1980–81 NHL season

The 1980–81 NHL season was the 64th season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. This was the first season that the Calgary Flames played in Calgary, Alberta. Previously, they were the Atlanta Flames and played in Atlanta, Georgia. The New York Islanders won their second consecutive Stanley Cup, defeating the Minnesota North Stars in 5 games. The most notable individual performer was Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers, who broke Bobby Orr's single season assist record and Phil Esposito's point mark for a new record of 164 points, winning his second of an unmatched eight straight Hart Trophies as the league's most valuable player.

Regular 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

"New York wins the series 4–1."

NHL awards

All-Star teams

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1980–81 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) 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

1981 Trading Deadline

* Trading Deadline: MARCH 10, 1981 [ [http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/3969 NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out ] ]
*March 8, 1981: Doug Halward traded from Los Angeles to Vancouver for Vancouver's 5th round choice in 1982 Entry Draft.
*March 10, 1981: Bill Baker traded from Montreal to Colorado for Colorado's 3rd round choice in 1983 Entry Draft.
*March 10, 1981: Ken Berry and Garry Lariviere traded from Vancouver to Edmonton for Blair MacDonald and Lars-Gunnar Petersson.
*March 10, 1981: Pat Hughes traded from Pittsburgh to Edmonton for Pat Price.
*March 10, 1981: Jari Kaarela and Mike McEwen traded from Colorado to NY Islanders for Glenn Resch and Steve Tambellini.
*March 10, 1981: Michel Larocque traded from Montreal to Toronto for Robert Picard.
*March 10, 1981: Don Luce traded from Buffalo to Los Angeles for Los Angeles' 6th round choice in 1982 Entry Draft.
*March 10, 1981: Ray Markham traded from NY Rangers to Edmonton for John Hughes.
*March 10, 1981: Mario Marois traded from Vancouver to Quebec for Garry Lariviere.
*March 10, 1981: Rick Martin traded from Buffalo to Los Angeles for Los Angeles' 3rd round choice in 1981 Entry Draft and Los Angeles' 1st round choice in 1983 Entry Draft (Tom Barrasso).
*March 10, 1981: Jim Rutherford traded from Toronto to Los Angeles for Los Angeles' 5th round choice in 1981 Entry Draft.
*March 10, 1981: Garry Unger traded from Los Angeles to Edmonton for Edmonton's 7th round choice in 1981 Entry Draft.
*March 10, 1981: Ron Zanussi and Minnesota's 3rd round choice in 1981 Entry Draft traded from Minnesota to Toronto for Toronto's 2nd round choice in 1981 Entry Draft.

See also

* 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

* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
* [http://nhl.com/ NHL.com]