1979-80 NHL season



The 1979-80 NHL season was the 63rd season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. This season saw the addition of four teams from the collapse of the World Hockey Association (WHA) the previous season as expansion franchises. The Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, New England Whalers (later renamed "Hartford Whalers" at the insistence of the Boston Bruins), and Quebec Nordiques joined the NHL bringing a new total of 21 teams. The other two WHA teams (Birmingham Bulls and Cincinnati Stingers) were paid to disband. The collapse of the WHA also saw the much hyped super-star rookie Wayne Gretzky come to the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky would tie Marcel Dionne for the scoring lead with 137 points and capture the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player while Dionne took home the Art Ross Trophy as the leading scorer by virtue of having scored two more goals.

The big story of the regular season was the record-breaking undefeated streak compiled by the Philadelphia Flyers. After starting the season with a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders and a 9-2 loss to the Atlanta Flames, the Flyers did not lose again for nearly three months, earning at least one point in every game between a 4-3 win over Toronto October 14, 1979 and a 4-2 win over Buffalo January 6, 1980, a span of 35 games. This stands as the longest undefeated streak in North American professional sports history.

Regular Season
For the four previous seasons, the Boston Bruins had owned first place in the Adams Division. This season saw the Buffalo Sabres dethrone the Bruins in the Adams. The New York Islanders finished first overall in the NHL the previous season with 116 points, but had lost in the Semi-finals of the playoffs to the upstart New York Rangers. This season saw them fall considerably in the standings as they finished 4th overall with 91 points, a full 25 points below last year's finish. On the other hand, the Philadelphia Flyers improved by 21 points from the previous season. Their 35-game undefeated streak (25-0-10) propelled them to the best record in the NHL with 116 points.

All four expansion teams finished poorly with records below .500. The Hartford Whalers fared the best with 73 points and the Winnipeg Jets tied the Colorado Rockies for last overall with 51 points.

Scoring Leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Leading Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Stanley Cup Playoffs
With the league expansion from 17 to 21 teams, the Stanley Cup playoffs were also expanded, from a 12 team tournament to a 16 team tournament. Division leaders no longer received first round byes. Since the teams played a completely balanced schedule in the regular season (4 games each against each of the other 20 teams), the top 16 teams in the regular season (by points) qualified for the playoffs, regardless of division. The teams were seeded 1 through 16, with the top team playing the 16th team in the first round, and so on. In subsequent rounds, matchups were similarly arranged, with the top remaining seed against the lowest remaining seed, and so on. The First Round was a best-of-five set.

The story of the playoffs, though, was Mike Bossy and the New York Islanders. After a dismal start for their franchise in the early seventies, the Islanders built a contender for the Stanley Cup and won their first of four in a row by beating the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime of game six of the finals. Defenceman Denis Potvin scored a crucial overtime goal in game one and the Cup was won when Bobby Nystrom scored the Cup-winning goal from John Tonelli and Lorne Henning at 7:11 of the first overtime. Hall of Fame announcer Dan Kelly was calling the play-by-play for CBS Sports on that day, May 24, 1980. It was the last NHL game to air on American network television for nearly ten years.

Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1979-80 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
 * Kent Nilsson, Atlanta Flames
 * Paul Reinhart, Atlanta Flames
 * Brad McCrimmon, Boston Bruins
 * Craig MacTavish, Boston Bruins
 * Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
 * Mike Ramsey, Buffalo Sabres
 * Darryl Sutter, Chicago Black Hawks
 * Rob Ramage, Colorado Rockies
 * John Ogrodnick, Detroit Red Wings
 * Mike Foligno, Detroit Red Wings
 * Kevin Lowe, Edmonton Oilers
 * Mark Messier, Edmonton Oilers
 * Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
 * Dave Semenko, Edmonton Oilers
 * John Garrett, Hartford Whalers
 * Gordie Roberts, Hartford Whalers
 * Mark Howe, Hartford Whalers
 * Mike Rogers, Hartford Whalers
 * Jay Wells, Los Angeles Kings
 * Craig Hartsburg, Minnesota North Stars
 * Chris Nilan, Montreal Canadiens
 * Keith Acton, Montreal Canadiens
 * Rick Meagher, Montreal Canadiens
 * Richard Brodeur, New York Islanders
 * Ken Morrow, New York Islanders
 * Duane Sutter, New York Islanders
 * Brian Propp, Philadelphia Flyers
 * Michel Goulet, Quebec Nordiques
 * Real Cloutier, Quebec Nordiques
 * Mike Liut, St. Louis Blues
 * Joe Mullen*, St. Louis Blues
 * Laurie Boschman, Toronto Maple Leafs
 * Rick Vaive, Vancouver Canucks
 * Mike Gartner, Washington Capitals
 * Dave Christian, Winnipeg Jets

Last Games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1979-80 (listed with their last team):
 * Paul Henderson, Atlanta Flames
 * Gerry Cheevers, Boston Bruins
 * Dave Schultz, Buffalo Sabres
 * Keith Magnuson, Chicago Black Hawks
 * Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks
 * Bill Flett, Edmonton Oilers
 * Al Hamilton, Edmonton Oilers
 * Gordie Howe, Hartford Whalers
 * Bobby Hull, Hartford Whalers
 * Dale Tallon, Pittsburgh Penguins
 * Carl Brewer, Toronto Maple Leafs
 * Dennis Hextall, Washington Capitals
 * Gary Smith, Winnipeg Jets