The 1990–91 NHL season was the 74th season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the best of seven series 4–2 against the Minnesota North Stars. This was the last NHL season to end in May.

1990–91 NHL season
LeagueNational Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationOctober 4, 1990 – May 25, 1991
Number of games80
Number of teams21
TV partner(s)CBC, TSN, SRC (Canada)
SportsChannel America, NBC[a] (United States)
Draft
Top draft pickOwen Nolan
Picked byQuebec Nordiques
Regular season
Presidents' TrophyChicago Blackhawks
Season MVPBrett Hull (Blues)
Top scorerWayne Gretzky (Kings)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVPMario Lemieux (Penguins)
Stanley Cup
ChampionsPittsburgh Penguins
  Runners-upMinnesota North Stars
NHL seasons

League business edit

At meetings in Florida on December 6, 1990, the NHL Board of Governors awarded provisional franchises to groups from Ottawa and Tampa. The Ottawa franchise marked a return to one of the original cities of the NHL, while Tampa meant the first franchise in the sunbelt state of Florida. In a later book published by NHL president Gil Stein, Stein revealed that the two groups were the only ones of the applicants who agreed to the $50 million expansion fee without question.[1] The Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning began play in the 1992–93 season.

Regular season edit

Final standings edit

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

Wales Conference
Adams Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Boston Bruins 80 44 24 12 299 264 100
Montreal Canadiens 80 39 30 11 273 249 89
Buffalo Sabres 80 31 30 19 292 278 81
Hartford Whalers 80 31 38 11 238 276 73
Quebec Nordiques 80 16 50 14 236 354 46

[2]

Patrick Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 41 33 6 342 305 88
New York Rangers 80 36 31 13 297 265 85
Washington Capitals 80 37 36 7 258 258 81
New Jersey Devils 80 32 33 15 272 264 79
Philadelphia Flyers 80 33 37 10 252 267 76
New York Islanders 80 25 45 10 223 290 60

[2]

Campbell Conference
Norris Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Chicago Blackhawks 80 49 23 8 284 211 106
St. Louis Blues 80 47 22 11 310 250 105
Detroit Red Wings 80 34 38 8 273 298 76
Minnesota North Stars 80 27 39 14 256 266 68
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 23 46 11 241 318 57

[2]

Smythe Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Los Angeles Kings 80 46 24 10 340 254 102
Calgary Flames 80 46 26 8 344 263 100
Edmonton Oilers 80 37 37 6 272 272 80
Vancouver Canucks 80 28 43 9 243 315 65
Winnipeg Jets 80 26 43 11 260 288 63

[2]

Playoffs edit

Playoff bracket edit

Division semifinals Division finals Conference finals Stanley Cup Finals
            
A1 Boston 4
A4 Hartford 2
A1 Boston 4
A2 Montreal 3
A2 Montreal 4
A3 Buffalo 2
A1 Boston 2
Prince of Wales Conference
P1 Pittsburgh 4
P1 Pittsburgh 4
P4 New Jersey 3
P1 Pittsburgh 4
P3 Washington 1
P2 NY Rangers 2
P3 Washington 4
P1 Pittsburgh 4
N4 Minnesota 2
N1 Chicago 2
N4 Minnesota 4
N4 Minnesota 4
N2 St. Louis 2
N2 St. Louis 4
N3 Detroit 3
N4 Minnesota 4
Clarence Campbell Conference
S3 Edmonton 1
S1 Los Angeles 4
S4 Vancouver 2
S1 Los Angeles 2
S3 Edmonton 4
S2 Calgary 3
S3 Edmonton 4

The North Stars defeated the Edmonton Oilers to become the first Norris Division team to appear in the Stanley Cup Finals since the 1981 realignment. At the time a record of 92 playoff games were played, and for the first time since the 1973 playoffs, no team was swept in a playoff series.

Stanley Cup Finals edit


May 15 Minnesota North Stars 5–4 Pittsburgh Penguins Civic Arena
May 17 Minnesota North Stars 1–4 Pittsburgh Penguins Civic Arena
May 19 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–3 Minnesota North Stars Met Center
May 21 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–3 Minnesota North Stars Met Center
May 23 Minnesota North Stars 4–6 Pittsburgh Penguins Civic Arena
May 25 Pittsburgh Penguins 8–0 Minnesota North Stars Met Center
Pittsburgh won series 4–2


Awards edit

Presidents' Trophy: Chicago Blackhawks
Prince of Wales Trophy:
(Wales Conference playoff champion)
Pittsburgh Penguins
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:
(Campbell Conference playoff champion)
Minnesota North Stars
Art Ross Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings
Calder Memorial Trophy: Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks
Conn Smythe Trophy: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Dirk Graham, Chicago Blackhawks
Hart Memorial Trophy: Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues
Jack Adams Award: Brian Sutter, St. Louis Blues
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
Lester B. Pearson Award: Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues
NHL Plus/Minus Award: Marty McSorley, Los Angeles Kings & Theo Fleury, Calgary Flames
Vezina Trophy: Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks
William M. Jennings Trophy: Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks
Lester Patrick Trophy: Rod Gilbert, Mike Ilitch

All-Star teams edit

First Team   Position   Second Team
Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks G Patrick Roy, Montreal Canadiens
Chris Chelios, Chicago Blackhawks D Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
Al MacInnis, Calgary Flames D Paul Coffey, Pittsburgh Penguins
Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings C Adam Oates, St. Louis Blues
Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues RW Cam Neely, Boston Bruins
Luc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings LW Kevin Stevens, Pittsburgh Penguins

Player statistics edit

Scoring leaders edit

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes, PPG = Powerplay goals, SHG = Shorthanded goals, GWG = Game winning goals

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Wayne Gretzky Los Angeles Kings 78 41 122 163 16 +30 8 0 5
Brett Hull St. Louis Blues 78 86 45 131 22 +23 29 0 11
Adam Oates St. Louis Blues 61 25 90 115 29 +15 3 1 3
Mark Recchi Pittsburgh Penguins 78 40 73 113 48 0 12 0 9
John Cullen Pittsburgh Penguins/ Hartford Whalers 78 39 71 110 101 -6 14 0 3
Joe Sakic Quebec Nordiques 80 48 61 109 24 -26 12 3 7
Steve Yzerman Detroit Red Wings 80 51 57 108 34 -2 12 6 4
Theoren Fleury Calgary Flames 79 51 53 104 136 +48 9 7 9
Al MacInnis Calgary Flames 78 28 75 103 90 +42 17 0 1
Steve Larmer Chicago Blackhawks 80 44 57 101 79 +37 17 2 9

[2]

Leading goaltenders edit

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average = SV% = Save percentage

Player Team GP Min W L T SO GAA SV%
Ed Belfour Chicago Blackhawks 74 4127 43 19 7 4 2.47 .910
Tim Cheveldae Detroit Red Wings 65 3615 30 26 5 2 3.55 .875
Bill Ranford Edmonton Oilers 60 3415 27 27 3 0 3.2 .893
Ron Tugnutt Quebec Nordiques 56 3144 12 29 10 0 4.05 .886
Peter Ing Toronto Maple Leafs 56 3126 16 29 8 1 3.84 .883
Jon Casey Minnesota North Stars 55 3185 21 20 11 3 2.98 .891
Bob Essensa Winnipeg Jets 55 2916 19 24 6 4 3.15 .889
Mike Vernon Calgary Flames 54 3121 31 19 3 1 3.31 .878
Glenn Healy New York Islanders 53 2999 18 24 9 0 3.32 .893
Chris Terreri New Jersey Devils 53 2970 24 21 7 1 2.91 .893

Coaches edit

Patrick Division edit

Adams Division edit

Norris Division edit

Smythe Division edit

Milestones edit

Debuts edit

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1990–91 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games edit

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1990–91 (listed with their last team):

Broadcasting edit

This was the third season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals with TSN and Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. Saturday night regular season games continued to air on CBC, while TSN televised selected weeknight games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series.

This was the third and final season of the league's original U.S. national broadcast rights deal SportsChannel America, with up to three regular season games a week and coverage of the playoffs. SportsChannel America then signed a one-year extension for the 1991–92 season.[3] Meanwhile, NBC televised the All-Star Game for the second consecutive season.

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ NBC only televised the All-Star Game.

References edit

  • 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. ^ Stein, Gil (1997). Power Play: An Inside Look at the Big Business of the National Hockey League. Birch Lane Press.
  2. ^ a b c d e Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
  3. ^ LaPointe, Joe (October 4, 1991). "HOCKEY; N.H.L. Again Signs Contract With SportsChannel America". New York Times.

External links edit