Start date 1995 Number of teams 26 | Number of games 82 | |
Duration October 5, 1995 – June 10, 1996 Similar 1998–99 NHL season, 1991–92 NHL season, 2001–02 NHL season, 1992–93 NHL season, 2003–04 NHL season | ||
The 1995–96 NHL season was the 79th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalanche, who, in their first year as the Avalanche, swept the Florida Panthers in four games.
Contents
League business
1995–96 was the first season in Denver for the Avalanche, who had relocated from Quebec City where they were previously known as the Quebec Nordiques. Prior to the season, Colorado was assigned to the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They played at McNichols Arena, the building that the New Jersey Devils played in from 1976 to 1982 when they were known as the Colorado Rockies. The Avs would play in that building until they moved to the Pepsi Center in 1999.
It was also the last season of existence for the Winnipeg Jets, as they announced that they would be moving from Manitoba to Arizona and become the Phoenix Coyotes at the season's end. The NHL would not return to Manitoba until the Atlanta Thrashers moved there to become the "new" Winnipeg Jets following the 2010–11 season.
1995–96 would mark the last season the Buffalo Sabres would play in the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, the Philadelphia Flyers at the CoreStates Spectrum, the Senators at the Ottawa Civic Centre, and the Canadiens at the Montreal Forum. The Sabres made their new home at the Marine Midland Arena, the Flyers at the CoreStates Center, the Senators at the Corel Centre, and the Canadiens at the Molson Centre. The two latter arenas opened before the end of this season. With the Montreal Forum closed, The Maple Leaf Gardens was the last remaining arena from the Original Six at the time. The Boston Bruins played their first season at Fleetcenter after spending the last 67 at the old Boston Garden, and the Vancouver Canucks played their first game at General Motors Place.
During the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons, each team played 84 games (including two neutral site games). Starting in the 1995–96 season, the neutral site games were eliminated, which reduced the regular season to 82 games per team.
Regular season
The Detroit Red Wings had a spectacular season, finishing with the second-highest regular-season point total in NHL history (131 points), and setting the NHL record for most wins ever in the regular season (62). However, they fell to the Avalanche in the Western Conference Final, the sixth game of which marked the beginning of the heated Detroit-Colorado rivalry, which would last for years to come. Jaromir Jagr broke the record for assists and points by a right winger in a single season [1]. Mario Lemieux had the NHL's last 150+ point season with 161 points in 70 games. This would be the last season in which at least one player would score at least 60 goals (Jagr and Lemieux) until 2008. The New Jersey Devils became the first team since the 1969–70 Montreal Canadiens to miss the playoffs after winning the Stanley Cup the previous season.
Final standings
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Stanley Cup Final
The Colorado Avalanche swept the final series over the Florida Panthers in the minimum four games. Both teams were making their first appearance in the Final. For Colorado, it followed the team's first season in Denver, Colorado after moving from Quebec City.
Playoff bracket
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
Leading goaltenders
Regular season
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1995–96 (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 1995–96 (listed with their last team):
Trading deadline
Trading deadline: March 20, 1996.