1990–91 NHL season | |
---|---|
League | National Hockey League |
Sport | Ice hockey |
Duration | October 4, 1990 – May 25, 1991 |
Number of games | 80 |
Number of teams | 21 |
TV partner(s) | CBC, TSN, SRC (Canada) SportsChannel America, NBC[a] (United States) |
Draft | |
Top draft pick | Owen Nolan |
Picked by | Quebec Nordiques |
Regular season | |
Presidents' Trophy | Chicago Blackhawks |
Season MVP | Brett Hull (Blues) |
Top scorer | Wayne Gretzky (Kings) |
Playoffs | |
Playoffs MVP | Mario Lemieux (Penguins) |
Stanley Cup | |
Champions | Pittsburgh Penguins |
Runners-up | Minnesota North Stars |
NHL seasons | |
← 1989–90 1991–92 → |
The 1990–91 NHL season was the 74th season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the best of seven series 4–2 against the Minnesota North Stars to claim their first championship. This was the last NHL season to end in May.
At meetings in Florida on December 6, 1990, the NHL Board of Governors awarded provisional franchises to groups from Ottawa and Tampa. The Ottawa franchise marked a return to one of the original cities of the NHL, while Tampa meant the first franchise in the sunbelt state of Florida. In a later book published by NHL president Gil Stein, Stein revealed that the two groups were the only ones of the applicants who agreed to the $50 million expansion fee without question.[1] The Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning began play in the 1992–93 season.
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boston Bruins | 80 | 44 | 24 | 12 | 299 | 264 | 100 |
Montreal Canadiens | 80 | 39 | 30 | 11 | 273 | 249 | 89 |
Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 31 | 30 | 19 | 292 | 278 | 81 |
Hartford Whalers | 80 | 31 | 38 | 11 | 238 | 276 | 73 |
Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 16 | 50 | 14 | 236 | 354 | 46 |
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 41 | 33 | 6 | 342 | 305 | 88 |
New York Rangers | 80 | 36 | 31 | 13 | 297 | 265 | 85 |
Washington Capitals | 80 | 37 | 36 | 7 | 258 | 258 | 81 |
New Jersey Devils | 80 | 32 | 33 | 15 | 272 | 264 | 79 |
Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 33 | 37 | 10 | 252 | 267 | 76 |
New York Islanders | 80 | 25 | 45 | 10 | 223 | 290 | 60 |
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago Blackhawks | 80 | 49 | 23 | 8 | 284 | 211 | 106 |
St. Louis Blues | 80 | 47 | 22 | 11 | 310 | 250 | 105 |
Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 34 | 38 | 8 | 273 | 298 | 76 |
Minnesota North Stars | 80 | 27 | 39 | 14 | 256 | 266 | 68 |
Toronto Maple Leafs | 80 | 23 | 46 | 11 | 241 | 318 | 57 |
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 46 | 24 | 10 | 340 | 254 | 102 |
Calgary Flames | 80 | 46 | 26 | 8 | 344 | 263 | 100 |
Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 37 | 37 | 6 | 272 | 272 | 80 |
Vancouver Canucks | 80 | 28 | 43 | 9 | 243 | 315 | 65 |
Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 26 | 43 | 11 | 260 | 288 | 63 |
In the division semifinals, the fourth seeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. The two winning teams from each division's semifinals then met in the division finals. The two division winners of each conference then played in the conference finals. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.
In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). Home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record, and played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary); the other team then played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary).
Division semifinals | Division finals | Conference finals | Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||
A1 | Boston | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
A4 | Hartford | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
A1 | Boston | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
A2 | Montreal | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
A2 | Montreal | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
A3 | Buffalo | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
A1 | Boston | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
Prince of Wales Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
P1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
P1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
P4 | New Jersey | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
P1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
P3 | Washington | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
P2 | NY Rangers | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
P3 | Washington | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
P1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
N4 | Minnesota | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
N1 | Chicago | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
N4 | Minnesota | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
N4 | Minnesota | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
N2 | St. Louis | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
N2 | St. Louis | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
N3 | Detroit | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
N4 | Minnesota | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
Clarence Campbell Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
S3 | Edmonton | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
S1 | Los Angeles | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
S4 | Vancouver | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
S1 | Los Angeles | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
S3 | Edmonton | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
S2 | Calgary | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
S3 | Edmonton | 4 |
The North Stars defeated the Edmonton Oilers to become the first Norris Division team to appear in the Stanley Cup Finals since the 1981 realignment. At the time a record of 92 playoff games were played, and for the first time since the 1973 playoffs, no team was swept in a playoff series.
May 15 | Minnesota North Stars | 5–4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Civic Arena |
May 17 | Minnesota North Stars | 1–4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Civic Arena |
May 19 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1–3 | Minnesota North Stars | Met Center |
May 21 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 5–3 | Minnesota North Stars | Met Center |
May 23 | Minnesota North Stars | 4–6 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Civic Arena |
May 25 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 8–0 | Minnesota North Stars | Met Center |
Pittsburgh won series 4–2 | |
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes, PPG = Powerplay goals, SHG = Shorthanded goals, GWG = Game winning goals
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wayne Gretzky | Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 41 | 122 | 163 | 16 | +30 | 8 | 0 | 5 |
Brett Hull | St. Louis Blues | 78 | 86 | 45 | 131 | 22 | +23 | 29 | 0 | 11 |
Adam Oates | St. Louis Blues | 61 | 25 | 90 | 115 | 29 | +15 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
Mark Recchi | Pittsburgh Penguins | 78 | 40 | 73 | 113 | 48 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 9 |
John Cullen | Pittsburgh Penguins/ Hartford Whalers | 78 | 39 | 71 | 110 | 101 | -6 | 14 | 0 | 3 |
Joe Sakic | Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 48 | 61 | 109 | 24 | -26 | 12 | 3 | 7 |
Steve Yzerman | Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 51 | 57 | 108 | 34 | -2 | 12 | 6 | 4 |
Theoren Fleury | Calgary Flames | 79 | 51 | 53 | 104 | 136 | +48 | 9 | 7 | 9 |
Al MacInnis | Calgary Flames | 78 | 28 | 75 | 103 | 90 | +42 | 17 | 0 | 1 |
Steve Larmer | Chicago Blackhawks | 80 | 44 | 57 | 101 | 79 | +37 | 17 | 2 | 9 |
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average = SV% = Save percentage
Player | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | SO | GAA | SV% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ed Belfour | Chicago Blackhawks | 74 | 4127 | 43 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 2.47 | .910 |
Tim Cheveldae | Detroit Red Wings | 65 | 3615 | 30 | 26 | 5 | 2 | 3.55 | .875 |
Bill Ranford | Edmonton Oilers | 60 | 3415 | 27 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 3.2 | .893 |
Ron Tugnutt | Quebec Nordiques | 56 | 3144 | 12 | 29 | 10 | 0 | 4.05 | .886 |
Peter Ing | Toronto Maple Leafs | 56 | 3126 | 16 | 29 | 8 | 1 | 3.84 | .883 |
Jon Casey | Minnesota North Stars | 55 | 3185 | 21 | 20 | 11 | 3 | 2.98 | .891 |
Bob Essensa | Winnipeg Jets | 55 | 2916 | 19 | 24 | 6 | 4 | 3.15 | .889 |
Mike Vernon | Calgary Flames | 54 | 3121 | 31 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 3.31 | .878 |
Glenn Healy | New York Islanders | 53 | 2999 | 18 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 3.32 | .893 |
Chris Terreri | New Jersey Devils | 53 | 2970 | 24 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 2.91 | .893 |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1990–91 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1990–91 (listed with their last team):
This was the third season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals with TSN and Hockey Night in CanadaonCBC. Saturday night regular season games continued to air on CBC, while TSN televised selected weeknight games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series.
This was the third and final season of the league's original U.S. national broadcast rights deal SportsChannel America, with up to three regular season games a week and coverage of the playoffs. SportsChannel America then signed a one-year extension for the 1991–92 season.[3] Meanwhile, NBC televised the All-Star Game for the second consecutive season.
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