1980-81 Colorado Rockies

[vikash1987]

The 1980-81 Colorado Rockies have always intrigued me. My question: could the Rockies have been a legitimate playoff contender that season?

This seems silly, on its surface, but it's a totally serious question.

By way of background: the Rockies had finished at the very bottom of the league standings in both 1978-79 and 1979-80. They were a total non-factor. For the start of the 1980-81 season, there was a new coach in Billy MacMillan (who succeeded Don Cherry), as well as some interesting side hires, such as Hall of Famer Glenn Hall as goaltending coach and female Olympic speed skater Dianne Holum as skating coach. 40+ year old defenseman Terry Harper, winner of five Cups in Montreal, would become an assistant coach after finishing his playing career with the Rockies.

On the ice, Lanny McDonald, who was in his prime, would be playing his first full season with the team. Expected to carry the offense along with Lanny was Rene Robert, who wasn't far removed from his French Connection productivity. The rest of the forward and D lineup was less tested and less experienced, but there were great expectations (if not mistaken) in the likes of Paul Gagne, Rob Ramage, Mike McEwen, et al. And in nets, Hardy Astrom, the "Swedish Sieve," would be getting help from veteran Al Smith.

The team got off to a killer 3-0-1 start, and had amazing records against tough opponents such as Edmonton and the Rangers. So what happened? Was it injuries that derailed them? Did they underperform?

Click to read more...

 

[Big Phil]

I don't know if they underperformed or not, but that goaltending is just horrendous either way. They had fired Don Cherry from the previous year and were barely better, so it definitely wasn't the coaching. That being said, the forward group outside of McDonald is awfully thin. Rene Robert was alright, but they traded him after 28 games. My first thought is if Mike McEwen and Rob Ramage are your best defensemen then you'd better have a strong forward corps. But they didn't. They finished with 57 points, and to be honest that looks about right. 13 points out of a playoff spot too. I am not sure what you can do in this situation.

 

[Doctor No]

Best thing I can say about Al Smith that year was that he was consistent - consistently below average:

1980-1981 Colorado Rockies Goaltender Game-by-Game Performance

(These normalize for the opponent but still have many of the other limitations of save percentage).

Smith did have a brief hot start that coincided with the club's hot start identified above.

Although when every goaltender's numbers look bad, maybe the team in front of them isn't doing them any favors. Don Cherry knew that it was easier to scapegoat one goaltender (him being European was a bonus, although Cherry did similar to Gilles Gilbert in Boston) than to jettison an entire team.

Fun fact - the 1980-81 Rockies are one of a very few number of teams to use four different starting goaltenders in four consecutive games - Smith, Kaarela, Astrom, and Myre. They managed to turn the trick the prior season, and get this - only one of the four goaltenders was a repeat ffrom the 1980-81 list: Plasse, Oleschuk, Astrom, McKenzie.

Even the machine-gun acquisitions of Myre and Resch late in the year didn't do too much - both were slightly above league average. If I were make a thesis on "limitations of save percentage", the early 1980s Colorado Rockies might be exhibit one.

 

[reckoning]

At the All-Star break Colorado was tied with Edmonton and only 2 points behind Quebec in the standings. But both those teams really turned it on and left Colorado in the dust over the last two months.

In typical Rockie luck, this was the year they didn't trade away their first round pick (In '80 and '82 they squandered what turned out to be #1 overall picks.). In '81 they got Joe Cirella at #5. Not a bad defenceman, but not close to being enough to turn things around.

 

[vikash1987]

I don't know if they underperformed or not, but that goaltending is just horrendous either way. They had fired Don Cherry from the previous year and were barely better, so it definitely wasn't the coaching. That being said, the forward group outside of McDonald is awfully thin. Rene Robert was alright, but they traded him after 28 games. My first thought is if Mike McEwen and Rob Ramage are your best defensemen then you'd better have a strong forward corps. But they didn't. They finished with 57 points, and to be honest that looks about right. 13 points out of a playoff spot too. I am not sure what you can do in this situation.

That sounds reasonable, and it's probably the conventional wisdom. But it leaves something to be desired.

Their defense was very young and not the most impressive on paper, but remember that Rob Ramage did have himself a 20-goal season from the blueline---signaling that he indeed had star potential (there was some doubt after his rookie year). Defensive coach Terry Harper, mentioned earlier, was credited with doing a good job in building more structure and discipline in their own zone. Joel Quenneville was another guy back there, who had been acquired in the Lanny trade.

As for their forward depth outside Lanny and Rene Robert: there again was a lot of youth and inexperience, but their secondary scorers did seem to pull their weight at different stretches. Lucien DeBlois (highly touted by Don Cherry and others), Paul Gagne (18-year-old rookie) and "The Magician" Merlin Malinowski each had 25 goals---no small tasks, especially considering the amount of time some of these guys lost to injuries.

On the topic of injuries: apparently, Rene Robert missed all of training camp and the first 20 games due to a severe groin/abdominal injury. One wonders what might have been, had he been healthy and his normal offensive self. At one point midway through the season, the team had a half dozen regulars out of the lineup due to injuries.

Best thing I can say about Al Smith that year was that he was consistent - consistently below average:

1980-1981 Colorado Rockies Goaltender Game-by-Game Performance

(These normalize for the opponent but still have many of the other limitations of save percentage).

Smith did have a brief hot start that coincided with the club's hot start identified above.

Although when every goaltender's numbers look bad, maybe the team in front of them isn't doing them any favors. Don Cherry knew that it was easier to scapegoat one goaltender (him being European was a bonus, although Cherry did similar to Gilles Gilbert in Boston) than to jettison an entire team.

Fun fact - the 1980-81 Rockies are one of a very few number of teams to use four different starting goaltenders in four consecutive games - Smith, Kaarela, Astrom, and Myre. They managed to turn the trick the prior season, and get this - only one of the four goaltenders was a repeat ffrom the 1980-81 list: Plasse, Oleschuk, Astrom, McKenzie.

Even the machine-gun acquisitions of Myre and Resch late in the year didn't do too much - both were slightly above league average. If I were make a thesis on "limitations of save percentage", the early 1980s Colorado Rockies might be exhibit one.

It's obvious that Al Smith was not the best solution to Colorado's goaltending problems. But I would've thought that he was an upgrade. Was age a factor? Also, wasn't Steve Janaszak in the mix? He was Jim Craig's backup at the '80 Olympics.

At the All-Star break Colorado was tied with Edmonton and only 2 points behind Quebec in the standings. But both those teams really turned it on and left Colorado in the dust over the last two months.

In typical Rockie luck, this was the year they didn't trade away their first round pick (In '80 and '82 they squandered what turned out to be #1 overall picks.). In '81 they got Joe Cirella at #5. Not a bad defenceman, but not close to being enough to turn things around.

Amazing that they were close to the Oilers and Nordiques that deep in the season. It's undoubtedly a testament to the players and coaching staff. It's also possible that their injury woes set them back a bit.

 

[Big Phil]

That sounds reasonable, and it's probably the conventional wisdom. But it leaves something to be desired.

Their defense was very young and not the most impressive on paper, but remember that Rob Ramage did have himself a 20-goal season from the blueline---signaling that he indeed had star potential (there was some doubt after his rookie year). Defensive coach Terry Harper, mentioned earlier, was credited with doing a good job in building more structure and discipline in their own zone. Joel Quenneville was another guy back there, who had been acquired in the Lanny trade.

As for their forward depth outside Lanny and Rene Robert: there again was a lot of youth and inexperience, but their secondary scorers did seem to pull their weight at different stretches. Lucien DeBlois (highly touted by Don Cherry and others), Paul Gagne (18-year-old rookie) and "The Magician" Merlin Malinowski each had 25 goals---no small tasks, especially considering the amount of time some of these guys lost to injuries.

On the topic of injuries: apparently, Rene Robert missed all of training camp and the first 20 games due to a severe groin/abdominal injury. One wonders what might have been, had he been healthy and his normal offensive self. At one point midway through the season, the team had a half dozen regulars out of the lineup due to injuries.

I looked at their roster and thought, is this a top 16 team in the NHL in a 21-team league? I thought they weren't. That's sort of how I did it. Nothing scientific or anything

 

[vikash1987]

I looked at their roster and thought, is this a top 16 team in the NHL in a 21-team league? I thought they weren't. That's sort of how I did it. Nothing scientific or anything

On paper, I’d say they were a bubble team at best. That’s why it’s so interesting to see the Rockies as high as they were in the overall league standings in early January 1981. They were sub-.500, granted, but they were ahead of the Rangers, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Quebec, Detroit, Edmonton, and Winnipeg. Whether that was a fluke or not, and whether that was sustainable or not, I simply don’t know.

 

[Big Phil]

On paper, I’d say they were a bubble team at best. That’s why it’s so interesting to see the Rockies as high as they were in the overall league standings in early January 1981. They were sub-.500, granted, but they were ahead of the Rangers, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Quebec, Detroit, Edmonton, and Winnipeg. Whether that was a fluke or not, and whether that was sustainable or not, I simply don’t know.

Hmmm, not sure. I looked up their results, they were a .500 team up until the end of November. They seemed to go into a horrible tailspin after New Year's and up until the rest of the season. I looked up McDonald's stats that year, he was pretty spread out throughout the year points wise, never stood out on month from another to the point where you can notice a big win streak. Rob Ramage, probably their 2nd best player, did better up until December.

Honestly, I just think it was a team that may have been playing above their head to start the year. Lots of teams have done that. I just don't see it with them.

 

[vikash1987]

Hmmm, not sure. I looked up their results, they were a .500 team up until the end of November. They seemed to go into a horrible tailspin after New Year's and up until the rest of the season. I looked up McDonald's stats that year, he was pretty spread out throughout the year points wise, never stood out on month from another to the point where you can notice a big win streak. Rob Ramage, probably their 2nd best player, did better up until December.

Honestly, I just think it was a team that may have been playing above their head to start the year. Lots of teams have done that. I just don't see it with them.

In terms of the standings, this is what the league looked like on January 6, 1981 (from the Edmonton Journal):

You may very well be right in suggesting that this was not sustainable for them.

 

[Hobnobs]

When Cherry was there, he was definitely a problem. See, Cherry knows a lot of hockey but he doesnt think of strategy in the way most coaches do. He goes on instinct and his own principles which he is stubborn with to the extreme. The team improved a lot after Cherry was let go but couldnt sustain it because they had no offense or offensive puck possession. It was basically up to Lanny and Ramage to score. So all teams except the Jets and my dead things quickly overtook them. And they couldnt win face offs to save their lives. Center position was a weakness throughout the year and was a reason they traded for Tambellini (They had McKechnie but iirc he was often injured).

No idea why they aquired Al Smith, he was an AHL level goalie by that point.

Their GMs was a big problem. Neither Miron or MacMillan were any geniuses in the front office.

 

[vikash1987]

When Cherry was there, he was definitely a problem. See, Cherry knows a lot of hockey but he doesnt think of strategy in the way most coaches do. He goes on instinct and his own principles which he is stubborn with to the extreme. The team improved a lot after Cherry was let go but couldnt sustain it because they had no offense or offensive puck possession. It was basically up to Lanny and Ramage to score. So all teams except the Jets and my dead things quickly overtook them. And they couldnt win face offs to save their lives. Center position was a weakness throughout the year and was a reason they traded for Tambellini (They had McKechnie but iirc he was often injured).

No idea why they aquired Al Smith, he was an AHL level goalie by that point.

Their GMs was a big problem. Neither Miron or MacMillan were any geniuses in the front office.

The Rockies that year were clearly strongest on right wing.

McKechnie was a journeyman/veteran center, and a good pickup for them. No idea what his performance was on faceoffs, but he got off to a solid start to the season offensively. He missed nearly 30 games at season's end due to a knee ligament tear----again, had the Rockies not had so many casualties to injuries, their playoff hopes may not have faded IMO (though others may disagree).

I agree that management and ownership were not helpful in a lot of respects. The trading away of top draft picks, the musical chairs of coaches, etc.

 

[VanIslander]

In September 1981, against the gym wall of Westsyde Elementary in Kamloops, B.C., no one would risk throwing a card of a player against a Colorado Rockies card. In fact, burning the card is the only memory. (In hindsight i feel like we were Islamic extremists, but back then I was one of the crowd).

 

[Hobnobs]

The Rockies that year were clearly strongest on right wing.

McKechnie was a journeyman/veteran center, and a good pickup for them. No idea what his performance was on faceoffs, but he got off to a solid start to the season offensively. He missed nearly 30 games at season's end due to a knee ligament tear----again, had the Rockies not had so many casualties to injuries, their playoff hopes may not have faded IMO (though others may disagree).

I agree that management and ownership were not helpful in a lot of respects. The trading away of top draft picks, the musical chairs of coaches, etc.

McKechnie was a good second line center but yea injuries derailed his career completely. And yea, I can see the Rockies maybe making it to the playoffs but would probably make them do something stupid at the deadline (also only getting a 3rd round for Rene Robert when draft picks werent valued for shit. And trading Gardner for Ashby and Johansen. Who? Exactly. Good job, Miron).

The notoriously bad drafting also has to be mentioned. They drafted 3 goalies who amounted to 1 NHL game. When Devils drafted Terreri they had never drafted a better goalie prospect. This from a franchise with goalie issues. Once MacMillan was gone the franchise immediately took steps forward. Not that McNab was a genius or anything but at least competent enough to identify problems and draft accordingly. And yea Devils was still bad but they were obviously rebuilding and did it right.

Rockies were treated as wild west franchise and suffered for it. Even if they had made the playoffs I doubt they wouldve managed to do much damage and would eventually be sold anyways.

 

[vikash1987]

McKechnie was a good second line center but yea injuries derailed his career completely. And yea, I can see the Rockies maybe making it to the playoffs but would probably make them do something stupid at the deadline (also only getting a 3rd round for Rene Robert when draft picks werent valued for shit. And trading Gardner for Ashby and Johansen. Who? Exactly. Good job, Miron).

The notoriously bad drafting also has to be mentioned. They drafted 3 goalies who amounted to 1 NHL game. When Devils drafted Terreri they had never drafted a better goalie prospect. This from a franchise with goalie issues. Once MacMillan was gone the franchise immediately took steps forward. Not that McNab was a genius or anything but at least competent enough to identify problems and draft accordingly. And yea Devils was still bad but they were obviously rebuilding and did it right.

Rockies were treated as wild west franchise and suffered for it. Even if they had made the playoffs I doubt they wouldve managed to do much damage and would eventually be sold anyways.

Haha....well, I agree about the bad trades and bad drafting. It's interesting: the Rockies were the youngest team in the NHL in 1980-81 (median age was ~23), and I don't think this was by accident. Management was likely influenced by a team such as the Islanders of the '70s as a model of success that revolved around youth---the Islanders went from bottom of the league in Year 1 to miracle playoff run in Year 3 to Cup contender and top of the league by the end of the '70s, and that turnaround was based largely on the growth of their young stars. At the very least, Billy MacMillan, the Rockies' coach, who experienced that youth movement/turnaround firsthand with the Islanders, was definitely influenced by that when he transitioned to Colorado.

The trouble is that you can't consider yourself even a poor man's version of the Islanders when your record of trades and drafting is so bad! That said, however, the Rockies hung around well into 1980-81, and competed well against top teams such as Philly, Calgary, etc.

 

[stephenlaroche]

Great point about the Islanders influence! MacMillan would have witnessed that first-hand and perhaps he had some influence in making the deals where Chico Resch, Bob Lorimer, and Steve Tambellini were brought in? Upper management was definitely a mess in Colorado.

The Red Wings definitely took the idea of following the Islanders pattern to heart once Jimmy Devellano moved over there soon after.

 

[vikash1987]

Does anybody have any insights into HoF'er Glenn Hall's tenure as the Rockies' goaltending coach/consultant that season? (Mentioned in the opening post.) Hall would go on to win a Cup at the end of the decade with Calgary in a similar role. I've often wondered whether he had a tangible effect on the goaltending situation for the Rockies. Perhaps the Rockies' goaltending situation was just hopeless and beyond repair?

 

[stephenlaroche]

I think Hall was very part-time during his time with the Rockies. He was probably more involved in Calgary since it was closer to home (just spitballing there).

The Rockies didn't have the worst goaltending situation around in 1980-81 - but it was definitely in need for a shakeup.
Getting Chico was exactly what the team needed, but Phil Myre was also a solid stop-gap acquisition.

I disagree somewhat with the sentiment that Smith was an AHLer at best during this time, but he was definitely on the way out. He was only three years removed from a very strong 77-78 with New England and was a decent enough backup to John Garrett in 79-80. The Bear only played two more games after Myre was acquired. He also started the season 6-3-1 (not bad), but went 1-12-2 (not so good) leading up to Myre's arrival.

As for poor Hardy Astrom, most people assume he was a sieve because of a certain blowhard. Better than you'd think, just placed in a bad situation. Kaarela was never going to get a proper shot and Janaszak was ultimately more of a novelty than a solid prospect.