Division 4th Norris Goals for 292 General Manager Jack Kelley | 1980–81 record 21–41–18 Goals against 372 | |
Coach Don Blackburn (15–29–16)
Larry Pleau (6–12–2) | ||
The 1980-81 season was the 2nd for the Whalers in the NHL.
Contents
October
The Whalers opened the 1980–81 season with a four-game road trip, and on October 9, they lost 8-6 to the St. Louis Blues, followed by a 9-3 loss two nights later against the Minnesota North Stars. After a 2-2 tie against the Buffalo Sabres, the Whalers earned their first victory on October 15, with a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Hartford played their first home game of the season on October 18 against the Detroit Red Wings in front of 10,287 fans. The Whalers Al Sims led the way with two goals, and John Garrett made 26 saves in the Whalers 4-2 victory. The team would post a 3-0-1 record on their opening four game home stand.
The Whalers would finish the month with a solid record of 5-4-2, earning 12 points, and second place in the Norris Division, three points behind the first place Los Angeles Kings.
November
The Whalers would slump to begin the month of November, as the club would go winless in their first eight games (0-6-2) of the month before earning a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on November 22. The Whalers would follow that game up with a huge 11-3 loss to the Chicago Black Hawks the next night.
Hartford would end November with two wins in their final three games, bringing their season record to 8-12-4 record with 20 points, sitting in third place in the Norris Division.
December
The Whalers opened December with a five-game western road trip, in which the team put up a respectable 2-2-1 record, with wins over the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets.
The team returned home for two games, as Hartford tied the Los Angeles Kings 5-5 on December 13, followed by a 5-4 win over the Boston Bruins on December 17. The Whalers then headed out for a three-game road trip before Christmas, in which the Whalers tied the Bruins 5-5, lost to the Quebec Nordiques 6-5, followed by a huge 7-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 23.
On December 26, the Whalers and Pittsburgh Penguins played a very high scoring game, as Hartford came out on top with a 9-7 victory. Hartford ended the month with a 5-5 tie against the defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders the next night.
Overall, the Whalers had a 5-3-4 record in their 12 December games, and improved to 13-15-8, earning 34 points, for the season. The Whalers continued to stay into third place in the Norris Division, five points ahead of the fourth place Pittsburgh Penguins.
January
Hartford got off to a bad start in January, losing their first three games, snapping their losing streak with a 6-6 tie against the Edmonton Oilers on January 9. The Whalers earned their first win of the month the next night, defeating the Winnipeg Jets 5-3.
The Whalers losing ways would return though, as the club lost four games in a row, including three by one goal, before ending the streak with a tie against the St. Louis Blues on January 21. Hartford would then lose their next two games, extending their winless streak to seven games, before the team finally defeated the Colorado Rockies 6-3 on January 28. Hartford then went winless in their last two games (0-1-1) of the month.
The team managed a 2-10-3 record in 15 games for the month, and had a 15-25-11 record, getting 41 points at the end January. Hartford fell into fourth place in the Norris Division, one point behind the third place Pittsburgh Penguins, and four points ahead of the last place Detroit Red Wings.
February
The Whalers losing ways continued into February, as Hartford would go winless in their first nine games of the month (0-4-5), and extend their overall winless streak to 11 games.
After their 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 19, the Whalers fired head coach Don Blackburn, and replaced him with Larry Pleau.
In his first game as the head coach, Pleau ended the Whalers winless skid, as Hartford defeated the New York Rangers 6-5 on February 22. The club won their next game three nights later, defeating the Minnesota North Stars 3-2, however, their winning streak ended with a 5-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on February 27.
The Whalers had a 2-5-5 record in February, and had a 4-15-8 record since the start of January. The Whalers overall season record at the end of February was 17-30-16, as they earned 50 points, and remained in fourth place in the Norris Division, only two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings.
March/April
The Whalers began March with two straight losses before earning a 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on March 6. Hartford then went on a five-game winless skid (0-4-1) before earning another victory, which was a huge 9-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Hartford would continue to struggle for the rest of the regular season, as they posted a 2-5-1 record in their final eight games after the 9-3 win over the Canadiens.
The team finished their second season with a 21-41-18 record, earning 60 points, and fourth place in the Norris Division, four points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings. The Whalers failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in team history.
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.
Draft picks
Hartford's draft picks from the 1980 NHL Entry Draft which was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, on June 11, 1980.