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1979-80 Results

The National Hockey League expanded again in 1979-80, although this expansion was a little different. The NHL absorbed four teams from the World Hockey Association. Though gutted of most of the players they had in the WHA, these teams were relatively competative right from the start. The Canucks also went through some changes during the season. Gone were players like captain Don Lever, Bill Derlago, Rick Vaive and Ron Sedlbauer, replaced by Ivan Boldirev, Darcy Rota, Jerry Butler, and Dave, "Tiger" Williams. By trading away some young players with potential, the Canucks improved their veteran leadership.

For the second straight season, head coach Harry Neale guided the team into the post-season where they faced the powerful Buffalo Sabres in a best-of-five series. The Canucks lost the first two games, but managed to win one at home. In that game, Sabre coach Scotty Bowman was hit by an errant stick that some claim was wielded by Tiger Williams. The incident did not ignite the team as Buffalo took the fourth game and the series.

Regular Season

 DATE  H/A OPPOSITION   SCORE OT GP  W  L  T  GF  GA PTS  AVG        HISTORICAL NOTES         
OCT  9  H  ST. LOUIS    2-5 L     1  0  1  0   2   5   0 0.000 Lindgren, Sedlbauer score      
OCT 12  H  DETROIT      3-1 W     2  1  1  0   5   6   2 0.500 First NHL goal for Rick Vaive  
OCT 14  A  EDMONTON     4-4 T     3  1  1  1   9  10   3 0.500 Oiler Gretzky's first NHL goal 
OCT 17  A  ST. LOUIS    5-1 W     4  2  1  1  14  11   5 0.625 Smyle scores a pair of goals   
OCT 18  A  NY RANGERS   3-6 L     5  2  2  1  17  17   5 0.500 Ranger Esposito gets hat trick 
OCT 20  A  TORONTO      0-2 L     6  2  3  1  17  19   5 0.417 Leaf Palmateer gets the shutout
OCT 21  A  BUFFALO      3-3 T     7  2  3  2  20  22   6 0.429 Lever scores a pair of goals   
OCT 24  H  TORONTO      5-1 W     8  3  3  2  25  23   8 0.500 First NHL goal for Brent Ashton
OCT 27  H  WASHINGTON   5-3 W     9  4  3  2  30  26  10 0.556 Canucks down 3-2 after second  
OCT 31  H  NY ISLANDERS 2-2 T    10  4  3  3  32  28  11 0.550 Gillis in on both goals        
NOV  2  H  BOSTON       3-3 T    11  4  3  4  35  31  12 0.545 Canucks down 3-0 late in third 
NOV  4  H  NY RANGERS   2-4 L    12  4  4  4  37  35  12 0.500 Lever, Blight score            
NOV  6  H  MINNESOTA    7-7 T    13  4  4  5  44  42  13 0.500 Sedlbauer only one to score two
NOV 10  A  DETROIT      2-1 W    14  5  4  5  46  43  15 0.536 Vaive gets the game winner     
NOV 11  A  PHILADELPHIA 4-5 L    15  5  5  5  50  48  15 0.500 Flyer MacLeish gets hat trick  
NOV 13  A  ATLANTA      5-3 W    16  6  5  5  55  51  17 0.531 Fraser scores twice in third   
NOV 14  A  CHICAGO      5-2 W    17  7  5  5  60  53  19 0.559 Lever records three points     
NOV 16  H  PITTSBURGH   5-2 W    18  8  5  5  65  55  21 0.583 Vaive scores a pair in first   
NOV 18  H  MONTREAL     5-2 W    19  9  5  5  70  57  23 0.605 Gillis gets the game winner    
NOV 20  H  LOS ANGELES  1-5 L    20  9  6  5  71  62  23 0.575 Sedlbauer scores the lone goal 
NOV 23  H  PHILADELPHIA 2-5 L    21  9  7  5  73  67  23 0.548 McCarthy assists on both goals 
NOV 24  A  WINNIPEG     3-5 L    22  9  8  5  76  72  23 0.523 First game against the Jets    
NOV 28  H  WINNIPEG     4-2 W    23 10  8  5  80  74  25 0.543 Jets take early 2-0 lead       
NOV 30  H  CHICAGO      1-1 T    24 10  8  6  81  75  26 0.542 McCarthy scores tying goal     
DEC  2  A  QUEBEC       1-3 L    25 10  9  6  82  78  26 0.520 Sedlbauer gets the only goal   
DEC  4  A  NY ISLANDERS 5-1 W    26 11  9  6  87  79  28 0.538 Hanlon makes 25 saves          
DEC  5  A  PITTSBURGH   3-3 T    27 11  9  7  90  82  29 0.537 Ashton two goals, then injured 
DEC  8  A  DETROIT      1-5 L    28 11 10  7  91  87  29 0.518 First NHL goal for Gary Lupul  
DEC  9  A  BOSTON       3-5 L    29 11 11  7  94  92  29 0.500 Bruin McNab gets the hat trick 
DEC 11  H  HARTFORD     5-3 W    30 12 11  7  99  95  31 0.517 First game against the Whalers 
DEC 14  H  COLORADO     5-3 W    31 13 11  7 104  98  33 0.532 First NHL goal for Brad Smith  
DEC 15  A  LOS ANGELES  3-4 L    32 13 12  7 107 102  33 0.516 Smyl, Gradin three points each 
DEC 19  A  NY RANGERS   3-5 L    33 13 13  7 110 107  33 0.500 Canucks up 3-2 in second       
DEC 21  A  WASHINGTON   1-2 L    34 13 14  7 111 109  33 0.485 Blight scores the lone marker  
DEC 22  A  MONTREAL     2-4 L    35 13 15  7 113 113  33 0.471 Blight, McCarthy score         
DEC 28  H  EDMONTON     3-5 L    36 13 16  7 116 118  33 0.458 McCarthy has a two point game  
DEC 29  H  QUEBEC       6-2 W    37 14 16  7 122 120  35 0.473 Blight out for the season      
JAN  3  A  ST. LOUIS    2-6 L    38 14 17  7 124 126  35 0.461 Lindgren, Derlago score        
JAN  4  A  COLORADO     4-2 W    39 15 17  7 128 128  37 0.474 Canucks trail 2-0 in second    
JAN  6  A  CHICAGO      1-3 L    40 15 18  7 129 131  37 0.463 Oddleifson scores lone goal    
JAN  8  A  NY ISLANDERS 0-3 L    41 15 19  7 129 134  37 0.451 Islander Resch records shutout 
JAN  9  A  PITTSBURGH   2-4 L    42 15 20  7 131 138  37 0.440 Lever, Smyl score              
JAN 11  A  WASHINGTON   4-7 L    43 15 21  7 135 145  37 0.430 Canucks trail 7-1 after second 
JAN 12  A  TORONTO      4-6 L    44 15 22  7 139 151  37 0.420 Leaf Paiement records hat trick
JAN 16  H  ATLANTA      3-5 L    45 15 23  7 142 156  37 0.411 Empty netter seals the deal    
JAN 18  H  BUFFALO      2-2 T    46 15 23  8 144 158  38 0.413 Gradin assists on both goals   
JAN 22  H  COLORADO     3-5 L    47 15 24  8 147 163  38 0.404 Canucks up 2-1 after two       
JAN 23  H  NY RANGERS   4-6 L    48 15 25  8 151 169  38 0.396 First NHL goal for John Hughes 
JAN 27  H  TORONTO      2-5 L    49 15 26  8 153 174  38 0.388 McCarthy records two assists   
JAN 29  H  MONTREAL     3-4 L    50 15 27  8 156 178  38 0.380 Canucks down 2-0 after first   
FEB  2  A  MINNESOTA    5-4 W    51 16 27  8 161 182  40 0.392 Snepsts scores on penalty shot 
FEB  3  A  BUFFALO      0-3 L    52 16 28  8 161 185  40 0.385 Sabre Sauve gets the shutout   
FEB  7  A  PHILADELPHIA 4-1 W    53 17 28  8 165 186  42 0.396 Vaive scores a pair of goals   
FEB  9  A  MONTREAL     4-3 W    54 18 28  8 169 189  44 0.407 Boldirev gets winner late      
FEB 12  A  HARTFORD     5-5 T    55 18 28  9 174 194  45 0.409 Snepsts ties it in final minute
FEB 16  H  WASHINGTON   3-5 L    56 18 29  9 177 199  45 0.402 Fraser scores twice            
FEB 17  H  NY ISLANDERS 4-2 W    57 19 29  9 181 201  47 0.412 Smyl in on all four goals      
FEB 19  H  ST. LOUIS    1-3 L    58 19 30  9 182 204  47 0.405 Fraser scores lone marker      
FEB 22  H  PHILADELPHIA 3-7 L    59 19 31  9 185 211  47 0.398 344 combined penalty minutes   
FEB 23  H  BOSTON       4-4 T    60 19 31 10 189 215  48 0.400 Canucks down 2-1, up 4-2       
FEB 26  A  MINNESOTA    4-5 L    61 19 32 10 193 220  48 0.393 Game tied at two after first   
FEB 29  A  WINNIPEG     3-3 T    62 19 32 11 196 223  49 0.395 Canucks down 3-0 early in third
MAR  1  A  EDMONTON     5-2 W    63 20 32 11 201 225  51 0.405 Boldirev records two goals     
MAR  4  H  WINNIPEG     2-1 W    64 21 32 11 203 226  53 0.414 Fraser scores one and assists  
MAR  5  H  CHICAGO      3-3 T    65 21 32 12 206 229  54 0.415 Gradin in on all three goals   
MAR  7  H  ATLANTA      3-9 L    66 21 33 12 209 238  54 0.409 Stan Smyl records the hat trick
MAR  9  A  COLORADO     4-4 T    67 21 33 13 213 242  55 0.410 Canucks up 4-2 late in third   
MAR 10  A  ATLANTA      5-2 W    68 22 33 13 218 244  57 0.419 Rookie Ashton records 4 assists
MAR 13  A  HARTFORD     1-3 L    69 22 34 13 219 247  57 0.413 Lindgren scores lone marker    
MAR 15  A  BOSTON       2-2 T    70 22 34 14 221 249  58 0.414 Canucks up 2-0 early in third  
MAR 16  A  QUEBEC       3-2 W    71 23 34 14 224 251  60 0.423 Nordiques up 2-0 in first      
MAR 19  H  BUFFALO      3-3 T    72 23 34 15 227 254  61 0.424 Canucks down 2-0, up 3-2       
MAR 21  H  DETROIT      2-5 L    73 23 35 15 229 259  61 0.418 Gradin, Williams score         
MAR 23  H  QUEBEC       2-6 L    74 23 36 15 231 265  61 0.412 Smyl, Rota get the goals       
MAR 25  H  PITTSBURGH   2-4 L    75 23 37 15 233 269  61 0.407 Canucks down 3-0 after two     
MAR 28  H  HARTFORD     4-4 T    76 23 37 16 237 273  62 0.408 Four different Canucks score   
MAR 30  H  MINNESOTA    5-3 W    77 24 37 16 242 276  64 0.416 Ivan Boldirev gets hat trick   
APR  1  H  EDMONTON     5-0 W    78 25 37 16 247 276  66 0.423 Bromley shutout, Smyl 4 assists
APR  3  H  LOS ANGELES  4-2 W    79 26 37 16 251 278  68 0.430 Rota scores the game winner    
APR  5  A  LOS ANGELES  5-3 W    80 27 37 16 256 281  70 0.438 Canucks trail 3-0 in second    

                          Canucks finish third in Smythe Division                        

Playoffs

APR  8  A  BUFFALO      1-2 L     1  0  1  0   1   2   0 0.000 Ashton scores the lone goal    
APR  9  A  BUFFALO      0-6 L     2  0  2  0   1   8   0 0.000 Sabre Sauve gets the shutout   
APR 11  H  BUFFALO      5-4 W     3  1  2  0   6  12   2 0.333 Williams hits coach Bowman     
APR 12  H  BUFFALO      1-3 L     4  1  3  0   7  15   2 0.250 Rota scores the lone goal      

                     Buffalo wins best of five series three games to one