1990–91 NHL season

National Hockey League season

Sports season

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.

## League business

[edit]

### Approval for expansion by 1992

[edit]

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.

### Entry draft

[edit]

The 1990 NHL entry draft was held on June 16, at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. Owen Nolan was selected first overall by the Quebec Nordiques.

## Regular season

[edit]

### Final standings

[edit]

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

Wales Conference
Adams Division | GP  | W  | L  | T  | GF  | GA  | Pts

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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

[2]

Patrick Division | GP  | W  | L  | T  | GF  | GA  | Pts

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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

[2]

Campbell Conference
Norris Division | GP  | W  | L  | T  | GF  | GA  | Pts

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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

[2]

Smythe Division | GP  | W  | L  | T  | GF  | GA  | Pts

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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

[2]

## Playoffs

[edit]

Main article: 1991 Stanley Cup playoffs

### Bracket

[edit]

The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). 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.

| Division semifinals | | | Division finals | | | Conference finals | | | Stanley Cup Finals |

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|  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| 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 |

## Awards

[edit]

Presidents' Trophy: | Chicago Blackhawks

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Prince of Wales Trophy:
(Wales Conference playoff champion) | Pittsburgh Penguins
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:
(Campbell Conference playoff champion) | Minnesota North Stars
Art Ross Trophy: | Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: | Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings
Calder Memorial Trophy: | Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks
Conn Smythe Trophy: | Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
Frank J. Selke Trophy: | Dirk Graham, Chicago Blackhawks
Hart Memorial Trophy: | Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues
Jack Adams Award: | Brian Sutter, St. Louis Blues
James Norris Memorial Trophy: | Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: | Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: | Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
Lester B. Pearson Award: | Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues
NHL Plus-Minus Award: | Marty McSorley, Los Angeles Kings and Theo Fleury, Calgary Flames
Vezina Trophy: | Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks
William M. Jennings Trophy: | Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks

### All-Star teams

[edit]

First Team |   Position   | Second Team

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Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks | G | Patrick Roy, Montreal Canadiens
Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins | D | Chris Chelios, Chicago Blackhawks
Al MacInnis, Calgary Flames | D  | Brian Leetch, New York Rangers
Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings | C | Adam Oates, St. Louis Blues
Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues | RW | Cam Neely, Boston Bruins
Luc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings | LW | Kevin Stevens, Pittsburgh Penguins

## Player statistics

[edit]

### Scoring leaders

[edit]

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

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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

[2]

### Leading goaltenders

[edit]

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%

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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

## Coaches

[edit]

### Patrick Division

[edit]

* New Jersey Devils: John Cunniff and Tom McVie
* New York Islanders: Al Arbour
* New York Rangers: Roger Neilson
* Philadelphia Flyers: Paul Holmgren
* Pittsburgh Penguins: Bob Johnson
* Washington Capitals: Terry Murray

### Adams Division

[edit]

* Boston Bruins: Mike Milbury
* Buffalo Sabres: Rick Dudley
* Hartford Whalers: Rick Ley
* Montreal Canadiens: Pat Burns
* Quebec Nordiques: Dave Chambers

### Norris Division

[edit]

* Chicago Blackhawks: Mike Keenan
* Detroit Red Wings: Bryan Murray
* Minnesota North Stars: Bob Gainey
* St. Louis Blues: Brian Sutter
* Toronto Maple Leafs: Tom Watt

### Smythe Division

[edit]

* Calgary Flames: Doug Risebrough
* Edmonton Oilers: John Muckler
* Los Angeles Kings: Tom Webster
* Vancouver Canucks: Bob McCammon and Pat Quinn
* Winnipeg Jets: Bob Murdoch

## Milestones

[edit]

### Debuts

[edit]

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):

* Robert Reichel, Calgary Flames
* Dominik Hasek, Chicago Blackhawks
* Keith Primeau, Detroit Red Wings
* Mike Sillinger, Detroit Red Wings
* Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
* Bobby Holik, Hartford Whalers
* Geoff Sanderson, Hartford Whalers
* John LeClair, Montreal Canadiens
* Patrice Brisebois, Montreal Canadiens
* Sean Hill*, Montreal Canadiens
* Doug Weight*, New York Rangers
* Tony Amonte*, New York Rangers
* Mike Ricci, Philadelphia Flyers
* Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins
* Mats Sundin, Quebec Nordiques
* Owen Nolan, Quebec Nordiques
* Petr Nedved, Vancouver Canucks
* Dmitri Khristich, Washington Capitals
* Peter Bondra, Washington Capitals
* Kris Draper, Winnipeg Jets

### Last games

[edit]

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):

* Gord Kluzak, Boston Bruins
* Tony McKegney, Chicago Blackhawks
* Glen Hanlon, Detroit Red Wings
* Don Maloney, New York Islanders
* Lindy Ruff, New York Rangers
* Pete Peeters, Philadelphia Flyers
* Guy Lafleur, Quebec Nordiques
* Harold Snepsts, St. Louis Blues
* Paul MacLean, St. Louis Blues
* Rick Meagher, St. Louis Blues
* Stan Smyl, Vancouver Canucks
* Joel Quenneville, Washington Capitals

## Broadcasting

[edit]

This was the third season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals with TSN and Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. 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.

## See also

[edit]

* List of Stanley Cup champions
* 1990 NHL entry draft
* 1990-91 NHL transactions
* 42nd National Hockey League All-Star Game
* National Hockey League All-Star Game
* NHL All-Rookie Team
* Lester Patrick Trophy
* 1990 in sports
* 1991 in sports

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ NBC only televised the All-Star Game.

## References

[edit]

* Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
* Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
* Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
* Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.

Notes

1. ^ Stein, Gil (1997). Power Play: An Inside Look at the Big Business of the National Hockey League. Birch Lane Press.
2. ^ a b c d e Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153\. ISBN 9781894801225.
3. ^ LaPointe, Joe (October 4, 1991). "HOCKEY; N.H.L. Again Signs Contract With SportsChannel America". New York Times.

## External links

[edit]

* 1990-91 Regular Season Scoring Leaders \- quanthockey.com
* 1990-91 Regular Season Goaltender Leaders \- quanthockey.com
* Hockey Database
* http://nhl.com/

* v
* t
* e

1990–91 NHL season

Patrick|

* New Jersey
* NY Islanders
* NY Rangers
* Philadelphia
* Pittsburgh
* Washington

Adams|

* Boston
* Buffalo
* Hartford
* Montreal
* Quebec

Norris|

* Chicago
* Detroit
* Minnesota
* St. Louis
* Toronto

Smythe|

* Calgary
* Edmonton
* Los Angeles
* Vancouver
* Winnipeg

See also|

* Entry draft
* Supplemental draft
* Waiver draft
* All-Star Game
* Stanley Cup playoffs
* Stanley Cup Finals

* v
* t
* e

NHL seasons

1910s|

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1920s|

|  1920–21 |  1921–22 |  1922–23 |  1923–24 |  1924–25 |  1925–26 |  1926–27 |  1927–28 |  1928–29 |  1929–30

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1930s|

|  1930–31 |  1931–32 |  1932–33 |  1933–34 |  1934–35 |  1935–36 |  1936–37 |  1937–38 |  1938–39 |  1939–40

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1940s|

|  1940–41 |  1941–42 |  1942–43 |  1943–44 |  1944–45 |  1945–46 |  1946–47 |  1947–48 |  1948–49 |  1949–50

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1950s|

|  1950–51 |  1951–52 |  1952–53 |  1953–54 |  1954–55 |  1955–56 |  1956–57 |  1957–58 |  1958–59 |  1959–60

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1960s|

|  1960–61 |  1961–62 |  1962–63 |  1963–64 |  1964–65 |  1965–66 |  1966–67 |  1967–68 |  1968–69 |  1969–70

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1970s|

|  1970–71 |  1971–72 |  1972–73 |  1973–74 |  1974–75 |  1975–76 |  1976–77 |  1977–78 |  1978–79 |  1979–80

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1980s|

|  1980–81 |  1981–82 |  1982–83 |  1983–84 |  1984–85 |  1985–86 |  1986–87 |  1987–88 |  1988–89 |  1989–90

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1990s|

|  1990–91 |  1991–92 |  1992–93 |  1993–94 |  1994–95 |  1995–96 |  1996–97 |  1997–98 |  1998–99 |  1999–00

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2000s|

|  2000–01 |  2001–02 |  2002–03 |  2003–04 |  ~~2004–05~~ |  2005–06 |  2006–07 |  2007–08 |  2008–09 |  2009–10

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2010s|

|  2010–11 |  2011–12 |  2012–13 |  2013–14 |  2014–15 |  2015–16 |  2016–17 |  2017–18 |  2018–19 |  2019–20

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2020s|

|  2020–21 |  2021–22 |  2022–23 |  2023–24 |  2024–25 |  2025–26 |  |  |  |

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The 2004–05 season was not played due to a lockout.
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