American Hockey League Wiki

The 1980 Calder Cup Playoffs of the American Hockey League began on April 8, 1980. The playoff format was expanded from 6 to 8 teams. The eight teams that qualified played best-of-7 series for Division Semifinals and Division Finals. The division champions played a best-of-7 series for the Calder Cup. The Calder Cup Final ended on May 17, 1980 with the Hershey Bears defeating the New Brunswick Hawks four games to two to win the Calder Cup for the sixth time in team history.

Playoff Seeds[]

After the 1979–80 AHL regular season, the top four teams from each division qualified for the playoffs. The New Haven Nighthawks finished the regular season with the best overall record.

Northern Division[]

  1. New Brunswick Hawks - 96 points
  2. Nova Scotia Voyageurs - 93 points
  3. Maine Mariners - 93 points
  4. Adirondack Red Wings - 75 points

Southern Division[]

  1. New Haven Nighthawks - 101 points
  2. Hershey Bears - 76 points
  3. Syracuse Firebirds - 69 points
  4. Rochester Americans - 66 points

Bracket[]

  Division Semifinals Division Finals Calder Cup Final
                           
  1  New Brunswick 4  
4  Adirondack 1  
  1  New Brunswick 4  
Northern 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
Southern Division
  2  Hershey 4  
2  Hershey 4
  3  Syracuse 0  

In each round, the team that earned more points during the regular season receives home ice advantage, meaning they receive the "extra" game on home-ice if the series reaches the maximum number of games. There is no set series format due to arena scheduling conflicts and travel considerations.

Division Semifinals[]

Note 1: Home team is listed first.
Note 2: The number of overtime periods played (where applicable) is not indicated

Northern Division[]

(1) New Brunswick Hawks vs. (4) Adirondack Red Wings[]

New Brunswick won series 4 - 1


(2) Nova Scotia Voyageurs vs. (3) Maine Mariners[]

Maine won series 4 - 2


Southern Division[]

(1) New Haven Nighthawks vs. (4) Rochester Americans[]

New Haven won series 4 - 0


(2) Hershey Bears vs. (3) Syracuse Firebirds[]

Hershey won series 4 - 0


Division Finals[]

Northern Division[]

(1) New Brunswick Hawks vs. (2) Maine Mariners[]

New Brunswick won series 4 - 2


Southern Division[]

(1) New Haven Nighthawks vs. (2) Hershey Bears[]

Hershey won series 4 - 2


Calder Cup Final[]

(N1) New Brunswick Hawks vs. (S2) Hershey Bears[]

Hershey won series 4 - 2


See Also[]