1993–94 NHL season

(Redirected from 1993-94 NHL season)

The 1993–94 NHL season was the 77th regular season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 26 teams with the addition of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Florida Panthers. The New York Rangers defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games to become the Stanley Cup champions. It was the Rangers' fourth championship overall, and their first in 54 seasons, since 1939–40.

1993–94 NHL season
LeagueNational Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationOctober 5, 1993 – June 14, 1994
Number of games84
Number of teams26
TV partner(s)CBC, TSN, SRC (Canada)
ESPN, ABC, NBC[a] (United States)
Draft
Top draft pickAlexandre Daigle
Picked byOttawa Senators
Regular season
Presidents' TrophyNew York Rangers
Season MVPSergei Fedorov (Red Wings)
Top scorerWayne Gretzky (Kings)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVPBrian Leetch (Rangers)
Stanley Cup
ChampionsNew York Rangers
  Runners-upVancouver Canucks
NHL seasons

The spectacular play of 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.[1] Goaltenders combined for 99 shutouts during the regular season,[2] a mark that broke the all-time regular-season record of 85 set in 1974–75.[3]

League business edit

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.[4] Each division had changes. The Northeast Division would welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins, previously from the Patrick Division. The Atlantic Division would welcome the newcomer Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, previously from the Norris Division. The Central Division would welcome the Winnipeg Jets, previously from the Smythe Division. The Pacific Division would welcome the newcomer Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. 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 changed to a conference based seeding over division specific brackets: 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.[4][5] However, unlike the NBA, the NHL matched 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 that was only used for the 1993–94 season.

Franchise changes edit

Regular season edit

The Panthers and Mighty Ducks set new records for first-year expansion teams. Both teams finished with 33 wins, surpassing the 31 wins of the Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings in 1967–68. That mark would not be topped by another expansion team until the Vegas Golden Knights notched their 34th win in their inaugural season on February 1, 2018, finishing with 43.[6] The Panthers also set a high-water mark in points, with 83 points, surpassing the previous record set by the Flyers' 73 points in 1967–68. The Golden Knights would eventually shatter this inaugural expansion team record by 26 points notching a total of 109 points in 2017–18.

Final standings edit

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

bold – Qualified for playoffs; x – Won division; p – Won Presidents' Trophy (and division); * – Division leader

Atlantic Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 1 New York Rangers 84 52 24 8 299 231 112
2 3 New Jersey Devils 84 47 25 12 306 220 106
3 7 Washington Capitals 84 39 35 10 277 263 88
4 8 New York Islanders 84 36 36 12 282 264 84
5 9 Florida Panthers 84 33 34 17 233 233 83
6 10 Philadelphia Flyers 84 35 39 10 294 314 80
7 12 Tampa Bay Lightning 84 30 43 11 224 251 71

[7]

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
[7]
Western Conference[8]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 y- Detroit Red Wings * CEN 84 46 30 8 356 275 100
2 x- Calgary Flames * PAC 84 42 29 13 302 256 97
3 Toronto Maple Leafs CEN 84 43 29 12 280 243 98
4 Dallas Stars CEN 84 42 29 13 286 265 97
5 St. Louis Blues CEN 84 40 33 11 270 283 91
6 Chicago Blackhawks CEN 84 39 36 9 254 240 87
7 Vancouver Canucks PAC 84 41 40 3 279 276 85
8 San Jose Sharks PAC 84 33 35 16 252 265 82
9 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim PAC 84 33 46 5 229 251 71
10 Los Angeles Kings PAC 84 27 45 12 294 322 66
11 Edmonton Oilers PAC 84 25 45 14 261 305 64
12 Winnipeg Jets CEN 84 24 51 9 245 344 57

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

bold – Qualified for playoffs; x – Won division; y – Won Conference (and division); * – Division leader

Central Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 1 Detroit Red Wings 84 46 30 8 356 275 100
2 2 Toronto Maple Leafs 84 43 29 12 280 243 98
3 4 Dallas Stars 84 42 29 13 286 265 97
4 5 St. Louis Blues 84 40 33 11 270 283 91
5 6 Chicago Blackhawks 84 39 36 9 254 240 87
6 12 Winnipeg Jets 84 24 51 9 245 344 57

[7]

Pacific Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 3 Calgary Flames 84 42 29 13 302 256 97
2 7 Vancouver Canucks 84 41 40 3 279 276 85
3 8 San Jose Sharks 84 33 35 16 252 265 82
4 9 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 84 33 46 5 229 251 71
5 10 Los Angeles Kings 84 27 45 12 294 322 66
6 11 Edmonton Oilers 84 25 45 14 261 305 64

[7]

       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 edit

Bracket edit

Conference quarterfinals Conference semifinals Conference finals Stanley Cup Finals
            
1 NY Rangers 4
8 NY Islanders 0
1 NY Rangers 4
7 Washington 1
2 Pittsburgh 2
7 Washington 4
1 NY Rangers 4
Eastern Conference
3 New Jersey 3
3 New Jersey 4
6 Buffalo 3
3 New Jersey 4
4 Boston 2
4 Boston 4
5 Montreal 3
E1 NY Rangers 4
W7 Vancouver 3
1 Detroit 3
8 San Jose 4
3 Toronto 4
8 San Jose 3
2 Calgary 3
7 Vancouver 4
3 Toronto 1
Western Conference
7 Vancouver 4
3 Toronto 4
6 Chicago 2
4 Dallas 1
7 Vancouver 4
4 Dallas 4
5 St. Louis 0

Awards edit

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

1993–94 NHL awards
Award Recipient(s) Runner(s)-up/Finalists
Stanley Cup New York Rangers Vancouver Canucks
Presidents' Trophy
(Best regular-season record)
New York Rangers New Jersey Devils
Prince of Wales Trophy
(Eastern Conference playoff champion)
New York Rangers New Jersey Devils
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl
(Western Conference playoff champion)
Vancouver Canucks Toronto Maple Leafs
Alka-Seltzer Plus-Minus Award
(Best plus-minus statistic)
Scott Stevens (New Jersey Devils) Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings)
Art Ross Trophy
(Player with most points)
Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings)
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
(Perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication)
Cam Neely (Boston Bruins) N/A
Calder Memorial Trophy
(Best first-year player)
Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils) Jason Arnott (Edmonton Oilers)
Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils)
Mikael Renberg (Philadelphia Flyers)
Conn Smythe Trophy
(Most valuable player, playoffs)
Brian Leetch (New York Rangers) N/A
Frank J. Selke Trophy
(Best defensive forward)
Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings) Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings)
Doug Gilmour (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Brian Skrudland (Florida Panthers)
Hart Memorial Trophy
(Most valuable player, regular season)
Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings) Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings)
Dominik Hasek (Buffalo Sabres)
John Vanbiesbrouck (Florida Panthers)
Jack Adams Award
(Best coach)
Jacques Lemaire (New Jersey Devils) Kevin Constantine (San Jose Sharks)
Jacques Lemaire (New Jersey Devils)
John Muckler (Buffalo Sabres)
James Norris Memorial Trophy
(Best defenceman)
Ray Bourque (Boston Bruins) Ray Bourque (Boston Bruins)
Al MacInnis (Calgary Flames)
Scott Stevens (New Jersey Devils)
King Clancy Memorial Trophy
(Leadership and humanitarian contribution)
Adam Graves (New York Rangers) N/A
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
(Sportsmanship and excellence)
Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings)
Adam Oates (Boston Bruins)
Pierre Turgeon (New York Islanders)
Lester B. Pearson Award
(Outstanding player)
Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings) N/A
Vezina Trophy
(Best goaltender)
Dominik Hasek (Buffalo Sabres) Dominik Hasek (Buffalo Sabres)
Patrick Roy (Montreal Canadiens)
John Vanbiesbrouck (Florida Panthers)
William M. Jennings Trophy
(Goaltender(s) of team with fewest goals against)
Dominik Hasek and Grant Fuhr (Buffalo Sabres) N/A
Lester Patrick Trophy
(Service to ice hockey in U.S.)
Wayne Gretzky and Robert Ridder N/A

All-Star teams edit

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 Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
Pavel Bure, Vancouver Canucks RW Cam Neely, Boston Bruins
Brendan Shanahan, St. Louis Blues LW Adam Graves, New York Rangers

Player statistics edit

Scoring leaders edit

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
Pavel Bure Vancouver 76 60 47 107
Jeremy Roenick Chicago 84 46 61 107
Mark Recchi Philadelphia 84 40 67 107
Brendan Shanahan St. Louis 81 52 50 102
Dave Andreychuk Toronto 83 53 46 99
Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh 80 32 67 99

[7]

Leading goaltenders edit

Player Team GP MIN GA SO GAA SV%
Dominik Hasek Buffalo 58 3358 109 7 1.95 .930
Martin Brodeur New Jersey 47 2625 105 3 2.40 .915
Patrick Roy Montreal 68 3867 161 7 2.50 .918
John Vanbiesbrouck Florida 57 3440 145 1 2.53 .924
Mike Richter New York Rangers 68 3710 159 5 2.57 .910
Darcy Wakaluk Dallas 36 2000 88 3 2.64 .910
Ed Belfour Chicago 70 3998 178 7 2.67 .906
Daren Puppa Tampa Bay 63 3653 165 4 2.71 .899
Chris Terreri New Jersey 44 2340 106 2 2.72 .907
Mark Fitzpatrick Florida 15 819 36 2 2.73 .914

[9]

Milestones edit

Debuts edit

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):

Last games edit

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

Neutral site games edit

As a part of the 1992 strike settlement, the NHL and Bruce McNall's Multivision Marketing and Public Relations Co. organized 26 regular season games in cities without a franchise as a litmus test for future expansion.

The Stars played a neutral-site game in their previous market of Minnesota at the Target Center in Minneapolis, where they were greeted enthusiastically. The Minnesota North Stars' tradition of playing on New Year's Eve and holding a post-game skate on the ice was also continued with a game between the Flyers and Bruins.

The Lightning vs. Red Wings contest in Minneapolis was scheduled for Martin Luther King Day, a Monday, with an afternoon face-off at 2:05 PM. However, due to an error on the NHL's part, 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 18 hours later in Minneapolis.

The Panthers, in the midst of a playoff race, played a March "home" game against the Maple Leafs 30 miles from Toronto, at Hamilton.

Complete list of neutral-site games edit

Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Score OT City State/Province Arena Attendance
October 21, 1993 St. Louis 5 San Jose 2 Sacramento CA ARCO Arena 7,144
October 31, 1993 NY Rangers 4 New Jersey 1 Halifax NS Halifax Metro Centre 8,200
November 3, 1993 Pittsburgh 6 Buffalo 2 Sacramento CA ARCO Arena 10,117
November 9, 1993 Anaheim 4 Dallas 2 Phoenix AZ America West Arena 8,143
November 18, 1993 NY Islanders 5 Montréal 1 Hamilton ON Copps Coliseum 17,008
December 9, 1993 Dallas 6 Ottawa 1 Minneapolis MN Target Center 14,058
December 23, 1993 Vancouver 4 Calgary 3 Saskatoon SK Saskatchewan Place 11,429*
December 31, 1993 Philadelphia 4 Boston 3 Minneapolis MN Target Center 10,855
January 4, 1994 Tampa Bay 1 Toronto 0 Hamilton ON Copps Coliseum 17,526*
January 5, 1994 Montréal 2 Québec 0 Phoenix AZ America West Arena 11,393
January 6, 1994 St. Louis 2 Hartford 1 Cleveland OH Richfield Coliseum 6,956
January 17, 1994 Detroit 6 Tampa Bay 3 Minneapolis MN Target Center 8,764
January 23, 1994 Vancouver 5 Edmonton 4 (OT) Saskatoon SK Saskatchewan Place N/A
January 24, 1994 Calgary 3 Los Angeles 3 (OT) Phoenix AZ America West Arena 14,864
February 2, 1994 Washington 5 Philadelphia 2 Cleveland OH Richfield Coliseum 8,312
February 8, 1994 San Jose 4 Chicago 3 Sacramento CA ARCO Arena 14,182*
February 22, 1994 Florida 3 Winnipeg 2 Hamilton ON Copps Coliseum 6,291
February 24, 1994 Detroit 3 Hartford 0 Cleveland OH Richfield Coliseum 11,621
March 4, 1994 Winnipeg 6 Ottawa 1 Minneapolis MN Target Center 6,388
March 8, 1994 Chicago 3 Anaheim 0 Phoenix AZ America West Arena 13,847
March 9, 1994 NY Rangers 7 Washington 5 Halifax NS Halifax Metro Centre 9,200*
March 18, 1994 Buffalo 2 NY Islanders 2 (OT) Minneapolis MN Target Center 8,016
March 23, 1994 Florida 1 Toronto 1 (OT) Hamilton ON Copps Coliseum 17,096*
March 27, 1994 New Jersey 5 Quebec 2 Minneapolis MN Target Center 6,222
April 3, 1994 Pittsburgh 6 Boston 2 Cleveland OH Richfield Coliseum 17,224
April 3, 1994 Los Angeles 6 Edmonton 1 Sacramento CA ARCO Arena 10,363

Coaches edit

Eastern Conference edit

Team Coach Comments
Boston Bruins Brian Sutter
Buffalo Sabres John Muckler
Florida Panthers Roger Neilson
Hartford Whalers Pierre McGuire Elevated to head coach midseason after Paul Holmgren stepped down.
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

Western Conference edit

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

Broadcasting edit

Canada edit

This was the sixth season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals with TSN and Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. This was the last regular season before Saturday night doubleheaders became permanent on HNIC on CBC. TSN televised selected regular season weeknight games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series.

United States edit

This was the second season of ESPN's deal for U.S. national broadcast rights,[10] while NBC televised the All-Star Game for the fifth and final consecutive season.

ESPN's weekly regular season games were generally broadcast on Wednesdays and Fridays. ESPN also had Sunday games between the NFL and baseball seasons.[11] ESPN2 also began showing up to five games per week, branded as NHL Fire on Ice.[12]

ESPN's brokered deal with sister broadcast network ABC expanded to include weekly regional telecasts on the last three Sunday afternoons of the regular season.[13][14] This marked the first time that regular season NHL games were broadcast on American network television since 1974–75.[15] ABC then televised playoff games on first three Sundays of the postseason.[16] ESPN and ESPN2 televised selected first and second-round games. ESPN then had the Conference finals and the Stanley Cup Finals.

After the season, the NHL reached a five-year deal with Fox, replacing ABC and NBC as the league's U.S. broadcast television partner.[17]

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. ^ "1993-94 NHL Season Summary | Hockey-Reference.com". Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  2. ^ "1993-94 NHL Goalie Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com.
  3. ^ "1974-75 NHL Goalie Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com.
  4. ^ a b Kerr, Grant (April 1, 1993). "NHL formally announces complete realignment package". The Globe and Mail. Canadian Press. p. C8.
  5. ^ Dillman, Lisa (April 1, 1993). "NHL Approves Realignment". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  6. ^ "Golden Knights vs. Jets - Game Recap - February 1, 2018". ESPN.
  7. ^ a b c d e Standings: 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.
  8. ^ "1993-1994 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  9. ^ "1993-94 NHL Leaders". Hockey-Reference.com.
  10. ^ Clark, Cammy (September 3, 1992). "NHL okays ESPN deal". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  11. ^ Sandomir, Richard (February 22, 2005). "Picture Is Fuzzy for N.H.L. on Networks". The New York Times.
  12. ^ Nidetz, Steve (October 1, 1993). "ESPN2 Takes Aim at Young, Restless". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  13. ^ Martzke, Rudy (February 5, 1993). "NHL's new boss ready to clear up confusion". USA Today. p. 3C.
  14. ^ Hiestand, Michael (April 28, 1993). "Camera could be newest Derby rider". USA Today. p. 3C.
  15. ^ Shea, Jim (May 7, 1993). "Select few watching NHL on ABC". Hartford Courant. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  16. ^ Kiley, Mike (January 21, 1994). "NHL Boss Finishes Eventful 1st Year – Bettman Focuses on CBS Deal". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  17. ^ "Fox, ESPN ink deals with NHL". UPI. September 13, 1994.

External links edit