The Season that saw the Smythe Division Dominate
The Smythe Division made it's debut in the 1974/75 season and included teams from Chicago, Vancouver, St.Louis, Minnesota and Kansas City. The division would remain with these five teams for two seasons, up until when the Kansas City Scouts ceased operating in Kansas City, moved to Colorado and Colorado was a now a member of the Smythe Division for the 1976/77 season. Prior to the 1978/79 season, the Minnesota North Stars moved to the Adams Division as the Cleveland Barons ceased operations and merged with the Minnesota North Stars. The division would now have four teams and would remain this way for only one season as the NHL expanded to 21 teams for the 1979/80 season and the new Division would include Edmonton, Chicago, St. Louis, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Colorado. The The Smythe Division made it's debut at the beginning of the 1974/75 season and consisted of Vancouver, St.Louis, Chicago, Minnesota and Kansas City. Kansas City would only play two seasons in the Smythe Division, the team moved to Denver for the 1976/77 season and were know as the Colorado Rockies. Colorado would take Kansas City's place within the Smythe Division. The Smythe Division would go through another change as the Atlanta Flames would move to Calgary and become the Calgary Flames for the 1981/82 season. The Smythe Division would now include Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Los Angeles and Colorado. Colorado would cease operating in Denver and move it's operation to New Jersey for the 1982/83 season and this move would see the Winnipeg Jets move from the Norris Division to the Smythe Division. The Division would not change for 9 seasons, it wasn't until 1991/92 when the San Jose Sharks joined the league and the Smythe Division. The Smythe Division would be a six-team division for two seasons, at which point the NHL abolished the divisional names and went with geographical names for it's divisions.
During the Smythe Division's 19 season's there were many lows. During the '70s it was not very often that teams in the Smythe Division finished above .500, in fact it only occurred on 8 occasions out of a possible 30. Also during the '70s there were 19 occasions when teams finished with 70 points or less and of those 19 occasions, 13 of them saw teams achieve 60 points or less. As the Smythe Division entered the '80s, the future looked a little brighter. The 1980/81 season would be the first time that a team from the Smythe Division achieved 100 points in a season, the previous high was 87, and this achievement was realized by the St. Louis Blues. Although this was quite an accomplishment by a team within the Smythe Division, it was still not enough as the remaining five teams finished below .500 with Winnipeg being the worst of the bunch with a 32 point season. 1981/82 was a breakout year for the Edmonton Oilers as they finished with 111 points, but still the Smythe Division supporting cast would not help the charge towards respectability as the remaining four teams finished below .500. For the following two seasons the Edmonton Oilers continued to excel while the other four teams remained stagnant and it was not until the 1983/84 season that another team in this post-'80s Smythe Division would reach and even climb over the .500 plateau and this achievement belonged to the Calgary Flames. In addition to Calgary achieving a .500 plus record it would be the first time that a Smythe Division team would lead the entire league in points and capture the Stanley Cup, it was truly a great season for Edmonton. The best was yet to come for this division.
The 1984/85 season saw, for the first and only time, the Smythe Division dominate the NHL. Edmonton would finish the season with 109 points, the second highest point total in the NHL and capture their second Stanley Cup. The Winnipeg Jets accumulated 96 points and this was good enough for 4th place in the NHL. The Calgary Flames finished the season with 94 points and this was good enough for 5th place in the NHL. In addition, the Los Angeles Kings had a good season with 82 points and this was good enough for 13th place in the NHL. The Smythe Division also produced the top 5 players with regards to points. Gretzky lead the way with 208 points, Kurri with 138 points, Hawerchuk with 130 points, Dionne with 126 points and Coffey with 121 points. During the 1984/85 season the Smythe Division would place eight players in the top 20 for NHL scoring and also had a few of that season's best goaltenders in Fuhr, Moog, Lemelin and Hayward. The Smythe Division would capture individual trophies such as the Hart, Art Ross, Norris, Lady Byng, Conn Smythe, Emery Edge and would also be runner up for individual trophies a total of four times. The Smythe Division from this point on would remain a very strong and respected division, but this division would never come close to what it achieved during the 1984/85 season.
During the Smythe Division's 19 season's there were many lows. During the '70s it was not very often that teams in the Smythe Division finished above .500, in fact it only occurred on 8 occasions out of a possible 30. Also during the '70s there were 19 occasions when teams finished with 70 points or less and of those 19 occasions, 13 of them saw teams achieve 60 points or less. As the Smythe Division entered the '80s, the future looked a little brighter. The 1980/81 season would be the first time that a team from the Smythe Division achieved 100 points in a season, the previous high was 87, and this achievement was realized by the St. Louis Blues. Although this was quite an accomplishment by a team within the Smythe Division, it was still not enough as the remaining five teams finished below .500 with Winnipeg being the worst of the bunch with a 32 point season. 1981/82 was a breakout year for the Edmonton Oilers as they finished with 111 points, but still the Smythe Division supporting cast would not help the charge towards respectability as the remaining four teams finished below .500. For the following two seasons the Edmonton Oilers continued to excel while the other four teams remained stagnant and it was not until the 1983/84 season that another team in this post-'80s Smythe Division would reach and even climb over the .500 plateau and this achievement belonged to the Calgary Flames. In addition to Calgary achieving a .500 plus record it would be the first time that a Smythe Division team would lead the entire league in points and capture the Stanley Cup, it was truly a great season for Edmonton. The best was yet to come for this division.
The 1984/85 season saw, for the first and only time, the Smythe Division dominate the NHL. Edmonton would finish the season with 109 points, the second highest point total in the NHL and capture their second Stanley Cup. The Winnipeg Jets accumulated 96 points and this was good enough for 4th place in the NHL. The Calgary Flames finished the season with 94 points and this was good enough for 5th place in the NHL. In addition, the Los Angeles Kings had a good season with 82 points and this was good enough for 13th place in the NHL. The Smythe Division also produced the top 5 players with regards to points. Gretzky lead the way with 208 points, Kurri with 138 points, Hawerchuk with 130 points, Dionne with 126 points and Coffey with 121 points. During the 1984/85 season the Smythe Division would place eight players in the top 20 for NHL scoring and also had a few of that season's best goaltenders in Fuhr, Moog, Lemelin and Hayward. The Smythe Division would capture individual trophies such as the Hart, Art Ross, Norris, Lady Byng, Conn Smythe, Emery Edge and would also be runner up for individual trophies a total of four times. The Smythe Division from this point on would remain a very strong and respected division, but this division would never come close to what it achieved during the 1984/85 season.
