The 1981 Stanley Cup Finals was the

championship series In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1980–81 season, and the culmination of the

1981 Stanley Cup playoffs The 1981 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Stanley Cup playoffs, playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 8, after the conclusion of the 1980–81 NHL season. The playoffs concluded on May 21 with the champion New York Island ...

. It was contested by the Minnesota North Stars, making their first Finals appearance, and the defending champion

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

, in their second Finals appearance. The Islanders would win the best-of-seven series, four games to one, to win their second

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

championship. This would be the last all-American Finals until , when the North Stars faced the Pittsburgh Penguins. Butch Goring won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player in the playoffs.

Paths to the Finals

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 ), scoring twenty-one points (14 goals and seven assists) during the year's playoffs. The Islanders' much deeper lineup, however, won the day. ''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

New York Islanders

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

References

* * {{Navboxes, list1= {{Stanley Cup Finals {{1980–81 NHL season by team {{New York Islanders {{Minnesota North Stars {{NHL on USA {{Hockey Night in Canada Stanley Stanley Cup Finals

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New York Islanders games May 1981 sports events in the United States Sports competitions in Minnesota 1981 in sports in Minnesota Sports competitions in New York (state) 1982 in sports in New York (state)