1980–81 Montreal Canadiens season

	1980–81 Montreal Canadiens
Division	1st Norris
Conference	1st Prince of Wales
1980–81 record	45-22-13
Goals for	332
Goals against	232
Team information
General manager	Irving Grundman
Coach	Claude Ruel
Captain	Serge Savard
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Steve Shutt; Mark Napier (35)
Assists	Guy Lafleur (43)
Points	Steve Shutt (73)
Penalty minutes	Chris Nilan (262)
Plus/minus	Brian Engblom (+63)
Wins	Richard Sevigny (20)
Goals against average	Rick Wamsley (1.90)
	← 1979–80 1981–82 →

The 1980–81 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 72nd season of play. The Canadiens lost just once in their last twenty-seven home games.^[1] The Canadiens would earn at least 100 regular season points for the seventh consecutive season.^[2] Montreal qualified for the playoffs and were eliminated in the Preliminary round by the Edmonton Oilers 3 games to 0. Four days after the Canadiens were eliminated, head coach Claude Ruel resigned.

Off-season[]

Regular Season[]

Guy Lafleur appeared in only 51 games and scored 27 goals. It was the first time since the 1973–74 Montreal Canadiens season that he failed to score 50 goals or more in a season.^[3]

Final Standings[]

Norris Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Montreal Canadiens	80	45	22	13	332	232	103
Los Angeles Kings	80	43	24	13	337	290	99
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	30	37	13	302	345	73
Hartford Whalers	80	21	41	18	292	372	60
Detroit Red Wings	80	19	43	18	252	339	56

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[]

Regular Season Results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 11, 1980	4–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81)	0–1–0
2	L	October 12, 1980	2–3	@ Boston Bruins (1980–81)	0–2–0
3	T	October 15, 1980	3–3	@ Washington Capitals (1980–81)	0–2–1
4	W	October 18, 1980	4–1	Vancouver Canucks (1980–81)	1–2–1
5	L	October 19, 1980	1–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81)	1–3–1
6	L	October 21, 1980	3–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1980–81)	1–4–1
7	W	October 23, 1980	7–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81)	2–4–1
8	L	October 25, 1980	2–5	Buffalo Sabres (1980–81)	2–5–1
9	L	October 28, 1980	4–6	@ New York Islanders (1980–81)	2–6–1
10	W	October 30, 1980	8–2	Hartford Whalers (1980–81)	3–6–1
11	W	November 1, 1980	7–4	New York Rangers (1980–81)	4–6–1
12	W	November 4, 1980	5–4	Quebec Nordiques (1980–81)	5–6–1
13	L	November 6, 1980	2–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1980–81)	5–7–1
14	W	November 8, 1980	3–0	Los Angeles Kings (1980–81)	6–7–1
15	W	November 11, 1980	8–2	@ Colorado Rockies (1980–81)	7–7–1
16	W	November 12, 1980	8–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1980–81)	8–7–1
17	T	November 14, 1980	3–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1980–81)	8–7–2
18	W	November 16, 1980	5–1	@ Winnipeg Jets (1980–81)	9–7–2
19	W	November 19, 1980	5–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81)	10–7–2
20	W	November 20, 1980	7–3	Detroit Red Wings (1980–81)	11–7–2
21	W	November 22, 1980	7–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81)	12–7–2
22	L	November 25, 1980	4–5	Calgary Flames (1980–81)	12–8–2
23	L	November 27, 1980	3–4	New York Islanders (1980–81)	12–9–2
24	L	November 29, 1980	2–4	Minnesota North Stars (1980–81)	12–10–2
25	W	December 3, 1980	6–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1980–81)	13–10–2
26	L	December 4, 1980	2–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81)	13–11–2
27	W	December 6, 1980	4–1	Boston Bruins (1980–81)	14–11–2
28	L	December 10, 1980	3–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81)	14–12–2
29	W	December 11, 1980	5–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81)	15–12–2
30	W	December 13, 1980	4–1	Edmonton Oilers (1980–81)	16–12–2
31	T	December 17, 1980	4–4	@ Vancouver Canucks (1980–81)	16–12–3
32	W	December 18, 1980	4–0	@ Calgary Flames (1980–81)	17–12–3
33	L	December 20, 1980	3–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1980–81)	17–13–3
34	T	December 23, 1980	2–2	@ Quebec Nordiques (1980–81)	17–13–4
35	W	December 27, 1980	7–4	Washington Capitals (1980–81)	18–13–4
36	W	December 28, 1980	5–2	@ New York Rangers (1980–81)	19–13–4
37	W	December 30, 1980	4–0	Los Angeles Kings (1980–81)	20–13–4
38	W	January 2, 1981	3–1	@ Hartford Whalers (1980–81)	21–13–4
39	W	January 3, 1981	2–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81)	22–13–4
40	W	January 6, 1981	6–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1980–81)	23–13–4
41	W	January 8, 1981	4–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81)	24–13–4
42	T	January 10, 1981	5–5	Quebec Nordiques (1980–81)	24–13–5
43	W	January 12, 1981	5–0	Edmonton Oilers (1980–81)	25–13–5
44	W	January 15, 1981	7–3	Winnipeg Jets (1980–81)	26–13–5
45	L	January 17, 1981	5–6	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81)	26–14–5
46	L	January 19, 1981	3–6	@ Minnesota North Stars (1980–81)	26–15–5
47	L	January 21, 1981	2–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81)	26–16–5
48	W	January 24, 1981	6–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81)	27–16–5
49	L	January 28, 1981	1–9	@ Edmonton Oilers (1980–81)	27–17–5
50	T	January 29, 1981	4–4	@ Calgary Flames (1980–81)	27–17–6
51	L	January 31, 1981	1–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1980–81)	27–18–6
52	W	February 3, 1981	5–2	@ Colorado Rockies (1980–81)	28–18–6
53	W	February 5, 1981	7–0	Minnesota North Stars (1980–81)	29–18–6
54	W	February 7, 1981	6–2	Boston Bruins (1980–81)	30–18–6
55	T	February 12, 1981	3–3	St. Louis Blues (1980–81)	30–18–7
56	W	February 14, 1981	6–1	Washington Capitals (1980–81)	31–18–7
57	T	February 15, 1981	5–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81)	31–18–8
58	W	February 19, 1981	5–2	Buffalo Sabres (1980–81)	32–18–8
59	W	February 21, 1981	4–1	Detroit Red Wings (1980–81)	33–18–8
60	W	February 22, 1981	4–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1980–81)	34–18–8
61	T	February 24, 1981	2–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1980–81)	34–18–9
62	W	February 26, 1981	6–0	Colorado Rockies (1980–81)	35–18–9
63	W	February 28, 1981	5–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81)	36–18–9
64	T	March 1, 1981	4–4	@ New York Rangers (1980–81)	36–18–10
65	W	March 4, 1981	9–3	Winnipeg Jets (1980–81)	37–18–10
66	L	March 7, 1981	2–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1980–81)	37–19–10
67	T	March 9, 1981	1–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1980–81)	37–19–11
68	W	March 11, 1981	2–1	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81)	38–19–11
69	W	March 12, 1981	4–3	St. Louis Blues (1980–81)	39–19–11
70	W	March 14, 1981	2–1	Colorado Rockies (1980–81)	40–19–11
71	T	March 17, 1981	3–3	@ New York Islanders (1980–81)	40–19–12
72	L	March 18, 1981	3–9	@ Hartford Whalers (1980–81)	40–20–12
73	W	March 21, 1981	5–3	Vancouver Canucks (1980–81)	41–20–12
74	T	March 22, 1981	2–2	@ Washington Capitals (1980–81)	41–20–13
75	W	March 26, 1981	8–2	Calgary Flames (1980–81)	42–20–13
76	L	March 28, 1981	2–6	New York Rangers (1980–81)	42–21–13
77	L	March 29, 1981	0–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1980–81)	42–22–13
78	W	March 31, 1981	3–1	New York Islanders (1980–81)	43–22–13
79	W	April 3, 1981	6–1	Hartford Whalers (1980–81)	44–22–13
80	W	April 5, 1981	4–2	@ Boston Bruins (1980–81)	45–22–13

^[4]

Playoffs[]

Edmonton Oilers 3, Montreal Canadiens 0[]

The Canadiens were swept in three games by the Edmonton Oilers. In Game One of the series, Wayne Gretzky had five assists. This was a single game playoff record.^[5]

Player Stats[]

Regular Season[]

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Shutt, SteveSteve Shutt	LW	77	35	38	73	51	30	7	0	3
Napier, MarkMark Napier	RW	79	35	36	71	24	34	5	0	6
Lafleur, GuyGuy Lafleur	RW	51	27	43	70	29	24	7	0	7
Tremblay, MarioMario Tremblay	RW	77	25	38	63	123	16	4	1	4
Houle, RejeanRejean Houle	W	77	27	31	58	83	20	6	1	3
Lambert, YvonYvon Lambert	LW	73	22	32	54	39	7	4	0	3
Larouche, PierrePierre Larouche	C	61	25	28	53	28	13	5	0	2
Robinson, LarryLarry Robinson	D	65	12	38	50	37	46	7	0	2
Gainey, BobBob Gainey	LW	78	23	24	47	36	13	5	3	3
Langway, RodRod Langway	D	80	11	34	45	120	53	5	1	2
Mondou, PierrePierre Mondou	C	57	17	24	41	16	24	5	0	2
Acton, KeithKeith Acton	C	61	15	24	39	74	5	3	0	2
Jarvis, DougDoug Jarvis	C	80	16	22	38	34	12	0	2	1
Risebrough, DougDoug Risebrough	C	48	13	21	34	93	7	1	0	1
Engblom, BrianBrian Engblom	D	80	3	25	28	96	63	1	0	0
Gingras, GastonGaston Gingras	D	55	5	16	21	22	5	3	0	1
Savard, SergeSerge Savard	D	77	4	13	17	30	12	0	0	1
Nilan, ChrisChris Nilan	RW	57	7	8	15	262	7	0	0	1
Wickenheiser, DougDoug Wickenheiser	C	41	7	8	15	20	5	2	0	0
Lapointe, GuyGuy Lapointe	D	33	1	9	10	79	-6	1	0	1
Picard, RobertRobert Picard	D	8	2	2	4	6	-1	1	0	0
Herron, DenisDenis Herron	G	25	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Carbonneau, GuyGuy Carbonneau	C	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Larocque, MichelMichel Larocque	G	28	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Joly, YvanYvan Joly	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Orleski, DaveDave Orleski	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Baker, BillBill Baker	D	11	0	0	0	32	-1	0	0	0
Chartraw, RickRick Chartraw	D/RW	14	0	0	0	4	-5	0	0	0
Wamsley, RickRick Wamsley	G	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sevigny, RichardRichard Sevigny	G	33	0	0	0	30	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Sevigny, RichardRichard Sevigny	1777	33	20	4	3	71	2.40	2
Larocque, MichelMichel Larocque	1623	28	16	9	3	82	3.03	1
Herron, DenisDenis Herron	1147	25	6	9	6	67	3.50	1
Wamsley, RickRick Wamsley	253	5	3	0	1	8	1.90	1
Team:	4800	80	45	22	13	228	2.85	5

Playoffs[]

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG
Shutt, SteveSteve Shutt	LW	3	2	1	3	4	0
Larouche, PierrePierre Larouche	C	2	0	2	2	0	0
Engblom, BrianBrian Engblom	D	3	1	0	1	4	0
Gingras, GastonGaston Gingras	D	1	1	0	1	0	1
Houle, RejeanRejean Houle	W	3	1	0	1	6	0
Risebrough, DougDoug Risebrough	C	3	1	0	1	0	1
Lafleur, GuyGuy Lafleur	RW	3	0	1	1	2	0
Mondou, PierrePierre Mondou	C	3	0	1	1	0	0
Robinson, LarryLarry Robinson	D	3	0	1	1	2	0
Acton, KeithKeith Acton	C	2	0	0	0	6	0
Gainey, BobBob Gainey	LW	3	0	0	0	2	0
Jarvis, DougDoug Jarvis	C	3	0	0	0	0	0
Lambert, YvonYvon Lambert	LW	3	0	0	0	2	0
Langway, RodRod Langway	D	3	0	0	0	6	0
Lapointe, GuyGuy Lapointe	D	1	0	0	0	17	0
Napier, MarkMark Napier	RW	3	0	0	0	2	0
Nilan, ChrisChris Nilan	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0
Picard, RobertRobert Picard	D	1	0	0	0	0	0
Savard, SergeSerge Savard	D	3	0	0	0	0	0
Sevigny, RichardRichard Sevigny	G	3	0	0	0	0	0
Tremblay, MarioMario Tremblay	RW	3	0	0	0	9	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Sevigny, RichardRichard Sevigny	180	3	0	3	13	4.33	0
Team:	180	3	0	3	13	4.33	0

^[6]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals

MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts

Awards and Records[]

Prince of Wales Trophy: Montreal Canadiens
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Bob Gainey
NHL Plus-Minus Award: Brian Engblom
William M. Jennings Trophy: Denis Herron, Michel Larocque & Richard Sevigny
Larry Robinson, Defense, NHL Second Team All-Star

Transactions[]

Draft Picks[]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team

Farm Teams[]

References[]

↑ The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D’Arcy Jenish, p.243, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0
↑ The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D’Arcy Jenish, p.243, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0
↑ The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D’Arcy Jenish, p.242, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0
↑ 1980–81 Montreal Canadiens Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-04.
↑ The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D’Arcy Jenish, p.243, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0
↑ 1980-81 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-28.

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1980–81 Montreal Canadiens season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).

[1] The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D’Arcy Jenish, p.243, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0

[2] The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D’Arcy Jenish, p.243, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0

[3] The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D’Arcy Jenish, p.242, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0

[4] 1980–81 Montreal Canadiens Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-04.

[5] The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D’Arcy Jenish, p.243, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0

[6] 1980-81 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-28.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

Montreal Canadiens Seasons
1900s	1909–10
1910s	1910–11 • 1911–12 • 1912–13 • 1913–14 • 1914–15 • 1915–16 • 1916–17 • 1917–18 • 1918–19 • 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 • 1921–22 • 1922–23 • 1923–24 • 1924–25 • 1925–26 • 1926–27 • 1927–28 • 1928–29 • 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 • 1931–32 • 1932–33 • 1933–34 • 1934–35 • 1935–36 • 1936–37 • 1937–38 • 1938–39 • 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 • 1941–42 • 1942–43 • 1943–44 • 1944–45 • 1945–46 • 1946–47 • 1947–48 • 1948–49 • 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 • 1951–52 • 1952–53 • 1953–54 • 1954–55 • 1955–56 • 1956–57 • 1957–58 • 1958–59 • 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 • 1961–62 • 1962–63 • 1963–64 • 1964–65 • 1965–66 • 1966–67 • 1967–68 • 1968–69 • 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 • 1971–72 • 1972–73 • 1973–74 • 1974–75 • 1975–76 • 1976–77 • 1977–78 • 1978–79 • 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84 • 1984–85 • 1985–86 • 1986–87 • 1987–88 • 1988–89 • 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 • 1991–92 • 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 • 2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08 • 2008–09 • 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 • 2011–12 • 2012–13 • 2013–14 • 2014–15 • 2015–16 • 2016–17 • 2017–18 • 2018–19 • 2019–20
Bold indicates Stanley Cup Championship

Montreal Canadiens
Franchise	Franchise • Original Six • Players • Coaches • General Managers • Seasons • Records • Draft Picks • Award Winners
Arenas	Jubilee Arena • Montreal Arena • Mount Royal Arena • Montreal Forum • Bell Centre
Affiliates	Laval Rocket (AHL)

1980–81 NHL season by team
Patrick	Calgary • NY Islanders • NY Rangers • Philadelphia • Washington
Adams	Boston • Buffalo • Minnesota • Quebec • Toronto
Norris	Detroit • Hartford • Los Angeles • Montreal • Pittsburgh
Smythe	Chicago • Colorado • Edmonton • St. Louis • Vancouver • Winnipeg
See also	1980 NHL Entry Draft • All-Star Game • 1981 Stanley Cup Finals

1980–81 Montreal Canadiens season

Contents

Off-season[]

Regular Season[]

Final Standings[]

Game Log[]

Playoffs[]

Edmonton Oilers 3, Montreal Canadiens 0[]

Player Stats[]

Regular Season[]

Playoffs[]

Awards and Records[]

Transactions[]

Draft Picks[]

Farm Teams[]

See Also[]

References[]