Darcy Rota arrived in the NHL with serious scoring credentials. Drafted 13th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round of the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft, he was fresh off a massive 73-goal season with the Edmonton Oil Kings. While he would never match those junior numbers at the NHL level, his career high was 42 goals with Vancouver in 1982-83, Rota wasted no time proving he belonged among the pros.
His NHL debut came on October 10, 1973, when the Blackhawks opened their season on the road against the Los Angeles Kings at the famed Forum. The matchup featured two elite goaltenders in Tony Esposito and Rogie Vachon, and for most of the night, both lived up to their reputations. All three goals came in a tight eight-and-a-half-minute stretch of the second period: J.P. Bordeleau opened the scoring at 5:35, Dennis Hull added another at 7:40, and Rota capped the run at 14:13, marking his first NHL goal in his first NHL game and helping seal a 3-0 Chicago win.
Rota’s milestone goal was one of four shots he fired at Vachon that night, with Cliff Koroll and Stan Mikita picking up the assists. It was the first of 21 goals he scored during his rookie campaign, where he totaled 33 points in 74 games. He added three more goals in the postseason, including his first playoff goal, also against the Kings, in his very first playoff game.
Across his NHL career from 1973-74 through 1983-84, Rota was a reliable and consistent scorer. Playing 794 regular-season games and 60 playoff contests with Chicago, Atlanta, and Vancouver, he finished with 256 goals and recorded nine 20-goal seasons. His debut goal was just the opening chapter of a career defined by steady production and timely scoring.
NHL Hockey Trivia: Darcy Rota
1. Which team drafted Darcy Rota 13th overall in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft?
2. Darcy Rota scored his first NHL goal against which goaltender?
3. How many 20-goal seasons did Darcy Rota record in his NHL career?
4. With which team did Darcy Rota record his NHL career-high 42-goal season?
5. How many regular season goals did Darcy Rota finish with in his NHL career?
