1998–99 New York Rangers season

1998–99 New York Rangers
Division 4th Atlantic
Conference 11th Eastern
1998–99 record 33–38–11
Home record 17–19–5
Road record 16–19–6
Goals for 217
Goals against 227
Team information
General Manager Neil Smith
Coach John Muckler
Captain Brian Leetch
Alternate captains Adam Graves
Unknown
Arena Madison Square Garden
Average attendance 18,200 (100%)
Team leaders
Goals Adam Graves (38)
Assists Wayne Gretzky (53)
Points Wayne Gretzky (62)
Penalties in minutes Ulf Samuelsson (93)
Wins Mike Richter (27)
Goals against average Mike Richter (2.63)
<1997–98 1999–00>

The 1998–99 New York Rangers season was the 73rd season for the franchise. The aspect of the season was that it was Wayne Gretzky’s final season.

Contents

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Atlantic Division
R CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 2 New Jersey Devils 82 47 24 11 248 196 105
2 5 Philadelphia Flyers 82 37 26 19 231 196 93
3 8 Pittsburgh Penguins 82 38 30 14 242 225 90
4 10 New York Rangers 82 33 38 11 217 227 77
5 13 New York Islanders 82 24 48 10 194 244 58

[1]

The Great One Retires

Wayne Gretzky's last NHL game in Canada was on April 16, 1999, in a 2–2 tie with the Ottawa Senators, and his final game was a 2–1 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins which had Jaromir Jagr, the future Ranger captain, scoring the game winning goal on April 18, 1999 in the Madison Square Garden. The national anthems in that game were adjusted to accommodate Gretzky's departure. In place of "O Canada, we stand on guard for thee", Bryan Adams sang "We're going to miss you Wayne Gretzky".[2] The Star-Spangled Banner, sung by John Amirante, was changed from "the land of the free" to "the land of Wayne Gretzky". He scored his final point in this game, assisting on the lone New York goal scored by Brian Leetch. Gretzky was named as the first, second, and third star of both games. Only Maurice Richard has had such an honour, when during the Stanley Cup Playoffs on March 23, 1944, he scored five dominating goals against the Toronto Maple Leafs. His Montreal Canadiens won 5–1.

At the time of his retirement, Gretzky was the second-to-last WHA player still active in professional hockey, Mark Messier being the last. Messier, himself a former Ranger, along with other representatives of the great Edmonton dynasty of the 1980s, attended the game[3]. Gretzky's final game was considered a "national retirement party" in Canada[3], and Bryan Adams's rendition of "O Canada" was like a "lullaby."[3] As the final seconds ticked away, the crowd at Madison Square Garden gave him a standing ovation, capping off "an entirely satisfying, weekend-long going-away party" in Canada[3], as there would be "No Regretzkys."[3]

Gretzky told Scott Morrison that the final game of his career was his greatest day[4]. He recounted:

“ My last game in New York was my greatest day in hockey...Everything you enjoy about the sport of hockey as a kid, driving to practice with mom [Phyllis] and dad [Walter], driving to the game with mom and dad, looking in the stands and seeing your mom and dad and your friends, that all came together in that last game in New York.[4] ”

Schedule and Results

1998-99 Game Log
October: 3-4-3 (Home: 3-3-1; Road: 0-1-2)
November: 3-5-4 (Home: 1-1-1; Road: 2-4-3)
December: 7-6-0 (Home: 3-2-0; Road: 4-4-0)
January: 6-7-0 (Home: 3-4-0; Road: 3-3-0)
February: 6-6-0 (Home: 4-4-0; Road: 2-2-0)
March: 6-5-3 (Home: 2-3-3; Road: 4-2-0)
April: 2-5-1 (Home: 1-2-0; Road: 1-3-1)

Playoffs

The Rangers failed to qualify for the 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs, missing the playoffs for the second straight season.

Player stats

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Regular season
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky 70 9 53 62 -23 14
MacLean, JohnJohn MacLean 82 28 27 55 5 46
Leetch, BrianBrian Leetch 82 13 42 55 -7 42
Graves, AdamAdam Graves 82 38 15 53 -12 47
Nedved, PetrPetr Nedved 56 20 27 47 -6 50
Savard, MarcMarc Savard 70 9 36 45 -7 38
Stevens, KevinKevin Stevens 81 23 20 43 -10 64
Sundstrom, NiklasNiklas Sundstrom 81 13 30 43 -2 20
Knuble, MikeMike Knuble 82 15 20 35 -7 26
Schneider, MathieuMathieu Schneider 75 10 24 34 -19 71
Harvey, ToddTodd Harvey 37 11 17 28 -1 72
Malhotra, MannyManny Malhotra 73 8 8 16 -2 13
Samuelsson, UlfUlf Samuelsson‡ 67 4 8 12 6 93
Fedyk, BrentBrent Fedyk 67 4 6 10 -11 30
Beukeboom, JeffJeff Beukeboom 45 0 9 9 -2 60
Kovalev, AlexeiAlexei Kovalev‡ 14 3 4 7 -6 12
Fraser, ScottScott Fraser 28 2 4 6 -12 14
Tamer, ChrisChris Tamer† 52 1 5 6 -12 92
Popovic, PeterPeter Popovic 68 1 4 5 -12 40
Brennan, RichRich Brennan 24 1 3 4 -4 23
Ndur, RumunRumun Ndur† 31 1 3 4 -2 46
Lacroix, EricEric Lacroix† 30 2 1 3 -5 4
Pronger, SeanSean Pronger†‡ 14 0 3 3 -3 4
Tikkanen, EsaEsa Tikkanen 32 0 3 3 -5 38
Mertzig, JanJan Mertzig 23 0 2 2 -5 8
Karpovtsev, AlexanderAlexander Karpovtsev‡ 2 1 0 1 1 0
Finley, JeffJeff Finley‡ 2 0 0 0 -1 0
Armstrong, DerekDerek Armstrong 3 0 0 0 0 0
Maneluk, MikeMike Maneluk† 4 0 0 0 -1 4
Smith, GeoffGeoff Smith 4 0 0 0 -5 2
Witehall, JohanJohan Witehall 4 0 0 0 0 0
York, HarryHarry York‡ 5 0 0 0 -1 4
Stock, P.J.P.J. Stock 5 0 0 0 -1 6
Dube, ChristianChristian Dube 6 0 0 0 0 0
Neckar, StanislavStanislav Neckar†‡ 18 0 0 0 -1 8
Langdon, DarrenDarren Langdon 44 0 0 0 -3 80

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SA = Shots against; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; G= Goals; A= Assists; PIM= Penalties in Minutes

Regular season
Player GP Min W L T GA GAA SA Sv% SO
Richter, MikeMike Richter 68 3878 27 30 8 170 2.63 1897 .910 4
Cloutier, DanDan Cloutier 22 1097 6 8 3 49 2.68 570 .914 0

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

[5]

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo, New York at the Marine Midland Arena.

Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 7 Manny Malhotra C  Canada Guelph Storm (OHL)
2 40 Randy Copley LW  Canada Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
3 66 Jason LaBarbera G  Canada Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
4 114 Boyd Kane LW  Canada Regina Pats (WHL)
5 122 Pat Leahy RW  United States Miami University (Ohio) (NCAA)
5 131 Tomas Kloucek D  Czech Republic HC Slavia Praha (Czech Extraliga)
7 180 Stefan Lundqvist RW  Sweden Brynas IF (SEL)
8 207 Johan Witehall LW  Sweden Leksands IF (SEL)
9 235 Jan Mertzig D  Sweden Lulea HF (SEL)

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ Dinger 2011, p. 155.
  2. ^ Brady, Erik (April 19, 1999). "He loved 'every part of the game'". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/gretzky/full38.htm. 
  3. ^ a b c d e Cole, Stephen (2004). The Best of Hockey Night in Canada. Toronto: McArthur & Company. p. 133. ISBN 1-55278-408-8. 
  4. ^ a b Morrison, Scott (2008). Hockey Night in Canada: My Greatest Day. Toronto: Key Porter Books. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-55470-086-8. 
  5. ^ "1998-99 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000481999.html. Retrieved 2010-08-01. 
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