The 1994–95 NHL season was the 78th regular season of the National Hockey League. The teams played a shortened season, due to a lockout of the players by the owners. In addition, the NHL All-Star Game, which had been scheduled to take place January 20–21, 1995, in San Jose, California, was canceled. San Jose was eventually selected as the venue for the 1997 NHL All-Star Game.
The Hartford Whalers were purchased by Peter Karmanos.
This was the last season in Quebec City for the Quebec Nordiques, as they announced that they would move to Denver after the season and become the Colorado Avalanche.
It was the first season with games televised by Fox, which they would do until the end of the 1998–99 season. It marked the first major American broadcast agreement for the NHL since 1975. Fox split Stanley Cup Finals games with ESPN.
The regular season was shortened because of a 103-day lockout, which ended on January 11, 1995. The season finally got underway nine days later.
The Boston Bruins played their final season at the Boston Garden. They would then move to their current arena, the TD Garden (then named the FleetCenter).
The Vancouver Canucks played their last season at Pacific Coliseum. They would play at GM Place (now known as Rogers Arena) the following year.
The Chicago Blackhawks opened the United Center.
The St. Louis Blues opened the Kiel Center (now the Scottrade Center).
March 10, 1995 – the game between the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings was postponed due to the Guadalupe River flooding, making it impossible for the teams to travel to the San Jose Arena.
Two ice resurfacers would now be required by every arena for the resurfacing between periods.
A coach can call for a stick measurement in overtime, but the request must be made before the winning goal is scored.
Leaving the penalty box to join an altercation on the ice will draw an automatic three-game suspension.
Any severe check from behind will result in a major penalty and game misconduct.
Referees and linesmen would wear numbers instead of nameplates; this restored a practice that had been in use previously from 1955 to 1977.
Due to the 1994–95 NHL lockout, the league shortened the season length from 84 games, the length of the previous two seasons, to 48. Furthermore, the season would last from January 20 to May 3; this was the first and only time in NHL history that the regular season extended into May. Regular-season games would be limited to intra-conference play (Eastern Conference teams did not play Western Conference teams).
Final standings
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast
bold – Qualified for playoffs
Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific
bold – Qualified for playoffs; x – Won division; p – Won Presidents' Trophy
Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
The New Jersey Devils swept the series in the minimum four games. Detroit was making its first appearance in a Stanley Cup Finals since 1966. New Jersey won in its first appearance in a Finals.
During the first three rounds home ice is determined by seeding number, not position on the bracket. In the Finals the team with the better regular season record has home ice.
The NHL Awards presentation took place on July 6, 1995.
Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
Regular season
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1994–95, listed with their first team (asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
Oleg Tverdovsky, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Paul Kariya, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Cory Stillman, Calgary Flames
Eric Daze, Chicago Blackhawks
Jamie Langenbrunner, Dallas Stars
Manny Fernandez, Dallas Stars
Ryan Smyth, Edmonton Oilers
Robert Svehla, Florida Panthers
Marek Malik, Hartford Whalers
Craig Conroy, Montreal Canadiens
Valeri Bure, Montreal Canadiens
Brian Rolston, New Jersey Devils
Sergei Brylin, New Jersey Devils
Tommy Salo, New York Islanders
Radek Bonk, Ottawa Senators
Adam Deadmarsh, Quebec Nordiques
Peter Forsberg, Quebec Nordiques
Jeff Friesen, San Jose Sharks
Viktor Kozlov, San Jose Sharks
Kenny Jonsson, Toronto Maple Leafs
Adrian Aucoin, Vancouver Canucks
Scott Walker, Vancouver Canucks
Jim Carey, Washington Capitals
Sergei Gonchar, Washington Capitals
Nikolai Khabibulin, Winnipeg Jets
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1994–95 (listed with their last team):
Mats Naslund, Boston Bruins
Craig Simpson, Buffalo Sabres
Kelly Kisio, Calgary Flames
Jim Peplinski, Calgary Flames
Dirk Graham, Chicago Blackhawks
Mark Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Mike Krushelnyski, Detroit Red Wings
Kent Nilsson, Edmonton Oilers (The last active player to have been a member of the Atlanta Flames.)
Gaetan Duchesne, Florida Panthers
Mark Osborne, New York Rangers
Steve Larmer, New York Rangers
Sylvain Turgeon, Ottawa Senators
Peter Stastny, St. Louis Blues
Gerard Gallant, Tampa Bay Lightning
Garth Butcher, Toronto Maple Leafs
Rich Sutter, Toronto Maple Leafs
Dave Poulin, Washington Capitals
Thomas Steen, Winnipeg Jets
Trading deadline: April 7, 1995.
April 7, 1995: D Petr Svoboda traded from Buffalo to Philadelphia for D Garry Galley.
April 7, 1995: C Troy Murray and D Norm Maciver traded from Ottawa to Pittsburgh for RW Martin Straka.
April 7, 1995: D Gord Kruppke traded from Toronto to Detroit for other considerations.
April 7, 1995: RW Russ Courtnall traded from Dallas to Vancouver for LW Greg Adams and RW Dan Kesa and Vancouver's fifth round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
April 7, 1995: G Corey Hirsch traded from New York Rangers to Vancouver for C Nathan LaFayette.
April 7, 1995: D Gerald Diduck traded from Vancouver to Chicago for RW Bogdan Savenko and Hartford's third round pick in 1995 Entry Draft (previously acquired).
April 7, 1995: G Rick Tabaracci traded from Washington to Calgary for a conditional fifth round draft pick.
April 7, 1995: LW Gaetan Duchesne traded from San Jose to Florida for Florida's sixth round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
April 7, 1995: G Craig Billington traded from Ottawa to Boston for other considerations.
April 7, 1995: LW Bill Huard traded from Ottawa to Quebec for D Mika Stromberg and Quebec's fourth round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
April 7, 1995: D Daniel Laperriere and St. Louis' ninth round pick in 1995 Entry Draft traded from St. Louis to Ottawa for Ottawa's ninth round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
April 7, 1995: RW Roman Oksiuta traded from Edmonton to Vancouver for D Jiri Slegr.
April 7, 1995: LW Alan May traded from Dallas to Calgary for Calgary's eighth round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
April 7, 1995: C Mike Eastwood and Toronto's third round pick in 1995 Entry Draft traded from Toronto to Winnipeg for RW Tie Domi.
April 7, 1995: D Grant Jennings traded from Pittsburgh to Toronto for D Drake Berehowsky.
April 7, 1995: D Igor Ulanov and C Mike Eagles traded from Winnipeg to Washington for Washington's third and fifth round draft picks in 1995 Entry Draft.
April 7, 1995: Edmonton Oilers trade Scott Pearson to the Buffalo Sabres for Ken Sutton.
April 7, 1995: Pittsburgh Penguins trade Greg Brown to the Winnipeg Jets for a conditional eighth round draft pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
April 7, 1995: New York Rangers trade Ed Olczyk to the Winnipeg Jets for Winnipeg's fifth round pick in 1995 Entry Draft.
April 5, 1995: Montreal Canadiens obtain Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov from the New York Islanders for Kirk Muller, Mathieu Schneider and Craig Darby.
