1999-2000
OFFSEASON
Another expansion team as the Atlanta Thrashers join the league. Not a strong expansion draft for the Thrashers but they do get some talent at defense in Gary Suter, Ken Daneyko, Todd Gill and Steve Chiasson. Other picks include goalies Olaf Kolzig and Jose Theodore but there is little talent up front.
Joe Mullen has decided to retire after 20 seasons in the NHL. Mullen spent his entire career with the St Louis Blues and scored 769 goals along with 1618 points in a career that lasted 1439 games. He ends his career 6th alltime in goals scored and 14th in points.
Retirements also included longtime Chicago Blackhawk Steve Larmer, who retires after 17 seasons and 1287 games in the NHL. Larmer finishes his career with 537 goals and 1263 points.
Newcomers to the league include the Sedin twins in Vancouver and the Detroit Red Wings add another piece to their roster in Henrik Zetterberg.
REGULAR SEASON
It looks like Mario Lemieux is reaching the end of the line at age 34. After scoring 118 points a year ago, Lemieux managed just 64 points, including 21 goals, this season. Those 21 goals did help him surpass the 800 mark for his career and before the season was done he had passed Guy Lafleur and mvoed into 4th place all-time with 820 goals. Lemieux is 5th in career points with 1967.
At 39 Wayne Gretzky managed to score 16 more goal moving him past Jean Ratelle's 856 and into second place all time with 869. He trails only Bobby Hull, who scored 884 goals in his career.
MILESTONES
Phil Housley of Buffalo earned his 1500th point
Dave Andreychuk of Buffalo earned his 1500th point
Gary Roberts of Calgary scored his 600th goal
Pat LaFontaine of the NY Islanders scored his 500th goal and 1500th point
Ray Bourque of Boston scored his 500th goal and 1250th assist
Claude Lemieux of Colorado scored his 400th goal
Pierre Turgeon of Buffalo scored his 400th goal and 750th assist
Al MacInnis of Calgary scored his 400th goal
Brendan Shanahan of New Jersey scored his 400th goal
Jari Kurri of Philadelphia earned his 1000th assist
1500 GAMES
Ray Bourque Boston
1250 GAMES
Pat Verbeek Vancouver
Scott Stevens Washington
Pat LaFontaine NY Islanders
Ken Daneyko Atlanta
John MacLean New Jersey
Doug Gilmour St Louis
1000 GAMES
John Vanbiesbrouck NY Rangers
Rick Tocchett Philadelphia
Adam Oates Detroit
Dave Reid Buffalo
Claude Lemieux Colorado
Kevin Hatcher Vancouver
Tommy Albelin St Louis
Petr Svoboda Florida
Buffalo defenseman Phil Housley had a 6 assist game in the Sabres 7-4 win over Tampa Bay on October 26th. Colorado forward Eric Lindros scored 28 goals this season with 5 of them coming in one game, a 5-2 win over Detroit on February 12th. Paul Kariya of Anaheim had a 5 goal game in a 7-3 win over Los Angeles on March 31st. Kariya would score 53 goals on the season and win the Art Ross Trophy. Finally, Vancouver's Pavel Bure, who was limited to 45 games due to injury, scored 21 goals on the season including 5 goals and an assist in the Canucks 9-2 win over San Jose on April 8th.
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ATLANTIC DIVISION GP W L T PTS
New Jersey Devils 82 52 21 9 113
New York Rangers 82 49 25 8 106
Philadelphia Flyers 82 47 23 12 106
New York Islanders 82 47 27 8 102
Pittsburgh Penguins 82 37 32 13 87
NORTHEAST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Toronto Maple Leafs 82 48 24 10 106
Boston Bruins 82 49 26 7 105
Buffalo Sabres 82 37 36 9 83
Montreal Canadiens 82 29 42 11 69
Ottawa Senators 82 28 48 6 62
SOUTHEAST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Washington Capitals 82 42 37 3 87
Atlanta Thrashers 82 26 46 10 62
Carolina Hurricanes 82 27 49 6 60
Florida Panthers 82 21 54 7 49
Tampa Bay Lightning 82 22 57 3 47
CENTRAL DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Detroit Red Wings 82 57 17 8 122
St Louis Blues 82 49 25 8 106
Chicago Black Hawks 82 30 44 8 68
Nashville Predators 82 25 47 10 60
NORTHWEST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Colorado Avalanche 82 53 21 8 114
Edmonton Oilers 82 39 39 4 82
Calgary Flames 82 36 38 8 80
Vancouver Canucks 82 30 33 19 79
PACIFIC DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Anaheim Mighty Ducks 82 48 27 7 103
Los Angeles Kings 82 33 41 8 74
Dallas Stars 82 27 43 12 66
San Jose Sharks 82 23 50 9 55
Phoenix Coyotes 82 19 58 5 43
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Paul Kariya ANA 82 53 55 108
Steve Yzerman DET 74 49 59 108
Brett Hull CGY 75 55 49 104
Trevor Linden VAN 82 50 54 104
Jason Allison WSH 82 35 67 102
Josef Stumpel BOS 82 33 65 98
Sergei Federov DET 82 31 67 98
Brendan Morrison NJ 82 34 62 96
Rod Brind'Amour STL 78 47 48 95
Doug Gilmour STL 82 25 70 95
Nik Lidstrom DET 82 24 69 93
Luc Robitaille LA 82 46 46 92
Milan Hejduk COL 82 37 52 89
Phil Housley BUF 82 21 67 88
Ray Bourque BOS 82 39 48 87
Pierre Turegon BUF 82 36 51 87
Jaromir Jagr PIT 82 44 42 86
Cory Stillman TOR 69 38 46 84
Vincent Damphousse TOR 76 28 55 83
Brendan Shanahan NJ 81 42 40 82
Brian Leetch NYR 82 23 58 81
Wayne Gretzky EDM 82 16 65 81
GOALIE WIN LEADERS TM W-L-T GAA SAVE%
Martin Brodeur NJ 50-17-8 2.16 .991
John Vanbiesbrouck NYR 43-15-9 1.80 .922
Ed Belfour ANA 41-26-7 2.60 .907
Manny Legace DET 41-11-5 1.88 .908
Roberto Luongo NYI 38-22-10 2.53 .900
Ron Tugnutt COL 37-16-8 2.04 .908
Tom Barrasso BOS 28-15-5 2.31 .896
Chris Osgood DET-WSH 28-23-4 2.84 .903
Arturs Irbe TOR 27-10-4 2.33 .911
Dominik Hasek CHI 26-35-8 3.01 .908
PLAYOFFS
A big upset in the Eastern Conference as the playoffs got underway. The 8th seed Pittsburgh knock off Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils in 6 games. Jaromir Jagr led the way for the Pens, scoring 5 goals and 7 points in the series. Boston beat Southeast Division champion Washington in 5 games but that was not really a surprise as the Bruins had 18 more points than the Caps in the regular season. Northeast Division champ Toronto beat the Islanders in 6 games while the Rangers swept Philadelphia.
The Bruins beat the Rangers in 5 games to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals where they will play their Northeast Division rivals in the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs put an end to Pittsburgh's playoff run but the Pens certainly went down fighting with Toronto needing wins in Games Six and Seven to advance. Cory Stillman was the hero for Toronto, getting the game winner in the sixth game and asssiting on both Toronto goals in a 2-0 Game Seven victory. Stillman leads all playoff performers with 15 points.
Each of the top 4 seeds in the Western Conference survived the first round but the Anaheim Ducks needed 7 games to dispose of pesky Calgary. Three time defending Cup champion Detroit beat Los Angeles in 5 while St Louis knocked off Edmonton in 5 games as well. Second seed Colorado topped Vancouver in six.
Detroit and Colorado had little trouble in the second round as the Wings beat St Louis in 5 while Colorado knocked out Anaheim, also in 5 games. This sets up a meeting between the top two seeds and a rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals.
CONFERENCE FINALS
The Detroit Red Wings eliminated Colorado in the conference finals for the second straight year. After the teams each won two on home ice the Wings claimed a 7-6 victory in overtime at The Joe in Game Five and wrapped up the series with a 5-3 win in Colorado 2 nights later. The Wings did lose Adam Oates for the finals after he was injured in game six.
Meanwhile in the East, Boston and Toronto alternated victories through the first 6 games forcing a 7th game at the Air Canada Centre. The game ended regulation tied at 3 and the first overtime period did not solve anything. Early in the second overtime Boston's Geoff Courtnall converted a Darby Hendrickson pass to give the Bruins a 4-3 victory in both the game and the series.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
A rematch of last season when the Detroit Red Wings beat Boston for their third straight Stanley Cup. Steve Yzerman (6-16-22) and Sergei Federov (9-11-20) will again be counted on to lead Detroit. Boston's playoff scoring leaders are Josef Stumpel (8-13-21) and Joe Thornton (9-11-20).
The series opens in Boston but it is the visitors who get the first victory as Detroit wins 2-1. Anders Eriksson scores a first period powerplay goal for the Wings and Joe Murphy adds insurance at the 11:20 mark of the third period. PJ Axelsson gives Boston fans hope with a late third period goal but Manny Legace shut's the door the rest of the way and Detroit holds on for the win.
Game Two is another 2-1 victory for Detroit but this time in overtime as Steve Yzerman gets the winner early in the second overtime. Anders Eriksson assisted on both Detroit goals. Keith Primeau of Detroit and Boston's Darby Hendrickson were the other goal scorers. Tom Barrasso made 39 saves in the Boston net.
Overtime is again on the docket for Game Three and the Wings take a huge 3-0 series lead after Slava Kozlov scores just 2 minutes into the overtime. The Bruins led 3-1 until Detroit got goals in the final five minutes of the third period from Yzerman and Roman Vopat. Mike Sillinger also scored for Detroit. Boston got goals from PJ Axelsson, Trent Whitfield and Juha Ylonen. Detroit lost 21 year old Pavel Datsyuk to a broken arm in the game. Datsuyk had 5 points in 14 playoff games after scoring 33 points in his first full NHL season.
Joe Thornton scores both Bruins goals as Boston stays alive with a 2-1 victory in Game Four. Keith Primeau had the lone Detroit goal with an assist going Henrik Zetterberg in his NHL debut. Zetterberg was inserted in the lineup to replace the injured Datsuyk.
The series comes to an end 2 nights later as the Wings dominate Game Five winning 6-2 in Boston. Federov got 2 of the Detroit goals with Kozlov, Lidstrom, Primeau and Joe Murphy also scoring as the Wings built a 6-0 lead before the Bruins got a couple of late goals from Kyle McLaren and Joe Thornton.
Nik Lidstrom, with a goal and 2 assists in the final game and 23 points overall in the playoffs was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy for the second straight season.
DYNASTY
There is little question now about whether or not the Wings are a dynasty as Detroit beats Boston 6-2 for their fourth straight Stanley Cup. Only the Toronto Maple Leafs, winners of 8 straight Stanley Cups to start the sim in 1931, have won more consecutively. The Wings fourth straight Cup ties them with the 1955-58 Montreal Canadiens.
As for the best team of all-time the Wings are certainly entering the mix and Detroit's accomplishment is all the more impressive simply because of the number of teams in the league. If I was picking the best team of all-time I would lean to the Chicago Black Hawks of the late 1960s-early 1970s. Led by Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull the Hawks made 9 straight appearances in the finals and won 5 Cups.
Others might lean towards the 1932-39 Leafs or the Habs teams of the late 1950s as arguably the best team of all-time. Starting in 1955 Montreal made the finals 7 straight seasons and won 6 times. The last team in the mix could be the Rangers of Jean Ratelle and Brad Park from 1974-78. They made 5 straight finals and won 4 of them, as well as put an end to the Chicago dynasty.
However, a couple of years from now the current group of Red Wings may leave no doubt as to who the top team is. The Wings are loaded with talent both young and old as Yzerman, Federov and Lidstrom are being joined by youngsters like Datsuyk and Zetterberg.
Code:
PLAYOFF SCORING LEADERS GP G A PTS
Sergei Federov DET 18 11 15 26
Steve Yzerman DET 21 8 17 25
Joe Thornton BOS 22 12 12 24
Mark Parrish TOR 20 13 10 23
Nik Lidstrom DET 21 4 19 23
Keith Primeau DET 21 14 8 22
Josef Stumpel BOS 22 8 14 22
Owen Nolan COL 16 10 10 20
Ray Bourque BOS 22 3 17 20
Vincent Damphousse TOR 20 6 13 19
Cory Stillman TOR 20 5 14 19
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Brian Leetch NY Rangers (82GP 23-58-81)
VEZINA TROPHY: Martin Brodeur New Jersey (50-17-8 2.16)
NORRIS TROPHY: Nicklas Lidstrom Detroit (82GP 24-69-93)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Paul Kariya Anaheim (82GP 53-55-108)
CALDER TROPHY: JP Dumont NY Islanders (82GP 38-30-68)
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 John Vanbiesbrouck NY Rangers
D Brian Leetch NY Rangers Phil Housley Buffalo
D Nic Lidstrom Detroit Oleg Tverdovsky Anaheim
C Steve Yzerman Detroit Trevor Linden Vancouver
LW Paul Kariya Anaheim Luc Robitaille Los Angeles
RW Brett Hull Calgary Sergei Federov Detroit