The National Hockey League (NHL) endured a tumultuous period of history between 1992 and 2017. It grew from 22 teams at the start of this period to 30 at the end, as the league expanded across the United States. Repeated labour conflicts interrupted play in 1992, 1994–95, 2004–05 and 2012–13; the second lockout caused the entire 2004–05 NHL season to be canceled, the first time in North American history that a sports league has canceled an entire season in a labour dispute. Nine franchises were added between 1991 and 2000, comprising the San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild. In addition to expansion teams, five franchises have relocated during this time: the Minnesota North Stars became the Dallas Stars (1993), the Quebec Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche (1995), the Winnipeg Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes (1996), the Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes (1997), and the Atlanta Thrashers became the second franchise known as the Winnipeg Jets (2011). In 1999, Wayne Gretzky retired from hockey.
Internationally, the Canada Cup gave way to the World Cup of Hockey in 1996, while NHL players first competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics. To promote itself worldwide, the NHL played regular season games in Japan in 1996, and throughout Europe since 2007. The league played its first outdoor regular season game between the Canadiens and the host Edmonton Oilers in 2003 and which led to the creation of three series of outdoor games: the Heritage Classic, Winter Classic and Stadium Series.
Increased use of defence-focused systems contributed to decreased scoring in the late 1990s, leading some to argue that the NHL's talent pool had been diluted by the 1990 expansion plan. The league has attempted several times to alter its rules to increase scoring. It began awarding teams a single point for losing in overtime in 1999, hoping to reduce the number of tie games. In 2005, ties were eliminated altogether as the penalty shootout was introduced to ensure that all games have a winner.
Background
As the 1990s began, players were uneasy with the closeness between National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) executive director Alan Eagleson and the teams' owners. As a result, Eagleson stepped down in December 1991, and was replaced by Bob Goodenow. Four years later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation indicted Eagleson on charges of racketeering, fraud, embezzlement, kickbacks and obstruction of justice over allegations that he stole millions of dollars from the NHLPA. Eagleson pleaded guilty in 1998 in a plea bargain and was fined and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He subsequently resigned from the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Four months after replacing Eagleson, Goodenow and the NHLPA launched the first NHL strike on April 1, 1992. It lasted ten days and resulted in the players receiving larger playoff bonuses, increased control over the licensing of their likenesses and improved rights to free agency; all canceled games were also rescheduled. It also led the owners to dismiss league president John Ziegler and replace him on an interim basis with Gil Stein. Goodenow called the strike a major moment, stating "I don't think the owners took the players seriously and it wasn't until the strike that they understood the players were serious." As part of the deal, the league also agreed to have each team play two games per season for the following two years in neutral site locations, partially to help gauge markets for potential expansion.
Desiring a fresh start, Gary Bettman was installed in February 1993. Formerly a senior vice president of the National Basketball Association, Bettman became the first commissioner. He was given the task of selling the game to the American market, ending labor unrest, completing expansion plans, and modernizing the league.
Expansion
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators joined the league in as part of the owners' 1990 plan to expand the NHL to 28 teams within a decade. The Lightning made NHL history when goaltender Manon Rhéaume played a period of an exhibition game for them on September 23, 1992. Rhéaume became the first woman to play in an NHL game. She also became the first woman to sign a professional hockey contract, doing so with the Lightning's farm team, the Atlanta Knights. One year later, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Florida Panthers began play as the NHL's 25th and 26th franchises. They were established as part of the NHL's attempt to regain a U.S. network television presence by expanding into southern North America. The league expected that bringing in Blockbuster Video's Wayne Huizenga to own the Panthers, and The Walt Disney Company to own the Mighty Ducks would raise its profile. The NHL's southward push continued in 1993 when the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas, Texas to become the Dallas Stars.
The NHL celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Stanley Cup in 1993. That year's finals featured Patrick Roy and the Montreal Canadiens against Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings. After losing the first game, the Canadiens rallied from a late deficit to win game two in overtime after the Kings' Marty McSorley was penalized for using an illegal stick. Montreal scored on the power play, sending the game into overtime. Montreal won games three and four in overtime en route to winning the series in five games. The Canadiens won an NHL-record ten consecutive overtime games in the 1993 playoffs.
The New York Rangers ended their "Curse of 1940" after 54 years by winning the 1994 Stanley Cup in seven games over the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers' championship was the last hurrah for the great Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s, as there were seven ex-Oilers on the team, including Mark Messier, who became the first (and to this date, the only) player to win Stanley Cups as the captain for two franchises, having captained the Oilers to the last of their five Stanley Cups in . The Rangers' victory also resulted in the first Russian names to be engraved on the Stanley Cup: Alexei Kovalev, Alexander Karpovtsev, Sergei Nemchinov, and Sergei Zubov. The global audience of 285 million in 120 countries that watched the Rangers' victory included a huge European audience, including those watching across the former Soviet Union. This Stanley Cup win was the highest-rated single CBC Sports program in history to that point, a distinction that now belongs to the men's ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2002 Winter Olympics, when Canada won its first Olympic ice hockey gold medal since the 1952 Winter Olympics CBC commentator Bob Cole, who called both games, said that game seven was one of his most memorable TV games.
1994–95 lockout
Four months later, the players were locked out by the owners due to the lack of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The 1994–95 NHL lockout lasted 104 days and resulted in the season's being shortened from a planned 84 games to 48. The owners wanted to control salary growth and insisted on a salary cap, changes to free agency and salary arbitration. The union instead proposed a luxury tax system that would penalize teams that spent above a set figure on player salaries. The negotiations were at times bitter, as defenceman Chris Chelios famously issued a veiled threat against Bettman, suggesting that he should be "worried about [his] family and [his] well-being", because "some crazed fans, or even a player [...] might take matters into their own hands and figure they get Bettman out of the way."
The lockout entered its fourth month in January 1995 and approached a deadline that would have canceled the season when the two sides agreed to an 11th-hour deal. The owners failed to achieve a full salary cap, but the union agreed to a cap on rookie contracts, changes to the arbitration system and restrictive rules for free agency that would not grant a player the unrestricted right to choose where he played until age 31. The deal was initially seen as a victory for the owners.
The agreement was not enough to save two teams in Canada's smallest NHL markets. The revenue disparity between large and small market teams, exacerbated by the falling value of the Canadian dollar, led the Winnipeg Jets to relocate to Phoenix, Arizona in 1996, becoming the Coyotes one year after the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver, Colorado to become the Colorado Avalanche. Hoping to prevent other teams from leaving Canada, and citing the cost of doing business in American dollars while taking revenue in Canadian dollars, the NHL set up a currency assistance plan to support the remaining small market Canadian teams in 1996. The Hartford Whalers became the third former World Hockey Association team to relocate in 1997, moving to Raleigh, North Carolina, to become the Carolina Hurricanes.
Dead puck era Following the 1994–95 lockout, the NHL entered a prolonged period of offensive decline. Throughout the 1980s, 7.6 goals were scored per game on average. That figure had dropped below six goals per game by the 1994–95 season, and to 5.19 by 1998–99. There have been many arguments put forth as to what caused this decline. A common claim is that the drop in offence was due to dilution of talent caused by 1990s expansion, a position former player Brett Hull endorsed. Increased use of the neutral zone trap and similar defensive systems were also blamed. The New Jersey Devils have often been criticized for popularizing the trap, using it to win the Stanley Cup in 1995. This period has been called the dead puck era.
The Canada Cup gave way to the World Cup of Hockey in 1996, an NHL-sanctioned eight team international tournament featuring the top professionals in the world. The inaugural tournament saw the United States upset the favored Canadians in a three-game final. That same year, the Avalanche won their first Stanley Cup in their first season in Denver, sweeping the Florida Panthers. One year later, the Detroit Red Wings ended a 42-year drought, capturing their first Stanley Cup since 1955. The Red Wings' celebration was cut short, as defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov were seriously injured when their limousine crashed six days following the victory. The Red Wings dedicated the 1997–98 season to the two. Upon repeating as champions in 1998, they brought Konstantinov, who had suffered severe brain damage in the crash, out in a wheelchair to celebrate with the team on the ice.
The NHL added four expansion teams to increase the total number of clubs to 30. Continuing its expansion into the southern United States, the Nashville Predators joined the league in 1998, followed by the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999. The Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets then began play in 2000.
On April 18, 1999, Wayne Gretzky played his final NHL game, retiring as the league's all-time scoring leader and holding 61 NHL records. His number, 99, was retired league-wide the following season. The usual three-year waiting period between a player's retirement and his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame was waived, and he was inducted in 1999.
For marketing reasons, the NHL agreed to participate in the Winter Olympics starting in 1998. NHL players first competed at the Nagano Games. Led by goaltender Dominik Hašek, the tournament was won by the Czech Republic. Hašek, who finished the tournament with a 0.97 goals against average (GAA) and a .961 save percentage over six games, was the leading goaltender of the 1990s. His run of consecutive Vezina Trophies from 1994 to 1999 was interrupted only once, in 1996 by Jim Carey of the Washington Capitals. Hašek won another Vezina Trophy in 2001, and two consecutive Lester B. Pearson and Hart Trophies in 1997 and 1998.