The 1989–90 NHL season was the 73rd season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Edmonton Oilers, who won the best of seven series 4–1 against the Boston Bruins. The championship was the Oilers' fifth Stanley Cup in seven seasons.
Entry draft The 1989 NHL entry draft was held on June 17, at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. Mats Sundin was selected first overall by the Quebec Nordiques.
Regular season Wayne Gretzky records his 1,851st point, passing Gordie Howe for the most in NHL history on Oct. 15, 1989.
This season marked the first time that all three New York City area NHL teams, including the New Jersey Devils, made the playoffs in the same season, a feat which has since been repeated thrice more: in the , the , and the seasons.
Until 2017, this was last time the Detroit Red Wings missed the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Sam St. Laurent of the Red Wings became the last goalie to wear a full fiberglass mask during an NHL game.
Final standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Prince of Wales Conference
Clarence 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 + 1989–90 NHL awards Award Recipient(s) Runner(s)-up/Finalists Presidents' Trophy(Best regular-season record) Boston Bruins Calgary Flames Prince of Wales Trophy(Wales Conference playoff champion) Boston Bruins Washington Capitals Clarence S. Campbell Bowl(Campbell Conference playoff champion) Edmonton Oilers Chicago Blackhawks Alka-Seltzer Plus-Minus Award(Best plus-minus statistic) Paul Cavallini (St. Louis Blues) Stephane Richer (Montreal Canadiens) Art Ross Trophy(Player with most points) Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) Mark Messier (Edmonton Oilers) Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy(Perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication) Gord Kluzak (Boston Bruins) N/A Calder Memorial Trophy(Best first-year player) Sergei Makarov (Calgary Flames) Mike Modano (Minnesota North Stars)Jeremy Roenick (Chicago Blackhawks) Conn Smythe Trophy(Most valuable player, playoffs) Bill Ranford (Edmonton Oilers) N/A Frank J. Selke Trophy(Best defensive forward) Rick Meagher (St. Louis Blues) Guy Carbonneau (Montreal Canadiens)Esa Tikkanen (Edmonton Oilers) Hart Memorial Trophy(Most valuable player, regular season) Mark Messier (Edmonton Oilers) Ray Bourque (Boston Bruins)Brett Hull (St. Louis Blues) Jack Adams Award(Best coach) Bob Murdoch (Winnipeg Jets) Mike Milbury (Boston Bruins)Roger Neilson (New York Rangers) James Norris Memorial Trophy(Best defenceman) Ray Bourque (Boston Bruins) Al MacInnis (Calgary Flames)Doug Wilson (Chicago Blackhawks) King Clancy Memorial Trophy(Leadership and humanitarian contribution) Kevin Lowe (Edmonton Oilers) N/A Lady Byng Memorial Trophy(Sportsmanship and excellence) Brett Hull (St. Louis Blues) Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings)Pat LaFontaine (New York Islanders) Lester B. Pearson Award(Outstanding player) Mark Messier (Edmonton Oilers) N/A Vezina Trophy(Best goaltender) Patrick Roy (Montreal Canadiens) Andy Moog (Boston Bruins)Daren Puppa (Buffalo Sabres) William M. Jennings Trophy(Goaltender(s) of team with fewest goals against) Andy Moog and Rejean Lemelin (Boston Bruins) N/A
All-Star teams First team Position Second teamPatrick Roy, Montreal Canadiens GDaren Puppa, Buffalo SabresRay Bourque, Boston Bruins DPaul Coffey, Pittsburgh PenguinsAl MacInnis, Calgary Flames DDoug Wilson, Chicago BlackhawksMark Messier, Edmonton Oilers CWayne Gretzky, Los Angeles KingsBrett Hull, St. Louis Blues RWCam Neely, Boston BruinsLuc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings LWBrian Bellows, Minnesota North Stars
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 73 40 102 142 42 +8 10 4 4 Mark Messier Edmonton Oilers 79 45 84 129 79 +19 13 6 3 Steve Yzerman Detroit Red Wings 79 62 65 127 79 -6 16 7 8 Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins 59 45 78 123 78 -18 14 3 4 Brett Hull St. Louis Blues 80 72 41 113 24 -1 27 0 12 Bernie Nicholls Los Angeles Kings/New York Rangers 79 39 73 112 86 -9 15 0 1 Pierre Turgeon Buffalo Sabres 80 40 66 106 29 +10 17 1 10 Pat LaFontaine New York Islanders 74 54 51 105 38 -13 13 2 8 Paul Coffey Pittsburgh Penguins 80 29 74 103 95 -25 10 0 3 Joe Sakic Quebec Nordiques 80 39 63 102 27 -40 8 1 2 Adam Oates St. Louis Blues 80 23 79 102 30 9 6 2 3 Sources: NHL, Quanthockey.com.
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% Kirk McLean Vancouver Canucks 63 3739 21 30 10 0 3.47 88.0 Jon Casey Minnesota North Stars 61 3407 31 22 4 3 3.22 89.6 Daren Puppa Buffalo Sabres 56 3241 31 16 6 1 2.89 90.3 Bill Ranford Edmonton Oilers 56 3107 24 16 9 1 3.19 88.7 Patrick Roy Montreal Canadiens 54 3173 31 16 5 3 2.53 91.2 Sean Burke New Jersey Devils 52 2914 22 22 6 0 3.60 88.0 Kelly Hrudey Los Angeles Kings 52 2860 22 21 6 2 4.07 87.3 Ken Wregget Philadelphia Flyers 51 2961 22 24 3 0 3.42 89.2 Greg Millen Quebec Nordiques 49 2900 19 25 5 1 3.89 87.2 Don Beaupre Washington Capitals 48 2793 23 18 5 2 3.22 89.0 Source: Quanthockey.com.1989-90 NHL Goalie Leaders | QuantHockey.com
Coaches Patrick Division New Jersey Devils: Jim Schoenfeld and John Cunniff New York Islanders: Al Arbour New York Rangers: Roger Neilson Philadelphia Flyers: Paul Holmgren Pittsburgh Penguins: Gene Ubriaco and Craig Patrick Washington Capitals: Bryan Murray and Terry Murray
Adams Division Boston Bruins: Mike Milbury Buffalo Sabres: Rick Dudley Hartford Whalers: Rick Ley Montreal Canadiens: Pat Burns Quebec Nordiques: Michel Bergeron
Norris Division Chicago Blackhawks: Mike Keenan Detroit Red Wings: Jacques Demers Minnesota North Stars: Pierre Page St. Louis Blues: Brian Sutter Toronto Maple Leafs: Doug Carpenter
Smythe Division Calgary Flames: Terry Crisp Edmonton Oilers: John Muckler Los Angeles Kings: Tom Webster Vancouver Canucks: Bob McCammon Winnipeg Jets: Bob Murdoch
Milestones
This season would be the last the Toronto Maple Leafs would play under the 29 year ownership of Harold Ballard as a result of his death in April 1990 and the subsequent sale of the franchise.
Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1989–90 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): Wes Walz, Boston Bruins Alexander Mogilny, Buffalo Sabres Rob Ray, Buffalo Sabres Donald Audette*, Buffalo Sabres Sergei Makarov, Calgary Flames Rob Blake, Los Angeles Kings Helmut Balderis, Minnesota North Stars Mike Modano, Minnesota North Stars Andrew Cassels, Montreal Canadiens Lyle Odelein, Montreal Canadiens Vyacheslav Fetisov, New Jersey Devils Alexei Kasatonov, New Jersey Devils Murray Baron, Philadelphia Flyers Curtis Joseph, St. Louis Blues Tie Domi, Toronto Maple Leafs Vladimir Krutov, Vancouver Canucks Igor Larionov, Vancouver Canucks Olaf Kolzig, Washington Capitals
Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1989–90 (listed with their last team): Reed Larson, Buffalo Sabres Al Secord, Chicago Blackhawks Bob Murray, Chicago Blackhawks Duane Sutter, Chicago Blackhawks Bernie Federko, Detroit Red Wings Borje Salming, Detroit Red Wings Reijo Ruotsalainen, Edmonton Oilers Barry Beck, Los Angeles Kings Helmut Balderis, Minnesota North Stars Curt Fraser, Minnesota North Stars Mark Johnson, New Jersey Devils Ron Greschner, New York Rangers Doug Smith, Pittsburgh Penguins Vladimir Krutov, Vancouver Canucks Paul Reinhart, Vancouver Canucks Doug Wickenheiser, Washington Capitals
Broadcasting This was the second 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 also the second season of the league's U.S. national broadcast rights deal SportsChannel America, with up to three regular season games a week and coverage of the playoffs. Meanwhile, NBC agreed to televise the All-Star Game, reportedly wanting to test the appeal of hockey.
See also List of Stanley Cup champions 1989 NHL entry draft 1989-90 NHL transactions 41st National Hockey League All-Star Game National Hockey League All-Star Game NHL All-Rookie Team 1989 in sports 1990 in sports
Notes
References
Notes
External links Hockey Database