1980–81 Minnesota North Stars season

1980–81 Minnesota North Stars
Division 3rd Adams
Conference 5th Prince of Wales
1980–81 record 35–28–17
Goals for 291
Goals against 263
Team information
General Manager Lou Nanne
Coach Glen Sonmor
Captain Paul Shmyr
Arena Met Center
Team leaders
Goals Steve Payne (30)
Assists Bobby Smith (64)
Points Bobby Smith (93)
Penalties in minutes Greg Smith (126)
Plus/minus Steve Payne (+14)
Wins Don Beaupre (18)
Goals against average Don Beaupre (3.20)
<1979–80 1981–82>

The 1980–81 Minnesota North Stars season was the North Stars' 14th season. Although the North Stars finished the season with one less win and one less point than the previous year, they made a surprise appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals against the New York Islanders, which they lost 4 games to 1.

Contents

Offseason

NHL Draft

Round Pick Player Nationality College/junior/club team
1 16 Brad Palmer (F)  Canada Victoria Cougars (WHL)

Regular season

Season standings

Adams Division
  GP W L T GF GA PIM PTS
Buffalo Sabres 80 39 20 21 327 250 1194 99
Boston Bruins 80 37 30 13 316 272 1836 87
Minnesota North Stars 80 35 28 17 291 263 1624 87
Quebec Nordiques 80 30 32 18 314 318 1524 78
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 28 37 15 322 367 1830 71

[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game log

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

Player stats

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM
Bobby Smith 78 29 64 93 +1 73
Tim Young 74 25 41 66 +6 40
Al MacAdam 78 21 39 60 -6 94
Steve Payne 76 30 28 58 +14 88
Tom McCarthy 62 23 25 48 +3 62
Craig Hartsburg 74 13 30 43 -9 124
Kent-Erik Andersson 77 17 24 41 8 22
Steve Christoff 56 26 13 39 -9 58
Gordie Roberts 50 6 31 37 2 94
Mike Eaves 48 10 24 34 1 18
Dino Ciccarelli 32 18 12 30
Curt Giles
Greg Smith
Glen Sharpley
Mike Fidler
Ron Zanussi
Brad Maxwell
Mike Polich
Fred Barrett
Gary Sargent
Tom Younghans
Paul Shmyr
Jack Carlson
Brad Palmer
Kevin Maxwell
Don Jackson

[2]

Goaltending

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

Player GP W L T SO GAA

Playoffs

Stanley Cup Finals

New York Islanders vs. Minnesota North Stars

Date Visitors Score Home Score Notes
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 OT

New York wins the series 4–1.

Awards and records

Roster

Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

Centers

  • GM:
  • Coach:

References

  1. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225. 
  2. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MNS/1981.html
Patrick
Adams
Boston • Buffalo • Minnesota • Quebec • Toronto
Norris
Smythe
See also
Minnesota North Stars seasons
1967–68  • 1968–69  • 1969–70  • 1970–71  • 1971–72  • 1972–73  • 1973–74  • 1974–75  • 1975–76  • 1976–77  • 1977–78  • Cleveland  • 1978–79  • 1979–80  • 1980–81  • 1981–82  • 1982–83  • 1983–84  • 1984–85  • 1985–86  • 1986–87  • 1987–88  • 1988–89  • 1989–90  • 1990–91  • 1991–92  • 1992–93  • Dallas