1979–80 Quebec Nordiques season

The 1979–80 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques eighth season overall, however, it marked as their expansion season in the National Hockey League. Quebec had played their previous seven seasons in the now defunct World Hockey Association. In 1978–79, their last season in the WHA, Quebec finished the year with the second best record, as they had a 41-34-5 record, earning 87 points. The Nordiques were then swept by the Winnipeg Jets in the WHA semi-finals. In the NHL, the team finished out of the playoffs.

Off-season

During the off-season, the Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, and Winnipeg Jets were admitted into the NHL as expansion teams. Quebec would be placed in the Adams Division in the Wales Conference. The other teams in the Nordiques division was the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota North Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs. Quebec held on to head coach Jacques Demers.

As many of the WHA players had their rights held by NHL teams, those NHL teams were allowed to reclaim their players. In order to keep the NHL from taking all the talent from the WHA-turned-NHL teams, each incoming franchise was allowed to protect up to two goaltenders and two skaters. These were designated as "priority selections" in the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft. The Nordiques made a deal with the Chicago Black Hawks, in which Quebec would keep Real Cloutier in exchange for the Nordiques first round draft pick in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft.

Regular season

Quebec played in their first ever NHL game on October 10, 1979, at Le Colisée in Quebec City, as the Nordiques lost 5-3 to the Atlanta Flames. The Nords won their first ever NHL game in their third game, defeating the Colorado Rockies 5-2 in Denver, Colorado. During the first half of the season, the Nordiques were very competitive, earning a 17-17-6 record as they held on to a playoff position, however, wins were far and few between in the second half of the year, as Quebec fell into last place, and finished the year 25-44-11, earning 61 points, and missing the post-season.

Offensively, the Nordiques were led by Real Cloutier, who in his first NHL season, had a team best 42 goals and 47 assists for 89 points. Real Cloutier scored three goals in his National League Debut.^[1] Marc Tardif had a solid season, scoring 33 goals and 68 points, while the Nordiques first round draft pick, Michel Goulet, had 22 goals and 54 points to finish in third in team scoring. On the blue line, Dale Hoganson led the way, earning 40 points, while Pierre Lacroix scored 9 goals and 30 points. Paul Baxter led the club with 145 penalty minutes.

In goal, Michel Dion saw most of the action, appearing in 50 games, earning a team high 15 victories and a 3.70 GAA, as well as two shutouts.

Season standings

Adams Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Buffalo Sabres	80	47	17	16	318	201	110
Boston Bruins	80	46	21	13	310	234	105
Minnesota North Stars	80	36	28	16	311	253	88
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	35	40	5	304	327	75
Quebec Nordiques	80	25	44	11	248	313	61

^[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.

Schedule and results

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts	Attendance
1	October 10	Atlanta Flames	5–3	Quebec Nordiques	0–1–0	0	10,350
2	October 13	Quebec Nordiques	1–3	Montreal Canadiens	0–2–0	0	17,049
3	October 18	Quebec Nordiques	5–2	Colorado Rockies	1–2–0	2	6,389
4	October 19	Quebec Nordiques	3–6	Edmonton Oilers	1–3–0	2	15,386
5	October 21	Quebec Nordiques	3–0	Chicago Black Hawks	2–3–0	4	9,893
6	October 24	Hartford Whalers	2–2	Quebec Nordiques	2–3–1	5	10,445
7	October 27	Buffalo Sabres	3–0	Quebec Nordiques	2–4–1	5	10,896
8	October 28	Montreal Canadiens	4–5	Quebec Nordiques	3–4–1	7	11,908
9	October 31	Winnipeg Jets	5–2	Quebec Nordiques	3–5–1	7	10,430
10	November 2	Quebec Nordiques	4–4	Atlanta Flames	3–5–2	8	11,356
11	November 4	Detroit Red Wings	1–5	Quebec Nordiques	4–5–2	10	10,795
12	November 7	Philadelphia Flyers	4–3	Quebec Nordiques	4–6–2	10	11,899
13	November 10	Quebec Nordiques	4–5	New York Rangers	4–7–2	10	17,417
14	November 11	St. Louis Blues	1–4	Quebec Nordiques	5–7–2	12	10,260
15	November 14	Quebec Nordiques	2–7	Minnesota North Stars	5–8–2	12	10,955
16	November 16	Quebec Nordiques	3–2	Winnipeg Jets	6–8–2	14	12,401
17	November 18	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–4	Quebec Nordiques	7–8–2	16	10,577
18	November 20	Boston Bruins	5–3	Quebec Nordiques	7–9–2	16	11,897
19	November 22	Quebec Nordiques	4–7	Boston Bruins	7–10–2	16	11,699
20	November 24	Quebec Nordiques	4–4	Hartford Whalers	7–10–3	17	7,627
21	November 25	Washington Capitals	2–2	Quebec Nordiques	7–10–4	18	10,643
22	November 27	Quebec Nordiques	2–4	St. Louis Blues	7–11–4	18	8,360
23	November 28	Quebec Nordiques	2–7	Pittsburgh Penguins	7–12–4	18	8,396
24	December 1	Quebec Nordiques	2–7	Washington Capitals	7–13–4	18	6,892
25	December 2	Vancouver Canucks	1–3	Quebec Nordiques	8–13-4	20	10,567
26	December 4	Colorado Rockies	3–1	Quebec Nordiques	8–14–4	20	10,299
27	December 6	St. Louis Blues	2–5	Quebec Nordiques	9–14–4	22	10,347
28	December 9	Los Angeles Kings	2–3	Quebec Nordiques	10–14–4	24	11,168
29	December 12	Winnipeg Jets	0–5	Quebec Nordiques	11–14–4	26	10,326
30	December 13	Quebec Nordiques	4–6	Philadelphia Flyers	11–15–4	26	17,007
31	December 15	Quebec Nordiques	4–4	Detroit Red Wings	11–15–5	27	15,609
32	December 16	Pittsburgh Penguins	1–4	Quebec Nordiques	12–15–5	29	10,279
33	December 19	Colorado Rockies	3–6	Quebec Nordiques	13–15–5	31	10,806
34	December 23	Quebec Nordiques	3–1	Buffalo Sabres	14–15–5	33	16,433
35	December 27	Quebec Nordiques	0–3	Los Angeles Kings	14–16–5	33	9,978
36	December 29	Quebec Nordiques	2–6	Vancouver Canucks	14–17–5	33	13,615
37	December 30	Quebec Nordiques	2–1	Edmonton Oilers	15–17–5	35	15,423
38	January 2	New York Rangers	3–3	Quebec Nordiques	15–17–6	36	11,898
39	January 5	Quebec Nordiques	7–3	Toronto Maple Leafs	16–17–6	38	16,485
40	January 9	Edmonton Oilers	2–3	Quebec Nordiques	17–17–6	40	10,480
41	January 11	Quebec Nordiques	3–4	Atlanta Flames	17–18–6	40	9,246
42	January 12	Quebec Nordiques	2–8	St. Louis Blues	17–19–6	40	15,110
43	January 16	Boston Bruins	3–1	Quebec Nordiques	17–20–6	40	11,899
44	January 19	Quebec Nordiques	1–3	New York Islanders	17–21–6	40	14,995
45	January 20	Washington Capitals	2–3	Quebec Nordiques	18–21–6	42	10,097
46	January 23	Minnesota North Stars	4–6	Quebec Nordiques	19-21–6	44	10,710
47	January 26	Quebec Nordiques	1–1	Washington Capitals	19–21–7	45	9,479
48	January 27	Detroit Red Wings	7–6	Quebec Nordiques	19–22–7	45	10,765
49	January 30	Atlanta Flames	4–1	Quebec Nordiques	19–23–7	45	10,776
50	February 2	Quebec Nordiques	2–7	Boston Bruins	19–24–7	45	12,298
51	February 3	New York Rangers	4–5	Quebec Nordiques	20–24–7	47	11,075
52	February 6	Chicago Black Hawks	3–3	Quebec Nordiques	20–24–8	48	11,073
53	February 9	Quebec Nordiques	0–5	New York Islanders	20–25–8	48	14,995
54	February 10	Quebec Nordiques	1–3	New York Rangers	20–26–8	48	17,415
55	February 14	Quebec Nordiques	1–5	Montreal Canadiens	20–27–8	48	16,970
56	February 17	Quebec Nordiques	5–6	Winnipeg Jets	20–28–8	48	12,328
57	February 18	Quebec Nordiques	2–6	Minnesota North Stars	20–29–8	48	8,283
58	February 19	Buffalo Sabres	3–1	Quebec Nordiques	20–30–8	48	10,722
59	February 23	Quebec Nordiques	1–2	Pittsburgh Penguins	20–31–8	48	14,116
60	February 24	Pittsburgh Penguins	0–2	Quebec Nordiques	21–31–8	50	10,227
61	February 26	Hartford Whalers	5–9	Quebec Nordiques	22–31–8	52	10,099
62	February 27	New York Islanders	5–3	Quebec Nordiques	22–32–8	52	10,619
63	March 2	Los Angeles Kings	4–3	Quebec Nordiques	22–33–8	52	10,777
64	March 5	Minnesota North Stars	3-3	Quebec Nordiques	22–33–9	53	10,193
65	March 8	Quebec Nordiques	2–3	Toronto Maple Leafs	22–34–9	53	16,485
66	March 9	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–5	Quebec Nordiques	23–34-9	55	10,241
67	March 12	Edmonton Oilers	6–3	Quebec Nordiques	23–35–9	55	10,619
68	March 16	Vancouver Canucks	3–2	Quebec Nordiques	23–36–9	55	10,699
69	March 19	Quebec Nordiques	2–5	Chicago Black Hawks	23–37–9	55	10,035
70	March 20	Quebec Nordiques	6–2	Colorado Rockies	24–37–9	57	8,732
71	March 22	Quebec Nordiques	1-4	Los Angeles Kings	24–38-9	57	10,635
72	March 23	Quebec Nordiques	6–2	Vancouver Canucks	25–38–9	59	13,620
73	March 26	Chicago Black Hawks	7–2	Quebec Nordiques	25–39–9	59	10,718
74	March 27	Quebec Nordiques	2–5	Philadelphia Flyers	25–40–9	59	17,077
75	March 29	Quebec Nordiques	7–9	Detroit Red Wings	25–41–9	59	16,485
76	March 30	New York Islanders	9–6	Quebec Nordiques	25–42–9	59	10,412
77	April 1	Philadelphia Flyers	3–3	Quebec Nordiques	25–42–10	60	10,706
78	April 3	Quebec Nordiques	3–8	Buffalo Sabres	25–43–10	60	16,433
79	April 4	Quebec Nordiques	2–9	Hartford Whalers	25–44–10	60	14,356
80	April 6	Montreal Canadiens	4–4	Quebec Nordiques	25–44–11	61	11,005

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Real Cloutier	67	42	47	89	12
Marc Tardif	58	33	35	68	30
Michel Goulet	77	22	32	54	48
Robbie Ftorek	52	18	33	51	28
Rich Leduc	75	21	27	48	49

Goaltending

Player	GP	Min	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
Michel Dion	50	2773	15	25	6	171	2	3.70
Ron Low	15	828	5	7	2	51	0	3.70
Goran Hogosta	21	1199	5	12	3	83	1	4.15

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;

1979 NHL Expansion Draft

The Nordiques participated in the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft, which was held on June 13, 1979.

Quebec Nordiques selections

#	Player	Drafted from	Drafted by
1.	Blair Stewart (F)	Washington Capitals	Quebec Nordiques
2.	Terry Martin (F)	Buffalo Sabres	Quebec Nordiques
3.	Ron Low (G)	Detroit Red Wings	Quebec Nordiques
4.	John Smrke (LW)	St. Louis Blues	Quebec Nordiques
5.	Jamie Masters (D)	St. Louis Blues	Quebec Nordiques
6.	Dave Farrish (D)	New York Rangers	Quebec Nordiques
7.	Gerry Hart (D)	New York Islanders	Quebec Nordiques
8.	Pierre Plante (RW)	New York Rangers	Quebec Nordiques
9.	John Baby (D)	Minnesota North Stars	Quebec Nordiques
10.	Dave Parro (G)	Boston Bruins	Quebec Nordiques
11.	Ken Kuzyk (RW)	Minnesota North Stars	Quebec Nordiques
12.	Roland Cloutier (C)	Detroit Red Wings	Quebec Nordiques
13.	Jamie Masters (D)	St. Louis Blues	Quebec Nordiques
14.	Hartland Monahan (F)	Los Angeles Kings	Quebec Nordiques
15.	Ron Andruff (C)	Colorado Rockies	Quebec Nordiques
16.	Alain Cote (LW)	Montreal Canadiens	Quebec Nordiques
17.	Lars Zetterstrom (D)	Vancouver Canucks	Quebec Nordiques

Roster

1979-80 Quebec Nordiques

Goaltenders

1 – Ron Low
29 – Goran Hogosta
30 – Michel Dion

Defensemen

2 – Wally Weir
4 – Paul Baxter
5 – Garry Lariviere
6 – Gerry Hart
22 – François Lacombe
23 – Dave Farrish
24 – Terry Johnson
25 – Barry Legge
26 – Pierre Lacroix
28 – Greg Tebbutt
33 – Dale Hoganson

Wingers

8 – Marc Tardif – C
9 – Real Cloutier
11 – Jamie Hislop
14 – Pierre Plante
15 – Curt Brackenbury
16 – Michel Goulet
18 – John Smrke
19 – Alain Cote
20 – Terry Martin
22 – Reg Thomas
23 – Jacques Richard
24 – Gilles Bilodeau
25 – Bernie Saunders
27 – Richard David
28 – Louis Sleigher
28 – Paul Stewart

Centres

7 – Robbie Ftorek
10 – Rich Leduc
12 – Bob Fitchner
17 – Blair Stewart
22 – John Stewart
23 – Roland Cloutier
Coach: Jacques Demers

Draft picks

Quebec's draft picks from the 1979 NHL Entry Draft which was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, on August 9, 1979.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
1	20	Michel Goulet	Canada	Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
2	41	Dale Hunter	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
3	62	Lee Norwood	United States	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
4	83	Anton Šťastný	Czechoslovakia	Slovan Bratislava (Czech.)
5	104	Pierre Lacroix	Canada	Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)
6	125	Scott McGeown	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)

Transactions

The Nordiques were involved in the following transactions during the 1979–80 season.

Trades

June 9, 1979	To Chicago Black Hawks 1st round pick in 1980 – Denis Savard	To Quebec Nordiques *Real Cloutier
June 9, 1979	To Montreal Canadiens 3rd round pick in 1980 – John Newberry 2nd round pick in 1981 – Lars Eriksson	To Quebec Nordiques **Marc Tardif Richard David
June 13, 1979	To St. Louis Blues Hartland Monahan	To Quebec Nordiques Cash
June 15, 1979	To Washington Capitals Dave Parro	To Quebec Nordiques Nelson Burton
June 28, 1979	To Winnipeg Jets Barry Melrose	To Quebec Nordiques Jamie Hislop Barry Legge
August 1, 1979	To New York Islanders Richard Brodeur	To Quebec Nordiques Goran Hogosta
December 13, 1979	To Toronto Maple Leafs Dave Farrish Terry Martin	To Quebec Nordiques Reg Thomas
March 11, 1980	To Edmonton Oilers Ron Low	To Quebec Nordiques Ron Chipperfield
May 26, 1980	To Winnipeg Jets Barry Legge	To Quebec Nordiques Cash

*Black Hawks promised to not make Real Cloutier one of its priority selections in the 1979 NHL reclaim draft
**Canadiens promised to not take Danny Geoffrion and Alain Cote rather than Marc Tardif and/or Richard David in the 1979 NHL reclaim draft

Waivers

August 13, 1979	From Minnesota North Stars Greg Tebbutt

Free agents

Player	Former Team
Bernie Saunders	Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
Robbie Ftorek	Cincinnati Stingers (WHA)
Frantisek Cernik	TJ Vitkovice (Czechoslovakia)
Dave Pichette	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
Jacques Richard	Buffalo Sabres
Miroslav Frycer	TJ Vitkovice (Czechoslovakia)

Player	New Team
Ken Kuzyk	Minnesota North Stars

References

↑ Sports Illustrated, Oct. 27, 2008, p.24, Vol. 109, No. 16.
↑ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.

External links

Quebec Nordiques seasons

1970s	1970–71 . 1971–72 . 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

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 Colorado

1979–80 NHL season

Patrick	Atlanta NY Islanders NY Rangers 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

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