The 1981 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1980–81 season, and the culmination of the 1981 Stanley Cup playoffs. It 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 championship. This would be the last all-American Finals until 1991, when the North Stars faced the Pittsburgh Penguins. Butch Goring won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player in the playoffs.

Paths to the Finals

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.

Game summaries

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 wins the series 4–1.

Broadcasting

The series aired on CBC in Canada. In the United States, this was the first of five seasons that the Cup Finals aired on the USA Network. For the 1981 Finals only, USA simulcast the CBC feed instead of producing their own coverage. However, USA's national coverage was blacked out in the New York metro and Minnesota area due to the local rights to their respective teams in that markets. In the New York area, SportsChannel New York aired three games at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and WOR televised two games in Bloomington, Minnesota while KMSP aired every game of the series in the Minnesota area.

Team rosters

Minnesota North Stars

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
2		Curt Giles	D	L	22	1978	The Pas, Manitoba
3		Fred Barrett	D	L	31	1970	Ottawa, Ontario
4		Craig Hartsburg	D	L	21	1979	Stratford, Ontario
5		Brad Maxwell	D	R	23	1977	Brandon, Manitoba
6		Paul Shmyr (C)	D	L	35	1979	Cudworth, Saskatchewan
7		Neal Broten	C	L	21	1979	Roseau, Minnesota
8		Kent-Erik Andersson	RW	R	29	1977	Örebro, Sweden
9		Kevin Maxwell	C	R	21	1979	Edmonton, Alberta
10		Gordie Roberts	D	L	23	1980	Detroit, Michigan
11		Tom McCarthy	LW	L	20	1979	Toronto, Ontario
14		Brad Palmer	LW	L	19	1980	Duncan, British Columbia
15		Bobby Smith	C	L	23	1978	North Sydney, Nova Scotia
16		Mike Polich	LW	L	28	1978	Hibbing, Minnesota
17		Tim Young	C	R	26	1975	Scarborough, Ontario
20		Dino Ciccarelli	RW	R	21	1980	Sarnia, Ontario
21		Jack Carlson	LW	L	26	1979	Virginia, Minnesota
23		Greg Smith	D	L	25	1978	Ponoka, Alberta
25		Al MacAdam	RW	L	29	1978	Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
26		Steve Payne	LW	L	22	1978	Toronto, Ontario
27		Gilles Meloche	G	L	30	1978	Montreal, Quebec
28		Steve Christoff	C	R	23	1978	Springfield, Illinois
29		Tom Younghans	RW	R	28	1976	Saint Paul, Minnesota
31		Ken Solheim	LW	L	20	1981	Hythe, Alberta
33		Don Beaupre	G	L	19	1980	Waterloo, Ontario

New York Islanders

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
1		Roland Melanson	G	L	20	1979	Moncton, New Brunswick
3		Jean Potvin	D	L	32	1979	Ottawa, Ontario
4		Bob Lorimer	D	L	27	1973	Toronto, Ontario
5		Denis Potvin (C)	D	L	27	1973	Vanier, Ontario
6		Ken Morrow	D	R	24	1976	Davison, Michigan
7		Stefan Persson	D	L	26	1974	Bjurholm, Sweden
8		Garry Howatt	LW	L	28	1972	Grand Centre, Alberta
9		Clark Gillies	LW	L	27	1974	Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
11		Wayne Merrick	C	L	29	1977	Sarnia, Ontario
12		Duane Sutter	RW	R	21	1979	Viking, Alberta
14		Bob Bourne	LW	L	26	1974	Kindersley, Saskatchewan
16		Mike McEwen	D	L	24	1981	Hornepayne, Ontario
19		Bryan Trottier	C	L	24	1974	Val Marie, Saskatchewan
22		Mike Bossy	RW	R	24	1977	Montreal, Quebec
23		Bob Nystrom	RW	R	28	1972	Stockholm, Sweden
24		Gord Lane	D	L	28	1979	Brandon, Manitoba
25		Billy Carroll	C	L	22	1979	Toronto, Ontario
26		Dave Langevin	D	L	26	1974	Saint Paul, Minnesota
27		John Tonelli	LW	L	24	1977	Hamilton, Ontario
28		Anders Kallur	RW	L	28	1979	Ludvika, Sweden
29		Hector Marini	RW	R	24	1977	Timmins, Ontario
31		Billy Smith	G	L	30	1972	Perth, Ontario
91		Butch Goring	C	L	31	1980	St. Boniface, Manitoba

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1981 Stanley Cup was presented to Islanders captain Denis Potvin by NHL President John Ziegler following the Islanders 5–1 win over the North Stars in game five.

The following Islanders players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1980–81 New York Islanders

See also

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

References

• Total Stanley Cup. NHL. 2000.
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.