after missing the first two months of the 1978–79 nhl season due to a training camp knee injury, lochead could not get his game back to the level of the previous season and he was claimed off waivers by the colorado rockies on february 9, 1979. he would play the final 26 games of the season with colorado. in the off-season he was traded to the new york rangers but ended up appearing in only seven games that season as he spent most of the year with the new haven nighthawks of the american hockey league. in the lower-tiered league he scored 46 goals and was placed on the ahl's first all-star team. lochead contributed strongly to the nighthawks in playoff scoring that year, but the team fell in the semi-finals to the eventual champion hershey bears. lochead also won the "minor league player of the year award" that season.