1980–81 Chicago Black Hawks season

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

1980–81 Chicago Black Hawks
Division	2nd Smythe
Conference	5th Campbell
1980–81 record	31–33–16
Home record	21–11–8
Road record	10–22–8
Goals for	304
Goals against	315
Team information
General manager	Bob Pulford
Coach	Keith Magnuson
Captain	Terry Ruskowski
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Chicago Stadium
Average attendance	12,090
Team leaders
Goals	Darryl Sutter (40)
Assists	Tom Lysiak (55)
Points	Tom Lysiak (76)
Penalty minutes	Terry Ruskowski (225)
Plus/minus	Denis Savard (+27)
Wins	Tony Esposito (29)
Goals against average	Tony Esposito (3.76)
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

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.

Final standings

Smythe Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
St. Louis Blues	80	45	18	17	352	281	107
Chicago Black Hawks	80	31	33	16	304	315	78
Vancouver Canucks	80	28	32	20	289	301	76
Edmonton Oilers	80	29	35	16	328	327	74
Colorado Rockies	80	22	45	13	258	344	57
Winnipeg Jets	80	9	57	14	246	400	32

^[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.

League standings^[2]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – New York Islanders	PTK	80	48	18	14	355	260	110
2	x – St. Louis Blues	SMY	80	45	18	17	352	281	107
3	y – Montreal Canadiens	NRS	80	45	22	13	332	232	103
4	Los Angeles Kings	NRS	80	43	24	13	337	290	99
5	x – Buffalo Sabres	ADM	80	39	20	21	327	250	99
6	Philadelphia Flyers	PTK	80	41	24	15	313	249	97
7	Calgary Flames	PTK	80	39	27	14	329	298	92
8	Boston Bruins	ADM	80	37	30	13	316	272	87
9	Minnesota North Stars	ADM	80	35	28	17	291	263	87
10	Chicago Black Hawks	SMY	80	31	33	16	304	315	78
11	Quebec Nordiques	ADM	80	30	32	18	314	318	78
12	Vancouver Canucks	SMY	80	28	32	20	289	301	76
13	New York Rangers	PTK	80	30	36	14	312	317	74
14	Edmonton Oilers	SMY	80	29	35	16	328	327	74
15	Pittsburgh Penguins	NRS	80	30	37	13	302	345	73
16	Toronto Maple Leafs	ADM	80	28	37	15	322	367	71
17	Washington Capitals	PTK	80	26	36	18	286	317	70
18	Hartford Whalers	NRS	80	21	41	18	292	372	60
19	Colorado Rockies	SMY	80	22	45	13	258	344	57
20	Detroit Red Wings	NRS	80	19	43	18	252	339	56
21	Winnipeg Jets	SMY	80	9	57	14	246	400	32

Divisions: ADM – Adams, NRS – Norris, PTK – Patrick, SMY – Smythe

bold – The top 16 teams in the league qualified for the playoffs, regardless of division or conference.
x – Won division; y – Won Conference (and division); p – Won Presidents' Trophy (and conference and division)

Record vs. opponents

Smythe Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference Vs. Smythe Division 1980–81 NHL records[3] Team CHI COL EDM STL VAN WIN Total Chicago — 2−2 1−3 1−2−1 2−2 3−1 9−10−1 Colorado 2−2 — 3−0−1 1−3 0−2−2 1−2−1 7−9−4 Edmonton 3−1 0−3−1 — 1−2−1 2−2 4−0 10−8−2 St. Louis 2−1−1 3−1 2−1−1 — 4−0 2−0−2 13−3−4 Vancouver 2−2 2−0−2 2−2 0−4 — 2−0−2 8−8−4 Winnipeg 1−3 2−1−1 0−4 0−2−2 0−2−2 — 3−12−5 Vs. Patrick Division 1980–81 NHL records Team CGY NYI NYR PHI WSH Total Chicago 1−0−3 0−4 1−2−1 1−1−2 1−1−2 4−8−8 Colorado 3−1 1−3 3−1 0−4 0−3−1 7−12−1 Edmonton 1−2−1 0−2−2 1−2−1 2−2 1−2−1 5−10−5 St. Louis 2−2 0−2−2 4−0 0−3−1 2−0−2 8−7−5 Vancouver 1−3 1−3 1−2−1 2−1−1 1−1−2 6−10−4 Winnipeg 0−3−1 0−3−1 1−3 1−3 0−3−1 2−15−3 Vs. Wales Conference Vs. Adams Division 1980–81 NHL records Team BOS BUF MIN QUE TOR Total Chicago 1−3 2−2 2−2 3−0−1 1−2−1 9−9−2 Colorado 1−2−1 0−3−1 1−2−1 2−2 1−1−2 5−10−5 Edmonton 1−3 1−1−2 1−2−1 1−3 2−1−1 6−10−4 St. Louis 3−1 3−0−1 1−2−1 2−1−1 3−1 12−5−3 Vancouver 2−2 1−1−2 1−2−1 1−1−2 3−0−1 8−6−6 Winnipeg 0−2−2 0−4 0−4 1−1−2 2−2 3−13−4 Vs. Norris Division 1980–81 NHL records Team DET HFD LAK MTL PIT Total Chicago 1−1−2 3−0−1 0−2−2 2−2 3−1 9−6−5 Colorado 1−2−1 1−2−1 0−3−1 0−4 1−3 3−14−3 Edmonton 2−1−1 2−1−1 0−2−2 2−2 2−1−1 8−7−5 St. Louis 4−0 3−0−1 2−0−2 1−1−2 2−2 12−3−5 Vancouver 2−1−1 1−1−2 0−4 0−2−2 3−0−1 6−8−6 Winnipeg 0−3−1 0−3−1 0−4 1−3 0−4 1−17−2

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

Regular season

1980–81 regular season[4]
October Game Result 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
November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 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
December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 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
January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 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
February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 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
March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 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
April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 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
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1981 Stanley Cup playoffs[4]
Preliminary round vs. (7) Calgary Flames – Flames win 3–0 Game Date Visitor Score Home Series 1 April 8 Chicago Black Hawks 3–4 Calgary Flames 0–1 2 April 9 Chicago Black Hawks 2–6 Calgary Flames 0–2 3 April 11 Calgary Flames 5–4 Chicago Black Hawks 0–3
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Tom Lysiak	C	72	21	55	76	20	7	5	2	3
Denis Savard	C	76	28	47	75	47	27	4	0	3
Darryl Sutter	LW	76	40	22	62	86	-1	14	0	4
Reg Kerr	LW	70	30	30	60	56	10	6	0	4
Bob Murray	D	77	13	47	60	93	6	6	0	1
Tim Higgins	RW	78	24	35	59	86	20	1	0	1
Terry Ruskowski	C	72	8	51	59	225	-19	2	0	2
Doug Wilson	D	76	12	39	51	80	6	3	0	1
Keith Brown	D	80	9	34	43	80	5	0	1	1
Ted Bulley	LW	68	18	16	34	95	18	3	0	2
Grant Mulvey	RW	42	18	14	32	81	-18	6	1	4
Glen Sharpley	C	35	10	16	26	12	6	4	0	0
Al Secord	LW	41	13	9	22	145	-4	3	0	2
Rich Preston	RW	47	7	14	21	24	-15	3	0	1
Mike O'Connell	D	34	5	16	21	32	5	1	1	0
Greg Fox	D	75	3	16	19	112	-10	0	0	0
Ron Sedlbauer	LW	39	12	3	15	12	-7	3	0	0
John Marks	LW	39	8	6	14	28	-3	1	1	0
Miles Zaharko	D	42	3	11	14	40	22	0	0	1
Dave Hutchison	D	59	2	9	11	124	12	0	0	0
Rick Paterson	C	49	8	2	10	18	-2	1	2	1
Peter Marsh	RW	29	4	6	10	10	0	0	0	0
Florent Robidoux	LW	39	6	2	8	75	-6	1	0	0
Tony Esposito	G	66	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0
Ken Solheim	LW	5	2	0	2	0	-3	0	0	0
Doug Crossman	D	9	0	2	2	2	-5	0	0	0
Brian Young	D	8	0	2	2	6	-4	0	0	0
Steve Larmer	RW	4	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
Murray Bannerman	G	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bill Gardner	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Doug Lecuyer	LW	14	0	0	0	41	-2	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Tony Esposito	3935	66	29	23	14	246	3.75	0
Murray Bannerman	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
Al Secord	LW	3	4	0	4	14	0	0	0
Darryl Sutter	LW	3	3	1	4	2	1	0	0
Tom Lysiak	C	3	0	3	3	0	0	0	0
Doug Wilson	D	3	0	3	3	2	0	0	0
Peter Marsh	RW	2	1	1	2	2	0	0	0
Keith Brown	D	3	0	2	2	2	0	0	0
Terry Ruskowski	C	3	0	2	2	11	0	0	0
Glen Sharpley	C	1	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
Rick Paterson	C	2	1	0	1	0	0	1	0
Greg Fox	D	3	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Rich Preston	RW	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Tony Esposito	G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tim Higgins	RW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dave Hutchison	D	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Reg Kerr	LW	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
John Marks	LW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Grant Mulvey	RW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bob Murray	D	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Denis Savard	C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Miles Zaharko	D	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

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

^[5]

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;

Awards and records

Transactions

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

See also

• 1980–81 NHL season