1994-95
OFFSEASON
After no one was added to the Hall of Fame last season we have just one player inducted this time. Bryan Trottier played 18 seasons with the Islanders and won a Stanley Cup in 1979. His 1575 career points are 10th most all-time and he is 7th in NHL history for assists with 1109 to go with his 466 goals.
Two defensemen to play over 1000 games each have retired. Rob Ramage spent 15 years with the Rockies/Devils franchise and picked up 718 points. Dave Babych played 13 years for Winnipeg and finished with 798 points in 1061 games. Also retiring was Bob Carpenter at the relatively young age of 30. The forward played 912 NHL games for Washington and Florida, finishing with 190 goals and 463 points.
Rookies entering this season include Daniel Alfredsson in Ottawa, Marty Turco with Dallas, Tim Thomas to Quebec and Ryan Smith with Edmonton.
REGULAR SEASON
Because of a labor dispute the regular season did not begin until mid-January and was limited to 48 games. When the game returned much of the attention was centered on Wayne Gretzky as the 34 year old Edmonton Oiler superstar chased down Stan Mikita for the NHL's all-time point lead. Gretzky entered the season with 2097 points, 32 behind Mikita.
Gretzky tied the record by recording his 2129th point in a game at home against St Louis on March 14th. He had two points in the game, the first one was a goal in the opening period and the second point, which tied Mikita's mark, was an assist on a third period goal from Paul Coffey. The record breaking mark came in the following game when Gretzky assisted on a first period goal from Martin Gelinas in the Oilers 4-2 win at home over the San Jose Sharks on March 17th. By the time the year was done Gretzky had picked up 63 points and the new record stood at 2160.
Edmonton's Jari Kurri (15-30-45) and Dale Hawerchuk (14-26-40) each surpassed the 600 career goal mark this season. There are now 13 players in NHL history to score over 600 career goals.
Here are the top 15 goal scorers in NHL history
Code:
MOST GOALS IN NHL HISTORY Goals GP
Bobby Hull 1957-77 884 1459
Jean Ratelle 1959-82 856 1613
Guy Lafleur 1971-89 813 1439
Wayne Gretzky 1979-* 741 1086
Dino Ciccarelli 1979-* 694 1166
Phil Esposito 1961-78 667 1271
Alex Delvecchio 1950-73 645 1716
Stan Mikita 1958-79 642 1492
Joe Mullen 1979-* 639 1133
Mark Messier 1980-* 628 1095
Mike Gartner 1979-* 625 1075
Dale Hawerchuk 1981-* 603 948
Jari Kurri 1980-* 603 1097
Jean Beliveau 1949-70 598 1400
Maurice Richard 1942-59 595 1062
MILESTONES
Wayne Gretzky of Edmonton reached the 2100 point mark
Dino Ciccarelli of Dallas reached the 1500 point mark
Make Gartner of Washington earned his 1200 carer point
Jari Kurri of Edmonton scored his 600th goal
Dale Hawerchuk of Winnipeg scored his 600th goal
Petr Klima of Detroit scored his 300th goal
Kevin Dineen of Dallas scored his 300th goal
Joe Sakic of Quebec scored his 300th goal
Rick Tocchet of Philadelphia scored his 300th goal
Al MacInnis of Calgary earned his 750th assist
Mario Lemieux of Pittsburgh earned his 750th assist
Pat LaFontaine of the NY Islanders earned his 750th assist
Craig Janney of Boston picked up his 500th assist
1000 GAMES
Doug Crossman Chicago
Gaetan Duchesne Washington
Ron Francis Hartford
Dave Andreychuk Buffalo
Pat LaFontaine gave Islanders fans plenty to cheer about in their first game after the lockout. The 30 year old had 7 points (2G 5A) as the Isles blasted Florida 9-2 in the season opener for both clubs. Quebec's Joe Sakic also had a 7 point game. His 2 goal, 5 assist performance came March 1st in an 8-1 win over Tampa Bay. Linemate Owen Nolan had 3 goals and 6 points in the same game.
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ATLANTIC DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Philadelphia Flyers 48 34 13 1 69
New York Rangers 48 31 15 2 64
Washington Capitals 48 29 15 4 62
New York Islanders 48 28 14 5 61
New Jersey Devils 48 19 26 3 41
Tampa Bay Lightning 48 8 39 1 17
Florida Panthers 48 7 40 1 15
NORTHEAST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Buffalo Sabres 48 34 10 4 72
Quebec Nordiques 48 28 16 4 60
Pittsburgh Penguins 48 24 20 4 52
Hartford Whalers 48 23 20 5 51
Boston Bruins 48 20 26 2 42
Montreal Canadiens 48 17 29 2 36
Ottawa Senators 48 13 31 4 30
CENTRAL DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Detroit Red Wings 48 35 10 3 73
Chicago Black Hawks 48 32 9 7 71
Dallas Stars 48 22 19 7 51
Toronto Maple Leafs 48 21 22 5 47
St Louis Blues 48 13 26 9 35
Winnipeg Jets 48 14 30 4 32
PACIFIC DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Calgary Flames 48 30 13 5 65
Edmonton Oilers 48 23 22 3 49
Anaheim Mighty Ducks 48 20 22 6 46
Los Angeles Kings 48 18 24 6 42
Vancouver Canucks 48 18 27 3 39
San Jose Sharks 48 12 34 2 26
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Mario Lemieux PIT 47 28 57 85
Steve Yzerman DET 42 26 48 74
Joe Sakic QUE 48 19 55 74
Jeremey Roenick CHI 48 32 38 70
Jaromir Jagr PIT 48 33 34 67
Pierre Turgeon BUF 48 20 47 67
Ron Francis HAR 45 29 36 65
Peter Forsberg PHI 48 16 49 65
Phil Housley BUF 47 18 46 64
Wayne Gretzky EDM 48 20 43 63
Luc Robitaille LA 48 27 35 62
Craig Janney BOS 48 20 42 62
Petr Klima DET 48 32 28 60
Theo Fleury CGY 48 25 34 59
Mike Modano DAL 48 22 36 58
Sergei Federov DET 40 15 43 58
Doug Gilmour STL 48 13 45 58
Pat LaFontaine NYI 48 17 39 56
Trevor Linden VAN 46 22 33 55
Steve Heinze BOS 47 25 29 54
Brett Hull CGY 45 18 36 54
Ulf Dahlen NYR 48 17 37 54
GOALIE WIN LEADERS TM W-L-T GAA SAVE%
Rick Tabaracci PHI 29-9-1 2.27 .888
John Vanbiesbrouck NYR 27-11-2 2.21 .914
Mike Liut CGY 26-10-3 2.54 .879
Andy Moog BUF 24-4-6 1.94 .910
Jeff Hackett DET 23-9-2 2.53 .894
Pat Jablonski NYI 23-11-3 2.47 .907
Dominik Hasek CHI 22-8-6 1.97 .919
Olaf Kolzig WSH 22-11-5 2.49 .899
Grant Fuhr EDM 19-15-3 2.86 .898
Ron Tugnutt QUE 19-12-4 2.64 .891
PLAYOFFS
Four of the 8 opening round playoff series went the distance and three of the four Game Seven's were decided by a single goal. The Pittsburgh Penguins won the battle of Pennsylvania with a 3-2 win over the Flyers in the deciding game. The Flyers were eliminated despite 10 points from Mikael Renberg and 9 from Peter Forsberg and Rick Tocchet in the series.
Third period goals from Mike Peluso and Owen Nolan lifted the Quebec Nordiques to a 2-1 win over the New York Rangers in the 7th game of their series. Ron Tugnutt and John Vanbiesbrouck both provided outstanding goaltending in the series. The Nordiques will face the Washington Capitals in the second round after the Caps survived a 7 game series with the New York Islanders, taking the series finale by a 4-2 score.
The only Eastern Conference opening round series to not go the distance was the Buffalo-Hartford matchup, which the Sabres won in 6 games. Phil Housley (4-6-10) and Pierre Turegeon (4-6-10) carried the Sabres to victory. Buffalo will face Mario Lemieux, who had 7 points in the opening round, and the Pittsburgh Penguins in round two.
The Toronto Maple Leafs nearly pulled off a huge comeback against Chicago in the Western Conference opening round. The Hawks won the first 3 games before Toronto battled back with 3 straight victories of their own. Game Seven went to overtime and Jeremy Roenick put an end to the Leafs comeback hopes when he beat Toronto's Felix Potvin in the second minute of overtime. The Blackhawks will face Calgary, who eliminated Anaheim in 5 games, in the second round. Dallas and Detroit will meet in the other Western Conference semi-final as both teams earned sweeps in the opening round. The Stars knocked out Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers while the Wings won 4 straight over Los Angeles.
Not a lot of drama in the Eastern Conference semi-finals as Buffalo proved too much for Pittsburgh, winning in 5 games, while the Quebec Nordiques knocked out Washington, also in 5 games.
The West, on the other hand, had two great series. Detroit won the first three games against Dallas but the Stars took the next 4 including a 5-3 victory in Game Seven to advance to the conference finals. Mike Modano was the game seven hero with 3 goals and an assist.
The Chicago-Calgary series went back and fourth and featured three overtime games including Game Six, which Calgary won 2-1 on the road to force the seventh game at home. Third period goals from Roenick and Ed Olczyk were the difference as Chicago advanced with a 3-1 victory.
CONFERENC FINALS
The Western Final has Chicago facing Dallas while Buffalo and Quebec square off in the East. Dominik Hasek of Chicago and Dallas' Kelly Hrudey are leading the playoffs in save percentage while the Stars Mike Modano (9-9-18) is tied for second in playoff scoring. Quebec winger Valeri Kamensky (9-10-19) has the playoff scoring lead but he is being chased by Buffalo pivot Pierre Turgeon (7-11-18). Sabres defenseman Phil Housley (4-11-15) has proven he can carry a series himself in the past.
Dallas wins the Western Final opener 3-0 as Hrudey has a 28 save shutout and veteran Dino Ciccarelli assists on all 3 Stars goals. Chicago rebounds with a 7-1 win in Game Two and then the teams split the next two games in the Windy City. Back to Dallas for Game Five and the visitors take the series lead with a 3-2 victory. Two nights later Ed Olczyk and Denis Savard each earn 3 points and the Hawks win 5-2 to take the series in 6 games.
Quebec and Buffalo split the first two games of their series before the Nordiques take control with wins at home by 5-2 and 7-3 scores. With their playoff lives on the line the Sabres had a terrible start to Game Five and fall behind 4-0 after 40 minutes. Buffalo suddenly wakes up in the third and the Sabres explode for 5 goals in the first 10:06 and hang on for a 5-4 victory to cut Quebec's series lead to 3 games to two. Game Six was a great goaltending battle between Andy Moog of Buffalo and Quebec's Ron Tugnutt. Tied at one after regulation the Sabres get the winning goal from Randy Cunneyworth just over 17 minutes into the first overtime, forcing a 7th game. Like the previous game, this one also needs overtime after Donald Audette tied the game at 3 with less than 3 minutes remaining in regulation. The Nordiques get the overtime winner as Joe Sakic and Owen Nolan set up Valeri Kamensky at the 9:06 mark of overtime allowing Quebec to advance to attempt to defend their Cup title.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
The Nordiques make their second straight appearance in the finals, having beaten Calgary last year in their first ever trip to the Stanly Cup finals. Chicago most recently played in the finals in 1988-89, losing to Buffalo. The Hawks also lost in 1978 and 1975 with the last of the franchise's 5 Cup wins coming in 1973.
Both teams enter the series quite healthy. Chicago is led in scoring by Jeremy Roenick (9-9-18), Benoit Brunet (7-11-18), Gary Galley (6-9-15) and Steve Larmer (8-6-14) while Dominik Hasek has started 19 of their 20 playoff games and is 12-7 with a 2.45 GAA and a .912 save percentage.
Ron Tugnutt is 9-6 with a 2.71 GAA in 15 playoff appearances while Stephane Fiset made 4 starts and won 3 of them with a 2.70 GAA. The Nordiques have had plenty of offense with most of it coming from the big line of Joe Sakic (8-17-25), Valeri Kamensky (10-17-27) and Owen Nolan (13-10-23). Secondary scoring is also coming from Mats Sundin (7-8-15) and Eric Lindros (6-5-11) while defenseman Jeff Brown (6-11-17) and Adam Foote (2-15-17) are also key contributors.
Ron Tugnutt is perfect in Game One, stopping all 29 shots he faces to guide the Nordiques to a 3-0 victory on home ice. Owen Nolan, Mats Sundin and Todd Warriner are the goals scorers as nine different Quebec players register a point.
Benoit Brunet snaps a 2-2 tie midway through the third period of Game Two and lifts Chicago to a 3-2 victory. Ed Olczyk and Jeremy Roenick also score for the Hawks while Dale Hunter and Janne Laukkanen get the Quebec goals.
A second straight 3-2 victory for Chicago as the Hawks get 3 in the opening period including two from Lonnie Loach, and hold on for the win. Loach had only scored one other goal in 23 playoff contests. Roenick scored the third Chicago goal while Eric Lindros and Andrei Kovalenko replied for Quebec.
Dominik Hasek shines in Game Four as he makes 36 saves to lead Chicago to a 3-0 victory and a 3 games to one series lead. The Nordiques went with Stephane Fiset instead of Tugnutt in net and it worked for 2 periods as the game was scoreless. Midway through the third Chicago struck for 3 goals in less than 2 minutes and that was the margin of victory. Steve Larmer, Brian Bradley and Jeremy Roenick were the Chicago marksmen.
Dave Manson forces overtime by tying the game for Chicago with just 11 seconds remaining in regulation but Quebec stays alive in the series thanks to Todd Warriner's goal in the second overtime period, his second of the game, to give the Nordiques a 4-3 win. Janne Laukkanen and Andrei Kovalenko also scored for Quebec. The other 2 Chicago goals came from Benoit Brunet and Jeff Norton. Ron Tugnutt made 48 saves for the win.
The Blackhawks celebrate in the United Center as they win Game Six 5-4 to claim the Stanly Cup. Rookie Jeff Shantz got the game winner with 5 minutes remaining in regulation. Chicago had built a 3-0 lead on goals by Gary Galley, Jeff Norton and Claude Lapointe before Joe Sakic got Quebec on the board late in the second period. Lapointe scored his second of the game early in the third to restore a 3 goal lead for Chicago but Quebec tied the game on goals from Adam Foote, Eric Lindros and Todd Warriner to set the stage for Shantz to get the Cup winner. Jeremy Roenick, who scored 12 goals and 25 points, was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy,
Code:
PLAYOFF SCORING LEADERS GP G A PTS
Joe Sakic QUE 25 9 21 30
Valeri Kamensky QUE 25 10 18 28
Owen Nolan QUE 25 14 11 25
Jeremy Roenick CHI 26 12 13 25
Pierre Turgeon BUF 18 8 17 25
Mike Modano DAL 17 11 11 22
Phil Housley BUF 18 6 16 22
Benoit Brunet CHI 26 9 11 20
Mats Sundin QUE 25 8 11 19
Jeff Brown QUE 25 6 13 19
Adam Foote QUE 25 3 16 19
Gary Suter CGY 12 4 14 18
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh (47GP 28-57-85)
VEZINA TROPHY: John Vanbiesbrouck NYR (27-11-2 2.21)
NORRIS TROPHY: Al MacInnis Calgary (48GP 18-35-53)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh (47GP 28-57-85)
CALDER TROPHY: Sergei Gonchar Washington (48GP 5-18-23)
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 Andy Moog Buffalo John Vanbiesbrouck NY Rangers
D Phil Housley Buffalo Nik Lidstrom Detroit
D Al MacInnis Calgary Brian Leetch NY Rangers
C Mario Lemieux Pittsbugh Joe Sakic Quebec
LW Luc Robitaille Los Angeles Petr Klima Detroit
RW Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh Brett Hull Calgary