National Hockey League season
Sports season
The
1979?80 NHL season
was the
63rd
season
of the
National Hockey League
. This season saw the
addition of four teams
from the disbanded
World Hockey Association
as expansion franchises. The
Edmonton Oilers
,
Winnipeg Jets
,
New England Whalers
(later renamed "Hartford Whalers" at the insistence of the Boston Bruins), and
Quebec Nordiques
joined the NHL, bringing the total to 21 teams. The other two WHA teams (
Birmingham Bulls
and
Cincinnati Stingers
) were paid to fold.
The
New York Islanders
won their first
Stanley Cup
, defeating the
Philadelphia Flyers
in six games, in the
finals
.
The season also marked the eighth and final season for the
Flames
in Atlanta before the franchise relocated to Calgary. The NHL would return to the Georgia capital in
1999
with the
Thrashers
, but that team would ultimately relocate away from Atlanta as well becoming the second (and current) incarnation of the
Winnipeg Jets
.
The collapse of the WHA also saw the much hyped super-star rookie
Wayne Gretzky
come to the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky would tie
Marcel Dionne
for the scoring lead with 137 points and capture the
Hart Memorial Trophy
as the most valuable player while Dionne took home the
Art Ross Trophy
as the leading scorer by virtue of having scored two more goals. Gretzky aside, many players made their debut in the NHL this season, both due to the WHA merger and to a change in the rules for the Entry Draft allowing eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds to be drafted for the first time; no fewer than seven
Hall of Famers
(Gretzky,
Ray Bourque
,
Mark Messier
,
Mike Gartner
,
Michel Goulet
,
Mark Howe
, and an undrafted
Joe Mullen
) debuted this season, along with numerous other perennial stars.
The big story of the regular season was the record-breaking undefeated streak compiled by the
Philadelphia Flyers
. After starting the season with a 5?2 win over the New York Islanders and a 9?2 loss to the Atlanta Flames, the Flyers did not lose again for nearly three months, earning at least one point in every game between a 4?3 win over Toronto on October 14, 1979, and a 4?2 win over Buffalo on January 6, 1980, earning a 35-game record of 25?0?10. This stands as the longest undefeated streak in North American professional sports history.
Teams
[
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]
1979-80 National Hockey League
|
Prince of Wales Conference
|
Division
|
Team
|
City
|
Arena
|
Capacity
|
Adams
|
Boston Bruins
|
Boston
,
Massachusetts
|
Boston Garden
|
14,673
|
Buffalo Sabres
|
Buffalo
,
New York
|
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
|
16,433
|
Minnesota North Stars
|
Bloomington
,
Minnesota
|
Metropolitan Sports Center
|
15,000
|
Quebec Nordiques
|
Quebec City
,
Quebec
|
Colisee de Quebec
|
10,012
|
Toronto Maple Leafs
|
Toronto
,
Ontario
|
Maple Leaf Gardens
|
16,316
|
Norris
|
Detroit Red Wings
|
Detroit
,
Michigan
|
Detroit Olympia
Joe Louis Arena
|
15,000
19,275
|
Hartford Whalers
|
Springfield
,
Massachusetts
Hartford
,
Connecticut
|
Springfield Civic Center
Hartford Civic Center
|
7,627
14,460
|
Montreal Canadiens
|
Montreal
,
Quebec
|
Montreal Forum
|
18,076
|
Los Angeles Kings
|
Inglewood
,
California
|
The Forum
|
16,005
|
Pittsburgh Penguins
|
Pittsburgh
,
Pennsylvania
|
Civic Arena
|
16,033
|
Campbell Conference
|
Patrick
|
Atlanta Flames
|
Atlanta
,
Georgia
|
Omni Coliseum
|
15,155
|
New York Islanders
|
Uniondale
,
New York
|
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
|
14,995
|
New York Rangers
|
New York
,
New York
|
Madison Square Garden
|
17,500
|
Philadelphia Flyers
|
Philadelphia
,
Pennsylvania
|
Spectrum
|
17,077
|
Washington Capitals
|
Landover
,
Maryland
|
Capital Centre
|
18,130
|
Smythe
|
Chicago Black Hawks
|
Chicago
,
Illinois
|
Chicago Stadium
|
16,666
|
Colorado Rockies
|
Denver
,
Colorado
|
McNichols Sports Arena
|
15,900
|
Edmonton Oilers
|
Edmonton
,
Alberta
|
Northlands Coliseum
|
17,490
|
St. Louis Blues
|
St. Louis
,
Missouri
|
Checkerdome
|
17,968
|
Vancouver Canucks
|
Vancouver
,
British Columbia
|
Pacific Coliseum
|
16,413
|
Winnipeg Jets
|
Winnipeg
,
Manitoba
|
Winnipeg Arena
|
15,565
|
Regular season
[
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]
With 21 teams in the league, the regular-season schedule was set without regard to divisional affiliation. Each team played each of the other 20 teams four times in the year, twice at home and twice on the road. As well, a new playoff structure was introduced with the four division winners plus the next 12 teams with the best records qualifying. Division winners were not granted any byes and the divisions were ignored for determining playoff match-up seeding. Thus the division grouping ensured that if the five worst teams were to be in the same five-team division, the winner of this division would have qualified for the playoffs despite having the fifth worst season record. Except for that unlikely possibility, the divisional affiliations were irrelevant and had no effect on playoff qualification or seeding. A few months into the season, the Detroit Red Wings started playing at
Joe Louis Arena
after having spent all but their first season at the
Detroit Olympia
.
For the four previous seasons, the
Boston Bruins
had owned first place in the Adams Division. This season saw the
Buffalo Sabres
dethrone the Bruins in the Adams. The New York Islanders finished first overall in the NHL the previous season with 116 points, but lost in the
playoffs
semifinals to the upstart New York Rangers. This season saw them fall considerably in the standings as they finished fifth overall with 91 points, a full 25 points below last year's finish. On the other hand, the Philadelphia Flyers improved by 21 points from the previous season. Their 35-game undefeated streak (25?0?10) propelled them to the best record in the NHL with 116 points.
All four expansion teams finished poorly with records below .500. The
Hartford Whalers
fared the best with 73 points and the
Winnipeg Jets
tied the
Colorado Rockies
for last overall with 51 points. Hartford (14th overall) and Edmonton (16th overall) qualified for the playoffs, but both teams were swept 3 games to 0 in their respective first-round playoff series.
Rule changes
[
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]
In August 1979,
John Ziegler
, the NHL president, announced that protective
helmets
were made mandatory for all NHL players. "The introduction of the helmet rule will be an additional safety factor", he said. The only exception were for players who signed their pro contracts prior to June 1, 1979. Those players under the exception who chose not to wear a helmet also had to sign a waiver form, if they so desired. At the time of the rule change, about 70% of NHLers were wearing helmets already.
[
citation needed
]
The first player to wear protective headgear on a regular basis was
George Owen
of the Boston Bruins in the
1928?29 season
. Prior to that, the only time protective headgear was worn was to temporarily protect injuries.
Craig MacTavish
, while playing for the
St. Louis Blues
, was the last helmetless player, retiring after the
1996?97 season
.
Final standings
[
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]
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
Prince of Wales Conference
[
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]
[1]
[1]
Clarence Campbell Conference
[
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]
[1]
[1]
Playoffs
[
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]
With the league expansion from 17 to 21 teams, the playoffs were also expanded, from a 12-team tournament to a 16-team tournament. The sixteen teams were composed of the four divisional champions plus the top 12 finishers of the remaining 17 teams. The 16 qualifying teams were then seeded based on regular season points, with divisional rankings ignored. Division leaders no longer received first round byes. The teams were seeded 1 through 16, with the top team playing the 16th team in the first round, and so on. In subsequent rounds, matchups were similarly arranged, with the top remaining seed against the lowest remaining seed, and so on. The preliminary round was a best-of-five set.
[2]
The Atlanta Flames played their final playoff games in this postseason, and moved to Calgary soon after. The playoffs returned to Atlanta in 2007.
Playoff seeds
[
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]
The sixteen teams that qualified for the playoffs are ranked 1?16 based on regular season points.
- Philadelphia Flyers
, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions ? 116 points
- Buffalo Sabres
, Adams Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions ? 110 points
- Montreal Canadiens
, Norris Division champions ? 107 points
- Boston Bruins
? 105 points
- New York Islanders
? 91 points
- Minnesota North Stars
? 88 points
- Chicago Black Hawks
, Smythe Division champions ? 87 points
- New York Rangers
? 86 points
- Atlanta Flames
? 83 points
- St. Louis Blues
? 80 points
- Toronto Maple Leafs
? 75 points
- Los Angeles Kings
? 74 points
- Pittsburgh Penguins
? 73 points (30 wins)
- Hartford Whalers
? 73 points (27 wins)
- Vancouver Canucks
? 70 points
- Edmonton Oilers
? 69 points
Playoff bracket
[
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]
| Preliminary round
| | | Quarterfinals
| | | Semifinals
| | | Stanley Cup Finals
| |
|
|
|
| | |
|
|
| | |
|
|
| | |
|
|
| |
| 1
| Philadelphia
| 3
| | | | |
|
| 16
| Edmonton
| 0
| |
| | 1
| Philadelphia
| 4
| |
|
| |
| | | 8
| NY Rangers
| 1
| |
| 2
| Buffalo
| 3
| |
| |
| 15
| Vancouver
| 1
| |
| | 1
| Philadelphia
| 4
| |
|
| |
| | | 4
| Minnesota
| 1
| |
| 3
| Montreal
| 3
| | |
| |
| 14
| Hartford
| 0
| |
| | 2
| Buffalo
| 4
| |
|
| |
| | | 7
| Chicago
| 0
| |
| 4
| Boston
| 3
| |
| |
| 13
| Pittsburgh
| 2
| |
| | 1
| Philadelphia
| 2
| |
|
| |
| | | 3
| NY Islanders
| 4
| |
| 5
| NY Islanders
| 3
| | | |
| |
| 12
| Los Angeles
| 1
| |
| | 3
| Montreal
| 3
| |
|
| |
| | | 6
| Minnesota
| 4
| |
| 6
| Minnesota
| 3
| |
| |
| 11
| Toronto
| 0
| |
| | 2
| Buffalo
| 2
| |
|
| |
| | | 3
| NY Islanders
| 4
| |
| 7
| Chicago
| 3
| | |
| |
| 10
| St. Louis
| 0
| |
| | 4
| Boston
| 1
| |
|
| |
| | | 5
| NY Islanders
| 4
| |
| 8
| NY Rangers
| 3
| |
| |
| 9
| Atlanta
| 1
| |
Stanley Cup Finals
[
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]
The story of the playoffs was
Mike Bossy
and the
New York Islanders
. After a dismal start for their franchise in the early seventies, the Islanders built a contender for the
Stanley Cup
and won their first of four in a row by beating the
Philadelphia Flyers
in
overtime
of game six of the final. Defenceman
Denis Potvin
scored a crucial overtime goal in game one and the Cup was won when
Bobby Nystrom
scored the Cup-winning goal from
John Tonelli
and
Lorne Henning
at 7:11 of the first overtime.
Ken Morrow
became the first hockey player in history to win an Olympic gold medal and the
Stanley Cup
in the same season. Hall of Fame announcer
Dan Kelly
was calling the play-by-play for
CBS Sports
on that day, May 24, 1980, which was the last NHL game to air on American network television for nearly ten years.
[3]
Awards
[
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]
1980 NHL awards
|
Prince of Wales Trophy
(Wales Conference regular season champion)
|
Buffalo Sabres
|
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl
(Campbell Conference regular season champion)
|
Philadelphia Flyers
|
Art Ross Trophy
(Top scorer, regular season)
|
Marcel Dionne
, Los Angeles Kings
|
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
(Perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication)
|
Al MacAdam
, Minnesota North Stars
|
Calder Memorial Trophy
(Top first-year player)
|
Ray Bourque
, Boston Bruins
|
Conn Smythe Trophy
(Most valuable player, playoffs)
|
Bryan Trottier
, New York Islanders
|
Frank J. Selke Trophy
(Best defensive forward)
|
Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens
|
Hart Memorial Trophy
(Most valuable player, regular season)
|
Wayne Gretzky
, Edmonton Oilers
|
Jack Adams Award
(Best coach)
|
Pat Quinn
, Philadelphia Flyers
|
James Norris Memorial Trophy
(Best defenceman)
|
Larry Robinson
, Montreal Canadiens
|
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
(Excellence and sportsmanship)
|
Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
|
Lester B. Pearson Award
(Outstanding player, regular season)
|
Marcel Dionne
, Los Angeles Kings
|
Vezina Trophy
(Goaltender(s) of team(s) with best goaltending record)
|
Don Edwards
&
Bob Sauve
, Buffalo Sabres
|
All-Star teams
[
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]
First team
|
Position
|
Second team
|
Tony Esposito
,
Chicago Black Hawks
|
G
|
Don Edwards
,
Buffalo Sabres
|
Larry Robinson
,
Montreal Canadiens
|
D
|
Borje Salming
,
Toronto Maple Leafs
|
Ray Bourque
,
Boston Bruins
|
D
|
Jim Schoenfeld
,
Buffalo Sabres
|
Marcel Dionne
,
Los Angeles Kings
|
C
|
Wayne Gretzky
,
Edmonton Oilers
|
Guy Lafleur
,
Montreal Canadiens
|
RW
|
Danny Gare
,
Buffalo Sabres
|
Charlie Simmer
,
Los Angeles Kings
|
LW
|
Steve Shutt
,
Montreal Canadiens
|
Player statistics
[
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]
Scoring leaders
[
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]
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
Source:
NHL.
Leading goaltenders
[
edit
]
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA =
Goals against average
; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts
Other statistics
[
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]
Coaches
[
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]
Patrick Division
[
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]
Adams Division
[
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]
Norris Division
[
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]
Smythe Division
[
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]
Milestones
[
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]
Debuts
[
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]
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1979?80 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
- Bob Gould
, Atlanta Flames
- Kent Nilsson
§, Atlanta Flames
- Paul Reinhart
, Atlanta Flames
- Pekka Rautakallio
§, Atlanta Flames
- Pat Riggin
§, Atlanta Flames
- Brad McCrimmon
, Boston Bruins
- Craig MacTavish
, Boston Bruins
- Ray Bourque
, Boston Bruins
- Mike Ramsey
, Buffalo Sabres
- Rob McClanahan
, Buffalo Sabres
- Keith Brown
, Chicago Black Hawks
- Rich Preston
§, Chicago Black Hawks
- Terry Ruskowski
§, Chicago Black Hawks
- Darryl Sutter
, Chicago Black Hawks
- Rob Ramage
§, Colorado Rockies
- John Ogrodnick
, Detroit Red Wings
- Mike Foligno
, Detroit Red Wings
- Jim Korn
, Detroit Red Wings
- Kevin Lowe
, Edmonton Oilers
- Mark Messier
§, Edmonton Oilers
- Wayne Gretzky
§, Edmonton Oilers
- John Garrett
§, Hartford Whalers
- Gordie Roberts
§, Hartford Whalers
- Mark Howe
§, Hartford Whalers
- Mike Rogers
§, Hartford Whalers
- Mark Hardy
, Los Angeles Kings
- Jay Wells
, Los Angeles Kings
- Curt Giles
, Minnesota North Stars,
- Craig Hartsburg
§, Minnesota North Stars
- Tom McCarthy
, Minnesota North Stars
- Chris Nilan
, Montreal Canadiens
- Keith Acton
, Montreal Canadiens
- Gaston Gingras
§, Montreal Canadiens
- Rick Meagher
, Montreal Canadiens
- Richard Brodeur
§, New York Islanders
- Ken Morrow
, New York Islanders
- Duane Sutter
, New York Islanders
- Brian Propp
, Philadelphia Flyers
- Michel Goulet
§, Quebec Nordiques
- Jamie Hislop
§, Quebec Nordiques
- Real Cloutier
§, Quebec Nordiques
- Mike Liut
§, St. Louis Blues
- Joe Mullen
*, St. Louis Blues
- Laurie Boschman
, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Rick Vaive
§, Vancouver Canucks
- Mike Gartner
§, Washington Capitals
- Dave Christian
, Winnipeg Jets
Players marked with § previously started their major professional career in the
World Hockey Association
.
Last games
[
edit
]
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1979?80 (listed with their last team):
- Curt Bennett
, Atlanta Flames
- Paul Henderson
, Atlanta Flames
- Gerry Cheevers
, Boston Bruins
- Dave Schultz
, Buffalo Sabres
- Keith Magnuson
, Chicago Black Hawks
- Stan Mikita
, Chicago Black Hawks
- Cliff Koroll
, Chicago Black Hawks
- Gary Croteau
, Colorado Rockies
- Tom Webster
, Detroit Red Wings
- Dave Dryden
, Edmonton Oilers
- Bill Flett
, Edmonton Oilers
- Al Hamilton
, Edmonton Oilers
- Gordie Howe
, Hartford Whalers (The last player to be born in the 1920s and the last player to have played in the 1940s)
- Bobby Hull
, Hartford Whalers (The last player to be born in the 1930s)
- Andre Lacroix
, Hartford Whalers
- Syl Apps Jr.
, Los Angeles Kings
- Barry Gibbs
, Los Angeles Kings
- Randy Manery
, Los Angeles Kings
- Jocelyn Guevremont
, New York Rangers
- Dale Tallon
, Pittsburgh Penguins
- Pierre Plante
, Quebec Nordiques
- Carl Brewer
, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Dennis Hextall
, Washington Capitals
- Gary Smith
, Winnipeg Jets
Broadcasting
[
edit
]
Hockey Night in Canada
on
CBC Television
televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games.
In the U.S., the league dissolved the
NHL Network
, the national
broadcast syndication
package that aired games from the
1975?76
through the
1978?79
seasons. The fledgling cable networks
ESPN
and UA-Columbia (later known as the
USA Network
) each signed agreements to broadcast slates of regular season games. The
Hughes Television Network
, the NHL Network's former distributor, also signed a deal to syndicate a schedule of Thursday night regular season games, selected playoff games, and the first five games of the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals.
CBS
then agreed to televise Game 6 of the Cup Finals. That would be the last NHL game to air on U.S. network television until
NBC
televised the
1990 All-Star Game
, as the league remained on national cable television for the rest of the 1980s.
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000).
Total Hockey
. Total Sports.
ISBN
1-892129-85-X
.
- Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011).
The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012
. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates.
ISBN
978-1-894801-22-5
.
- Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000).
Century of hockey
. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
ISBN
0-7710-4179-9
.
- Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003).
The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League
. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International Inc.
ISBN
0-7853-9624-1
.
- McCarthy, Dave, ed. (2008).
The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2009
. Dan Diamond Associates.
ISBN
978-1-894801-14-0
.
- Notes
- ^
a
b
c
d
Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011).
The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012
. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152.
ISBN
9781894801225
.
- ^
McCarthy, p. 249
- ^
Podnieks, Andrew
; Szemberg, Szymon (2008).
IIHF Top 100 Hockey Stories of All Time
. Bolton, Ontario, Canada: Fenn Publishing. p. 74.
ISBN
978-1-55168-358-4
.
External links
[
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]
|
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Patrick
| |
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Adams
| |
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Norris
| |
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Smythe
| |
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See also
| |
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|
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1910s
| |
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1920s
| |
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1930s
| |
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1940s
| |
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1950s
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1960s
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1970s
| |
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1980s
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1990s
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2000s
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2010s
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2020s
| |
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The 2004?05 season was not played due to
a lockout
.
|