The 1980-81 NHL season was the 64th season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. This was the first season that the Calgary Flames played in Calgary, Alberta. Previously, they were the Atlanta Flames and played in Atlanta, Georgia. The New York Islanders won their second consecutive Stanley Cup, defeating the Minnesota North Stars in 5 games.
Regular Season[]
Final Standings[]
Prince of Wales Conference[]
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 39 | 20 | 21 | 327 | 250 | 99 |
Boston Bruins | 80 | 37 | 30 | 13 | 316 | 272 | 87 |
Minnesota North Stars | 80 | 35 | 28 | 17 | 291 | 263 | 87 |
Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 30 | 32 | 18 | 314 | 318 | 78 |
Toronto Maple Leafs | 80 | 28 | 37 | 15 | 322 | 367 | 71 |
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.
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.
Clarence Campbell Conference[]
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Islanders | 80 | 48 | 18 | 14 | 355 | 260 | 110 |
Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 41 | 24 | 15 | 313 | 249 | 97 |
Calgary Flames | 80 | 39 | 27 | 14 | 329 | 298 | 92 |
New York Rangers | 80 | 30 | 36 | 14 | 312 | 317 | 74 |
Washington Capitals | 80 | 26 | 36 | 18 | 286 | 317 | 70 |
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.
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis Blues | 80 | 45 | 18 | 14 | 352 | 281 | 107 |
Chicago Black Hawks | 80 | 31 | 33 | 16 | 304 | 315 | 78 |
Vancouver Canucks | 80 | 28 | 32 | 20 | 289 | 301 | 76 |
Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 29 | 35 | 16 | 328 | 327 | 74 |
Colorado Rockies | 80 | 22 | 45 | 13 | 258 | 344 | 57 |
Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 9 | 57 | 14 | 246 | 400 | 32 |
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.
Scoring Leaders[]
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 55 | 109 | 164 | 28 |
Marcel Dionne | Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 58 | 77 | 135 | 70 |
Kent Nilsson | Calgary Flames | 80 | 49 | 82 | 131 | 26 |
Mike Bossy | New York Islanders | 79 | 68 | 51 | 119 | 32 |
Dave Taylor | Los Angeles Kings | 72 | 47 | 65 | 112 | 130 |
Peter Stastny | Quebec Nordiques | 77 | 39 | 70 | 109 | 37 |
Charlie Simmer | Los Angeles Kings | 65 | 56 | 49 | 105 | 62 |
Mike Rogers | Hartford Whalers | 80 | 40 | 65 | 105 | 32 |
Bernie Federko | St. Louis Blues | 78 | 31 | 73 | 104 | 47 |
Jacques Richard | Quebec Nordiques | 78 | 52 | 51 | 103 | 39 |
Leading Goaltenders[]
Player | Team | GP | MIN | GA | SO | GAA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Richard Sevigny | Montreal | 33 | 1777 | 71 | 2 | 2.40 |
Rick St. Croix | Philadelphia | 27 | 1567 | 65 | 2 | 2.49 |
Don Edwards | Buffalo | 45 | 2700 | 133 | 3 | 2.96 |
Pete Peeters | Philadelphia | 40 | 2333 | 115 | 2 | 2.96 |
Bob Sauve | Buffalo | 35 | 2100 | 111 | 2 | 3.17 |
Don Beaupre | Minnesota | 44 | 2585 | 138 | 0 | 3.20 |
Glenn Resch | New York Islanders / Colorado | 40 | 2266 | 121 | 3 | 3.20 |
Reggie Lemelin | Calgary | 29 | 1629 | 88 | 2 | 3.24 |
Gilles Meloche | Minnesota | 38 | 2215 | 120 | 2 | 3.25 |
Mario Lessard | Los Angeles | 64 | 3746 | 203 | 2 | 3.25 |
Stanley Cup Playoffs[]
In Game One of the Edmonton-Montreal series, Wayne Gretzky had five assists. This was a single game playoff record.[1]
Playoff Bracket[]
First Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||||||
1 | New York Islanders | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
16 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | New York Islanders | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
8 | Edmonton Oilers | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Montreal Canadiens | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
14 | Edmonton Oilers | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | New York Islanders | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | New York Rangers | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
2 | St. Louis Blues | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
15 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
2 | St. Louis Blues | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
7 | New York Rangers | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Los Angeles Kings | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
13 | New York Rangers | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | New York Islanders | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
6 | Minnesota North Stars | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Buffalo Sabres | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
12 | Vancouver Canucks | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Buffalo Sabres | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
6 | Minnesota North Stars | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
8 | Boston Bruins | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
9 | Minnesota North Stars | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
2 | Calgary Flames | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Minnesota North Stars | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
6 | Philadelphia Flyers | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
11 | Quebec Nordiques | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Philadelphia Flyers | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
5 | Calgary Flames | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
7 | Calgary Flames | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
10 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0 |
Finals[]
Date | Visitors | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 12 | Minnesota | 3 | New York | 6 | |
May 14 | Minnesota | 3 | New York | 6 | |
May 17 | New York | 7 | Minnesota | 5 | |
May 19 | New York | 2 | Minnesota | 4 | |
May 21 | Minnesota | 1 | New York | 5 | OT |
New York wins the series 4–1.
NHL Awards[]
Prince of Wales Trophy: | Montreal Canadiens |
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: | New York Islanders |
Art Ross Memorial Trophy: | Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers |
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: | Blake Dunlop, St. Louis Blues |
Calder Memorial Trophy: | Peter Stastny, Quebec Nordiques |
Conn Smythe Trophy: | Butch Goring, New York Islanders |
Frank J. Selke Trophy: | Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens |
Hart Memorial Trophy: | Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers |
Jack Adams Award: | Gordon "Red" Berenson, St. Louis Blues |
James Norris Memorial Trophy: | Randy Carlyle, Pittsburgh Penguins |
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: | Rick Kehoe, Pittsburgh Penguins |
Lester B. Pearson Award: | Mike Liut, St. Louis Blues |
NHL Plus/Minus Award: | Brian Engblom, Montreal Canadiens |
Vezina Trophy: | Denis Herron, Michel Larocque & Richard Sevigny, Montreal Canadiens |
Lester Patrick Trophy: | Charles M. Schulz |
All-Star Teams[]
First Team | Position | Second Team |
---|---|---|
Mike Liut, St. Louis Blues | G | Mario Lessard, Los Angeles Kings |
Denis Potvin, New York Islanders | D | Larry Robinson, Montreal Canadiens |
Randy Carlyle, Pittsburgh Penguins | D | Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins |
Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers | C | Marcel Dionne, Los Angeles Kings |
Mike Bossy, New York Islanders | RW | Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings |
Charlie Simmer, Los Angeles Kings | LW | Bill Barber, Philadelphia Flyers |
Debuts[]
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1980-81 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
- Barry Pederson, Boston Bruins
- Steve Kasper, Boston Bruins
- Denis Savard, Chicago Black Hawks
- Steve Larmer, Chicago Black Hawks
- Andy Moog, Edmonton Oilers
- Charlie Huddy, Edmonton Oilers
- Glenn Anderson, Edmonton Oilers
- Jari Kurri, Edmonton Oilers
- Paul Coffey, Edmonton Oilers
- Larry Murphy, Los Angeles Kings
- Dino Ciccarelli, Minnesota North Stars
- Don Beaupre, Minnesota North Stars
- Neal Broten, Minnesota North Stars
- Doug Wickenheiser, Montreal Canadiens
- Guy Carbonneau, Montreal Canadiens
- Rick Wamsley, Montreal Canadiens
- Brent Sutter, New York Islanders
- Rollie Melanson, New York Islanders
- Tim Kerr, Philadelphia Flyers
- Mike Bullard, Pittsburgh Penguins
- Anton Stastny, Quebec Nordiques
- Peter Stastny, Quebec Nordiques
- Dale Hunter, Quebec Nordiques
- Paul MacLean, St. Louis Blues
- Dave Babych, Winnipeg Jets
Last Games[]
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1980-81 (listed with their last team):
- Jean Ratelle, Boston Bruins
- Terry Harper, Colorado Rockies
- Pete Mahovlich, Detroit Red Wings
- Tom Bladon, Detroit Red Wings
- Jean Potvin, New York Islanders
- Phil Esposito, New York Rangers
- Walt Tkaczuk, New York Rangers
- Ron Ellis, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Dennis Kearns, Vancouver Canucks
- Bobby Schmautz, Vancouver Canucks
- Dennis Ververgaert, Washington Capitals
- Guy Charron, Washington Capitals
- Wayne Stephenson, Washington Capitals
- Jude Drouin, Winnipeg Jets
Gallery[]
See Also[]
- List of Stanley Cup champions
- 1980 NHL Entry Draft
- 33rd National Hockey League All-Star Game
- National Hockey League All-Star Game
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
NHL Seasons |
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1976-77 | 1977-78 | 1978-79 | 1979-80 | 1980-81 | 1981-82 | 1982-83 | 1983-84 | 1984-85 |
National Hockey League | |||||||||
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Structure | Playoffs (Streaks • Droughts • All-time playoff series) • Conference Finals • Finals |
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Annual events | Seasons • Stanley Cup (Champions • Winning players • Traditions and anecdotes) • Presidents' Trophy • All-Star Game • Draft • Awards • All-Star Teams |
Players | List of players • Association • Retired jersey numbers • Captains |
History | Lore • Organizational changes :: • Defunct teams • NHA • Original Six • 1967 Expansion • WHA Merger • Lockouts |
Others | Outdoor games (Winter Classic • Heritage Classic • Stadium Series) • Potential expansion • Hall of Fame (Members) • Rivalries • Arenas • Rules • Fighting • Violence : International games • Kraft Hockeyville • Collective bargaining agreement • Television and radio coverage |
Category • 2020–21 Season • 2021–22 Season • 2022–23 Season |
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 |