1977–78 Colorado Rockies season

1977–78 Colorado Rockies (NHL)
Division	2nd Smythe
1977–78 record	19–40–21
Goals for	257
Goals against	305
Team information
General manager	Ray Miron
Coach	Pat Kelly
Captain	Wilf Paiement
Team leaders
Goals	Wilf Paiement (31)
Assists	Wilf Paiement (56)
Points	Wilf Paiement (87)
Penalty minutes	Wilf Paiement (114)
Wins	Doug Favell (13)
Goals against average	Doug Favell (3.58)

The 1977–78 Colorado Rockies (NHL) season was the fourth season of the franchise, and second as the Rockies. The rockies finished 3rd in the Smythe Division and for the first time in franchise history, the team qualified for the playoffs, something that would not happen again for a decade. The Rockies lost in the Preliminary round to the Philadelphia Flyers 2 games to 0.

Regular Season

Final Standings

Smythe Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Chicago Black Hawks	80	32	29	19	230	220	83
Colorado Rockies	80	19	40	21	257	305	59
Vancouver Canucks	80	20	43	17	239	320	57
St. Louis Blues	80	20	47	13	195	304	53
Minnesota North Stars	80	18	53	9	218	325	45

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log

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

Philadelphia Flyers 2, Colorado Rockies 0

April 11

Philadelphia Flyers

3–2 (OT)

Colorado Rockies

CoreStates Center

April 13

Colorado Rockies

1–3

Philadelphia Flyers

McNichols Sports Arena

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 Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Paiement, WilfWilf Paiement	RW	80	31	56	87	114	-14	7	2	1
Beck, BarryBarry Beck	D	75	22	38	60	89	-14	6	0	4
Van Boxmeer, JohnJohn Van Boxmeer	D	80	12	42	54	87	-12	5	0	0
Gardner, PaulPaul Gardner	C	46	30	22	52	29	-17	13	0	3
Spruce, AndyAndy Spruce	LW	74	19	21	40	43	-7	3	0	1
Croteau, GaryGary Croteau	LW	62	17	22	39	24	-15	8	0	0
Andruff, RonRon Andruff	C	78	15	18	33	31	-16	0	0	1
Hudson, DaveDave Hudson	C	60	10	22	32	12	-5	1	0	0
Owchar, DennisDennis Owchar	D	60	8	23	31	25	-49	2	0	0
Dupere, DenisDenis Dupere	LW	54	15	15	30	4	9	2	2	4
Contini, JoeJoe Contini	C	37	12	9	21	28	-2	3	0	0
Delorme, RonRon Delorme	C	68	10	11	21	47	-20	0	0	0
Pyatt, NelsonNelson Pyatt	C	71	9	12	21	8	-23	1	0	0
Pierce, RandyRandy Pierce	RW	35	9	10	19	15	0	1	0	3
Suzor, MarkMark Suzor	D	60	4	15	19	56	-35	2	0	0
Kitchen, MikeMike Kitchen	D	61	2	17	19	45	-12	0	0	1
Ahern, FredFred Ahern	RW	38	5	13	18	19	-16	1	0	0
Lefley, BryanBryan Lefley	D/LW	71	4	13	17	12	-4	0	1	1
Klassen, RalphRalph Klassen	C	44	6	9	15	8	-19	3	0	0
Edur, TomTom Edur	D	20	5	7	12	10	10	1	0	0
Arnason, ChuckChuck Arnason	RW	29	4	8	12	10	-3	2	0	0
Christie, MikeMike Christie	D	35	2	8	10	28	-6	0	0	0
Neely, BobBob Neely	LW	22	3	6	9	2	-10	1	0	0
Skinner, LarryLarry Skinner	C	14	3	5	8	0	2	1	0	0
Jodzio, RickRick Jodzio	LW	32	0	5	5	28	-5	0	0	0
O'Brien, DennisDennis O'Brien	D	16	0	2	2	12	-10	0	0	0
Favell, DougDoug Favell	G	47	0	2	2	2	0	0	0	0
McCahill, JohnJohn McCahill	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
McElmury, JimJim McElmury	D	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Lemelin, RogerRoger Lemelin	D	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nistico, LouLou Nistico	C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Oleschuk, BillBill Oleschuk	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
McKenzie, BillBill McKenzie	G	12	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Plasse, MichelMichel Plasse	G	25	0	0	0	12	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Favell, DougDoug Favell	2663	47	13	20	11	159	3.58	1
McKenzie, BillBill McKenzie	654	12	3	6	2	42	3.85	0
Plasse, MichelMichel Plasse	1383	25	3	12	8	90	3.90	0
Oleschuk, BillBill Oleschuk	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
Hudson, DaveDave Hudson	C	2	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Spruce, AndyAndy Spruce	LW	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
Dupere, DenisDenis Dupere	LW	2	1	0	1	0	1	0	0
Owchar, DennisDennis Owchar	D	2	1	0	1	2	0	0	0
Ahern, FredFred Ahern	RW	2	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Beck, BarryBarry Beck	D	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Van Boxmeer, JohnJohn Van Boxmeer	D	2	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Andruff, RonRon Andruff	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Christie, MikeMike Christie	D	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Contini, JoeJoe Contini	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Delorme, RonRon Delorme	C	2	0	0	0	10	0	0	0
Kitchen, MikeMike Kitchen	D	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Klassen, RalphRalph Klassen	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lefley, BryanBryan Lefley	D/LW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Paiement, WilfWilf Paiement	RW	2	0	0	0	7	0	0	0
Pierce, RandyRandy Pierce	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Skinner, LarryLarry Skinner	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Favell, DougDoug Favell	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

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

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

• The Rockies did not win any awards this season.

See Also

• 1977–78 NHL season