1993–94 NHL season

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The 1993–94 NHL season was the 77th regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-six teams each played 84 games. The New York Rangers were the Stanley Cup champions. It was the Rangers' fourth championship. In addition, the final game started the 1994 Stanley Cup riots in Downtown Vancouver.

The spectacular play of Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils and Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres ushered in a new era of goaltending dominance in the NHL. Only three teams reached the 300-goal plateau, and only one team, the Detroit Red Wings, averaged more than four goals scored per game. Goaltenders combined for 99 shutouts during the regular season.

For this season, the names of the conferences were changed from Campbell and Wales to Western and Eastern respectively, and the divisions' names were changed from Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe to Northeast, Atlantic, Central, and Pacific respectively. New league commissioner Gary Bettman, who had previously worked in the National Basketball Association (NBA), thought the old names could be confusing to non-traditional fans and believed that a change to geographically-named divisions, as used in the NBA and most other North American professional sports, would be more easily understandable to new fans.

In addition, the playoff format was slightly altered to resemble that of the NBA. Whereas the playoffs had previously been bracketed and seeded by division, they were now broken down only by conference: the division winners were seeded one-two by order of point finish, then the top six remaining teams in the conference were seeded three through eight. However, unlike the NBA, the NHL matches the highest-seeded winners against the lowest-seeded winners in the second round. In order to reduce the number of long trips to and from the West Coast, whenever a Central Division team played a Pacific Division team in the playoffs, the format was 2–3–2 rather than the traditional 2–2–1–1–1, a format which lasted only for the 1993–94 season.

This season was the first for two expansion teams, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Florida Panthers.

For this season, the Minnesota North Stars relocated to Dallas, Texas to become the Dallas Stars. It was the first franchise relocation for the NHL since the Colorado Rockies became the New Jersey Devils in 1982–83.

This was the first year that the San Jose Sharks actually played in San Jose, moving into the new San Jose Arena (now HP Pavilion at San Jose) after spending their first two years at the Cow Palace in Daly City. 1993-94 was also the final year that the Chicago Blackhawks played at Chicago Stadium and the St. Louis Blues played at the St. Louis Arena.

The 1994 Playoffs marked the first time in history that none of the former WHA teams (Edmonton, Hartford, Quebec, and Winnipeg) made the playoffs in the same year.

This was the only season (as of the 2007-08 season) that all 4 former WHA teams (Edmonton, Hartford, Quebec, Winnipeg) missed the playoffs since joining in 1979.

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

[edit] Eastern Conference

Northeast Division
Team GP W L T Pts GF GA
y - Pittsburgh Penguins 84 44 27 13 101 299 285
x - Boston Bruins 84 42 29 13 97 289 252
x - Montreal Canadiens 84 41 29 14 96 283 248
x - Buffalo Sabres 84 43 32 9 95 282 218
Quebec Nordiques 84 34 42 8 76 277 292
Hartford Whalers 84 27 48 9 63 227 288
Ottawa Senators 84 14 61 9 37 201 397
Atlantic Division
Team GP W L T Pts GF GA
z - New York Rangers 84 52 24 8 112 299 231
x - New Jersey Devils 84 47 25 12 106 306 220
x - Washington Capitals 84 39 35 10 88 277 263
x - New York Islanders 84 36 36 12 84 282 264
Florida Panthers 84 33 34 17 83 233 233
Philadelphia Flyers 84 35 39 10 80 294 314
Tampa Bay Lightning 84 30 43 11 71 224 251

[edit] Western Conference

Central Division
Team GP W L T Pts GF GA
y - Detroit Red Wings 84 46 30 8 100 356 275
x - Toronto Maple Leafs 84 43 29 12 98 280 243
x - Dallas Stars 84 42 29 13 97 286 265
x - St. Louis Blues 84 40 33 11 91 270 283
x - Chicago Blackhawks 84 39 36 9 87 254 240
Winnipeg Jets 84 24 51 9 57 245 344
Pacific Division
Team GP W L T Pts GF GA
y - Calgary Flames 84 42 29 13 97 302 256
x - Vancouver Canucks 84 41 40 3 85 279 276
x - San Jose Sharks 84 33 35 16 82 252 265
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 84 33 46 5 71 229 251
Los Angeles Kings 84 27 45 12 66 294 322
Edmonton Oilers 84 25 45 14 64 261 305

Note: x = clinched playoff berth, y = clinched division title, z = won Presidents' Trophy.

Note: Strikethrough indicates that the team is no longer in the division as of the 2008-2009 season.

Team Coach Comments
Boston Bruins Brian Sutter
Buffalo Sabres John Muckler
Florida Panthers Roger Neilson
Hartford Whalers Pierre McGuire Replaced midseason by Paul Holmgren
Montreal Canadiens Jacques Demers
New Jersey Devils Jacques Lemaire
New York Islanders Al Arbour
New York Rangers Mike Keenan
Ottawa Senators Rick Bowness
Philadelphia Flyers Terry Simpson
Pittsburgh Penguins Eddie Johnston
Quebec Nordiques Pierre Page
Tampa Bay Lightning Terry Crisp
Washington Capitals Terry Murray Replaced late in the season by Jim Schoenfeld

Team Coach Comments
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Ron Wilson
Calgary Flames Dave King
Chicago Blackhawks Darryl Sutter
Dallas Stars Bob Gainey
Detroit Red Wings Scotty Bowman
Edmonton Oilers Ted Green Replaced early in the season by Glen Sather
Los Angeles Kings Barry Melrose
St. Louis Blues Bob Berry
San Jose Sharks Kevin Constantine
Toronto Maple Leafs Pat Burns
Vancouver Canucks Pat Quinn
Winnipeg Jets John Paddock

Player Team GP G A Pts
Wayne Gretzky Los Angeles 81 38 92 130
Sergei Fedorov Detroit 82 56 64 120
Adam Oates Boston 77 32 80 112
Doug Gilmour Toronto 83 27 84 111
Jeremy Roenick Chicago 84 46 61 107
Pavel Bure Vancouver 74 60 47 107
Mark Recchi Philadelphia 84 40 67 107
Brendan Shanahan St. Louis 81 52 50 102
Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh 80 32 67 99
Dave Andreychuk Toronto 83 53 46 99

  Conference quarterfinals Conference semifinals
(reseeded)
Conference finals Stanley Cup finals
                                     
1  New York Rangers 4     1  New York Rangers 4  
8  New York Islanders 0     7  Washington Capitals 1  
2  Pittsburgh Penguins 2
7  Washington Capitals 4  
  1  New York Rangers 4  
Eastern Conference
  3  New Jersey Devils 3  
3  New Jersey Devils 4  
6  Buffalo Sabres 3  
4  Boston Bruins 4   3  New Jersey Devils 4
5  Montreal Canadiens 3     4  Boston Bruins 2  


  E1  New York Rangers 4
  W7  Vancouver Canucks 3
1  Detroit Red Wings 3     3  Toronto Maple Leafs 4
8  San Jose Sharks 4     8  San Jose Sharks 3  
2  Calgary Flames 3
7  Vancouver Canucks 4  
  3  Toronto Maple Leafs 1
Western Conference
  7  Vancouver Canucks 4  
3  Toronto Maple Leafs 4  
6  Chicago Blackhawks 2  
4  Dallas Stars 4   4  Dallas Stars 1
5  St. Louis Blues 0     7  Vancouver Canucks 4  

[edit] Eastern Conference

NY Rangers (1) vs. NY Islanders (8)
Date Away Home OT
April 17 NY Islanders 0 6 NY Rangers
April 18 NY Islanders 0 6 NY Rangers
April 21 NY Rangers 5 1 NY Islanders
April 24 NY Rangers 5 2 NY Islanders
NY Rangers wins series 4–0.
Pittsburgh (2) vs. Washington (7)
Date Away Home OT
April 17 Washington 5 3 Pittsburgh
April 19 Washington 1 2 Pittsburgh
April 21 Pittsburgh 0 2 Washington
April 23 Pittsburgh 1 4 Washington
April 25 Washington 2 3 Pittsburgh
April 27 Pittsburgh 3 6 Washington
Washington wins series 4–2.
New Jersey (3) vs. Buffalo (6)
Date Away Home OT
April 17 Buffalo 2 0 New Jersey
April 19 Buffalo 1 2 New Jersey
April 21 New Jersey 2 1 Buffalo
April 23 New Jersey 3 5 Buffalo
April 25 Buffalo 3 5 New Jersey
April 27 New Jersey 0 1 Buffalo 4 OT
April 29 Buffalo 1 2 New Jersey
New Jersey wins series 4–3.
Boston (4) vs. Montreal (5)
Date Away Home OT
April 16 Montreal 2 3 Boston
April 18 Montreal 3 2 Boston
April 21 Boston 6 3 Montreal
April 23 Boston 2 5 Montreal
April 25 Montreal 2 1 Boston OT
April 27 Boston 3 2 Montreal
April 29 Montreal 3 5 Boston
Boston wins series 4–3.

[edit] Western Conference

Detroit (1) vs. San Jose (8)
Date Away Home OT
April 18 San Jose 5 4 Detroit
April 20 San Jose 0 4 Detroit
April 22 Detroit 3 2 San Jose
April 23 Detroit 3 4 San Jose
April 26 Detroit 4 6 San Jose
April 28 San Jose 1 7 Detroit
April 30 San Jose 3 2 Detroit
San Jose wins series 4–3.
Calgary (2) vs. Vancouver (7)
Date Away Home OT
April 18 Vancouver 5 0 Calgary
April 20 Vancouver 5 7 Calgary
April 22 Calgary 4 2 Vancouver
April 24 Calgary 3 2 Vancouver
April 26 Vancouver 2 1 Calgary OT
April 28 Calgary 2 3 Vancouver OT
April 30 Vancouver 4 3 Calgary 2 OT
Vancouver wins series 4–3.
Toronto (3) vs. Chicago (6)
Date Away Home OT
April 18 Chicago 1 5 Toronto
April 20 Chicago 0 1 Toronto OT
April 22 Toronto 4 5 Chicago
April 24 Toronto 3 4 Chicago OT
April 26 Chicago 0 1 Toronto
April 28 Toronto 1 0 Chicago
Toronto wins series 4–2.
Dallas (4) vs. St. Louis (5)
Date Away Home OT
April 17 St. Louis 3 5 Dallas
April 20 St. Louis 2 4 Dallas
April 22 Dallas 5 4 St. Louis OT
April 24 Dallas 2 1 St. Louis
Dallas wins series 4–0.

NY Rangers (1) vs. Washington (7)
Date Away Home OT
May 1 Washington 3 6 NY Rangers
May 3 Washington 2 5 NY Rangers
May 5 NY Rangers 3 0 Washington
May 7 NY Rangers 2 4 Washington
May 9 Washington 3 4 NY Rangers
NY Rangers win series 4–1.
New Jersey (3) vs. Boston (4)
Date Away Home OT
May 1 Boston 2 1 New Jersey
May 3 Boston 6 5 New Jersey OT
May 5 New Jersey 4 2 Boston
May 7 New Jersey 5 4 Boston OT
May 9 Boston 0 2 New Jersey
May 11 New Jersey 5 3 Boston
New Jersey wins series 4–2.
Toronto (3) vs. San Jose (8)
Date Away Home OT
May 2 San Jose 3 2 Toronto
May 4 San Jose 1 5 Toronto
May 6 Toronto 2 5 San Jose
May 8 Toronto 8 3 San Jose
May 10 Toronto 2 5 San Jose
May 12 San Jose 2 3 Toronto OT
May 14 San Jose 2 4 Toronto
Toronto wins series 4–3.
Dallas (4) vs. Vancouver (7)
Date Away Home OT
May 2 Vancouver 6 4 Dallas
May 4 Vancouver 3 0 Dallas
May 6 Dallas 4 3 Vancouver
May 8 Dallas 1 2 Vancouver OT
May 10 Dallas 2 4 Vancouver
Vancouver wins series 4–1.

NY Rangers (1) vs. New Jersey (3)
Date Away Home OT
May 15 New Jersey 4 3 NY Rangers 2 OT
May 17 New Jersey 0 4 NY Rangers
May 19 NY Rangers 3 2 New Jersey 2 OT
May 21 NY Rangers 1 3 New Jersey
May 23 New Jersey 4 1 NY Rangers
May 25 NY Rangers 4 2 New Jersey
May 27 New Jersey 1 2 NY Rangers 2 OT
NY Rangers wins series 4–3
and Prince of Wales Trophy.
Toronto (3) vs. Vancouver (7)
Date Away Home OT
May 16 Vancouver 2 3 Toronto OT
May 18 Vancouver 4 3 Toronto
May 20 Toronto 0 4 Vancouver
May 22 Toronto 0 2 Vancouver
May 24 Toronto 3 4 Vancouver 2OT
Vancouver wins series 4–1 and
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl.

NY Rangers (1) vs. Vancouver (7)
Date Away Score Home Score OT
May 31 Vancouver 3 New York 2 OT
June 2 Vancouver 1 New York 3
June 4 New York 5 Vancouver 1
June 7 New York 4 Vancouver 2
June 9 Vancouver 6 New York 3
June 11 New York 1 Vancouver 4
June 14 Vancouver 2 New York 3
New York Rangers wins series 4–3
and Stanley Cup.
Brian Leetch (NY Rangers)
wins Conn Smythe Trophy.

The NHL awards presentation took place on June 16, 1994.

1993–94 NHL Awards
Presidents' Trophy: New York Rangers
Prince of Wales Trophy: New York Rangers
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: Vancouver Canucks
Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Cam Neely, Boston Bruins
Calder Memorial Trophy: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Conn Smythe Trophy: Brian Leetch, New York Rangers
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
Hart Memorial Trophy: Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
Jack Adams Award: Jacques Lemaire, New Jersey Devils
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Adam Graves, New York Rangers
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
Lester B. Pearson Award: Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
NHL Plus/Minus Award: Scott Stevens, New Jersey Devils
Vezina Trophy: Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
William M. Jennings Trophy: Dominik Hasek and Grant Fuhr, Buffalo Sabres
Lester Patrick Trophy: Wayne Gretzky

First team   Position   Second team
Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres G John Vanbiesbrouck, Florida Panthers
Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins D Al MacInnis, Calgary Flames
Scott Stevens, New Jersey Devils D Brian Leetch, New York Rangers
Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings C Ron Francis, Pittsburgh Penguins
Pavel Bure, Vancouver Canucks RW Cam Neely, Boston Bruins
Brendan Shanahan, St. Louis Blues LW Adam Graves, New York Rangers

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1993–94 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1993–94 (listed with their last team):

Trading deadline: March 21, 1994.[1]

  • March 19, 1994: Donald Dufresne traded from Tampa Bay to Los Angeles for Los Angeles's sixth round pick in 1994 Entry Draft.
  • March 19, 1994: Jeff Daniels traded from Pittsburgh to Florida for Greg Hawgood.
  • March 19, 1994: Doug Zmolek and Mike Lalor traded from San Jose to Dallas for Ulf Dahlen.
  • March 21, 1994: Joe Juneau traded from Boston to Washington for Al Iafrate.
  • March 21, 1994: Craig Janney traded from Vancouver to St. Louis for Jeff Brown, Bret Hedican and Nathan Lafayette.
  • March 21, 1994: Jim Johnson traded from Dallas to Washington for Alan May and Washington's seventh round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
  • March 21, 1994: Joe Reekie traded from Tampa Bay to Washington for Enrico Ciccone and Washington's third round pick in 1994 Entry Draft and a conditional draft pick.
  • March 21, 1994: Steve Konroyd traded from Detroit to Ottawa for Daniel Berthiaume.
  • March 21, 1994: Phil Bourque traded from NY Rangers to Ottawa for future considerations.
  • March 21, 1994: Tony Amonte and the rights to Matt Oates traded from NY Rangers to Chicago for Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan.
  • March 21, 1994: Peter Andersson traded from NY Rangers to Florida for future considerations.
  • March 21, 1994: Robert Dirk traded from Vancouver to Chicago for Chicago's fourth round pick in 1994 Entry Draft.
  • March 21, 1994: Mike Gartner traded from NY Rangers to Toronto for Glenn Anderson, the rights to Scott Malone and Toronto's fourth round pick in 1994 Entry Draft.
  • March 21, 1994: Craig MacTavish traded from Edmonton to NY Rangers for Todd Marchant.
  • March 21, 1994: Paul Ysebaert traded from Winnipeg to Chicago for Chicago's third round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
  • March 21, 1994: Alexei Kasatonov traded from Anaheim to St. Louis for Maxim Bets and St. Louis's sixth round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
  • March 21, 1994: Mike Needham traded from Pittsburgh to Dallas for Jim McKenzie.
  • March 21, 1994: Kevin Todd traded from Chicago to Los Angeles for Los Angeles's fourth round pick in the 1994 Entry Draft.
  • March 21, 1994: Pelle Eklund traded from Philadelphia to Dallas for future considerations.
  • March 21, 1994: Roy Mitchell and Reid Simpson traded from Dallas to New Jersey for future considerations.
  • March 21, 1994: Steve Passmore traded from Quebec to Edmonton for Brad Werenka.

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals was the most-watched game in NHL history, whether it was on ESPN in the United States, MSG Network, or on the CBC in Canada. (ESPN was blacked out in the New York City area and in most of Washington state).[1]

This was the last time the NHL played a schedule of neutral-site regular-season games. This created a few borderline absurd situations:

  • The Dallas Stars played a neutral-site game in their previous hometown of Minneapolis, where they were greeted enthusiastically (excluding owner Norm Green.
  • The Minnesota North Stars' tradition of playing on New Years' Eve and holding a post-game skate on the ice was continued. However, the North Stars having moved to Dallas, organizers had to attempt to emulate it by scheduling the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins. Also, the game was played at the Target Center in Minneapolis rather than the Met Center in Bloomington.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Detroit Red Wings contest at Minneapolis was scheduled for Martin Luther King Day, a Monday, necessitating an afternoon face-off at 2:05 PM. Due to an error on the NHL's part, however, the Lightning believed themselves to be playing at 7:35 PM, an error that was only discovered two weeks prior to the game by reporters. The Lightning ended up playing an 8:05 PM game in Winnipeg, flying back to the U.S., and playing again just 18 hours later in Minneapolis.
  • The New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers, whose arenas were located twelve miles apart, played over 1,000 miles away and in a different country (at Halifax, Nova Scotia).
  • Similarly, the Montréal Canadiens and the Quebec Nordiques, both hailing from the province of Quebec, played each other 2,500 miles from home (in Phoenix, AZ), travelling not only to another country but also from a French- to an English-speaking city.
  • The Florida Panthers, in the midst of a playoff race, played a March "home" game against the Maple Leafs 30 miles from Toronto, at Hamilton.

In total, 26 such games were played:

[edit] Complete list of neutral-site games

Date Score City Arena Attendance
October 21, 1993 St. Louis Blues 5, San Jose Sharks 2 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena 74
October 31, 1993 New York Rangers 4, New Jersey Devils 1 Halifax, N.S. Halifax Metro Centre 8,200
November 3, 1993 Pittsburgh Penguins 6, Buffalo Sabres 2 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena 10
November 9, 1993 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4, Dallas Stars 2 Phoenix, AZ America West Arena 8,143
November 18, 1993 New York Islanders 5, Montréal Canadiens 1 Hamilton, Ontario, ON Copps Coliseum 17,008
December 9, 1993 Dallas Stars 6, Ottawa Senators 1 Minneapolis, MN Target Center 0
December 23, 1993 Vancouver Canucks 4, Calgary Flames 3 Saskatoon, Sask. SaskPlace 5
December 31, 1993 Philadelphia Flyers 4, Boston Bruins 3 Minneapolis, MN Target Center 6
January 4, 1994 Tampa Bay Lightning 1, Toronto Maple Leafs 0 Hamilton, ON Copps Coliseum 17*
January 5, 1994 Montréal Canadiens 2, Québec Nordiques 0 Phoenix, AZ America West Arena 11
January 6, 1994 St. Louis Blues 2, Hartford Whalers 1 Cleveland, OH Richfield Coliseum
January 16, 1994 Detroit Red Wings 6, Tampa Bay Lightning 3 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
January 23, 1994 Vancouver Canucks 5, Edmonton Oilers 4 (OT) Saskatoon, Sask. SaskPlace -
January 24, 1994 Los Angeles Kings 3, Calgary Flames 3 (OT) Phoenix, AZ America West Arena 6
February 2, 1994 Washington Capitals 5, Philadelphia Flyers 2 Cleveland, OH Richfield Coliseum 1
February 8, 1994 San Jose Sharks 4, Chicago Blackhawks 3 Sacramento, CA] ARCO Arena 1*
February 22, 1994 Florida Panthers 3, Winnipeg Jets 2 Hamilton, ON Copps Coliseum 1
February 24, 1994 Detroit Red Wings 3, Hartford Whalers 0 Cleveland, OH Richfield Coliseum 11,
March 4, 1994 Winnipeg Jets 6, Ottawa Senators 1 Minneapolis, MN Target Center 6,388
March 8, 1994 Chicago Blackhawks 3, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 0 Phoenix, AZ America West Arena 13,847
March 9, 1994 New York Rangers 7, Washington Capitals 5 Halifax, N.S. Halifax Metro Centre 9,200*
March 18, 1994 New York Islanders 2, Buffalo Sabres 2 Minneapolis, MN Target Center 8,016
March 23, 1994 Toronto Maple Leafs 1, Florida Panthers 1 (OT) Hamilton, ON Copps Coliseum 17,096*
March 27, 1994 New Jersey Devils 5, Quebec Nordiques 2 Minneapolis, MN Target Center 6,222
April 3, 1994 Pittsburgh Penguins 6, Boston Bruins 2 Cleveland, OH Richfield Coliseum 17,224
April 3, 1994 Los Angeles Kings 6, Edmonton Oilers 1 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena 10,363

  1. ^ NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out
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