# 1995–96 Hartford Whalers season

The 1995–96 Hartford Whalers season was the 24th season of the franchise, 17th season in the NHL. The Whalers missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

## Off-season

On May 31, the Whalers acquired a fourth round draft pick in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Jan Vopat.
The Whalers participated in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta on July 8. With their first round selection, 13th overall, Hartford selected Jean-Sébastien Giguère from the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Giguere had a record of 14-27-5 with a 3.94 GAA and a .889 save percentage with the Mooseheads during the 1994-95 season. In the fourth round, the club selected Sami Kapanen from HIFK of the SM-liiga. In 49 games, Kapanen scored 14 goals and 42 points. Other notable players the Whalers selected in the draft include Ian MacNeil, Byron Ritchie and Mike Rucinski.
Hartford signed free agent Jeff Daniels on July 18. Daniels played in three games with the Florida Panthers during the 1994-95, earning no points. He played a majority of the season with the Detroit Vipers of the IHL, scoring eight goals and 20 points in 25 games.
On July 27, the Whalers and St. Louis Blues were involved in a blockbuster trade. Hartford acquired Brendan Shanahan from the Blues in exchange for Chris Pronger. In 45 games during the 1994-95 season, Shanahan scored 20 goals and 41 points. Shanahan had back-to-back 50+ goal seasons in 1992-93 and 1993-94. Shanahan was named to the NHL First All-Star Team during the 1993-94 season, as he scored 52 goals and 102 points in 81 games, while accumulating 211 penalty minutes.
The Whalers signed free agent Gerald Diduck on August 24. Diduck split the 1994-95 season between the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks. In 35 games, he scored two goals and five points.
On October 6, the Whalers acquired Nelson Emerson in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Darren Turcotte. In 1994-95, Emerson scored 14 goals and 37 points in 48 games with the Jets. During the 1993-94 season, Emerson scored a career high 33 goals and 74 points in 83 games with Winnipeg. Also, on October 6, at the NHL Waiver Draft, the Whalers selected Jason Muzzatti from the Calgary Flames. Muzzatti had a 10-14-4 record with the Saint John Flames during the 1994-95 season.

## Regular season

Against the Hartford Whalers on March 6, 1996, Chris Osgood became the third goaltender in NHL history to score a goal.
The Whalers were shutout a league-high 8 times during the regular season.

### Final standings

Northeast Division :
| No. | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
| 1 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 49 | 29 | 4 | 362 | 284 | 102 |
| 2 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 40 | 31 | 11 | 282 | 269 | 91 |
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 40 | 32 | 10 | 265 | 248 | 90 |
| 4 | Hartford Whalers | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 237 | 259 | 77 |
| 5 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 247 | 262 | 72 |
| 6 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 18 | 59 | 5 | 191 | 291 | 41 |
Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | Philadelphia Flyers | ATL | 82 | 45 | 24 | 13 | 282 | 208 | 103 |
| 2 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NE | 82 | 49 | 29 | 4 | 362 | 284 | 102 |
| 3 | New York Rangers | ATL | 82 | 41 | 27 | 14 | 272 | 237 | 96 |
| 4 | Florida Panthers | ATL | 82 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 254 | 234 | 92 |
| 5 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 40 | 31 | 11 | 282 | 269 | 91 |
| 6 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 40 | 32 | 10 | 265 | 248 | 90 |
| 7 | Washington Capitals | ATL | 82 | 39 | 32 | 11 | 234 | 204 | 89 |
| 8 | Tampa Bay Lightning | ATL | 82 | 38 | 32 | 12 | 238 | 248 | 88 |
| 9 | New Jersey Devils | ATL | 82 | 37 | 33 | 12 | 215 | 202 | 86 |
| 10 | Hartford Whalers | NE | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 237 | 259 | 77 |
| 11 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 247 | 262 | 73 |
| 12 | New York Islanders | ATL | 82 | 22 | 50 | 10 | 229 | 315 | 54 |
| 13 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 18 | 59 | 5 | 191 | 291 | 41 |
Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast
bold – Qualified for playoffs

## Schedule and results

1995–96 regular season :
October: 4–4–1 (home: 3–2–1; road: 1–2–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
1WOctober 7, 19952–0New York Rangers (1995–96)1–0–015,635Recap
2WOctober 11, 19953–2Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)2–0–08,635Recap
3WOctober 14, 19953–2Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)3–0–015,500Recap
4WOctober 16, 19957–5@ New York Rangers (1995–96)4–0–018,200Recap
5TOctober 20, 19952–2 OTPittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)4–0–115,635Recap
6LOctober 21, 19950–3@ Florida Panthers (1995–96)4–1–112,503Recap
7LOctober 25, 19952–4St. Louis Blues (1995–96)4–2–110,527Recap
8LOctober 27, 19951–4Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)4–3–111,157Recap
9LOctober 28, 19950–3@ Boston Bruins (1995–96)4–4–117,565Recap :
November: 5–7–1 (home: 3–4–0; road: 2–3–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
10LNovember 2, 19950–5Ottawa Senators (1995–96)4–5–110,458Recap
11WNovember 4, 19955–4@ Ottawa Senators (1995–96)5–5–18,794Recap
12LNovember 5, 19951–6@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)5–6–117,218Recap
13WNovember 7, 19957–3San Jose Sharks (1995–96)6–6–18,628Recap
14LNovember 11, 19951–4New York Rangers (1995–96)6–7–115,635Recap
15LNovember 14, 19950–1@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96)6–8–111,916Recap
16WNovember 15, 19953–2Ottawa Senators (1995–96)7–8–17,641Recap
17LNovember 18, 19952–4Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)7–9–113,910Recap
18LNovember 20, 19953–4 OT@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)7–10–116,312Recap
19WNovember 22, 19954–2Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)8–10–111,642Recap
20WNovember 24, 19954–0@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)9–10–115,726Recap
21LNovember 25, 19952–4Washington Capitals (1995–96)9–11–113,108Recap
22TNovember 29, 19952–2 OT@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)9–11–215,203Recap :
December: 2–10–3 (home: 2–3–1; road: 0–7–2)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
23LDecember 1, 19951–2@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)9–12–212,036Recap
24LDecember 2, 19953–5Florida Panthers (1995–96)9–13–210,092Recap
25WDecember 6, 19957–4New York Islanders (1995–96)10–13–28,760Recap
26LDecember 9, 19950–6@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)10–14–216,114Recap
27LDecember 10, 19951–4@ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)10–15–217,955Recap
28LDecember 13, 19952–3Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)10–16–27,547Recap
29WDecember 15, 19954–2Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)11–16–29,826Recap
30TDecember 16, 19953–3 OT@ New York Islanders (1995–96)11–16–38,251Recap
31LDecember 18, 19952–3@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)11–17–316,237Recap
32LDecember 20, 19952–3Calgary Flames (1995–96)11–18–36,563Recap
33TDecember 22, 19953–3 OT@ New York Rangers (1995–96)11–18–418,200Recap
34TDecember 23, 19953–3 OTPhiladelphia Flyers (1995–96)11–18–512,262Recap
35LDecember 28, 19954–9@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)11–19–517,181Recap
36LDecember 30, 19950–3@ Washington Capitals (1995–96)11–20–518,130Recap
37LDecember 31, 19952–3@ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)11–21–519,983Recap :
January: 8–4–1 (home: 4–0–1; road: 4–4–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
38WJanuary 3, 19962–0Washington Capitals (1995–96)12–21–58,087Recap
39WJanuary 5, 19964–2Ottawa Senators (1995–96)13–21–512,239Recap
40LJanuary 6, 19962–5@ Boston Bruins (1995–96)13–22–517,565Recap
41WJanuary 9, 19965–1@ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)14–22–59,702Recap
42LJanuary 10, 19962–3 OT@ Calgary Flames (1995–96)14–23–516,469Recap
43WJanuary 12, 19963–2@ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)15–23–59,709Recap
44WJanuary 16, 19963–0Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)16–23–511,124Recap
45WJanuary 17, 19966–3@ New York Islanders (1995–96)17–23–58,544Recap
46LJanuary 24, 19962–4@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)17–24–512,808Recap
47WJanuary 25, 19968–2Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)18–24–513,757Recap
48TJanuary 27, 19964–4 OTNew Jersey Devils (1995–96)18–24–615,635Recap
49LJanuary 30, 19962–8@ San Jose Sharks (1995–96)18–25–617,190Recap
50WJanuary 31, 19966–4@ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)19–25–611,775Recap :
February: 6–3–1 (home: 2–2–1; road: 4–1–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
51WFebruary 2, 19964–3@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)20–25–617,174Recap
52WFebruary 7, 19965–3@ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)21–25–616,758Recap
53WFebruary 9, 19963–2 OT@ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)22–25–616,061Recap
54WFebruary 11, 19965–3@ Dallas Stars (1995–96)23–25–615,397Recap
55LFebruary 14, 19960–3Boston Bruins (1995–96)23–26–615,635Recap
56WFebruary 17, 19962–1 OTBuffalo Sabres (1995–96)24–26–615,291Recap
57WFebruary 21, 19965–3Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)25–26–614,311Recap
58LFebruary 23, 19964–5@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)25–27–617,235Recap
59LFebruary 25, 19962–6Dallas Stars (1995–96)25–28–611,143Recap
60TFebruary 28, 19964–4 OTEdmonton Oilers (1995–96)25–28–79,360Recap :
March: 6–6–2 (home: 6–3–0; road: 0–3–2)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
61LMarch 1, 19962–5Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)25–29–711,552Recap
62WMarch 2, 19967–1Florida Panthers (1995–96)26–29–711,935Recap
63LMarch 6, 19962–4Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)26–30–711,252Recap
64WMarch 8, 19967–4Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)27–30–710,979Recap
65LMarch 9, 19963–6@ St. Louis Blues (1995–96)27–31–720,803Recap
66WMarch 13, 19963–2Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)28–31–711,850Recap
67WMarch 16, 19962–1Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)29–31–713,213Recap
68WMarch 18, 19966–3Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)30–31–711,440Recap
69LMarch 20, 19962–3@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)30–32–721,255Recap
70TMarch 22, 19961–1 OT@ Ottawa Senators (1995–96)30–32–813,596Recap
71TMarch 23, 19962–2 OT@ Washington Capitals (1995–96)30–32–918,130Recap
72LMarch 25, 19960–3@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)30–33–917,380Recap
73LMarch 27, 19965–6 OTBoston Bruins (1995–96)30–34–913,884Recap
74WMarch 30, 19963–1New York Islanders (1995–96)31–34–913,628Recap :
April: 3–5–0 (home: 2–1–0; road: 1–4–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
75LApril 1, 19962–3@ Florida Panthers (1995–96)31–35–913,159Recap
76LApril 3, 19962–4@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)31–36–922,576Recap
77WApril 4, 19961–0@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96)32–36–917,757Recap
78LApril 6, 19963–6New Jersey Devils (1995–96)32–37–913,521Recap
79WApril 8, 19965–4Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)33–37–912,683Recap
80LApril 11, 19962–3@ Boston Bruins (1995–96)33–38–917,565Recap
81WApril 13, 19962–0Boston Bruins (1995–96)34–38–915,635Recap
82LApril 14, 19961–4@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)34–39–916,230Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Scoring

* Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
* † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 94 | Brendan Shanahan | LW | 74 | 44 | 34 | 78 | 2 | 125 |
| 8 | Geoff Sanderson | LW | 81 | 34 | 31 | 65 | 0 | 40 |
| 21 | Andrew Cassels | C | 81 | 20 | 43 | 63 | 8 | 39 |
| 16 | Nelson Emerson | RW | 81 | 29 | 29 | 58 | −7 | 78 |
| 13 | Andrei Nikolishin | C | 61 | 14 | 37 | 51 | −2 | 34 |
| 18 | Robert Kron | LW | 77 | 22 | 28 | 50 | −1 | 6 |
| 27 | Jeff Brown† | D | 48 | 7 | 31 | 38 | 2 | 38 |
| 28 | Paul Ranheim | LW | 73 | 10 | 20 | 30 | −2 | 14 |
| 92 | Jeff O'Neill | RW | 65 | 8 | 19 | 27 | −3 | 40 |
| 20 | Glen Wesley | D | 68 | 8 | 16 | 24 | −9 | 88 |
| 12 | Steven Rice | RW | 59 | 10 | 12 | 22 | −4 | 47 |
| 6 | Adam Burt | D | 78 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 121 |
| 36 | Glen Featherstone | D | 68 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 138 |
| 4 | Gerald Diduck | D | 79 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 88 |
| 24 | Sami Kapanen | RW | 35 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 6 |
| 10 | Brad McCrimmon | D | 58 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 62 |
| 11 | Kevin Dineen† | RW | 20 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 67 |
| 22 | Mark Janssens | C | 81 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −13 | 155 |
| 4 | Frantisek Kucera‡ | D | 30 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −3 | 10 |
| 15 | Scott Daniels | LW | 53 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −4 | 254 |
| 39 | Kelly Chase | RW | 55 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −4 | 230 |
| 1 | Sean Burke | G | 66 | 0 | 6 | 6 | | 16 |
| 32 | Steve Martins | C | 23 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −3 | 8 |
| 7 | Brian Glynn | D | 54 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −15 | 44 |
| 14 | Kevin Smyth | LW | 21 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −5 | 8 |
| 26 | Jocelyn Lemieux‡ | RW | 29 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −11 | 31 |
| 33 | Jimmy Carson‡ | C | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Alexander Godynyuk | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| 23 | Marek Malik | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 4 |
| 25 | Jason McBain | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| 29 | Jason Muzzatti | G | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 33 |
| 35 | Jeff Reese‡ | G | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |

### Goaltending

* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.
| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 1 | Sean Burke | 66 | 28 | 28 | 6 | 2034 | 190 | 3.11 | .907 | 4 | 3669 |
| 29 | Jason Muzzatti | 22 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 551 | 49 | 2.90 | .911 | 1 | 1013 |
| 35 | Jeff Reese‡ | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 170 | 14 | 3.06 | .918 | 1 | 275 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Brendan Shanahan |
| Team | Award of Excellence | Brad McCrimmon |
| Team | Booster Club MVP Award | Sean Burke |
| Team | Frank Keys Memorial Award | Brad McCrimmon |
| Team | Mark Kravitz Award | Sean Burke |
| Team | Most Valuable Defenseman | Jeff Brown |
| Team | Three Star Award of Excellence | Sean Burke |
| Team | Top Gun Award | Brendan Shanahan |
| Team | True Grit Award | Nelson Emerson |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Jeff O'Neill | October 7, 1995 |
| First game | Steve Martins | December 6, 1995 |
| First game | Sami Kapanen | December 13, 1995 |
| First game | Jason McBain | April 11, 1996 |

## Transactions

The Whalers were involved in the following transactions during the 1995–96 season.

### Trades

| May 31, 1995 | To Los Angeles KingsJan Vopat | To Hartford Whalers4th round pick in 1995 - Ian MacNeil |
| July 27, 1995 | To St. Louis BluesChris Pronger | To Hartford WhalersBrendan Shanahan |
| October 6, 1995 | To Winnipeg JetsDarren Turcotte | To Hartford WhalersNelson Emerson |
| November 29, 1995 | To Dallas StarsRobert Petrovicky | To Hartford WhalersDan Kesa |
| December 1, 1995 | To Tampa Bay LightningJeff Reese | To Hartford Whalers9th round pick in 1996 - Askhat Rakhmatulin |
| December 19, 1995 | To New Jersey DevilsJocelyn Lemieux 2nd round pick in 1998 - John Erskine | To Hartford WhalersJim Dowd 2nd round pick in 1997 - Dmitri Kokorev |
| December 19, 1995 | To Vancouver CanucksJim Dowd Frantisek Kucera 2nd round pick in 1997 - Ryan Bonni | To Hartford WhalersJeff Brown 3rd round pick in 1998 - Paul Manning |
| December 28, 1995 | To Philadelphia Flyers3rd round pick in 1997 - Kris Mallette 7th round pick in 1997 - Andrew Merrick | To Hartford WhalersKevin Dineen |

### Waivers

| October 6, 1995 | From Calgary FlamesJason Muzzatti |

### Free agents

| Player | Former Team |
| Jeff Daniels | Detroit Vipers (IHL) |
| Gerald Diduck | Chicago Blackhawks |
| David Williams | Anaheim Mighty Ducks |
| Player | New Team |
| Jeff Bloemberg | Detroit Red Wings |
| Jim Sandlak | Vancouver Canucks |

## Draft picks

Hartford's picks at the 1995 NHL entry draft held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 13 | Jean-Sebastien Giguere | Goaltender | Canada | Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) |
| 2 | 35 | Sergei Fedotov | Defense | Russia | Dynamo Moscow (Russia) |
| 4 | 85 | Ian MacNeil | Center | Canada | Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| 4 | 87 | Sami Kapanen | Right wing | Finland | HIFK (Finland) |
| 5 | 113 | Hugh Hamilton | Defense | Canada | Spokane Chiefs (WHL) |
| 7 | 165 | Byron Ritchie | Center | Canada | Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL) |
| 8 | 191 | Milan Kostolny | Right wing | Slovakia | Detroit Junior Red Wings (OHL) |
| 9 | 217 | Mike Rucinski | Defense | United States | Detroit Junior Red Wings (OHL) |