1979–80 New York Rangers season

1979–80 New York Rangers
1979–80 New York Rangers
Division	3rd Patrick
Conference	4th Campbell
1979–80 record	38–32–10
Home record	22–10–8
Road record	16–22–2
Goals for	308
Goals against	284
Team information
General manager	Fred Shero
Coach	Fred Shero
Captain	Dave Maloney
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals	Phil Esposito (34)
Assists	Don Maloney (48)
Points	Phil Esposito (78)
Penalty minutes	Dave Maloney (186)
Wins	John Davidson (20)
Goals against average	John Davidson (3.17)

The 1979–80 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 54th season. Fresh off a Stanley Cup Final loss in the first year of Fred Shero as coach, the Rangers qualified for the playoffs once again, but bowed out in the second round to Shero's old team, the Philadelphia Flyers. The team's on- and off-ice activities during this campaign was the subject of Larry Sloman's 1982 book Thin Ice: A Season in Hell with the New York Rangers.^[1]

Regular season

Season standings

Patrick Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Philadelphia Flyers	80	48	12	20	327	254	116
New York Islanders	80	39	28	13	281	247	91
	80	38	32	10	308	284	86
Atlanta Flames	80	35	32	13	282	269	83
Washington Capitals	80	27	40	13	261	293	67

^[2]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^[3]
R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Philadelphia Flyers	PTK	80	48	12	20	327	254	116
2	y – Buffalo Sabres	ADM	80	47	17	16	318	201	110
3	x – Montreal Canadiens	NRS	80	47	20	13	328	240	107
4	Boston Bruins	ADM	80	46	21	13	310	234	105
5	New York Islanders	PTK	80	39	28	13	281	247	91
6	Minnesota North Stars	ADM	80	36	28	16	311	253	88
7	x – Chicago Black Hawks	SMY	80	34	27	19	241	250	87
8		PTK	80	38	32	10	308	284	86
9	Atlanta Flames	PTK	80	35	32	13	282	269	83
10	St. Louis Blues	SMY	80	34	34	12	266	278	80
11	Toronto Maple Leafs	ADM	80	35	40	5	304	327	75
12	Los Angeles Kings	NRS	80	30	36	14	290	313	74
13	Pittsburgh Penguins	NRS	80	30	37	13	251	303	73
14	Hartford Whalers	NRS	80	27	34	19	303	312	73
15	Vancouver Canucks	SMY	80	27	37	16	256	281	70
16	Edmonton Oilers	SMY	80	28	39	13	301	322	69

17	Washington Capitals	PTK	80	27	40	13	261	293	67
18	Detroit Red Wings	NRS	80	26	43	11	268	306	63
19	Quebec Nordiques	ADM	80	25	44	11	248	313	61
20	Winnipeg Jets	SMY	80	20	49	11	214	314	51
21	Colorado Rockies	SMY	80	19	48	13	234	308	51

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

Patrick Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Patrick Division

1979–80 NHL records^[4]
Team	ATL	NYI	NYR	PHI	WSH	Total
Atlanta	—	1–3	3–0–1	2–2	3–0–1	9−5−2
N.Y. Islanders	3–1	—	2–2	2–2	2–2	9−7−0
	0–3–1	2–2	—	1–2–1	2–2	5−9−2
Philadelphia	2–2	2–2	2–1–1	—	2–0–2	8−5−3
Washington	0–3–1	2–2	2–2	0–2–2	—	4−9−3

Vs. Smythe Division

1979–80 NHL records
Team	CHI	COL	EDM	STL	VAN	WIN	Total
Atlanta	0−2−2	4−0	2−1−1	3−1	2−2	4−0	15−6−3
N.Y. Islanders	2−1−1	3−1	1−2−1	3−1	1−2−1	2−0−2	12−7−5
	1−2−1	1−1−2	3−1	4−0	4−0	2−2	15−6−3
Philadelphia	2–0–2	2–1–1	3–0−1	2−0−2	3−1	4−0	16−2−6
Washington	2−2	1−1−2	1−3	2−2	3−1	3−0−1	12−9−3

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Adams Division

1979–80 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	MIN	QUE	TOR	Total
Atlanta	0–4	0–3–1	1–1–2	3–0–1	1–3	5–11–4
N.Y. Islanders	1–3	1–2–1	0–2–2	4–0	3–1	9–8–3
	2–2	1–2–1	1–2–1	2–1–1	2–2	8–9–3
Philadelphia	1–1–2	3–0–1	3–1	3–0–1	1–1–2	11–3–6
Washington	1–2–1	0–4	0–3–1	1–1–2	1–3	3–13–4

Vs. Norris Division

1979–80 NHL records
Team	DET	HFD	LAK	MTL	PIT	Total
Atlanta	2–1–1	1–3	2–1–1	0–3–1	1–2–1	6–10–4
N.Y. Islanders	1–3	3–1	2–1–1	3–0–1	0–1–3	9–6–5
	3–1	2–1–1	3–1	0–3–1	2–2	10–8–2
Philadelphia	3–0–1	2–0–2	4–0	1–2–1	3–0–1	13–2–5
Washington	1–2–1	2–1–1	3–1	1–2–1	1–3	8–9–3

Schedule and results

1979–80 regular season^[5]

October: 4–4–1 (home: 3–1–1; road: 1–3–0)

Game	October	Opponent	Score	Record
1	10	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	6 – 3	1–0–0
2	14	Washington Capitals	5 – 3	1–1–0
3	18	Vancouver Canucks	6 – 3	2–1–0
4	20	@ Montreal Canadiens	5 – 4	2–2–0
5	21	Pittsburgh Penguins	6 – 3	3–2–0
6	24	Edmonton Oilers	10 – 2	4–2–0
7	25	@ Philadelphia Flyers	5 – 2	4–3–0
8	27	@ Minnesota North Stars	7 – 2	4–4–0
9	28	Hartford Whalers	2 – 2	4–4–1

November: 5–9–1 (home: 4–3–1; road: 1–6–0)

Game	November	Opponent	Score	Record
10	1	@ Los Angeles Kings	4 – 2	4–5–1
11	3	@ Colorado Rockies	7 – 2	4–6–1
12	4	@ Vancouver Canucks	4 – 2	5–6–1
13	7	Los Angeles Kings	8 – 4	6–6–1
14	10	Quebec Nordiques	5 – 4	7–6–1
15	11	Pittsburgh Penguins	4 – 1	7–7–1
16	13	@ New York Islanders	10 – 5	7–8–1
17	14	Detroit Red Wings	3 – 2	8–8–1
18	16	@ Atlanta Flames	4 – 2	8–9–1
19	18	St. Louis Blues	5 – 3	9–9–1
20	21	Winnipeg Jets	6 – 4	9–10–1
21	24	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	5 – 3	9–11–1
22	25	Toronto Maple Leafs	4 – 3	9–12–1
23	28	Minnesota North Stars	4 – 4	9–12–2
24	29	@ Buffalo Sabres	2 – 1	9–13–2

December: 8–2–3 (home: 3–1–3; road: 5–1–0)

Game	December	Opponent	Score	Record
25	1	@ St. Louis Blues	2 – 0	10–13–2
26	3	Montreal Canadiens	3 – 3	10–13–3
27	5	Chicago Black Hawks	3 – 3	10–13–4
28	7	@ Hartford Whalers	7 – 4	11–13–4
29	9	New York Islanders	5 – 4	12–13–4
30	11	@ Detroit Red Wings	2 – 1	13–13–4
31	12	@ Chicago Black Hawks	5 – 2	14–13–4
32	15	@ Washington Capitals	5 – 4	14–14–4
33	16	Philadelphia Flyers	1 – 1	14–14–5
34	19	Vancouver Canucks	5 – 3	15–14–5
35	22	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	4 – 3	16–14–5
36	23	Boston Bruins	4 – 3	16–15–5
37	30	Washington Capitals	5 – 2	17–15–5

January: 6–5–4 (home: 2–2–2; road: 4–3–2)

Game	January	Opponent	Score	Record
38	2	@ Quebec Nordiques	3 – 3	17–15–6
39	4	Philadelphia Flyers	5 – 3	17–16–6
40	6	Atlanta Flames	5 – 5	17–16–7
41	7	Hartford Whalers	5 – 2	18–16–7
42	9	@ Detroit Red Wings	4 – 0	18–17–7
43	11	@ Edmonton Oilers	6 – 2	19–17–7
44	12	@ Winnipeg Jets	3 – 0	20–17–7
45	14	Colorado Rockies	6 – 6	20–17–8
46	16	Winnipeg Jets	4 – 1	21–17–8
47	19	@ Boston Bruins	6 – 3	21–18–8
48	20	Chicago Black Hawks	2 – 1	21–19–8
49	22	@ Los Angeles Kings	5 – 4	22–19–8
50	23	@ Vancouver Canucks	6 – 4	23–19–8
51	27	@ Colorado Rockies	3 – 3	23–19–9
52	31	@ Buffalo Sabres	6 – 2	23–20–9

February: 6–5–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 2–4–0)

Game	February	Opponent	Score	Record
53	2	@ Washington Capitals	6 – 3	24–20–9
54	3	@ Quebec Nordiques	5 – 4	24–21–9
55	10	Quebec Nordiques	3 – 1	25–21–9
56	13	@ Chicago Black Hawks	3 – 1	25–22–9
57	17	Toronto Maple Leafs	6 – 4	25–23–9
58	18	@ Hartford Whalers	6 – 4	25–24–9
59	20	Edmonton Oilers	4 – 1	26–24–9
60	23	@ Minnesota North Stars	6 – 3	26–25–9
61	24	New York Islanders	8 – 2	27–25–9
62	27	Los Angeles Kings	5 – 4	28–25–9
63	28	@ Boston Bruins	5 – 2	29–25–9

March: 8–5–1 (home: 6–1–1; road: 2–4–0)

Game	March	Opponent	Score	Record
64	2	Boston Bruins	2 – 1	30–25–9
65	5	Buffalo Sabres	4 – 2	31–25–9
66	8	@ Montreal Canadiens	5 – 2	31–26–9
67	9	Minnesota North Stars	4 – 2	32–26–9
68	12	Colorado Rockies	6 – 0	33–26–9
69	15	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	8 – 4	34–26–9
70	16	St. Louis Blues	5 – 2	35–26–9
71	19	@ Edmonton Oilers	4 – 2	35–27–9
72	21	@ Winnipeg Jets	4 – 2	35–28–9
73	23	Montreal Canadiens	6 – 1	35–29–9
74	25	Buffalo Sabres	3 – 3	35–29–10
75	28	@ Atlanta Flames	4 – 2	35–30–10
76	29	@ St. Louis Blues	4 – 3	36–30–10
77	31	Detroit Red Wings	7 – 5	37–30–10

April: 1–2–0 (home: 0–1–0; road: 1–1–0)

Game	April	Opponent	Score	Record
78	2	Atlanta Flames	7 – 3	37–31–10
79	5	@ New York Islanders	2 – 1	37–32–10
80	6	@ Philadelphia Flyers	8 – 3	38–32–10

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1980 Stanley Cup playoffs^[5]

Preliminary round vs. (9) Atlanta Flames – Rangers win 3–1

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	April 8	Atlanta Flames	1 – 2	New York Rangers	OT	New York Rangers lead series 1-0
2	April 9	Atlanta Flames	1 – 5	New York Rangers		New York Rangers lead series 2-0
3	April 11	New York Rangers	2 – 4	Atlanta Flames		New York Rangers lead series 2-1
4	April 12	New York Rangers	5 – 2	Atlanta Flames		New York Rangers win series 3-1

Quarterfinals vs. (1) Philadelphia Flyers – Flyers win 4–1

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Series
1	April 16	New York Rangers	1 – 2	Philadelphia Flyers	Philadelphia leads series 1-0
2	April 17	New York Rangers	1 – 4	Philadelphia Flyers	Philadelphia leads series 2-0
3	April 19	Philadelphia Flyers	3 – 0	New York Rangers	Philadelphia leads series 3-0
4	April 20	Philadelphia Flyers	2 – 4	New York Rangers	Philadelphia leads series 3-1
5	April 22	New York Rangers	1 – 3	Philadelphia Flyers	Philadelphia wins series 4-1

Legend: Win Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Phil Esposito	80	34	44	78	-13	73
Don Maloney	79	25	48	73	-15	97
Anders Hedberg	80	32	39	71	13	21
Steve Vickers	75	29	33	62	20	38
Barry Beck^†	61	14	45	59	16	98
Ron Greschner	76	21	37	58	-11	103
Ulf Nilsson	50	14	44	58	15	20
Ron Duguay	73	28	22	50	-6	37
Don Murdoch^‡	56	23	19	42	-11	16
Walt Tkaczuk	76	12	25	37	19	36
Dave Maloney	77	12	25	37	10	186
Ed Johnstone	78	14	21	35	3	60
Mario Marois	79	8	23	31	0	142
Dean Talafous	55	10	20	30	1	26
Carol Vadnais	66	3	20	23	-1	118
Warren Miller	55	7	6	13	-6	17
Claude Larose	25	4	7	11	-5	2
Doug Sulliman	31	4	7	11	0	2
Tim Bothwell	45	4	6	10	-3	20
Mike McEwen^‡	9	1	7	8	3	8
Jocelyn Guevremont	20	2	5	7	-12	6
Pat Conacher	17	0	5	5	-10	4
Lucien DeBlois^‡	6	3	1	4	-1	7
Pat Hickey^‡	7	2	2	4	-1	10
Cam Connor^†	12	0	3	3	3	37
Ray Markham	14	1	1	2	-3	21
Frank Beaton	23	1	1	2	-5	43
Ed Hospodar	20	0	1	1	-2	76
Andre Dore	2	0	0	0	-1	0
Dave Silk	2	0	0	0	1	0
Jim Mayer	4	0	0	0	1	0
Bill Lochead	7	0	0	0	-5	4

Playoffs
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Ron Duguay	9	5	2	7	11
Ulf Nilsson	9	0	6	6	2
Ron Greschner	9	0	6	6	10
Phil Esposito	9	3	3	6	8
Barry Beck	9	1	4	5	6
Anders Hedberg	9	3	2	5	7
Steve Vickers	9	2	2	4	4
Don Maloney	9	0	4	4	10
Carol Vadnais	9	1	2	3	6
Dean Talafous	5	1	2	3	9
Dave Maloney	8	2	1	3	8
Mario Marois	9	0	2	2	8
Ed Hospodar	7	1	0	1	42
Ray Markham	7	1	0	1	24
Pat Conacher	3	0	1	1	2
Warren Miller	6	1	0	1	0
Ed Johnstone	9	0	1	1	25
Walt Tkaczuk	7	0	1	1	2
Cam Connor	2	0	0	0	2
Tim Bothwell	9	0	0	0	8

Goaltenders

Goaltenders

Regular Season
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
John Davidson	41	2306	20	15	4	122	3.17	2
Steve Baker	27	1391	9	8	6	79	3.41	1
Wayne Thomas	12	668	4	7	0	44	3.95	0
Doug Soetaert	8	435	5	2	0	33	4.55	0

Playoffs
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
John Davidson	9	541	4	5	21	2.33	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

^[6]

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;

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1979 NHL entry draft in Montreal, Canada.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	13	Doug Sulliman	LW	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
2	34	Ed Hospodar	D	United States	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
4	76	Pat Conacher	C	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
5	97	Dan Makuch	RW	Canada	Clarkson University (NCAA)
6	118	Stan Adams	C	Canada	Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA)

Awards and records

Transactions

References

^ "Thin Ice: A Season in Hell with the New York Rangers" (review), Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 1982. Retrieved April 9, 2021
^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
^ "1979–80 NHL Standings". NHL.com. National Hockey League.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "1979-80 New York Rangers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
^ "1979-80 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 8, 2010.

External links

Rangers on Hockey Database

[1] "Thin Ice: A Season in Hell with the New York Rangers" (review), Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 1982. Retrieved April 9, 2021

[nhl-gd-standings-2] Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.

[nhl-1980-3] "1979–80 NHL Standings". NHL.com. National Hockey League.

[4] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[Gamelog-5] "1979-80 New York Rangers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 31, 2025.

[6] "1979-80 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 8, 2010.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

New York Rangers seasons
1920s	1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

1979–80 NHL season
Patrick	Atlanta NY Islanders Philadelphia Washington
Adams	Boston Buffalo Minnesota Quebec Toronto
Norris	Detroit Hartford Los Angeles Montreal Pittsburgh
Smythe	Chicago Colorado Edmonton St. Louis Vancouver Winnipeg
See also	NHL–WHA merger Expansion draft Entry draft All-Star Game Playoffs Stanley Cup Final