Post by Toronto Maple Leafs on Aug 20, 2020 9:46:28 GMT -5
I forgot to do this the last few seasons so here is a wrap up of all 4 years.
1993-94
The 1993–94 NHL season was the 77th regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL). The season lasted from October 5, 1993 to June 14, 1994.
The New York Rangers were the Stanley Cup champions. It was the Rangers' fourth championship overall, and their first in 54 seasons, since 1939–40.
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.
Goaltenders combined for 99 shutouts during the regular season, a mark that broke the all-time regular-season record of 85 set in 1974-75.
LEAGUE BUSINESS
For this season, the names of the conferences were changed from Campbell and Wales to Slim and Gaston respectively, and the divisions' names were changed from Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe to Gogan, Esme, McCarthy, and Tin Man respectively.
Each division had changes.
The Gogan Division would welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins, previously from the Patrick Division.
The Esme Division would welcome the newcomer Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, previously from the Norris Division.
The McCarthy Division would welcome the Winnipeg Jets, previously from the Smythe Division. The Tin Man Division would welcome the newcomer Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
New league commissioner Gary Bettman, who had previously worked in the 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 slightly altered to resemble that of the NBA.
Whereas the playoffs had previously been bracketed and seeded by division, they were now broken down only by conference: 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.
However, unlike the NBA, the NHL matches 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 McCarthy Division team played a Tin Man Division team in the playoffs, the format was 2–3–2 rather than the traditional 2–2–1–1–1, a format which lasted only for the 1993–94 season.
FRANCHISE CHANGES
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Florida Panthers started play this season.
The Minnesota North Stars relocated to Dallas, Texas to become the Dallas Stars. It was the first franchise relocation for the NHL since the Colorado Rockies became the New Jersey Devils in the 1982-83 NHL season.
This was the first season that the San Jose Sharks actually played in San Jose, California, moving into the new HP Pavilion at San Jose after spending their first two years at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California.
It was the final season that the St. Louis Blues played at the St. Louis Arena.
STANDINGS CHANGE
The division first-place finishers qualify for the playoffs as 1-2 seeding.
The next six per conference are the teams with the six best records of the non-division winners.
The Conferences were named Slim and Gaston.
PLAYOFFS
For the first time, all four former WHA teams (Edmonton, Hartford, Quebec, and Winnipeg) failed to make the playoffs in the same year.
The Final pitted the New York Rangers, seeking to win their first Cup since 1940, versus the Vancouver Canucks, looking for their first-ever Cup win. The series was hard-fought and went the full seven games.
The Rangers took a 3–1 series lead, but the Canucks won the next two to force a game seven in New York. The Rangers won the game 3–2 to win their fourth Stanley Cup.
AWARDS
1993–94 NHL Awards
Presidents' Trophy: New York Rangers
Gaston Trophy: New York Rangers
Slim Bowl: Vancouver Canucks
Art Ross Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Cam Neely, Boston Bruins
Calder Memorial Trophy: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Conn Smythe Trophy: Brian Leetch, New York Rangers
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
Hart Memorial Trophy: Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
Jack Adams Award: Jacques Lemaire, New Jersey Devils
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Adam Graves, New York Rangers
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
Lester B. Pearson Award: Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
NHL Plus/Minus Award: Scott Stevens, New Jersey Devils
Vezina Trophy: Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
William M. Jennings Trophy: Dominik Hasek and Grant Fuhr, Buffalo Sabres
Lester Patrick Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
DEBUTS
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):
Mariusz Czerkawski, Boston Bruins
Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings
Darren McCarty, Detroit Red Wings
Greg Johnson, Detroit Red Wings
Jason Arnott, Edmonton Oilers
Kirk Maltby, Edmonton Oilers
Rob Niedermayer, Florida Panthers
Chris Pronger, Hartford Whalers
Donald Brashear, Montreal Canadiens
Jason Smith, New Jersey Devils
Zigmund Palffy, New York Islanders
Mattias Norstrom, New York Rangers
Todd Marchant, New York Rangers
Alexandre Daigle, Ottawa Senators
Alexei Yashin, Ottawa Senators
Pavol Demitra, Ottawa Senators
Mikael Renberg, Philadelphia Flyers
Markus Naslund, Pittsburgh Penguins
Jocelyn Thibault, Quebec Nordiques
Ian Laperriere, St. Louis Blues
Chris Gratton, Tampa Bay Lightning
Yanic Perreault, Toronto Maple Leafs
Mike Peca, Vancouver Canucks
Jason Allison, Washington Capitals
RETIREMENTS
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1993–94 (listed with their last team):
Gordie Roberts, Boston Bruins
Dave Christian, Chicago Blackhawks
Michel Goulet, Chicago Blackhawks
Mike Foligno, Florida Panthers
Brian Propp, Hartford Whalers
Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings
Mark Hardy, Los Angeles Kings
Keith Acton, New York Islanders
Rob Ramage, Philadelphia Flyers
Bryan Trottier, Pittsburgh Penguins
NEUTRAL SITE GAMES
There were a series of neutral-site games in this season which created a few interesting scenarios:
The Stars played a neutral-site game in their previous hometown of 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 continued. However, the North Stars having moved to Dallas, organizers had to attempt to emulate it by scheduling the Flyers and Bruins. Also, the game was played at the Target Center in Minneapolis rather than the Met Center in Bloomington.
The Lightning vs. Red Wings contest at Minneapolis was scheduled for Martin Luther King Day, a Monday, necessitating an afternoon face-off at 2:05 PM. Due to an error on the NHL's part, however, 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 just 18 hours later in Minneapolis.
The Devils and Rangers, whose arenas were located twelve miles apart, played over 1,000 miles away and in a different country (at Halifax, Nova Scotia).
Similarly, the Canadiens and Nordiques, both hailing from the province of Quebec, played each other 2,500 miles from home (in Phoenix, AZ), travelling not only to another country but also from a French- to an English-speaking city.
The Panthers, in the midst of a playoff race, played a March "home" game against the Maple Leafs 30 miles from Toronto, at Hamilton.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
1993-09-18 LA Mighty Ducks play their 1st NHL pre-season game against Penguins
1993-10-13 Mighty Ducks win their 1st NHL game
1993-11-03 Defenseman Ken Daneyko sets New Jersey Devils 'Ironman' record by playing 322nd consecutive NHL game in 2-3 loss at LA Kings
1993-12-01 St Louis Blues' Bob Berry coaches his 800th career NHL game, a 4-2 loss to the Maple Leafs in Toronto; also coached LA Kings, Montreal Canadiens & Pittsburgh Penguins
1994-02-15 Tom Barrasso becomes winningest US born goalie in NHL history, as the Pittsburgh Penguins win, 5-3 over visiting Winnipeg; passes record of 252 career wins set by Frank Brimsek
1994-03-21 Wayne Gretzky ties Gordie Howe's NHL record of 801 goals
1994-03-23 Wayne Gretzky sets NHL record with 802 goals scored
1994-04-24 NY Rangers sweep NY Islanders in NHL playoffs
1994-04-27 7th longest NHL game at 125 min 43 sec: Buffalo Sabres beat New Jersey Devils 1-0 on a goal by Dave Hannan
1994-06-28 NHL Draft: Windsor Spitfires (OHL) defenceman Ed Jovanovski first pick by Florida Panthers
1993-94
The 1993–94 NHL season was the 77th regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL). The season lasted from October 5, 1993 to June 14, 1994.
The New York Rangers were the Stanley Cup champions. It was the Rangers' fourth championship overall, and their first in 54 seasons, since 1939–40.
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.
Goaltenders combined for 99 shutouts during the regular season, a mark that broke the all-time regular-season record of 85 set in 1974-75.
LEAGUE BUSINESS
For this season, the names of the conferences were changed from Campbell and Wales to Slim and Gaston respectively, and the divisions' names were changed from Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe to Gogan, Esme, McCarthy, and Tin Man respectively.
Each division had changes.
The Gogan Division would welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins, previously from the Patrick Division.
The Esme Division would welcome the newcomer Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, previously from the Norris Division.
The McCarthy Division would welcome the Winnipeg Jets, previously from the Smythe Division. The Tin Man Division would welcome the newcomer Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
New league commissioner Gary Bettman, who had previously worked in the 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 slightly altered to resemble that of the NBA.
Whereas the playoffs had previously been bracketed and seeded by division, they were now broken down only by conference: 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.
However, unlike the NBA, the NHL matches 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 McCarthy Division team played a Tin Man Division team in the playoffs, the format was 2–3–2 rather than the traditional 2–2–1–1–1, a format which lasted only for the 1993–94 season.
FRANCHISE CHANGES
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Florida Panthers started play this season.
The Minnesota North Stars relocated to Dallas, Texas to become the Dallas Stars. It was the first franchise relocation for the NHL since the Colorado Rockies became the New Jersey Devils in the 1982-83 NHL season.
This was the first season that the San Jose Sharks actually played in San Jose, California, moving into the new HP Pavilion at San Jose after spending their first two years at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California.
It was the final season that the St. Louis Blues played at the St. Louis Arena.
STANDINGS CHANGE
The division first-place finishers qualify for the playoffs as 1-2 seeding.
The next six per conference are the teams with the six best records of the non-division winners.
The Conferences were named Slim and Gaston.
PLAYOFFS
For the first time, all four former WHA teams (Edmonton, Hartford, Quebec, and Winnipeg) failed to make the playoffs in the same year.
The Final pitted the New York Rangers, seeking to win their first Cup since 1940, versus the Vancouver Canucks, looking for their first-ever Cup win. The series was hard-fought and went the full seven games.
The Rangers took a 3–1 series lead, but the Canucks won the next two to force a game seven in New York. The Rangers won the game 3–2 to win their fourth Stanley Cup.
AWARDS
1993–94 NHL Awards
Presidents' Trophy: New York Rangers
Gaston Trophy: New York Rangers
Slim Bowl: Vancouver Canucks
Art Ross Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Cam Neely, Boston Bruins
Calder Memorial Trophy: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Conn Smythe Trophy: Brian Leetch, New York Rangers
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
Hart Memorial Trophy: Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
Jack Adams Award: Jacques Lemaire, New Jersey Devils
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Adam Graves, New York Rangers
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
Lester B. Pearson Award: Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
NHL Plus/Minus Award: Scott Stevens, New Jersey Devils
Vezina Trophy: Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
William M. Jennings Trophy: Dominik Hasek and Grant Fuhr, Buffalo Sabres
Lester Patrick Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
DEBUTS
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):
Mariusz Czerkawski, Boston Bruins
Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings
Darren McCarty, Detroit Red Wings
Greg Johnson, Detroit Red Wings
Jason Arnott, Edmonton Oilers
Kirk Maltby, Edmonton Oilers
Rob Niedermayer, Florida Panthers
Chris Pronger, Hartford Whalers
Donald Brashear, Montreal Canadiens
Jason Smith, New Jersey Devils
Zigmund Palffy, New York Islanders
Mattias Norstrom, New York Rangers
Todd Marchant, New York Rangers
Alexandre Daigle, Ottawa Senators
Alexei Yashin, Ottawa Senators
Pavol Demitra, Ottawa Senators
Mikael Renberg, Philadelphia Flyers
Markus Naslund, Pittsburgh Penguins
Jocelyn Thibault, Quebec Nordiques
Ian Laperriere, St. Louis Blues
Chris Gratton, Tampa Bay Lightning
Yanic Perreault, Toronto Maple Leafs
Mike Peca, Vancouver Canucks
Jason Allison, Washington Capitals
RETIREMENTS
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1993–94 (listed with their last team):
Gordie Roberts, Boston Bruins
Dave Christian, Chicago Blackhawks
Michel Goulet, Chicago Blackhawks
Mike Foligno, Florida Panthers
Brian Propp, Hartford Whalers
Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings
Mark Hardy, Los Angeles Kings
Keith Acton, New York Islanders
Rob Ramage, Philadelphia Flyers
Bryan Trottier, Pittsburgh Penguins
NEUTRAL SITE GAMES
There were a series of neutral-site games in this season which created a few interesting scenarios:
The Stars played a neutral-site game in their previous hometown of 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 continued. However, the North Stars having moved to Dallas, organizers had to attempt to emulate it by scheduling the Flyers and Bruins. Also, the game was played at the Target Center in Minneapolis rather than the Met Center in Bloomington.
The Lightning vs. Red Wings contest at Minneapolis was scheduled for Martin Luther King Day, a Monday, necessitating an afternoon face-off at 2:05 PM. Due to an error on the NHL's part, however, 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 just 18 hours later in Minneapolis.
The Devils and Rangers, whose arenas were located twelve miles apart, played over 1,000 miles away and in a different country (at Halifax, Nova Scotia).
Similarly, the Canadiens and Nordiques, both hailing from the province of Quebec, played each other 2,500 miles from home (in Phoenix, AZ), travelling not only to another country but also from a French- to an English-speaking city.
The Panthers, in the midst of a playoff race, played a March "home" game against the Maple Leafs 30 miles from Toronto, at Hamilton.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
1993-09-18 LA Mighty Ducks play their 1st NHL pre-season game against Penguins
1993-10-13 Mighty Ducks win their 1st NHL game
1993-11-03 Defenseman Ken Daneyko sets New Jersey Devils 'Ironman' record by playing 322nd consecutive NHL game in 2-3 loss at LA Kings
1993-12-01 St Louis Blues' Bob Berry coaches his 800th career NHL game, a 4-2 loss to the Maple Leafs in Toronto; also coached LA Kings, Montreal Canadiens & Pittsburgh Penguins
1994-02-15 Tom Barrasso becomes winningest US born goalie in NHL history, as the Pittsburgh Penguins win, 5-3 over visiting Winnipeg; passes record of 252 career wins set by Frank Brimsek
1994-03-21 Wayne Gretzky ties Gordie Howe's NHL record of 801 goals
1994-03-23 Wayne Gretzky sets NHL record with 802 goals scored
1994-04-24 NY Rangers sweep NY Islanders in NHL playoffs
1994-04-27 7th longest NHL game at 125 min 43 sec: Buffalo Sabres beat New Jersey Devils 1-0 on a goal by Dave Hannan
1994-06-28 NHL Draft: Windsor Spitfires (OHL) defenceman Ed Jovanovski first pick by Florida Panthers
