1980–81 NHL season

### 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

|style="background:#ddf; width:40%;"|Adams Division|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|GP|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|W|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|L|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|T|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|Pts|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|GF|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|GA|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|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||||||||||

|style="background:#ddf; width:40%;"|Norris Division|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|GP|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|W|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|L|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|T|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|Pts|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|GF|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|GA|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|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

|style="background:#ddf; width:40%;"|Patrick Division|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|GP|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|W|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|L|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|T|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|Pts|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|GF|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|GA|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|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||||||||||

|style="background:#ddf; width:40%;"|Smythe Division|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|GP|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|W|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|L|style="background:#ddf; width:5%;"|T|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|Pts|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|GF|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|GA|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|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

_Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points_
|style="background:#ddf; width:30%;"|Player|style="background:#ddf; width:30%;"|Team|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|GP|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|G|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|A|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|Pts|style="background:#ddf; width:7.5%;"|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||||||||

### Finals

**New York Islanders** vs. **Minnesota North Stars**

|width="50"|Date|width="90"|Visitors|width="25"|Score|width="90"|Home|width="25"|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

|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|align=center|G|Mario Lessard, Los Angeles Kings|
|Denis Potvin, New York Islanders|align=center|D|Larry Robinson, Montreal Canadiens|
|Randy Carlyle, Pittsburgh Penguins|align=center|D|Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins|
|Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers|align=center|C|Marcel Dionne, Los Angeles Kings|
|Mike Bossy, New York Islanders|align=center|RW|Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings|
|Charlie Simmer, Los Angeles Kings|align=center|LW|Bill Barber, Philadelphia Flyers|

## First games

The 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

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

## Related pages

- List of Stanley Cup champions
- 1980 NHL Entry Draft
- 33rd National Hockey League All-Star Game
- National Hockey League All-Star Game
- 1980 in sports
- 1981 in sports

## References

- Hockey Database
- NHL.com