1979–80 AHL season

The 1979–80 AHL season was the 44th season of the American Hockey League. Ten teams were scheduled to play 80 games each. The New Haven Nighthawks finished first overall in the regular season. The Hershey Bears won their sixth Calder Cup championship.

Team changes

• The Adirondack Red Wings join the AHL as an expansion team, based in Glens Falls, New York, playing in the North Division.
• The Philadelphia Firebirds move to Syracuse, New York becoming the Syracuse Firebirds.

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points;

North	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
New Brunswick Hawks	79	44	27	8	96	325	271
Nova Scotia Voyageurs	79	43	29	7	93	331	271
Maine Mariners	80	41	28	11	93	307	266
Adirondack Red Wings	80	32	37	11	75	297	309
Springfield Indians	80	31	37	12	74	292	302

South	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
New Haven Nighthawks	80	46	25	9	101	350	305
Hershey Bears	80	35	39	6	76	289	273
Syracuse Firebirds	80	31	42	7	69	303	364
Rochester Americans	80	28	42	10	66	260	327
Binghamton Dusters	80	24	49	7	55	268	334

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Norm Dube	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	79	40	61	101	49
Keith Acton	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	75	45	53	98	38
Gordie Clark	Maine Mariners	79	47	43	90	64
Bruce Boudreau	New Brunswick	75	36	54	90	47
Bill Lochead	New Haven Nighthawks	68	46	43	89	90
Rick Shinske	Adirondack Red Wings	78	22	58	80	20
Paul Evans	Maine Mariners	80	21	56	77	66
Rick Meagher	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	64	32	44	76	53
Dan Metivier	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	76	35	40	75	29
Gord Brooks	Syracuse Firebirds	77	34	41	75	38

• complete list

Calder Cup playoffs

	Division Semifinals					Division Finals					Calder Cup Final
	1	New Brunswick	4
	4	Adirondack	1
						1	New Brunswick	4
	North Division
						3	Maine	2
	2	Nova Scotia	2
	3	Maine	4
											N1	New Brunswick	2
											S2	Hershey	4
	1	New Haven	4
	4	Rochester	0
						1	New Haven	2
	South Division
						2	Hershey	4
	2	Hershey	4
	3	Syracuse	0

Trophy and award winners

Team awards

Calder Cup Playoff champions:	Hershey Bears
F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy Regular Season champions, North Division:	New Brunswick Hawks
John D. Chick Trophy Regular Season champions, South Division:	New Haven Nighthawks

Individual awards

Les Cunningham Award Most valuable player:	Norm Dube - Nova Scotia Voyageurs
John B. Sollenberger Trophy Top point scorer:	Norm Dube - Nova Scotia Voyageurs
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award Rookie of the year:	Darryl Sutter - New Brunswick Hawks
Eddie Shore Award Defenceman of the year:	Rick Vasko - Adirondack Red Wings
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award Lowest goals against average:	Rick St. Croix & Robbie Moore - Maine Mariners
Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award Coach of the year:	Doug Gibson - Hershey Bears
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award Sportsmanship / Perseverance:	Norm Dube - Nova Scotia Voyageurs

Other awards

James C. Hendy Memorial Award Most outstanding executive:	Ned Harkness
James H. Ellery Memorial Awards Outstanding media coverage:	Paul Marslano, New Haven, (newspaper) Bill Brady, Springfield, (radio) Dale Darling, Maine, (television)
Ken McKenzie Award Outstanding marketing executive:	Bruce Landon, Springfield Indians

See also

• List of AHL seasons

References

• AHL official site
• AHL Hall of Fame
• HockeyDB