1980 – 81 Quebec Nordiques season The 1980 – 81 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques second season in the National Hockey League . Quebec improved on their inaugural NHL season , making the playoffs , only to lose in the first round . 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 . Playoffs . 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 . Draft picks . Quebec ' s draft picks from the 1980 NHL Entry Draft which was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal , Quebec .