1993-94
OFFSEASON
The big retirement news this off-season was the decision of Bryan Trottier to end his career at the age of 36 after 18 seasons with the New York Islanders. Trottier had 1575 points in 1342 career games including 466 goals. Overshadowed by Gretzky and Lemieux at center he did manage to make the first all-star team once in his career. He also won a Cup in 1979, the only one the Islanders claimed.
More expansion as the Florida Panthers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim join the league while the Minnesota North Stars pack up and head south to Dallas. Goaltending won't be an issue for the expansion clubs as the Ducks got Ed Belfour from Chicago, a 28 year old who was Dominik Hasek's backup while Florida selected Kirk McLean from New Jersey and Bill Ranford from Boston in the expansion draft. McLean was expendable with Sean Burke and 21 year old rookie Martin Brodeur with the Devils.
Other expansion picks for Anaheim include former Red Wing Kelly Kisio, veteran defenseman Craig Ludwig and winger Dixon Ward from Montreal as well as forward Mikael Andersson from the Cup winning Sabres. Florida selected defenseman Petr Svoboda from Montreal, veteran Craig MacTavish from Boston and underachieving centre Adam Creighton from Buffalo.
Highly touted rookie Alexander Daigle joins Ottawa while Saku Koivu arrives in Montreal and Paul Kariya's career begins in Anaheim.
REGULAR SEASON
Despite dropping to fourth in the scoring race this season Wayne Gretzky continued his quick ascent up the NHL's all-time leaderboard. The Great One moved to within 32 points of Stan Mikita's all-time points record of 2129 and he did so in 424 less games. Gretzky also moved pass the 700 goal mark, becoming just the 4th player in history to score that many. He finished the season with 40 goals, giving him 721 for his career. Bobby Hull is the all-time leader with 884, followed by Jean Ratelle at 856 and Guy Lafleur at 813.
With the addition of Florida and Anaheim the league had some minor reallignment to it's divisions. Pittsburgh joined Buffalo in the Northeast Division but even with the extra competition the defending champion Sabres finished with the best record in the conference and tied with Calgary for the most points in the league.
The big surprise team this season was the expansion Ducks, who shocked the league by making the playoffs in their inagural year. Goaltender Ed Belfour who 32 games and finished with a 2.80 goals against average to be the key reason for the Ducks success. Former Hab Dixon Ward led the team with 40 goals and 76 points while his linemates Greg Adams (29-39-68) and Kelly Kisio (20-36-56) also had strong seasons. Rookie Paul Kariya had 31 points through 40 games before a fractured jaw cut his season short.
MILESTONES
Wayne Gretzky of Edmonton scored his 700th goal
Mike Gartner of Washington scored his 600th goal
Mark Messier of Edmonton scored his 600th goal and 750th assist
Bernie Nicholls of Los Angeles scored his 500th goal
Ron Francis of Hartford scored his 500th goal
Brett Hull of Calgary scored his 500th goal
Brian Bellows of Minnesota scored his 500th goal
Dave Andreychuk of Buffalo scored his 400th goal
Gary Roberts of Calgary scored his 400th goal and 500th assist
Ray Sheppard of Buffalo scored his 300th goal
Brent Sutter of Los Angeles scored his 300th goal
Craig Janney of Boston scored his 300th goal
Thomas Steen of Winnipeg scored his 300th goal
Theo Fleury of Calgary scored his 300th goal
John MacLean of New Jersey scored his 300th goal
Gary Suter of Calgary recorded his 500th assist
Kevin Stevens of Pittsburgh recorded his 500th assist
Joe Sakic of Quebec recorded his 500th assist
1250 GAMES
Doug Wilson Chicago
1000 GAMES
Brad Marsh Pittsburgh
Rod Langway Montreal
Mike Gartner Washington
Reijo Ruotsalainen Buffalo
Jari Kurri Edmonton
Brent Ashton Vancouver
Denis Savard Chicago
Neal Broten Dallas
Wayne Gretzky Edmonton
Brian Propp Philadelphia
Bernie Nicholls Los Angeles
Dave Hannan San Jose
Larry Murphy Los Angeles
Gord Donnelly St Louis
Normand Rochefort Quebec
Chris Chelois Montreal
Steve Larmer Chicago
Karl Dykhuis of the Chicago Blackhawks set an NHL record for goals in a game by a defenseman when he scored all 6 of his teams goals in a 6-3 victory over the Leafs in Toronto on October 27th. Dykhuis, a 21 year old second year pro would finish the season with 17 goals. The previous record was 5 set by Jack Stewart of Detroit in a 1948 playoff game and equalled by Rick Green of Washington in 1983. Later in this season, Buffalo's Phil Housley had a 5 goal game in a win over the Rangers.
Mario Lemieux had a 5 goal, 7 point night in the Penguins 10-5 win over Tampa Bay on October 13th. Linemate Kevin Stevens had 6 assists in the game. Lemieux would have another 7 point night (3G 4A) on January 2nd in a 13-3 lambasting of Ottawa. Luc Robitaille of the Kings also had a 5 goal, 7 point night in a 9-4 win over Vancouver on November 9th. Calgary's Theo Fleury had a 7 point game (2G 5A) in a 9-1 win over Los Angeles on January 23rd.
The longest point streak of the season belonged to Vancouver's Trevor Linden, who finished the regular season with points in the final 24 games. The 24 year old Linden ended the year with a career best in both goals (49) and points (116).
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ATLANTIC DIVISION GP W L T PTS
New York Rangers 84 52 27 5 109
New Jersey Devils 84 47 28 9 103
New York Islanders 84 46 31 7 99
Washington Capitals 84 43 34 7 93
Philadelphia Flyers 84 34 47 3 71
Florida Panthers 84 20 57 7 47
Tampa Bay Lightning 84 6 74 4 16
NORTHEAST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Buffalo Sabres 84 58 22 4 120
Quebec Nordiques 84 55 24 5 115
Pittsburgh Penguins 84 49 23 12 110
Montreal Canadiens 84 41 35 8 90
Boston Bruins 84 37 34 13 87
Hartford Whalers 84 37 42 5 79
Ottawa Senators 84 16 63 5 37
CENTRAL DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Chicago Black Hawks 84 49 26 9 107
Detroit Red Wings 84 50 32 2 102
Dallas Stars 84 41 36 7 89
Toronto Maple Leafs 84 31 44 9 71
Winnipeg Jets 84 26 53 5 57
St Louis Blues 84 20 62 2 42
PACIFIC DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Calgary Flames 84 58 22 4 120
Edmonton Oilers 84 47 27 10 104
Anaheim Mighty Ducks 84 39 36 9 87
Vancouver Canucks 84 40 39 5 85
Los Angeles Kings 84 39 41 4 82
San Jose Sharks 84 29 51 4 62
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Mario Lemieux PIT 74 55 88 143
Jaromir Jagr PIT 84 66 71 137
Joe Sakic QUE 84 46 85 131
Wayne Gretzky EDM 84 40 88 128
Jeremey Roenick CHI 84 56 68 124
Theo Fleury CGY 68 43 80 123
Ray Sheppard BUF 84 67 52 119
Trevor Linden VAN 84 41 73 114
Brendan Shanahan NJ 84 55 58 113
Phil Housley BUF 84 35 75 110
Petr Klima DET 84 53 56 109
Craig Janney BOS 84 39 69 108
Pat LaFontaine NYI 80 38 70 108
Gary Suter CGY 73 31 70 101
Al MacInnis CGY 68 33 67 100
Ron Francis HAR 78 39 60 99
Mike Modane DAL 70 37 62 99
Kevin Stevens PIT 82 27 71 98
Adam Oates DET 84 24 74 98
Teemu Selanne WPG 84 52 45 97
Joe Mullen STL 84 42 54 96
Pierre Turgeon BUF 84 34 62 96
Brian Leetch NYR 84 21 75 96
GOALIE WIN LEADERS TM W-L-T GAA SAVE%
Andy Moog BUF 45-15-4 2.30 .892
Ron Tugnutt QUE 45-18-4 2.62 .893
Dominik Hasek CHI 44-17-11 2.54 .894
John Vanbiesbrouck NYR 42-20-4 2.61 .899
Grant Fuhr EDM 40-21-7 2.78 .889
Jon Casey PIT 37-17-10 2.86 .887
Mike Liut CGY 36-19-3 2.77 .885
Sean Burke NJ 34-22-8 2.93 .888
Clint Malarchuk WSH 34-27-7 2.87 .894
Frank Pietrangelo HAR 33-28-7 3.17 .896
PLAYOFFS
A slight change to the playoff format this year as they go to seeding within the conference rather than strictly matchups within your division for the first two rounds.
In the Eastern Conference the number one seed and defending Stanley Cup champion Buffalo Sabres eliminated long-time division rival Montreal in 5 games. Ray Sheppard scored 5 goals in the series while Dave Reid led the Sabres with 8 points. Buffalo will face New Jersey in the next round after the Devils swept Pittsburgh in 4 straight games. Brendan Shanahan led the Devils with 8 points in the series while the Penguins only got a single goal from Mario Lemieux, although Lemieux did miss the first two games of the series recovering from a late season injury.
The Quebec Nordiques beat the New York Islanders in 5 games and will face the New York Rangers in the second round. The Rangers needed the full seven games to dispose of Washington.
Brett Hull, who missed most of last seasons playoffs with an injury, had 6 goals and 11 points to lead the Calgary Flames to a series victory over Los Angeles in 6 games. The Flames will meet the Dallas Stars, who eliminated Detroit in 5 games, in the next round. The other Western Conference semi-final will feature Edmonton against Chicago. The Blackhawks eliminated Vancouver in 5 games while the Oilers went the full seven before knocking out expansion newcomer Anaheim.
Hull kept on rolling in the second round, scoring 6 more goals and 13 points as Calgary advanced to the Western Conference final by elminating Dallas in 5 games. Chicago also moved on with a win in 5 games over Edmonton as the Oilers were without Mark Messier for the entire series.
Ron Tugnutt proved the difference as Quebec swept the New York Rangers in 4 games. The Nordiques goaltender had a .921 save percentage in the series, while allowing just 5 Rangers goals. Owen Nolan of Quebec outscored the entire Ranger team with 7 goals of his own in the series.
The Nordiques will meet New Jersey in the Eastern Conference Final after the Devils upset Buffalo in 7 games. Brendan Shanahan and John MacLean each have 8 playoff goals for the Devils in 11 games while Sean Burke was solid in the New Jersey net. Ray Sheppard's 11 playoff goals and 13 points in 12 games for Phil Housley were not enough to help the Sabres advance.
CONFERENCE FINALS
The Western Conference Finals features two teams that have advanced this far in the playoffs on many occasions in Chicago and Calgary. The Eastern Conference, on the other hand, has Quebec and New Jersey. The Nordiques have never reached the conference finals while the Devils franchise had never even won a playoff series while based in New Jersey prior to this year.
The Nordiques won the first two games of the Eastern Final on the road, including a 5-4 overtime win in Game One. Sean Burke had a solid 34 save effort in Game Three to help the Devils to a 3-1 victory but Quebec wrapped up the series with wins by the score of 6-5 and 6-2 to clinch their first Stanley Cup Final appearance.
Calgary took the opener of the Western Final by a 4-2 score but Chicago responded with a 5-3 victory in Game Two to even the series. Brett Hull's 2 goals in Game Three gave the Flames a 4-3 win on the road and Al MacInnis had a 4 point night to help Calgary take the fourth game by an 8-2 score. Trailing 3 games to one and heading back to Calgary for Game Five the Blackhawks needed a big game from goaltender Dominik Hasek and they got it as Hasek shut out the Flames 4-0 on a 24 save performance.
Jeremy Roenick had 2 goals and an assist in Game Six as the Hawks evened the series with a 5-3 victory at the Chicago Stadium to force a seventh game. Game Seven was all Calgary as the Flames outshot Chicago 42-18 and chased Dominik Hasek with a 6-2 pounding of the Blackhawks. Gary Roberts scored twice in the win while Joe Nieuwendyk had 3 assists.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
The Calgary Flames make their third appearance in the finals in 5 years with their lone Cup win coming two years ago over Buffalo. Quebec has never made it to the Stanley Cup finals prior to this year.
With the exception of 23 year old forward Mats Sundin, who has only played 6 playoff games this season due to a back injury, the Nordiques are healthy for the finals. Joe Sakic leads the team with 25 points including 9 goals in the post-season while Owen Nolan's 13 playoff goals lead the club in that category. Ron Tugnutt has been very good in net.
The only injured Flame is fourth line winger Scott Pearson, who had just 3 assists in 17 playoff games prior to being hurt in the conference finals. Bret Hull leads the the league in goals (15) and points (33) this playoff. Theo Fleury (10-20-30), Gary Roberts (11-10-21), Robert Reichel (11-6-17) and Al MacInnis (8-11-19) are the other leading scorers for Calgary.
Joe Sakic earns four assists as Quebec takes the series opener at home by a 6-4 score. Owen Nolan had 2 for the Nordiques with Jeff Brown, Dale Hunter, Adam Foote and Normand Rochefort also scoring. Al MacInnis was in on all the Calgary scoring with a goal and 3 helpers. Fleury, Roberts and Nieuwendyk had the other Calgary goals. Mike Liut started in net for Calgary but was replaced by Greg Millen after allowing 4 goals on 16 shots in the first period.
Another big night for Sakic as he scores once and adds two assists to help the Nordiques take Game Two 5-1. Mats Sundin returned from his injury and scored twice while Owen Nolan and Valeri Kamensky had the other Quebec goals. German Titov was the only Flame to beat Ron Tugnutt, who made 32 saves in the win. Liut played the whole game in the Calgary net but was awful, allowing 5 goals on 15 shots.
Sakic is the star again as he scores with 2:16 remaining in regulation to snap a 2-2 tie and lift the Quebec Nordiques to a 3-2 victory in Game Three. Sakic also assisted on Owen Nolan's second period goal. Mike Eagles had the third Quebec goal while Titov and Theo Fleury scored for Calgary. The Flames again outshot the Nordiques, this time by a 35-27 margin. Greg Millen got the start for Calgary over Liut.
About the last thing I expected from this series was a Quebec sweep but that's what we got as the Nordiques won Game Four thanks to an overtime goal from Mike Peluso, a player who scored just 6 times in 70 regular season games and only 3 goals in 15 playoff games. Dale Hunter had 2 goals for Quebec including the tying marker with just 1:19 remaining in regulation to force overtime. Andrei Kovalenko had the remaining Quebec goal. Francois Groleau, Theo Fleury and Gary Suter replied for the Flames, who again outshot the Nordiques 37-23 but were stymied by Tugnutt. Tugnutt had a .915 save percentage to go with a 2.57 GAA and was my choice for the Conn Smythe Trophy but it went to Joe Sakic instead. Sakic was outstanding in the finals, especially the first three games and finished with 34 points in 18 games.
Code:
PLAYOFF SCORING LEADERS GP G A PTS
Brett Hull CGY 22 15 21 36
Theo Fleury CGY 20 13 22 35
Joe Sakic QUE 18 11 23 34
Owen Nolan QUE 18 17 7 24
Al MacInnis CGY 22 9 15 24
Gary Roberts CGY 22 12 10 22
Jeremy Roenick CHI 17 11 11 22
Jeff Brown QUE 18 4 18 22
Brendan Shanahan NJ 16 9 12 21
Joe Nieuwendyk CGY 22 7 13 20
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Joe Sakic Quebec (84GP 46-85-131)
VEZINA TROPHY: John Vanbiesbrouck NYR (42-20-4, 2.61)
NORRIS TROPHY: Gary Suter Calgary (73GP 31-70-101)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh (74GP 55-88-143)
CALDER TROPHY: Jason Arnott Edmonton (77GP 21-25-46)
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 J Vanbiesbrouck NY Rangers Andy Moog Buffalo
D Phil Housley Buffalo Al MacInnis Calgary
D Gary Suter Calgary Brian Leetch NY Rangers
C Mario Lemieux Pittsbugh Joe Sakic Quebec
LW Brendan Shanahan New Jersey Teemu Selanne Winnipeg
RW Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh Ray Sheppard Buffalo