1994–95 NHL season

1995 NHL season
League National Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Duration January 20 – June 24, 1995
Number of games 48
Number of teams 26
Regular season
Presidents' Trophy Detroit Red Wings
Season MVP Eric Lindros (Philadelphia)
Top scorer Jaromir Jagr (Pittsburgh)
Playoffs
Eastern champions New Jersey Devils
  Eastern runners-up Philadelphia Flyers
Western champions Detroit Red Wings
  Western runners-up Chicago Blackhawks
Playoffs MVP Claude Lemieux (New Jersey)
Stanley Cup
Champions New Jersey Devils
  Runners-up Detroit Red Wings

The 1994–95 NHL season was the 78th regular season of the National Hockey League. The teams played a shortened season, due to a lockout of the players by the owners. In addition, the NHL All-Star Game, which had been scheduled to take place January 20–21, 1995, in San Jose, California, was canceled. San Jose was eventually selected as the venue for the 1997 NHL All-Star Game.

League business

The Hartford Whalers were purchased by Peter Karmanos.

This was the last season in Quebec City for the Quebec Nordiques, as they announced that they would move to Denver after the season and become the Colorado Avalanche.

It was the first season with games televised by Fox, which they would do until the end of the 1998–99 season. It marked the first major American broadcast agreement for the NHL since 1975. Fox split Stanley Cup Finals games with ESPN.

The regular season was shortened because of a 103 day lockout, which ended on January 11, 1995. The season finally got underway nine days later.

New arenas

The Boston Bruins played their final season at the Boston Garden. They would then move to their current arena, the TD Garden (then named the FleetCenter).

The Vancouver Canucks played their last season at Pacific Coliseum. They would play at GM Place (now known as Rogers Arena) the following year.

The Chicago Blackhawks opened the United Center.

The St. Louis Blues opened the Kiel Center (now the Scottrade Center).

Events

Rule changes

Regular season

Due to the 1994–95 NHL lockout, the league shortened the season length from 84 games, the length of the previous two seasons, to 48. Furthermore, the season would last from January 20 to May 3; this was the first and only time in NHL history that the regular season extended into May. Regular-season games would be limited to intra-conference play (Eastern Conference teams did not play Western Conference teams).

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
12 Philadelphia Flyers 48 28 16 4 150 132 60
25 New Jersey Devils 48 22 18 8 136 121 52
36 Washington Capitals 48 22 18 8 136 120 52
48 New York Rangers 48 22 23 3 139 134 47
59 Florida Panthers 48 20 22 6 115 127 46
612 Tampa Bay Lightning 48 17 28 3 120 144 37
713 New York Islanders 48 15 28 5 126 158 35
Northeast Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
11 Quebec Nordiques 48 30 13 5 185 134 65
23 Pittsburgh Penguins 48 29 16 3 181 158 61
34 Boston Bruins 48 27 18 3 150 127 57
47 Buffalo Sabres 48 22 19 7 130 119 51
510 Hartford Whalers 48 19 24 5 127 141 43
611 Montreal Canadiens 48 18 23 7 125 148 43
714 Ottawa Senators 48 9 34 5 117 174 23

Western Conference

Central Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 1 Detroit Red Wings 48 33 11 4 180 117 70
2 2 St. Louis Blues 48 28 15 5 178 135 61
3 4 Chicago Blackhawks 48 24 19 5 156 115 53
4 5 Toronto Maple Leafs 48 21 19 8 135 146 50
5 8 Dallas Stars 48 17 23 8 136 135 42
6 10 Winnipeg Jets 48 16 25 7 157 177 39
Pacific Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
12 Calgary Flames 48 24 17 7 163 135 55
26 Vancouver Canucks 48 18 18 12 153 148 48
37 San Jose Sharks 48 19 25 4 129 161 42
49 Los Angeles Kings 48 16 23 9 142 174 41
511 Edmonton Oilers 48 17 27 4 136 183 38
612 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 48 16 27 5 125 164 37

[2]

Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

Final

The New Jersey Devils swept the series in the minimum four games. Detroit was making its first appearance in a Stanley Cup Finals since 1966. New Jersey won in its first appearance in a Finals.

Detroit Red Wings vs. New Jersey Devils
Date Away Score Home Score Notes
June 17 New Jersey 2 Detroit 1
June 20 New Jersey 4 Detroit 2
June 22 Detroit 2 New Jersey 5
June 24 Detroit 2 New Jersey 5
New Jersey wins series 4–0
and Stanley Cup
Claude Lemieux (New Jersey)
wins Conn Smythe Trophy

[3]

Playoff bracket

  Conference Quarterfinals Conference Semifinals Conference Finals Stanley Cup Finals
                                     
1  Quebec 2     2  Philadelphia 4  
8  NY Rangers 4     8  NY Rangers 0  
2  Philadelphia 4 Eastern Conference
7  Buffalo 1  
    2  Philadelphia 2  
  5  New Jersey 4  
3  Pittsburgh 4  
6  Washington 3  
4  Boston 1   3  Pittsburgh 1
5  New Jersey 4     5  New Jersey 4  
  E5  New Jersey 4
(Pairings are re-seeded after the first round.)
  W1  Detroit 0
1  Detroit 4     1  Detroit 4
8  Dallas 1     7  San Jose 0  
2  Calgary 3
7  San Jose 4  
  1  Detroit 4
  4  Chicago 1  
3  St. Louis 3  
6  Vancouver 4   Western Conference
4  Chicago 4   4  Chicago 4
5  Toronto 3     6  Vancouver 0  

Awards

The NHL Awards presentation took place on July 6, 1995.

Presidents' Trophy: Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy: New Jersey Devils
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: Detroit Red Wings
Art Ross Trophy: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Pat LaFontaine, Buffalo Sabres
Calder Memorial Trophy: Peter Forsberg, Quebec Nordiques
Conn Smythe Trophy: Claude Lemieux, New Jersey Devils
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Ron Francis, Pittsburgh Penguins
Hart Memorial Trophy: Eric Lindros, Philadelphia Flyers
Jack Adams Award: Marc Crawford, Quebec Nordiques
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Paul Coffey, Detroit Red Wings
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Joe Nieuwendyk, Calgary Flames
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Ron Francis, Pittsburgh Penguins
Lester B. Pearson Award: Eric Lindros, Philadelphia Flyers
NHL Plus/Minus Award: Ron Francis, Pittsburgh Penguins
Vezina Trophy: Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
William M. Jennings Trophy: Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks
Lester Patrick Trophy: Joe Mullen, Brian Mullen, Bob Fleming

All-Star teams

First team   Position   Second team
Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres G Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks
Paul Coffey, Detroit Red Wings D Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
Chris Chelios, Chicago Blackhawks D Larry Murphy, Pittsburgh Penguins
Eric Lindros, Philadelphia Flyers C Alexei Zhamnov, Winnipeg Jets
Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins RW Theoren Fleury, Calgary Flames
John LeClair, Montreal/Philadelphia LW Keith Tkachuk, Winnipeg Jets

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Regular season Playoffs
Player Team GP G A Pts
Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh 48 32 38 70
Eric Lindros Philadelphia 46 29 41 70
Alexei Zhamnov Winnipeg 48 30 35 65
Joe Sakic Quebec 47 19 43 62
Ron Francis Pittsburgh 44 11 48 59
Theoren Fleury Calgary 47 29 29 58
Paul Coffey Detroit 45 14 44 58
Mikael Renberg Philadelphia 47 26 31 57
John LeClair Montreal/
Philadelphia
46 26 28 54
Mark Messier NY Rangers 46 14 39 53

[2]

Player Team GP G A Pts
Sergei Fedorov Detroit 17 7 17 24
Stephane Richer New Jersey 19 6 15 21
Neal Broten New Jersey 20 7 12 19
Ron Francis Pittsburgh 12 6 13 19
Denis Savard Chicago 16 7 11 18
Paul Coffey Detroit 18 6 12 18
John MacLean New Jersey 20 5 13 18
Claude Lemieux New Jersey 20 13 3 16
Vyacheslav Kozlov Detroit 18 9 7 16
Nicklas Lidstrom Detroit 18 4 12 16

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Leading goaltenders

Regular season

Player Team GP MIN GA SO GAA
Dominik Hasek Buffalo 41 2416 85 5 2.11
Jim Carey Washington 28 1604 57 4 2.13
Chris Osgood Detroit 19 1087 41 1 2.26
Ed Belfour Chicago 42 2450 93 5 2.28
Jocelyn Thibault Quebec 18 898 35 1 2.34
Dominic Roussel Philadelphia 19 1075 42 1 2.34
Glenn Healy New York Rangers 17 888 35 1 2.36
Blaine Lacher Boston 35 1965 79 4 2.41
Andy Moog Dallas 31 1770 72 2 2.44
Martin Brodeur New Jersey 40 2184 89 3 2.45

[4]

Milestones

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1994–95, listed with their first team (asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1994–95 (listed with their last team):

Trading deadline

Trading deadline: April 7, 1995.[5]

Coaches

Head coaches of the Eastern Conference

Team Coach Comments
Boston Bruins Brian Sutter
Buffalo Sabres John Muckler
Florida Panthers Roger Neilson
Hartford Whalers Paul Holmgren
Montreal Canadiens Jacques Demers
New Jersey Devils Jacques Lemaire
New York Islanders Lorne Henning
New York Rangers Colin Campbell
Ottawa Senators Rick Bowness
Philadelphia Flyers Terry Murray
Pittsburgh Penguins Eddie Johnston
Quebec Nordiques Marc Crawford
Tampa Bay Lightning Terry Crisp
Washington Capitals Jim Schoenfeld

Head coaches of the Western Conference

Team Coach Comments
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Ron Wilson
Calgary Flames Dave King
Chicago Blackhawks Darryl Sutter
Dallas Stars Bob Gainey
Detroit Red Wings Scotty Bowman
Edmonton Oilers George Burnett Replaced midseason by Ron Low
Los Angeles Kings Barry Melrose Replaced midseason by Rogie Vachon
St. Louis Blues Mike Keenan
San Jose Sharks Kevin Constantine
Toronto Maple Leafs Pat Burns
Vancouver Canucks Rick Ley
Winnipeg Jets John Paddock Replaced midseason by Terry Simpson

See also

References

Notes
  1. Weekes, Don (2003). The Best and Worst of Hockey's Firsts: The Unofficial Guide. Canada: Greystone Books. p. 240. ISBN 9781550548600.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Regular-season standings, scoring leaders: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy et al., eds. THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  3. Playoff rounds: Diamond, Dan, ed. (2008). Total Stanley Cup (PDF version). Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 35.
  4. http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1995_leaders.html
  5. NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out

    External links