1995–96 NHL season
1995–96 NHL season | |
---|---|
League | National Hockey League |
Sport | Ice hockey |
Duration | October 5, 1995 – June 10, 1996 |
Number of games | 82 |
Number of teams | 26 |
Regular season | |
Presidents' Trophy | Detroit Red Wings |
Season MVP | Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh) |
Top scorer | Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh) |
Playoffs | |
Eastern champions | Florida Panthers |
Eastern runners-up | Pittsburgh Penguins |
Western champions | Colorado Avalanche |
Western runners-up | Detroit Red Wings |
Playoffs Playoffs MVP | Joe Sakic (Colorado) |
Stanley Cup | |
Champions | Colorado Avalanche |
Runners-up | Florida Panthers |
The 1995–96 NHL season was the 79th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalanche, who, in their first year as the Avalanche, swept the Florida Panthers in four games.
League business[edit]
1995–96 was the first season in Denver for the Avalanche, who had relocated from Quebec City where they were previously known as the Quebec Nordiques. Prior to the season, Colorado was assigned to the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They played at McNichols Arena, the building that the New Jersey Devils played in from 1976 to 1982 when they were known as the Colorado Rockies. The Avs would play in that building until they moved to the Pepsi Center in 1999.
It was also the last season of existence for the Winnipeg Jets, as they announced that they would be moving from Manitoba to Arizona and become the Phoenix Coyotes at the season's end. The NHL would not return to Manitoba until the Atlanta Thrashers moved there to become the "new" Winnipeg Jets following the 2010–11 season.
1995–96 would mark the last season the Buffalo Sabres would play in the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, the Philadelphia Flyers at the CoreStates Spectrum, the Senators at the Ottawa Civic Centre, and the Canadiens at the Montreal Forum. The Sabres made their new home at the Marine Midland Arena, the Flyers at the CoreStates Center, the Senators at the Corel Centre, and the Canadiens at the Molson Centre. The two latter arenas opened before the end of this season. With the Montreal Forum closed, The Maple Leaf Gardens was the last remaining arena from the Original Six at the time. The Boston Bruins played their first season at Fleetcenter after spending the last 67 at the old Boston Garden, and the Vancouver Canucks played their first game at General Motors Place.
During the 1992–93 and 1993-94 seasons, each team played 84 games (including two neutral site games). Starting in the 1995–96 season, the neutral site games were eliminated, which reduced the regular season to 82 games per team.
Regular season[edit]
The Detroit Red Wings had a spectacular season, finishing with the second-highest regular-season point total in NHL history (131 points), and setting the NHL record for most wins ever in the regular season (62). However, they fell to the Avalanche in the Western Conference Final, the sixth game of which marked the beginning of the heated Detroit-Colorado rivalry, which would last for years to come. Jaromir Jagr broke the record for assists and points by a right winger in a single season [1]. Mario Lemieux had the NHL's last 150+ point season with 161 points in 70 games. This would be the last season in which at least one player would score at least 60 goals (Jagr and Lemieux) until 2008.[1] The New Jersey Devils became the first team since the 1969–70 Montreal Canadiens to miss the playoffs after winning the Stanley Cup the previous season.
Final standings[edit]
Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast bold – Qualified for playoffs |
Western Conference | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy |
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Playoffs[edit]
Stanley Cup Final[edit]
The Colorado Avalanche swept the final series over the Florida Panthers in the minimum four games. Both teams were making their first appearance in the Final. For Colorado, it followed the team's first season in Denver, Colorado after moving from Quebec City.
Colorado vs. Florida | |||||
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Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
June 4 | Florida | 1 | Colorado | 3 | |
June 6 | Florida | 1 | Colorado | 8 | |
June 8 | Colorado | 3 | Florida | 2 | |
June 10 | Colorado | 1 | Florida | 0 | 3OT |
Colorado wins series 4–0 and Stanley Cup |
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Joe Sakic (Colorado) wins Conn Smythe Trophy |
Playoff bracket[edit]
Conference quarterfinals | Conference semifinals | Conference finals | Stanley Cup Final | |||||||||||||||
1 | Philadelphia | 4 | 2 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||
8 | Tampa Bay | 2 | 3 | NY Rangers | 1 |
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2 | Pittsburgh | 4 | Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||
7 | Washington | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
2 | Pittsburgh | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Florida | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | NY Rangers | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
6 | Montreal | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Florida | 4 | 1 | Philadelphia | 2 | |||||||||||||
5 | Boston | 1 | 4 | Florida | 4 |
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E4 | Florida | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
(Pairings are re-seeded after the first round.) | ||||||||||||||||||
W2 | Colorado | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Detroit | 4 | 1 | Detroit | 4 | |||||||||||||
8 | Winnipeg | 2 | 5 | St. Louis | 3 | |||||||||||||
2 | Colorado | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
7 | Vancouver | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Detroit | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
2 | Colorado | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Chicago | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
6 | Calgary | 0 | Western Conference | |||||||||||||||
4 | Toronto | 2 | 2 | Colorado | 4 | |||||||||||||
5 | St. Louis | 4 | 3 | Chicago | 2 |
- During the first three rounds home ice is determined by seeding number, not position on the bracket. In the Finals the team with the better regular season record has home ice.
Awards[edit]
Presidents' Trophy: | Detroit Red Wings |
Prince of Wales Trophy: | Florida Panthers |
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: | Colorado Avalanche |
Art Ross Trophy: | Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins |
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: | Gary Roberts, Calgary Flames |
Calder Memorial Trophy: | Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators |
Conn Smythe Trophy: | Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche |
Frank J. Selke Trophy: | Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings |
Hart Memorial Trophy: | Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins |
Jack Adams Award: | Scotty Bowman, Detroit Red Wings |
James Norris Memorial Trophy: | Chris Chelios, Chicago Blackhawks |
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: | Kris King, Winnipeg Jets |
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: | Paul Kariya, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim |
Lester B. Pearson Award: | Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins |
NHL Plus/Minus Award: | Vladimir Konstantinov, Detroit Red Wings |
Vezina Trophy: | Jim Carey, Washington Capitals |
William M. Jennings Trophy: | Chris Osgood/Mike Vernon, Detroit Red Wings |
Lester Patrick Trophy: | George Gund III, Ken Morrow, Milt Schmidt |
All-Star teams[edit]
First team | Position | Second team |
---|---|---|
Jim Carey, Washington Capitals | G | Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings |
Chris Chelios, Chicago Blackhawks | D | Vladimir Konstantinov, Detroit Red Wings |
Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins | D | Brian Leetch, New York Rangers |
Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins | C | Eric Lindros, Philadelphia Flyers |
Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins | RW | Alexander Mogilny, Vancouver Canucks |
Paul Kariya, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | LW | John LeClair, Philadelphia Flyers |
Player statistics[edit]
Scoring leaders[edit]
Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: NHL.[4] |
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Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
Leading goaltenders[edit]
Regular season
Player | Team | GP | MIN | GA | SO | GAA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ron Hextall | Philadelphia | 53 | 3102 | 112 | 4 | 2.17 |
Chris Osgood | Detroit | 50 | 2933 | 106 | 5 | 2.17 |
Jim Carey | Washington | 71 | 4069 | 153 | 9 | 2.26 |
Mike Vernon | Detroit | 32 | 1855 | 70 | 3 | 2.26 |
Martin Brodeur | New Jersey | 77 | 4433 | 173 | 6 | 2.34 |
Jeff Hackett | Chicago | 35 | 2000 | 80 | 4 | 2.40 |
Daren Puppa | Tampa Bay | 57 | 3189 | 131 | 5 | 2.46 |
Mike Richter | New York Rangers | 41 | 2396 | 107 | 3 | 2.68 |
John Vanbiesbrouck | Florida | 57 | 3178 | 142 | 2 | 2.68 |
Ed Belfour | Chicago | 50 | 2956 | 135 | 1 | 2.74 |
Milestones[edit]
Debuts[edit]
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1995–96 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
- Kyle McLaren, Boston Bruins
- Jay McKee, Buffalo Sabres
- Martin Biron, Buffalo Sabres
- Jarome Iginla*, Calgary Flames
- Stephane Yelle, Colorado Avalanche
- Jere Lehtinen, Dallas Stars
- Miroslav Satan, Edmonton Oilers
- Ed Jovanovski, Florida Panthers
- Jeff O'Neill, Hartford Whalers
- Sami Kapanen, Hartford Whalers
- Darcy Tucker, Montreal Canadiens
- Jose Theodore, Montreal Canadiens
- Saku Koivu, Montreal Canadiens
- Patrik Elias, New Jersey Devils
- Petr Sykora, New Jersey Devils
- Steve Sullivan, New Jersey Devils
- Bryan McCabe, New York Islanders
- Todd Bertuzzi, New York Islanders
- Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators
- Daymond Langkow, Tampa Bay Lightning
- Andrew Brunette, Washington Capitals
- Brendan Witt, Washington Capitals
- Shane Doan, Winnipeg Jets
Last games[edit]
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1995–96 (listed with their last team):
- Cam Neely, Boston Bruins
- Alexei Kasatonov, Boston Bruins
- Troy Murray, Colorado Avalanche
- Paul Cavallini, Dallas Stars
- Bob Kudelski, Florida Panthers
- Jimmy Carson, Hartford Whalers
- Brett Lindros, New York Islanders
- Joe Cirella, Ottawa Senators (The last active player to have been a member of the Colorado Rockies.)
- Glenn Anderson, St. Louis Blues
- Greg Gilbert, St. Louis Blues
- Jim Sandlak, Vancouver Canucks
Trading deadline[edit]
Trading deadline: March 20, 1996.[6]
- March 20, 1996: C Jesse Belanger traded from Florida to Vancouver for Vancouver's third round pick in 1996 Entry Draft and future considerations.
- March 20, 1996: LW Ken Baumgartner traded from Toronto to Anaheim for Winnipeg's fourth round pick in 1996 Entry Draft (previously acquired).
- March 20, 1996: D J. J. Daigneault traded from St. Louis to Pittsburgh for Pittsburgh's sixth round pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
- March 20, 1996: LW Kevin Miller traded from San Jose to Pittsburgh for Pittsburgh's fifth round choice in 1996 Entry Draft and future considerations.
- March 20, 1996: LW Pat Conacher and Calgary's sixth round pick in 1997 Entry Draft traded from Calgary to NY Islanders for C Bob Sweeney.
- March 20, 1996: RW Kirk Maltby traded from Edmonton to Detroit for D Dan McGillis.
- March 20, 1996: D Jaroslav Modry and Ottawa's eighth round pick in 1996 Entry Draft traded from Ottawa to Los Angeles for RW Kevin Brown.
- March 20, 1996: LW Patrick Poulin, D Igor Ulanov and Chicago's second round pick in 1996 Entry Draft traded from Chicago to Tampa Bay for D Enrico Ciccone and Tampa Bay's second round pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
- March 20, 1996: LW Yuri Khmylev and Buffalo's eighth round pick in 1996 Entry Draft traded from Buffalo to St. Louis for D Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, Ottawa's second round pick in 1996 Entry Draft (previously acquired) and St. Louis' third round pick in 1997 Entry Draft.
- March 20, 1996: C Dave Hannan traded from Buffalo to Colorado for Colorado's sixth round pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
- March 20, 1996: RW Alek Stojanov traded from Vancouver to Pittsburgh for RW Markus Naslund.
- March 20, 1996: RW Ravil Gusmanov traded from Winnipeg to Chicago for Chicago's fourth round pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
- March 20, 1996: RW Joe Kocur traded from NY Rangers to Vancouver for G Kay Whitmore.
Coaches[edit]
Head coaches of the Eastern Conference[edit]
Team | Coach | Comments |
---|---|---|
Boston Bruins | Steve Kasper | |
Buffalo Sabres | Ted Nolan | |
Florida Panthers | Doug MacLean | |
Hartford Whalers | Paul Holmgren | Replaced midseason by Paul Maurice |
Montreal Canadiens | Jacques Demers | Replaced early in the season by Mario Tremblay |
New Jersey Devils | Jacques Lemaire | |
New York Islanders | Mike Milbury | |
New York Rangers | Colin Campbell | |
Ottawa Senators | Rick Bowness | Replaced early in the season by Dave Allison, who would be replaced after 25 games by Jacques Martin |
Philadelphia Flyers | Terry Murray | |
Pittsburgh Penguins | Eddie Johnston | |
Tampa Bay Lightning | Terry Crisp | |
Washington Capitals | Jim Schoenfeld |
Head coaches of the Western Conference[edit]
Team | Coach | Comments |
---|---|---|
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | Ron Wilson | |
Calgary Flames | Pierre Page | |
Chicago Blackhawks | Craig Hartsburg | |
Colorado Avalanche | Marc Crawford | |
Dallas Stars | Bob Gainey | Replaced midseason by Ken Hitchcock |
Detroit Red Wings | Scotty Bowman | |
Edmonton Oilers | Ron Low | |
Los Angeles Kings | Larry Robinson | |
St. Louis Blues | Mike Keenan | |
San Jose Sharks | Kevin Constantine | Replaced early in the season by Jim Wiley |
Toronto Maple Leafs | Pat Burns | Replaced late in the season by Nick Beverley |
Vancouver Canucks | Rick Ley | Replaced late in the season by Pat Quinn |
Winnipeg Jets | Terry Simpson |
Hat Tricks[edit]
See also[edit]
- List of Stanley Cup champions
- 1995 NHL Entry Draft
- 46th National Hockey League All-Star Game
- National Hockey League All-Star Game
- NHL All-Rookie Team
- 1995 in sports
- 1996 in sports
References[edit]
- Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, New York: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
- Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
- Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto: 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, Illinois: Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
- Notes
- ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2008032128&prov=ap
- ^ "1995–1996 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
- ^ "1995-1996 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
- ^ Dinger 2011, p. 154.
- ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1996_leaders.html
- ^ NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out