6	106	Bob Attwell	Right Wing		Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 11, 1979	3–3	St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	0–0–1
2	L	October 13, 1979	1–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	0–1–1
3	L	October 14, 1979	2–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	0–2–1
4	L	October 18, 1979	2–5	Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	0–3–1
5	W	October 20, 1979	4–1	Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	1–3–1
6	L	October 23, 1979	4–7	Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	1–4–1
7	T	October 26, 1979	2–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	1–4–2
8	L	October 28, 1979	2–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	1–5–2
9	L	October 30, 1979	1–3	@ Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	1–6–2
10	L	October 31, 1979	2–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	1–7–2
11	W	November 3, 1979	7–2	New York Rangers (1979–80)	2–7–2
12	L	November 6, 1979	2–7	Hartford Whalers (1979–80)	2–8–2
13	L	November 9, 1979	5–6	Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	2–9–2
14	W	November 11, 1979	5–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	3–9–2
15	L	November 13, 1979	1–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	3–10–2
16	L	November 15, 1979	1–4	Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	3–11–2
17	L	November 17, 1979	1–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	3–12–2
18	T	November 20, 1979	3–3	Washington Capitals (1979–80)	3–12–3
19	W	November 23, 1979	5–2	Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)	4–12–3
20	L	November 24, 1979	3–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	4–13–3
21	W	November 28, 1979	7–4	New York Islanders (1979–80)	5–13–3
22	L	December 1, 1979	4–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	5–14–3
23	W	December 2, 1979	5–3	@ Boston Bruins (1979–80)	6–14–3
24	W	December 4, 1979	3–1	@ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	7–14–3
25	L	December 7, 1979	3–5	Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	7–15–3
26	W	December 9, 1979	7–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	8–15–3
27	L	December 12, 1979	3–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	8–16–3
28	L	December 14, 1979	3–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	8–17–3
29	W	December 15, 1979	6–5	Hartford Whalers (1979–80)	9–17–3
30	L	December 18, 1979	2–3	@ New York Islanders (1979–80)	9–18–3
31	L	December 19, 1979	3–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	9–19–3
32	W	December 21, 1979	5–4	Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	10–19–3
33	L	December 26, 1979	3–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	10–20–3
34	W	December 27, 1979	4–3	Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	11–20–3
35	L	December 29, 1979	2–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	11–21–3
36	W	December 31, 1979	5–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)	12–21–3
37	L	January 2, 1980	2–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	12–22–3
38	L	January 4, 1980	2–4	Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	12–23–3
39	T	January 8, 1980	2–2	Boston Bruins (1979–80)	12–23–4
40	L	January 11, 1980	3–4	Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	12–24–4
41	L	January 13, 1980	2–6	@ Boston Bruins (1979–80)	12–25–4
42	T	January 14, 1980	6–6	@ New York Rangers (1979–80)	12–25–5
43	L	January 16, 1980	1–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)	12–26–5
44	L	January 17, 1980	1–4	Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	12–27–5
45	L	January 19, 1980	1–3	St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	12–28–5
46	W	January 22, 1980	5–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	13–28–5
47	W	January 24, 1980	4–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	14–28–5
48	T	January 26, 1980	4–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	14–28–6
49	T	January 27, 1980	3–3	New York Rangers (1979–80)	14–28–7
50	L	January 30, 1980	2–3	Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	14–29–7
51	T	February 2, 1980	2–2	Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	14–29–8
52	L	February 3, 1980	2–6	@ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	14–30–8
53	L	February 7, 1980	3–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	14–31–8
54	T	February 8, 1980	4–4	@ Hartford Whalers (1979–80)	14–31–9
55	L	February 10, 1980	1–6	Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	14–32–9
56	L	February 14, 1980	3–5	New York Islanders (1979–80)	14–33–9
57	L	February 16, 1980	3–5	Boston Bruins (1979–80)	14–34–9
58	W	February 19, 1980	8–6	Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	15–34–9
59	W	February 22, 1980	3–1	Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	16–34–9
60	T	February 24, 1980	1–1	Washington Capitals (1979–80)	16–34–10
61	L	February 27, 1980	3–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	16–35–10
62	L	March 1, 1980	1–4	@ Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	16–36–10
63	W	March 2, 1980	3–1	@ Washington Capitals (1979–80)	17–36–10
64	L	March 4, 1980	1–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	17–37–10
65	L	March 7, 1980	2–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	17–38–10
66	T	March 9, 1980	4–4	Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	17–38–11
67	L	March 11, 1980	1–4	@ New York Islanders (1979–80)	17–39–11
68	L	March 12, 1980	0–6	@ New York Rangers (1979–80)	17–40–11
69	L	March 15, 1980	1–4	@ Hartford Whalers (1979–80)	17–41–11
70	T	March 16, 1980	4–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	17–41–12
71	L	March 18, 1980	1–4	@ Washington Capitals (1979–80)	17–42–12
72	L	March 20, 1980	2–6	Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	17–43–12
73	W	March 22, 1980	5–1	Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)	18–43–12
74	L	March 23, 1980	1–7	@ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	18–44–12
75	L	March 25, 1980	2–5	Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	18–45–12
76	W	March 28, 1980	5–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	19–45–12
77	T	March 30, 1980	2–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	19–45–13
78	L	April 1, 1980	3–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	19–46–13
79	L	April 4, 1980	2–6	@ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	19–47–13
80	L	April 6, 1980	2–3	@ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	19–48–13

Transactions

On December 29, 1979, the Maple Leafs traded Lanny McDonald and Joel Quenneville to the Colorado Rockies for Wilf Paiement and Pat Hickey.^[1]

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
	RW	69	28	35	63	79	-20	10	0	0
	D	67	11	40	51	33	-13	5	1	1
	C	77	25	25	50	8	-7	6	0	2
	RW	46	25	20	45	43	-15	8	0	3
	C	70	24	19	43	36	-18	4	0	1
	C	75	19	24	43	76	-24	5	0	4
	RW	75	16	23	39	100	-11	0	0	1
	C	75	7	23	30	16	-23	0	1	1
	D	75	8	20	28	135	-40	4	0	3
	RW	34	10	16	26	41	-6	2	2	1
	D	74	1	17	18	78	-30	0	0	0
	RW	51	8	8	16	23	-17	0	0	0
	LW	24	7	9	16	10	-2	0	0	0
	D	41	4	11	15	23	-6	2	0	1
	RW	20	9	4	13	53	-10	2	1	1
	D	35	5	7	12	26	-21	1	0	0
	D	62	3	8	11	45	-17	1	0	0
	LW	40	4	5	9	22	-18	1	0	0
	D	46	0	9	9	10	-4	0	0	0
	C	30	3	4	7	2	-7	1	0	0
	C	22	2	5	7	6	0	0	0	0
	D	42	1	6	7	25	-10	0	0	0
	C	10	2	4	6	2	-1	0	0	0
	D	10	1	5	6	8	-2	0	0	0
	C	13	5	0	5	2	-5	0	0	0
	C	33	2	3	5	4	-11	0	1	0
	LW	15	1	4	5	4	-4	1	0	0
	C	17	0	4	4	2	-14	0	0	0
	RW	7	1	1	2	0	-5	0	0	0
	D	10	1	0	1	2	-3	0	0	0
	D	27	1	0	1	51	0	0	0	0
	C	11	0	1	1	4	-2	0	0	0
	LW	5	0	1	1	4	-1	0	0	0
	D	8	0	1	1	2	-3	0	0	0
	C	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
	G	49	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0
	LW	10	0	0	0	19	-5	0	0	0
	G	26	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
	G	12	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
	G	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	C	2	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
	LW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	LW	5	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
	2574	49	9	27	6	161	3.75	0
	1342	26	9	12	3	78	3.49	1
	557	12	1	6	2	39	4.20	0
	327	6	0	3	2	26	4.77	0
Team:	4800	80	19	48	13	304	3.80	1

^[2]

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;

Farm teams

Affiliations have included: Flint Generals, Fort Worth Texans^[3]

External links

• Rockies on Hockey Database

Notes and References

1. http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_oneononep199204.htm Legends of Hockey – Spotlight – One on One with Lanny McDonald
2. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-05-28 . 1979-80 Colorado Rockies Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.
3. Web site: A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey - Co . 2008-05-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071016062156/http://www.azhockey.com/Co.htm . 2007-10-16 . dead .