1980–81 New York Rangers season

NHL hockey team season

1980–81 New York Rangers
Division4th Patrick
ConferenceT-7th Campbell
1980–81 record30–36–14
Goals for312
Goals against317
Team information
General managerFred Shero
Craig Patrick
CoachFred Shero
Craig Patrick
CaptainWalt Tkaczuk
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaMadison Square Garden
Average attendance17,293
Team leaders
GoalsEd Johnstone/Anders Hedberg (30)
AssistsRon Greschner (41)
PointsAnders Hedberg (70)
Penalty minutesBarry Beck (231)
WinsDoug Soetaert (16)
Goals against averageSteve Weeks (2.00)

The 1980–81 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 55th season. In the regular season, the Rangers finished in fourth place in the Patrick Division with 74 points and earned a berth in the playoffs. New York won series with the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues to reach the NHL semi-finals, where the team was defeated by the New York Islanders in a four-game sweep.[1]

Regular season

Fred Shero, citing a drinking problem, chose to resign as coach. Craig Patrick, the Rangers' director of operations, replaced him. Craig Patrick became the third generation of the Patrick family to coach the Rangers, after Lester Patrick, Lynn Patrick and Muzz Patrick.[2]

Halfway through the season, veteran Phil Esposito decided to retire. He retired after 18 seasons, the last six with the Rangers. He finished his career with 717 goals and 1,590 points.[3]

Final standings

Patrick Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
New York Islanders 80 48 18 14 355 260 110
Philadelphia Flyers 80 41 24 15 313 249 97
Calgary Flames 80 39 27 14 329 298 92
New York Rangers 80 30 36 14 312 317 74
Washington Capitals 80 26 36 18 286 317 70

[4]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.

Record vs. opponents

Patrick Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Patrick Division

1980–81 NHL records[5]
Team CGY NYI NYR PHI WSH Total
Calgary 1−1−2 2−1−1 2−2 3−1 8−5−3
N.Y. Islanders 1−1−2 2−2 1−2−1 4−0 8−5−3
N.Y. Rangers 1−2−1 2−2 1−1−2 2−2 6−7−3
Philadelphia 2−2 2−1−1 1−1−2 2−2 7−6−3
Washington 1−3 0−4 2−2 2−2 5−11−0

Vs. Smythe Division

1980–81 NHL records
Team CHI COL EDM STL VAN WIN Total
Calgary 0−1−3 1−3 2−1−1 2−2 3−1 3−0−1 11−8−5
N.Y. Islanders 4−0 3−1 2−0−2 2−0−2 3−1 3−0−1 17−2−5
N.Y. Rangers 2−1−1 1−3 2−1−1 0−4 2−1−1 3−1 10−11−3
Philadelphia 1−1−2 4−0 2−2 3−0−1 1−2−1 3−1 14−6−4
Washington 1−1−2 3−0−1 2−1−1 0−2−2 1−1−2 3−0−1 10−5−9

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Adams Division

1980–81 NHL records
Team BOS BUF MIN QUE TOR Total
Calgary 3−1 1−2−1 2−2 1−1−2 2−2 9−8−3
N.Y. Islanders 2−2 2−2 2−0−2 3−1 3−1 12−6−2
N.Y. Rangers 2−2 1−2−1 1−1−2 1−1−2 2−2 7−8−5
Philadelphia 2−2 0−2−2 2−1−1 1−2−1 0−2−2 5−9−6
Washington 1−2−1 0−2−2 0−3−1 0−4 3−1 4−12−4

Vs. Norris Division

1980–81 NHL records
Team DET HFD LAK MTL PIT Total
Calgary 2−1−1 3−1 3−1 1−2−1 2−1−1 11−6−3
N.Y. Islanders 4−0 2−0−2 2−2 2−1−1 1−2−1 11−5−4
N.Y. Rangers 1−2−1 3−1 1−3 1−2−1 1−2−1 7−10−3
Philadelphia 3−1 3−0−1 4−0 1−2−1 4−0 15−3−2
Washington 2−1−1 3−1 1−2−1 0−2−2 1−2−1 7−8−5


Schedule and results

1980–81 Game Log
October: 3–7–1 (Home: 2–3–0; Road: 1–4–1)
Game October Opponent Score Record
1 9 @ Boston Bruins 7–2 0–1–0
2 11 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 8–3 1–1–0
3 12 Pittsburgh Penguins 6–3 1–2–0
4 15 St. Louis Blues 2–1 1–3–0
5 18 @ Washington Capitals 8–2 1–4–0
6 19 Edmonton Oilers 4–2 1–5–0
7 22 Vancouver Canucks 3–2 2–5–0
8 25 @ Detroit Red Wings 4–2 2–6–0
9 26 Detroit Red Wings 7–6 3–6–0
10 28 @ St. Louis Blues 5–4 3–7–0
11 30 @ Philadelphia Flyers 3–3 3–7–1
November: 3–7–3 (Home: 2–2–2; Road: 1–5–1)
Game November Opponent Score Record
12 1 @ Montreal Canadiens 7–4 3–8–1
13 2 Los Angeles Kings 6–3 3–9–1
14 5 @ Chicago Black Hawks 3–3 3–9–2
15 8 @ Vancouver Canucks 6–4 3–10–2
16 10 @ Los Angeles Kings 4–1 3–11–2
17 11 @ Calgary Flames 7–3 3–12–2
18 14 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–3 3–12–3
19 16 Hartford Whalers 7–3 4–12–3
20 19 Philadelphia Flyers 5–1 4–13–3
21 22 @ New York Islanders 6–4 4–14–3
22 23 Vancouver Canucks 2–2 4–14–4
23 26 Boston Bruins 6–4 5–14–4
24 29 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4–2 6–14–4
December: 7–6–1 (Home: 3–4–0; Road: 4–2–1)
Game December Opponent Score Record
25 1 Minnesota North Stars 5–3 6–15–4
26 3 @ Winnipeg Jets 4–3 7–15–4
27 5 @ Edmonton Oilers 5–1 8–15–4
28 7 Chicago Black Hawks 5–4 9–15–4
29 10 Washington Capitals 6–2 10–15–4
30 12 @ Colorado Rockies 4–3 11–15–4
31 14 @ Chicago Black Hawks 2–1 11–16–4
32 17 Winnipeg Jets 8–2 12–16–4
33 20 @ Minnesota North Stars 3–3 12–16–5
34 22 Calgary Flames 3–2 12–17–5
35 26 @ Washington Capitals 7–3 12–18–5
36 28 Montreal Canadiens 5–2 12–19–5
37 30 @ Quebec Nordiques 6–3 13–19–5
38 31 Colorado Rockies 6–4 13–20–5
January: 6–4–3 (Home: 2–1–2; Road: 4–3–1)
Game January Opponent Score Record
39 2 New York Islanders 3–1 14–20–5
40 4 Quebec Nordiques 2–2 14–20–6
41 9 Buffalo Sabres 3–3 14–20–7
42 11 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–3 14–21–7
43 13 @ Calgary Flames 4–4 14–21–8
44 15 @ Colorado Rockies 4–3 14–22–8
45 18 @ Buffalo Sabres 4–0 14–23–8
46 19 Calgary Flames 6–3 15–23–8
47 21 @ Winnipeg Jets 5–1 15–24–8
48 23 @ Edmonton Oilers 7–4 16–24–8
49 24 @ Vancouver Canucks 7–5 17–24–8
50 28 @ Los Angeles Kings 6–2 18–24–8
51 31 @ Minnesota North Stars 7–3 19–24–8
February: 5–7–1 (Home: 5–2–1; Road: 0–5–0)
Game February Opponent Score Record
52 2 Los Angeles Kings 3–2 19–25–8
53 4 New York Islanders 9–3 20–25–8
54 5 @ Boston Bruins 6–3 20–26–8
55 8 Minnesota North Stars 3–3 20–26–9
56 12 Winnipeg Jets 8–6 21–26–9
57 14 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 6–3 21–27–9
58 15 St. Louis Blues 5–4 21–28–9
59 18 Toronto Maple Leafs 8–3 22–28–9
60 19 @ Detroit Red Wings 7–3 22–29–9
61 21 Washington Capitals 6–4 23–29–9
62 22 @ Hartford Whalers 6–5 23–30–9
63 25 Buffalo Sabres 6–3 24–30–9
64 28 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 6–4 24–31–9
March: 4–4–5 (Home: 2–1–5; Road: 2–2–0)
Game March Opponent Score Record
65 1 Montreal Canadiens 4–4 24–31–10
66 4 Edmonton Oilers 5–5 24–31–11
67 7 @ St. Louis Blues 7–2 24–32–11
68 8 Detroit Red Wings 4–4 24–32–12
69 10 @ Quebec Nordiques 6–4 24–33–12
70 11 Colorado Rockies 4–3 24–34–12
71 14 Hartford Whalers 6–2 25–34–12
72 18 Boston Bruins 3–2 26–34–12
73 21 @ Hartford Whalers 6–4 27–34–12
74 22 Quebec Nordiques 7–7 27–34–13
75 25 @ Buffalo Sabres 4–2 27–35–13
76 28 @ Montreal Canadiens 6–2 28–35–13
77 30 Philadelphia Flyers 0–0 28–35–14
April: 2–1–0 (Home: 1–0–0; Road: 1–1–0)
Game April Opponent Score Record
78 2 @ New York Islanders 2–1 28–36–14
79 3 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 29–36–14
80 5 @ Philadelphia Flyers 2–0 30–36–14

Playoffs

Key:   Win   Loss

1981 Stanley Cup playoffs
Preliminary round: vs. Los Angeles Kings – New York Rangers win series 3–1
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 8 New York Rangers 3–1 Los Angeles Kings New York Rangers lead series 1–0
2 April 9 New York Rangers 4–5 Los Angeles Kings Series tied 1–1
3 April 11 Los Angeles Kings 3–10 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 2–1
4 April 12 Los Angeles Kings 3–6 New York Rangers New York Rangers win series 3–1
Quarter-finals: vs. St. Louis Blues – New York Rangers win series 4–2
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 16 New York Rangers 3–6 St. Louis Blues St. Louis leads series 1–0
2 April 17 New York Rangers 6–4 St. Louis Blues Series tied 1–1
3 April 19 St. Louis Blues 3–6 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 2–1
4 April 20 St. Louis Blues 1–4 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 3–1
5 April 22 New York Rangers 3–4 St. Louis Blues New York Rangers lead series 3–2
6 April 24 St. Louis Blues 4–7 New York Rangers New York Rangers win series 4–2
Semi-finals: vs. New York Islanders – New York Islanders win series 4–0
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 28 New York Rangers 2–5 New York Islanders New York Islanders lead series 1–0
2 April 30 New York Rangers 3–7 New York Islanders New York Islanders lead series 2–0
3 May 2 New York Islanders 5–1 New York Rangers New York Islanders lead series 3–0
4 May 5 New York Islanders 5–2 New York Rangers New York Islanders win series 4–0

Player statistics

Skaters
Regular Season
Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM
Anders Hedberg 80 30 40 70 0 52
Ed Johnstone 80 30 38 68 15 100
Ron Greschner 74 27 41 68 0 112
Mike Allison 75 26 38 64 12 83
Steve Vickers 73 19 39 58 7 40
Don Maloney 61 29 23 52 17 99
Dave Maloney 79 11 36 47 24 132
Ulf Nilsson 51 14 25 39 −3 42
Ron Duguay 50 17 21 38 2 83
Barry Beck 75 11 23 34 9 231
Dean Talafous 50 13 17 30 2 28
Tom Laidlaw 80 6 23 29 0 100
Walt Tkaczuk 43 6 22 28 13 28
Dave Silk 59 14 12 26 −24 58
Lance Nethery 33 11 12 23 0 12
Carol Vadnais 74 3 20 23 19 91
Jere Gillis 35 10 10 20 6 4
Phil Esposito 41 7 13 20 −13 20
Ed Hospodar 61 5 14 19 10 214
Chris Kotsopoulos 54 4 12 16 −10 153
Nick Fotiu 27 5 6 11 −6 91
Peter Wallin 12 1 5 6 −1 2
Doug Sulliman 32 4 1 5 −9 32
Dan McCarthy 5 4 0 4 3 4
Gary Burns 11 2 2 4 −9 18
Andre Dore 15 1 3 4 −1 15
Cam Connor 15 1 3 4 6 44
Mario Marois 8 1 2 3 −5 46
Jeff Bandura 2 0 1 1 −3 0
Tim Bothwell 3 0 1 1 0 0
Mike McDougall 2 0 0 0 1 0
Playoffs
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Ron Duguay 14 8 9 17 16
Ulf Nilsson 14 8 8 16 23
Anders Hedberg 14 8 8 16 6
Barry Beck 14 5 8 13 32
Ron Greschner 14 4 8 12 17
Steve Vickers 12 4 7 11 14
Peter Wallin 14 2 6 8 6
Lance Nethery 14 5 3 8 9
Dean Talafous 14 3 5 8 2
Jere Gillis 14 2 5 7 9
Don Maloney 13 1 6 7 13
Tom Laidlaw 14 1 4 5 18
Carol Vadnais 14 1 3 4 26
Mike Allison 14 3 1 4 20
Ed Johnstone 8 2 2 4 4
Chris Kotsopoulos 14 0 3 3 63
Ed Hospodar 12 2 0 2 93
Dave Maloney 2 0 2 2 9
John Hughes 3 0 1 1 6
Doug Sulliman 3 1 0 1 0
Gary Burns 1 0 0 0 2
Nick Fotiu 2 0 0 0 4

Goaltenders
Regular Season
Player GP TOI W L T GA GAA SO
Doug Soetaert 39 2320 16 16 7 152 3.93 0
Steve Baker 21 1260 10 6 5 73 3.48 2
John Davidson 10 560 1 7 1 48 5.14 0
Wayne Thomas 10 600 3 6 1 34 3.40 0
Steve Weeks 1 60 0 1 0 2 2.00 0
Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L GA GAA SO
Steve Baker 14 826 7 7 55 4.00 0
Steve Weeks 1 14 0 0 1 4.29 0

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

[6]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1980 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal, Canada at the Montreal Forum.[7][8]

Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 14 Jim Malone F  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
2 35 Mike Allison RW  Canada Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
4 77 Kurt Kleinendorst C  United States Providence College (NCAA)
5 98 Scot Kleinendorst D  United States Providence College (NCAA)
6 119 Reijo Ruotsalainen D  Finland Karpat (SM-liiga)
7 140 Bob Scurfield C  Canada Western Michigan University (NCAA)
8 161 Bart Wilson D  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
9 182 Chris Wray RW  United States Boston College (NCAA)
10 203 Anders Backstrom D  Sweden Brynas (Elitserien)

Farm teams

References

  1. ^ "1980–81 New York Rangers Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  2. ^ McFarlane, p. 204
  3. ^ McFarlane, p. 205
  4. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
  5. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  6. ^ "1980–81 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  7. ^ "1980 NHL Entry Draft". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  8. ^ "NHL Draft History". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on January 28, 2001. Retrieved April 28, 2012.

Bibliography

  • McFarlane, Brian (1989). One hundred years of hockey. Toronto, Ontario: Deneau Publishers. ISBN 0-88879-216-6.
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