1980 Stanley Cup playoffs


The 1980 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League began on April 8, after the conclusion of the 1979–80 NHL season. This season saw the addition of four teams from the disbanded World Hockey Association as expansion franchises, and thus the playoffs were also expanded from 12 to 16 teams. Two for those former WHA clubs, the Edmonton Oilers and the Hartford Whalers, made the playoffs in their first season in the NHL.
The playoffs concluded on May 24 when the New York Islanders defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5–4 to win the Final series four games to two and win the Stanley Cup. It was the Islanders' first Stanley Cup win and was the first of four consecutive Stanley Cup wins.
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Changes

With the league expansion from 17 to 21 teams, the playoffs were also expanded, from a 12-team tournament to a 16-team tournament. The sixteen teams were composed of the four divisional champions plus the top 12 finishers of the remaining 17 teams. The 16 qualifying teams were then seeded based on regular season points, with divisional rankings ignored. Division leaders no longer received first round byes. The teams were seeded 1 through 16, with the top team playing the 16th team in the first round, and so on. In subsequent rounds, matchups were similarly arranged, with the top remaining seed against the lowest remaining seed, and so on. The Preliminary Round was a best-of-five set. The Atlanta Flames played their final playoff games in this postseason, and moved to Calgary soon after; the playoffs returned to Atlanta in 2007.

Playoff seeds

The sixteen teams that qualified for the playoffs are ranked 1–16 based on regular season points.
  1. Philadelphia Flyers, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 116 points
  2. Buffalo Sabres, Adams Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 110 points
  3. Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions – 107 points
  4. Boston Bruins – 105 points
  5. New York Islanders – 91 points
  6. Minnesota North Stars – 88 points
  7. Chicago Black Hawks, Smythe Division champions – 87 points
  8. New York Rangers – 86 points
  9. Atlanta Flames – 83 points
  10. St. Louis Blues – 80 points
  11. Toronto Maple Leafs – 75 points
  12. Los Angeles Kings – 74 points
  13. Pittsburgh Penguins – 73 points
  14. Hartford Whalers – 73 points
  15. Vancouver Canucks – 70 points
  16. Edmonton Oilers – 69 points

    Playoff bracket

Preliminary round

(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (16) Edmonton Oilers

(2) Buffalo Sabres vs. (15) Vancouver Canucks

(3) Montreal Canadiens vs. (14) Hartford Whalers

(4) Boston Bruins vs. (13) Pittsburgh Penguins

(5) New York Islanders vs. (12) Los Angeles Kings

(6) Minnesota North Stars vs. (11) Toronto Maple Leafs

(7) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (10) St. Louis Blues

With their victory in Game one, Chicago snapped a record 16-game losing streak in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

(8) New York Rangers vs. (9) Atlanta Flames

Quarterfinals

(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (8) New York Rangers

(2) Buffalo Sabres vs. (7) Chicago Black Hawks

(3) Montreal Canadiens vs. (6) Minnesota North Stars

(4) Boston Bruins vs. (5) New York Islanders

Semifinals

(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (4) Minnesota North Stars

(2) Buffalo Sabres vs. (3) New York Islanders

Stanley Cup Finals

became the first player in history to win an Olympic Gold Medal and the Stanley Cup in the same season. Game six was the last NHL game to air on American network television for nearly ten years.