2000-2001
OFFSEASON
The Hall of Fame welcomes three new members as Joey Mullen, Steve Smith and Kevin Stevens are inducted. Mullen played his entire career with St Louis, scoring 769 goals and 1618 points in 1439 games. Stevens had 457 goals and 1130 points in 970 games with Pittsburgh from 1985-86 to 97-98. Smith played 1114 games on the blueline for Edmonton and Buffalo and finished with 632 career points.
A number of longtime stars have retired including:
Mike Gartner- 19 seasons and 1284 games for Washington. Scored 669 goals and 1314 points.
Craig Janney - played 12 seasons for Boston winning a Calder Trophy. Had 444 goals and 1159 points in 932 games.
Andy Moog- played 19 years with Buffalo after starting his career in Edmonton. 440-254-90 with a lifetime 2.97 GAA. Moog won a Vezina Trophy, was a 2-time first team all-star and won 3 Stanley Cups in Buffalo.
Ulf Samuelsson - 18 year career primarily with Whalers/Canes but finished career in Edmonton. Played 1214 career games and finished with 682 points.
Gary Suter- 3 time Norris Trophy winner was injured and did not play in playoffs in only season Calgary won the Cup. Had 1014 points in 1024 career games.
More expansion as the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild join the league. The Wild will get a good young star as Marian Gaborik enters the league. Other newcomers this season include Henrik Lundqvist with the Rangers and Steve Ott in Dallas.
Columbus expansion picks include goalies Byron Dafoe and Jose Theodore along with Martin Lapointe, Sergei Berezin and Ken Daneyko. The Wild add Kevin Weekes, Scott Thornton, Sami Pahlsson and Yanic Perreault but it is youngsters Gaborik, Nick Schultz and Pascual Dupuis who represent the future in Minnesota.
REGULAR SEASON
The Detroit Red Wings look poised for another deep playoff run as they set a franchise record for wins with 64 and points with 133. Calgary, Colorado and Anaheim all supass the 100 point mark in the West while in the much tighter East only New Jersey, with 110, and Boston's 106 points are over the century mark.
Edmonton Oiler legend Wayne Gretzky adds to his record point total and surpasses the 2600 point mark but Gretzky only dresses for 30 games this season. He had 26 points including 9 goals which leaves him 6 behind Bobby Hull's record 884. It is expected this was Gretky's final season although no official annoucement will come until the off-season.
Mario Lemieux moved into third place overall in career points with 2053 after getting 86 this season and had a nice resurgence after a career low 64 points a year ago. Lemieux had 21 goals giving him 841 and at age 35 he may stick around long enough to pass Hull.
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ATLANTIC DIVISION GP W L T PTS
New Jersey Devils 82 51 23 8 110
Philadelphia Flyers 82 46 29 7 99
New York Islanders 82 43 31 8 94
Pittsburgh Penguins 82 40 29 13 93
New York Rangers 82 38 31 13 89
NORTHEAST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Boston Bruins 82 47 23 12 106
Montreal Canadiens 82 42 35 5 89
Buffalo Sabres 82 30 41 11 71
Toronto Maple Leafs 82 31 45 6 68
Ottawa Senators 82 28 45 9 65
SOUTHEAST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Washington Capitals 82 37 41 4 78
Carolina Hurricanes 82 34 38 10 78
Florida Panthers 82 30 43 9 69
Tampa Bay Lightning 82 22 55 5 49
Atlanta Thrashers 82 16 58 8 40
CENTRAL DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Detroit Red Wings 82 64 13 5 133
St Louis Blues 82 37 37 8 82
Columbus Blue Jackets 82 30 45 7 67
Chicago Black Hawks 82 26 47 9 61
Nashville Predators 82 19 51 12 50
NORTHWEST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Calgary Flames 82 55 21 6 116
Colorado Avalanche 82 51 21 10 112
Vancouver Canucks 82 44 32 6 94
Edmonton Oilers 82 43 32 7 93
Minnesota Wild 82 23 50 9 55
PACIFIC DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Anaheim Mighty Ducks 82 47 27 8 102
Los Angeles Kings 82 40 36 6 86
Dallas Stars 82 34 42 6 74
Phoenix Coyotes 82 33 42 5 73
San Jose Sharks 82 27 45 10 64
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Trevor Linden VAN 82 47 74 121
Peter Forsberg PHI 82 36 70 106
Brett Hull CGY 78 43 57 100
Keith Tkaczuk EDM 77 48 50 98
Mike Modano DAL 82 37 61 98
Glen Murray BOS 82 42 55 97
Steve Yzerman DET 74 42 54 96
Ryan Smyth EDM 74 34 62 96
Theo Fleury CGY 74 29 65 94
Jaromir Jagr PIT 82 41 52 93
Brendan Morrison NJ 82 32 61 93
Luc Robitaille LA 82 37 55 92
Matt Cooke VAN 82 39 49 88
Michael Handzus EDM 81 33 55 88
Pavel Bure VAN 78 44 43 87
Milan Hejduk COL 82 39 48 87
Saku Koivu MON 82 23 64 87
Mario Lemieux PIT 76 21 65 86
Joe Thornton BOS 82 34 51 85
Zigmund Palffy NYI 81 31 54 85
Slava Kozlov DET 82 31 54 85
Paul Kariya ANA 82 35 49 84
Mats Sundin COL 80 33 51 84
GOALIE WIN LEADERS TM W-L-T GAA SAVE%
Manny Legace DET 42-6-3 1.72 .918
Ed Belfour ANA 41-22-8 2.37 .920
Martin Brodeur NJ 41-17-8 1.86 .925
Patrick Roy MON 40-27-6 2.80 .908
Roberto Luongo NYI 39-27-8 2.55 .903
Ron Tugnutt COL 37-12-10 2.46 .892
John Vanbiesbrouck NYR 36-26-12 2.67 .899
Chris Osgood WSH 30-28-4 2.97 .900
Patrick Lalime EDM 29-19-8 2.61 .900
Mike Dunham CAR 28-27-11 2.72 .917
Levente Szuper CGY 28-6-3 1.96 .918
PLAYOFFS
The Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup run came to an end when the Wings lost in the second round, falling to Edmonton in 7 games. The Oilers knocked off Anahiem in the first round and now set their sights on the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals. The Avalanche survived a 7 game series with Vancouver in the opening round before beating Calgary in five. It will be Colorado's third straight trip to the conference finals as they lost to Detroit each of the past two seasons.
Boston returns to the conference final in the East as the Bruins look for their third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Bruins beat Montreal and Philadelphia, both in 5 games, in the first two rounds. The Bruins will face New Jersey, which beat the Rangers and then Pittsburgh with each series going 6 games.
CONFERENCE FINALS
Outstanding goaltending from Martin Brodeur led the Devils to their first Stanley Cup final in franchise history. Brodeur had a 2.09 goals against average during the playoffs and helped the Devils beat Boston in 5 games. Meanwhile Colorado, without Detroit in their path, advanced to the finals with a 6 game series win over the Edmonton Oilers.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
It is uncharted territory for the Devils, who have never played for the Stanley Cup in their franchise history. The Avalanche won their second Cup in 1996 after making 3 straight finals appearances, although they were based in Quebec for the first two.
The Avalanche got to Brodeur quickly in Game One, scoring 3 times in the first period and then coasting to a 6-2 victory. Joe Sakic led the way with a goal and 2 assists while Jaroslav Modry scored twice. Colorado also got goals from Robyn Regehr, Milan Hejduk and Alex Tanguay. Kevyn Adams and Brian Rafalski replied for New Jersey in a game that saw the Devils only get 14 shots on Colorado goaltender Kirk McLean.
Brodeur's struggles continue as he allows 5 goals on 25 shots and the Avalanche win Game Two 5-4. Claude Lemieux, Grant Ledyard, Steve Rucchin, Owen Nolan and Jaroslav Modry score for Colorado. Petr Sykora has two of the New Jersey goals with Bill Guerin and Brendan Shanahan also scoring.
Another big game for the Avalanche, who chase Brodeur with 4 first period goals en route to a 5-2 win in Game Three. Joe Sakic has a goal and 2 assists with Eric Lindros, Kirk Maltby, Milan Hejduk and Adam Foote also scoring for Colorado. Rob DiMaio and Brendan Morrison are the New Jersey scorers.
The Devils score 5 third period goals to rally from a 4-1 deficit and win Game Four 6-4. Bill Guerin is the New Jersey hero with 3 goals and an assist while Brendan Morrison adds 3 helpers. Scott Gomez, Sasha Goc and Brian Rafalski also score for New Jersey, who trail the series 3 games to one. Steve Rucchin, MIlan Hejduk, Joe Sakic and Adam Foote get the Colorado goals.
Another third period comeback gives New Jersey Game Five and keeps the Devils alive. Petr Sykora and Brendan Shanahan scored in the third to give the Devils a 4-3 win. Willie Mitchell and Brendan Morrison had the other Devils goals while Owen Nolan with 2 and Milan Hejduk scored for Colorado.
No more comebacks for the Devils as the Avalanche end the series with a 3-2 victory in Game Six. Colorado led 2-1 on goals from Mats Sundin and Alex Tanguay in the first period while Brendan Morrison replied for the Devils. The Devils tied the game with the only goal of the second period when Jiri Fischer scored a powerplay marker. Colorado would get a power play goal of their own in the third period as Adam Foote got the game winner on an assist from Joe Sakic (his third assist of the game) and Eric Lindros.
Joe Sakic was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy after leading all playoff scorers with 40 points.
Code:
PLAYOFF SCORING LEADERS GP G A PTS
Joe Sakic COL 24 12 28 40
Brendan Morrison NJ 23 11 20 31
Bill Guerin NJ 23 14 14 28
Brendan Shanahan NJ 23 10 14 24
Milan Hejduk COL 24 9 14 23
Owen Nolan COL 24 14 8 22
Keith Tkaczuk EDM 18 12 8 20
Joe Thornton BOS 15 4 16 20
Mats Sundin COL 24 8 11 19
Claude Lemieux COL 24 5 14 19
Dan McGillis NJ 23 1 18 19
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh (82GP 41-52-93)
VEZINA TROPHY: Martin Brodeur New Jersey (41-17-8 1.86)
NORRIS TROPHY: Nicklas Lidstrom Detroit (82GP 25-55-80)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Trevor Linden Vancouver (82GP 47-74-121)
CALDER TROPHY: Martin St Louis Calgary (82GP 38-27-65)
The game does not select the all-star team but I will start naming first and second team all-stars
Code:
POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM
G Martin Brodeur New Jersey Manny Legace Detroit
D Brian Leetch NY Rangers Phil Housley Buffalo
D Nic Lidstrom Detroit Tom Poti Edmonton
C Trevor Linden Vancouver Peter Forsberg Philadelphia
LW Keith Tkaczuk Edmonton Luc Robitaille Los Angeles
RW Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh Brett Hull Calgary