The 1984–85 NHL season was the 68th season of the National Hockey League. The Edmonton Oilers won their second straight Stanley Cup by beating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to one in the final series.
League business Entry draft The 1984 NHL entry draft was held on June 9, at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. Mario Lemieux was selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Ice officials begin wearing helmets Referee Andy Van Hellemond becomes the first on ice official in league history to wear a helmet. Soon, several officials would follow his lead and wear helmets before it became mandatory for all officials for the 2006–07 season.
Regular season The Philadelphia Flyers had the best record in the NHL, four points ahead of second place Edmonton Oilers. Flyers goaltender Pelle Lindbergh went on to become the first European to win the Vezina Trophy. Oilers' star Wayne Gretzky once again won the Art Ross Trophy by reaching the 200 point plateau for the third time in four years. He also set a new record for assists in a season with 135 and won his sixth straight Hart Memorial Trophy. Mario Lemieux made his NHL debut by scoring 100 points and winning the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year. On October 26, 1984, Paul Coffey of the Edmonton Oilers would be the last defenceman in the 20th century to score four goals in one game. It occurred in a game versus the Detroit Red Wings.Hockey's Book of Firsts, p. 27, James Duplacey, JG Press, .
The last two players active in the 1960s, Butch Goring and Brad Park, retired after the playoffs. Goring was the last active, playing his last playoff game three days after Park's last game.
Final standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes. Teams qualifying for the playoffs shown in bold.
Prince of Wales Conference
Clarence Campbell Conference
Playoffs
Bracket The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. 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.
In the division semifinals, teams competed in a best-of-five series. In the other three rounds, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).
Awards 1985 NHL awards Prince of Wales Trophy:(Wales Conference playoff champion) Philadelphia Flyers Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:(Campbell Conference playoff champion) Edmonton Oilers Art Ross Trophy:(Top scorer, regular season) Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:(Perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication) Anders Hedberg, New York Rangers Calder Memorial Trophy:(Best first-year player) Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins Conn Smythe Trophy:(Most valuable player, playoffs) Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers Frank J. Selke Trophy:(Best defensive forward) Craig Ramsay, Buffalo Sabres Hart Memorial Trophy:(Most valuable player, regular season) Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers Jack Adams Award:(Best coach) Mike Keenan, Philadelphia Flyers James Norris Memorial Trophy:(Best defenceman) Paul Coffey, Edmonton Oilers Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Jari Kurri, Edmonton Oilers Lester B. Pearson Award:(Outstanding player, regular season) Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers NHL Plus/Minus Award:(Player with best plus/minus record) Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers William M. Jennings Trophy:(Goaltender(s) of team(s) with best goaltending record) Tom Barrasso/Bob Sauve, Buffalo Sabres Vezina Trophy:(Best goaltender) Pelle Lindbergh, Philadelphia Flyers
All-Star teams First team Position Second teamPelle Lindbergh, Philadelphia Flyers GoaltenderTom Barrasso, Buffalo SabresPaul Coffey, Edmonton Oilers DefenceRod Langway, Washington CapitalsRay Bourque, Boston Bruins DefenceDoug Wilson, Chicago Black HawksWayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers CentreDale Hawerchuk, Winnipeg JetsJari Kurri, Edmonton Oilers Right wingMike Bossy, New York IslandersJohn Ogrodnick, Detroit Red Wings Left wingJohn Tonelli, New York Islanders
Player statistics
Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers 80 73 135 208 52 Jari Kurri Edmonton Oilers 73 71 64 135 30 Dale Hawerchuk Winnipeg Jets 80 53 77 130 74 Marcel Dionne Los Angeles Kings 80 46 80 126 46 Paul Coffey Edmonton Oilers 80 37 84 121 97 Mike Bossy New York Islanders 76 58 59 117 38 John Ogrodnick Detroit Red Wings 79 55 50 105 30 Denis Savard Chicago Black Hawks 79 38 67 105 56 Bernie Federko St. Louis Blues 76 30 73 103 27 Mike Gartner Washington Capitals 80 50 52 102 71 Source: NHL.
Leading goaltenders Note: GP = Games played; W = Won; L = Lost; T = Tied; GA = Goals allowed; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage Player Team GP W L T GA GAA SO SV% Buffalo Sabres 54 25 18 10 144 2.66 5 .887 Washington Capitals 57 28 20 7 168 2.98 2 .886 Philadelphia Flyers 65 40 17 7 194 3.02 2 .899 Montreal Canadiens 54 26 18 8 167 3.08 1 .876 St. Louis Blues 40 23 12 5 126 3.26 0 .885 Quebec Nordiques 36 19 11 3 111 3.30 1 .877 Calgary Flames 56 30 12 10 183 3.46 1 .888 Boston Bruins 51 19 26 4 172 3.47 1 .868 Quebec Nordiques 29 12 13 4 101 3.49 0 .877 New York Islanders 41 19 17 3 141 3.62 2 .886 DataBase Hockey
Coaches Patrick Division New Jersey Devils: Doug Carpenter New York Islanders: Al Arbour New York Rangers: Herb Brooks and Craig Patrick Philadelphia Flyers: Mike Keenan Pittsburgh Penguins: Bob Berry Washington Capitals: Bryan Murray
Adams Division Boston Bruins: Gerry Cheevers and Harry Sinden Buffalo Sabres: Scotty Bowman Hartford Whalers: Jack Evans Montreal Canadiens: Jacques Lemaire Quebec Nordiques: Michel Bergeron
Norris Division Chicago Black Hawks: Orval Tessier and Bob Pulford Detroit Red Wings: Nick Polano Minnesota North Stars: Glen Sonmor St. Louis Blues: Jacques Demers Toronto Maple Leafs: Dan Maloney
Smythe Division Calgary Flames: Bob Johnson Edmonton Oilers: Glen Sather Los Angeles Kings: Pat Quinn Vancouver Canucks: Bill LaForge and Harry Neale Winnipeg Jets: Barry Long
Milestones
Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1984–85 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): Gino Cavallini, Calgary Flames Joel Otto, Calgary Flames Ed Olczyk, Chicago Black Hawks Marc Bergevin, Chicago Black Hawks Gerard Gallant, Detroit Red Wings Esa Tikkanen*, Edmonton Oilers Steve Smith, Edmonton Oilers Kevin Dineen, Hartford Whalers Ray Ferraro, Hartford Whalers Sylvain Cote, Hartford Whalers Ulf Samuelsson, Hartford Whalers Garry Galley, Los Angeles Kings Patrick Roy, Montreal Canadiens Petr Svoboda, Montreal Canadiens Stephane Richer, Montreal Canadiens Greg Adams, New Jersey Devils Kirk Muller, New Jersey Devils Dave Gagner, New York Rangers Grant Ledyard, New York Rangers Kelly Miller, New York Rangers Tomas Sandstrom, New York Rangers Rick Tocchet, Philadelphia Flyers Doug Bodger, Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins Steve Thomas, Toronto Maple Leafs Todd Gill, Toronto Maple Leafs Al Iafrate, Toronto Maple Leafs Petri Skriko, Vancouver Canucks Kevin Hatcher, Washington Capitals Dave Ellett, Winnipeg Jets
Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1984–85 (listed with their last team): Terry O'Reilly, Boston Bruins Butch Goring, Boston Bruins Craig Ramsay, Buffalo Sabres Jerry Korab, Buffalo Sabres Jim Schoenfeld, Buffalo Sabres Real Cloutier, Buffalo Sabres Bob MacMillan, Chicago Black Hawks Brad Park, Detroit Red Wings Colin Campbell, Detroit Red Wings Darryl Sittler, Detroit Red Wings Ivan Boldirev, Detroit Red Wings Steve Shutt, Los Angeles Kings Paul Holmgren, Minnesota North Stars Pierre Mondou, Montreal Canadiens Anders Hedberg, New York Rangers Robbie Ftorek, New York Rangers Rick Kehoe, Pittsburgh Penguins John Garrett, Vancouver Canucks
Note: Goring and Park were the last two players to have played in the NHL in the 1960s.
Broadcasting This was the first season in more than a decade that CBC was not the lone Canadian national broadcaster. While Molson continued to present Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights, rival brewery Carling O'Keefe began airing Friday night games on CTV. The two networks also split the playoffs and finals. CTV had previously aired HNIC-produced telecasts in the 1960s.
This was the third and final season of the league's U.S. national broadcast rights deal with USA, covering a slate of regular season games and selected playoff games. ESPN then signed a three-year agreement with the league after bidding about twice as much as USA had been paying. USA would not televise the NHL again until after the network was acquired by NBCUniversal in the early 2000s, airing selected playoff games as part of NBC Sports' overall NHL coverage between 2015 and 2021.
See also List of Stanley Cup champions 1984 NHL entry draft 1984–85 NHL transactions 37th National Hockey League All-Star Game National Hockey League All-Star Game NHL All-Rookie Team 1984 Canada Cup 1984 in sports 1985 in sports
References
Notes
External links Hockey Database NHL.com Oiler playoff highlights