1980 Stanley Cup Playoffs Montreal Canadiens at Minnesota North Stars Game 3 4-19-1980

[@wpbarchitect1800]

Wow THANK YOU for posting this...was at the game, with my dad, who recently passed away. A great memory even as the Stars were utterly outclassed on the night. I remember an older couple of Habs fans cheering every goal was getting a really hard time from some of the usual Met Center drunks, and my dad let them have it and told them to leave them alone. I remember clear as day the man, in his Montreal jersey, saying to my dad, 'merci...it is my team, what do they want me to do?'

[@diamonddog13]

I love watching games from the old arenas. Back then some of them had different dimensions, most had slightly different camera angles, so you always could tell where the game was played. Now all the rinks look the same except for the logo at centre ice.

[@robertbruce1307]

Exactly. All cookie cutter arenas today

[@spirg]

Before corporate ruined everything

[@paulsonj72]

I remember watching this series locally as KMSP(Now Fox 9 but independent at the time). They held North Star TV rights at the time.

[@alexchristopher221]

Love seeing the old commercials. Thanks for the nostalgia!

[@brettfavreify]

2:33:41 is particularly LOL funny.

[@dantheman5745]

@@brettfavreify That is HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ldhorricks]

Loved those North Star Uniforms...classic

[@robertwesley4416]

The best. The Wild uniform is a horror to look it. Worst uniforms in a now boring NHL like most major sports

[@danbratten3103]

I have every kind of jerseys the North Stars ever used, including the 1st year preseason ones with the straight up N, and a couple prototypes they never used. Theses 80-81 home jerseys are my favorite!

[@brent4723]

You had me at Gordon Pinsent (ScotiaBank ad in the first minute). It was a wonderful time to be a teenage North Stars fan.

[@fredblassie9523]

good quality....amazing how stuff from 1980 is clear but 1985 distorted

[@vwm8534]

Some are my own recordings and others are from trades I made with other people. I always recorded mine on SP which gave best quality. Many used LP or SLP. That allowed them to get more time on one tape but sacrificed quality. Also tapes lost quality over years. Hope that helps.

[@fredblassie9523]

Thanks again. I enjoy them so much.@@vwm8534

[@tiamatxvxianash9202]

Over recent years I've worked a lot on my military memoirs and thankfully I've had the use of 2 and a 1/2 years worth of personal diaries from the early 80s to have as reference. I had just finished bootcamp in the fall of 1979 and was in electrical studies in preparation for aircraft school when this Montreal-Minnesota series was being played. Growing up in Canada, all I'd ever known since earliest recollections was the dominance of the Habs and my love and loyalty for them. This series was watched each night in the barracks in those long ago days with my diary entries being updated accordingly. By the time game 7 was over, all I'd ever come to see as a way of life in the Stanley Cup Playoffs was over also. It was time to move on alright. But at least I've kept writing. It's nice to know that to this day, Minnesota fans consider that game 7 victory over the Habs remains a feather in their cap of accomplishments like no other.

[@trevordidham5245]

Gilles Meloche was outstanding, he played on some many bad expansion teams, it was nice to see him shine in this playoff

[@ldhorricks]

great upload...watching this in my hotel room in Belgrade while working on a film here. the end of an iconic era for Montreal. Shame the North Stars left Minnesota...They had some good teams but couldn't win it while they were still the North Stars. Meloche played outstanding in this series. Hard to say if having Lafleur, Savard, Lapointe, Risbrough, and Mondou would have made a difference... Numbers 5 and 18 were slowing down by then...and this Stars team was really skilled and well coached. I wasn't able to watch this entire series live as I was in my first semester studying in Santa Barbara and only got sketchy NBC coverage of the playoffs...near killed me, being Canadian.

[@graciemaemarie11jones16]

of course if having lafleur and others would have made a difference.....duh...but without dryden,lemaire, and super coach bowman-they were doomed

[@ldhorricks]

@@graciemaemarie11jones16 Its actually not...duh...Lafleur was not same player in 1980, and Savard and Lapointe and Lemaire were at the end of long careers, Mondou and Risbrough were missed the most.

[@trevordidham5245]

Meloche up to his old tricks! I love it great goalie my fav.😃

[@greatamericanradio5937]

Now more than ever, MAN! ..... thank you SO much Mr. Moody. Hearin'/seein' Met Center ROCKIN' while Gilles Meloche slams the door. *shaking head and smiling* All we need now are the stuffed dinosaurs to throw on the ice for Dino. LOL!

[@fredblassie9523]

Napier was very underrated. He played well for the Oilers as well.

[@SuperLooneyrooney]

was at that game. about 10 rows up from ice. loudest arena i've ever been to.

[@toddm9501]

And then, quiet. How did the NHL ever let them leave. My wife and I were at the 3rd home game of the Wild. Against San Jose.

[@danbratten3103]

​@toddm9501 The NHL tried to keep the North Stars in Minnesota, but most of the fans were fair-weather fans. Attendance in the late 70s got so bad that the original owners almost folded the team. My grandfather and my dad had season tickets their first 19 seasons. They told me about games in the late 70s with less than 3,000 fans at games. The league merged the North Stars with the Cleveland Barons, keeping the North Stars in Minnesota but the Barons owners, the Gund Bros, taking ownership of the North Stars. The merger helped make the North Stars a good team because GM Lou Nanne (an overall bad gm) could keep the best players from both teams and trading off or selling the rest. Hence how the North Stars ended the Habs dynasty in 1980 and got all the way to the finals in 1981. The team slowly got worse, and by the late 80s, the fans abandoned the team again. Another problem was the Metropolitan Sports Commission, who fleeced ownership of the Met from the original owners, never helped the team with renovations to the Met. By the end of the 89-90 season the Gund Bros were fed up with the Twin Cities lack of support for the team and planned on moving the North Stars to San Jose who were building a brand new arena. The league did a de-merger of the North Stars. The Gund Bros sold the North Stars, got the San Jose market with the expansion Sharks, and were allowed to take some North Stars players and prospects. The 2 men who bought the North Stars quickly turned around and sold them to Norm Green. Now today everyone in Minnesota says "Norm Green sucks", but originally he was a hero. The 90-91 season started off bad in attendance and win lose record for the North Stars. They were getting around 4,000-6,000 in attendance, dead last. The team tried different things to boost attendance, most didn't work, but after the all-star break things began to change. The team started playing better and they came up with a season ticket promotion drive. If you bought 2 season tickets for the remainder of that season and the next season the team would give you 1 more free. This will come up again later. The team got hot, made the playoffs and went on that magical run to the finals before losing to Pittsburgh. The next season the team fell on its face at the start of the season but got better and made the playoffs but lost in the 1st round to Detroit. The start of what would be their last season saw that special season ticket promo from the 90-91 season of buy 2 get 1 free end. The team assumed people would pay for all 3 season tickets, but with the team playing poorly the previous season and 1st round playoff exit, most dropped their season tickets again and attendance plummeted. Norm Green, who had invested $20 million of his own money renovating the Met Center (because the Sports Commision refused to help again), had enough and the NHL had enough as well and granted him permission to relocate the team. There was a good quote in the Sports Illustrated article about the North Stars moving to Dallas where a fan said "why pay $20 and watch the Stars lose when you can pay $10 and watch the Gophers win." The fans and their lack of support is the real reason why Minnesota lost the North Stars.

[@ldhorricks]

when there were fans there

[@michaelleroy9281]

Danny Gallivan OUTSTANDING play by play man

[@brettfavreify]

This game is golden, Molson Golden.

[@stevejohnson1577]

that actually was a good beer!

[@dantheman5745]

Still can't believe Montreal lost this series to end their 4-Cup run. Dropped Games 1 & 2 at home, took a 3-2 lead, then dropped the final 2 games, including game 7 at the Forum. Losing Cournoyer, Lemaire and Dryden to retirement hurt. Losing Scotty Bowman, who left for Buffalo, was a real shame. And the injury list really hurt, too. (LaFleur, Lapointe, Mondou, Risebrough & Savard) I guess that was just the wheels falling off a dynasty.

[@FischerFan]

In short; the 1979-80 season was one of transition for the Canadiens.

[@graciemaemarie11jones16]

the habs c team almost won this series.....HALL OF FAMERS, BOWMAN....DRYDEN....LEMAIRE...COURNOYER...LAFLEUR....SAVARD.....LAPOINTE.....all hurt, or retired......its amazing they played as well as they did......

[@michaelleroy9281]

And even with the dynasty falling they were 47-20-13 for the season and 30-7-3 at home

[@morleysobol6656]

If you have Game 6 from this series, that would be terrific.

[@morleysobol6656]

I would most like to see Game 6 from the 1980 Minnesota-Montreal series. Also, high on my list would be North Stars home playoff games from 1981, particularly Game 6 of the Calgary series. I'm very much enjoying watching this game by the way, even the the North Stars got clobbered. It brings back a lot of great memories. Thanks!

[@russellebnet6715]

I remember that run to the cup. Fell short to the Flyers. The best North Stars team ever

[@michaelbenjamin4719]

Better than the team that lost in the finals to Pittsburgh??

[@daved1535]

The 1980 North Stars were a better regular season team then the 1991 North Stars but the 91 North Stars were a better playoff team.

[@fredblassie9523]

81 team was better with Ciccerelli.........went to finals but of course could not beat the ISLES

[@danbratten3103]

​@@fredblassie9523 and Broten and Beaupre with Meloche taking turns in the net.

[@michaelleroy9281]

​​@@michaelbenjamin4719The team that lost to Pittsburgh was 27-39-14 for 68 points during the season, 16 th of 21 in points

[@lisahardy9707]

HNIC Gold with the late GREAT Danny Gallivan

[@DjCadot]

Sooooooo rare. thx , i wich one day, somebody will post game 3 Canadiens vs Hartfort Whalers 1980 .great post.

[@DjCadot]

So there is no way i will ever see that game again? ;( The last Gordie Howe game with Dave Keon and Bobby Hull . Guy Lafleur was amazing until Pat Boutette injured him. Lambert ot Winner. canadiens winning there 13th series in a row.

[@fredblassie9523]

Bobby Hull looks like he can tear a can of oil open with ease in that commercial . His forearms were huge. I only saw him play his last few years but he was still a power forward who scored with ease as he out muscled guys 20 years younger than him.

[@bobby-jackbrewer7395]

Some of those arenas back then had deep corners...the old St. Louis Arena was similar

[@fredblassie9523]

Thanks for leaving the commercials and the between period interviews. Savard and Hartsburg, both great players. Savard at the end of his career and Hartsburg just starting. I prefer the old days when we didn't have to listen to 5 guys sitting at an enormous desk each saying one line and cracking up at some inside joke. Pathetic what all sports has become.

[@daved1535]

Wow only 2 advertisements on the boards

[@annoyingjake]

6:44 it seemed Gingras' booming slapshot was always "5 or 6 feet wide"

[@canuck_gamer3359]

Whenever some nitwit, who knows nothing about hockey tells me that Ken Dryden was "overrated", I bring this series up. How could anyone possibly think that Dryden was overrated? He was a world class goalie by any definition and the only thing that prevented Montreal from winning another Cup between 1979 and 1986 was a great goalie. For anyone who disagrees with me, please then explain to me why Montreal drafted Tretiak in 1984??? The fun thing is that as a kid I thought Gilles Meloche would be a great goalie for Montreal to trade for. It's a shame that Minnesota had Stanley Cup aspirations of their own at the time, otherwise that might have been an option!

[@johnkatsaros7340]

That manly irish spring soap commercial would never get made today. Lol

[@John-tp5gc]

Lafleur was injured and Minnesota took advantage.

[@PuzZLeR_00]

None of the first 6 games were close. A Lafleur goal in them would've made little difference IMO. Perhaps game 7 the Habs may have won with him, but that was only 1 game, and a close checking one. It's debatable.

[@sportsretrospective6759]

Always wondering the outcome of that series if Guy Lafleur and Pierre Larouche had played the entire series(both injured, both 50 goal scorers).

[@steveshutt6409]

This series went to a seventh game and Minnesota squeaked out a 3-2 win in that game. Had Lafleur and Larouche been healthy it could’ve been a different outcome. Plus Lapointe, Savard and Mondou weren’t healthy either. But this was a dynasty coming to an end though. I’m sure the Habs would’ve been eventually knocked out even had they beaten Minnesota.

[@graciemaemarie11jones16]

@Willie Gordon agree...5 HALL OF FAMERS WERE OUT......LAFLEUR...DRYDEN....LEMAIRE...BOWMAN.....SAVARD....GREATEST COACH, GREATEST DEFENSEMAN OF ALL TIME....

[@keithmcdonald6355]

@@steveshutt6409 Larouche played every game except game 7; put up 8 points in 9 games. I was shocked when the Habs lost this series. Their achilles heal was goaltending. Larocque didn't quite fill Dryden's spot, and Claude Ruel made the critical error of going with Denis Herron in game 7.

[@PuzZLeR_00]

Not trying to be a wet blanket here, but none of this series' first 6 games were close, so a couple of extra Habs goals in each of them would've made little difference. Ok, maybe Lafleur and Larouche may have helped in game 7, but that was only one game, and a stifling close checking one. As I've said in other comments, it's debatable IMO.

[@PuzZLeR_00]

@@steveshutt6409 The Habs were in decline since 1977 actually, and continued to decline till 1984. Yes, they still led the 79-80 season in offence, and came into this series riding an unbeaten streak of over 20 games. However, even though they were still "a very good team", fans started showing concern because the writing was on the wall that by this point they had become "a very BEATABLE good team". The wheels falling off were an inevitability.

[@FAB4RADIO]

is that Lacy Underal at the beginning on this video

[@ldhorricks]

One can always speculate on trades...especially the exciting blockbuster trades of pre-salary cap era, but I think the Habs lost a lot in the (Langway, Jarvis, Engblom, Laughlin) FOR (Walter and Green) trade they made with the Caps a couple years after this series. Savard and Lapointe were at the end of their careers, and Jarvis was still one of the best checking forwards in the league. Would have liked to have seen a young Chelios with Langway as a top 2 pairing. Ludwig was solid but not someone who could anchor a powerplay like Langway.

[@ChristopherHagee]

This was VII-game quarter-final series in 1979-1980 N.H.L. season's St'nly Cup Pl'yffs in which then-Minn. North Stars p'lld off upset v'ctry over IV-time reigning St'nly Cup ch'mpns, C'ndns. They'd then advance to semi-finals where they'd lose in 5 games to Flyer team that had No. Amer. pro sports r'crd 35-game un-beaten streak/26-game home un-beaten streak during reg. season

[@beast1960]

Any other games from this series? Especially in Minnesota?

[@beast1960]

That was the only blowout in 7 game series. Good stuff. Any old games with national anthems for sure. Los Angeles for that matter.

[@beast1960]

Thank you. Great stuff!

[@beast1960]

Thank you. Great stuff!

[@morleysobol6656]

Actually, Game 4 wasn't close, either, Montreal won 5-1. We were so charged up for those games after the North Stars won the first two in Montreal. The crowd was going nuts well before game time. I can still see Steve Christoff scoring in Game 4 to bring the North Stars to within 2-1 (finally, a goal!). Then Montreal won Game 5 at the Forum 6-2 and everyone thought that was it. Game 6 didn't even sell out. A lot of people had already jumped off the bandwagon. I went, but we were all sure we were going to the last game of the season, especially when Montreal scored early. Well, the North Stars beat them 5-2 and then went to Montreal and Al McAdam scored late to win the game 3-2 and the series 4-3. This ended the Canadiens' string of four straight Stanley Cups. Great series.

[@garysimard5674]

Montreal sure missed Lafleur here. That check by Boutette in the Whalers series changed Lafleur permanently.

[@michaelbenjamin4719]

What happen there?? I don't remember??

[@garysimard5674]

@@michaelbenjamin4719 Boutette injured Lafleur, dirty check and was out for the playoffs. That was the year they lost to Minnesota in 7 games. Lafleur was never the same player.

[@FischerFan]

@@michaelbenjamin4719 Boutette pulled something of an Ulf Samuelsson on Lafleur. He stuck his knee out and caught Lafleur. Both Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull, both playing for the Whalers that year; retired after the Canadiens eliminated them in OT of game 3. In hindsight; it would also be the last game played by the REAL Guy Lafleur, too!

[@markschlesinger]

do you have any ""Peter Puck" episodes?

[@graciemaemarie11jones16]

the habs C team almost made it to another stanley cup final...TWO HALL OF FAMERS retire....HALL OF FAME coach leaves.....HALL OF FAMER lafleur...HALL OF FAMER, savard, HURT.....FIVE...FIVE, HALL OF FAMERSZ GONE....don't fiorget lapointe too....WHAT A TEAM THEY WERE....

[@ldhorricks]

OMG those Molson Golden adds were terrible...

[@ldhorricks]

2:33:41 "You your Girl and your Johnson".

[@fredblassie9523]

Meloche was a fine goaltender but played on some of the worst teams ever assembled. These North Stars were a good, young talented team that would improve and go to the finals the next season but gradually would start trading players left and right and never stayed on course. Strange organization back then. They could have competed with the Oilers if they stayed with the core players from 80 and 81. How could they trade a young Bobby Smith to Montreal ? Insane.

[@roblamb5468]

Hockey today sucks and I hate it period this was the real sport period it is not a sport today just money and whinning with no heart !!!

[@leafyutube]

Minnesota even beat the Leafs!! So the Habs had no chance.