1979–80 New York Rangers season

The 1979–80 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 54th season. Fresh off a Stanley Cup Final loss in the first year of Fred Shero as coach, the Rangers qualified for the playoffs once again, but bowed out in the second round to Shero's old team, the Philadelphia Flyers. The team's on- and off-ice activities during this campaign was the subject of Larry Sloman's 1982 book Thin Ice: A Season in Hell with the New York Rangers."Thin Ice: A Season in Hell with the New York Rangers" (review), Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 1982. Retrieved April 9, 2021

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

| 1 || 10 || @ Toronto Maple Leafs || 6 – 3 || 1–0–0

| 2 || 14 || Washington Capitals || 5 – 3 || 1–1–0

| 3 || 18 || Vancouver Canucks || 6 – 3 || 2–1–0

| 4 || 20 || @ Montreal Canadiens || 5 – 4 || 2–2–0

| 5 || 21 || Pittsburgh Penguins || 6 – 3 || 3–2–0

| 6 || 24 || Edmonton Oilers || 10 – 2 || 4–2–0

| 7 || 25 || @ Philadelphia Flyers || 5 – 2 || 4–3–0

| 8 || 27 || @ Minnesota North Stars || 7 – 2 || 4–4–0

| 9 || 28 || Hartford Whalers || 2 – 2 || 4–4–1

| 10 || 1 || @ Los Angeles Kings || 4 – 2 || 4–5–1

| 11 || 3 || @ Colorado Rockies || 7 – 2 || 4–6–1

| 12 || 4 || @ Vancouver Canucks || 4 – 2 || 5–6–1

| 13 || 7 || Los Angeles Kings || 8 – 4 || 6–6–1

| 14 || 10 || Quebec Nordiques || 5 – 4 || 7–6–1

| 15 || 11 || Pittsburgh Penguins || 4 – 1 || 7–7–1

| 16 || 13 || @ New York Islanders || 10 – 5 || 7–8–1

| 17 || 14 || Detroit Red Wings || 3 – 2 || 8–8–1

| 18 || 16 || @ Atlanta Flames || 4 – 2 || 8–9–1

| 19 || 18 || St. Louis Blues || 5 – 3 || 9–9–1

| 20 || 21 || Winnipeg Jets || 6 – 4 || 9–10–1

| 21 || 24 || @ Pittsburgh Penguins || 5 – 3 || 9–11–1

| 22 || 25 || Toronto Maple Leafs || 4 – 3 || 9–12–1

| 23 || 28 || Minnesota North Stars || 4 – 4 || 9–12–2

| 24 || 29 || @ Buffalo Sabres || 2 – 1 || 9–13–2

| 25 || 1 || @ St. Louis Blues || 2 – 0 || 10–13–2

| 26 || 3 || Montreal Canadiens || 3 – 3 || 10–13–3

| 27 || 5 || Chicago Black Hawks || 3 – 3 || 10–13–4

| 28 || 7 || @ Hartford Whalers || 7 – 4 || 11–13–4

| 29 || 9 || New York Islanders || 5 – 4 || 12–13–4

| 30 || 11 || @ Detroit Red Wings || 2 – 1 || 13–13–4

| 31 || 12 || @ Chicago Black Hawks || 5 – 2 || 14–13–4

| 32 || 15 || @ Washington Capitals || 5 – 4 || 14–14–4

| 33 || 16 || Philadelphia Flyers || 1 – 1 || 14–14–5

| 34 || 19 || Vancouver Canucks || 5 – 3 || 15–14–5

| 35 || 22 || @ Pittsburgh Penguins || 4 – 3 || 16–14–5

| 36 || 23 || Boston Bruins || 4 – 3 || 16–15–5

| 37 || 30 || Washington Capitals || 5 – 2 || 17–15–5

| 38 || 2 || @ Quebec Nordiques || 3 – 3 || 17–15–6

| 39 || 4 || Philadelphia Flyers || 5 – 3 || 17–16–6

| 40 || 6 || Atlanta Flames || 5 – 5 || 17–16–7

| 41 || 7 || Hartford Whalers || 5 – 2 || 18–16–7

| 42 || 9 || @ Detroit Red Wings || 4 – 0 || 18–17–7

| 43 || 11 || @ Edmonton Oilers || 6 – 2 || 19–17–7

| 44 || 12 || @ Winnipeg Jets || 3 – 0 || 20–17–7

| 45 || 14 || Colorado Rockies || 6 – 6 || 20–17–8

| 46 || 16 || Winnipeg Jets || 4 – 1 || 21–17–8

| 47 || 19 || @ Boston Bruins || 6 – 3 || 21–18–8

| 48 || 20 || Chicago Black Hawks || 2 – 1 || 21–19–8

| 49 || 22 || @ Los Angeles Kings || 5 – 4 || 22–19–8

| 50 || 23 || @ Vancouver Canucks || 6 – 4 || 23–19–8

| 51 || 27 || @ Colorado Rockies || 3 – 3 || 23–19–9

| 52 || 31 || @ Buffalo Sabres || 6 – 2 || 23–20–9

| 53 || 2 || @ Washington Capitals || 6 – 3 || 24–20–9

| 54 || 3 || @ Quebec Nordiques || 5 – 4 || 24–21–9

| 55 || 10 || Quebec Nordiques || 3 – 1 || 25–21–9

| 56 || 13 || @ Chicago Black Hawks || 3 – 1 || 25–22–9

| 57 || 17 || Toronto Maple Leafs || 6 – 4 || 25–23–9

| 58 || 18 || @ Hartford Whalers || 6 – 4 || 25–24–9

| 59 || 20 || Edmonton Oilers || 4 – 1 || 26–24–9

| 60 || 23 || @ Minnesota North Stars || 6 – 3 || 26–25–9

| 61 || 24 || New York Islanders || 8 – 2 || 27–25–9

| 62 || 27 || Los Angeles Kings || 5 – 4 || 28–25–9

| 63 || 28 || @ Boston Bruins || 5 – 2 || 29–25–9

| 64 || 2 || Boston Bruins || 2 – 1 || 30–25–9

| 65 || 5 || Buffalo Sabres || 4 – 2 || 31–25–9

| 66 || 8 || @ Montreal Canadiens || 5 – 2 || 31–26–9

| 67 || 9 || Minnesota North Stars || 4 – 2 || 32–26–9

| 68 || 12 || Colorado Rockies || 6 – 0 || 33–26–9

| 69 || 15 || @ Toronto Maple Leafs || 8 – 4 || 34–26–9

| 70 || 16 || St. Louis Blues || 5 – 2 || 35–26–9

| 71 || 19 || @ Edmonton Oilers || 4 – 2 || 35–27–9

| 72 || 21 || @ Winnipeg Jets || 4 – 2 || 35–28–9

| 73 || 23 || Montreal Canadiens || 6 – 1 || 35–29–9

| 74 || 25 || Buffalo Sabres || 3 – 3 || 35–29–10

| 75 || 28 || @ Atlanta Flames || 4 – 2 || 35–30–10

| 76 || 29 || @ St. Louis Blues || 4 – 3 || 36–30–10

| 77 || 31 || Detroit Red Wings || 7 – 5 || 37–30–10

| 78 || 2 || Atlanta Flames || 7 – 3 || 37–31–10

| 79 || 5 || @ New York Islanders || 2 – 1 || 37–32–10

| 80 || 6 || @ Philadelphia Flyers || 8 – 3 || 38–32–10

Legend:

Playoffs

| 1 || April 8 || Atlanta Flames || 1 – 2 || New York Rangers || OT || New York Rangers lead series 1-0

| 2 || April 9 || Atlanta Flames || 1 – 5 || New York Rangers || || New York Rangers lead series 2-0

| 3 || April 11 || New York Rangers || 2 – 4 || Atlanta Flames || || New York Rangers lead series 2-1

| 4 || April 12 || New York Rangers || 5 – 2 || Atlanta Flames || || New York Rangers win series 3-1

| 1 || April 16 || New York Rangers || 1 – 2 || Philadelphia Flyers || || Philadelphia leads series 1-0

| 2 || April 17 || New York Rangers || 1 – 4 || Philadelphia Flyers || || Philadelphia leads series 2-0

| 3 || April 19 || Philadelphia Flyers || 3 – 0 || New York Rangers || || Philadelphia leads series 3-0

| 4 || April 20 || Philadelphia Flyers || 2 – 4 || New York Rangers || || Philadelphia leads series 3-1

| 5 || April 22 || New York Rangers || 1 – 3 || Philadelphia Flyers || || Philadelphia wins series 4-1

Legend:

Player statistics Skaters

Regular season Player 80 34 44 78 -13 73 79 25 48 73 -15 97 80 32 39 71 13 21 75 29 33 62 20 38 † 61 14 45 59 16 98 76 21 37 58 -11 103 50 14 44 58 15 20 73 28 22 50 -6 37 ‡ 56 23 19 42 -11 16 76 12 25 37 19 36 77 12 25 37 10 186 78 14 21 35 3 60 79 8 23 31 0 142 55 10 20 30 1 26 66 3 20 23 -1 118 55 7 6 13 -6 17 25 4 7 11 -5 2 31 4 7 11 0 2 45 4 6 10 -3 20 ‡ 9 1 7 8 3 8 20 2 5 7 -12 6 17 0 5 5 -10 4 ‡ 6 3 1 4 -1 7 ‡ 7 2 2 4 -1 10 † 12 0 3 3 3 37 14 1 1 2 -3 21 23 1 1 2 -5 43 20 0 1 1 -2 76 2 0 0 0 -1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 0 0 -5 4

Playoffs Player 9 5 2 7 11 9 0 6 6 2 9 0 6 6 10 9 3 3 6 8 9 1 4 5 6 9 3 2 5 7 9 2 2 4 4 9 0 4 4 10 9 1 2 3 6 5 1 2 3 9 8 2 1 3 8 9 0 2 2 8 7 1 0 1 42 7 1 0 1 24 3 0 1 1 2 6 1 0 1 0 9 0 1 1 25 7 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 2 9 0 0 0 8

Goaltenders

Goaltenders Regular season Player 41 2306 20 15 4 122 3.17 2 27 1391 9 8 6 79 3.41 1 12 668 4 7 0 44 3.95 0 8 435 5 2 0 33 4.55 0

Playoffs Player 9 541 4 5 21 2.33 0

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only. ‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

Draft picks New York's picks at the 1979 NHL entry draft in Montreal, Canada. Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League) 1 13 Doug Sulliman LW Kitchener Rangers (OHA) 2 34 Ed Hospodar D Ottawa 67's (OHA) 4 76 Pat Conacher C Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) 5 97 Dan Makuch RW Clarkson University (NCAA) 6 118 Stan Adams C Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA) References

External links Rangers on Hockey Database