The 1979/80 NHL season was the 63rd season in the National Hockey League . 21 teams played 80 games each. The Stanley Cup won the New York Islanders after a 4-1 win in the final series against the Philadelphia Flyers . After the era of the WHA ended, the WHA teams joined the NHL. With the Edmonton Oilers , Hartford Whalers , Québec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets four seasoned teams came into the NHL and with them both the past and the future came into the NHL. The now 51-year-old Gordie Howe came back with Hartford after eight years and scored 15 goals in his final NHL season. In Edmonton, Mark Messier , but above all Wayne Gretzky, were on the team that they should lead to the top of the league in a few years. Like Gretzky, Marcel Dionne scored 137 points and since Dionne had 2 goals more than Gretzky, he won the Art Ross Trophy before Gretzky dominated this ranking for the following seven years.