1979–80 Hartford Whalers season

	1979–80 Hartford Whalers
Division	4th Norris
Conference	8th Prince of Wales
1979–80 record	27–34–19
Goals for	303
Goals against	312
Team information
General manager	Jack Kelley
Coach	Don Blackburn
Captain	Rick Ley
Arena	Hartford Civic Center
Team leaders
Goals	Blaine Stoughton (56)
Assists	Mike Rogers (61)
Points	Mike Rogers (105)
Penalty minutes	Nick Fotiu (107)
Wins	John Garrett (16)
Goals against average	Al Smith (3.66)
	1980–81 →

The 1979–80 Hartford Whalers season was the Whalers' first season in the National Hockey League. The Whalers finished 4th in the Norris Division and lost in the Preliminary round to the Montreal Canadiens 3 games to 0.

Off-season[]

HartfordWhalers1979 — Hartford Whalers logo introduced in 1979, designed by Peter Good, a Connecticut-based graphic designer. This logo replaces the harpoon by combining a green W for Whalers with a blue whale's tail. Some people never notice that the negative space--the white area between the W and the whale's tail acts as an H for Hartford.

Along with the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets, the Whalers were one of four World Hockey Association franchises that joined the NHL.

Draft Picks[]

Pick	Player	Nationality	NHL Team	College/junior/club team
18.	Ray Allison (RW)	Canada	Hartford Whalers	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)

NHL Expansion Draft[]

Reclaimed Players[]

Reclaiming of players: The 17 existing NHL teams were allowed to reclaim any rights to former WHA players they held. The four incoming franchises, however, were allowed to protect up to two goaltenders and two skaters, voiding their NHL rights. These players were considered "priority selections" in the expansion draft. Gordie Howe was one of two special cases (the other being Wayne Gretzky), as a gentlemen's agreement between the Hartford Whalers and the Detroit Red Wings, which held his rights, led to the Wings declining to reclaim Howe.

These are Hartford players whose NHL rights were reclaimed when the WHA merged with the NHL. This list is incomplete.

#	Player	Reclaimed From	Reclaimed By
2.	Alan Hangsleben (D)	Hartford Whalers	Montreal Canadiens
7.	Rick Ley (D)	Hartford Whalers	Toronto Maple Leafs
9.	George Lyle (LW)	Hartford Whalers	Detroit Red Wings
10.	Warren Miller (RW)	Hartford Whalers	New York Rangers

Whalers Selections[]

#	Player	Drafted From	Drafted By
1.	Rick Ley (D)	Toronto Maple Leafs	Hartford Whalers
2.	Nick Fotiu (LW)	New York Rangers	Hartford Whalers
3.	Al Sims (D)	Boston Bruins	Hartford Whalers
4.	Bernie Johnston (C/LW)	Philadelphia Flyers	Hartford Whalers
5.	Brian Hill (RW)	Atlanta Flames	Hartford Whalers
6.	M. F. Schurman (LW)	Philadelphia Flyers	Hartford Whalers
7.	Rick Hodgson (D)	Atlanta Flames	Hartford Whalers
8.	Kevin Kemp (D)	Toronto Maple Leafs	Hartford Whalers
9.	Jean Savard (C)	Chicago Black Hawks	Hartford Whalers
10.	Alan Hangsleben (D)	Montreal Canadiens	Hartford Whalers
11.	Ralph Klassen (F)	Colorado Rockies	Hartford Whalers
12.	Bill Bennett (LW)	Boston Bruins	Hartford Whalers
13.	Dave Given (F)	Buffalo Sabres	Hartford Whalers
14.	Nick Beverley (D)	Colorado Rockies	Hartford Whalers
15.	Norm Lapointe G	Vancouver Canucks	Hartford Whalers
16.	Don Kozak (?)	Vancouver Canucks	Hartford Whalers

Regular Season[]

Gordie Howe[]

When the WHA folded in 1979, the Hartford Whalers joined the NHL and the 51-year-old Howe signed on for one final season playing in all 80 games of the schedule, helping his team to make the playoffs with fifteen goals. One particular honor was when Howe, Phil Esposito, and Jean Ratelle were selected to the mid-season all-star game by coach Scotty Bowman, as a nod to their storied careers before they retired. Howe had played in five decades of all-star games and he would skate alongside the second-youngest to ever play in the game, 19-year-old Wayne Gretzky. The Joe Louis Arena crowd gave him a standing ovation twice, lasting so long, he had to skate to the bench to stop people from cheering. He had one assist in his side's 6–3 win.

Final Standings[]

Norris Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Montreal Canadiens	80	47	20	13	328	240	107
Los Angeles Kings	80	30	36	14	290	313	74
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	30	37	13	251	303	73
Hartford Whalers	80	27	34	19	303	312	73
Detroit Red Wings	80	26	43	11	268	306	63

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log[]

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 11, 1979	1–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	0–1–0
2	T	October 13, 1979	3–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	0–1–1
3	T	October 14, 1979	3–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	0–1–2
4	L	October 17, 1979	1–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	0–2–2
5	W	October 19, 1979	6–3	Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	1–2–2
6	L	October 20, 1979	1–6	@ New York Islanders (1979–80)	1–3–2
7	T	October 24, 1979	2–2	@ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	1–3–3
8	L	October 26, 1979	1–2	New York Islanders (1979–80)	1–4–3
9	T	October 28, 1979	2–2	@ New York Rangers (1979–80)	1–4–4
10	W	October 31, 1979	4–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	2–4–4
11	W	November 2, 1979	5–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	3–4–4
12	W	November 6, 1979	7–2	@ Colorado Rockies (1979–80)	4–4–4
13	L	November 9, 1979	2–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	4–5–4
14	T	November 11, 1979	5–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	4–5–5
15	L	November 14, 1979	2–3	@ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	4–6–5
16	W	November 17, 1979	4–0	Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	5–6–5
17	L	November 18, 1979	4–5	@ Boston Bruins (1979–80)	5–7–5
18	W	November 21, 1979	5–3	Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	6–7–5
19	T	November 24, 1979	4–4	Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	6–7–6
20	W	November 25, 1979	4–2	Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	7–7–6
21	L	November 27, 1979	2–6	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	7–8–6
22	W	November 30, 1979	7–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	8–8–6
23	T	December 1, 1979	4–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	8–8–7
24	T	December 4, 1979	3–3	@ Washington Capitals (1979–80)	8–8–8
25	L	December 7, 1979	4–7	New York Rangers (1979–80)	8–9–8
26	L	December 9, 1979	0–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	8–10–8
27	L	December 11, 1979	3–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	8–11–8
28	L	December 12, 1979	4–7	@ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	8–12–8
29	L	December 15, 1979	5–6	@ Colorado Rockies (1979–80)	8–13–8
30	W	December 19, 1979	5–4	Washington Capitals (1979–80)	9–13–8
31	L	December 22, 1979	2–4	Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	9–14–8
32	L	December 23, 1979	2–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	9–15–8
33	T	December 26, 1979	4–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	9–15–9
34	L	December 29, 1979	0–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	9–16–9
35	T	January 2, 1980	3–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	9–16–10
36	L	January 4, 1980	3–6	Washington Capitals (1979–80)	9–17–10
37	L	January 6, 1980	1–2	Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)	9–18–10
38	L	January 7, 1980	2–5	@ New York Rangers (1979–80)	9–19–10
39	L	January 9, 1980	2–6	@ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	9–20–10
40	W	January 12, 1980	6–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)	10–20–10
41	W	January 17, 1980	7–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	11–20–10
42	W	January 19, 1980	5–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	12–20–10
43	W	January 21, 1980	7–2	Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	13–20–10
44	L	January 24, 1980	2–7	Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	13–21–10
45	L	January 26, 1980	2–3	@ New York Islanders (1979–80)	13–22–10
46	W	January 28, 1980	6–1	Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	14–22–10
47	W	January 30, 1980	8–2	Boston Bruins (1979–80)	15–22–10
48	L	February 2, 1980	3–5	@ Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	15–23–10
49	W	February 3, 1980	5–3	New York Islanders (1979–80)	16–23–10
50	W	February 6, 1980	7–3	Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	17–23–10
51	T	February 8, 1980	4–4	Colorado Rockies (1979–80)	17–23–11
52	L	February 10, 1980	2–6	Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	17–24–11
53	T	February 12, 1980	5–5	Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	17–24–12
54	W	February 15, 1980	5–4	Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	18–24–12
55	L	February 16, 1980	3–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	18–25–12
56	W	February 18, 1980	6–4	New York Rangers (1979–80)	19–25–12
57	W	February 19, 1980	6–2	Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	20–25–12
58	W	February 23, 1980	6–5	@ Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	21–25–12
59	L	February 26, 1980	5–9	@ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	21–26–12
60	L	February 27, 1980	3–6	Boston Bruins (1979–80)	21–27–12
61	W	February 29, 1980	3–0	St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	22–27–12
62	W	March 1, 1980	6–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	23–27–12
63	L	March 6, 1980	3–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	23–28–12
64	L	March 8, 1980	5–9	@ Washington Capitals (1979–80)	23–29–12
65	T	March 9, 1980	1–1	@ Boston Bruins (1979–80)	23–29–13
66	T	March 12, 1980	4–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)	23–29–14
67	W	March 13, 1980	3–1	Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	24–29–14
68	W	March 15, 1980	4–1	Colorado Rockies (1979–80)	25–29–14
69	L	March 16, 1980	1–6	Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	25–30–14
70	T	March 19, 1980	5–5	Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	25–30–15
71	T	March 21, 1980	5–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	25–30–16
72	T	March 22, 1980	5–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	25–30–17
73	L	March 24, 1980	5–7	St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	25–31–17
74	L	March 26, 1980	0–7	@ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	25–32–17
75	T	March 28, 1980	4–4	@ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	25–32–18
76	T	March 29, 1980	2–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	25–32–19
77	L	April 1, 1980	4–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	25–33–19
78	L	April 2, 1980	4–6	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	25–34–19
79	W	April 4, 1980	9–2	Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	26–34–19
80	W	April 6, 1980	5–3	Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)	27–34–19

Playoffs[]

Montreal Canadiens 3, Hartford Whalers 0[]

In the first round of the playoffs, 14th seeded Hartford played the 3rd seeded Montreal Canadiens.

Player Stats[]

Skaters[]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Mike Rogers	80	44	61	105	10
Blaine Stoughton	80	56	44	100	16
Mark Howe	74	24	56	80	20
Dave Keon	76	10	52	62	10
Jordy Douglas	77	33	24	57	39
Pat Boutette	47	13	31	44	75
Gordie Howe	80	15	26	41	42
Al Sims	76	10	31	41	30
Gordie Roberts	80	8	28	36	89

^[1]

Goaltending[]

Note: GP= Games played; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

Player	GP	W	L	T	SO	GAA
Al Smith	30	11	10	8	2	3.66
John Garrett	52	16	24	11	0	3.98