1995–96 NHL season

The 1995–96 NHL season was the 79th regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-six teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalanche, who, in their first year as the Avalanche, swept the Florida Panthers in four games.

League business

1995–96 was the first season in Denver for the Avalanche, who had relocated from Quebec City where they were previously known as the Quebec Nordiques.

It was also the last season of existence for the Winnipeg Jets, as they announced that they would be moving from Manitoba to Arizona and become the Phoenix Coyotes at the season's end.

1995–96 would mark the last season the Buffalo Sabres would play in the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, the Flyers at the Spectrum, and Canadiens at the Montreal Forum. It would also mark the first season the Boston Bruins would play in the Fleet Center.

Regular season

The Detroit Red Wings had a spectacular season, finishing with the second-highest regular-season point total in NHL history (131 points), yet they fell to the Avalanche in the Western Conference final, the sixth game of which marked the beginning of the heated Detroit-Colorado rivalry.

Final standings

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

Head Coaches of the Eastern Conference

tanley Cup playoffs

Playoff bracket

NHLBracket
RD1=Conference Quarterfinals
RD2=Conference Semifinals
RD3=Conference Finals
RD4=Stanley Cup Finals
group1=Eastern Conference
group2=Western Conference
RD1-seed01=1
RD1-team01=Philadelphia
RD1-score01=4
RD1-seed02=8
RD1-team02=Tampa Bay
RD1-score02=2
RD1-seed05=2
RD1-team05=NY Rangers
RD1-score05=4
RD1-seed06=7
RD1-team06=Montreal
RD1-score06=2
RD1-seed07=4
RD1-team07=Florida
RD1-score07=4
RD1-seed08=5
RD1-team08=Boston
RD1-score08=1
RD1-seed03=3
RD1-team03=Pittsburgh
RD1-score03=4
RD1-seed04=6
RD1-team04=Washington
RD1-score04=2
RD1-seed13=2
RD1-team13=Chicago
RD1-score13=4
RD1-seed14=7
RD1-team14=Calgary
RD1-score14=0
RD1-seed15=3
RD1-team15=Toronto
RD1-score15=2
RD1-seed16=6
RD1-team16=St. Louis
RD1-score16=4
RD1-seed11=4
RD1-team11=Colorado
RD1-score11=4
RD1-seed12=5
RD1-team12=Vancouver
RD1-score12=2
RD1-seed09=1
RD1-team09=Detroit
RD1-score09=4
RD1-seed10=8
RD1-team10=Winnipeg
RD1-score10=2
RD2-seed03=1
RD2-team03=Philadelphia
RD2-score03=2
RD2-seed04=4
RD2-team04=Florida
RD2-score04=4
RD2-seed01=2
RD2-team01=Pittsburgh
RD2-score01=4
RD2-seed02=3
RD2-team02=NY Rangers
RD2-score02=1
RD2-seed07=2
RD2-team07=Colorado
RD2-score07=4
RD2-seed08=3
RD2-team08=Chicago
RD2-score08=2
RD2-seed05=1
RD2-team05=Detroit
RD2-score05=4
RD2-seed06=5
RD2-team06=St. Louis
RD2-score06=3
RD3-seed01=2
RD3-team01=Pittsburgh
RD3-score01=3
RD3-seed02=4
RD3-team02=Florida
RD3-score02=4
RD3-seed03=1
RD3-team03=Detroit
RD3-score03=2
RD3-seed04=2
RD3-team04=Colorado
RD3-score04=4
RD4-seed01=E4
RD4-team01=Florida
RD4-score01=0
RD4-seed02=W2
RD4-team02=Colorado
RD4-score02=4

Conference quarterfinals

Eastern Conference

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valign="top"

Western Conference

-
valign="top"

Conference semifinals

Conference finals

tanley Cup Finals

All-Star teams

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1995–96 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

*Kyle McLaren, Boston Bruins
*Jay McKee, Buffalo Sabres
*Martin Biron, Buffalo Sabres
*Jarome Iginla*, Calgary Flames
*Stephane Yelle, Colorado Avalanche
*Jere Lehtinen, Dallas Stars
*Miroslav Satan, Edmonton Oilers
*Ed Jovanovski, Florida Panthers
*Jeff O'Neill, Hartford Whalers
*Sami Kapanen, Hartford Whalers
*Darcy Tucker, Montreal Canadiens
*Jose Theodore, Montreal Canadiens
*Saku Koivu, Montreal Canadiens
*Patrik Elias, New Jersey Devils
*Petr Sykora, New Jersey Devils
*Steve Sullivan, New Jersey Devils
*Bryan McCabe, New York Islanders
*Todd Bertuzzi, New York Islanders
*Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators
*Daymond Langkow, Tampa Bay Lightning
*Andrew Brunette, Washington Capitals
*Brendan Witt, Washington Capitals

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1995–96 (listed with their last team):
*Cam Neely, Boston Bruins
*Alexei Kasatonov, Boston Bruins
*Troy Murray, Colorado Avalanche
*Paul Cavallini, Dallas Stars
*Bob Kudelski, Florida Panthers
*Jimmy Carson, Hartford Whalers
*Joe Cirella, Ottawa Senators
*Glenn Anderson, St. Louis Blues
*Greg Gilbert, St. Louis Blues
*Jim Sandlak, Vancouver Canucks

1996 trading deadline

Trading deadline: March 20, 1996. [ [http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/3969 NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out ] ]
*March 20, 1996: C Jesse Belanger traded from Florida to Vancouver for Vancouver's 3rd round pick in 1996 Entry Draft and future considerations.
*March 20, 1996: LW Ken Baumgartner traded from Toronto to Anaheim for Winnipeg's 4th round pick in 1996 Entry Draft (previously acquired).
*March 20, 1996: D J-J Daigneault traded from St. Louis to Pittsburgh for Pittsburgh's 6th round pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
*March 20, 1996: LW Kevin Miller traded from San Jose to Pittsburgh for Pittsburgh's 5th round choice in 1996 Entry Draft and future considerations.
*March 20, 1996: LW Pat Conacher and Calgary's 6th round pick in 1997 Entry Draft traded from Calgary to NY Islanders for C Bob Sweeney.
*March 20, 1996: RW Kirk Maltby traded from Edmonton to Detroit for D Dan McGillis.
*March 20, 1996: D Jaroslav Modry and Ottawa's 8th round pick in 1996 Entry Draft traded from Ottawa to Los Angeles for RW Kevin Brown.
*March 20, 1996: LW Patrick Poulin, D Igor Ulanov and Chicago's 2nd round pick in 1996 Entry Draft traded from Chicago to Tampa Bay for D Enrico Ciccone and Tampa Bay's 2nd round pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
*March 20, 1996: LW Yuri Khmylev and Buffalo's 8th round pick in 1996 Entry Draft traded from Buffalo to St. Louis for D Jean-Luc Grand Pierre, Ottawa's 2nd round pick in 1996 Entry Draft (previously acquired) and St. Louis' 3rd round pick in 1997 Entry Draft.
*March 20, 1996: C Dave Hannan traded from Buffalo to Colorado for Colorado's 6th round pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
*March 20, 1996: RW Alek Stojanov traded from Vancouver to Pittsburgh for RW Markus Naslund.
*March 20, 1996: RW Ravil Gusmanov traded from Winnipeg to Chicago for Chicago's 4th round pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
*March 20, 1996: RW Joe Kocur traded from NY Rangers to Vancouver for G Kay Whitmore.

ee also

* List of Stanley Cup champions
* 1995 NHL Entry Draft
* 46th National Hockey League All-Star Game
* National Hockey League All-Star Game
* NHL All-Rookie Team
* 1995 in sports
* 1996 in sports

References

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