1982–83 New Jersey Devils season

The 1982–83 New Jersey Devils season was the franchise's ninth season in the NHL and the first in New Jersey after moving from Colorado, where they were known as the Colorado Rockies. The Devils first ever game was a 3–3 tie with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where first captain Don Lever scored the Devils' first ever goal. The team's first win would come against their new rivals, the New York Rangers. However, the new location didn't help the team overall, as they continued to struggle in the standings, finishing second-last in their division and third-to-last in their conference.

1982–83 New Jersey Devils
Division5th Patrick
Conference9th Wales
1982–83 record17–49–14
Home record11-20-9
Road record6-29-5
Goals for230
Goals against338
Team information
General managerBill MacMillan
CoachBill MacMillan
CaptainDon Lever
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaBrendan Byrne Arena
Team leaders
GoalsSteve Tambellini (25)
AssistsTapio Levo (40)
PointsAaron Broten (55)
Penalty minutesYvon Vautour (136)
WinsChico Resch (15)
Goals against averageChico Resch (3.98)

Regular season

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Season standings

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Patrick Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Philadelphia Flyers 80 49 23 8 326 240 106
New York Islanders 80 42 26 12 302 226 96
Washington Capitals 80 39 25 16 306 283 94
New York Rangers 80 35 35 10 306 287 80
New Jersey Devils 80 17 49 14 230 338 48
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 18 53 9 250 394 45

[1]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

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Patrick Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

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Vs. Campbell Conference

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Schedule and results

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Index: Devils win Devils loss Tie game

October

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Record: 3–6–3, Home: 2–3–2, Away: 1–3–1

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Attendance
1 October 5 Pittsburgh 3 – 3 New Jersey 0–0–1 1 13,663
2 October 8 NY Rangers 2 – 3 New Jersey 1–0–1 3 19,203
3 October 9 New Jersey 5 – 5 Toronto 1–0–2 4 16,382
4 October 12 Boston 2 – 2 New Jersey 1–0–3 5 10,251
5 October 14 Montreal 5 – 3 New Jersey 1–1–3 5 11,703
6 October 16 New Jersey 6 – 5 Pittsburgh 2–1–3 7 8,852
7 October 18 Philadelphia 1 – 3 New Jersey 3–1–3 9 12,521
8 October 20 New Jersey 4 – 7 Los Angeles 3–2–3 9 8,519
9 October 22 New Jersey 1 – 3 Winnipeg 3–3–3 9 12,534
10 October 26 Minnesota 5 – 3 New Jersey 3–4–3 9 11,208
11 October 28 NY Islanders 4 – 2 New Jersey 3–5–3 9 19,023
12 October 30 New Jersey 5 – 8 NY Islanders 3–6–3 9 15,230

November

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Record: 1–10–4, Home: 0–3–2, Away: 1–7–2

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Attendance
13 November 1 Calgary 6 – 3 New Jersey 3–7–3 9 10,152
14 November 2 New Jersey 4 – 5 Montreal 3–8–3 9 15,177
15 November 4 Pittsburgh 4 – 4 New Jersey 3–8–4 10 10,410
16 November 6 New Jersey 1 – 1 Detroit 3–8–5 11 11,395
17 November 8 Washington 2 – 2 New Jersey 3–8–6 12 10,273
18 November 10 New Jersey 0 – 3 Washington 3–9–6 12 12,445
19 November 11 Edmonton 5 – 1 New Jersey 3–10–6 12 19,023
20 November 13 New Jersey 2 – 7 Quebec 3–11–6 12 15,004
21 November 16 New Jersey 2 – 7 St. Louis 3–12–6 12 10,807
22 November 17 New Jersey 3 – 5 Chicago 3–13–6 12 14,628
23 November 20 New Jersey 1 – 5 Minnesota 3–14–6 12 14,940
24 November 24 New Jersey 0 – 3 Los Angeles 3–15–6 12 9,735
25 November 26 New Jersey 4 – 4 Vancouver 3–15–7 13 12,875
26 November 27 New Jersey 4 – 3 Calgary 4–15–7 15 7,242
27 November 29 Chicago 3 – 1 New Jersey 4–16–7 15 10,834

December

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Record: 3–9–0, Home: 2–4–0, Away: 1–5–0

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Attendance
28 December 1 Toronto 3 – 7 New Jersey 5–16–7 17 9,007
29 December 3 Hartford 4 – 5 New Jersey 6–16–7 19 12,428
30 December 4 New Jersey 2 – 6 Detroit 6–17–7 19 8,462
31 December 6 Winnipeg 5 – 3 New Jersey 6–18–7 19 8,862
32 December 9 Washington 6 – 4 New Jersey 6–19–7 19 9,123
33 December 11 New Jersey 1 – 7 NY Islanders 6–20–7 19 15,167
34 December 12 New Jersey 0 – 4 NY Rangers 6–21–7 19 17,423
35 December 17 New Jersey 4 – 10 Edmonton 6–22–7 19 17,498
36 December 19 New Jersey 3 – 2 Winnipeg 7–22–7 21 10,815
37 December 22 Philadelphia 3 – 1 New Jersey 7–23–7 21 13,144
38 December 26 New Jersey 2 – 5 Boston 7–24–7 21 14,685
39 December 30 NY Rangers 5 – 2 New Jersey 7–25–7 21 19,023

January

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Record: 4–6–4, Home: 4–1–3, Away: 0–5–1

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Attendance
40 January 2 Vancouver 1 – 3 New Jersey 8–25–7 23 10,017
41 January 5 Toronto 4 – 4 New Jersey 8–25–8 24 9,330
42 January 7 Boston 2 – 2 New Jersey 8–25–9 25 19,023
43 January 9 New Jersey 3 – 4 NY Rangers 8–26–9 25 17,422
44 January 10 Quebec 2 – 6 New Jersey 9–26–9 27 9,814
45 January 13 NY Islanders 5 – 2 New Jersey 9–27–9 27 17,342
46 January 15 New Jersey 1 – 2 Hartford 9–28–9 27 9,200
47 January 16 Los Angeles 3 – 5 New Jersey 10–28–9 29 10,367
48 January 19 New Jersey 1 – 1 Pittsburgh 10–28–10 30 5,213
49 January 20 St. Louis 3 – 3 New Jersey 10–28–11 31 9,763
50 January 23 New Jersey 1 – 3 Washington 10–29–11 31 8,839
51 January 25 New Jersey 1 – 5 Philadelphia 10–30–11 31 16,312
52 January 29 New Jersey 4 – 6 Quebec 10–31–11 31 15,056
53 January 31 Pittsburgh 2 – 3 New Jersey 11–31–11 33 9,732

February

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Record: 1–8–2, Home: 1–2–2, Away: 0–6–0

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Attendance
54 February 3 NY Islanders 7 – 2 New Jersey 11–32–11 33 15,033
55 February 5 New Jersey 4 – 5 Washington 11–33–11 33 13,150
56 February 6 Vancouver 4 – 4 New Jersey 11–33–12 34 7,036
57 February 9 New Jersey 4 – 5 Chicago 11–34–12 34 16,235
58 February 12 New Jersey 1 – 5 St. Louis 11–35–12 34 11,948
59 February 15 Minnesota 3 – 2 New Jersey 11–36–12 34 10,765
60 February 20 New Jersey 0 – 3 Philadelphia 11–37–12 34 17,011
61 February 21 Buffalo 4 – 4 New Jersey 11–37–13 35 10,060
62 February 24 Detroit 1 – 4 New Jersey 12–37–13 37 11,242
63 February 26 New Jersey 4 – 5 Pittsburgh 12–38–13 37 10,343
64 February 27 New Jersey 2 – 6 Buffalo 12–39–13 37 11,916

March

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Record: 4–10–0, Home: 2–7–0, Away: 2–3–0

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Attendance
65 March 1 Edmonton 4 – 3 New Jersey 12–40–13 37 13,478
66 March 3 Philadelphia 4 – 1 New Jersey 12–41–13 37 12,701
67 March 5 New Jersey 1 – 5 NY Islanders 12–42–13 37 15,230
68 March 6 New Jersey 6 – 4 NY Rangers 13–42–13 39 17,410
69 March 8 Washington 5 – 4 New Jersey 13–43–13 39 9,350
70 March 10 Hartford 3 – 0 New Jersey 13–44–13 39 10,206
71 March 12 New Jersey 7 – 3 Montreal 14–44–13 41 16,556
72 March 14 Calgary 7 – 0 New Jersey 14–45–13 41 10,563
73 March 17 NY Islanders 9 – 5 New Jersey 14–46–13 41 13,954
74 March 21 NY Rangers 2 – 4 New Jersey 15–46–13 43 19,023
75 March 24 New Jersey 3 – 5 Washington 15–47–13 43 9,713
76 March 25 Philadelphia 5 – 6 New Jersey 16–47–13 45 17,041
77 March 27 New Jersey 1 – 4 Philadelphia 16–48–13 45 16,922
78 March 31 Buffalo 8 – 5 New Jersey 16–49–13 45 13,286

April

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Record: 1–0–1, Home: 0–0–0, Away: 1–0–1

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Attendance
79 April 1 New Jersey 3 – 3 NY Rangers 16–49–14 46 17,412
80 April 3 New Jersey 5 – 3 Pittsburgh 17–49–14 48 5,864

Player statistics

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Skaters

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Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
Aaron Broten 73 16 39 55 28 -
Don Lever 79 23 30 53 68 -
Bob MacMillan 71 19 29 48 8 -
Tapio Levo 73 7 40 47 22 -
Jeff Larmer 65 21 24 45 21 -
Hector Marini 77 17 28 45 105 -
Steve Tambellini 73 25 18 43 14 -
Brent Ashton 76 14 19 33 47 -
Rick Meagher 57 15 14 29 11 -
Paul Gagne 53 14 15 29 13 -
Murray Brumwell 59 5 14 19 34 -
Jan Ludvig 51 7 10 17 30 -
Joel Quenneville 74 5 12 17 46 -
Mike Antonovich 30 7 7 14 11 -
Glenn Merkosky 34 4 10 14 20 -
Bob Lorimer 66 3 10 13 42 -
Mike Kitchen 77 4 8 12 52 -
Yvon Vautour 52 4 7 11 136 -
Rob Palmer 60 1 10 11 21 -
Dave Cameron 35 5 4 9 50 -
John Wensink 42 2 7 9 135 -
Carol Vadnais 51 2 7 9 64 -
Merlin Malinowski 5 3 2 5 0 -
Pat Verbeek 6 3 2 5 8 -
Dave Hutchison 32 1 4 5 102 -
Garry Howatt 38 1 4 5 114 -
Jukka Porvari 8 1 3 4 4 -
Chico Resch 65 0 3 3 6 -
Larry Floyd 5 1 0 1 2 -
Joe Cirella 2 0 1 1 4 -
Mike Moher 9 0 1 1 28 -
Ron Low 11 0 1 1 0 -
Randy Pierce 3 0 0 0 0 -
Dwight Foster 4 0 0 0 2 -
Shawn MacKenzie 6 0 0 0 0 -
Lindsay Middlebrook 9 0 0 0 2 -

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining New Jersey. Stats reflect time with the Devils only.
Traded mid-season

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L T GA SO GAA GP TOI W L GA SO GAA
Chico Resch 65 3650 15 35 12 242 0 3.98 -
Ron Low 11 608 2 7 1 41 0 4.05 -
Lindsay Middlebrook 9 412 0 6 1 37 0 5.39 -
Shawn MacKenzie 6 130 0 1 0 15 0 6.92 -

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining New Jersey. Stats reflect time with the Devils only.
Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Transactions

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The Devils were involved in the following transactions during the 1982–83 season.

Trades

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October 1, 1982 To New Jersey Devils
Hector Marini
4th round pick in 1983
To New York Islanders
4th round pick in 1983
October 15, 1982 To New Jersey Devils
Rick Meagher
Garry Howatt
To Hartford Whalers
Merlin Malinowski
Scott Fusco
October 29, 1982 To New Jersey Devils
Cash
To Detroit Red Wings
Dwight Foster
February 19, 1983 To New Jersey Devils
Ron Low
To Edmonton Oilers
Lindsay Middlebrook
Paul Miller

Free agents

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Player Former team
C Mike Antonovich Minnesota North Stars
C Mitch Wilson Seattle Breakers (WHL)
F Jan Ludvig Edmonton Oilers
Player New team

Draft picks

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The Devils' draft picks at the 1982 NHL Entry Draft at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Canada.

Rd # Pick # Player Nat Pos Team (League) Notes
1 8 Rocky Trottier   Canada C Billings Bighorns (WHL) [a]
1 18 Ken Daneyko   Canada D Seattle Breakers (WHL) [b]
2 22 No second-round draft pick [b]
3 44 Pat Verbeek   Canada C Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
3 54 Dave Kasper   Canada C Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL) [c]
4 64 No fourth-round draft pick [d]
5 85 Scott Brydges   United States D White Bear Lake Mariner H.S. (Minnesota)
6 106 Mike Moher   Canada RW Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
7 127 Paul Fulcher   Canada LW London Knights (OHL)
8 148 John Hutchings   Canada D Oshawa Generals (OHL)
9 169 Alan Hepple   United Kingdom D Ottawa 67's (OHL)
10 190 Brent Shaw   Canada RW Seattle Breakers (WHL)
10 207 Tony Gilliard   Canada LW Niagara Falls Flyers (OHL) [b]
11 211 Scott Fusco   United States C Harvard University (ECAC)
12 232 Dan Dorion   United States RW Austin Mavericks (USHL)

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The Colorado Rockies traded Rob Ramage to St. Louis in exchange for St. Louis' first-round picks in 1982 (Trottier) and 1983 (McLean) on June 9, 1982.
  2. ^ a b c Colorado traded away the 1982 first overall pick (used on Gord Kluzak) and second-round pick (used on Brian Curran) to Boston for Dwight Foster and the Bruins' 1982 first-round pick (Daneyko) and tenth-round pick (Gilliard) on July 2, 1981.[3]
  3. ^ Colorado had acquired Winnipeg's 1982 third-round pick along with Brent Ashton for Lucien DeBlois on July 15, 1981.[3]
  4. ^ Colorado traded their 1982 fourth-round pick to Los Angeles (used to draft Dave Gans) for Nick Beverley on November 18, 1978.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c 1982 Traded Draft Picks