1994–95 NHL season

The 1994–95 NHL season was the 78th regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-six teams each played 48 games, a shortened season, due to a lockout of the players by the owners. For the first time since the 1969–70 NHL season, no team averaged more than four goals scored per game. A total of 60 shutouts were recorded in the 624 regular-season games.

The New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup in a four-game sweep of the Detroit Red Wings. An unusually high number of shorthanded goals (28) were scored in the 81 playoff games of 1995. In addition, 7 hat-tricks were recorded in the 1995 Playoffs.

League business

The Hartford Whalers were purchased by Peter Karmanos.

This was the last season in Quebec City for the Quebec Nordiques, as they announced that they would move to Denver after the season and become the Colorado Avalanche.

It was the first season with games televised by Fox, which they would do until the end of the 1998–1999 season. It marked the first major American broadcast agreement for the NHL since 1975. Fox split Stanley Cup Finals games with ESPN.

The regular season was shortened because of a 103 day lockout, which ended on January 11, 1995. The season finally got underway nine days later.

New arenas

An era comes to an end as the Boston Bruins play their final season at the Boston Garden.

The Chicago Blackhawks open the United Center.

The St. Louis Blues open the Kiel Center (now the Scottrade Center).

Rule changes

Two Zambonis would now be required by every arena for the resurfacing between periods.

* A coach can call for a stick measurement in overtime, but the request must be made before the winning goal is scored;
* leaving the penalty box to join an altercation on the ice will draw an automatic three-game suspension;
*any severe check from behind will result in a major penalty and game misconduct.

Regular season

The abbreviated season ended much later than usual. For the first and, as of 2007, the only time in NHL history, the Stanley Cup Finals concluded after the Summer Solstice. Despite the late end to the playoffs, only 81 total playoff games were held, the lowest number to date under the "16 wins" playoff format.

Final standings

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

Eastern Conference

coring leaders

"Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points"
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Western Conference

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Conference semifinals

Conference finals

Finals

All-Star teams

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1994–95 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
*Oleg Tverdovsky, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
*Paul Kariya, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
*Cory Stillman, Calgary Flames
*Eric Daze, Chicago Blackhawks
*Jamie Langenbrunner, Dallas Stars
*Manny Fernandez, Dallas Stars
*Ryan Smyth, Edmonton Oilers
*Robert Svehla, Florida Panthers
*Marek Malik, Hartford Whalers
*Craig Conroy, Montreal Canadiens
*Valeri Bure, Montreal Canadiens
*Brian Rolston, New Jersey Devils
*Sergei Brylin, New Jersey Devils
*Tommy Salo, New York Islanders
*Radek Bonk, Ottawa Senators
*Adam Deadmarsh, Quebec Nordiques
*Peter Forsberg, Quebec Nordiques
*Jeff Friesen, San Jose Sharks
*Viktor Kozlov, San Jose Sharks
*Kenny Jonsson, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Adrian Aucoin, Vancouver Canucks
*Scott Walker, Vancouver Canucks
*Jim Carey, Washington Capitals
*Sergei Gonchar, Washington Capitals

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1994–95 (listed with their last team):
*Mats Naslund, Boston Bruins
*Craig Simpson, Buffalo Sabres
*Kelly Kisio, Calgary Flames
*Jim Peplinski, Calgary Flames
*Dirk Graham, Chicago Blackhawks
*Mark Howe, Detroit Red Wings
*Mike Krushelnyski, Detroit Red Wings
*Kent Nilsson, Edmonton Oilers
*Gaetan Duchesne, Florida Panthers
*Mark Osborne, New York Rangers
*Steve Larmer, New York Rangers
*Sylvain Turgeon, Ottawa Senators
*Peter Stastny, St. Louis Blues
*Gerard Gallant, Tampa Bay Lightning
*Garth Butcher, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Rich Sutter, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Dave Poulin, Washington Capitals
*Thomas Steen, Winnipeg Jets

1995 trading deadline

Trading deadline: April 7, 1995. [ [http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/3969 NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out ] ]
*April 7, 1995: D Petr Svoboda traded from Buffalo to Philadelphia for D Garry Galley.
*April 7, 1995: C Troy Murray and D Norm Maciver traded from Ottawa to Pittsburgh for RW Martin Straka.
*April 7, 1995: D Gord Kruppke traded from Toronto to Detroit for other considerations.
*April 7, 1995: RW Russ Courtnall traded from Dallas to Vancouver for LW Greg Adams and RW Dan Kesa and Vancouver's 5th round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
*April 7, 1995: G Corey Hirsch traded from New York Rangers to Vancouver for C Nathan Lafayette.
*April 7, 1995: D Gerald Diduck traded from Vancouver to Chicago for RW Bogdan Savenko and Hartford's 3rd round pick in 1995 Entry Draft (previously acquired).
*April 7, 1995: G Rick Tabaracci traded from Washington to Calgary for a conditional 5th round draft pick.
*April 7, 1995: LW Gaetan Duchesne traded from San Jose to Florida for Florida's 6th round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
*April 7, 1995: G Craig Billington traded from Ottawa to Boston for other considerations.
*April 7, 1995: LW Bill Huard traded from Ottawa to Quebec for D Mika Stromberg and Quebec's 4th round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
*April 7, 1995: D Daniel Laperriere and St. Louis' 9th round pick in 1995 Entry Draft traded from St. Louis to Ottawa for Ottawa's 9th round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
*April 7, 1995: RW Roman Oksiuta traded from Edmonton to Vancouver for D Jiri Slegr.
*April 7, 1995: LW Alan May traded from Dallas to Calgary for Calgary's 8th round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
*April 7, 1995: C Mike Eastwood and Toronto's 3rd round pick in 1995 Entry Draft traded from Toronto to Winnipeg for RW Tie Domi.
*April 7, 1995: D Grant Jennings traded from Pittsburgh to Toronto for D Drake Berehowsky.
*April 7, 1995: D Igor Ulanov and C Mike Eagles traded from Winnipeg to Washington for Washington's 3rd and 5th round draft picks in 1995 Entry Draft.
*April 7, 1995: LW Scott Pearson traded from Edmonton to Buffalo for D Ken Sutton.
*April 7, 1995: D Greg Brown traded from Pittsburgh to Winnipeg for a conditional 8th round draft pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
*April 7, 1995: C Ed Olczyk traded from NY Rangers to Winnipeg for Winnipeg's 5th round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
*April 5, 1995: Montreal Canadiens obtain Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov from the New York Islanders for Kirk Muller, Mathieu Schneider and Craig Darby.

ee also

* List of Stanley Cup champions
* 1994 NHL Entry Draft
* 1994–95 NHL lockout
* NHL All-Rookie Team
* 1994 in sports
* 1995 in sports

References

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