1980–81 NHL season

The 1980–81 NHL season was the 64th season of the National Hockey League. The Flames relocated from Atlanta to Calgary. The New York Islanders were the top regular season team and the top playoff team, winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup by defeating the Minnesota North Stars in five games.

League business
This was the first season that the Calgary Flames played in Calgary, Alberta. Previously, they were the Atlanta Flames and played in Atlanta.

Regular season
The season featured notable individual scoring milestones.

Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers broke Bobby Orr's single season assist record, scoring 109 assists, and Phil Esposito's point record, scoring 164 points. He won his second of an unmatched eight straight Hart Trophies as the league's most valuable player

Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders became only the second man in NHL history to score 50 goals in his first 50 games. In the 50th game, played at his home rink, he had 48 goals going into the 3rd and final period (before the advent of overtime games). Bossy admitted being so embarrassed and upset that he contemplated not going out on the ice for the final period. However, Bossy got his 49th goal with 5:15 left to go in the game and the 50th with 1:50 remaining, sending the Nassau Coliseum into a delirium. Maurice Richard, the only other man to accomplish this feat, was on hand to congratulate Bossy.

Bossy's Islanders finished as regular season champions with 110 points with the St. Louis Blues finishing a close second at 107 points.

Final standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

Playoffs
The Stanley Cup playoffs would see the New York Islanders dominate on their way to winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup. Notably, in the first round against the Maple Leafs, the Isles swept a three-game series, outscoring Toronto 20–4. The Islanders would go on to defeat Edmonton in six games in the quarter-finals, and in the semi-finals, the Islanders swept the Rangers and outscored them 22–8.

In game one of the Edmonton-Montreal series, Wayne Gretzky had five assists. This was a single game playoff record. Another distinction was in the Minnesota North Stars' sweep of the Boston Bruins; the two games the North Stars won in Boston Garden were the first games that the team had won in Boston, either regular season or playoff, since the team had joined the NHL in 1967.

Stanley Cup Finals
The Islanders defeated the Minnesota North Stars in the finals in five games. The Islanders were defeated only three times during the entire four round playoff run.

Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Source: NHL.

Patrick Division

 * Calgary Flames: Al MacNeil
 * New York Islanders: Al Arbour
 * New York Rangers: Fred Shero and Craig Patrick
 * Philadelphia Flyers: Pat Quinn
 * Washington Capitals: Gary Green

Adams Division

 * Boston Bruins: Gerry Cheevers
 * Buffalo Sabres: Scotty Bowman
 * Minnesota North Stars: Glen Sonmor
 * Quebec Nordiques: Maurice Filion and Michel Bergeron
 * Toronto Maple Leafs: Joe Crozier

Norris Division

 * Detroit Red Wings: Wayne Maxner
 * Hartford Whalers: Don Blackburn
 * Los Angeles Kings: Bob Berry
 * Montreal Canadiens: Claude Ruel
 * Pittsburgh Penguins: Eddie Johnston

Smythe Division

 * Chicago Black Hawks: Keith Magnuson
 * Colorado Rockies: Bill MacMillan
 * Edmonton Oilers: Bryan Watson
 * St. Louis Blues: Red Berenson
 * Vancouver Canucks: Harry Neale
 * Winnipeg Jets: Mike Smith and Tom Watt

Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1980–81 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
 * Barry Pederson, Boston Bruins
 * Steve Kasper, Boston Bruins
 * Denis Savard, Chicago Black Hawks
 * Steve Larmer, Chicago Black Hawks
 * Andy Moog, Edmonton Oilers
 * Charlie Huddy, Edmonton Oilers
 * Glenn Anderson, Edmonton Oilers
 * Jari Kurri, Edmonton Oilers
 * Paul Coffey, Edmonton Oilers
 * Larry Murphy, Los Angeles Kings
 * Dino Ciccarelli, Minnesota North Stars
 * Don Beaupre, Minnesota North Stars
 * Neal Broten, Minnesota North Stars
 * Doug Wickenheiser, Montreal Canadiens
 * Guy Carbonneau, Montreal Canadiens
 * Rick Wamsley, Montreal Canadiens
 * Brent Sutter, New York Islanders
 * Rollie Melanson, New York Islanders
 * Tim Kerr, Philadelphia Flyers
 * Mike Bullard, Pittsburgh Penguins
 * Anton Stastny, Quebec Nordiques
 * Peter Stastny, Quebec Nordiques
 * Dale Hunter, Quebec Nordiques
 * Paul MacLean, St. Louis Blues
 * Dave Babych, Winnipeg Jets

Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1980–81 (listed with their last team):
 * Jean Ratelle, Boston Bruins
 * Terry Harper, Colorado Rockies
 * Pete Mahovlich, Detroit Red Wings
 * Tom Bladon, Detroit Red Wings
 * Phil Esposito, New York Rangers
 * Walt Tkaczuk, New York Rangers
 * Ron Ellis, Toronto Maple Leafs
 * Dennis Kearns, Vancouver Canucks
 * Bobby Schmautz, Vancouver Canucks
 * Dennis Ververgaert, Washington Capitals
 * Guy Charron, Washington Capitals
 * Wayne Stephenson, Washington Capitals
 * Jude Drouin, Winnipeg Jets

Broadcasting
Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games.

This was the first season that U.S. national broadcasts were only on cable television. ESPN and USA continued to carry slates of regular season and playoff games for the second consecutive season.