1980–81 NHL season
National Hockey League season
Regular season
changeFinal standings
changeNote: 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
changeAdams Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 39 | 20 | 21 | 99 | 327 | 250 | 1194 |
Boston Bruins | 80 | 37 | 30 | 13 | 87 | 316 | 272 | 1836 |
Minnesota North Stars | 80 | 35 | 28 | 17 | 87 | 291 | 263 | 1624 |
Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 30 | 32 | 18 | 78 | 314 | 318 | 1524 |
Toronto Maple Leafs | 80 | 28 | 37 | 15 | 71 | 322 | 367 | 1830 |
Norris Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Montreal Canadiens | 80 | 45 | 22 | 13 | 103 | 332 | 232 | 1398 |
Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 43 | 24 | 13 | 99 | 337 | 290 | 1627 |
Chicago Black Hawks | 80 | 31 | 33 | 16 | 78 | 304 | 315 | 1660 |
Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 30 | 37 | 13 | 73 | 302 | 345 | 1807 |
Hartford Whalers | 80 | 21 | 41 | 18 | 60 | 292 | 372 | 1584 |
Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 19 | 43 | 18 | 56 | 252 | 339 | 1687 |
Clarence Campbell Conference
changePatrick Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Islanders | 80 | 48 | 18 | 14 | 110 | 355 | 260 | 1442 |
Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 41 | 24 | 15 | 97 | 313 | 249 | 2621 |
Calgary Flames | 80 | 39 | 27 | 14 | 92 | 329 | 298 | 1450 |
New York Rangers | 80 | 30 | 36 | 14 | 74 | 312 | 317 | 1981 |
Washington Capitals | 80 | 26 | 36 | 18 | 70 | 286 | 317 | 1872 |
Smythe Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis Blues | 80 | 45 | 18 | 17 | 107 | 352 | 281 | 1657 |
Vancouver Canucks | 80 | 28 | 32 | 20 | 76 | 289 | 301 | 1892 |
Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 29 | 35 | 16 | 74 | 328 | 327 | 1544 |
Colorado Rockies | 80 | 22 | 45 | 13 | 57 | 258 | 344 | 1418 |
Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 9 | 57 | 14 | 32 | 246 | 400 | 1191 |
Scoring leaders
changeNote: 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 |
Stanley Cup playoffs
changePlayoff bracket
changePreliminary Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Stanley Cup Final | ||||||||||||||||
1 | New York Islanders | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
16 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | New York Islanders | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
14 | Edmonton Oilers | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | St. Louis Blues | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
15 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | New York Islanders | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
13 | New York Rangers | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
3 | Montreal Canadiens | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
14 | Edmonton Oilers | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | St. Louis Blues | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
13 | New York Rangers | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
4 | Los Angeles Kings | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
13 | New York Rangers | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | New York Islanders | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second rounds. | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | Minn. North Stars | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Buffalo Sabres | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
12 | Vancouver Canucks | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Buffalo Sabres | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
9 | Minn. North Stars | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Philadelphia Flyers | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
11 | Quebec Nordiques | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | Calgary Flames | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
9 | Minn. North Stars | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | Calgary Flames | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
10 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Philadelphia Flyers | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | Calgary Flames | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
8 | Boston Bruins | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
9 | Minn. North Stars | 3 |
Finals
changeNew York Islanders vs. Minnesota North Stars
Date | Visitors | Score | Home | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
New York wins the series 4–1.
NHL awards
changeAll-Star teams
changeFirst games
changeThe following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1980–81 (listed with their first team, star(*) 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
changeThe 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