1979–80 Hartford Whalers season

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The 1979–80 Hartford Whalers season was Gordie Howe's final season in the NHL.

[edit] Offseason

Hartford Whalers logo introduced in 1979, designed by Peter Good, a Connecticut-based graphic designer. This logo replaces the harpoon by combining a green W for Whalers with a blue whale's tail. Some people never notice that the negative space--the white area between the W and the whale's tail--acts as an H for Hartford.

[edit] NHL Amateur Draft

Pick	Player	Nationality	NHL Team	College/Junior/Club Team
18.	Ray Allison (RW)	Canada	Hartford Whalers	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)

[edit] NHL Expansion Draft

[edit] Reclaimed Players

Reclaiming of Players: The 17 existing NHL teams were allowed to reclaim any rights to former WHA players they held. The four incoming franchises, however, were allowed to protect up to two goaltenders and two skaters, voiding their NHL rights. These players were considered "priority selections" in the expansion draft. Gordie Howe was one of two special cases (the other being Wayne Gretzky), as a gentlemen's agreement between the Hartford Whalers and the Detroit Red Wings, which held his rights, led to the Wings declining to reclaim Howe.

These are Hartford players whose NHL rights were reclaimed when the WHA merged with the NHL. This list is incomplete.

[edit] Whalers Selections

[edit] Regular season

[edit] Season standings

[edit] Gordie Howe

When the WHA folded in 1979, the Hartford Whalers joined the NHL and the 51-year-old Howe signed on for one final season playing in all 80 games of the schedule, helping his team to make the playoffs with fifteen goals. One particular honor was when Howe, Phil Esposito, and Jean Ratelle were selected to the mid-season all-star game by coach Scotty Bowman, as a nod to their storied careers before they retired. Howe had played in five decades of all-star games and he would skate alongside the second-youngest to ever play in the game, 19-year-old Wayne Gretzky. The Joe Louis Arena crowd gave him a standing ovation twice, lasting so long, he had to skate to the bench to stop people from cheering. He had one assist in his side's 6–3 win.

[edit] Player stats

[edit] Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes

^[1]

[edit] Goaltending

Note: GP= Games played; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

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[edit] Playoffs

• In the first round of the playoffs, 14th seeded Hartford played the 3rd seeded Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens won the series 3 games to 0.

[edit] Awards and records

1980 NHL All-Star Game

• Gordie Howe, Forward

[edit] Roster

THIS IS AN INCOMPLETE LIST

[edit] References

• Whalers on Hockey Database