1979-80 NHL Regular Season
The
Oilers first game does not go well. They manage only 8 shots against a not great
Chicago team.
Edmonton starts
Bob Sauve in net over
Mike Palmateer. Looks like a good choice so far.
Sauve played great!
Winnipeg upsets the
Penguins on the road to open their NHL residency.
Doug Jarvis gets 2 assists.
Marcel Dionne missed the game with a bruised neck. It’s the first game
Dionne has missed in his entire career!
Quebec fans are very familiar with the nucleus of the
Atlanta Flames. WHA standouts
Rick Middleton and
Brian Sutter combine for 9 points in an absolute thrashing of the home team.
Wayne Gretzky is held pointless, but rookie
Slava Fetisov scores twice in a
Minnesota route of the
Whalers.
The
LA Kings start the season 3-4-3! This is a team that lost just 8 times a year ago. They have half of those losses in the first month of the season already.
Denis Potvin broke his collarbone in the preseason and has another month left of his recovery. The
Kings are -5 in goals so far this season. If
Potvin is that much of a difference, he’s the MVP of the league!
The Kings are missing Potvin!
Stan Mikita just became the first player to hit 1000 career assists!!
Mikita is still producing at age 39, with 22 points in 24 games this year.
Stan finds himself 300 points behind
Gordie Howe’s all time record, but
Gordie never hit 1000 assists!! RIP Stan Mikita…
RIP Stan Mikita
The
Sabres didn’t reach the heights they envisioned when the acquired
Bernie Parent, now he’s gone.
The
North Stars acquire the aging, but still star goalie from
Buffalo for young center
Bill Derlago. Parent was 6-6-2 with
Buffalo, putting up an awful .872 save percentage. He was great last year, and the year before, so I expect him to be able to rebound from this bad start.
Derlago is a rookie who was taken 12th in this years draft. He had 6 points in 9 games as a
North Star. He looks like he has a nice future as a 2nd line center. This might be a sign of
Minnesota going for it!
Bernie Parent joins Minnesota
The
Kings trade their high scoring enforcer!
Stan Jonathon is sent to the
Buffalo Sabres for defenseman
Gerry Hart. Jonathon is in his 5th season, and each year, he has gotten more points, and more PIMs. Last season,
Jonathan recorded 88 points and 349 PIMs!! That is amazing. If I was running a team, id want this guy. The 24 year old had 22 points in 23 games, with 73 PIMs when he was dealt. I don’t know what the
Kings are thinking. They are off to a bad start, now at 11-8-4, but getting a 32 year old 2 star defenseman for
Jonathan isn’t a smart move.
Buffalo got better today..
Jonathan to Buffalo!
Just before Christmas,
Phil Esposito becomes the 2nd player to record 600 goals!! He’s 37 now, and his days leading the league in scoring are long gone.
Esposito is still contributing though. He’s got 22 points in 36 games. He’s playing on the
Chicago PP, and he’s got a decent game rating of 61.
Phil has spent his whole career in
Chicago, and therefor, has never won a cup!
600 goals and counting!
Bad news for the first place
Rangers. Bobby Orr, now 31 years old, has broken his elbow.
Orr’s season is over. The recovery time is half a year, so
Orr has no shot at playing again this season. The
Rangers have had a great year, at 39-9.
Orr already missed some time earlier in the year with a few issues, and has only played 27 games on the season. He had 11 goals and 25 assists in those games. He was having another great year, and his absence will effect this
Rangers team.
Orr out for the season!
The
Leafs just robbed the
North Stars!
Toronto somehow got
Minnesota to trade
Slava Fetisov! The 21 year old rookie was playing 22 minutes a night in
Minnesota, helping them to first place. He’s got points, a +17, and a game rating of 69!
Toronto sends
Mark Taylor, a 22 year old 2.5 star forward.
Taylor had 4 points in 18 games this year. He was selected 48th overall 2 years ago, and looks like a 3rd line center.
Fetisov can be a franchise defenseman. Robbery!
Fetisov should be a star for the Leafs!
Wayne Gretzky’s rookie season has ended prematurely. The 19 year old suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament, which will keep him off skates until July.
Gretzky had 19 goals and 30 assists in 43 games before the injury. He had
Hartford fighting for the final playoff spot, but it’s hard to believe they can qualify for the postseason without him.
Gretzky only had 24 PIMs this season after reaching 100 in the WHA last year!
Gretzky's season is over!
Philadelphia and
New York get together on a deal that has the NHL scratching their heads.
New York trades
STAN MIKITA and
Rene Robert to the
Flyers for
Steve Payne. Ok, first off,
Steve Payne is a 21 year old who had 51 points a year ago, and has 43 points in 60 games this year. He’s a really young, productive 2nd liner, who is clearly improving. I get why the
Rangers wanted him, I don’t get why the
Flyers would deal him.
New York is a cup contender, the
Flyers are under 500.
Philly gets 39 year old
Stan Mikita, a
Rangers legend, who is still playing great.
Mikita had 51 points in 63 games at the time of the deal. I can’t believe the
Rangers would trade him. Add in
Rene Robert, who came to
NY via
Cleveland. He’s a very solid 2nd/3rd liner who scores as much as
Payne does. The
Rangers, who could win the cup, give up two older valuable pieces for some youth. If this trade was reversed, it would make sense….oh well…
Mikita is now a Flyer!
The 27-29-5
Flyers are now led by 39 year old
Jean Ratelle, who is playing amazing!! 30 goals, 71 points on the year!! He’s awesome! 34 year old
Nick Libbet, Stan Mikita and
Rene Robert are also at the top of the depth chart. This team needs to be getting younger, not adding vets for a long shot playoff run. I could be wrong….but conventional wisdom and all….
Ratelle has not slowed down!
Guy Lafleur has just hit 60 goals for the 2nd straight year. He’s got 18 more goals then anyone else at the moment, and still has a month left in the season.
Lafleur and the
Kings have righted the ship after a sloppy start.
Guy needs 12 goals in 11 games to break his goal scoring record he set last year..
back to back 60 goal seasons!
Final Standings
Minnesota really put it together this year. They finish the season with a franchise record 115 points. The addition’s of
Tiger Williams and
Dino Ciccarelli gave them 2 very dangerous forward lines. It was still stupid to trade
Slava Fetisov though. More on that in a bit..
Washington uses newcomers to have their best season ever.
Mike Bossy, and
Charlie Simmer came over from the WHA, while a talented rookie class featuring
Dirk Graham, Craig MacTavish and
Michel Goulet got the
Caps 92 points, and their first trip to the playoffs.
None of the WHA expansion teams make the second season.
Hartford only won three games after
Wayne Gretzky got injured.
Guy Lafleur did break his own goal scoring record, scoring 72 goals this season. He also fell just 1 point back of his points record.
Lafleur scored 27 points over the final 10 games of the season! His teammate,
Butch Goring tied
Stan Mikita’s old mark of 136 points and set a new assists record with 95!
Slava Fetisov, Toronto’s young star defenseman, found his offense, getting 20 points, and a +22 in his 34 games as a
Leaf. I keep saying it. What a steal.
Mark Taylor ended up centering the 2nd and 3rd line in
Minnesota, collecting 26 assists in 39 games. Not bad, just not as valuable as a young franchise defenseman.
Stan Mikita had 15 points in 20 games with the
Flyers. The over the hill gang saw
Jean Ratelle excel at his advanced age, getting 92 points.
Nick Libbett got 72! When these guys retire…uh oh…
Stan Jonathan does not look like it’s working out in
Buffalo. He got 26 points and 97 PIM’s in 40 games as a
Sabre. Well below his career pace and his season’s pace before the trade. His game rating also fell to 57. Something is not clicking here.