1995-96
OFFSEASON
After winning the Cup two years ago and reaching the finals this past spring the Quebec Nordiques shock fans in Quebec City by moving the team to Denver and becoming the Colorado Avalanche.
In off-season trading Montreal sent 29 year old Claude Lemieux, who had 40 points in 39 games last season, to Vancouver in exchange for 21 year old Mike Peca. Peca had 16 points in 43 games for Vancouver during last year's lockout shortened season.
Longtime Montreal defenseman Rod Langway has decided to retire after 17 seasons and 1054 games with the Habs. A two-time Norris Trophy winner, Langway also won a Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1979-80. He had 214 goals and 849 points in his career, which also saw him win a Conn Smythe Trophy and 2 Stanley Cups.
A number of other defensemen are retiring including:
40 year old Mark Howe, who played 1288 games between the NHL and WHA.
Kevin Lowe, who played 1149 games for Edmonton and won 3 Stanley Cups.
Mike Ramsay, who played 1125 games with Buffalo and Detroit and won a Cup with the Wings.
Normand Rochefort, a veteran of 1049 games with Quebec who had 595 points in his career and 1 Stanley Cup.
Doug Wilson, who played 1327 games for Chicago and had 1228 points. Wilson did not play this past season so missed out on an opportunity to win a Cup.
REGULAR SEASON
The move to Colorado and flip to a new division added to the excitement of the Western Conference race as the top 4 teams were seperated by just 5 points. The transplanted Avalanche finished first overall with 116 points, one more than new division rival Calgary. Chicago had 112 to lead the Central Division with the Detroit Red Wings finishing one point back of the Hawks.
Pittsburgh Mario Lemieux had a huge season, scoring 72 goals and 147 points to lead the league in both categories. In just 768 career games Lemieux already has 1515 points and 661 goals.
MILESTONES
Jari Kurri of Edmonton reached the 1500 point mark
Steve Yzerman of Detroit collected his 1200th point and 500th goal
Brett Hull of Calgary earned his 1200th point
Bernie Nicholls of Los Angeles earned his 1200th point
Neal Broten of Dallas earned his 1200th point
Dave Andreychuk of Buffalo earned his 1200th point
Dino Ciccarelli of Dallas scored his 700th goal
Ron Francis of Hartford scored his 600th goal
Steve Larmer of Chicago scored his 500th goal
Kevin Stevens of Pittsburgh scored his 400th goal
Pat LaFontaine of the NY Islanders scored his 400th goal
Ray Sheppard of Buffalo scored his 400th goal
Paul Coffey of Edmonton earned his 1000th assist
Troy Murray of Chicago earned his 500th assist
Jeff Brown of Colorado earned his 500th assist
1250 GAMES
Dale Hunter Colorado
1000 GAMES
Craig MacTavish Florida
Thomas Steen Winnipeg
Phil Housley Buffalo
Brian Bellows Dallas
Dale Hawerchuk Winnipeg
Pat Verbeek Vancouver
Esa Tikkanen Edmonton
Kelly Kisio Tampa Bay
Cam Neely New York Islanders
Mark Messier of Edmonton had an 8 point night in the Oilers 12-5 win over Calgary on November 12th. Messier had 4 goals and 4 assists in the contest. Mike Modano of Dallas had 7 points in the Stars 8-1 win over Hartford on February 10th. Modano had 3 goals and 4 assists in the game.
Chicago's Steve Larmer had a 6 assist game as the Hawks beat Toronto 10-4 on January 23rd.
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ATLANTIC DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Washington Capitals 82 52 25 5 109
New Jersey Devils 82 49 23 10 108
New York Islanders 82 49 30 3 101
Philadelphia Flyers 82 42 28 12 96
New York Rangers 82 39 40 3 81
Tampa Bay Lightning 82 16 61 5 37
Florida Panthers 82 14 63 5 33
NORTHEAST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Boston Bruins 82 40 32 10 90
Buffalo Sabres 82 39 33 10 88
Pittsburgh Penguins 82 39 36 7 85
Hartford Whalers 82 33 42 7 73
Montreal Canadiens 82 35 44 3 73
Ottawa Senators 82 24 54 4 52
CENTRAL DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Chicago Black Hawks 82 53 23 6 112
Detroit Red Wings 82 51 22 9 111
Toronto Maple Leafs 82 39 33 10 88
Dallas Stars 82 35 42 5 75
Winnipeg Jets 82 22 53 7 51
St Louis Blues 82 22 56 4 48
PACIFIC DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Colorado Avalanche 82 55 21 6 116
Calgary Flames 82 55 22 5 115
Edmonton Oilers 82 46 32 4 96
Vancouver Canucks 82 41 36 5 87
Los Angeles Kings 82 34 38 10 78
San Jose Sharks 82 31 45 6 68
Anaheim Mighty Ducks 82 26 47 9 61
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Mario Lemieux PIT 82 72 75 147
Joe Sakic COL 79 34 98 132
Brett Hull CGY 82 60 62 122
Mike Modano DAL 82 47 70 117
Steve Yzerman DET 82 46 70 116
Pierre Turgeon BUF 82 38 77 115
Ron Francis HAR 78 44 68 112
Wayne Gretzky EDM 82 30 76 106
Marty McInnis NYI 82 52 53 105
Pat LaFontaine NYI 82 35 68 103
Al MacInnis CGY 82 35 68 103
Brian Leetch NYR 82 18 82 100
Brendan Shanahan NJ 82 44 55 99
Jaromir Jagr PIT 80 40 59 99
Jason Allison WSH 78 38 62 98
Peter Bondra WSH 82 48 49 97
Luc Robitaille LA 82 44 52 96
John LeClair MON 81 54 40 94
Mikael Renberg PHI 69 42 52 94
Steve Larmer CHI 82 40 54 94
GOALIE WIN LEADERS TM W-L-T GAA SAVE%
Dominik Hasek CHI 48-19-6 2.24 .912
Grant Fuhr EDM 38-20-6 2.51 .910
John Vanbiesbrouck NYR 36-35-4 2.96 .892
Tom Barrasso BOS 35-22-8 2.62 .905
Jeff Hackett DET 35-10-4 2.42 .904
Ron Hextall VAN 35-27-4 2.98 .908
Ron Tugnutt COL 34-12-5 2.41 .894
Patrick Roy MON 32-40-4 3.30 .888
Pat Jablonski CGY 30-9-3 2.43 .893
PLAYOFFS
No major surprises in the opening round of the playoffs with the exception of the Rangers upsetting Washington. New Jersey topped Buffalo in 6 games as did Philadelphia over the Islanders while the Penguins swept Boston. In the West, the Edmonton Oilers pulled off a mild upset by beating Detroit and Chicago survived a scare needing 7 games to oust Vancouver. Calgary and Colorado advanced easily with wins over Toronto and Los Angeles respectively.
In the second round the Rangers beat New Jersey easily in 5 games while Colorado ended Edmonton's season, also in 5 games. The other two series both went the distance. Philadelphia needed an overtime goal from Scott Mellanby to eliminate Pittsburgh while Calgary downed Chicago 3-2 in regulation in the seventh game of that series.
CONFERENCE FINALS
The Western Conference final would be a rematch of the Stanley Cup from two years ago with the Nordiques beat Calgary. The Avalanche would win the series in 6 games to advance to the finals against the Philadelphia Flyers, who knocked off the New York Rangers in 6.
STANLEY CUP FINAL
An interesting matchup between Philadelphia and Colorado. The key pieces from the real life big Lindros deal are all playing. Lindros, now 23, is leading the Avalanche in points this playoff with 17 through 15 games but he has spent most of his 5 years in Quebec on the third line, behind Sakic and Sundin. This season in 82 games Lindros posted decent numbers with 29 goals and 69 points but certainly is no where near superstar status.
Neither of the key pieces that went the other way have been superstars either. Mike Ricci had a career high 70 points this season as a 24 year old. Peter Forsberg looked to be ready to breakout when he scored 91 points as a 20 year old and followed that up with 65 in last year's lockout season. However, a hamsting injury cost him half of this season although he did get 23 goals and 67 points in 45 games. He returned from the injury in the conference finals and had a goal and 4 assists in 3 playoff games.
The only injured player for the Flyers is Rick Tocchet, who had 77 points in 68 games before his season came to an end with a concussion. The Avalanche will be missing Mats Sundin (34-41-75) with a sprained wrist but he could be back as early as Game Two.
While the Nordiques-Avalanche franchise has had great recent success with this year being their third straight trip to the Stanley Cup finals, Philadelphia has had a long drought. The Flyers only made the Finals once in their history, losing to Chicago in the 1973 Cup series.
Mike Ricci and Peter Forsberg lead the Flyers to a 4-2 victory in Game One at The Spectrum. Ricci had 3 assists while Forsberg scored once and assisted on another goal. Mikael Renberg, Jamie Huscroft and Greg Johnson scored the other Philly goals while Owen Nolan had both for Colorado. Jocelyn Thibault made 34 saves in the Flyer net for the win while Ron Tugnutt struggled mightily for the Avalanche, facing just 20 shots and allowing 4 goals.
Stephane Fiset replaces Tugnutt in the Colorado cage for Game Two and the Avalanche respond with a 5-2 victory. Joe Sakic led the way with 2 goals and 2 assists. Owen Nolan, Mike Eagles and Janne Laukkanen also scored for Colorado. Greg Johnson and Darren Rumble replied for the Flyers.
There was an Avalanche of goals in the third period of Game Three, 6 to be exact including four by Colorado. When the snow settled it was tied 6-6 and going to overtime. Mike Eagles would end it with a goal for the Avalanche just over 3 minutes into the extra period and Colorado had a 2 games to 1 lead with a 7-6 victory. Peter Forsberg led the offense with 2 goals and 3 assists for the Flyers. Owen Nolan had a hat trick, giving him 6 goals in 3 games, while Joe Sakic scored once and added 2 assists.
Owen Nolan scored another goal and Sakic had 3 points to help Colorado to a 5-1 victory and a 3 games to one series lead.
Game Five was back in Philly and the Flyers stayed alive with a 3-2 victory. Greg Johnson got the game winner early in the third period after Randy Gilhen and Mikael Renberg had scored for the Flyers while Kirk Maltby and Joe Sakic replied for Colorado.
Greg Johnson continues his strong play with a goal and an assist in Game Six as the Flyers extend the series with a 3-1 victory. Scott Mellanby and Peter Forsberg also scored for Philadelphia while Jaroslav Modry had the lone Colorado goal.
Colorado wins the Stanley Cup with a 5-0 victory as Joe Sakic takes over Game Seven. Sakic had 3 goals and assisted on the other two to carry the Colorado offense. Milan Hejduk and Janne Laukkanen also scored for the Avalanche, who have won two Stanley Cups - although 1 based in Quebec - in the past three years.
Sakic finished as the playoff leader in points with 37 and was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy for the second time in his career.
Code:
PLAYOFF SCORING LEADERS GP G A PTS
Joe Sakic COL 22 13 24 37
Theo Fleury CGY 18 8 26 34
Brett Hull CGY 18 13 16 29
Mikael Renberg PHI 25 10 19 29
Steve Larmer CHI 14 11 15 26
Owen Nolan COL 17 13 11 24
Gary Roberts CGY 18 12 12 24
Brian Bradley CHI 14 9 15 24
Al MacInnis CGY 18 9 15 24
Darren Rumble PHI 26 10 13 23
Mario Lemieux PIT 11 8 15 23
Greg Johnson PHI 26 14 8 22
Kirk Maltby COL 22 9 13 21
Eric Lindros COL 22 8 13 21
Mike Ricci PHI 26 3 18 21
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh (82GP 72-75-147)
VEZINA TROPHY: Dominik Hasek Chicago (48-19-6 2.24)
NORRIS TROPHY: Al MacInnis Calgary (82GP 35-68-103)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh (82GP 72-75-147)
CALDER TROPHY: Oleg Tverdovsky Anaheim (78GP 10-51-61)
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 Dominik Hasek Chicago Grant Fuhr Edmonton
D Brian Leetch NY Rangers Nik Lidstrom Detroit
D Al MacInnis Calgary Jeff Brown Colorado
C Mario Lemieux Pittsbugh Joe Sakic Colorado
LW Brendan Shanahan New Jersey Marty McInnis NY Islanders
RW Brett Hull Calgary Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh