1980–81 St. Louis Blues season

1980–81 St. Louis Blues
Smythe Division champions
Division1st Smythe
ConferenceCampbell
1980–81 record45–18–17
Goals for352
Goals against281
Team information
General managerEmile Francis
CoachRed Berenson
CaptainBrian Sutter
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaCheckerdome

The 1980–81 St. Louis Blues season was the 14th for the franchise in St. Louis, Missouri. The Blues won the Smythe Division for the first time in four seasons, with a record of 45 wins, 18 losses and 17 ties, good for 107 points, and second place overall in the entire NHL. This was the first time that the Blues had ever accumulated 100 or more points in a season. The Blues defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in a five-game preliminary round, before losing the quarter-finals in six games to the New York Rangers.

Offseason

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Regular season

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Final standings

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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

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Smythe Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference

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Vs. Wales Conference


Schedule and results

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

Playoffs

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Preliminary vs. Pittsburgh Penguins


April 8 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–4 St. Louis Blues Checkerdome Recap  
Greg Malone (1) – 00:15 First period 04:48 – pp – Mike Zuke (1)
15:58 – Tony Currie (1)
Rod Schutt (1) – 13:21 Second period 14:44 – Jorgen Pettersson (1)
No scoring Third period 19:59 – en – Mike Crombeen (1)
Greg Millen 44 saves / 47 shots Goalie stats Mike Liut 24 saves / 26 shots
April 9 Pittsburgh Penguins 6–4 St. Louis Blues Checkerdome Recap  
No scoring First period 02:35 – pp – Joe Micheletti (1)
Randy Carlyle (1) – 02:03
Gregg Sheppard (1) – 04:58
Mario Faubert (1) – pp – 06:59
George Ferguson (1) – 11:13 		Second period 03:11 – Tony Currie (2)
Rod Schutt (2) – 00:35
Randy Carlyle (2) – 03:06 		Third period 10:49 – Blair Chapman (1)
16:04 – pp – Bernie Federko (1)
Greg Millen 19 saves / 23 shots Goalie stats Mike Liut 24 saves / 30 shots
April 11 St. Louis Blues 5–4 Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh Civic Arena Recap  
Brian Sutter (1) – pp – 11:51 First period 07:04 – pp – Rod Schutt (3)
Ralph Klassen (1) – 06:36
Wayne Babych (1) – 09:58
Bernie Federko (2) – pp – 14:38 		Second period 08:57 – Mike Bullard (1)
10:31 – Mark Johnson (1)
Bernie Federko (3) – 15:54 Third period 05:08 – pp – Gregg Sheppard (2)
Mike Liut 27 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Greg Millen 27 saves / 32 shots
April 12 St. Louis Blues 3–6 Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh Civic Arena Recap  
Ralph Klassen (2) – 05:53
Mike Zuke (2) – pp – 07:10 		First period 14:52 – pp – Mike Bullard (2)
Mike Zuke (3) – pp – 13:55 Second period 07:45 – pp – Mark Johnson (2)
11:49 – sh – Randy Carlyle (3)
No scoring Third period 00:44 – Mike Bullard (3)
09:21 – Randy Carlyle (4)
14:02 – Pat Price (1)
Mike Liut 28 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Greg Millen 21 saves / 24 shots
April 14 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–4 2OT St. Louis Blues Checkerdome Recap  
Paul Gardner (1) – pp – 07:48 First period No scoring
George Ferguson (2) – 15:06 Second period 11:17 – Brian Sutter (2)
16:06 – pp – Bernie Federko (4)
Greg Malone (2) – 10:36 Third period 03:34 – Rick Lapointe (1)
No scoring Second overtime period 05:16 – Mike Crombeen (2)
Greg Millen 48 saves / 52 shots Goalie stats Mike Liut 48 saves / 51 shots
St. Louis won series 3–2


Quarterfinals vs. New York Rangers


April 16 New York Rangers 3–6 St. Louis Blues Checkerdome Recap  
Lance Nethery (2) – 07:21 First period 11:15 – pp – Bernie Federko (5)
14:55 – Brian Sutter (3)
17:39 – Blair Chapman (2)
Lance Nethery (3) – 01:34 Second period 08:56 – Mike Crombeen (3)
16:42 – Bernie Federko (6)
19:42 – Mike Zuke (4)
Jere Gillis (1) – 05:39 Third period No scoring
Steve Baker 22 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Mike Liut 28 saves / 31 shots
April 17 New York Rangers 6–4 St. Louis Blues Checkerdome Recap  
Barry Beck (2)– sh – 03:07 First period 01:22 – Jorgen Pettersson (2)
02:16 – Larry Patey (1)
18:06 – pp – Brian Sutter (4)
Dean Talafous (2) – 16:24 Second period No scoring
Jere Gillis (2) – 07:30
Anders Hedberg (4) – ps – 08:29
Mike Allison (2) – 10:16
Ron Duguay (6) – 19:13 		Third period 15:04 – Brian Sutter (5)
Steve Baker 25 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Mike Liut 24 saves / 30 shots
April 19 St. Louis Blues 3–6 New York Rangers Madison Square Garden Recap  
Wayne Babych (2) – pp – 02:47 First period 00:40 – Ron Greschner (2)
Bill Stewart (1) – 15:35 Second period 05:13 – pp – Ulf Nilsson (6)
06:41 – Barry Beck (3)
13:49 – pp – Mike Allison (3)
17:36 – Steve Vickers (1)
Tony Currie (3) – 00:34 Third period 02:23 – Lance Nethery (4)
Mike Liut 25 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Steve Baker 14 saves / 17 shots
April 20 St. Louis Blues 1–4 New York Rangers Madison Square Garden Recap  
Tony Currie (4) – pp – 07:40 First period 06:14 – Anders Hedberg (4)
18:37 – Ron Duguay (7)
No scoring Second period 09:01 – pp – Steve Vickers (2)
No scoring Third period 03:24 – Steve Vickers (3)
Mike Liut 24 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Steve Baker 33 saves / 34 shots
April 22 New York Rangers 3–4 St. Louis Blues Checkerdome Recap  
Ron Greschner (3) – 06:35
Ulf Nilsson (7) – pp – 10:06 		First period 14:17 – pp – Brian Sutter (6)
Carol Vadnais (1) – 02:54 Second period 08:25 – Larry Patey (2)
14:55 – Jorgen Pettersson (3)
No scoring Third period 06:09 – pp – Jorgen Pettersson (4)
Steve Baker 26 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Mike Liut 34 saves / 37 shots
April 24 St. Louis Blues 4–7 New York Rangers Madison Square Garden Recap  
No scoring First period 03:27 – Steve Vickers (4)
05:49 – Anders Hedberg (6)
16:10 – sh – Ron Duguay (8)
Bernie Federko (7) – 02:16
Rick Lapointe (2) – 03:14
Bernie Federko (8) – 04:06 		Second period 01:59 – Barry Beck (4)
17:03 – Lance Nethery (5)
Ed Kea (1) – 06:00 Third period 04:31 – Peter Wallin (1)
14:54 – Ulf Nilsson (8)
Mike Liut 13 saves / 20 shots Goalie stats Steve Baker 11 saves / 15 shots
New York won series 4–2


Player statistics

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Regular season

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Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Bernie Federko C 78 31 73 104 47 9 9 2 4
Wayne Babych RW 78 54 42 96 93 14 14 0 7
Blake Dunlop C 80 20 67 87 40 16 6 0 2
Jorgen Pettersson LW 62 37 36 73 24 14 8 0 5
Brian Sutter LW 78 35 34 69 232 12 17 0 4
Mike Zuke C 74 24 44 68 57 15 10 1 1
Perry Turnbull C 75 34 22 56 209 15 5 0 5
Tony Currie RW 61 23 32 55 38 32 2 0 4
Blair Chapman RW 55 20 26 46 41 3 5 0 3
Larry Patey C 80 22 23 45 107 2 0 8 3
Rick Lapointe D 80 8 25 33 124 36 0 0 3
Joe Micheletti D 63 4 27 31 53 12 3 0 1
Jack Brownschidle D 71 5 23 28 12 5 3 1 1
Mike Crombeen RW 66 9 14 23 58 1 0 1 1
Bill Stewart D 60 2 21 23 114 19 0 0 0
Ed Kea D 74 3 18 21 60 15 0 0 0
Ralph Klassen C 66 6 12 18 23 -5 0 1 0
Craig Norwich D 23 4 12 16 14 1 3 0 1
Gerry Hart D 63 4 11 15 132 9 0 0 0
Bryan Maxwell D 40 3 10 13 137 7 0 0 0
Hartland Monahan RW 25 4 2 6 4 2 0 2 0
Ed Staniowski G 19 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
Rick Heinz G 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Bob Hess D 4 0 0 0 4 -3 0 0 0
Dick Lamby D 1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Chuck Lefley LW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Liut G 61 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Paul MacLean RW 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Mike Liut 3570 61 33 14 13 199 3.34 1
Ed Staniowski 1010 19 10 3 3 72 4.28 0
Rick Heinz 220 4 2 1 1 8 2.18 0
Team: 4800 80 45 18 17 279 3.49 1

Playoffs

[edit]
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Bernie Federko C 11 8 10 18 2 4 0 1
Tony Currie RW 11 4 12 16 4 1 0 0
Joe Micheletti D 11 1 11 12 10 1 0 0
Brian Sutter LW 11 6 3 9 77 3 0 0
Mike Zuke C 11 4 5 9 4 3 0 0
Jorgen Pettersson LW 11 4 3 7 0 1 0 2
Blair Chapman RW 9 2 5 7 6 0 0 0
Larry Patey C 11 2 4 6 30 0 0 0
Rick Lapointe D 8 2 2 4 12 0 0 0
Mike Crombeen RW 11 3 0 3 8 0 0 2
Ed Kea D 11 1 2 3 12 0 0 0
Jack Brownschidle D 11 0 3 3 2 0 0 0
Blake Dunlop C 11 0 3 3 4 0 0 0
Wayne Babych RW 11 2 0 2 8 1 0 0
Ralph Klassen C 11 2 0 2 2 0 0 0
Bill Stewart D 4 1 0 1 11 0 0 0
Bryan Maxwell D 11 0 1 1 54 0 0 0
Gerry Hart D 10 0 0 0 27 0 0 0
Mike Liut G 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Paul MacLean RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hartland Monahan RW 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Mike Liut 685 11 5 6 50 4.38 0
Team: 685 11 5 6 50 4.38 0

[4]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

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Transactions

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Draft picks

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St. Louis'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 12 Rik Wilson  United States Kingston Canadians (OHA)
3 54 Jim Pavese  United States Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
4 75 Bob Brooke  United States Yale University (ECAC)
5 96 Alain Lemieux  Canada Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
6 117 Perry Anderson  Canada Kingston Canadians (OMJHL)
7 138 Roger Hagglund  Sweden Umeå (Sweden)
8 159 Pat Rabbitt  Canada Billings Bighorns (WHL)
9 180 Peter Lindgren  Sweden Hammarby (Sweden)
10 201 John Smyth  Canada Calgary Wranglers (WHL)

Farm teams

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See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
  2. ^ "1980–81 NHL Standings". NHL.com. National Hockey League.
  3. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  4. ^ "1980-81 St. Louis Blues Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 15, 2009.
[edit]
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