# 1990–91 Hartford Whalers season

The 1990–91 Hartford Whalers season was the franchise's 19th season, 12th in the NHL. The Whalers placed fourth in the Adams Division to qualify for the playoffs. The Whalers were eliminated in the first round by their New England rival Boston Bruins.

## Offseason

At the 1990 NHL Supplemental Draft held on June 15, the Whalers selected Jim Crozier with the 19th selection. Crozier played the 1989–90 season with Cornell University. In 16 games with the Big Red, Crozier posted a 10-3-1 record with a 2.63 GAA.
On June 16, 1990, the Whalers participated at the 1990 NHL Entry Draft held at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. With the 15th overall selection, the club selected Mark Greig from the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League. In 65 games with the Hurricanes, Greig scored 55 goals and 135 points in 1989-90. In the second round of the draft, Hartford selected Geoff Sanderson from the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL with the 36th overall selection. Sanderson scored 32 goals and 94 points in 70 games with the Broncos during the 1989-90 season. Some other notable players selected by Hartford include Mike Lenarduzzi, Jergus Baca, and Espen Knutsen.
The Whalers and New York Rangers made a trade on July 7, as Hartford acquired Carey Wilson and a third round selection in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Jody Hull. In 41 games with the Rangers during the 1989-90 season, Wilson scored nine goals and 26 points. Wilson had previously played with the Whalers from 1987 to 1989, where in 70 games, he scored 29 goals and 60 points.
On July 16, the Whalers signed free agent John Stevens to a contract. Stevens spent the 1989-90 season with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, where he scored three goals, 13 points, and accumulated 193 penalty minutes in 79 games. Stevens had previous NHL experience, as he appeared in nine games with the Philadelphia Flyers from 1986 to 1988.
On September 30, the club signed free agent Paul Cyr from the New York Rangers. Cyr missed the entire 1989-90 due to injuries, and played in only one game during the 1988-89 season. In his last healthy season in 1987-88, split between the Buffalo Sabres and the Rangers, Cyr scored five goals and 19 points in 60 games. Also on this day, the Whalers acquired a sixth round draft pick at the 1992 NHL Entry Draft from the Washington Capitals in exchange for Dave Tippett.
Four days later, on October 3, the Whalers made a second trade with the Washington Capitals, as Hartford acquired cash considerations from Washington in exchange for Joel Quenneville.

## Regular season

The Whalers had the most power-play opportunities during the regular season, with 403.

### Final standings

Adams Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Boston Bruins | 80 | 44 | 24 | 12 | 299 | 264 | 100 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 80 | 39 | 30 | 11 | 273 | 249 | 89 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 31 | 30 | 19 | 292 | 278 | 81 |
| Hartford Whalers | 80 | 31 | 38 | 11 | 238 | 276 | 73 |
| Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 16 | 50 | 14 | 236 | 354 | 46 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Wales Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | Boston Bruins | ADM | 80 | 44 | 24 | 12 | 299 | 264 | 100 |
| 2 | Montreal Canadiens | ADM | 80 | 39 | 30 | 11 | 273 | 249 | 89 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | PTK | 80 | 41 | 33 | 6 | 342 | 305 | 88 |
| 4 | New York Rangers | PTK | 80 | 36 | 31 | 13 | 297 | 265 | 85 |
| 5 | Washington Capitals | PTK | 80 | 37 | 36 | 7 | 258 | 258 | 81 |
| 6 | Buffalo Sabres | ADM | 80 | 31 | 30 | 19 | 292 | 278 | 81 |
| 7 | New Jersey Devils | PTK | 80 | 32 | 33 | 15 | 272 | 264 | 79 |
| 8 | Philadelphia Flyers | PTK | 80 | 33 | 37 | 10 | 252 | 267 | 76 |
| 9 | Hartford Whalers | ADM | 80 | 31 | 38 | 11 | 238 | 276 | 73 |
| 10 | New York Islanders | PTK | 80 | 25 | 45 | 10 | 223 | 290 | 60 |
| 11 | Quebec Nordiques | ADM | 80 | 16 | 50 | 14 | 236 | 354 | 46 |
Divisions: PTK – Patrick, ADM – Adams
bold – Qualified for playoffs

## Schedule and results

1990–91 regular season :
October
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
1TOctober 4, 19903–3 OTQuebec Nordiques (1990–91)0–0–1
2WOctober 6, 19905–4New York Rangers (1990–91)1–0–1
3LOctober 8, 19903–5@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)1–1–1
4WOctober 10, 19904–3Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)2–1–1
5LOctober 12, 19902–4@ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)2–2–1
6WOctober 13, 19905–2Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)3–2–1
7TOctober 16, 19901–1 OT@ Quebec Nordiques (1990–91)3–2–2
8WOctober 17, 19903–1@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)4–2–2
9LOctober 19, 19902–5@ Los Angeles Kings (1990–91)4–3–2
10LOctober 24, 19900–3@ Minnesota North Stars (1990–91)4–4–2
11LOctober 27, 19902–4Vancouver Canucks (1990–91)4–5–2
12LOctober 28, 19900–5@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)4–6–2
13LOctober 31, 19902–4Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)4–7–2 :
November
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
14LNovember 3, 19901–4St. Louis Blues (1990–91)4–8–2
15TNovember 6, 19901–1 OTChicago Blackhawks (1990–91)4–8–3
16LNovember 9, 19904–5@ Winnipeg Jets (1990–91)4–9–3
17WNovember 10, 19903–2 OT@ Minnesota North Stars (1990–91)5–9–3
18WNovember 14, 19903–1Boston Bruins (1990–91)6–9–3
19WNovember 15, 19904–2@ New Jersey Devils (1990–91)7–9–3
20WNovember 17, 19904–2Washington Capitals (1990–91)8–9–3
21TNovember 21, 19904–4 OTQuebec Nordiques (1990–91)8–9–4
22WNovember 23, 19904–3@ Boston Bruins (1990–91)9–9–4
23LNovember 24, 19903–4Boston Bruins (1990–91)9–10–4
24LNovember 28, 19903–4Quebec Nordiques (1990–91)9–11–4
25WNovember 29, 19906–4@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)10–11–4 :
December
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
26LDecember 1, 19902–4Edmonton Oilers (1990–91)10–12–4
27WDecember 3, 19904–2@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)11–12–4
28LDecember 5, 19903–4Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)11–13–4
29WDecember 7, 19904–3 OT@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)12–13–4
30WDecember 8, 19903–1Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)13–13–4
31LDecember 12, 19901–5Boston Bruins (1990–91)13–14–4
32LDecember 13, 19902–8@ Boston Bruins (1990–91)13–15–4
33WDecember 15, 19903–2@ Washington Capitals (1990–91)14–15–4
34LDecember 18, 19903–4 OTBuffalo Sabres (1990–91)14–16–4
35LDecember 20, 19902–4@ New York Islanders (1990–91)14–17–4
36WDecember 22, 19901–0Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91)15–17–4
37LDecember 23, 19902–5Minnesota North Stars (1990–91)15–18–4
38WDecember 26, 19904–1@ Quebec Nordiques (1990–91)16–18–4
39LDecember 29, 19902–8@ Calgary Flames (1990–91)16–19–4
40LDecember 30, 19903–4@ Edmonton Oilers (1990–91)16–20–4 :
January
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
41WJanuary 2, 19915–2Vancouver Canucks (1990–91)17–20–4
42WJanuary 5, 19914–3Winnipeg Jets (1990–91)18–20–4
43LJanuary 8, 19913–4 OT@ Los Angeles Kings (1990–91)18–21–4
44WJanuary 10, 19915–4@ Vancouver Canucks (1990–91)19–21–4
45TJanuary 12, 19912–2 OT@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)19–21–5
46LJanuary 13, 19913–4@ New York Rangers (1990–91)19–22–5
47WJanuary 16, 19914–3Los Angeles Kings (1990–91)20–22–5
48WJanuary 23, 19915–4Calgary Flames (1990–91)21–22–5
49LJanuary 24, 19910–3@ Boston Bruins (1990–91)21–23–5
50WJanuary 26, 19915–3Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91)22–23–5
51LJanuary 29, 19911–8New York Islanders (1990–91)22–24–5
52LJanuary 31, 19913–4 OT@ St. Louis Blues (1990–91)22–25–5 :
February
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
53WFebruary 2, 19912–0@ Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91)23–25–5
54TFebruary 3, 19911–1 OT@ New York Islanders (1990–91)23–25–6
55WFebruary 6, 19915–1Edmonton Oilers (1990–91)24–25–6
56LFebruary 9, 19912–5Calgary Flames (1990–91)24–26–6
57WFebruary 10, 19913–1Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)25–26–6
58WFebruary 13, 19916–2Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)26–26–6
59LFebruary 15, 19913–5@ New York Rangers (1990–91)26–27–6
60WFebruary 16, 19912–1@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)27–27–6
61WFebruary 20, 19915–3Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)28–27–6
62LFebruary 23, 19914–5Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)28–28–6
63TFebruary 24, 19915–5 OT@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)28–28–7
64LFebruary 26, 19914–5@ Winnipeg Jets (1990–91)28–29–7
65LFebruary 28, 19913–6@ Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)28–30–7 :
March
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
66TMarch 2, 19913–3 OT@ Quebec Nordiques (1990–91)28–30–8
67TMarch 3, 19914–4 OTToronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)28–30–9
68LMarch 5, 19911–4St. Louis Blues (1990–91)28–31–9
69LMarch 9, 19912–5Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)28–32–9
70LMarch 10, 19911–2Quebec Nordiques (1990–91)28–33–9
71WMarch 12, 19913–2@ Washington Capitals (1990–91)29–33–9
72WMarch 14, 19914–2Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)30–33–9
73WMarch 16, 19916–2New Jersey Devils (1990–91)31–33–9
74LMarch 17, 19911–6@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)31–34–9
75TMarch 19, 19911–1 OTBoston Bruins (1990–91)31–34–10
76LMarch 23, 19913–7@ Quebec Nordiques (1990–91)31–35–10
77LMarch 25, 19912–3 OT@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)31–36–10
78LMarch 27, 19913–4 OT@ New Jersey Devils (1990–91)31–37–10
79TMarch 30, 19915–5 OTBuffalo Sabres (1990–91)31–37–11
80LMarch 31, 19913–7@ Boston Bruins (1990–91)31–38–11 :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## Playoffs
### Bruins 4, Whalers 2
#### Adams Division Semi-finals
##### (1) Boston Bruins vs. (4) Hartford Whalers

* Boston wins series 4 – 2

## Player statistics
### Regular season
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Pat Verbeek | RW | 80 | 43 | 39 | 82 | 246 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 5 |
| Ron Francis | C | 67 | 21 | 55 | 76 | 51 | -2 | 10 | 1 | 6 |
| Kevin Dineen | RW | 61 | 17 | 30 | 47 | 104 | -15 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Bobby Holik | C | 78 | 21 | 22 | 43 | 113 | -3 | 8 | 0 | 3 |
| Rob Brown | RW | 44 | 18 | 24 | 42 | 101 | -7 | 10 | 0 | 2 |
| Brad Shaw | D | 72 | 4 | 28 | 32 | 29 | -10 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Todd Krygier | LW | 72 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 95 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Dean Evason | C | 75 | 6 | 23 | 29 | 170 | -6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Cyr | LW | 70 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 107 | -8 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Carey Wilson | C | 45 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 16 | -14 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Doug Crossman | D | 41 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 19 | -13 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ulf Samuelsson | D | 62 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 174 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sylvain Cote | D | 73 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 17 | -17 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| John Cullen | C | 13 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 18 | -6 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Tomlak | C/LW | 64 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 55 | -9 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Scott Young | RW | 34 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 8 | -9 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Randy Cunneyworth | LW | 32 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 49 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mikael Andersson | LW | 41 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Adam Burt | D | 42 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 63 | -4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mark Hunter | RW | 11 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 40 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim McKenzie | LW | 41 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 108 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Ferraro | C | 15 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 18 | -1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Zarley Zalapski | D | 11 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | -7 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Babych | D | 8 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 4 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grant Jennings | D | 44 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 82 | -13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry Yake | C | 19 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ed Kastelic | W | 45 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 211 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Govedaris | LW | 14 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Randy Ladouceur | D | 67 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 118 | -10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Todd Richards | D | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peter Sidorkiewicz | G | 52 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Houda | D | 19 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 41 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yvon Corriveau | LW | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 18 | -8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Tancill | C | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jergus Baca | D | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 14 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michel Picard | LW | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Geoff Sanderson | LW | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Stevens | D | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kay Whitmore | G | 18 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marc Bergevin | D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| James Black | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Chapman | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Greig | RW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ross McKay | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeff Parker | RW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daryl Reaugh | G | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| Peter Sidorkiewicz | 2953 | 52 | 21 | 22 | 7 | 164 | 3.33 | 1 | 1284 | 1120 | .872 |
| Daryl Reaugh | 1010 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 53 | 3.15 | 1 | 479 | 426 | .889 |
| Kay Whitmore | 850 | 18 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 52 | 3.67 | 0 | 379 | 327 | .863 |
| Ross McKay | 35 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5.14 | 0 | 15 | 12 | .800 |
| Team: | 4848 | 80 | 31 | 38 | 11 | 272 | 3.37 | 2 | 2157 | 1885 | .874 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| John Cullen | C | 6 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Hunter | RW | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Pat Verbeek | RW | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 40 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Randy Ladouceur | D | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zarley Zalapski | D | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Dean Evason | C | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brad Shaw | D | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry Yake | C | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sylvain Cote | D | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Todd Krygier | LW | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rob Brown | RW | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Paul Cyr | LW | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Dineen | RW | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peter Sidorkiewicz | G | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Randy Cunneyworth | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Holik | C | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Houda | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim McKenzie | LW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Todd Richards | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Geoff Sanderson | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Tomlak | C/LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| Peter Sidorkiewicz | 359 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 4.01 | 0 | 174 | 150 | .862 |
| Team: | 359 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 4.01 | 0 | 174 | 150 | .862 |
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus-minus PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals;  MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

## Transactions

The Whalers were involved in the following transactions during the 1990–91 season.

### Trades

| July 7, 1990 | To New York RangersJody Hull | To Hartford WhalersCarey Wilson 3rd round pick in 1991 - Michael Nylander |
| September 30, 1990 | To Washington CapitalsDave Tippett | To Hartford Whalers6th round pick in 1992 - Jarrett Reid |
| October 3, 1990 | To Washington CapitalsJoel Quenneville | To Hartford WhalersCash |
| October 11, 1990 | To Montreal CanadiensCash | To Hartford WhalersTodd Richards |
| October 30, 1990 | To New York Islanders5th round pick in 1992 - Ryan Duthie | To Hartford WhalersMarc Bergevin |
| November 13, 1990 | To New York IslandersRay Ferraro | To Hartford WhalersDoug Crossman |
| December 21, 1990 | To Pittsburgh PenguinsScott Young | To Hartford WhalersRob Brown |
| February 20, 1991 | To Detroit Red WingsDoug Crossman | To Hartford WhalersDoug Houda |
| March 4, 1991 | To Pittsburgh PenguinsRon Francis Ulf Samuelsson Grant Jennings | To Hartford WhalersJohn Cullen Zarley Zalapski Jeff Parker |
| March 5, 1991 | To Calgary FlamesCarey Wilson | To Hartford WhalersMark Hunter |

### Free agents

| Player | Former Team |
| John Stevens | Philadelphia Flyers |
| Paul Cyr | New York Rangers |

## Draft picks

Hartford's draft picks at the 1990 NHL Entry Draft held at the BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 15 | Mark Greig | Canada | Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL) |
| 2 | 36 | Geoff Sanderson | Canada | Swift Current Broncos (WHL) |
| 3 | 57 | Mike Lenarduzzi | Canada | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) |
| 4 | 78 | Chris Bright | Canada | Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL) |
| 6 | 120 | Cory Keenan | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHL) |
| 7 | 141 | Jergus Baca | Czechoslovakia | VSZ Košice (Czechoslovakia) |
| 8 | 162 | Martin D'Orsonnens | Canada | Clarkson University (ECAC) |
| 9 | 183 | Corey Osmark | Canada | Nipawin Hawks (SJHL) |
| 10 | 204 | Espen Knutsen | Norway | Vålerenga IF (Norway) |
| 11 | 225 | Tommie Eriksen | Norway | Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) |
| 12 | 246 | Denis Chalifoux | Canada | Laval Titan (QMJHL) |
| S | 20 | Jim Crozier | United States | Cornell University (ECAC) |