1992–93 NHL season

The 1992–93 NHL season was the 76th regular season of the National Hockey League. Each player wore a patch on their jersey throughout the 1992–93 regular season and playoffs to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the Stanley Cup. Twenty-four teams played 84 games each. It proved, at the time, to be the highest-scoring regular season in NHL history, as a total of 7,311 goals were scored. Twenty of the twenty-four teams scored three goals or more per game, and only two teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Chicago Blackhawks, allowed fewer than three goals per game. Only 63 shutouts were recorded during the regular season. The Montreal Canadiens won their league-leading 24th Cup by defeating the Los Angeles Kings four games to one. As of the end of the 2007–08 season, this is the last time that a Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup.

League business

This was the final season that the league's two conferences were known as the Wales and Campbell Conferences, and that the four divisions bore the names Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe. Both the conferences and the divisions would be renamed to reflect geography rather than the league's history for the following season. This was also the last year in which the playoff structure bracketed and seeded teams by division; they would be bracketed and seeded by conference (as in the NBA) for 1993-94.

This season saw two new clubs join the league: the Ottawa Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Senators were a revival of a previous NHL team of the same name and brought professional hockey back to Canada's capital, while the Tampa Bay franchise (headed by Hockey Hall of Fame brothers Phil and Tony Esposito) strengthened the NHL's presence in the U.S. Sun Belt, which had first started with the birth of the Los Angeles Kings in 1967.

All teams wore a commemorative patch this year celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Stanley Cup.

On February 1, 1993, Gary Bettman became the first NHL Commissioner. Prior to this the title of the NHL's chief executive was "President."

Teemu Selanne of the Winnipeg Jets shattered the rookie scoring record by scoring 76 goals and 56 assists for 132 points this season. He was easily named the winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year, and his goals and points marks remain the NHL rookie records to this day.

Regular season

Final standings

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

Prince of Wales Conference

Clarence Campbell Conference

"Note: x = clinched playoff berth, z = won Presidents' Trophy"

Head coaches of the Prince of Wales Conference

Leading goaltenders

Records broken/equalled

Regular season

Team

*Most losses, one season: San Jose Sharks (71)
*Fewest ties, one season: San Jose Sharks (2)
*Most home losses, one season: San Jose Sharks (32)
*Most road losses, one season: Ottawa Senators (40)
*Fewest road wins, one season: Ottawa Senators (1)*
*Longest winning streak: Pittsburgh Penguins (17)
*Longest losing streak: San Jose Sharks (17)*
*Longest road losing streak: Ottawa Senators (38)
*Longest road winless streak: Ottawa Senators (38)
*Most 100-or-more point scorers, one season: Pittsburgh Penguins (4)
*Fastest three goals from the start of period, one team: Calgary Flames (0:53, February 10, 1993)

Individual

*Most goals, including playoffs: Wayne Gretzky (875)
*Most 30-goal seasons: Mike Gartner (14)*
*Most consecutive 30-goal seasons: Mike Gartner (14)
*Most goals, one season, by a left winger: Luc Robitaille (63)
*Most goals, one season, by a rookie: Teemu Selanne (76)
*Most assists, one season, by a left winger: Joe Juneau (70)
*Most assists, one season, by a rookie: Joe Juneau (70)* (Note: Wayne Gretzky scored 86 assists in his first year, but he was not considered a rookie)
*Most points, one season, by a left winger: Luc Robitaille (125)
*Most points, one season, by a rookie: Teemu Selanne (132) (Note: Wayne Gretzky scored 137 points in his first year, but he was not considered a rookie)
*Most assists, one game, by a goaltender: Jeff Reese (3, February 10, 1993)
*Most games missed while winning Art Ross Trophy: Mario Lemieux (24)

Playoffs

Team

*Most overtime games, one playoff year: 28
*Most overtime wins, one playoff year: Montreal Canadiens (10)
*Most consecutive overtime wins, one playoff year: Montreal Canadiens (10)
*Most consecutive wins, one playoff year: Montreal Canadiens (11)*

Individual

*Most consecutive wins, one playoff year: Patrick Roy (11)*
*Most goals by a defenceman, one game: Eric Desjardins (3, June 3, 1993)*
*Most power-play goals, one game: Dino Ciccarelli (3, April 29, 1993)*
*Most shorthanded goals, one game: Tom Fitzgerald (2, May 8, 1993)*
*Most assists, one period: Adam Oates (3, April 24, 1993)*

* Equalled existing record

Rule changes

*Schedule length changed to 84 games. Two games in each team's schedule to be played in non-NHL cities.
*Instigating a fight results in a game misconduct penalty.
*Substitutions disallowed for coincidental minor penalties when teams are at full strength.
*Minor penalty for diving introduced.
*Wearing of a helmet made optional.

Major transactions

*June 30, 1992: Eric Lindros traded from Quebec to Philadelphia for Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, Mike Ricci, Kerry Huffman, Steve Duchesne, "future considerations" (eventually became enforcer Chris Simon), two first-round draft picks and US$15 million. One of the draft picks was used by the Nordiques to select goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, the other was traded twice and ultimately used by the Washington Capitals to select Nolan Baumgartner.

NHL Awards

All-Star teams

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1992–93 (listed with their first team):

*Bryan Smolinski, Boston Bruins
*Matthew Barnaby, Buffalo Sabres
*Philippe Boucher, Buffalo Sabres
*Michael Nylander, Hartford Whalers
*Alexei Zhitnik, Los Angeles Kings
*Robert Lang, Los Angeles Kings
*Darius Kasparaitis, New York Islanders
*Vladimir Malakhov, New York Islanders
*Alexei Kovalev, New York Rangers

*Sergei Zubov, New York Rangers
*Eric Lindros, Philadelphia Flyers
*Martin Straka, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Sandis Ozolinsh, San Jose Sharks
*Roman Hamrlik, Tampa Bay Lightning
*Byron Dafoe, Washington Capitals
*Teemu Selanne, Winnipeg Jets
*Alexei Zhamnov, Winnipeg Jets

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1992–93 (listed with their last team):

*Reggie Lemelin, Boston Bruins
*Carey Wilson, Calgary Flames
*Brent Ashton, Calgary Flames
*John Ogrodnick, Detroit Red Wings
*Tim Kerr, Hartford Whalers
*Bobby Smith, Minnesota North Stars
*Brian Mullen, New York Islanders
*Brad Marsh, Ottawa Senators

*Laurie Boschman, Ottawa Senators
*Brian Hayward, San Jose Sharks
*Brian Lawton, San Jose Sharks
*Petri Skriko, San Jose Sharks
*Doug Wilson, San Jose Sharks
*Rick Wamsley, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Steve Kasper, Tampa Bay Lightning
*Ryan Walter, Vancouver Canucks
*Rod Langway, Washington Capitals
*Randy Carlyle, Winnipeg Jets

1993 trading deadline

Trading deadline: March 22, 1993. [ [http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/3969 NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out ] ]
*March 22, 1993: Mark Hardy and Ottawa's 5th round choice in 1993 Entry Draft (previously acquired from Ottawa) traded from NY Rangers to Los Angeles for John McIntyre.
*March 22, 1993: Jim Hrivnak and future considerations traded from Washington to Winnipeg for Rick Tabaracci.
*March 22, 1993: Peter Taglianetti traded from Tampa Bay to Pittsburgh for Pittsburgh's 3rd round choice in 1993 Entry Draft.
*March 22, 1993: Steve Konroyd traded from Hartford to Detroit for Detroit's 6th round choice in 1993 Entry Draft.
*March 22, 1993: Vancouver's 9th round choice in 1993 Entry Draft traded from Vancouver to Winnipeg for Dan Ratushny.
*March 22, 1993: Mike Hartman traded from Tampa Bay to New York Rangers for Randy Gilhen.
*March 22, 1993: Murray Craven and Vancouver's 5th round choice in 1993 Entry Draft (previously acquired from Vancouver) traded from Hartford to Vancouver for Robert Kron, Vancouver's 3rd round choice in 1993 Entry Draft and future considerations.
*March 22, 1993: Mike Ramsey traded from Buffalo to Pittsburgh for Bob Errey.
*March 22, 1993: Craig Muni traded from Edmonton to Chicago for Mike Hudson.

ee also

*List of Stanley Cup champions
*1992 NHL Entry Draft
*1992 NHL Expansion Draft
*1992 NHL Supplemental Draft
*44th National Hockey League All-Star Game
*National Hockey League All-Star Game
*NHL All-Rookie Team
*1992 in sports
*1993 in sports

References

* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
* [http://nhl.com/]
*cite book
title=NHL Official Guide & Record Book 1993–94
year=1993
location=Toronto, ON
publisher=NHL Publishing
id=ISBN 0–920445–30–6