1980–81 Chicago Black Hawks season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1980–81
Year:	1980
Team:	Chicago Black Hawks
Record:	31–33–16
Division:	Smythe
Divisionrank:	2nd
Altcaptain:	None
Goalsfor:	304
Goalsagainst:	315
Attendance:	12090

The 1980–81 Chicago Black Hawks season was the 55th season of operation of the Chicago Black Hawks in the National Hockey League.

Offseason

At the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, the Black Hawks had the third overall pick, and selected Denis Savard from the Montreal Juniors of the QMJHL. In 72 games with the Juniors, Savard had 63 goals and 181 points during the 1979–80 season.

The club replaced head coach Eddie Johnston, as former Black Hawks defenceman and captain Keith Magnuson was named the new head coach of the team. Magnuson appeared in 589 games with Chicago from 1969 to 1980.

Regular season

The Black Hawks had a tough first half of the season, as the club had a record of 12-22-6 through their first 40 games, clinging on to the fourth and final playoff position in the Smythe Division. The Black Hawks then went 14–2–4 in their next 20 games, which included an eight-game winning streak, to improve their overall record to 26–24–10, and second place in the division. Chicago would finish their final 20 game stretch with a 5–9–6 record, finishing the season with a 31–33–16 record, earning 78 points, and maintaining second place in the Smythe Division, 31 points behind the division winners, the St. Louis Blues.

Offensively, Tom Lysiak led the club with 76 points, as he scored 21 goals and 55 assists. Rookie Denis Savard finished one point behind, scoring 28 goals and 75 points, while having a team best +27 rating. Darryl Sutter led the Black Hawks with 40 goals, while earning 62 points, and Reg Kerr had 30 goals and 60 points in 70 games. Terry Ruskowski chipped in with 59 points, while leading Chicago with 225 penalty minutes. On the blueline, Bob Murray led the scoring, getting 13 goals and 60 points, while Doug Wilson had 12 goals and 51 points.

In goal, Tony Esposito led the way, earning a 29–23–14 record in 66 games, posting a 3.75 GAA.

Record vs. opponents

Playoffs

The Black Hawks opened the playoffs with a best-of-five preliminary series against the Calgary Flames. The Flames finished the season with a 39–27–14 record, earning 92 points, 14 more than Chicago, and a third-place finish in the Patrick Division. The series opened with two games at the Calgary Corral, and in the first game, the Black Hawks were led by two goals by Darryl Sutter, but it wasn't enough as the Flames held on for a 4–3 victory. In the second game, the Flames dominated the Hawks, defeating Chicago 6–2, as Calgary was led by goaltender Reggie Lemelin, who made 38 saves. The series moved to Chicago Stadium for the third game, as the Flames took a 4–2 lead going into the third period. The Black Hawks tied the game on goals by Al Secord and Darryl Sutter to force overtime, however, in double overtime, Willi Plett of the Flames scored, as Calgary completed the series sweep.

Schedule and results

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

Calgary Flames 3, Chicago Black Hawks 0

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 8	Chicago Black Hawks	3–4		0–1
2	April 9	Chicago Black Hawks	2–6		0–2
3	April 11		5–4	Chicago Black Hawks	0–3

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
	C	72	21	55	76	20	7	5	2	3
	C	76	28	47	75	47	27	4	0	3
	LW	76	40	22	62	86	-1	14	0	4
	LW	70	30	30	60	56	10	6	0	4
	D	77	13	47	60	93	6	6	0	1
	RW	78	24	35	59	86	20	1	0	1
	C	72	8	51	59	225	-19	2	0	2
	D	76	12	39	51	80	6	3	0	1
	D	80	9	34	43	80	5	0	1	1
	LW	68	18	16	34	95	18	3	0	2
	RW	42	18	14	32	81	-18	6	1	4
	C	35	10	16	26	12	6	4	0	0
	LW	41	13	9	22	145	-4	3	0	2
	RW	47	7	14	21	24	-15	3	0	1
	D	34	5	16	21	32	5	1	1	0
	D	75	3	16	19	112	-10	0	0	0
	LW	39	12	3	15	12	-7	3	0	0
	LW	39	8	6	14	28	-3	1	1	0
	D	42	3	11	14	40	22	0	0	1
	D	59	2	9	11	124	12	0	0	0
	C	49	8	2	10	18	-2	1	2	1
	RW	29	4	6	10	10	0	0	0	0
	LW	39	6	2	8	75	-6	1	0	0
	G	66	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0
	LW	5	2	0	2	0	-3	0	0	0
	D	9	0	2	2	2	-5	0	0	0
	D	8	0	2	2	6	-4	0	0	0
	RW	4	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
	G	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	LW	14	0	0	0	41	-2	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
	3935	66	29	23	14	246	3.75	0
	865	15	2	10	2	62	4.30	0
Team:	4800	80	31	33	16	308	3.85	0

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
	LW	3	4	0	4	14	0	0	0
	LW	3	3	1	4	2	1	0	0
	C	3	0	3	3	0	0	0	0
	D	3	0	3	3	2	0	0	0
	RW	2	1	1	2	2	0	0	0
	D	3	0	2	2	2	0	0	0
	C	3	0	2	2	11	0	0	0
	C	1	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
	C	2	1	0	1	0	0	1	0
	D	3	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
	RW	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
	G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	RW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	D	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	LW	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	LW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	RW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	D	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	D	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
	215	3	0	3	15	4.19	0
Team:	215	3	0	3	15	4.19	0

^[1]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Draft picks

Chicago's draft picks at the 1980 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	3	Denis Savard		Montreal Juniors (QMJHL)
1	15	Jerry Dupont		Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
2	28	Steve Ludzik		Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA)
2	30	Ken Solheim		Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
2	36	Len Dawes		Victoria Cougars (WHL)
3	57	Troy Murray		St. Albert Saints (AJHL)
3	58	Marcel Frere		Billings Bighorns (WHL)
4	67	Carey Wilson		Dartmouth College (ECAC)
4	78	Brian Shaw		Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
5	99	Kevin Ginnell		Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
6	120	Steve Larmer		Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
7	141	Sean Simpson		Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)
8	162	Jim Ralph		Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)
9	183	Don Dietrich		Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
10	204	Dan Frawley		Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)

See also

• 1980–81 NHL season

References

• Web site: 1980–81 Chicago Black Hawks Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-05-06 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-16 . 1980-81 Chicago Black Hawks Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.