1991–92 NHL season

The 1991–92 NHL season was the 75th regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-two teams each played 80 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the best of seven series 4–0 against the Chicago Blackhawks. The championship was the second in a row for the Penguins.

League business

As mentioned above, 1991-92 was the 75th anniversary season for the NHL. Accordingly, all players wore a patch on their uniforms depicting the NHL 75th anniversary logo (seen at above right) for this season.

This was the first season for the San Jose Sharks, the first expansion team in the NHL since 1979. The birth of the Sharks returned NHL hockey to the San Francisco Bay Area after the California Golden Seals had relocated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1976.

This was also the last season for John Ziegler as NHL President. He would be succeeded by Gil Stein, who held the position for one year before being replaced by Gary Bettman.

New York Rangers defenceman Brian Leetch became the fifth, and last as of 2008, defenceman to score 100 points in a season. He finished the season with 102 points and captured the Norris Trophy.

For the first time, the NHL finished play in the month of June.

Regular season

Final standings

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

Wales Conference

tanley Cup playoffs

"Note: All dates in 1992"

Playoff bracket

16TeamBracket | RD1=Division semifinals
RD2= Division finals
RD3= Conference finals
RD4= Stanley Cup finals
group1= Prince of Wales Conference
group2= Clarence Campbell Conference
RD1-seed01=1
RD1-team01=Montreal
RD1-score01=4
RD1-seed02=4
RD1-team02=Hartford
RD1-score02=3
RD1-seed03=2
RD1-team03=Boston
RD1-score03=4
RD1-seed04=3
RD1-team04=Buffalo
RD1-score04=3
RD1-seed05=1
RD1-team05=NY Rangers
RD1-score05=4
RD1-seed06=4
RD1-team06=New Jersey
RD1-score06=3
RD1-seed07=2
RD1-team07=Washington
RD1-score07=3
RD1-seed08=3
RD1-team08=Pittsburgh
RD1-score08=4
RD1-seed09=1
RD1-team09=Detroit
RD1-score09=4
RD1-seed10=4
RD1-team10=Minnesota
RD1-score10=3
RD1-seed11=2
RD1-team11=Chicago
RD1-score11=4
RD1-seed12=3
RD1-team12=St. Louis
RD1-score12=2
RD1-seed13=1
RD1-team13=Vancouver
RD1-score13=4
RD1-seed14=4
RD1-team14=Winnipeg
RD1-score14=3
RD1-seed15=2
RD1-team15=Los Angeles
RD1-score15=2
RD1-seed16=3
RD1-team16=Edmonton
RD1-score16=4
RD2-seed01=1
RD2-team01=Montreal
RD2-score01=0
RD2-seed02=2
RD2-team02=Boston
RD2-score02=4
RD2-seed03=1
RD2-team03=NY Rangers
RD2-score03=2
RD2-seed04=3
RD2-team04=Pittsburgh
RD2-score04=4
RD2-seed05=1
RD2-team05=Detroit
RD2-score05=0
RD2-seed06=2
RD2-team06=Chicago
RD2-score06=4
RD2-seed07=1
RD2-team07=Vancouver
RD2-score07=2
RD2-seed08=3
RD2-team08=Edmonton
RD2-score08=4
RD3-seed01=P3
RD3-team01=Pittsburgh
RD3-score01=4
RD3-seed02=A2
RD3-team02=Boston
RD3-score02=0
RD3-seed03=N2
RD3-team03=Chicago
RD3-score03=4
RD3-seed04=S3
RD3-team04=Edmonton
RD3-score04=0
RD4-seed01=P3
RD4-team01=Pittsburgh
RD4-score01=4
RD4-seed02=N2
RD4-team02=Chicago
RD4-score02=0

Division semi-finals

Wales Conference

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valign="top"

Campbell Conference

-
valign="top"

Division finals

Conference finals

Finals

Throwback uniforms

As part of the NHL's 75th anniversary celebration, and taking cues from Major League Baseball's "Turn Back The Clock" uniform program, throwback uniforms were worn by Original Six teams for select games, and throwbacks were also worn for the All-Star Game.

The uniform styles that were worn include:
* Boston Bruins - circa 1933
* Chicago Blackhawks - circa 1940
* Detroit Red Wings - circa 1928
* Montreal Canadiens - circa 1926
* New York Rangers - circa 1940
* Toronto Maple Leafs - circa 1940
* Wales All-Stars - white All-Star jersey circa 1952
* Campbell All-Stars - red All-Star jersey circa 1952

The throwback uniforms would have an impact on future seasons in the NHL, as several teams adopted throwbacks as alternate jerseys. The National Football League and National Basketball Association would follow the NHL's lead, with teams wearing throwbacks to celebrate their leagues' 75th and 50th anniversaries, respectively.

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1991–92 (listed with their first team):
*Stu Barnes, Winnipeg Jets
*Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
*Pavel Bure, Vancouver Canucks
*Keith Carney, Buffalo Sabres
*Adam Foote, Quebec Nordiques
*Bill Guerin, New Jersey Devils
*Derian Hatcher, Minnesota North Stars
*Bret Hedican, St. Louis Blues
*Arturs Irbe, San Jose Sharks
*Joe Juneau, Boston Bruins
*Vladimir Konstantinov, Detroit Red Wings
*Vyacheslav Kozlov, Detroit Red Wings
*Martin Lapointe, Detroit Red Wings
*Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
*Glen Murray, Boston Bruins
*Scott Niedermayer, New Jersey Devils
*Felix Potvin, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Darryl Sydor, Los Angeles Kings
*Keith Tkachuk, Winnipeg Jets

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1991–92 (listed with their last team):

*Barry Pederson, Boston Bruins
*Rick Vaive, Buffalo Sabres
*Tony Tanti, Buffalo Sabres
*Clint Malarchuk, Buffalo Sabres
*Greg Millen, Detroit Red Wings
*Ilkka Sinisalo, Los Angeles Kings
*Larry Robinson, Los Angeles Kings
*Chris Nilan, Montreal Canadiens
*Patrik Sundstrom, New Jersey Devils
*Rick Green, New York Islanders
*John Tonelli, Quebec Nordiques
*Mark Pavelich, San Jose Sharks
*Ken Linseman, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Mike Bullard, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Randy Gregg, Vancouver Canucks
*Mike Liut, Washington Capitals
*Mario Marois, Winnipeg Jets
*Lucien DeBlois, Winnipeg Jets
*Aaron Broten, Winnipeg Jets

ee also

*List of Stanley Cup champions
*1991 NHL Entry Draft
*1991 NHL Dispersal and Expansion Drafts
*43rd National Hockey League All-Star Game
*National Hockey League All-Star Game
*NHL All-Rookie Team
*Ice hockey at the 1992 Winter Olympics
*1991 Canada Cup
*1991 in sports
*1992 in sports

References

* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
* [http://nhl.com/ NHL.com]