The 1981–82 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 73rd season. The club finished with over 100 points in the regular season, and were third overall in the NHL standings.The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p.243, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, The season involved being eliminated in the Adams Division semi-final versus the Quebec Nordiques 3 games to 2.

Offseason Montreal along with Hartford were moved to the Adams Division which was a more geographical grouping of teams, including Boston, Buffalo and Quebec. Before the 1981 NHL entry draft, general manager Irving Grundman announced that Bob Berry would be the new head coach of the Canadiens.

Bob Gainey is named captain, following Serge Savard's signing with the Winnipeg Jets.

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||T||October 8, 1981||5–5 || align="left"| Hartford Whalers (1981–82) ||0–0–1

|2||W||October 10, 1981||9–0 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) ||1–0–1

|3||W||October 15, 1981||7–2 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers (1981–82) ||2–0–1

|4||W||October 17, 1981||10–4 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1981–82) ||3–0–1

|5||T||October 18, 1981||3–3 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) ||3–0–2

|6||T||October 21, 1981||3–3 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) ||3–0–3

|7||W||October 24, 1981||7–0 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1981–82) ||4–0–3

|8||W||October 25, 1981||4–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1981–82) ||5–0–3

|9||W||October 27, 1981||11–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82) ||6–0–3

|10||T||October 29, 1981||5–5 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1981–82) ||6–0–4

|11||L||October 31, 1981||1–2 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1981–82) ||6–1–4

|12||L||November 2, 1981||4–5 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) ||6–2–4

|13||W||November 5, 1981||4–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1981–82) ||7–2–4

|14||W||November 7, 1981||4–2 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1981–82) ||8–2–4

|15||L||November 10, 1981||2–4 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1981–82) ||8–3–4

|16||W||November 11, 1981||9–0 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1981–82) ||9–3–4

|17||W||November 14, 1981||4–1 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1981–82) ||10–3–4

|18||T||November 19, 1981||1–1 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) ||10–3–5

|19||W||November 21, 1981||9–5 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82) ||11–3–5

|20||T||November 24, 1981||2–2 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1981–82) ||11–3–6

|21||L||November 25, 1981||1–2 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82) ||11–4–6

|22||L||November 27, 1981||2–5 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1981–82) ||11–5–6

|23||W||November 29, 1981||6–3 || align="left"| Hartford Whalers (1981–82) ||12–5–6

|24||T||December 1, 1981||3–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1981–82) ||12–5–7

|25||L||December 3, 1981||3–4 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1981–82) ||12–6–7

|26||L||December 5, 1981||4–7 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1981–82) ||12–7–7

|27||T||December 9, 1981||6–6 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) ||12–7–8

|28||T||December 11, 1981||5–5 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) ||12–7–9

|29||W||December 12, 1981||6–2 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) ||13–7–9

|30||W||December 14, 1981||6–3 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1981–82) ||14–7–9

|31||W||December 16, 1981||6–1 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers (1981–82) ||15–7–9

|32||W||December 17, 1981||5–1 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1981–82) ||16–7–9

|33||W||December 19, 1981||5–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1981–82) ||17–7–9

|34||L||December 22, 1981||2–5 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) ||17–8–9

|35||W||December 27, 1981||6–3 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) ||18–8–9

|36||W||December 29, 1981||5–4 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1981–82) ||19–8–9

|37||W||December 30, 1981||6–3 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) ||20–8–9

|38||L||January 2, 1982||5–6 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1981–82) ||20–9–9

|39||L||January 3, 1982||2–3 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) ||20–10–9

|40||W||January 5, 1982||3–1 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1981–82) ||21–10–9

|41||T||January 9, 1982||3–3 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) ||21–10–10

|42||T||January 10, 1982||4–4 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) ||21–10–11

|43||W||January 12, 1982||2–1 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1981–82) ||22–10–11

|44||L||January 16, 1982||2–4 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82) ||22–11–11

|45||T||January 19, 1982||2–2 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) ||22–11–12

|46||W||January 21, 1982||4–2 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82) ||23–11–12

|47||W||January 23, 1982||6–2 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1981–82) ||24–11–12

|48||W||January 26, 1982||8–3 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) ||25–11–12

|49||W||January 28, 1982||6–3 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1981–82) ||26–11–12

|50||W||January 30, 1982||5–3 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1981–82) ||27–11–12

|51||W||February 2, 1982||5–3 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1981–82) ||28–11–12

|52||W||February 3, 1982||6–3 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1981–82) ||29–11–12

|53||W||February 6, 1982||5–3 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1981–82) ||30–11–12

|54||W||February 7, 1982||7–2 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1981–82) ||31–11–12

|55||W||February 11, 1982||4–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82) ||32–11–12

|56||W||February 13, 1982||7–3 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) ||33–11–12

|57||T||February 16, 1982||3–3 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1981–82) ||33–11–13

|58||W||February 18, 1982||5–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1981–82) ||34–11–13

|59||T||February 20, 1982||2–2 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) ||34–11–14

|60||W||February 21, 1982||4–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1981–82) ||35–11–14

|61||L||February 23, 1982||3–4 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) ||35–12–14

|62||T||February 25, 1982||4–4 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) ||35–12–15

|63||T||February 27, 1982||3–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) ||35–12–16

|64||W||February 28, 1982||5–0 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers (1981–82) ||36–12–16

|65||T||March 2, 1982||3–3 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1981–82) ||36–12–17

|66||W||March 6, 1982||6–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) ||37–12–17

|67||W||March 7, 1982||5–3 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) ||38–12–17

|68||W||March 9, 1982||4–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1981–82) ||39–12–17

|69||W||March 11, 1982||4–0 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) ||40–12–17

|70||W||March 13, 1982||5–0 || align="left"| Hartford Whalers (1981–82) ||41–12–17

|71||W||March 14, 1982||5–2 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1981–82) ||42–12–17

|72||L||March 18, 1982||2–4 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1981–82) ||42–13–17

|73||W||March 20, 1982||5–1 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) ||43–13–17

|74||L||March 21, 1982||4–5 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) ||43–14–17

|75||L||March 25, 1982||1–3 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1981–82) ||43–15–17

|76||W||March 27, 1982||4–2 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) ||44–15–17

|77||W||March 30, 1982||6–4 || align="left"| Hartford Whalers (1981–82) ||45–15–17

|78||W||March 31, 1982||5–1 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers (1981–82) ||46–15–17

|79||L||April 3, 1982||4–5 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) ||46–16–17

|80||L||April 4, 1982||1–3 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1981–82) ||46–17–17

Legend:

Playoffs The Canadiens were seeded 3rd overall in the playoffs, while their opponents, the Quebec Nordiques were seeded 10th overall. The clubs were 27 points apart in the league standings.The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p.243, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, The fifth and final game of the series went into overtime. Twenty-two seconds into overtime, Nordiques' Dale Hunter scored against Canadiens goalie Rick Wamsley to clinch the series.The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p.244, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009,

Player statistics

Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG C 78 36 52 88 88481005 RW 66 27 57 84 2433903 RW 80 40 41 81 1449905 RW 80 33 40 73 6624704 C 73 35 33 68 5718824 D 71 12 47 59 4157510 LW 57 31 24 55 4024503 C 80 20 28 48 2034104 LW 79 21 24 45 2437131 W 51 11 32 43 3418211 D 66 5 34 39 11666101 C 56 12 23 35 4318103 C 59 15 18 33 11623222 D 76 4 29 33 7678100 RW 71 18 11 29 14310005 D 62 2 26 28 10617200 D 34 6 18 24 2810303 RW 36 12 11 23 3310201 C 22 9 12 21 0-3300 D 47 1 19 20 72-3000 RW 49 7 4 11 2046001 D 60 3 8 11 5519000 G 38 0 2 2 40000 LW 3 0 1 1 321000 G 27 0 0 0 40000 G 1 0 0 0 00000 D 1 0 0 0 70000 LW 1 0 0 0 00000 G 19 0 0 0 100000

Goaltending PlayerMINGPW LTGAGAA SO 2206 38 23 7 7 101 2.75 2 1547 27 12 6 8 68 2.64 3 1027 19 11 4 2 53 3.10 0 20 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 0 Team: 4800 80 46 17 17 222 2.78 5

Playoffs Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG C 5 2 5 7 8110 RW 5 4 1 5 24001 RW 5 3 2 5 0111 C 5 0 4 4 16000 W 5 0 4 4 6000 RW 5 2 1 3 4200 C 5 2 1 3 11000 D 5 0 3 3 18000 RW 5 1 1 2 22000 D 5 1 1 2 7000 D 5 0 2 2 14000 C 5 1 0 1 4010 LW 5 0 1 1 8000 D 5 0 1 1 0000 D 3 0 1 1 0000 RW 3 0 1 1 0000 D 5 0 1 1 8000 LW 2 0 0 0 27000 RW 5 0 0 0 20000 G 5 0 0 0 2000

Goaltending PlayerMINGPW LGAGAA SO 300 5 2 3 11 2.20 0 Team: 300 5 2 3 11 2.20 0

Draft picks

Round # Player Nationality College/junior/club team17Mark HunterBrantford Alexanders (OMJHL)118Gilbert DelormeChicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)119Jan IngmanFärjestad BK (Sweden)232Lars ErikssonBrynäs IF (Sweden)240Chris CheliosMoose Jaw Canucks (SJHL)346Dieter HegenEVS Kaufbeuren (West Germany)482Kjell DahlinTimra IK (Sweden)588Steve RooneyCanton High School (USHS-MA)6124Tom AnastosPaddock Pool Saints (GLJHL)7145Tom KurversUniversity of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA)8166Paul GessBloomington Jefferson High School (USHS-MN)9187Scott FergusonEdina West High School (USHS-MN)10208Dan BurrowsBelleville Bulls (OPJHL)

See also 1981–82 NHL season

References