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1979–80 Montreal Canadiens season

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Division
  
1st Norris

1979–80 record
  
47-20-13

Goals against
  
240

Conference
  
2nd Wales

Goals for
  
328

General Manager
  
Irving Grundman

The 1979–80 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 71st season. The Canadiens ended the season with a twenty-game unbeaten streak at the Montreal Forum. By season’s end, the franchise was third overall in NHL standings. The season involved being eliminated in the NHL Quarter-finals vs the Minnesota North Stars 4 games to 3.

Contents

Offseason

  • Al MacNeil left his position as head coach of the Canadiens farm club, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, to become head coach of the Atlanta Flames.
  • Jacques Lemaire retired to become a playing coach in Switzerland. In addition, Ken Dryden and captain Yvan Cournoyer also retired from the team.
  • Scotty Bowman, upset over the appointment of Irving Grundman as General Manager in 1978, left the club to become head coach and general manager of the Buffalo Sabres.
  • Boom Boom Geoffrion was hired as head coach in September 1979. In his previous coaching stint, Geoffrion lasted half a season with the 1968-69 New York Rangers. He had to leave the position due to ulcers.
  • Veteran defenceman Serge Savard is named team captain.
  • The Canadiens did not have a first-round pick in the Amateur Draft. The club picked Mats Naslund with its second-round choice, 37th over-all. The team picked Guy Carbonneau in the third-round, 44th over-all.

    • Regular season

    Despite a record of fifteen wins, nine losses and six ties, Geoffrion stepped down as head coach.

    Final standings

    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.

    Playoffs

    The Canadiens swept the Hartford Whalers in the preliminary round 3–0 in games. The Canadiens then faced the Minnesota North Stars in the quarter-final and lost a seven-game series four games to three.

    Regular season

    Scoring
    Goaltending

    Playoffs

    Scoring
    Goaltending

    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

    Larry Robinson, Norris Trophy

    References

    1979–80 Montreal Canadiens season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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