1980–81 New York Islanders season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1980–81
Year:	1980
Team:	New York Islanders
Conference:	Campbell
Conferencerank:	1st
Division:	Patrick
Divisionrank:	1st
Record:	48–18–14
Goalsfor:	355
Goalsagainst:	260
Generalmanager:	Bill Torrey
Coach:	Al Arbour
Captain:	Denis Potvin
Altcaptain:	None
Arena:	Nassau Coliseum
Attendance:	14,122
Goalsleader:	Mike Bossy (68)
Assistsleader:	Bryan Trottier (72)
Pointsleader:	Mike Bossy (119)
Pimleader:	Garry Howatt (174)
Winsleader:	Billy Smith (22)
Gaaleader:	Glenn Resch (3.07)
Divisionwin:	yes
Conferencewin:	Yes
Stanleycup:	yes

The 1980–81 New York Islanders season was the ninth season in the franchise's history. It involved winning the Stanley Cup.

Offseason

NHL Draft

New York's draft picks at the 1980 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.

Round		Player	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	17	Brent Sutter	Red Deer Rustlers (AJHL)
2	38	Kelly Hrudey	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
3	59	Dave Simpson	London Knights (OHA)
4	68	Monty Trottier	Billings Bighorns (WHL)
4	80	Greg Gilbert	Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
5	101	Ken Leiter	Michigan State University (WCHA)
6	122	Dan Revell	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
7	143	Mark Hamway	Michigan State University (WCHA)
8	164	Morey Gare	Penticton Knights (BCJHL)
9	185	Peter Steblyk	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
10	206	Glenn Johannesen	Red Deer Rustlers (AJHL)

Regular season

January 24, 1981 – In a victory over the Quebec Nordiques, Mike Bossy became the second player in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games.

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

Regular season

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 11, 1980	5–2	Boston Bruins (1980–81)	1–0–0
2	W	October 12, 1980	2–1	@ Washington Capitals (1980–81)	2–0–0
3	T	October 14, 1980	5–5	St. Louis Blues (1980–81)	2–0–1
4	W	October 16, 1980	6–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1980–81)	3–0–1
5	T	October 18, 1980	5–5	Edmonton Oilers (1980–81)	3–0–2
6	T	October 19, 1980	3–3	@ Hartford Whalers (1980–81)	3–0–3
7	L	October 21, 1980	3–6	Vancouver Canucks (1980–81)	3–1–3
8	L	October 23, 1980	2–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81)	3–2–3
9	L	October 25, 1980	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81)	3–3–3
10	L	October 26, 1980	2–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1980–81)	3–4–3
11	W	October 28, 1980	6–4	Montreal Canadiens (1980–81)	4–4–3
12	L	November 1, 1980	3–7	Los Angeles Kings (1980–81)	4–5–3
13	W	November 4, 1980	6–4	Detroit Red Wings (1980–81)	5–5–3
14	W	November 6, 1980	4–2	@ Boston Bruins (1980–81)	6–5–3
15	W	November 8, 1980	7–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81)	7–5–3
16	T	November 11, 1980	6–6	Minnesota North Stars (1980–81)	7–5–4
17	W	November 12, 1980	4–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81)	8–5–4
18	W	November 15, 1980	4–1	Buffalo Sabres (1980–81)	9–5–4
19	W	November 17, 1980	2–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1980–81)	10–5–4
20	W	November 18, 1980	7–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1980–81)	11–5–4
21	W	November 20, 1980	5–0	Hartford Whalers (1980–81)	12–5–4
22	W	November 22, 1980	6–4	New York Rangers (1980–81)	13–5–4
23	T	November 25, 1980	4–4	Winnipeg Jets (1980–81)	13–5–5
24	W	November 27, 1980	4–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1980–81)	14–5–5
25	W	November 29, 1980	5–1	Detroit Red Wings (1980–81)	15–5–5
26	W	November 30, 1980	7–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1980–81)	16–5–5
27	W	December 2, 1980	5–1	Colorado Rockies (1980–81)	17–5–5
28	L	December 4, 1980	3–4	@ Colorado Rockies (1980–81)	17–6–5
29	L	December 6, 1980	3–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1980–81)	17–7–5
30	W	December 7, 1980	5–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1980–81)	18–7–5
31	W	December 10, 1980	3–2	@ Edmonton Oilers (1980–81)	19–7–5
32	T	December 13, 1980	4–4	@ Calgary Flames (1980–81)	19–7–6
33	W	December 14, 1980	5–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1980–81)	20–7–6
34	W	December 16, 1980	6–2	Winnipeg Jets (1980–81)	21–7–6
35	W	December 20, 1980	5–2	Quebec Nordiques (1980–81)	22–7–6
36	W	December 21, 1980	9–0	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81)	23–7–6
37	T	December 23, 1980	2–2	Calgary Flames (1980–81)	23–7–7
38	T	December 27, 1980	5–5	@ Hartford Whalers (1980–81)	23–7–8
39	W	December 30, 1980	9–3	Colorado Rockies (1980–81)	24–7–8
40	L	January 2, 1981	1–3	@ New York Rangers (1980–81)	24–8–8
41	W	January 3, 1981	8–1	Hartford Whalers (1980–81)	25–8–8
42	W	January 6, 1981	6–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81)	26–8–8
43	L	January 7, 1981	3–7	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81)	26–9–8
44	L	January 10, 1981	2–3	Boston Bruins (1980–81)	26–10–8
45	W	January 11, 1981	4–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81)	27–10–8
46	W	January 13, 1981	6–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81)	28–10–8
47	W	January 17, 1981	6–4	Washington Capitals (1980–81)	29–10–8
48	W	January 20, 1981	5–0	Calgary Flames (1980–81)	30–10–8
49	W	January 22, 1981	3–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1980–81)	31–10–8
50	W	January 24, 1981	7–4	Quebec Nordiques (1980–81)	32–10–8
51	L	January 26, 1981	3–5	Buffalo Sabres (1980–81)	32–11–8
52	W	January 28, 1981	6–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81)	33–11–8
53	L	January 31, 1981	1–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1980–81)	33–12–8
54	L	February 1, 1981	3–6	@ Boston Bruins (1980–81)	33–13–8
55	W	February 3, 1981	8–1	Los Angeles Kings (1980–81)	34–13–8
56	L	February 4, 1981	3–9	@ New York Rangers (1980–81)	34–14–8
57	T	February 7, 1981	5–5	Minnesota North Stars (1980–81)	34–14–9
58	L	February 12, 1981	3–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81)	34–15–9
59	T	February 14, 1981	1–1	St. Louis Blues (1980–81)	34–15–10
60	L	February 17, 1981	5–8	Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81)	34–16–10
61	W	February 21, 1981	6–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81)	35–16–10
62	W	February 23, 1981	4–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1980–81)	36–16–10
63	L	February 25, 1981	4–11	@ Calgary Flames (1980–81)	36–17–10
64	W	February 27, 1981	5–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1980–81)	37–17–10
65	W	February 28, 1981	2–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1980–81)	38–17–10
66	T	March 3, 1981	8–8	Edmonton Oilers (1980–81)	38–17–11
67	W	March 7, 1981	3–1	Vancouver Canucks (1980–81)	39–17–11
68	W	March 11, 1981	6–3	@ Winnipeg Jets (1980–81)	40–17–11
69	W	March 12, 1981	5–0	@ Edmonton Oilers (1980–81)	41–17–11
70	T	March 14, 1981	3–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81)	41–17–12
71	T	March 17, 1981	3–3	Montreal Canadiens (1980–81)	41–17–13
72	W	March 20, 1981	5–3	@ Colorado Rockies (1980–81)	42–17–13
73	W	March 22, 1981	6–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81)	43–17–13
74	W	March 24, 1981	5–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1980–81)	44–17–13
75	T	March 28, 1981	4–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81)	44–17–14
76	W	March 29, 1981	5–4	@ Washington Capitals (1980–81)	45–17–14
77	L	March 31, 1981	1–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1980–81)	45–18–14
78	W	April 2, 1981	2–1	New York Rangers (1980–81)	46–18–14
79	W	April 4, 1981	4–1	Washington Capitals (1980–81)	47–18–14
80	W	April 5, 1981	7–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1980–81)	48–18–14

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
RW	79	68	51	119	32	37	28	2	10
C	73	31	72	103	74	49	9	2	5
LW	80	33	45	78	99	26	9	0	3
C	78	35	41	76	62	34	9	7	5
D	74	20	56	76	104	38	9	0	4
RW	78	36	28	64	32	25	7	6	4
D	80	9	52	61	82	24	6	0	2
C	78	23	37	60	0	4	4	1	1
LW	70	20	32	52	57	8	2	0	3
RW	79	14	30	44	145	6	3	0	0
C	61	19	17	36	17	-12	2	0	4
C	71	16	15	31	30	12	1	0	2
LW	70	4	15	19	174	12	0	0	0
RW	23	7	11	18	26	-8	1	0	1
D	75	1	16	17	122	40	0	0	0
D	80	2	11	13	20	19	0	0	0
D	73	1	12	13	77	45	0	0	0
D	60	3	9	12	124	-6	0	1	1
RW	14	4	7	11	39	9	1	0	0
C	18	4	4	8	6	3	0	0	1
D	18	2	3	5	25	-4	2	0	1
C	3	2	2	4	0	2	0	0	1
C	9	1	2	3	24	4	0	0	0
D	13	0	3	3	10	3	0	0	0
G	32	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
G	11	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
G	41	0	0	0	33	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
	2363	41	22	10	8	129	3.28	2
	1817	32	18	7	5	93	3.07	3
	620	11	8	1	1	32	3.10	0
Team:	4800	80	48	18	14	254	3.17	5

Playoffs

Scoring

Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
RW	18	17	18	35	4	9	0	3
C	18	11	18	29	34	4	2	1
D	18	8	17	25	16	6	1	2
C	18	10	10	20	6	4	2	2
C	18	6	12	18	8	0	0	1
LW	18	6	9	15	28	3	0	0
D	17	6	8	14	6	4	0	0
LW	16	5	8	13	16	0	0	2
RW	18	6	6	12	20	0	0	1
C	18	3	9	12	4	0	1	1
C	14	4	6	10	19	1	1	1
RW	9	3	6	9	14	0	0	0
RW	12	4	3	7	10	0	2	0
D	18	3	4	7	8	0	0	1
D	12	1	5	6	32	0	0	0
D	18	1	4	5	27	0	0	0
D	7	0	5	5	6	0	0	0
RW	12	3	1	4	10	0	0	0
D	18	0	3	3	25	0	0	0
LW	8	0	2	2	15	0	0	0
G	17	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA
	994	17	14	3	42	2.54
	92	3	1	0	6	3.91
Team:	1086	18	15	3	48	2.65

^[1]

Note: Pos = Position; 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;

Playoffs

Stanley Cup Finals

New York Islanders vs. Minnesota North Stars

Date	Visitors	Score	Home	Score
May 12	Minnesota	3	New York	6
May 14	Minnesota	3	New York	6
May 17	New York	7	Minnesota	5
May 19	New York	2	Minnesota	4
May 21	Minnesota	1	New York	5

Awards and records

Butch Goring, Conn Smythe Trophy

References

Islanders on Hockey Database

Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-07-13 . 1980-81 New York Islanders Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.