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1994–95 NHL season

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1994–95 NHL season
LeagueNational Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationJanuary 20 – June 24, 1995
Number of games48
Number of teams26
TV partner(s)CBC, TSN, SRC (Canada)
ESPN, Fox (United States)
Draft
Top draft pickEd Jovanovski
Picked byFlorida Panthers
Regular season
Presidents' TrophyDetroit Red Wings
Season MVPEric Lindros (Flyers)
Top scorerJaromir Jagr (Penguins)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVPClaude Lemieux (Devils)
Stanley Cup
ChampionsNew Jersey Devils
  Runners-upDetroit Red Wings
NHL seasons

The 1994–95 NHL season was the 78th regular season of the National Hockey League. The season start was delayed due to a lockout of players imposed by the NHL franchise owners. After a new labour agreement was reached between the owners and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), a 48-game season started on January 20. The season ended when the New Jersey Devils swept the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings for their first Stanley Cup win. It was also their first appearance in the finals overall.

League business

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Entry draft

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The 1994 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 28–29, 1994, at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Ed Jovanovski was selected first overall by the Florida Panthers.

Lockout

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Main article: 1994–95 NHL lockout

On October 1, 1994, the NHL initiated a lockout of the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA). The players had begun training camps a few weeks earlier as if to start the season. However, as these camps came to a close, labour negotiations remained unresolved.[1] The big issue was the implementation of a salary cap. The NHL owners were strongly in favor of the cap while the players were opposed to it. The NHL wanted to levy a luxury tax, a financial penalty that is assigned by the league, on salaries that were higher than the average. However, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) viewed that as a variation on a salary cap and refused to accept it. This came right off the heels of the 1992 walkout by players, which interrupted the race for the Stanley Cup.[2] Unlike in the 1992 strike however, it was the owners who wanted to make sure that they got the right deal.[3] Under the leadership of executive director Bob Goodenow, the NHLPA position was that it would be open to a small tax, however the bulk of the financial goals could be achieved through revenue sharing.

After the lockout had dragged on, the talk of salary cap faded and new items entered the debate. Talk of rookie salary cap, changes to the arbitration system, and loosened free agency. However, large market teams such as Toronto, Detroit, the New York Rangers, Dallas, and Philadelphia eventually broke with the league, as they feared that an extended lockout would outweigh the benefits from getting a salary cap and did not want to be the first league in North America to forfeit an entire season just to help out their small-market colleagues.[1]

The lockout ended on January 11, 1995. As a result, the league shortened the season length from 84 games, the length of the previous two seasons, to 48.[4] The regular season would then last from January 20 to May 3, the first time in NHL history that the regular season extended into May. All games were limited to intra-conference play. The NHL and NHLPA agreed to shorten future seasons to 82 games. The NHL All-Star Game, which had been scheduled to take place January 20–21, 1995, in San Jose, California, was canceled; San Jose was then awarded 1997 NHL All-Star Game instead. The lost revenue due to the lockout would eventually contribute in part to three teams relocating: the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver, Colorado after the 1994–95 season to became the Colorado Avalanche; the Winnipeg Jets relocated to Phoenix, Arizona after the 1995–96 season to became the Phoenix Coyotes; and the Hartford Whalers moved to Greensboro, North Carolina after the 1996–97 season to become the Carolina Hurricanes.

Rule changes

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  • Two Zambonis would now be required by every arena for the resurfacing between periods.
  • A coach can call for a stick measurement in any overtime period or shootout, but the request must be made before the winning goal is scored.
  • Leaving the penalty box to join an altercation on the ice risks automatic three-game ban, plus any other penalties assessed.
  • Any severe check from behind risks a major penalty and game misconduct.
  • Referees and linesmen would wear numbers instead of nameplates; this restored a practice that had been in use previously from 1955 to 1977.

Arenas

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Regular season

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The lockout delay pushed the start of the 1994–95 season to January 20. The regular season was shortened from 84 games, the length of the previous two seasons, down to 48. Regular season games would be limited to intra-conference play. The shortened regular season ended on May 3, the first time in NHL history that the regular season extended into that month.[5]

The March 10, 1995, Detroit Red Wings–San Jose Sharks game was postponed due to the Guadalupe River flooding, making it impossible for the teams to travel to the San Jose Arena.[6]

This was the first season since 1969–70, that the Montreal Canadiens missed the playoffs.

Final standings

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Eastern Conference[7]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 Quebec Nordiques NE 48 30 13 5 185 134 65
2 Philadelphia Flyers AT 48 28 16 4 150 132 60
3 Pittsburgh Penguins NE 48 29 16 3 181 158 61
4 Boston Bruins NE 48 27 18 3 150 127 57
5 New Jersey Devils AT 48 22 18 8 136 121 52
6 Washington Capitals AT 48 22 18 8 136 120 52
7 Buffalo Sabres NE 48 22 19 7 130 119 51
8 New York Rangers AT 48 22 23 3 139 134 47
9 Florida Panthers AT 48 20 22 6 115 127 46
10 Hartford Whalers NE 48 19 24 5 127 141 43
11 Montreal Canadiens NE 48 18 23 7 125 148 43
12 Tampa Bay Lightning AT 48 17 28 3 120 144 37
13 New York Islanders AT 48 15 28 5 126 158 35
14 Ottawa Senators NE 48 9 34 5 117 174 23

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Atlantic Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 2 Philadelphia Flyers 48 28 16 4 150 132 60
2 5 New Jersey Devils 48 22 18 8 136 121 52
3 6 Washington Capitals 48 22 18 8 136 120 52
4 8 New York Rangers 48 22 23 3 139 134 47
5 9 Florida Panthers 48 20 22 6 115 127 46
6 12 Tampa Bay Lightning 48 17 28 3 120 144 37
7 13 New York Islanders 48 15 28 5 126 158 35
Northeast Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 1 Quebec Nordiques 48 30 13 5 185 134 65
2 3 Pittsburgh Penguins 48 29 16 3 181 158 61
3 4 Boston Bruins 48 27 18 3 150 127 57
4 7 Buffalo Sabres 48 22 19 7 130 119 51
5 10 Hartford Whalers 48 19 24 5 127 141 43
6 11 Montreal Canadiens 48 18 23 7 125 148 43
7 14 Ottawa Senators 48 9 34 5 117 174 23
Western Conference[8]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 p – Detroit Red Wings CEN 48 33 11 4 180 117 70
2 x – Calgary Flames PAC 48 24 17 7 163 135 55
3 St. Louis Blues CEN 48 28 15 5 178 135 61
4 Chicago Blackhawks CEN 48 24 19 5 156 115 53
5 Toronto Maple Leafs CEN 48 21 19 8 135 146 50
6 Vancouver Canucks PAC 48 18 18 12 153 148 48
7 San Jose Sharks PAC 48 19 25 4 129 161 42
8 Dallas Stars CEN 48 17 23 8 136 135 42
9 Los Angeles Kings PAC 48 16 23 9 142 174 41
10 Winnipeg Jets CEN 48 16 25 7 157 177 39
11 Edmonton Oilers PAC 48 17 27 4 136 183 38
12 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim PAC 48 16 27 5 125 164 37

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

bold – Qualified for playoffs; x – Won division; p – Won Presidents' Trophy

Central Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 1 Detroit Red Wings 48 33 11 4 180 117 70
2 2 St. Louis Blues 48 28 15 5 178 135 61
3 4 Chicago Blackhawks 48 24 19 5 156 115 53
4 5 Toronto Maple Leafs 48 21 19 8 135 146 50
5 8 Dallas Stars 48 17 23 8 136 135 42
6 10 Winnipeg Jets 48 16 25 7 157 177 39
Pacific Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 2 Calgary Flames 48 24 17 7 163 135 55
2 6 Vancouver Canucks 48 18 18 12 153 148 48
3 7 San Jose Sharks 48 19 25 4 129 161 42
4 9 Los Angeles Kings 48 16 23 9 142 174 41
5 11 Edmonton Oilers 48 17 27 4 136 183 38
6 12 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 48 16 27 5 125 164 37

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Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
         Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

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Main article: 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs

Bracket

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The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the two division winners seeded 1–2 based on regular season records, and the six remaining teams seeded 3–8. In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home-ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Conference quarterfinals Conference semifinals Conference finals Stanley Cup Finals
            
1 Quebec 2
8 NY Rangers 4
2 Philadelphia 4
8 NY Rangers 0
2 Philadelphia 4
7 Buffalo 1
2 Philadelphia 2
Eastern Conference
5 New Jersey 4
3 Pittsburgh 4
6 Washington 3
3 Pittsburgh 1
5 New Jersey 4
4 Boston 1
5 New Jersey 4
E5 New Jersey 4
W1 Detroit 0
1 Detroit 4
8 Dallas 1
1 Detroit 4
7 San Jose 0
2 Calgary 3
7 San Jose 4
1 Detroit 4
Western Conference
4 Chicago 1
3 St. Louis 3
6 Vancouver 4
4 Chicago 4
6 Vancouver 0
4 Chicago 4
5 Toronto 3

Awards

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The NHL Awards presentation took place on July 6, 1995.

Presidents' Trophy: Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy:
(Eastern Conference playoff champion)		 New Jersey Devils
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:
(Western Conference playoff champion)		 Detroit Red Wings
Art Ross Trophy: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Pat LaFontaine, Buffalo Sabres
Calder Memorial Trophy: Peter Forsberg, Quebec Nordiques
Conn Smythe Trophy: Claude Lemieux, New Jersey Devils
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Ron Francis, Pittsburgh Penguins
Hart Memorial Trophy: Eric Lindros, Philadelphia Flyers
Jack Adams Award: Marc Crawford, Quebec Nordiques
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Paul Coffey, Detroit Red Wings
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Joe Nieuwendyk, Calgary Flames
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Ron Francis, Pittsburgh Penguins
Lester B. Pearson Award: Eric Lindros, Philadelphia Flyers
NHL Plus-Minus Award: Ron Francis, Pittsburgh Penguins
Vezina Trophy: Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
William M. Jennings Trophy: Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks

All-Star teams

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First team   Position   Second team
Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres G Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks
Paul Coffey, Detroit Red Wings D Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
Chris Chelios, Chicago Blackhawks D Larry Murphy, Pittsburgh Penguins
Eric Lindros, Philadelphia Flyers C Alexei Zhamnov, Winnipeg Jets
Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins RW Theoren Fleury, Calgary Flames
John LeClair, Montreal/Philadelphia LW Keith Tkachuk, Winnipeg Jets

Player statistics

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Scoring leaders

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Regular season Playoffs
Player Team GP G A Pts
Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh 48 32 38 70
Eric Lindros Philadelphia 46 29 41 70
Alexei Zhamnov Winnipeg 48 30 35 65
Joe Sakic Quebec 47 19 43 62
Ron Francis Pittsburgh 44 11 48 59
Theoren Fleury Calgary 47 29 29 58
Paul Coffey Detroit 45 14 44 58
Mikael Renberg Philadelphia 47 26 31 57
John LeClair Montreal/
Philadelphia		 46 26 28 54
Mark Messier NY Rangers 46 14 39 53

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Player Team GP G A Pts
Sergei Fedorov Detroit 17 7 17 24
Stephane Richer New Jersey 19 6 15 21
Neal Broten New Jersey 20 7 12 19
Ron Francis Pittsburgh 12 6 13 19
Denis Savard Chicago 16 7 11 18
Paul Coffey Detroit 18 6 12 18
John MacLean New Jersey 20 5 13 18
Claude Lemieux New Jersey 20 13 3 16
Vyacheslav Kozlov Detroit 18 9 7 16
Nicklas Lidstrom Detroit 18 4 12 16

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Leading goaltenders

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Regular season

Player Team GP MIN GA SO GAA SV%
Dominik Hasek Buffalo 41 2416 85 5 2.11 .930
Jim Carey Washington 28 1604 57 4 2.13 .913
Chris Osgood Detroit 19 1087 41 1 2.26 .917
Ed Belfour Chicago 42 2450 93 5 2.28 .906
Jocelyn Thibault Quebec 18 898 35 1 2.34 .917
Dominic Roussel Philadelphia 19 1075 42 1 2.34 .914
Glenn Healy New York Rangers 17 888 35 1 2.36 .907
Blaine Lacher Boston 35 1965 79 4 2.41 .902
Andy Moog Dallas 31 1770 72 2 2.44 .915
Martin Brodeur New Jersey 40 2184 89 3 2.45 .902

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Milestones

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Debuts

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The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1994–95, listed with their first team (asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games

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The following is a list of players of note who played their last game in the NHL in 1994–95 (listed with their last team):

Coaches

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Eastern Conference

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Team Coach Comments
Boston Bruins Brian Sutter
Buffalo Sabres John Muckler
Florida Panthers Roger Neilson
Hartford Whalers Paul Holmgren
Montreal Canadiens Jacques Demers
New Jersey Devils Jacques Lemaire
New York Islanders Lorne Henning
New York Rangers Colin Campbell
Ottawa Senators Rick Bowness
Philadelphia Flyers Terry Murray
Pittsburgh Penguins Eddie Johnston
Quebec Nordiques Marc Crawford
Tampa Bay Lightning Terry Crisp
Washington Capitals Jim Schoenfeld

Western Conference

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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 George Burnett Replaced midseason by Ron Low
Los Angeles Kings Barry Melrose Replaced midseason by Rogie Vachon
St. Louis Blues Mike Keenan
San Jose Sharks Kevin Constantine
Toronto Maple Leafs Pat Burns
Vancouver Canucks Rick Ley
Winnipeg Jets John Paddock Replaced midseason by Terry Simpson

Broadcasting

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Canada

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This was the seventh season that the league's Canadian national broadcast rights were split between TSN and Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. This was the first season that HNIC had doubleheaders on every Saturday night of the regular season. TSN continued to televise regular season weeknight games, primarily on Mondays and Thursdays. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series.

United States

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This was the first season of the league's five-year U.S. national broadcast rights deals with Fox and ESPN. Fox's deal marked the NHL's first major American broadcast network agreement since the 1974–75 season. ESPN's original deal that began 1992–93 season was also restructured, as Fox replaced ESPN's brokered deal with its sister broadcast network ABC. Fox had the All-Star Game and weekly regional telecasts on the last five Sunday afternoons of the regular season, while ESPN and ESPN2 had weeknight games.[11][12]

For playoff coverage, this was the first time that all Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Finals games were exclusive to Fox or ESPN. American regional sports networks could still carry their teams' first and second-round games, but they could no longer televise local coverage beyond those rounds. During the first two rounds, ESPN and ESPN2 televised selected games, while Fox had regional Sunday afternoon telecasts. Fox's Sunday telecasts continued into the Conference Finals, while ESPN had the rest of the Conference Finals games. The Stanley Cup Finals were also split between Fox and ESPN.[13]

See also

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References

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  • Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
  • Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
  • Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
  • Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
Notes
  1. ^ a b McIndoe, Sean (September 3, 2014). "The Often Forgotten 1994 NHL Lockout". grantland.com.
  2. ^ "CBC Archives".
  3. ^ "How to fix the NHL standings". February 6, 2014. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  4. ^ "Abbreviated Seasons". Sports Illustrated. July 1, 2011.
  5. ^ "Abbreviated Seasons". Sports Illustrated. July 1, 2011.
  6. ^ Weekes, Don (2003). The Best and Worst of Hockey's Firsts: The Unofficial Guide. Canada: Greystone Books. pp. 240. ISBN 9781550548600.
  7. ^ "1994-1995 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  8. ^ "1994-1995 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  9. ^ a b Regular-season standings, scoring leaders: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  10. ^ "1994-95 NHL Leaders".
  11. ^ "Fox, ESPN ink deals with NHL". UPI. September 13, 1994.
  12. ^ Gatehouse, Jonathon (October 2012). The Instigator: How Gary Bettman Remade the NHL and Changed the Game Forever. Triumph Books. p. 161. ISBN 9781623686567.
  13. ^ "Fox, ESPN ink deals with NHL". UPI. September 13, 1994.
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