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1980 NHL season

The 1980 Boston Bruins Take A Step Back

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The 1980 Boston Bruins were coming off a strong run of seasons, but ones that kept ending in disappointment at the hands of the archrival Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins lost the Finals to the Canadiens in 1977 and 1978 and lost a crushing semifinal Game 7 in 1979. Boston didn’t lose to Montreal in 1980, but they took a step back and it marked the onset of a short dry period in franchise history.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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A new coach was in place. Don Cherry took the fall for the playoff heartbreak and Fred Creighton was brought in from Atlanta to replace him. Boston continued to be a well-balanced team and it started with defense. The goaltending duties were split between veteran Gerry Cheevers and up-and-coming Gilles Gilbert and the Bruins ranked second in the NHL in goal prevention.

The offense was good too, with forward Rick Middleton and center Peter McNab each scoring 40 goals. Jean Ratelle was a solid offensive contributor and the Bruins brought up a 19-year-old defenseman who would become the second-greatest player in their history. Ray Borque trails only Bobby Orr in the list of all-time great Bruins. Borque also joined an Edmonton kid by the name of Wayne Gretzky in making this 1980 rookie class one for the ages.

Boston got off to a strong 15-3-3 start, highlighted by a nine-game win streak in November that included a split of two games with Montreal that went on back-to-back nights the Saturday and Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. A brief slide followed, going 2-6-2, but the Bruins were still 20-10-5 when the calendar officially flipped to 1980.

An eight-game win streak in January keyed a streak where Boston got to 33-14-7 in early February. A 3-2 loss to Montreal ended that hot streak, but the Bruins were able to keep playing consistent hockey. They finished the regular season at 46-21-3, but there was turmoil afoot.

General manager Harry Sinden, who had coached the 1970 Stanley Cup champs in Boston, fired Creighton and went to the bench himself with two weeks left in the season. And one more loss to the Canadiens, this one 6-1, was a reminder of their inability to beat the four-time defending Stanley Cup champs.

The playoffs were expanded in 1980 from 12 teams to 16, so Boston, with the fourth-best record in the NHL, would have to play the best-of-five first round. The postseason was also open seeding, with no conference distinctions.

Pittsburgh, whom Boston had swept out in the 1979 quarterfinals, was the opponent. The Penguins had a weak offensive team, with Rick Kehoe the only goal-scorer of any note. But they were good defensively, ranking fourth in the league in goals allowed. And that defense, with 22-year-old goalie Greg Millen anchoring it, came into Boston Garden and stole the opener 4-2.

The Bruins grabbed Game 2, but again couldn’t solve the Penguin defense in a 4-1 loss in Pittsburgh. Their backs to the wall, the Boston offense was finally able to open up and unload on the young Millen—an 8-2 win sent the series back to the Garden where a 6-3 win sent the B’s to the quarterfinals.

Boston would face the New York Islanders, who were the #5 seed, but they had talent that was a lot better than that. Bryan Trottier was a 40-goal scorer and was fifth in the league in assists. Mike Bossy was a 50-goal scorer and fifth-best in the league at lighting the lamp. Moreover, they were a team that had been knocking on the door in recent years and 1980 was the spring these Islanders would kick that door in.

The first two games went to overtime, but the Bruins lost both at home. Perhaps a break or two might have delayed the coming of New York for one more year, but Boston’s only win in this series was Game 4. The Islanders displaced the Montreal Dynasty and won the first of what would be four straight Cups of their own.

The Bruins no longer had to worry about getting their hearts ripped out by the Canadiens—there were bigger problems. While Boston made the conference finals in 1983, they were mostly a non-threat in the postseason until getting back to the Finals in 1988.

The 1980 New York Islanders Start A Dynasty Run

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One dynasty ended and another one began in the 1979-80 NHL season. The Montreal Canadiens saw their run of four straight Stanley Cup come to an end. The 1980 New York Islanders were the team that stepped into the void and not only won the Cup, but began their own string of four consecutive championships.

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New York was a new franchise, just founded in 1973, and it didn’t take long to see they were on the rise. They made the playoff semifinals three straight years from 1975-77 and were the only team competitive with the powerful Canadiens in the latter two trips.

Then postseason disappointment followed. The Islanders would spend the regular season looking ready to take the next step, only to be tripped up in spring.

They lost a quarterfinal series to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1978. Another semifinal loss in 1979 particularly stung—the Isles had the #1 playoff seed and were on a collision course to play the Canadiens, before a loss to the crosstown rival Rangers did them in.

It was that context, of rising young team mixed with playoff heartache, that the 1980 New York Islanders took the ice. The regular season wasn’t an easy one. Defenseman Denis Potvin, an All-Star, was injured and missed much of the year.

The offense was mediocre, as forward Clark Gillies saw his production decline. Goaltending wasn’t bad, but it was up and down by the standards of a championship contender, with Glenn Resch and Billy Smith splitting the chores.

What New York did have was center Bryan Trottier and forward Mike Bossy. Trottier scored 42 goals and was fifth in the NHL in assists with 62. Bossy tied for 5th in goals scored with 51, while sharing out 41 assists. And just before the playoffs began, reinforcements arrived.

A key trade brought center Butch Goring from Los Angeles, and Potvin got healthy. The team settled on the steadier Smith as the goalie for the playoffs. The Isles finished the season at 39-28-13 and were the #5 seed.

The NHL did not segment its playoffs by conference, and this was the first year the league put 16 teams into its postseason, so it was a straight 1 thru 16 seeding, with the first round a best-of-five. The Islanders drew Goring’s old team, the Los Angeles Kings.

Los Angeles had a fantastic center in Marcel Dionne. He was in the top five in both scoring and assists and was voted 1st-team All-Star at center. In a strange inconsistency, he finished ahead of a rookie center from Edmonton by the name of Wayne Gretzky, but Gretzky won the MVP award. Los Angeles had another All-Star in Charlie Simmer, whose 56 goals were tied for the league lead.

What the Kings didn’t do well was defense, and the Islanders opened the series with an 8-1 rout and closed it with a 6-0 romp. In between, the Kings got Game 2 by a 6-3 count, but the Isles responded with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 3 to set the stage for the closing shutout.

New York met the 4-seed Boston Bruins in the quarterfinals, and it would be best-of-seven the rest of the way. Boston had two good scorers in Rick Middleton and Jean Ratelle, ranking fifth in offense. It was the defense that made the Bruins a threat though. They ranked second in goals allowed, behind the work of Gerry Cheevers in net and a 19-year-old defenseman named Ray Borque who made his first All-Star team in 1980.

The Islanders showed they could grind out wins against a defensive team as easily as they could light the lamp against an offensive team. New York survived two overtime games in the old Boston Garden, 2-1 and 5-4 respectively.

They came back home to Nassau Coliseum and all but secured the series with a 5-3 win in Game 3. An overtime loss in Game 4 delayed the party, but the Isles closed it in Game 5, their 4-2 victory finishing the series win and a three-game road sweep.

In the same quarterfinal round, Montreal was first stretched to a Game 7 by the Minnesota North Stars, and when the upstarts finished off the champs, a new era was at hand.

One reason Montreal had fallen was that their coach during the dynasty years, the great Scotty Bowman, had moved over to the Buffalo Sabres. And those Sabres, the 2-seed in the playoffs, were next up for the Islanders in the semifinals.

Buffalo’s Danny Gare scored 56 goals, and shared the league lead with LA’s Simmer. The Sabres also had a top-five assist man in Gilbert Perreault and a 45-goal scorer in Rick Martin. Making Buffalo even more dangerous was the work of Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Don Edwards. There was every reason to think the Sabres were the best team in the league.

The Islanders again came out strong on the road and again showed they could win tough, low-scoring games. A 4-1 win in the opener gave way to a 2-1 win in double overtime. When the series went back to Nassau, the scoring opened up and New York held their own. The teams split a pair of 7-4 games.

Edwards stepped up with a 2-0 shutout in Game 5 that extended the series, but back in front of their own fans, the Isles took the sixth game 5-2 and for the first time in their short history, the New York Islanders were going to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The #1 seed Philadelphia Flyers were the last team in the way. The Flyers had been the team that preceded the Montreal Dynasty, with the Broad Street Bullies of 1974-75 and now Philadelphia was aiming to bookend the Canadien run.

The Flyers had excellent scorers in Reggie Leach and Bill Barber, along with a former MVP in center Bobby Clarke. Goaltender Pete Peeters was one of the league’s best.

Game 1 went to overtime tied 3-3 before Potvin put in the winning goal. New York then played its worst game of the postseason in Game 2, getting crushed 8-3. But they dominated the middle games at Nassau, winning Games 3 & 4 by a combined 11-3. Philadelphia took the fifth game 6-3 and New York came home for a Saturday afternoon game hoping to close it out for their own fans.

The game would be tight all the way, with the Islanders getting help on a disputed goal where the official later admitted he blew the call. Regulation ended with the score 4-4. In overtime, it was two relative unknowns that delivered. Lorne Henning launched a precision pass that Bobby Nystrom redirected into the net. The Islanders were Stanley Cup champions.

Trottier scored 12 goals and passed for 17 assists in the playoffs, winning the Conn Smythe Award as MVP of the entire postseason. Bossy had numbers of 10/13 and a key player who stepped up was Bob Bourne at 10/10. Goring and Potvin combined for 25 assists.

Now that the New York Islanders were finally over the hump and knew how to win, they weren’t going to stop anytime soon. Another four-year dynasty was at hand, as the Isles would own the NHL from 1980-83.

1980 Sports: The Fightin' Phils, Magic Arrives & Dynasties End

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The great sports fans of Philadelphia enjoyed one of the most complete years ever experienced by a fan base in 1980, and it was highlighted in baseball by the Phillies. The franchise had not won the World Series since 1915, and it didn’t look like this year would be any different, as they fell behind early in the NL East race, at a time when you had to finish in first place to qualify for the postseason.

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But the Fightin’ Phils battled back. They won a great division race with the Montreal Expos (today’s Washington Nationals) on the regular season’s penultimate day. The Phils then won what is probably the greatest League Championship Series ever played. The LCS was then a best-of-five affair. Philadelphia’s tussle with the Houston Astros not only went the full five, but four went to extra innings and Game 5 saw two dramatic momentum shifts late in the game.
When the Phils reached the World Series, they faced the Kansas City Royals. It was a battle of two MVP third basemen. Philadelphia had Mike Schmidt, while Kansas City had George Brett, who had dominated the summer as he made a run at batting .400. Brett didn’t quite get there, but he still hit .388 and then clinched the ALCS when he unloaded a blast into the third deck at the old Yankee Stadium.
Philadelphia won the World Series in six games and ended the long championship drought.
Basketball went very well for Philadelphia, as Julius Erving and the 76ers reached the NBA Finals, knocking off Boston Celtics’ rookie Larry Bird in the conference finals. But it went even better in Los Angeles, where another rookie, Magic Johnson, turned in one of the most electric performances in sports history when he dropped 42 points and a triple-double while playing out of position at center in the clinching Game 6.
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Read more about the 1980 NBA season
Another Philadelphia team, the NFL’s Eagles, also played for a championship. Dick Vermeil, Ron Jaworski and the Birds won the NFC crown, but they fell to the surging Oakland Raiders in the Super Bowl. The Raiders became the first team to play in the wild-card round, then only three years old, and win the Super Bowl.
Oakland’s championship was one part of a dramatic postseason in the NFL, highlighted by its second round. The Raiders won a frigid game in Cleveland when they intercepted a pass in the end zone off of the Browns’ MVP quarterback Brian Sipe. The San Diego Chargers rallied to beat the Buffalo Bills on a late 50-yard touchdown strike by Dan Fouts. And the Dallas Cowboys trailed the Atlanta Falcons 27-17 late in the fourth quarter before rallying for two touchdowns and a win.
The Philadelphia Grand Slam—all four pro sports teams qualifying for the championship round—included hockey. The Flyers reached the Stanley Cup Finals, but as in the NFL and NBA, it was another city doing the ultimate celebrating. This time we went to Long Island, and the New York Islanders.
New York had been knocking on the Stanley Cup door for a couple years, and the Montreal Canadiens faded just enough for their dynasty of 1976-79 to come to an end. One dynasty’s ending was another one’s beginning and the Islander championship marked the first of four straight years they would hoist the Cup.
Read more about the 1980 NFL season
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The world of college sports didn’t produce drama, but the NCAA Tournament still broke new ground. 1980 marked the sixth year that the tournament was allowing teams other than conference tourney winners into the field, and with the field expanded to 48 teams, there was now increased possibilities of upsets and dark horses.
In our own day we take it for granted that every few years the Final Four will look completely gutted, with mostly middling-seeding teams making it to the sport’s showcase event. In 1980, the fact only one of the Final Four was seeded higher than #5 in their own regional was a new phenomena.
We would still wait for the notion of a Cinderella national champion though. Louisville was the one powerhouse team, and they delivered at the Final Four. The “Doctors Of Dunk”, led by Darrell Griffith, won the school’s first national title.
College football saw the Alabama dynasty come to an end, after consecutive national titles in 1978-79 following a 1977 season where they were ranked #2. The SEC didn’t give way to anyone though, and it was Georgia, with sensational freshman running back Herschel Walker, that rolled through the conference and ultimately beat Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl to win the national championship.
Read more about the 1980 NCAA Tournament
Read more about the 1980 college football season

The 1980 Edmonton Oilers & The Arrival Of Wayne Gretzky

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The NHL expanded prior to the 1980 season and one of the teams that brought on board was the Edmonton Oilers. A flagship franchise of the old World Hockey Association, the Oilers had been in existence as a minor league team since 1972 and would now compete at the highest level. It proved to be a turning point, not just for the city of Edmonton, but the entire NHL—indeed, the world of sports.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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Edmonton was, for the most part an ordinary expansion team. They were young, with all the key players except one being in their 20s. They weren’t a great team, fighting on the playoff fringe all year in a league where 16 of 21 teams qualified for the postseason. But that one player who wasn’t in his twenties was all the difference—19-year-old Wayne Gretzky came on the scene.

Gretzky’s rookie year saw him score 51 goals and lead the league with 86 assists. It would be the first of thirteen straight years he led the league in the latter category.  Two years later his already-impressive goal numbers would top the NHL. Despite playing for a low-level team, Gretzky won the Hart Memorial Trophy, given to the league’s MVP. It would be the first of eight straight MVP seasons. Gretzky tacked one more Hart Trophy onto his resume after he left for Los Angeles.

Because of the presence of this one player, Edmonton’s expansion season ended up being anything but ordinary. We should also add that the Oilers had another 19-year-old who didn’t have the same impact in his rookie year, but it’s fair to say that Mark Messier ended up being pretty good.

Edmonton got off to a predictably slow start, at 3-12-5, but won consecutive games against good teams in the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers. But the Oilers were still at 9-22-9 as mid-January approached, with a 6-2 loss to the Rangers being the low point. Edmonton rebounded to go 5-1-1 over the next seven games and the season was able to stabilize.

The key sequence for this young team came from March 19 to March 29. It started with a win over the Rangers and Edmonton then pounded a comparable Pittsburgh team by a 9-2 count. Both of these wins were at home, but then the Oilers won three straight on the road. The five-game win streak decisively changed their season and they scored 31 goals in the process. A win over the old Colorado Rockies (yes, that was a hockey team, not a baseball team) in the season finale put Edmonton in the playoffs.

Prior to 1982, the NHL ignored conference and divisional affiliation in setting up the postseason bracket. The teams were just seeded 1 thru 16. Edmonton was the lowest-seeded team, due mainly to a defense and goaltending situation that was second-worst in the league. But thanks to the presence of Gretzky they could score, ranking 9th in the NHL at lighting the lamp. They were the #16 seed and got a crack at league-leading Philadelphia.

The Oilers put up a spirited effort in their first-ever NHL playoff series. They went to overtime in the opener of the best-of-five affair before losing and after dropping Game 2, came back home and treated the fans to a double-overtime game. But the Flyers were able to finish it off in a sweep, en route to the Finals before losing to the New York Islanders.

It was the Islanders who would dominate hockey over the next four years, winning the Cup each time. But Edmonton kept the steady improvement they’d shown in the spring of 1980 going. The Oilers went a little further in the playoffs each year before making the Finals in 1983. While they lost to the Islanders, it proved to be the end of one dynasty and the start of another. Edmonton won the Cup in 1984, one of five they brought home in the seven-year span from 1984-1990.

The 1980 Edmonton Oilers got it all started—NHL hockey in their hometown, the birth pangs of a dynasty and the career of the man who would eventually become known as “The Great One”, as Wayne Gretzky’s greatness would eclipse even hockey itself and be comparable only across sports lines. Quite an achievement for one expansion season.