1980–81 AHL season

The 1980–81 AHL season was the 45th season of the American Hockey League. Nine teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Hershey Bears finished first overall in the regular season. The Adirondack Red Wings won their first Calder Cup championship.

Team changes

• The Syracuse Firebirds cease operations.
• The Binghamton Dusters become the Binghamton Whalers.
• The Adirondack Red Wings switch divisions from North to South.

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
Maine Mariners	80	45	28	7	97	319	292
New Brunswick Hawks	80	37	33	10	84	317	298
Nova Scotia Voyageurs	80	38	37	5	81	335	298
Springfield Indians	80	34	41	5	73	312	343

South	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA
Hershey Bears	80	47	24	9	103	357	299
Adirondack Red Wings	80	35	40	5	75	305	328
Binghamton Whalers	80	32	42	6	70	296	336
New Haven Nighthawks	80	29	40	11	69	295	321
Rochester Americans	80	30	42	8	68	295	316

Scoring leaders

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Mark Lofthouse	Hershey Bears	74	48	55	103	131
Dan Daoust	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	80	38	60	98	106
Tony Cassolato	Hershey Bears	74	48	46	94	23
Dave Gorman	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	78	43	47	90	82
Normand Aubin	New Brunswick Hawks	79	43	46	89	99
Guy Carbonneau	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	78	35	53	88	87
Jean-Francois Sauve	Rochester Americans	56	29	54	83	21
Craig Levie	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	80	20	62	82	162
Paul Evans	Maine Mariners	78	28	52	80	49
Reg Thomas	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	74	36	43	79	90

• complete list

Calder Cup playoffs

	Division Semifinals					Division Finals					Calder Cup Final
	1	Maine	4
	4	Springfield	3
						1	Maine	4
	North Division
						2	New Brunswick	3
	2	New Brunswick	4
	3	Nova Scotia	2
											N1	Maine	2
											S2	Adirondack	4
	1	Hershey	4
	4	New Haven	0
						1	Hershey	2
	South Division
						2	Adirondack	4
	2	Adirondack	4
	3	Binghamton	2

Trophy and award winners

Team awards

Calder Cup Playoff champions:	Adirondack Red Wings
F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy Regular Season champions, North Division:	Maine Mariners
John D. Chick Trophy Regular Season champions, South Division:	Hershey Bears

Individual awards

Les Cunningham Award Most valuable player:	Pelle Lindbergh - Maine Mariners
John B. Sollenberger Trophy Top point scorer:	Mike Lofthouse - Hershey Bears
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award Rookie of the year:	Pelle Lindbergh - Maine Mariners
Eddie Shore Award Defenceman of the year:	Craig Levie - Nova Scotia Voyageurs
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award Lowest goals against average:	Pelle Lindbergh & Robbie Moore - Maine Mariners
Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award Coach of the year:	Bob McCammon - Maine Mariners
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award Sportsmanship / Perseverance:	Tony Cassolato - Hershey Bears

Other awards

James C. Hendy Memorial Award Most outstanding executive:	Ed Anderson
James H. Ellery Memorial Awards Outstanding media coverage:	Rick Wheeler, Rochester, (newspaper) Russ Small, Hershey, (radio) Simeon Smith, Rochester, (television)
Ken McKenzie Award Outstanding marketing executive:	Brent Hancock, Hershey Bears

See also

• List of AHL seasons

References

• AHL official site
• AHL Hall of Fame
• HockeyDB