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The 1980–81 NHL season was the 64th season of the National Hockey League. The New York Islanders were the top regular season team and the top playoff team, winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

League business

This was the first season that the Calgary Flames played in Calgary, Alberta. Previously, they were the Atlanta Flames and played in Atlanta, Georgia.

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 Bossy.

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

Prince of Wales Conference

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Clarence Campbell Conference

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Playoffs

The Stanley Cup playoffs would see the New York Islanders dominate on their way to winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup. Notably, in the first round against the Maple Leafs, the Isles swept a three-game series, outscoring Toronto 20-4. The Islanders would go on to defeat Edmonton in six games in the quarter-finals, and in the semi-finals, the Islanders swept the Rangers and outscored them 22-8.

In game one of the Edmonton-Montreal series, Wayne Gretzky had five assists. This was a single game playoff record.^[2] Another distinction was in the Minnesota North Stars' sweep of the Boston Bruins; the two games the North Stars won in Boston Garden were the first games that the team had won in Boston, either regular season or playoff, since the team had joined the NHL in 1967.

Playoff bracket

Stanley Cup Finals

The Islanders easily defeated the Minnesota North Stars in the finals in five games. The Islanders would only be defeated three times during the playoffs.

New York Islanders vs. Minnesota North Stars

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

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

Source: NHL.^[3]

Leading goaltenders

^[4]

Coaches

Patrick Division

• Calgary Flames: Al MacNeil
  


• New York Islanders: Al Arbour
  


• New York Rangers: Craig Patrick
  


• Philadelphia Flyers: Pat Quinn
  


• Washington Capitals: Gary Green
  

Adams Division

• Boston Bruins: Gerry Cheevers
  


• Buffalo Sabres: Scotty Bowman
  


• Minnesota North Stars: Glen Sonmor
  


• Quebec Nordiques: Maurice Filion and Michel Bergeron
  


• Toronto Maple Leafs: Joe Crozier
  

Norris Division

• Detroit Red Wings: Wayne Maxner
  


• Hartford Whalers: Don Blackburn
  


• Los Angeles Kings: Bob Berry
  


• Montreal Canadiens: Claude Ruel
  


• Pittsburgh Penguins: Eddie Johnston
  

Smythe Division

• Chicago Black Hawks: Keith Magnuson
  


• Colorado Rockies: Don Cherry
  


• Edmonton Oilers: Bryan Watson
  


• St. Louis Blues: Red Berenson
  


• Vancouver Canucks: Harry Neale
  


• Winnipeg Jets: Mike Smith and Tom Watt
  

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):

• 
  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


• 
  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

1981 Trading Deadline

• Trading Deadline: MARCH 10, 1981 ^[5]


• March 8, 1981: Doug Halward traded from Los Angeles to Vancouver for Vancouver's fifth round choice in 1982 Entry Draft.


• March 10, 1981: Bill Baker traded from Montreal to Colorado for Colorado's third round choice in 1983 Entry Draft.


• March 10, 1981: Ken Berry and Garry Lariviere traded from Vancouver to Edmonton for Blair MacDonald and Lars-Gunnar Petersson.


• March 10, 1981: Pat Hughes traded from Pittsburgh to Edmonton for Pat Price.


• March 10, 1981: Jari Kaarela and Mike McEwen traded from Colorado to NY Islanders for Glenn Resch and Steve Tambellini.


• March 10, 1981: Michel Larocque traded from Montreal to Toronto for Robert Picard.


• March 10, 1981: Don Luce traded from Buffalo to Los Angeles for Los Angeles' sixth round choice in 1982 Entry Draft.


• March 10, 1981: Ray Markham traded from NY Rangers to Edmonton for John Hughes.


• March 10, 1981: Mario Marois traded from Vancouver to Quebec for Garry Lariviere.


• March 10, 1981: Rick Martin traded from Buffalo to Los Angeles for Los Angeles' third round choice in 1981 Entry Draft and Los Angeles' first round choice in 1983 Entry Draft (Tom Barrasso).


• March 10, 1981: Jim Rutherford traded from Toronto to Los Angeles for Los Angeles' fifth round choice in 1981 Entry Draft.


• March 10, 1981: Garry Unger traded from Los Angeles to Edmonton for Edmonton's seventh round choice in 1981 Entry Draft.


• March 10, 1981: Ron Zanussi and Minnesota's third round choice in 1981 Entry Draft traded from Minnesota to Toronto for Toronto's second round choice in 1981 Entry Draft.

See also

• 33rd National Hockey League All-Star Game


• 1980 NHL Entry Draft


• 1980 in sports


• 1981 in sports


• List of Stanley Cup champions


• National Hockey League All-Star Game

References

• 
  Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
  


• 
  Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
  


• 
  Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
  


• 
  Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
  


• 
  "1980-81 NHL Playoff Results". hockeyDB.com.
  

Notes

External links

• Hockey Database


• NHL.com