1980–81 Quebec Nordiques season

1980–81 Quebec Nordiques
Division	4th Adams
Conference	6th Prince of Wales
1980–81 record	30-32-18
Home record	18–11–11
Road record	12–21–7
Goals for	314
Goals against	318
Team information
General manager	Maurice Filion
Coach	Maurice Filion (1-3-2) Michel Bergeron (29-29-16)
Captain	Marc Tardif
Arena	Le Colisee
Team leaders
Goals	Jacques Richard (52)
Assists	Peter Stastny (70)
Points	Peter Stastny (109)
Penalty minutes	Dale Hunter (226)
Plus/minus	Mario Marois Peter Stastny (+11)
Wins	Dan Bouchard (19)
Goals against average	Dan Bouchard (3.17)

The 1980–81 Quebec Nordiques season was the team's 2nd season in the National Hockey League. The Nordiques finished 4th in the Adams Division and lost in the Preliminary round to the Philadelphia Flyers 3 games to 0.

Off-season

During the off-season, the Nordiques fired head coach Jacques Demers, and general manager Maurice Filion would begin the season as the head coach. This would mark Filion's third time behind the Nordiques bench, as he was the head coach of the club in the 1972-73 WHA season, and he served as an interim head coach at the end of the 1977-78 season. Quebec was able to sign brothers Peter Stastny and Anton Stastny, who both defected from Czechoslovakia. The brothers would have a huge impact in the league, as Peter would win the Calder Trophy awarded to the NHL's Rookie of the Year, and both Peter and Anton would set rookie records, each earning eight points in a game on February 22, 1981, leading Quebec to an 11-7 win over the Washington Capitals.

Regular Season

The Nordiques season began with a nine game road trip, and head coach Maurice Filion would replace himself with Michel Bergeron after the club had a 1-3-2 record in their opening six games. Quebec continued to struggle, and fifteen games into the season, they had a 1-9-5 record. The Nordiques would continue to struggle, and found themselves a season high fourteen games under .500 with a 11-26-12 record after 49 games. Quebec would then get red hot, posting a record of 19-6-6 in their remaining 31 games to finish the season at 30-32-18, earning 78 points, and their first ever berth into the NHL playoffs.

Offensively, the Nordiques were led by rookie Peter Stastny, who set a team record with 109 points, winning the Calder Trophy. Jacques Richard became the first Nordique to score over 50 goals in a season, as he scored 52, and registered 103 points. Anton Stastny also had a great rookie season, earning 85 points, while Robbie Ftorek and Michel Goulet had 75 and 73 points respectively. Pierre Lacroix led the Nordiques blueline, earning 39 points, while Dale Hunter had a team high 226 penalty minutes.

In goal, Dan Bouchard emerged as the number one goalie late in the season, winning a team record 19 games, while posting a team best 3.17 GAA, along with two shutouts. Michel Plasse had the most playing time, and he won 10 games with a 3.66 GAA in 33 games.

Final Standings

Adams Division

	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.

Game Log

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	October 9	Quebec Nordiques	5–5	Calgary Flames	0–0–1	1
2	October 10	Quebec Nordiques	7–4	Edmonton Oilers	1–0–1	3
3	October 12	Quebec Nordiques	2–8	Vancouver Canucks	1–1–1	3
4	October 14	Quebec Nordiques	1–4	Colorado Rockies	1–2–1	3
5	October 16	Quebec Nordiques	4–6	Los Angeles Kings	1–3–1	3
6	October 19	Quebec Nordiques	4–4	Winnipeg Jets	1–3–2	4
7	October 22	Quebec Nordiques	2–4	Minnesota North Stars	1–4–2	4
8	October 25	Quebec Nordiques	2–4	Hartford Whalers	1–5–2	4
9	October 26	Quebec Nordiques	4–7	Chicago Black Hawks	1–6–2	4
10	October 29	Vancouver Canucks	3–3	Quebec Nordiques	1–6–3	5
11	November 1	Philadelphia Flyers	3–3	Quebec Nordiques	1–6–4	6
12	November 2	Colorado Rockies	5–4	Quebec Nordiques	1–7–4	6
13	November 4	Quebec Nordiques	4–5	Montreal Canadiens	1–8–4	6
14	November 9	Quebec Nordiques	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers	1–9–4	6
15	November 11	Chicago Black Hawks	6–6	Quebec Nordiques	1–9–5	7
16	November 12	Winnipeg Jets	1–5	Quebec Nordiques	2–9–5	9
17	November 16	Quebec Nordiques	1–8	Buffalo Sabres	2–10–5	9
18	November 18	Washington Capitals	2–6	Quebec Nordiques	3–10–5	11
19	November 19	Detroit Red Wings	1–2	Quebec Nordiques	4–10–5	13
20	November 22	Calgary Flames	3–3	Quebec Nordiques	4–10–6	14
21	November 24	Los Angeles Kings	4–3	Quebec Nordiques	4–11–6	14
22	November 26	Minnesota North Stars	2–5	Quebec Nordiques	5–11–6	16
23	November 30	New York Islanders	7–3	Quebec Nordiques	5–12–6	16
24	December 2	Quebec Nordiques	2–5	St. Louis Blues	5–13–6	16
25	December 4	Quebec Nordiques	4–1	Detroit Red Wings	6–13-6	18
26	December 6	Quebec Nordiques	2–5	Toronto Maple Leafs	6–14–6	18
27	December 7	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–4	Quebec Nordiques	6–14–7	19
28	December 10	Boston Bruins	6–4	Quebec Nordiques	6–15–7	19
29	December 11	Quebec Nordiques	5–3	Boston Bruins	7–15–7	21
30	December 14	Edmonton Oilers	5–6	Quebec Nordiques	8–15–7	23
31	December 17	St. Louis Blues	1–4	Quebec Nordiques	9–15–7	25
32	December 20	Quebec Nordiques	2–5	New York Islanders	9–16–7	25
33	December 21	Hartford Whalers	5–6	Quebec Nordiques	10–16–7	27
34	December 23	Montreal Canadiens	2–2	Quebec Nordiques	10–16–8	28
35	December 27	Quebec Nordiques	4–6	Pittsburgh Penguins	10–17–8	28
36	December 30	New York Rangers	6–3	Quebec Nordiques	10–18–8	28
37	January 3	Buffalo Sabres	3–3	Quebec Nordiques	10–18–9	29
38	January 4	Quebec Nordiques	2–2	New York Rangers	10–18–10	30
39	January 6	Quebec Nordiques	3–6	St. Louis Blues	10–19–10	30
40	January 7	Quebec Nordiques	1–5	Buffalo Sabres	10–20–10	30
41	January 10	Quebec Nordiques	5–5	Montreal Canadiens	10–20–11	31
42	January 11	Edmonton Oilers	6–3	Quebec Nordiques	10–21–11	31
43	January 13	Winnipeg Jets	3–3	Quebec Nordiques	10–21–12	32
44	January 15	Quebec Nordiques	4–1	Philadelphia Flyers	11–21–12	34
45	January 17	Quebec Nordiques	1–7	Minnesota North Stars	11–22–12	34
46	January 18	Quebec Nordiques	2–7	Chicago Black Hawks	11-23–12	34
47	January 21	Buffalo Sabres	6–5	Quebec Nordiques	11–24–12	34
48	January 24	Quebec Nordiques	4–7	New York Islanders	11–25–12	34
49	January 26	Los Angeles Kings	7–5	Quebec Nordiques	11–26–12	34
50	January 28	Detroit Red Wings	2–2	Quebec Nordiques	11–26–13	35
51	January 31	New York Islanders	1–5	Quebec Nordiques	12–26–13	37
52	February 2	Hartford Whalers	2–4	Quebec Nordiques	13–26–13	39
53	February 4	Minnesota North Stars	2–6	Quebec Nordiques	14–26–13	41
54	February 7	Philadelphia Flyers	3–5	Quebec Nordiques	15–26–13	43
55	February 8	Quebec Nordiques	4–3	Boston Bruins	16–26–13	45
56	February 12	Quebec Nordiques	3–5	Calgary Flames	16–27–13	45
57	February 13	Quebec Nordiques	4–2	Edmonton Oilers	17–27–13	47
58	February 15	Quebec Nordiques	3–4	Winnipeg Jets	17–28–13	47
59	February 17	Quebec Nordiques	6–3	Colorado Rockies	18–28–13	49
60	February 18	Quebec Nordiques	4–2	Los Angeles Kings	19–28–13	51
61	February 20	Quebec Nordiques	9–3	Vancouver Canucks	20–28–13	53
62	February 22	Quebec Nordiques	11–7	Washington Capitals	21–28–13	55
63	February 25	Boston Bruins	3–5	Quebec Nordiques	22–28–13	57
64	March 2	Pittsburgh Penguins	5-4	Quebec Nordiques	22–29–13	57
65	March 4	Washington Capitals	4–7	Quebec Nordiques	23–29–13	59
66	March 8	Chicago Black Hawks	3–2	Quebec Nordiques	23–30-13	59
67	March 10	New York Rangers	4–6	Quebec Nordiques	24–30–13	61
68	March 11	St. Louis Blues	5–5	Quebec Nordiques	24–30–14	62
69	March 14	Quebec Nordiques	3–3	Pittsburgh Penguins	24–30–15	63
70	March 15	Colorado Rockies	0–3	Quebec Nordiques	25–30–15	65
71	March 17	Quebec Nordiques	4-3	Detroit Red Wings	26–30-15	67
72	March 18	Quebec Nordiques	6–4	Washington Capitals	27–30–15	69
73	March 22	Quebec Nordiques	7–7	New York Rangers	27–30–16	70
74	March 23	Vancouver Canucks	3–3	Quebec Nordiques	27–30–17	71
75	March 25	Calgary Flames	2–4	Quebec Nordiques	28–30–17	73
76	March 29	Montreal Canadiens	0–4	Quebec Nordiques	29–30–17	75
77	March 31	Pittsburgh Penguins	1–5	Quebec Nordiques	30–30–17	77
78	April 1	Quebec Nordiques	4–5	Hartford Whalers	30–31–17	77
79	April 4	Quebec Nordiques	5–5	Toronto Maple Leafs	30–31–18	78
80	April 5	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–2	Quebec Nordiques	30–32–18	78

Playoffs

Philadelphia Flyers 3, Quebec Nordiques 2

The Nordiques opened the 1981 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a best of five preliminary round against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers finished the season with a 41-24-15 record, earning 97 points, and second place in the Patrick Division. The series opened up with two games at the Philadelphia Spectrum, and the Flyers took the series lead with two victories, winning the first game 6-4, followed by an 8-5 victory in the second game to push the Nordiques to the brink of elimination. The series moved to Quebec for the next two games, and the Nordiques responded, shutting out Philadelphia 2-0 in the third game, followed by a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory in the fourth game, to set up a fifth and deciding game in Philadelphia. Quebec was not able to complete the comeback, as Philadelphia defeated the Nordiques 5-2 in the fifth game to eliminate Quebec.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 8	Quebec Nordiques	4–6	Philadelphia Flyers	0-1
2	April 9	Quebec Nordiques	5–8	Philadelphia Flyers	0-2
3	April 11	Philadelphia Flyers	0–2	Quebec Nordiques	1-2
4	April 12	Philadelphia Flyers	3–4	Quebec Nordiques	2-2
5	April 14	Quebec Nordiques	2–5	Philadelphia Flyers	2-3

Season Stats

Jacques Richard.

Scoring Leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Peter Stastny	77	39	70	109	37
Jacques Richard	78	52	51	103	39
Anton Stastny	80	39	46	85	12
Robbie Ftorek	78	24	49	73	104
Michel Goulet	76	32	39	71	45

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
Dan Bouchard	29	1740	19	5	5	92	2	3.17
Michel Plasse	33	1933	10	14	9	118	0	3.66
Michel Dion	12	688	0	8	3	61	0	5.32
Ron Grahame	8	439	1	5	1	40	0	5.47

Playoff Stats

Peter Stastny.

Scoring Leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Peter Stastny	5	2	8	10	7
Anton Stastny	5	4	3	7	2
Michel Goulet	4	3	4	7	7
Dale Hunter	5	4	2	6	34
Jacques Richard	5	2	4	6	14

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Dan Bouchard	5	286	2	3	19	1	3.99
Michel Plasse	1	15	0	0	1	0	4.00

Awards and Records

• Calder Memorial Trophy: Peter Stastny

Draft Picks

Quebec's draft picks from the 1980 NHL Entry Draft which was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
2	24	Normand Rochefort	Canada	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
4	66	Jay Miller	United States	University of New Hampshire (NCAA)
5	87	Basil McRae	Canada	London Knights (OMJHL)
6	108	Mark Kumpel	United States	University of Lowell (NCAA)
7	129	Gaston Therrien	Canada	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
8	150	Michel Bolduc	Canada	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
9	171	Christian Tanguay	Canada	Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)
10	192	Bill Robinson	United States	Acton-Boxborough Regional High School (USHS)

References

• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• Hockey Reference
• Goalies Archive