1981 Stanley Cup Finals

The 1981 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1980–81 season, and the culmination of the 1981 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Minnesota North Stars, making their first Finals appearance, and the defending champion New York Islanders, in their second Finals appearance. The Islanders would win the best-of-seven series, four games to one, to win their second Stanley Cup championship. This would be the last all-American Finals until 1991, when the North Stars faced the Pittsburgh Penguins. Butch Goring won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player in the playoffs.

1981 Stanley Cup Finals
12345 Total
New York Islanders 66725 4
Minnesota North Stars 33541 1
Location(s)Uniondale: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (1, 2, 5)
Bloomington: Met Center (3, 4)
CoachesNew York: Al Arbour
Minnesota: Glen Sonmor
CaptainsNew York: Denis Potvin
Minnesota: Paul Shmyr
DatesMay 12 – May 21
MVPButch Goring (Islanders)
Series-winning goalWayne Merrick (5:37, first, G5)
Hall of FamersIslanders:
Mike Bossy (1991)
Clark Gillies (2002)
Denis Potvin (1991)
Billy Smith (1993)
Bryan Trottier (1997)
North Stars:
Dino Ciccarelli (2010)
Coaches:
Al Arbour (1996)
NetworksCanada:
(English): CBC
(French): SRC
United States:
(National): USA Network
(New York City area): SportsChannel New York (1–2, 5), WOR (3–4)
(Minnesota area): KMSP
Announcers(CBC) Bob Cole, Mickey Redmond, and Gary Dornhoefer
(SRC) René Lecavalier and Gilles Tremblay
(USA) Simulcast of CBC feed
(SCNY) Jiggs McDonald and Ed Westfall
(WOR) Tim Ryan and Ed Westfall
(KMSP) Bob Kurtz and Tom Reid
Stanley Cup Finals

Paths to the Finals
Further information: 1981 Stanley Cup playoffs
See also: 1980–81 Minnesota North Stars season and 1980–81 New York Islanders season

Minnesota defeated the Boston Bruins 3–0, the Buffalo Sabres 4–1 and the Calgary Flames 4–2 to advance to the Final.

New York defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3–0, the Edmonton Oilers 4–2, and the New York Rangers 4–0 to reach the Final.

Game summaries

Dino Ciccarelli of the North Stars set a rookie record (since tied by Ville Leino in 2010), scoring twenty-one points (14 goals and seven assists) during the year's playoffs. The Islanders' much deeper lineup, however, won the day.

Date Visitors Score Home Score
May 12Minnesota3New York6
May 14Minnesota3New York6
May 17New York7Minnesota5
May 19New York2Minnesota 4
May 21Minnesota1New York5

New York wins the series 4–1.

Broadcasting

The series aired on CBC in Canada. In the United States, this was the first of five seasons that the Cup Finals aired on the USA Network. For the 1981 Finals only, USA simulcast the CBC feed instead of producing their own coverage.

Team rosters

Minnesota North Stars
No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
2 Canada Curt Giles D L 22 1978 The Pas, Manitoba
3 Canada Fred Barrett D L 31 1970 Ottawa, Ontario
4 Canada Craig Hartsburg D L 21 1979 Stratford, Ontario
5 Canada Brad Maxwell D R 23 1977 Brandon, Manitoba
6 Canada Paul Shmyr (C) D L 35 1979 Cudworth, Saskatchewan
7 United States Neal Broten C L 21 1979 Roseau, Minnesota
8 Sweden Kent-Erik Andersson RW R 29 1977 Örebro, Sweden
9 Canada Kevin Maxwell C R 21 1979 Edmonton, Alberta
10 United States Gordie Roberts D L 23 1980 Detroit, Michigan
11 Canada Tom McCarthy LW L 20 1979 Toronto, Ontario
14 Canada Brad Palmer LW L 19 1980 Duncan, British Columbia
15 Canada Bobby Smith C L 23 1978 North Sydney, Nova Scotia
16 United States Mike Polich LW L 28 1978 Hibbing, Minnesota
17 Canada Tim Young C R 26 1975 Scarborough, Ontario
20 Canada Dino Ciccarelli RW R 21 1980 Sarnia, Ontario
21 United States Jack Carlson LW L 26 1979 Virginia, Minnesota
23 Canada Greg Smith D L 25 1978 Ponoka, Alberta
25 Canada Al MacAdam RW L 29 1978 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
26 Canada Steve Payne LW L 22 1978 Toronto, Ontario
27 Canada Gilles Meloche G L 30 1978 Montreal, Quebec
28 United States Steve Christoff C R 23 1978 Springfield, Illinois
29 United States Tom Younghans RW R 28 1976 Saint Paul, Minnesota
31 Canada Ken Solheim LW L 20 1981 Hythe, Alberta
33 Canada Don Beaupre G L 19 1980 Waterloo, Ontario

New York Islanders
No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
1 Canada Roland Melanson G L 20 1979 Moncton, New Brunswick
3 Canada Jean Potvin D L 32 1979 Ottawa, Ontario
4 Canada Bob Lorimer D L 27 1973 Toronto, Ontario
5 Canada Denis Potvin (C) D L 27 1973 Vanier, Ontario
6 United States Ken Morrow D R 24 1976 Davison, Michigan
7 Sweden Stefan Persson D L 26 1974 Bjurholm, Sweden
8 Canada Garry Howatt LW L 28 1972 Grand Centre, Alberta
9 Canada Clark Gillies LW L 27 1974 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
11 Canada Wayne Merrick C L 29 1977 Sarnia, Ontario
12 Canada Duane Sutter RW R 21 1979 Viking, Alberta
14 Canada Bob Bourne LW L 26 1974 Kindersley, Saskatchewan
16 Canada Mike McEwen D L 24 1981 Hornepayne, Ontario
19 Canada Bryan Trottier C L 24 1974 Val Marie, Saskatchewan
22 Canada Mike Bossy RW R 24 1977 Montreal, Quebec
23 Sweden Bob Nystrom RW R 28 1972 Stockholm, Sweden
24 Canada Gord Lane D L 28 1979 Brandon, Manitoba
25 Canada Billy Carroll C L 22 1979 Toronto, Ontario
26 United States Dave Langevin D L 26 1974 Saint Paul, Minnesota
27 Canada John Tonelli LW L 24 1977 Hamilton, Ontario
28 Sweden Anders Kallur RW L 28 1979 Ludvika, Sweden
29 Canada Hector Marini RW R 24 1977 Timmins, Ontario
31 Canada Billy Smith G L 30 1972 Perth, Ontario
91 Canada Butch Goring C L 31 1980 St. Boniface, Manitoba

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1981 Stanley Cup was presented to Islanders captain Denis Potvin by NHL President John Ziegler following the Islanders 5–1 win over the North Stars in game five.

The following Islanders players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1980–81 New York Islanders

Players

Coaching and administrative staff

Stanley Cup engraving
  • † Lorne Henning (Center) played nine regular season and one playoff game. He was the last playing-coach to win the Stanley Cup.
  • †† Jean Potvin 18 games regular season games and did not dress in the playoffs. He spent the rest of year as a broadcaster. Potvin's name was put on the cup in 1981, even though he did not officially qualify.
  • A new ring was created in 1993 for the winners from 1979 to 1991. New York Islanders was misspelled. NEW YORK ILANDERS missing the first "S". Name was spelled correctly on the Replica Cup also created in 1993.

See also

References
  • Total Stanley Cup. NHL. 2000.
  • Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.
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