American Hockey League Wiki

The 1979–80 AHL season was the 44th season of the American Hockey League. Ten teams were scheduled to play 80 games each. The New Haven Nighthawks finished first overall in the regular season. The Hershey Bears won their sixth Calder Cup championship.

Team Changes[]

Final Standings[]

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points;

North GP W L T Pts GF GA
New Brunswick Hawks 79 44 27 8 96 325 271
Nova Scotia Voyageurs 79 43 29 7 93 331 271
Maine Mariners 80 41 28 11 93 307 266
Adirondack Red Wings 80 32 37 11 75 297 309
Springfield Indians 80 31 37 12 74 292 302
South GP W L T Pts GF GA
New Haven Nighthawks 80 46 25 9 101 350 305
Hershey Bears 80 35 39 6 76 289 273
Syracuse Firebirds 80 31 42 7 69 303 364
Rochester Americans 80 28 42 10 66 260 327
Binghamton Dusters 80 24 49 7 55 268 334

Scoring Leaders[]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Norm Dube Nova Scotia Voyageurs 79 40 61 101 49
Keith Acton Nova Scotia Voyageurs 75 45 53 98 38
Gordie Clark Maine Mariners 79 47 43 90 64
Bruce Boudreau New Brunswick 75 36 54 90 47
Bill Lochead New Haven Nighthawks 68 46 43 89 90
Rick Shinske Adirondack Red Wings 78 22 58 80 20
Paul Evans Maine Mariners 80 21 56 77 66
Rick Meagher Nova Scotia Voyageurs 64 32 44 76 53
Dan Metivier Nova Scotia Voyageurs 76 35 40 75 29
Gord Brooks Syracuse Firebirds 77 34 41 75 38

Calder Cup Playoffs[]

Main article: 1980 Calder Cup Playoffs
  Division Semifinals Division Finals Calder Cup Final
                           
  1  New Brunswick 4  
4  Adirondack 1  
  1  New Brunswick 4  
North Division
  3  Maine 2  
2  Nova Scotia 2
  3  Maine 4  
    N1  New Brunswick 2
  S2  Hershey 4
  1  New Haven 4  
4  Rochester 0  
  1  New Haven 2
South Division
  2  Hershey 4  
2  Hershey 4
  3  Syracuse 0  

Trophy and Award Winners[]

Team Awards
Calder Cup
Playoff champions:
Hershey Bears
F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy
Regular Season champions, North Division:
New Brunswick Hawks
John D. Chick Trophy
Regular Season champions, South Division:
New Haven Nighthawks
Individual Awards
Les Cunningham Award
Most valuable player:
Norm Dube - Nova Scotia Voyageurs
John B. Sollenberger Trophy
Top point scorer:
Norm Dube - Nova Scotia Voyageurs
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award
Rookie of the year:
Darryl Sutter - New Brunswick Hawks
Eddie Shore Award
Defenceman of the year:
Rick Vasko - Adirondack Red Wings
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award
Lowest goals against average:
Rick St. Croix & Robbie Moore - Maine Mariners
Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award
Coach of the year:
Doug Gibson - Hershey Bears
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award
Sportsmanship / Perseverance:
Norm Dube - Nova Scotia Voyageurs
Other Awards
James C. Hendy Memorial Award
Most outstanding executive:
Ned Harkness
James H. Ellery Memorial Awards
Outstanding media coverage:
Paul Marslano, New Haven, (newspaper)
Bill Brady, Springfield, (radio)
Dale Darling, Maine, (television)
Ken McKenzie Award
Outstanding marketing executive:
Bruce Landon, Springfield Indians

See Also[]