1979–80 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1979–80 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the Toronto Maple Leafs' 62nd season of the franchise, 52nd season as the Maple Leafs. The Leafs finished 4th in the Adams Division and lost in the Preliminary round to the Minnesota North Stars 3 games to 0.
==Off-season==
In July 1979, Leafs owner Harold Ballard brought back Punch Imlach, a longtime friend, as general manager. Imlach traded Lanny McDonald to undermine team captain Darryl Sittler's influence on the team."Lanny McDonald trade has Sittler in tears," Jim Kernaghan, Toronto Star, December 29, 1979, p. 1.
===NHL Draft===
Round	Pick	Player 	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1 	9. 	Laurie Boschman (C)	 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
==Regular Season==
The 1979-80 season marked the dismantling of a promising hockey team. The Maple Leafs had stars such as Darryl Sittler, Mike Palmateer, Lanny MacDonald, Tiger Williams, Borje Salming and Ian Turnbull. In previous years, the Leafs were always one of the top teams in the league but could not beat the Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs. Leafs' owner Harold Ballard fired General Manager Jim Gregory and Head Coach Roger Neilson.Foster, p. 103
In November 1979, tensions between Punch Imlach and Darryl Sittler mounted as Sittler publicly aired his grievances. An article was featured in the Globe and Mail by James Christie, titled "Darryl Sittler Drops the Gloves."Foster, p. 102. Sittler was unhappy that Imlach publicly criticized him and Mike Palmateer. Another point of tension for Sittler was the fact that Imlach placed Lanny McDonald and Ian Turnbull on waivers.
On December 13, 1979, Imlach announced that Carl Brewer was making another comeback in the NHL.Foster, p. 101. Brewer would play for the New Brunswick Hawks, the Maple Leafs' American Hockey League affiliate. In Brewer's first game in Moncton, New Brunswick, King Clancy and Johnny Bower showed up to watch him play.
Brewer returned to the Maple Leafs on December 26, 1979, for the Maple Leafs game against the Washington Capitals. Many players on the Leafs felt that Brewer was a spy for Imlach. In Brewer's first game, many of his teammates were openly hostile to him. Brewer's defense partner was Borje Salming, and Salming refused to pass Brewer the puck.Foster, p. 104. During the season, Brewer would only play in twenty contests.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
1979–80 Game Log	1979–80 Game Log	 	 	 	
October
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	
Game 	Date 	Opponent 	Score	Location/Attendance	Record
1 	10/10/1979 	New York Rangers 	3-6 	Maple Leaf Gardens 	0-1-0
2 	10/13/1979 	Colorado Rockies 	2 - 1	Maple Leaf Gardens 	1-1-0
3 	10/14/1979 	at Philadelphia Flyers	3 - 4	 	1-2-0
4 	10/17/1979 	Minnesota North Stars 	6 - 2	Maple Leaf Gardens 	2-2-0
5 	10/19/1979 	at Washington Capitals	5 - 3	Maple Leaf Gardens 	3-2-0
6 	10/20/1979 	Vancouver Canucks 	2 - 0	Maple Leaf Gardens 	4-2-0
7 	10/24/1979 	at Vancouver Canucks 	1 - 5	 	4-3-0
8 	10/26/1979 	at Colorado Rockies 	2 - 2	 	4-3-1
9 	10/27/1979 	at Los Angeles Kings 	5 - 7	 	4-4-1
10 	10/31/1979 	Hartford Whalers 	2 - 4	 	4-5-1
==Playoffs==
===Minnesota North Stars 3, Toronto Maple Leafs 0===
Date 	Opponent 	Score	Series lead
April 8, 1980 	at Minnesota North Stars	3 - 6	Stars lead series 1-0
April 9, 1980 	at Minnesota North Stars	2 - 7	Stars lead series 2-0
April 11, 1980	Minnesota North Stars 	3 - 4	Stars win series 3-0
==Player Stats==
===Regular Season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	C 	73	40	57	97 	62 	3 	17 	1 	5
 	D 	74	19	52	71 	94 	4 	4 	0 	1
 	RW 	74	25	28	53 	22 	5 	3 	0 	5
 	RW 	41	20	28	48 	72 	1 	8 	0 	2
 	C 	80	16	32	48 	78 	2 	2 	0 	4
 	RW/C	75	24	23	47 	52 	-5 	3 	0 	4
 	C 	54	7 	36	43 	4 	-6 	1 	0 	0
 	LW 	55	22	18	40 	197	-13	5 	0 	1
 	D 	75	11	28	39 	90 	-23	3 	0 	0
 	LW 	45	22	16	38 	16 	1 	6 	0 	3
 	LW 	71	17	16	33 	102	-13	1 	0 	1
 	RW 	35	15	15	30 	10 	-1 	6 	0 	2
 	C 	45	11	13	24 	10 	-8 	4 	0 	1
 	RW 	59	12	11	23 	6 	-9 	0 	1 	2
 	LW 	37	6 	15	21 	2 	6 	1 	0 	2
 	D 	80	3 	16	19 	42 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	23	5 	12	17 	13 	-6 	1 	0 	0
 	RW 	22	9 	7 	16 	77 	-4 	2 	0 	1
 	RW 	55	7 	8 	15 	29 	-3 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	46	3 	10	13 	10 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	26	0 	10	10 	11 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	20	1 	8 	9 	30 	5 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	25	4 	4 	8 	10 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	31	1 	6 	7 	28 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	32	1 	4 	5 	24 	-2 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	20	0 	5 	5 	2 	-5 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	14	2 	2 	4 	4 	-7 	0 	0 	0
 	C/RW	32	0 	4 	4 	17 	-6 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	38	0 	3 	3 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0 	2 	2 	2 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	13	0 	2 	2 	8 	-9 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	2 	1 	0 	1 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	2 	0 	1 	1 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	30	0 	1 	1 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	2 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	3 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	10	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	15	0 	0 	0 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T	GA 	GAA 	SO
 	2039	38	16	14	3	125	3.68	2
 	1492	30	9 	17	2	110	4.42	0
 	830 	15	8 	7 	0	50 	3.61	0
 	329 	10	2 	1 	0	28 	5.11	0
 	110 	3 	0 	1 	0	8 	4.36	0
Team: 	4800	80	35	40	5	321	4.01	2
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	C 	3 	1	2	3 	10 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	1	2	3 	2 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	3	3 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	3 	2	0	2 	7 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	3 	1	1	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	3 	1	1	2 	18 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	1	1	2 	2 	1 	0 	0
 	RW 	3 	0	2	2 	17 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	3 	1	0	1 	11 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	1	1 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	1 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	2 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	2 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	3 	0	0	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	0	0 	10 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	3 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	RW/C	3 	0	0	0 	10 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	1 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	2 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO
 	121	2 	0	2	10	4.96	0
 	60 	1 	0	1	7 	7.00	0
Team: 	181	3 	0	3	17	5.64	0
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals 
MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts 
==Transactions==
The Maple Leafs were involved in the following transactions during the 1979-80 season.
* On December 29, 1979: The Maple Leafs traded Lanny McDonald and Joel Quenneville to the Colorado Rockies for Wilf Paiement and Pat Hickey.
* February 18, 1980: Tiger Williams was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for Rick Vaive and Bill Derlago.
===Trades===
August 22, 1979 	To Edmonton Oilers6th round pick in 1981 - Steve Smith 	To Toronto Maple LeafsReg Thomas
December 13, 1979	To Quebec NordiquesReg Thomas 	To Toronto Maple LeafsDave FarrishTerry Martin
December 24, 1979	To Hartford WhalersPat Boutette 	To Toronto Maple LeafsBob Stephenson
December 29, 1979	To Colorado RockiesLanny McDonaldJoel Quenneville 	To Toronto Maple LeafsPat HickeyWilf Paiement
January 10, 1980 	To Chicago Black HawksDave Hutchison 	To Toronto Maple LeafsPat Ribble
February 10, 1980	To Vancouver CanucksCash 	To Toronto Maple LeafsCurt Ridley
February 16, 1980	To Washington CapitalsPat Ribble 	To Toronto Maple LeafsMike Kaszycki
February 18, 1980	To Vancouver CanucksTiger WilliamsJerry Butler 	To Toronto Maple LeafsRick VaiveBill Derlago
March 3, 1980 	To Colorado RockiesWalt McKechnie 	To Toronto Maple Leafs3rd round pick in 1980 - Fred Boimistruck
June 10, 1980 	To Calgary Flames2nd round pick in 1980 - Kevin LaVallee 	To Toronto Maple LeafsDavid Shand3rd round pick in 1980 - Torrie Robertson
June 11, 1980 	To Washington CapitalsMike Palmateer3rd round pick in 1980 - Torrie Robertson	To Toronto Maple LeafsTim CoulisRobert Picard2nd round pick in 1980 - Bob McGill
===Waivers===
February 10, 1980	From Los Angeles KingsRichard Mulhern
===Free Agents===
{|class="wikitable"	
Player 	Former Team
Daryl Maggs 	Cincinnati Stingers (WHA)
Carl Brewer 	Toronto Toros (WHA)
Jiri Crha 	HC Pardubice (Czech.)
Larry Carriere	Buffalo Sabres
==Awards and Records==
*Norris Trophy: Borje Salming, Runner-up NHL Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 222.
*Borje Salming, Defense, NHL Second Team All Star
==Farm Teams==
The Maple Leafs were affiliated with the New Brunswick Hawks of the American Hockey League.
==Game Ads==
79-80NHLExhOttawaGameAd.jpg|Pre-season @ Ottawa
==References==
===Notes===
===Bibliography===
*The Power of Two: Carl Brewer's Battle with Hockey's Power Brokers, Susan Foster with notes by Carl Brewer, Fenn Publishing Company Ltd., Bolton, Ontario, 2006, ISBN 978-1-55168-313-3 (paperback).
*National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5.
==External Links==
* Maple Leafs on Hockey Database
Category:Toronto Maple Leafs seasons
Toronto Maple Leafs season, 1979–80
Toronto Maple Leafs season, 1979–80