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 Approval for expansion by 1992 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. The Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning began play in the 1992–93 season.
Entry draft 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 Final standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Wales Conference
Campbell Conference
Playoffs
Bracket 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 Final.
Awards Presidents' Trophy: Chicago Blackhawks 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 First Team Position Second TeamEd Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks GPatrick Roy, Montreal CanadiensRay Bourque, Boston Bruins DChris Chelios, Chicago BlackhawksAl MacInnis, Calgary Flames DBrian Leetch, New York RangersWayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings CAdam Oates, St. Louis BluesBrett Hull, St. Louis Blues RWCam Neely, Boston BruinsLuc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings LWKevin Stevens, Pittsburgh Penguins
Player statistics
Scoring leaders
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
Leading goaltenders
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
Coaches Patrick Division 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 Boston Bruins: Mike Milbury Buffalo Sabres: Rick Dudley Hartford Whalers: Rick Ley Montreal Canadiens: Pat Burns Quebec Nordiques: Dave Chambers
Norris Division 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 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
Debuts 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 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 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. Meanwhile, NBC televised the All-Star Game for the second consecutive season.
See also 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
References
Notes
External links 1990-91 Regular Season Scoring Leaders - quanthockey.com 1990-91 Regular Season Goaltender Leaders - quanthockey.com Hockey Database nhl.com