The 1981–82 Detroit Red Wings season was the 50th season as the Red Wings, 56th overall for the franchise. They missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season 1973–74 season and the 1976–77 season.

Offseason The National Hockey League realigned their divisions into geographically closer groupings. The Red Wings were the only team to remain in the Norris Division from the previous season, while the division itself was moved from the Prince of Wales Conference to the Campbell Conference, trading places with the Patrick Division. The Red Wings were joined in the Norris by the Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, and Winnipeg Jets.

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||W||October 6, 1981||5–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1981–82) ||1–0–0

|2||T||October 9, 1981||2–2 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82) ||1–0–1

|3||L||October 10, 1981||3–6 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1981–82) ||1–1–1

|4||W||October 15, 1981||6–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1981–82) ||2–1–1

|5||L||October 17, 1981||1–8 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers (1981–82) ||2–2–1

|6||W||October 18, 1981||3–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82) ||3–2–1

|7||T||October 22, 1981||2–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1981–82) ||3–2–2

|8||L||October 24, 1981||3–8 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) ||3–3–2

|9||L||October 25, 1981||1–4 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82) ||3–4–2

|10||W||October 29, 1981||12–4 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1981–82) ||4–4–2

|11||L||October 31, 1981||4–5 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) ||4–5–2

|12||W||November 1, 1981||3–1 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1981–82) ||5–5–2

|13||W||November 5, 1981||10–2 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1981–82) ||6–5–2

|14||L||November 7, 1981||2–4 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1981–82) ||6–6–2

|15||L||November 9, 1981||3–5 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) ||6–7–2

|16||T||November 11, 1981||5–5 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) ||6–7–3

|17||T||November 13, 1981||3–3 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1981–82) ||6–7–4

|18||W||November 14, 1981||6–3 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) ||7–7–4

|19||L||November 18, 1981||1–8 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1981–82) ||7–8–4

|20||L||November 19, 1981||3–8 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1981–82) ||7–9–4

|21||T||November 21, 1981||4–4 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1981–82) ||7–9–5

|22||L||November 23, 1981||4–8 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1981–82) ||7–10–5

|23||L||November 25, 1981||1–3 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) ||7–11–5

|24||L||November 28, 1981||3–5 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82) ||7–12–5

|25||L||November 29, 1981||3–6 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) ||7–13–5

|26||L||December 1, 1981||5–7 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1981–82) ||7–14–5

|27||W||December 3, 1981||4–3 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1981–82) ||8–14–5

|28||L||December 5, 1981||2–5 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1981–82) ||8–15–5

|29||W||December 10, 1981||4–1 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) ||9–15–5

|30||L||December 12, 1981||2–4 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) ||9–16–5

|31||W||December 13, 1981||2–1 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) ||10–16–5

|32||L||December 17, 1981||2–3 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1981–82) ||10–17–5

|33||L||December 19, 1981||1–5 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1981–82) ||10–18–5

|34||L||December 20, 1981||3–5 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1981–82) ||10–19–5

|35||L||December 22, 1981||2–3 || align="left"| Hartford Whalers (1981–82) ||10–20–5

|36||L||December 26, 1981||3–8 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) ||10–21–5

|37||T||December 27, 1981||2–2 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) ||10–21–6

|38||L||December 31, 1981||2–5 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) ||10–22–6

|39||W||January 2, 1982||3–1 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1981–82) ||11–22–6

|40||L||January 3, 1982||3–4 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) ||11–23–6

|41||L||January 6, 1982||2–5 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1981–82) ||11–24–6

|42||W||January 7, 1982||5–4 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1981–82) ||12–24–6

|43||L||January 9, 1982||2–4 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) ||12–25–6

|44||W||January 14, 1982||3–1 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1981–82) ||13–25–6

|45||T||January 16, 1982||5–5 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1981–82) ||13–25–7

|46||T||January 17, 1982||4–4 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1981–82) ||13–25–8

|47||W||January 20, 1982||5–4 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) ||14–25–8

|48||L||January 21, 1982||4–7 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1981–82) ||14–26–8

|49||T||January 23, 1982||2–2 || align="left"| Hartford Whalers (1981–82) ||14–26–9

|50||T||January 26, 1982||3–3 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) ||14–26–10

|51||L||January 27, 1982||6–8 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) ||14–27–10

|52||L||January 30, 1982||3–5 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1981–82) ||14–28–10

|53||W||February 4, 1982||6–4 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) ||15–28–10

|54||L||February 6, 1982||2–6 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1981–82) ||15–29–10

|55||W||February 7, 1982||8–5 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1981–82) ||16–29–10

|56||T||February 11, 1982||4–4 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1981–82) ||16–29–11

|57||L||February 13, 1982||1–6 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) ||16–30–11

|58||T||February 17, 1982||3–3 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) ||16–30–12

|59||W||February 18, 1982||4–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) ||17–30–12

|60||L||February 20, 1982||5–7 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1981–82) ||17–31–12

|61||L||February 21, 1982||3–7 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1981–82) ||17–32–12

|62||W||February 23, 1982||6–3 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1981–82) ||18–32–12

|63||L||February 24, 1982||3–5 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1981–82) ||18–33–12

|64||L||February 27, 1982||2–6 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1981–82) ||18–34–12

|65||L||February 28, 1982||4–5 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) ||18–35–12

|66||L||March 3, 1982||4–6 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) ||18–36–12

|67||L||March 5, 1982||0–2 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) ||18–37–12

|68||L||March 6, 1982||1–5 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1981–82) ||18–38–12

|69||L||March 8, 1982||3–6 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1981–82) ||18–39–12

|70||L||March 11, 1982||1–4 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1981–82) ||18–40–12

|71||L||March 13, 1982||3–5 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1981–82) ||18–41–12

|72||L||March 18, 1982||4–7 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1981–82) ||18–42–12

|73||L||March 20, 1982||3–4 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) ||18–43–12

|74||L||March 21, 1982||2–8 || align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) ||18–44–12

|75||L||March 24, 1982||4–6 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1981–82) ||18–45–12

|76||L||March 25, 1982||3–4 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1981–82) ||18–46–12

|77||W||March 27, 1982||2–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) ||19–46–12

|78||W||March 28, 1982||6–4 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1981–82) ||20–46–12

|79||W||March 31, 1982||4–2 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1981–82) ||21–46–12

|80||L||April 4, 1982||2–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1981–82) ||21–47–12

Legend:

Player statistics

Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG LW 80 26 41 67 61-7503 D 80 21 39 60 112-17422 RW 80 23 32 55 48-15503 C 74 18 37 55 35-1203 LW 80 28 26 54 28-15323 D 74 15 30 45 98-16502 C 74 14 28 42 62-18010 RW 68 12 28 40 22-15100 D 69 10 22 32 79-22201 C 26 13 14 27 6-3600 LW 75 10 17 27 48-5011 RW 26 13 13 26 28-2300 LW 52 10 14 24 35-21300 RW 36 13 9 22 74-4210 RW 49 9 13 22 231101 C/LW 49 6 14 20 10-4000 RW 31 9 10 19 2-1001 C 41 4 13 17 45-6020 D 39 5 9 14 692000 D 69 1 12 13 93-31000 D/LW 59 1 7 8 104-19000 RW/C 12 3 4 7 13-7000 D 37 1 5 6 30-5010 LW 11 1 2 3 4-2000 RW 33 2 0 2 80-7001 C 4 1 0 1 2-2100 C 15 1 0 1 6-6000 D 2 0 1 1 2 G 27 0 0 0 20000 G 1 0 0 0 00000 G 18 0 0 0 90000 LW 3 0 0 0 01000 G 41 0 0 0 00000 G 2 0 0 0 00000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO 2365 41 11 25 4 165 4.19 0 1478 27 6 10 6 105 4.26 0 809 18 4 10 1 63 4.67 0 28 1 0 0 1 0 0.00 0 120 2 0 2 0 10 5.00 0 Team: 4800 80 21 47 12 343 4.29 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; Draft picks Detroit's draft picks at the 1981 NHL entry draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)223Claude LoiselleWindsor Spitfires (OMJHL)344Corrado MicalefSherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)586Larry TraderLondon Knights (OMJHL)6107Gerard GallantSherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)7128Greg StefanOshawa Generals (OMJHL)8149Rick ZomboAustin Mavericks (USHL)9170Don LeBlancMoncton Hawks (NBJHL)10191Robert NordmarkFrolunda (Sweden)

See also 1981–82 NHL season

References