The 1979–80

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

season was the 13th

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

in North Stars history. The previous year's merger with the

Cleveland Barons The name Cleveland Barons has been used by three professional hockey teams and one junior team. *Cleveland Barons (NHL), the National Hockey League team that played between 1976 and 1978 *Cleveland Barons (1937–1973), the original American Hockey ...

began to pay off as the North Stars finished with a winning record for the first time in seven years, and finished in third place in the

Adams Division The NHL's Adams Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Prince of Wales Conference. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. It was named in honour of Charles Francis Adams, the founder of the Boston Bruins. It is the forerunner of the ...

with 88 points. Former Baron Al MacAdam led the team in scoring with 93 points and captured the Bill Masterton Trophy. In the playoffs, the North Stars swept the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

in three games in the preliminary round. In the quarterfinals, they shocked the hockey world by eliminating the 4-time Stanley Cup champion

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

in seven games. The upset earned the North Stars a trip to the semi-finals, where their cinderella run came to an end when they fell in five games to the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

Offseason

NHL Draft

Regular season

Final standings

Schedule and results

Transactions

Trades

Player statistics

Skaters

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes''

Goaltenders

''Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average''

Playoffs

*NHL 1st Round **4/8/1980 Toronto Maple Leafs 6 - 3 (Stars lead 1 - 0) **4/9/1980 Toronto Maple Leafs 7 - 2 (Stars lead 2 - 0) **4/11/1980 at Toronto Maple Leafs 4 - 3 (Stars win 3 - 0) *NHL Quarter-finals **4/16/1980 at Montreal Canadiens 3 - 0 (Stars lead 1 - 0) **4/17/1980 at Montreal Canadiens 4 - 1 (Stars lead 2 - 0) **4/19/1980 Montreal Canadiens 0 - 5 (Stars lead 2 - 1) **4/20/1980 Montreal Canadiens 1 - 5 (Series tied 2 - 2) **4/22/1980 at Montreal Canadiens 2 - 6 (Canadiens lead 3 - 2) **4/24/1980 Montreal Canadiens 5 - 2 (Series tied 3 - 3) **4/27/1980 at Montreal Canadiens 3 - 2 (Stars win 4 - 3) **''Series winning goal scored by Al MacAdam.'' *NHL Semi-finals **4/29/1980 at Philadelphia Flyers 6 - 5 (Stars lead 1 - 0) **5/1/1980 at Philadelphia Flyers 0 - 7 (Series tied 1 - 1) **5/4/1980 Philadelphia Flyers 3 - 5 (Flyers lead 2 - 1) **5/6/1980 Philadelphia Flyers 2 - 3 (Flyers lead 3 - 1) **5/8/1980 at Philadelphia Flyers 3 - 7 (Flyers win 4 - 1)

Awards and records

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey. It is named after Bill Masterton, the only player in NHL h ...

: , , Al MacAdam,

References

North Stars on Hockey Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:1979-80 Minnesota North Stars season Minnesota North Stars seasons

Minnesota Twins Minnesota