Trying to jolt the fan base and create some excitement for the club, the team hired Don Cherry, who had been fired by the Boston Bruins, and installed him as the new head coach.
In addition, a major mid-season trade netted the Rockies legendary goal-scorer and future Hall-of-Famer Lanny McDonald from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
With the first pick overall in the draft, the Rockies selected offensive-minded defenseman Rob Ramage.
[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals againstNote: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
On December 29, 1979, the Maple Leafs traded Lanny McDonald and Joel Quenneville to the Colorado Rockies for Wilf Paiement and Pat Hickey.