1980–81 New York Rangers season

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.

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.McFarlane, p. 204

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.McFarlane, p. 205

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

| 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

| 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

| 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

| 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

| 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

| 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

| 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

Legend:

Playoffs

| 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

| 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

| 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

Legend:

Player statistics Skaters

Regular season Player 80 30 40 70 0 52 80 30 38 68 15 100 74 27 41 68 0 112 75 26 38 64 12 83 73 19 39 58 7 40 61 29 23 52 17 99 79 11 36 47 24 132 51 14 25 39 −3 42 50 17 21 38 2 83 75 11 23 34 9 231 50 13 17 30 2 28 80 6 23 29 0 100 43 6 22 28 13 28 59 14 12 26 −24 58 33 11 12 23 0 12 74 3 20 23 19 91 † 35 10 10 20 6 4 41 7 13 20 −13 20 61 5 14 19 10 214 54 4 12 16 −10 153 † 27 5 6 11 −6 91 12 1 5 6 −1 2 32 4 1 5 −9 32 5 4 0 4 3 4 11 2 2 4 −9 18 15 1 3 4 −1 15 15 1 3 4 6 44 ‡ 8 1 2 3 −5 46 2 0 1 1 −3 0 3 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0

Playoffs Player 14 8 9 17 16 14 8 8 16 23 14 8 8 16 6 14 5 8 13 32 14 4 8 12 17 12 4 7 11 14 14 2 6 8 6 14 5 3 8 9 14 3 5 8 2 14 2 5 7 9 13 1 6 7 13 14 1 4 5 18 14 1 3 4 26 14 3 1 4 20 8 2 2 4 4 14 0 3 3 63 12 2 0 2 93 2 0 2 2 9 3 0 1 1 6 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 4

Goaltenders Regular season Player 39 2320 16 16 7 152 3.93 0 21 1260 10 6 5 73 3.48 2 10 560 1 7 1 48 5.14 0 10 600 3 6 1 34 3.40 0 1 60 0 1 0 2 2.00 0

Playoffs Player 14 826 7 7 55 4.00 0 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.

Transactions The Rangers were involved in the following transactions during the 1980–81 season.

Trades August 6, 1980To New York RangersGord SmithTo Winnipeg JetsCash November 11, 1980To New York RangersJeff Bandura Jere GillisTo Vancouver CanucksMario Marois Jim Mayer November 18, 1980To New York RangersDale LewisTo Calgary FlamesFrank Beaton January 15, 1981To New York RangersNick FotiuTo Hartford Whalers5th-round pick in 1981 – Bill Maguire March 10, 1981To New York RangersJohn HughesTo Edmonton OilersRay Markham

Waivers August 7, 1980To Hartford WhalersWarren Miller

Free agent signings July 10, 1980From New Haven Nighthawks (AHL)Dan Poulin September 16, 1980From Boston BruinsGary Burns December 12, 1980From New Haven Nighthawks (AHL)Gerry McDonald March 8, 1981From Djurgårdens IF (Sweden)Peter Wallin

Draft picks New York's picks at the 1980 NHL entry draft in Montreal, Canada at the Montreal Forum. Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League) 1 14 Jim Malone F Toronto Marlboros (OHA) 2 35 Mike Allison RW Sudbury Wolves (OHA) 4 77 Kurt Kleinendorst C Providence College (NCAA) 5 98 Scot Kleinendorst D Providence College (NCAA) 6 119 Reijo Ruotsalainen D Karpat (SM-liiga) 7 140 Bob Scurfield C Western Michigan University (NCAA) 8 161 Bart Wilson D Toronto Marlboros (OHA) 9 182 Chris Wray RW Boston College (NCAA) 10 203 Anders Backstrom D Brynas (Elitserien)

References

Bibliography