1980–81 NHL season

Last updated

1980–81 NHL season
League National Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
DurationOctober 9, 1980 – May 21, 1981
Games80
Teams21
TV partner(s) CBC, SRC (Canada)
USA, ESPN (United States)
Draft
Top draft pick Doug Wickenheiser
Picked by Montreal Canadiens
Regular season
Season champions New York Islanders
Season MVP Wayne Gretzky (Oilers)
Top scorer Wayne Gretzky (Oilers)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP Butch Goring (Islanders)
Stanley Cup
Champions New York Islanders
  Runners-up Minnesota North Stars
NHL seasons
←  1979–80
1981–82  →

The 1980–81 NHL season was the 64th season of the National Hockey League. The Flames relocated from Atlanta to Calgary. The New York Islanders were the top regular season team and the top playoff team, winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup by defeating the Minnesota North Stars in five games.

Contents

Entry draft

The 1980 NHL entry draft was held on June 11, at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. This was the first draft opened to the public. Doug Wickenheiser was selected first overall by the Montreal Canadiens.

Arena changes

The Flames relocated from the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia to the Stampede Corral in Calgary, Alberta.

Regular season

The season featured notable individual scoring milestones.

Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers broke Bobby Orr's single season assist record, scoring 109 assists, and Phil Esposito's point record, scoring 164 points. He won his second of an unmatched eight straight Hart Trophies as the league's most valuable player

Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders became only the second man in NHL history to score 50 goals in his first 50 games. In the 50th game, played at his home rink, he had 48 goals going into the 3rd and final period (before the advent of overtime games). Bossy admitted being so embarrassed and upset that he contemplated not going out on the ice for the final period. However, Bossy got his 49th goal with 5:15 left to go in the game and the 50th with 1:50 remaining, sending the Nassau Coliseum into a delirium. Maurice Richard, the only other man to accomplish this feat, was on hand to congratulate him.

Bossy's Islanders finished as regular season champions with 110 points with the St. Louis Blues finishing a close second at 107 points.

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

League standings [1]
RDivGPWLTGFGAPts
1p – New York Islanders PTK80481814355260110
2x – St. Louis Blues SMY80451817352281107
3y – Montreal Canadiens NRS80452213332232103
4 Los Angeles Kings NRS8043241333729099
5x – Buffalo Sabres ADM8039202132725099
6 Philadelphia Flyers PTK8041241531324997
7 Calgary Flames PTK8039271432929892
8 Boston Bruins ADM8037301331627287
9 Minnesota North Stars ADM8035281729126387
10 Chicago Black Hawks SMY8031331630431578
11 Quebec Nordiques ADM8030321831431878
12 Vancouver Canucks SMY8028322028930176
13 New York Rangers PTK8030361431231774
14 Edmonton Oilers SMY8029351632832774
15 Pittsburgh Penguins NRS8030371330234573
16 Toronto Maple Leafs ADM8028371532236771
17 Washington Capitals PTK8026361828631770
18 Hartford Whalers NRS8021411829237260
19 Colorado Rockies SMY8022451325834457
20 Detroit Red Wings NRS8019431825233956
21 Winnipeg Jets SMY809571424640032

Divisions:ADM – Adams, NRS – Norris, PTK – Patrick, SMY – Smythe

bold – The top 16 teams in the league qualified for the playoffs, regardless of division or conference.
x – Won division; y – Won Conference (and division); p – Won Presidents' Trophy (and conference and division)

Prince of Wales Conference

Adams Division
GPWLTGFGAPts
Buffalo Sabres 8039202132725099
Boston Bruins 8037301331627287
Minnesota North Stars 8035281729126387
Quebec Nordiques 8030321831431878
Toronto Maple Leafs 8028371532236771

[2]

Norris Division
GPWLTGFGAPts
Montreal Canadiens 80452213332232103
Los Angeles Kings 8043241333729099
Pittsburgh Penguins 8030371330234573
Hartford Whalers 8021411829237260
Detroit Red Wings 8019431825233956

[2]

Clarence Campbell Conference

Patrick Division
GPWLTGFGAPts
New York Islanders 80481814355260110
Philadelphia Flyers 8041241531324997
Calgary Flames 8039271432929892
New York Rangers 8030361431231774
Washington Capitals 8026361828631770

[2]

Smythe Division
GPWLTGFGAPts
St. Louis Blues 80451817352281107
Chicago Black Hawks 8031331630431578
Vancouver Canucks 8028322028930176
Edmonton Oilers 8029351632832774
Colorado Rockies 8022451325834457
Winnipeg Jets 809571424640032

[2]

Playoffs

Bracket

The top 16 teams in the league made the playoffs, and were seeded 1–16, regardless of division or conference. The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system: in each round, the highest remaining seed played against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed faced the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth.

In the preliminary round, teams competed in a best-of-five series. In the other three rounds, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).

Preliminary Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Stanley Cup Finals
            
1NY Islanders3
16 Toronto 0
1NY Islanders4
8 Edmonton 2
2St. Louis3
15 Pittsburgh 2
1NY Islanders4
4 NY Rangers 0
3 Montreal 0
14Edmonton3
2 St. Louis 2
7NY Rangers4
4 Los Angeles 1
13NY Rangers3
1NY Islanders4
3 Minnesota 1
5Buffalo3
12 Vancouver 0
3 Buffalo 1
6Minnesota4
6Philadelphia3
11 Quebec 2
2 Calgary 2
3Minnesota4
7Calgary3
10 Chicago 0
4 Philadelphia 3
5Calgary4
8 Boston 0
9Minnesota3

Awards

1981 NHL awards
Prince of Wales Trophy:
(Wales Conference regular season champion)		 Montreal Canadiens
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:
(Campbell Conference regular season champion)		 New York Islanders
Art Ross Trophy:
(Top scorer, regular season)		 Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:
(Perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication)		 Blake Dunlop, St. Louis Blues
Calder Memorial Trophy:
(Top first-year player)		 Peter Stastny, Quebec Nordiques
Conn Smythe Trophy:
(Most valuable player, playoffs)		 Butch Goring, New York Islanders
Frank J. Selke Trophy:
(Top defensive forward)		 Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens
Hart Memorial Trophy:
(Most valuable player, regular season)		 Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
Jack Adams Award:
(Best coach)		 Gordon "Red" Berenson, St. Louis Blues
James Norris Memorial Trophy:
(Best defenceman)		 Randy Carlyle, Pittsburgh Penguins
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:
(Excellence and sportsmanship)		 Rick Kehoe, Pittsburgh Penguins
Lester B. Pearson Award:
(Outstanding player, regular season)		 Mike Liut, St. Louis Blues
Vezina Trophy:
(Goaltender(s) of team(s) with best goaltending record)		 Denis Herron, Michel Larocque, & Richard Sevigny, Montreal Canadiens

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

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

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

PlayerTeamGPGAPtsPIM
Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers805510916428
Marcel Dionne Los Angeles Kings80587713570
Kent Nilsson Calgary Flames80498213126
Mike Bossy New York Islanders79685111932
Dave Taylor Los Angeles Kings724765112130
Peter Stastny Quebec Nordiques77397010937
Charlie Simmer Los Angeles Kings65564910562
Mike Rogers Hartford Whalers80406510532
Bernie Federko St. Louis Blues78317310447
Jacques Richard Quebec Nordiques78525110339
Rick Middleton Boston Bruins80445910316
Bryan Trottier New York Islanders73317210374

Source: NHL. [3]

Leading goaltenders

PlayerTeamGPMINGASOGAASV%
Richard Sevigny Montreal3317777122.40.908
Rick St. Croix Philadelphia2715676522.49.913
Don Edwards Buffalo45270013332.96.898
Pete Peeters Philadelphia40233311522.96.897
Bob Sauve Buffalo35210011123.17.880
Don Beaupre Minnesota44258513803.20.889
Glenn Resch New York Islanders/Colorado40226612133.20.891
Reggie Lemelin Calgary2916298823.24.902
Gilles Meloche Minnesota38221512023.25.889
Mario Lessard Los Angeles64374620323.25.893

[4]

Coaches

Patrick Division

Adams Division

Norris Division

Smythe Division

Milestones

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):

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):

Broadcasting

Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games.

This was the first season that U.S. national broadcasts were only on cable television. ESPN and USA continued to carry slates of regular season and playoff games for the second consecutive season.

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ "1980–81 NHL Standings". NHL.com. National Hockey League.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN   9781894801225.
  3. ↑ Dinger 2011, p. 152.
  4. ↑ "1980-81 NHL Leaders".
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