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.

1979–80 Quebec Nordiques
Division5th Adams
Conference10th Wales
1979–80 record25–44–11
Home record17–16–7
Road record8–28–4
Goals for248
Goals against313
Team information
General managerMaurice Filion
CoachJacques Demers
CaptainMarc Tardif
ArenaColisée de Québec
Average attendance10,742 [1]
Minor league affiliate(s)Syracuse Firebirds (AHL)
Team leaders
GoalsRéal Cloutier (42)
AssistsRéal Cloutier (47)
PointsRéal Cloutier (89)
Penalty minutesPaul Baxter (145)
Plus/minusRobbie Ftorek (+6)
WinsMichel Dion (15)
Goals against averageMichel Dion (3.70)

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. Quebec made a deal with the Montreal Canadiens in which Montreal selected Dan Geoffrion and Alain Cote from the Nordiques, rather than Marc Tardif and Richard David. In exchange for this, the Nordiques relinquished a third round pick in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, a second round pick in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, and that the Nordiques would draft Alain Cote from the Canadiens at the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft.

On June 28, 1979, the Nordiques acquired Jamie Hislop from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Barry Legge. Hislop played with the Cincinnati Stingers in the 1978-79, as he scored 30 goals and 70 points in 80 games.

The Nordiques acquired goaltender Goran Hogosta from the New York Islanders for goaltender Richard Brodeur. Hogosta played the 1978-79 season with the Fort Worth Texans, earning a record of 25-29-4 with a 3.51 GAA and a .877 save percentage. Brodeur had been with the Nordiques during their entire existence in the WHA. In 1978-79, Brodeur had a 25-13-3 record with a 3.11 GAA and a .901 save percentage with Quebec.

At the 1979 NHL Entry Draft held on August 9, the Nordiques selected Michel Goulet from the Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association in the first round, 20th overall. In 78 games with the Bulls during the 1978-79, Goulet scored 28 goals and 58 points. In the second round, Quebec selected Dale Hunter from the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League. Hunter scored 34 goals and 85 points in 61 games during the 1978-79 season. In the fourth round, the Nordiques selected Anton Stastny from Slovan ChZJD Bratislava of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League. Stastny scored 32 goals and 51 points in 44 games during the 1978-79 season.

Quebec signed free agent Robbie Ftorek on August 13, who played the 1978-79 season with the Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association. Ftorek finished second in WHA scoring with 39 goals and 77 assists to earn 116 points in 80 games. Ftorek has previous NHL experience, as in 15 games with the Detroit Red Wings from 1972-1974, Ftorek scored two goals and seven points.

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.[2] 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 Sabres80471716318201110
Boston Bruins80462113310234105
Minnesota North Stars8036281631125388
Toronto Maple Leafs803540530432775
Quebec Nordiques8025441124831361

[3]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
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPtsAttendance
1October 10Atlanta Flames5–3Quebec Nordiques0–1–0010,350
2October 13Quebec Nordiques1–3Montreal Canadiens0–2–0017,049
3October 18Quebec Nordiques5–2Colorado Rockies1–2–026,389
4October 19Quebec Nordiques3–6Edmonton Oilers1–3–0215,386
5October 21Quebec Nordiques3–0Chicago Black Hawks2–3–049,893
6October 24Hartford Whalers2–2Quebec Nordiques2–3–1510,445
7October 27Buffalo Sabres3–0Quebec Nordiques2–4–1510,896
8October 28Montreal Canadiens4–5Quebec Nordiques3–4–1711,908
9October 31Winnipeg Jets5–2Quebec Nordiques3–5–1710,430
10November 2Quebec Nordiques4–4Atlanta Flames3–5–2811,356
11November 4Detroit Red Wings1–5Quebec Nordiques4–5–21010,795
12November 7Philadelphia Flyers4–3Quebec Nordiques4–6–21011,899
13November 10Quebec Nordiques4–5New York Rangers4–7–21017,417
14November 11St. Louis Blues1–4Quebec Nordiques5–7–21210,260
15November 14Quebec Nordiques2–7Minnesota North Stars5–8–21210,955
16November 16Quebec Nordiques3–2Winnipeg Jets6–8–21412,401
17November 18Toronto Maple Leafs2–4Quebec Nordiques7–8–21610,577
18November 20Boston Bruins5–3Quebec Nordiques7–9–21611,897
19November 22Quebec Nordiques4–7Boston Bruins7–10–21611,699
20November 24Quebec Nordiques4–4Hartford Whalers7–10–3177,627
21November 25Washington Capitals2–2Quebec Nordiques7–10–41810,643
22November 27Quebec Nordiques2–4St. Louis Blues7–11–4188,360
23November 28Quebec Nordiques2–7Pittsburgh Penguins7–12–4188,396
24December 1Quebec Nordiques2–7Washington Capitals7–13–4186,892
25December 2Vancouver Canucks1–3Quebec Nordiques8–13-42010,567
26December 4Colorado Rockies3–1Quebec Nordiques8–14–42010,299
27December 6St. Louis Blues2–5Quebec Nordiques9–14–42210,347
28December 9Los Angeles Kings2–3Quebec Nordiques10–14–42411,168
29December 12Winnipeg Jets0–5Quebec Nordiques11–14–42610,326
30December 13Quebec Nordiques4–6Philadelphia Flyers11–15–42617,007
31December 15Quebec Nordiques4–4Detroit Red Wings11–15–52715,609
32December 16Pittsburgh Penguins1–4Quebec Nordiques12–15–52910,279
33December 19Colorado Rockies3–6Quebec Nordiques13–15–53110,806
34December 23Quebec Nordiques3–1Buffalo Sabres14–15–53316,433
35December 27Quebec Nordiques0–3Los Angeles Kings14–16–5339,978
36December 29Quebec Nordiques2–6Vancouver Canucks14–17–53313,615
37December 30Quebec Nordiques2–1Edmonton Oilers15–17–53515,423
38January 2New York Rangers3–3Quebec Nordiques15–17–63611,898
39January 5Quebec Nordiques7–3Toronto Maple Leafs16–17–63816,485
40January 9Edmonton Oilers2–3Quebec Nordiques17–17–64010,480
41January 11Quebec Nordiques3–4Atlanta Flames17–18–6409,246
42January 12Quebec Nordiques2–8St. Louis Blues17–19–64015,110
43January 16Boston Bruins3–1Quebec Nordiques17–20–64011,899
44January 19Quebec Nordiques1–3New York Islanders17–21–64014,995
45January 20Washington Capitals2–3Quebec Nordiques18–21–64210,097
46January 23Minnesota North Stars4–6Quebec Nordiques19-21–64410,710
47January 26Quebec Nordiques1–1Washington Capitals19–21–7459,479
48January 27Detroit Red Wings7–6Quebec Nordiques19–22–74510,765
49January 30Atlanta Flames4–1Quebec Nordiques19–23–74510,776
50February 2Quebec Nordiques2–7Boston Bruins19–24–74512,298
51February 3New York Rangers4–5Quebec Nordiques20–24–74711,075
52February 6Chicago Black Hawks3–3Quebec Nordiques20–24–84811,073
53February 9Quebec Nordiques0–5New York Islanders20–25–84814,995
54February 10Quebec Nordiques1–3New York Rangers20–26–84817,415
55February 14Quebec Nordiques1–5Montreal Canadiens20–27–84816,970
56February 17Quebec Nordiques5–6Winnipeg Jets20–28–84812,328
57February 18Quebec Nordiques2–6Minnesota North Stars20–29–8488,283
58February 19Buffalo Sabres3–1Quebec Nordiques20–30–84810,722
59February 23Quebec Nordiques1–2Pittsburgh Penguins20–31–84814,116
60February 24Pittsburgh Penguins0–2Quebec Nordiques21–31–85010,227
61February 26Hartford Whalers5–9Quebec Nordiques22–31–85210,099
62February 27New York Islanders5–3Quebec Nordiques22–32–85210,619
63March 2Los Angeles Kings4–3Quebec Nordiques22–33–85210,777
64March 5Minnesota North Stars3-3Quebec Nordiques22–33–95310,193
65March 8Quebec Nordiques2–3Toronto Maple Leafs22–34–95316,485
66March 9Toronto Maple Leafs4–5Quebec Nordiques23–34-95510,241
67March 12Edmonton Oilers6–3Quebec Nordiques23–35–95510,619
68March 16Vancouver Canucks3–2Quebec Nordiques23–36–95510,699
69March 19Quebec Nordiques2–5Chicago Black Hawks23–37–95510,035
70March 20Quebec Nordiques6–2Colorado Rockies24–37–9578,732
71March 22Quebec Nordiques1-4Los Angeles Kings24–38-95710,635
72March 23Quebec Nordiques6–2Vancouver Canucks25–38–95913,620
73March 26Chicago Black Hawks7–2Quebec Nordiques25–39–95910,718
74March 27Quebec Nordiques2–5Philadelphia Flyers25–40–95917,077
75March 29Quebec Nordiques7–9Detroit Red Wings25–41–95916,485
76March 30New York Islanders9–6Quebec Nordiques25–42–95910,412
77April 1Philadelphia Flyers3–3Quebec Nordiques25–42–106010,706
78April 3Quebec Nordiques3–8Buffalo Sabres25–43–106016,433
79April 4Quebec Nordiques2–9Hartford Whalers25–44–106014,356
80April 6Montreal Canadiens4–4Quebec Nordiques25–44–116111,005

Player statistics

Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Real Cloutier6742478912
Marc Tardif5833356830
Michel Goulet7722325448
Robbie Ftorek5218335128
Rich Leduc7521274849

Goaltending
PlayerGPMinWLTGASOGAA
Michel Dion5027731525617123.70
Ron Low158285725103.70
Goran Hogosta21119951238314.15
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.[4]

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

Roster
1979-80 Quebec Nordiques
Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

Centres

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)
120Michel Goulet CanadaBirmingham Bulls (WHA)
241Dale Hunter CanadaSudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
362Lee Norwood United StatesOshawa Generals (OMJHL)
483Anton Stastny CzechoslovakiaSlovan Bratislava (Czech.)
5104Pierre Lacroix CanadaTrois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)
6125Scott McGeown CanadaToronto 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
PlayerFormer Team
Bernie SaundersKalamazoo Wings (IHL)
Robbie FtorekCincinnati Stingers (WHA)
Frantisek CernikTJ Vitkovice (Czechoslovakia)
Dave PichetteQuebec Remparts (QMJHL)
Jacques RichardBuffalo Sabres
Miroslav FrycerTJ Vitkovice (Czechoslovakia)
PlayerNew Team
Ken KuzykMinnesota North Stars

References
  1. https://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph_season.php?lid=NHL1927&sid=1979
  2. Sports Illustrated, Oct. 27, 2008, p.24, Vol. 109, No. 16.
  3. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
  4. Greig, Murray (1997). Big Bucks and Blue Pucks. Macmillan Canada. pp. 216–7. ISBN 978-0771574238.
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