1998–99 NHL season

The 1998–99 NHL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-seven teams played 82 games each. The Dallas Stars finished first in regular season play, and won the Stanley Cup Championship over the Buffalo Sabres in a controversial fashion on a disputed overtime goal by Brett Hull. Goaltenders continued to dominate the league, as only two teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils, averaged more than three goals scored per game. In addition, no player reached the 50-goal plateau. A total of 160 shutouts were recorded for the second-straight regular season.

League business

With the addition of the expansion Nashville Predators, the NHL realigned this year to a strictly geographic six-division structure (three per conference), erasing the last vestiges of the traditional four-division structure (Adams/Patrick/Norris/Smythe) abandoned in 1993–94. Other than the necessary reassignment of Colorado to the Western Conference in 1995 due to its two-thousand mile (over 3,200 km) move west from Quebec, the divisions' membership had remained static for six years despite the renaming and relocation of several franchises. As part of this realignment, the Toronto Maple Leafs moved from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference.

The 1998–99 season marked the retirement of Wayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer, who played his final three NHL seasons with the New York Rangers. The Rangers had been battling for a playoff spot up until the end of the regular season when they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who were able to clinch the postseason berth when Jaromir Jagr scored the winning goal. The game was also symbolic because it appeared as though Gretzky was passing the torch to Jagr, signalling a changing of the guard of the NHL's greatest superstar.

This was the final season that FOX televised NHL games in the United States. It was also the final season for the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens, before moving to the Air Canada Centre in February. Toronto also made its first post-season appearance since 1995-96 this season. 1998-99 was also the final year that the Carolina Hurricanes played at Greensboro Coliseum; they moved to the brand-new Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena (now the RBC Center) in Raleigh for the next season.

The Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy for the most goals by a player in a season made its debut this year. The first winner was Teemu Selanne of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Regular season

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

coring leaders

"Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points"
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Western Conference Quarterfinals

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Eastern Conference Semifinals

Western Conference Semifinals

Eastern Conference Final

Western Conference Final

Finals

NHL awards

All-Star teams

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1998–99 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
*Martin St. Louis, Calgary Flames
*Jean-Pierre Dumont, Chicago Blackhawks
*Chris Drury, Colorado Avalanche
*Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche
*Tom Poti, Edmonton Oilers
*Dan Boyle, Florida Panthers
*Jason Blake, Los Angeles Kings
*David Legwand, Nashville Predators
*Karlis Skrastins, Nashville Predators
*Kimmo Timonen, Nashville Predators
*John Madden, New Jersey Devils
*Eric Brewer, New York Islanders
*Sami Salo, Ottawa Senators
*Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning
*Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1998–99 (listed with their last team):
*Tomas Sandstrom, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
*Randy Cunneyworth, Buffalo Sabres
*Steve Chiasson, Carolina Hurricanes
*Dale Hunter, Colorado Avalanche
*Craig Ludwig, Dallas Stars
*Jamie Macoun, Detroit Red Wings
*Petr Klima, Detroit Red Wings
*Dino Ciccarelli, Florida Panthers
*Russ Courtnall, Los Angeles Kings
*Dave Babych, Los Angeles Kings
*Bob Carpenter, New Jersey Devils
*Craig Janney, New York Islanders
*Esa Tikkanen, New York Rangers
*Wayne Gretzky, New York Rangers
*Ron Hextall, Philadelphia Flyers
*Bernie Nicholls, San Jose Sharks
*Jim Carey, St. Louis Blues
*Peter Zezel, Vancouver Canucks
*Dave Gagner, Vancouver Canucks
*Brian Bellows, Washington Capitals
*Kelly Miller, Washington Capitals
*Michal Pivonka, Washington Capitals

1998–99 Trading Deadline

* Trading Deadline: MARCH 23, 1999 [ [http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/3969 NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out ] ]
*March 23, 1999: Nashville traded RW Blair Atcheynum to St. Louis for a 6th-round pick in the 2000 Entry Draft.
*March 23, 1999: Calgary traded D Chris O’Sullivan to NY Rangers for D Lee Sorochan.
*March 23, 1999: Detroit traded G Kevin Hodson and San Jose’s 2nd-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft (previously acquired) to Tampa Bay for LW Wendel Clark and Detroit’s 6th-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft (previously acquired).
*March 23, 1999: Washington traded C Dale Hunter and a 3rd-round pick in the 2000 Entry Draft to Colorado for a 2nd-round pick in the 1999 or 2000 Entry Draft.
*March 23, 1999: Florida traded D Rhett Warrener and a 5th-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft to Buffalo for D Mike Wilson.
*March 23, 1999: Calgary traded RW Greg Pankewicz to San Jose for future considerations.
*March 23, 1999: Los Angeles traded C Yanic Perreault to Toronto for C Jason Podollan and a 3rd-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft.
*March 23, 1999: Edmonton traded RW Kevin Brown to NY Rangers for LW Vladimir Vorobiev.
*March 23, 1999: Tampa Bay traded G Bill Ranford to Detroit for a conditional draft pick.
*March 23, 1999 - Detroit Red Wings obtain Chris Chelios from the Chicago Blackhawks for 1999 and 2001 1st round draft picks (Steve McCarthy and Adam Munro)
*March 23, 1999 - Buffalo Sabres obtained a fifth-round pick G Ryan Miller and D Rhett Warrener from Florida Panthers for D Mike Wilson
*March 23, 1999: Montreal traded C Vincent Damphousse to San Jose for a 5th-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft and a conditional draft pick or picks in the 2000 Entry Draft.
*March 23, 1999: Vancouver traded C Peter Zezel to Anaheim for future considerations.
*March 23, 1999: Los Angeles traded D Steve Duchesne to Philadelphia for D David Babych and a 5th-round pick in the 2000 Entry Draft.
*March 23, 1999: NY Rangers trade D Stan Neckar to Phoenix for D Jason Doig and a 6th-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft.
*March 23, 1999: NY Rangers trade D Ulf Samuelsson to Detroit for a 2nd-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft and a 3rd-round pick in the 2000 Entry Draft.
*March 23, 1999: Toronto traded D Jason Smith to Edmonton for a 4th-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft and a 2nd-round pick in the 2000 Entry Draft.
*March 23, 1999: Buffalo traded C Derek Plante to Dallas for a 2nd-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft.
*March 23, 1999: Washington traded LW Craig Berube to Philadelphia for future considerations.
*March 23, 1999: Tampa Bay traded D Sami Helenius to Colorado for a conditional draft pick.
*March 23, 1999: Phoenix traded C J.F. Jomphe to Montreal for future considerations.
*March 23, 1999: Chicago traded RW Nelson Emerson to Ottawa for RW Chris Murray.

ee also

* List of Stanley Cup champions
* 1998 NHL Entry Draft
* 1998 NHL Expansion Draft
* 49th National Hockey League All-Star Game
* National Hockey League All-Star Game
* 1998 in sports
* 1999 in sports

References

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