1981 Stanley Cup Finals

1981 Stanley Cup Finals
Teams 1 2 3 4 5 Games New York Islanders  6 6 7 2 5 4 Minnesota North Stars  3 3 5 4 1 1
Location: Uniondale, New York (Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum) (1,2,5) Bloomington, Minnesota (Met Center) (3,4) Format: Best-of-seven Coaches: New York: Al Arbour Minnesota: Glen Sonmor Captains: New York: Denis Potvin Minnesota: Paul Shmyr Dates: May 12 to May 21, 1981 MVP: Butch Goring, (New York Islanders) Series-winning goal: Wayne Merrick (5:37, first, G5)
< 1980 Stanley Cup Finals 1982 >

The 1981 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the Minnesota North Stars, making their first Finals appearance, and the defending champion New York Islanders, in their second Finals appearance. The Islanders would win the best-of-seven series four games to one, to win their second Stanley Cup. This would be the last all-American Finals until 1991, when the North Stars faced the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Paths to the Final

See also: 1980–81 Minnesota North Stars season and 1980–81 New York Islanders season

Minnesota defeated the Boston Bruins 3–0, the Buffalo Sabres 4–1 and the Calgary Flames 4–2 to advance to the Final.

New York defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3–0, the Edmonton Oilers 4–2, and the New York Rangers 4–0 to reach the Final.

The series

Dino Ciccarelli of the North Stars set a rookie record (since tied by Ville Leino in 2010), scoring twenty-one points (14 goals and seven assists) during the year's playoffs. The Islanders' much deeper lineup, however, won the day.

New York Islanders vs. Minnesota North Stars

Date	Visitors	Score	Home	Score
Tue, May 12	Minnesota	3	New York	6
Thu, May 14	Minnesota	3	New York	6
Sun, May 17	New York	7	Minnesota	5
Tue, May 19	New York	2	Minnesota	4
Thu, May 21	Minnesota	1	New York	5

New York wins the series 4–1.

New York Islanders — 1981 Stanley Cup champions

Roster

  Centres

• 11 Wayne Merrick
• 14 Bob Bourne
• 19 Bryan Trottier
• 25 Billy Carroll
• 91 Robert Butch Goring

  Wingers

• 8 Garry Howatt
• 9 Clark Gillies
• 12 Duane Sutter
• 22 Mike Bossy
• 23 Bob Nystrom
• 27 John Tonelli
• 28 Anders Kallur
• 29 Hector Marini

  Defencemen

• 5 Denis Potvin (Captain)
• 3 Jean Potvin††
• 4 Bob Lorimer
• 6 Ken Morrow
• 7 Stefan Persson
• 16 Mike McEwen
• 24 Gord Lane
• 26 Dave Langevin

  Goaltenders

• 31 Billy Smith
• 1 Roland Melanson

  Coaching and administrative staff

• John Pickett (Chairman/Owner)
• Bill Torrey (President/General Manager)
• Al Arbour (Head Coach), †10 Lorne Henning (playing-Ass't Coach)
• Jim Devellano (Chief Scout), Gerry Ehman (Western Scout)
• Harry Boyd (Scout), Maurice Sabageno (Scout)
• Ron Waske (Trainer), Jim Pickard (Asst. Trainer)
• Steve Corais (Director of Public Relations)^

Stanley Cup engraving

• ^-Steve Corais was included on the team, but name was left off the Stanley Cup.
• † Lorne Henning (Center) played nine regular season and one playoff game. He was the last playing-coach to win the Stanley Cup.
• †† Jean Potvin 18 games regular season games, and did not dress in the playoffs. He spent the rest of year as a broadcaster. Potvin's name was put on the cup in 1981, even though he did not officially qualify.
• A new ring was created in 1993 for the winners from 1979 to 1991. New York Islanders was misspelled. NEW YORK ILANDERS missing the first "S". Name was spelt correctly on the Replica Cup also created in 1993.

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1980–81 NHL season

References

Preceded by New York Islanders 1980

New York Islanders Stanley Cup Champions 1981

Succeeded by New York Islanders 1982