2000–01 NHL season

Updated on Sep 25, 2024

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League National Hockey League Presidents' Trophy Colorado Avalanche Eastern runners-up Pittsburgh Penguins Dates 4 Oct 2000 – 9 Jun 2001 Number of teams 30		Sport Ice hockey Eastern champions New Jersey Devils Champion Colorado Avalanche Number of games 82

Duration October 4, 2000 – June 9, 2001 Top scorer Jaromír Jágr (Pittsburgh Penguins) Season MVP Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche) Similar 1998–99 NHL season, 2003–04 NHL season, 1991–92 NHL season, 2005–06 NHL season, 2004–05 NHL season

The 2000–01 NHL season was the 84th regular season of the National Hockey League. Thirty teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalanche, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the New Jersey Devils. The focus of Colorado's Stanley Cup run was on star defenseman Ray Bourque, who was on a quest to win his first Stanley Cup championship in his illustrious 22-year career.

League business

Two expansion teams, the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets, joined the league at the beginning of the season, increasing the number of NHL teams to 30. The Blue Jackets would join the Central Division, while the Wild would join the Northwest Division. This divisional alignment would remain static until the 2013–14 season. This was the first time the NHL would have a team in Minnesota since the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas, Texas, and the first time for Ohio since the Cleveland Barons coincidentally merged with the North Stars.

The Dallas Stars played their final season at the Reunion Arena before moving to their new home in 2001.

Regular season

On December 27, 2000, Mario Lemieux returned from his three-and-a-half-year retirement and, in a game nationally televised on Hockey Night in Canada, registered his first assist 33 seconds into the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He went on to add a goal and finish with three points, solidifying his return and bringing a struggling Jaromir Jagr back to his elite status, who went on to win his fourth straight Art Ross Trophy, narrowly surpassing Joe Sakic. Despite playing in only 43 games in 2000–01, Lemieux scored 76 points to finish 26th in scoring, finishing the season with the highest points-per-game average that season among NHL players. Lemieux was one of the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award.

The record for most shutouts in a season (set at 160 in 1997–98 and equalled in 1998–99) was eclipsed, as 186 shutouts were recorded.

Eastern Conference

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL=Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z- Clinched Conference; Y- Clinched Division; X- Clinched Playoff spot

Tiebreakersand teams with more points than 3rd place:

Carolina clinched the 8th seed over Boston because of more wins 38 to 36 In favor of Carolina

Philadelphia and Buffalo finished with more points than Washington but were behind them because Washington won the Southeast Division.

the standings according to wins would be like this

1 New Jersey (48) 2 Buffalo (46) 3 Philadelphia (43) 4 Pittsburgh (42) 5th Tied between Washington and Ottawa, Ottawa would be 5th because of more points and Washington 6th 7th Carolina (38) 8 Toronto (37) 9 Boston (36) 10 NY Rangers (33) 11 Montreal (28) 12 Tampa bay (24) 13 Atlanta (23) 14 Florida (22) 15 NY islanders (21)

Western Conference

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific, NW – Northwest

bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy; y – Won division

Playoffs

The 2001 Playoffs saw many surprises, most notably when the upstart Los Angeles Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings. The Washington Capitals, another Stanley Cup favorite, were knocked out in the first round by their longtime rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The darkhorse Penguins (aided by Mario Lemieux's return) made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final, where they were dispatched in five games by the New Jersey Devils.

Playoff bracket

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.