1993–94 Hartford Whalers season

The 1993–94 Hartford Whalers season was the 22nd season of the franchise, 15th season in the NHL. The Whalers missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season. It was the first season that all four former WHA teams (Edmonton, Hartford, Quebec, Winnipeg) missed the playoffs since joining the NHL in 1979.

1993–94 Hartford Whalers
Division	6th Northeast
Conference	13th Eastern
1993–94 record	27–48–9
Home record	14–22–6
Road record	13–26–3
Goals for	227
Goals against	288
Team information
General manager	Paul Holmgren
Coach	Paul Holmgren (4–11–2) Pierre McGuire (23–37–7)
Captain	Pat Verbeek
Alternate captains	Brad McCrimmon Andrew Cassels
Arena	Hartford Civic Center
Average attendance	10,407 (66.7%)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Springfield Indians (AHL) Raleigh IceCaps (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Geoff Sanderson (41)
Assists	Andrew Cassels (42)
Points	Pat Verbeek (75)
Penalty minutes	Marc Potvin (246)
Plus/minus	Alexander Godynyuk (+8)
Wins	Sean Burke (17)
Goals against average	Sean Burke (2.99)

Off-season

On June 1, the Whalers acquired Brad McCrimmon from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. McCrimmon scored 1 goal and 15 points in 60 games during the 1992–93 season. In his NHL career that began in 1979, McCrimmon had played in 1029 games, scoring 76 goals and 381 points. He was a member of the Calgary Flames during the 1988–89 season in which they won the Stanley Cup. During the 1985–86 season with the Philadelphia Flyers, McCrimmon scored 13 goals and 56 points in 80 games while having a plus-minus rating of +86. In 1987–88, his first season with the Flames, McCrimmon finished fourth in James Norris Memorial Trophy voting.

The Whalers acquired Sergei Makarov on June 20 in a trade with the Calgary Flames. Makarov scored 18 goals and 57 points in 71 games during the 1992–93 season. Makarov's stay with the Whalers would be short because six days later, he was traded to the San Jose Sharks (along with the Whalers' first-, second- and third-round draft picks in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft) in exchange for the Sharks' first-round draft pick, which was the second overall pick, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.

On June 24, the Whalers lost Terry Yake and Randy Ladouceur to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft. Yake scored 22 goals and 53 points with the Whalers during the 1992–93 season, while Ladouceur scored 2 goals and 6 points in 62 games.

At the 1993 NHL Entry Draft held at Le Colisee in Quebec City on June 26, the Whalers held the second overall draft pick. With the pick, the Whalers selected Chris Pronger from the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League. Pronger scored 15 goals and 77 points in 61 games, then scored 15 goals and 40 points in 21 playoff games for the Petes. Other players that the Whalers selected that played in the NHL include Marek Malik, Nolan Pratt, Manny Legace and Igor Chibirev.

At the 1993 NHL Supplemental Draft, the Whalers selected Kent Fearns from Colorado College. In 33 games during the 1992–93 season, Fearns scored 7 goals and 22 points for the Tigers.

On September 1, the Whalers announced that Brian Burke resigned from his position of general manager and president of the team as he joined the NHL front office as executive vice-president and director of hockey operations. Current head coach Paul Holmgren was promoted to take over the position.

On October 4, Hartford signed free agent Brian Propp. Propp appeared in 17 games with the Minnesota North Stars during the 1992–93 season, scoring three goals and six points. In 951 career games, Propp scored 413 goals and 975 points since beginning his career in the 1979–80 season with the Philadelphia Flyers. During his career, Propp had scored 40+ goals in a season four times, including a career-high 44 goals in the 1981–82 season.

Regular season

The Whalers were put into the new Northeast Division after the Adams Division was discontinued.

Final standings

Northeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Pittsburgh Penguins	84	44	27	13	299	285	101
2	4	Boston Bruins	84	42	29	13	289	252	97
3	5	Montreal Canadiens	84	41	29	14	283	248	96
4	6	Buffalo Sabres	84	43	32	9	282	218	95
5	11	Quebec Nordiques	84	34	42	8	277	292	76
6	13	Hartford Whalers	84	27	48	9	227	288	63
7	14	Ottawa Senators	84	14	61	9	201	397	37

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.

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance
1	L	October 6, 1993	3–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	0–1–0	16,430
2	L	October 9, 1993	2–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	0–2–0	15,635
3	W	October 10, 1993	3–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	1–2–0	16,254
4	W	October 13, 1993	4–3	Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	2–2–0	8,042
5	W	October 14, 1993	6–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94)	3–2–0	16,721
6	L	October 16, 1993	3–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	3–3–0	16,624
7	L	October 19, 1993	2–7	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94)	3–4–0	15,644
8	L	October 20, 1993	2–5	Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	3–5–0	7,315
9	T	October 23, 1993	3–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	3–5–1	11,872
10	L	October 27, 1993	1–5	@ Dallas Stars (1993–94)	3–6–1	14,132
11	L	October 28, 1993	1–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1993–94)	3–7–1	16,584
12	L	October 30, 1993	1–4	New York Rangers (1993–94)	3–8–1	13,183
13	L	November 1, 1993	2–4	St. Louis Blues (1993–94)	3–9–1	7,258
14	L	November 3, 1993	3–6	Calgary Flames (1993–94)	3–10–1	7,350
15	L	November 6, 1993	3–5	@ New York Islanders (1993–94)	3–11–1	9,648
16	W	November 10, 1993	4–3 OT	Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	4–11–1	7,232
17	T	November 13, 1993	4–4 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1993–94)	4–11–2	12,119
18	L	November 17, 1993	2–4	Boston Bruins (1993–94)	4–12–2	12,609
19	L	November 18, 1993	3–6	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	4–13–2	17,106
20	L	November 20, 1993	2–3	San Jose Sharks (1993–94)	4–14–2	11,203
21	W	November 23, 1993	2–1 OT	@ Florida Panthers (1993–94)	5–14–2	12,015
22	L	November 24, 1993	1–4	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	5–15–2	19,374
23	W	November 27, 1993	4–0	Florida Panthers (1993–94)	6–15–2	10,837
24	W	November 29, 1993	4–2	@ Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	7–15–2	10,075
25	W	December 1, 1993	5–3	Detroit Red Wings (1993–94)	8–15–2	7,917
26	L	December 4, 1993	6–7 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	8–16–2	12,643
27	W	December 7, 1993	6–1	@ Washington Capitals (1993–94)	9–16–2	8,871
28	L	December 8, 1993	1–4	Vancouver Canucks (1993–94)	9–17–2	7,207
29	L	December 11, 1993	0–3	Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	9–18–2	9,636
30	T	December 12, 1993	2–2 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1993–94)	9–18–3	13,334
31	L	December 15, 1993	2–5	@ New York Rangers (1993–94)	9–19–3	17,967
32	W	December 18, 1993	4–1	Washington Capitals (1993–94)	10–19–3	9,747
33	W	December 22, 1993	6–3	New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	11–19–3	8,548
34	W	December 23, 1993	2–1	@ Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	12–19–3	10,357
35	W	December 26, 1993	3–2 OT	Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	13–19–3	10,825
36	L	December 28, 1993	2–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	13–20–3	15,107
37	L	December 29, 1993	3–5	Florida Panthers (1993–94)	13–21–3	9,749
38	W	January 1, 1994	4–3	@ New York Islanders (1993–94)	14–21–3	9,746
39	W	January 2, 1994	7–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	15–21–3	11,665
40	W	January 5, 1994	4–0	Winnipeg Jets (1993–94)	16–21–3	8,669
41	L	January 6, 1994	1–2	St. Louis Blues (1993–94)	16–22–3	6,956
42	W	January 8, 1994	6–0	New York Islanders (1993–94)	17–22–3	12,225
43	L	January 12, 1994	4–6	@ Los Angeles Kings (1993–94)	17–23–3	16,005
44	L	January 14, 1994	3–6	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94)	17–24–3	17,174
45	L	January 15, 1994	2–8	@ San Jose Sharks (1993–94)	17–25–3	17,190
46	L	January 17, 1994	3–5	@ Boston Bruins (1993–94)	17–26–3	13,890
47	T	January 19, 1994	3–3 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94)	17–26–4	8,418
48	L	January 24, 1994	1–2	Boston Bruins (1993–94)	17–27–4	14,036
49	L	January 26, 1994	0–3	Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	17–28–4	8,911
50	T	January 27, 1994	1–1 OT	@ Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	17–28–5	10,137
51	L	January 29, 1994	2–3	Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	17–29–5	11,743
52	W	February 1, 1994	2–1	@ Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	18–29–5	15,023
53	L	February 2, 1994	2–9	@ Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	18–30–5	16,325
54	T	February 4, 1994	2–2 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1993–94)	18–30–6	12,363
55	W	February 6, 1994	4–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1993–94)	19–30–6	15,496
56	L	February 11, 1994	1–4	@ Calgary Flames (1993–94)	19–31–6	18,545
57	W	February 12, 1994	5–2	@ Edmonton Oilers (1993–94)	20–31–6	11,395
58	L	February 16, 1994	3–5	Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	20–32–6	8,107
59	L	February 17, 1994	4–6	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	20–33–6	15,779
60	W	February 19, 1994	4–2	New York Rangers (1993–94)	21–33–6	15,635
61	L	February 24, 1994	0–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1993–94)	21–34–6	11,621
62	T	February 26, 1994	1–1 OT	New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	21–34–7	12,343
63	L	February 27, 1994	1–3	Washington Capitals (1993–94)	21–35–7	10,016
64	L	March 2, 1994	1–4	Los Angeles Kings (1993–94)	21–36–7	10,807
65	W	March 4, 1994	2–1	@ Florida Panthers (1993–94)	22–36–7	14,697
66	L	March 5, 1994	2–4	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	22–37–7	21,178
67	W	March 9, 1994	4–1	Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	23–37–7	7,757
68	L	March 10, 1994	0–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	23–38–7	11,818
69	T	March 12, 1994	2–2 OT	Dallas Stars (1993–94)	23–38–8	11,402
70	L	March 13, 1994	2–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	23–39–8	11,862
71	L	March 16, 1994	0–4	@ New York Rangers (1993–94)	23–40–8	18,200
72	L	March 17, 1994	1–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	23–41–8	14,131
73	W	March 19, 1994	5–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	24–41–8	17,380
74	L	March 22, 1994	1–4	@ Washington Capitals (1993–94)	24–42–8	11,267
75	L	March 25, 1994	3–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	24–43–8	15,003
76	L	March 26, 1994	2–3	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94)	24–44–8	15,635
77	L	March 29, 1994	2–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1993–94)	24–45–8	19,734
78	W	March 30, 1994	3–2 OT	Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94)	25–45–8	8,285
79	L	April 2, 1994	5–6	Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	25–46–8	13,655
80	T	April 6, 1994	3–3 OT	New York Islanders (1993–94)	25–46–9	9,052
81	L	April 7, 1994	2–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	25–47–9	15,324
82	W	April 10, 1994	6–4	Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	26–47–9	10,141
83	L	April 11, 1994	1–3	Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	26–48–9	8,568
84	W	April 14, 1994	3–2	@ Boston Bruins (1993–94)	27–48–9	14,054

Playoffs

• The Whalers did not qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Pat Verbeek	RW	84	37	38	75	177	-15	15	1	3
Geoff Sanderson	LW	82	41	26	67	42	-13	15	1	6
Andrew Cassels	C	79	16	42	58	37	-21	8	1	3
Robert Kron	LW	77	24	26	50	8	0	2	1	3
Michael Nylander	C	58	11	33	44	24	-2	4	0	1
Zarley Zalapski	D	56	7	30	37	56	-6	0	0	0
Chris Pronger	D	81	5	25	30	113	-3	2	0	0
Brian Propp	LW	65	12	17	29	44	3	3	1	2
James Patrick	D	47	8	20	28	32	-12	4	1	2
Adam Burt	D	63	1	17	18	75	-4	0	0	0
Randy Cunneyworth	LW	63	9	8	17	87	-2	0	1	1
Jim Storm	LW	68	6	10	16	27	4	1	0	0
Igor Chibirev	C	37	4	11	15	2	7	0	0	1
Darren Turcotte	C	19	2	11	13	4	-11	0	0	0
Alexander Godynyuk	D	43	3	9	12	40	8	0	0	1
Mark Janssens	C	84	2	10	12	137	-13	0	0	0
Robert Petrovicky	C	33	6	5	11	39	-1	1	0	0
Bryan Marchment	D	42	3	7	10	124	-12	0	1	1
Mark Greig	RW	31	4	5	9	31	-6	0	0	0
Jim Sandlak	RW	27	6	2	8	32	6	2	0	1
Jocelyn Lemieux	RW	16	6	1	7	19	-8	0	0	2
Ted Drury	C	16	1	5	6	10	-10	0	0	0
Brad McCrimmon	D	65	1	5	6	72	-7	0	0	0
Kevin Smyth	LW	21	3	2	5	10	-1	0	0	0
Marc Potvin	RW	51	2	3	5	246	-5	0	0	0
Frantisek Kucera	D	16	1	3	4	14	-12	1	0	0
Patrick Poulin	C	9	2	1	3	11	-8	1	0	0
Ted Crowley	D	21	1	2	3	10	-1	1	0	0
Jim McKenzie	LW	26	1	2	3	67	-6	0	0	0
Bob McGill	D	30	0	3	3	41	-7	0	0	0
Paul Ranheim	LW	15	0	3	3	2	-11	0	0	0
John Stevens	D	9	0	3	3	4	4	0	0	0
Eric Weinrich	D	8	1	1	2	2	-5	1	0	0
Todd Harkins	C	28	1	0	1	49	-4	0	0	0
Dan Keczmer	D	12	0	1	1	12	-6	0	0	0
Jeff Reese	G	19	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Sean Burke	G	47	0	0	0	16	0	0	0	0
Yvon Corriveau	LW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mario Gosselin	G	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Doug Houda	D	7	0	0	0	23	-4	0	0	0
Nick Kypreos	LW	10	0	0	0	37	-8	0	0	0
Mike Lenarduzzi	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Allen Pedersen	D	7	0	0	0	9	-1	0	0	0
Frank Pietrangelo	G	19	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Mike Tomlak	C/LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Sean Burke	2750	47	17	24	5	137	2.99	2	1458	1321	.906
Frank Pietrangelo	984	19	5	11	1	59	3.60	0	473	414	.875
Jeff Reese	1086	19	5	9	3	56	3.09	1	524	468	.893
Mario Gosselin	239	7	0	4	0	21	5.27	0	107	86	.804
Mike Lenarduzzi	21	1	0	0	0	1	2.86	0	12	11	.917
Team:	5080	84	27	48	9	274	3.24	3	2574	2300	.894

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus-minus PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals;
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

The Whalers were involved in the following transactions during the 1993–94 season.

Trades

June 1, 1993	To Detroit Red Wings 6th round pick in 1993	To Hartford Whalers Brad McCrimmon
June 20, 1993	To Calgary Flames 4th round pick in 1993	To Hartford Whalers Sergei Makarov
June 26, 1993	To San Jose Sharks Sergei Makarov 1st round pick in 1993 2nd round pick in 1993 3rd round pick in 1993	To Hartford Whalers 1st round pick in 1993
November 2, 1993	To Chicago Blackhawks Eric Weinrich Patrick Poulin	To Hartford Whalers Bryan Marchment Steve Larmer
November 2, 1993	To New York Rangers Steve Larmer Nick Kypreos Barry Richter 6th round pick in 1994	To Hartford Whalers James Patrick Darren Turcotte
November 3, 1993	To Los Angeles Kings Doug Houda	To Hartford Whalers Marc Potvin
November 19, 1993	To Calgary Flames Dan Keczmer Future Considerations	To Hartford Whalers Jeff Reese
December 16, 1993	To Florida Panthers Jim McKenzie	To Hartford Whalers Alexander Godynyuk
January 24, 1994	To Calgary Flames Scott Morrow	To Hartford Whalers Todd Harkins
January 25, 1994	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mark Greig 6th round pick in 1995	To Hartford Whalers Ted Crowley
March 10, 1994	To Calgary Flames Michael Nylander James Patrick Zarley Zalapski	To Hartford Whalers Gary Suter Paul Ranheim Ted Drury
March 11, 1994	To Chicago Blackhawks Randy Cunneyworth Gary Suter 3rd round pick in 1995	To Hartford Whalers Frantisek Kucera Jocelyn Lemieux
March 18, 1994	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ken Belanger	To Hartford Whalers 9th round pick in 1994

Waivers

November 3, 1993

From New York Islanders Bob McGill

Free agents

Player Former Team Rob Cowie Winnipeg Jets Jeff Bloemberg Edmonton Oilers Rick Bennett New York Rangers Brian Propp Minnesota North Stars

Player New Team Joe Day New York Islanders Mike Maneluk Anaheim Mighty Ducks

Draft picks

Hartford's picks at the 1993 NHL Entry Draft

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	2	Chris Pronger	Defense	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
3	72	Marek Malik	Defense	Czech Republic	TJ Vitkovice Jr. (Czech Republic)
4	84	Trevor Roenick	Right wing	United States	Boston Junior Bruins (NEJHL)
5	115	Nolan Pratt	Defense	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
8	188	Manny Legace	Goaltender	Canada	Niagara Falls Thunder (OHL)
9	214	Dmitri Gorenko	Forward	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russia)
10	240	Wes Swinson	Defense	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
11	266	Igor Chibirev	Center	Ukraine	Fort Wayne Komets (IHL)
S	6	Kent Fearns	Defense	Canada	Colorado College (WCHA)

Farm teams

See also

• 1993–94 NHL season

External links

• Whalers on Hockey Database