1980-81
OFF-SEASON
The NHL's all-time leader in points is retiring as Stan Mikita has had enough hockey after 22 years and 1462 NHL games. The 40 year old was limited to 36 games and 24 points last season because of a shoulder injury. His 2129 career regular season points and 1487 assists rank #1 in each of those categories while he is 5th in goals with 642. Mikita holds the single season record for points with 169 set in 1968-69 and he has 5 of the 6 highest single season point totals in league history.
He broke in with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1958-59, playing 69 games and scoring 24 points as an 18 year old. Mikita would go on to win the Hart Trophy as league MVP 9 times as well as two Conn Smythe Trophy's as playoff MVP. He led the NHL in scoring 8 times and was a first team all-star 10 times in his career. He also won 5 Stanley Cups and tallied 261 points in 188 playoff games.
Other highlights for Mikita include a 38 game point streak in 1972-73, second only to the 44 gamer Maurice Richard had in 1943-44.
Pete Mahovlich has decided to retire at the age of 33. Mahovlich spent his entire 16 year career with the Detroit Red Wings. He played in 1121 games and had 353 goals and 1016 career points. He was a two-time first team all-star.
Others retiring include Ted Green, who played 20 seasons and 1326 games for the Boston Bruins, and JP Parise, who retired after 16 seasons and 1116 games. Parise spent 15 years in Boston before finishing his career with Hartford last year, scoring 272 goals and 767 points.
The Atlanta Flames have moved north to Calgary in the only franchise change for the upcoming season.
Notable new players include Paul Coffey and Jari Kurri to Edmonton, Bernie Nicholls to Los Angeles, Denis Savard and Steve Larmer in Chciago, and Peter and Anton Statsny with the Quebec Nordiques.
REGULAR SEASON
After being limited to 29 games as rookie Wayne Gretzky was healthy this year and won his first scoring title with 147 points including 61 goals. However the 61 goals were only good for third in the league as an offensive explosion that would last much of the decade began. Minnesota's 22 year old winger Steve Payne had 67 goals while veteran New York Ranger centre Jean Ratelle shattered the record books with an amazing 83 goals in 80 games.
The top two teams in the league this season were the two clubs that met in the Stanley Cup Finals last year as Montreal led the way with 131 points while the Toronto Maple Leafs were close behind with 127. The toughest division was the Leafs group in the Adams, as Boston and Minnesota both topped the 100 point mark and all 5 teams in the group finished over .500 and as a result all five made the playoffs.
MILESTONES
Jean Ratelle of the NY Rangers scored his 700th goal in fine fashion as it was one of 4 Ratelle would scored on the night in an 8-3 win over Calgary on December 22nd. The goal would be scored on Pat Riggin and be the 4th of the game and 40th of the season for the Ranger sniper. Ratelle would finish the season with 743 career goals, second only to Bobby Hull's mark of 884.
Don Marcotte of Boston recorded his 1200th career point
Jean Pronovost of Boston scored his 400th goal
Gil Perreault of Buffalo scored his 300th goal
Danny Gare of Buffalo scored his 300th goal
Rick Kehoe of Toronto scored his 300th goal
Bobby Clarke of Philadelphia earned his 750th career assist
Darryl Sittler of Toronto earned his 500th assist
Marcel Dionne of Detroit earned his 500th assist
1500 GAMES
Dave Keon Toronto
1000 GAMES
Garry Unger Toronto
Mike Walton NY Islanders
Jean Pronovost Boston
800 GAMES
Gerry Cheevers Los Angeles
750 GAMES
Dan Maloney Chicago
Ron Stackhouse Toronto
Gene Carr St Louis
Ross Lonsberry Colorado
Guy Lafleur Montreal
Don Luce NY Rangers
Rick Martin NY Rangers
Guy Charron Montreal
Jean Pronovost of Boston had a 6 goal, 2 assist night in the Bruins 10-3 win over Los Angeles on December 14th. The 35 year Pronovost finished the season with 58 goals. His 6 goal game is 2 shy of the record 8 scored by Philadelphia's Bill Barber in a 1975 game.
Philadelphia's Ken Linseman had a 7 assist night in the Flyers 10-2 win over Wahsington on December 21st. The 7 assists are second most in league history, trailing only Bobby Clarke's record 10 assists set in a game with the Flyers in 1975.
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ADAMS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 59 12 9 127
Boston Bruins 80 54 22 4 112
Minnesota North Stars 80 45 24 11 101
Buffalo Sabres 80 42 26 12 96
Quebec Nordiques 80 36 34 10 82
NORRIS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Montreal Canadiens 80 62 11 7 131
Detroit Red Wings 80 35 32 13 83
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 31 35 14 76
Hartford Whalers 80 30 38 12 72
Los Angeles Kings 80 26 46 8 60
PATRICK DIVISION GP W L T PTS
New York Rangers 80 49 22 9 107
Philadelphia Flyers 80 44 30 6 94
New York Islanders 80 33 36 11 77
Calgary Flames 80 17 58 5 39
Washington Capitals 80 15 59 6 36
SMYTHE DIVISION GP W L T PTS
St Louis Blues 80 37 32 11 85
Edmonton Oilers 80 35 36 9 79
Chicago Black Hawks 80 36 39 5 77
Vancouver Canucks 80 27 43 10 64
Colorado Rockies 80 22 50 8 52
Winnipeg Jets 80 12 62 6 30
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Wayne Gretzky EDM 80 61 86 147
Jean Ratelle NYR 80 83 61 144
Guy Lafleur MON 71 60 81 141
Bryan Trottier NYI 80 51 88 139
Gilbert Perreault BUF 80 41 94 135
Mike Bossy NYI 80 58 76 134
John Tonelli MON 77 57 70 127
Lanny McDonald TOR 80 58 68 126
Jean Pronovost BOS 80 58 67 125
Bobby Clarke PHI 80 42 78 120
Steve Payne MIN 80 67 52 119
Rick Kehoe TOR 80 58 60 118
Bernie Federko STL 72 31 86 117
Marcel Dionne DET 80 50 62 112
Tim Kerr PHI 80 57 53 110
Brian Sutter STL 80 54 56 110
Peter Statsny QUE 80 56 53 109
Dennis Maruk TOR 69 27 82 109
Brad Park NYR 76 29 78 107
Anton Statsny QUE 80 35 71 106
PLAYOFFS
In the opening round of the playoffs each of the higher seeds advanced. Top seed Montreal swept Vancouver in 3 games as did number two Toronto over Hartford and third seed New York Rangers over Pittsburgh.
The 4th seeded St Louis Blues went the distance in their series with the Islanders before winning the fifth and deciding game 6-5 on an overtime goal from Jorgen Pettersson. Sixth seed Minnesota also needed 5 games to get rid of the young and rapidly improving Edmonton Oilers.
The remaining preliminary round series were Boston 3-0 over Chicago, Buffalo 3-1 over Quebec and Philadelphia 3-0 over Detroit.
Boston swept St Louis in their quarterfinal series while the Rangers beat Minnesota in 5 games and Montreal stopped Philadelphia in 5. The Toronto Maple Leafs met the Buffalo Sabres in the quarters for the second time in 3 years and once agin the Sabres prevailed. This one was a 7 game battle that saw Buffalo battle back from a 3 games to 2 deficit.
Buffalo would face Montreal in one semi-final while the other matchup had Boston against the New York Rangers.
You could not have asked for a more thrilling semi-final as both series went the full 7 games. The Boston-Rangers series was especially exciting as New York took the first 3 games only to see the Bruins roar back with a 9-3 win in Game Four, a 5-2 victory in Game Five and a 5-4 win in Game Six.
Boston would complete the comeback with a 4-1 victory in the deciding game. The Rangers led 1-0 after two periods thanks to a Lucien Deblois goal but Boston battled back with 4 in the third period as Terry Ruskowski, Jean Pronovost, Matti Hagman and Al Secord scored for the Bruins.
Montreal would put an end to Buffalo's Cup hopes with a decisive 6-2 win in Game Seven. Pierre Mondou scored twice for the Habs and veteran goaltender Tony Esposito capped a strong series with a 24 save performance.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
The Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins for the sixth time but the first since 1960. Montreal has won 3 of the previous 5 Cup meetings between the two clubs and are heavily favoured to win their second straight Stanley Cup and 21st overall.
Defenseman Larry Robinson, who had 60 points during the season, is the only Montreal player expected to miss the series. Robinson suffered an elbow injury in the quarterfinals. The Canadiens big line led by Guy Lafleur has been red-hot in the postseason. Lafleur already has 15 goals and 30 points in 15 games. Wingers John Tonelli (11-15-26) and Mark Napier (6-19-25) have also played very well. 38 year old Tony Esposito continues to be an outstanding playoff goaltender, but he has been rested a few times and backup Phil Myre has been a more than capable replacement.
Like Esposito in Montreal, Bernie Parent has been a fixture in the Boston net for well over a decade and he is also having a strong playoff run. Al Secord is leading Boston in playoff goals with 10 while veteran Jean Pronovost is the point leader with 22 including 6 goals. Defensemen Ray Bourque (4-15-19) and Bobby Orr (3-15-18), still going strong at age 33, give Boston two outstanding power play quarterbacks.
Orr gets the first goal of the series but Montreal replies with 3 of their own from Rod Langway, Marc Tardif and Mark Napier to open a 3-1 lead after 2 periods. Boston gets one back in the third when Wayne Cashman scores but that is as close as the Bruins get as Montreal takes Game One by a 3-2 score.
Another tight finish but the Bruins blow a 5-3 lead after forty minutes and fall 6-5 in Game Two. Mark Napier has two goals and an assist for Montreal while Guy Lafleur scores once and sets up two more.
Back on home ice for Game Three the Bruins look to be in huge trouble early when Montreal scores three times in the first 15 minutes. However, Boston settles down and Al Secord gets the Bruins on the scoreboard before the first period ends. From there it is all Bruins as Wayne Cashman scores twice, Ray Bourque gets 3 assists as Boston scores 5 unaswered goals to take Game Three by a 6-3 score.
All of the scoring in Game Four comes in the second period as Boston evens the series with a 2-1 victory. Dave Farrish and Al Secord score for the Bruins with Bobby Orr assisting on both goals. In between, defenseman Joe Micheletti gets Montreal's only goal.
The trend of the home team winning comes to an end as the Bruins overcome a 2-0 lead and rally to win Game Five by a 4-2 score. Blake Dunlop and Pierre Mondou had staked the Habs to a 2-0 lead before Steve Kasper's powerplay goal late in the second got Boston on the scoreboard. Don Marcotte would tie the game with a shorthanded goal early in the third period. Dave Farrish would break the tie with 1:39 remaining in regulation and Marcotte would seal the win with an empty netter for his second goal of the game.
The Bruins win their first Stanley Cup since 1972 with a 3-0 shutout win in Game Six. Bernie Parent stopped all 23 Montreal shots he faced for the win. Terry O'Reilly scored in the first period for Boston and then got his second goal of the finals midway through the third period. The Bruins would ice the victory with an empty net goal from Wayne Cashman in the final minute.
Despite losing the Cup, Montreal's Guy Lafleur was named winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Lafleur was dominant, scoring 17 goals and 37 points in 21 playoff games.
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Wayne Gretzky Edmonton (80GP 61-86-147)
VEZINA TROPHY: Bernie Parent Boston (45-20-4, 2.99)
NORRIS TROPHY: Rod Langway Montreal (80GP 30-72-102)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Wayne Gretzky Edmonton (80GP 61-86-147)
CALDER TROPHY: Tim Kerr Philadelphia (80GP 57-53-110)
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 Bernie Parent Boston
D Rod Langway Montreal Brad Park NY Rangers
D Denis Potvin NY Islanders Bobby Orr Boston
C Jean Ratelle NY Rangers Wayne Gretzky Edmonton
LW John Tonelli Montreal Lanny McDonald Toronto
RW Jean Pronovost Boston Mike Bossy NY Islanders