League National Hockey League Presidents' Trophy Chicago Blackhawks Eastern runners-up Boston Bruins Number of games 80 Top scorer Wayne Gretzky Season MVP Brett Hull | Sport Ice hockey Eastern champions Pittsburgh Penguins Champion Pittsburgh Penguins Start date 1990 Number of teams 21 | |
Duration October 4, 1990 – May 25, 1991 Similar 1991–92 NHL season, 1998–99 NHL season, 1980–81 NHL season, 1985–86 NHL season, 1992–93 NHL season | ||
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. This was the last NHL season to end in the month of May.
Contents
League business
At meetings in Florida in December, 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.
Final standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Divisions: PTK – Patrick, ADM – Adams
bold – Qualified for playoffs
Divisions: NRS – Norris, SMY – Smythe
bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy
Playoff bracket
The North Stars defeated the Edmonton Oilers to become the first Norris Division team to appear in the Stanley Cup Finals since the 1981 realignment. At the time a record of 92 playoff games were played, and for the first time since the 1973 playoffs, no team was swept in a playoff series, it would not happen again until the playoffs of 2002.
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
Leading goaltenders
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average
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):
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):