1979-80
OFF-SEASON
The biggest change is the WHA folds and the NHL adds 4 teams from the defunct league as new franchises. The biggest debut is Wayne Gretzky makes his appearance joining the Edmonton Oilers along with Mark Messier. There are a bunch of new young stars entering the game including Kevin Lowe, Glenn Anderson and Charlie Huddy in Edmonton, Ray Bourque with Boston, Mats Naslund and Guy Carbonneau in Montreal, Pelle Lindbergh, Tim Kerr and Brian Propp in Philadelphia, Mike Gartner in Washington, Dino Ciccarelli and Craig Hartsburg in Minnesota, Joey Mullen in St Louis and Rick Vaive with Vancouver.
Retirements this year are highlighted by Phil Esposito leaving the game after 18 seasons and 5 Stanley Cups with the Chicago Black Hawks. Teamed with Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull on the Hawks number one line, Esposito led the NHL in goals on two occasions and finished with 667 for his career, second only to Hull. His 1365 career points place him 6th all-time while his 1271 games played rank 16th in league history. He had 5 fifty-goal seasons in his career and was a 3-time first-team all-star selection.
Ralph Backstrom retired at the age of 41 after 9 seasons with Montreal, 8 in St Louis and the final 4 with Edmonton of the WHA. Backstrom scored 189 goals and 417 points in 780 NHL games and added 100 goals and 257 points in 304 games in the WHA. He won 2 Stanley Cups and a pair of Avco Cup titles.
Paul Henderson retires after playing just 29 games for Detroit last season. The 35 year old played 1186 career NHL games, all with the Red Wings, and finishes with 938 points including 414 goals. He helped the Wings to their last Stanley Cup victory, in 1963-64, when he had 8 points in 13 games as a 20 year old.
Derek Sanderson retired at the age of 33. The long-time Bruin was traded to Toronto in January but suited up for only 5 games in a Maple Leaf uniform. The remainder of his 1027 career NHL games were played for Boston and he tallied 465 goals and 1008 points in his career. The 465 goals are a Boston record and he is third all-time behind only Bobby Orr and Don Marcotte for career points as a Bruin. He broke in in 1967-68 and won the Calder Trophy after scoring 40 goals and 74 points as a rookie. Sanderson also had two 50-goal seasons and scored 10 goals in 16 playoff games in 1972 to help the Bruins win their first Stanley Cup since 1942.
Don Awrey retires after 1033 games with Boston. He accumulated 337 points in his 16 year career including 3 goals and 18 assists in 60 games last season. Ed Westfall retired after 1105 games and 580 points with the Bruins.
Boston also lost veteran defenseman Gerry Odrowski to retirement. The 40 year old finished his NHL career with 11 points in 68 games last season for the Bruins. His 1229 game NHL career began with the New York Rangers in 1961 and also included stops in Oakland and Cleveland. Odrowski had 342 points and 2165 penalty minutes in his career.
Gary Bergman retired at the age of 40 after playing 30 games last season for the Quebec Nordiques of the WHA. Prior to switching leagues, Bergman spent 17 seasons on the Chicago Black Hawks blueline, appearing in 1004 regular season games, scoring 132 goals and 578 points. He was a key contributor to 5 Stanley Cup winning Chicago teams between 1966 and 1973.
Two Montreal Canadiens retired as Danny Grant and JC Tremblay each hung up the blades. Tremblay had 34 points last season to finish his 1214 NHL game career with 635 points. Injuries limited Grant to 34 games last season so the 33 year old decided to retire after 949 games. Grant scored 313 goals and 642 points in his career with his best season being a 52 goal, 82 point campaign in 1972-73. Grant won 3 Stanley Cups with the Canadiens while Tremblay won 4.
TRADES
This was a huge off-season for deals with the biggest move being the Montreal Canadiens dealing Steve Shutt to Buffalo for Peter McNab in an exchange of 27 year old forwards. Shutt had 3 consecutive 50 goal seasons before dipping to 38 last year but still picked up 95 points in 77 games with Montreal. McNab had 26 goals and 63 points a year ago for the Sabres. McNab projects to being a third line centre for Montreal behind Guy Lafleur and Blake Dunlop while Shutt should end up on the Sabres second line with Rob McClanahan and Wayne Merrick, behind the big line of Perreault-Ramsay-Gare.
The Habs also acquired Dunlop this offseason by dealing 33 year old defenseman Serge Savard to Minnesota in exchange for the 26 year old pivot. Savard had 46 points for Montreal last year.
The Rangers dealt Rick Middleton and Jim Rutherford to the Islanders in exchange for Bob Bourne and Dave Cameron. With that deal Rutherford takes over as the Isles number one goaltender so 35 year old Gerry Desjardins was dispatched to Colorado. Middleton had 98 points last season and will join Robbie Ftorek and Anders Kallur on the second line. Bourne had 60 points last year as a 25 year old.
Bad news for the Oilers right off the bat as Wayne Gretzky broke his collarbone in the Oilers final preseason game and is expected to miss the first two months of the season.
REGULAR SEASON
Another big trade occurred in November as Boston dealt Reggie Leach to Hartford for goaltender Mike Liut. Leach would finish the season with 48 goals and 91 points while Liut would play 33 games for the Bruins as Bernie Parent appears to be near the end of his career. Shortly after dealing Liut the Whalers picked up Ken Dryden from Montreal, allowing Dryden finally the chance to be a number one goalie at the age of 32 after spending over a decade as Tony Esposito's understudy in Montreal.
Injuries made a big dent on teams this season as new Islander pickup Rick Middleton missed 6 months, Toronto's Borje Salming 3 months, Bernie Federko of St Louis missed 4 months and Chicago's Stan Mikita missed half the season. Gretzky suffered a second injury and missed another two months so the Great One played in just 29 games but still had 51 points as a rookie.
MILESTONES
Bobby Orr of Boston picked up his 1200th career point
Brad Park of the NY Rangers earned his 1200th career point
Dave Keon of Toronto recorded his 900th career point
Carol Vadnais of the NY Islanders picked up his 900th career point
Guy Lafleur of Montreal scored his 300th career goal.
Steve Shutt of Buffalo scored his 300th career goal.
Bobby Orr of Boston scored his 300th career goal.
Marcel Dionne of Detroit scored his 300th career goal.
Serge Savard of Minnesota played in his 1000th NHL game
Carol Vadnais of the NY Islanders played in his 1000th NHL game
Ron Ellis of Quebec played in his 1000th NHL game
Brad Park of the NY Rangers played in his 1000th NHL game
Bobby Orr of Boston played in his 1000th NHL game
Rogie Vachon of Minnesota played in his 800th career game.
Randy Pierce of Colorado had a 7 point night in an October 9-0 win over Atlanta. Pierce scored once and picked up 6 assists. The 22 year old is in his third NHL season and set a career best with 34 goals and 64 points for the Rockies this year.
Robbie Ftorek of the Islanders had a 5 goal game in a 10-3 win over Pittsburgh on December 14th. Ftorek would score 38 goals and pick up 81 points on the year. His Islander teammate Clark Gillies scored 5 times in a 6-1 win in Winnipeg a month later. Centre Bryan Trottier assisted on all 6 Islanders goals in that game.
Toronto's Darryl Sittler had a 5 goal game on February 1st in the Leas 9-4 win over Chicago. Sittler also picked up an assist in the contest.
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ADAMS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 51 24 5 107
Buffalo Sabres 80 49 23 8 106
Minnesota North Stars 80 41 30 9 91
Boston Bruins 80 37 32 11 85
Quebec Nordiques 80 12 57 11 35
NORRIS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Montreal Canadiens 80 62 7 11 135
Detroit Red Wings 80 39 29 12 90
Hartford Whalers 80 23 44 13 59
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 24 48 8 56
Los Angeles Kings 80 16 50 14 46
PATRICK DIVISION GP W L T PTS
New York Islanders 80 58 14 8 124
Philadelphia Flyers 80 54 18 8 116
New York Rangers 80 54 20 6 114
Atlanta Flames 80 24 45 11 59
Washington Capitals 80 23 46 11 57
SMYTHE DIVISION GP W L T PTS
St Louis Blues 80 42 26 12 96
Colorado Rockies 80 34 37 9 77
Edmonton Oilers 80 28 35 17 73
Chicago Black Hawks 80 23 44 13 59
Vancouver Canucks 80 20 47 13 53
Winnipeg Jets 80 16 54 10 42
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Gilbert Perreault BUF 80 46 83 129
Denis Potvin NYI 76 38 90 128
Guy Lafleur MON 74 57 69 126
Bryan Trottier NYI 80 24 102 126
Mike Bossy NYI 74 60 59 119
Dennis Maruk TOR 80 32 87 119
Clark Gillies NYI 80 61 57 118
Brad Park NYR 80 34 80 114
Lanny McDonald TOR 80 56 57 113
Rick Kehoe TOR 80 51 62 113
Marcel Dionne DET 80 48 65 113
Bobby Clarke PHI 80 40 70 110
Steve Shutt BUF 80 51 56 107
Jean Ratelle NYR 76 51 51 102
Ron Greschner NYR 80 15 86 101
Kent Nilsson ATL 80 52 48 100
Rick Martin NYR 80 35 64 99
Carol Vadnais NYI 80 23 76 99
Bill Barber PHI 80 40 56 96
Bobby Orr BOS 80 27 68 95
PLAYOFFS
The playoffs open with a best of 5 series. Most of the series were sweeps with Montreal knocking out Washington, Toronto eliminating Chicago, St Louis beating Atlanta and the New York Rangers dumping Colorado 3 straight. Philadelphia needed 4 games to beat Edmonton and Boston upset Buffalo in 4 games.
The other two series went the distance as Detroit advanced on an overtime goal in game five from Vaclav Nedomansky to eliminate Minnesota. Meanwhile, the Hartford Whalers pulled off a huge upset eliminating the defending Cup champion Islanders with a 4-3 win in Uniondale in Game Five. George Ferguson was the hero for Hartford in the deciding game with 2 goals and an assist.
The Whalers playoffs ended quickly in the next round as Montreal swept Hartford in 4 straight. Toronto also knocked off Boston in a sweep while the St Louis Blues swept Detroit. Only the Rangers-Flyers series and it went the full seven games before Philadelphia prevailed 5-4 in the deciding contest thanks to a goal from Bobby Clarke late in the third period.
Montreal knocked off Philadelphia in 5 games while Toronto needed 6 to eliminate the St Louis Blues giving us the first Montreal-Toronto final since 1950.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
The finals pit the two teams with the most Cups against each other. Counting before the sim started in 1931 Montreal has won 19 Cups and Toronto has claimed 18 titles. The Habs last win came over the New York Rangers just 4 years ago but the Leafs, who lost to the Rangers in the finals in 1977 and 1974, have not won a Cup since 1965.
The Habs will be missing winger Mark Napier (21-22-43) who played just 39 games this season due to injury, as well as defensemen John Van Boxmeer (6-13-19 in 35 games), Brian Engblom (16-29-45) and Joe Micheletti (8-40-48).
Toronto comes into the finals with everyone healthy but that ends in Game One when Rick Kehoe (51-62-113) goes down with an injury. In 14 playoff games Kehoe had 23 points including 11 goals. Montreal takes the opener 4-0 on home ice as Tony Esposito has a 23 save shutout. John Tonelli, Larry Robinson, Guy Charron and rookie Scott Campbell scored for Canadiens, who fired 31 shots on Leafs netminder Mike Palmateer.
Game Two is another 4-0 Montreal win as Esposito makes 27 saves. Guy Lafleur has two goals and an assist to lead Montreal with Tonelli and Rod Langway also scoring.
Toronto finally gets a goal in Game Three as the series shifts to Maple Leaf Gardens but it is hardly enough as the Leafs fall 5-1. Tonelli scores for the third straight game with Lafleur, Peter McNab, Pierre Mondou and John Van Boxmeer- back from injury- also beating Ernie Wakely, who replaced Palmateer for this game.
The Canadiens complete the sweep and win their 20th Stanley Cup with a 4-3 victory. Larry Robinson scores once and adds two assists while Van Boxmeer, Blake Dunlop and Doug Jarvis also get goals. Garry Unger, Real Cloutier and Errol Thompson score for the Leafs.
The absence of Kehoe played a huge role in the series as his centre, Dennis Maruk, who led the Leafs in scoring during the regular season and had 22 points in 13 playoff games leading up to the finals, did not register a single point in the four game series. Lanny McDonald, the third member of that line, led all playoff scorers with 12 goals and 28 points but McDonald only registered 1 assist in the finals.
Despite missing the final round Kehoe's 23 points tied him for second in playoff scoring with Montreal's Guy Lafleur. Habs 23 year old rookie defenseman Rod Langway led all rearguard with 22 points and was rewarded with the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Denis Potvin NY Islanders (76GP 38-90-128)
VEZINA TROPHY: Tony Esposito Montreal (52-6-11, 2.00)
NORRIS TROPHY: Denis Potvin NY Islanders (76GP 38-90-128)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Gilbert Perreault Buffalo (80GP 46-83-129)
CALDER TROPHY: Rod Langway Montreal (80GP 22-62-84)
Potvin becomes just the fourth defenseman to win the Hart Trophy and the first since Chicago's Pierre Pilote in 1958-59. The other defensemen to win it are Doug Harvey, Eddie Shore and King Clancy
The game does not select the all-star team but I will start naming first and second team all-stars
Code:
POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM
G Tony Esposito Montreal Pete Peeters Philadelphia
D Brad Park NY Rangers Ron Greschner NY Rangers
D Denis Potvin NY Islanders Bobby Orr Boston
C Bryan Trottier NY Islanders Guy Lafleur Montreal
LW Lanny McDonald Toronto Clark Gillies NY Islanders
RW Mike Bossy NY Islanders Marcel Dionne Detroit