1995–96 NHL season

The **1995–96 NHL season** was the 79th regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-six teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalanche. They swept the Florida Panthers in four games. This was the first year the team was named Avalanche.

## 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.

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.

1995–96 would mark the last season the Buffalo Sabres would play in the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, the Flyers at the Spectrum, and Canadiens at the Montreal Forum.

## Regular season

The Detroit Red Wings had a great season, finishing with the second-highest regular-season point total in NHL history (131 points), yet they fell to the Avalanche in the Western Conference final, the sixth game of which marked the beginning of the heated Detroit-Colorado rivalry.

### Final standings

***Note:** W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points_
|Team|W|L|T|GF|GA|Pts||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"|||||||||
|Pittsburgh Penguins|49|29|4|362|284|102||||
|Boston Bruins|40|31|11|282|269|91||||
|Montreal Canadiens|40|32|10|265|248|90||||
|Hartford Whalers|34|39|9|237|259|77||||
|Buffalo Sabres|33|42|7|247|262|73||||
|Ottawa Senators|18|59|5|191|291|41|}|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"|
|Philadelphia Flyers|45|24|13|282|208|103||||
|New York Rangers|41|27|14|272|237|96||||
|Florida Panthers|41|31|10|254|234|92||||
|Washington Capitals|39|32|11|234|204|89||||
|Tampa Bay Lightning|38|32|12|238|248|88||||
|New Jersey Devils|37|33|12|215|202|86||||
|New York Islanders|22|50|10|229|315|54|}|||

|Team|W|L|T|GF|GA|Pts||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"|||||||||
|Detroit Red Wings|62|13|7|325|181|131||||
|Chicago Blackhawks|40|28|14|273|220|94||||
|Toronto Maple Leafs|34|36|12|247|252|80||||
|St. Louis Blues|32|34|16|219|248|80||||
|Winnipeg Jets|36|40|6|275|291|78||||
|Dallas Stars|26|42|14|227|280|66|}|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"|
|Colorado Avalanche|47|25|10|326|240|104||||
|Calgary Flames|34|37|11|241|240|79||||
|Vancouver Canucks|32|35|15|278|278|79||||
|Mighty Ducks of Anaheim|35|39|8|234|247|78||||
|Edmonton Oilers|30|44|8|240|304|68||||
|Los Angeles Kings|24|40|18|256|302|66||||
|San Jose Sharks|20|55|7|252|357|47|}|||

### Scoring leaders

***Note:** GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points_
|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="37.5%"|Player|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30%"|Team|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|GP|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|G|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|A|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="10%"|PTS|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Mario Lemieux|Pittsburgh|70|69|92|161|||||||
|Jaromir Jagr|Pittsburgh|82|62|87|149|||||||
|Joe Sakic|Colorado|82|51|69|120|||||||
|Ron Francis|Pittsburgh|77|27|92|119|||||||
|Peter Forsberg|Colorado|82|30|86|116|||||||
|Eric Lindros|Philadelphia|73|47|68|115|||||||
|Paul Kariya|Anaheim|82|50|58|108|||||||
|Teemu Selanne|Winnipeg/ Anaheim || 79 || 40 || 68 || 108|||||||||||
|Sergei Fedorov|Detroit|78|39|68|107|||||||
|Alexander Mogilny|Vancouver|79|55|52|107|||||||

#### Eastern Conference

|bgcolor="#DDDDDD" colspan="4"|Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"||||
|April 16|Tampa Bay 3|**7 Philadelphia**|||
|April 18|**Tampa Bay 2**|1 Philadelphia|OT||
|April 21|Philadelphia 4|**5 Tampa Bay**|OT||
|April 23|**Philadelphia 4**|1 Tampa Bay|||
|April 25|Tampa Bay 1|**4 Philadelphia**|||
|April 27|**Philadelphia 6**|1 Tampa Bay|||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***Philadelphia wins series 4–2***|}|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"|
|April 17|**Washington 6**|4 Pittsburgh|||
|April 19|**Washington 5**|3 Pittsburgh|||
|April 22|**Pittsburgh 4**|1 Washington|||
|April 24|**Pittsburgh 3**|2 Washington|4 OT||
|April 26|Washington 1|**4 Pittsburgh**|||
|April 28|**Pittsburgh 3**|2 Washington|||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***Pittsburgh wins series 4–2***|}|||
|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"||||
|April 16|**Montreal 3**|2 NY Rangers|OT||
|April 18|**Montreal 5**|3 NY Rangers|||
|April 21|**NY Rangers** 2|1 Montreal|||
|April 23|**NY Rangers 4**|3 Montreal|||
|April 26|Montreal 2|**3 NY Rangers**|||
|April 28|**NY Rangers 5**|3 Montreal|||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***NY Rangers wins series 4–2***|}|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"|
|April 17|Boston 3|**6 Florida**|||
|April 22|Boston 2|**6 Florida**|||
|April 24|**Florida 4**|2 Boston|||
|April 25|Florida 2|**6 Boston**|||
|April 27|Boston 3|**4 Florida**|||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***Florida wins series 4–1***|}|||

#### Western Conference

|bgcolor="#DDDDDD" colspan="4"|Detroit vs. Winnipeg||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"||||
|April 17|Winnipeg 1|**4 Detroit**|||
|April 19|Winnipeg 0|**4 Detroit**|||
|April 21|Detroit 1|**4 Winnipeg**|||
|April 23|**Detroit 6**|1 Winnipeg|||
|April 26|**Winnipeg 3**|1 Detroit|||
|April 28|**Detroit 4**|1 Winnipeg|||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***Detroit wins series 4–2***|}|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"|
|April 16|Vancouver 2|**5 Colorado**|||
|April 18|**Vancouver 5**|4 Colorado|||
|April 20|**Colorado 4**|0 Vancouver|||
|April 22|Colorado 3|**4 Vancouver**|||
|April 25|Vancouver 4|**5 Colorado**|OT||
|April 27|**Colorado 3**|2 Vancouver|||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***Colorado wins series 4–2***|}|||
|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"||||
|April 17|Calgary 1|**4 Chicago**|||
|April 19|Calgary 0|**3 Chicago**|||
|April 21|**Chicago 7**|5 Calgary|||
|April 23|**Chicago 2**|1 Calgary|||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***Chicago wins series 4–0***|}|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"|
|April 16|**St. Louis 3**|1 Toronto|||
|April 18|St. Louis 4|**5 Toronto**|OT||
|April 21|Toronto 2|**3 St. Louis**|OT||
|April 23|Toronto 1|**5 St. Louis**|||
|April 25|St. Louis 4|**5 Toronto**|OT||
|April 27|Toronto 1|**2 St. Louis**|||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***St. Louis wins series 4–2***|}|||

### Conference semifinals

|bgcolor="#DDDDDD" colspan="4"|Florida vs. Philadelphia||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"||||
|May 2|**Florida 2**|0 Philadelphia|||
|May 4|Florida 2|**3 Philadelphia**|||
|May 7|**Philadelphia 3**|1 Florida|||
|May 9|Philadelphia 3|**4 Florida**|OT||
|May 12|**Florida 2**|1 Philadelphia|2OT||
|May 14|Philadelphia 1|**4 Florida**|||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***Florida win series 4–2***|}|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"|
|May 3|NY Rangers 1|**4 Pittsburgh**|||
|May 5|**NY Rangers 6**|3 Pittsburgh|||
|May 7|**Pittsburgh 3**|2 NY Rangers|||
|May 9|**Pittsburgh 4**|1 NY Rangers|||
|May 11|NY Rangers 3|**7 Pittsburgh**|||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***Pittsburgh wins series 4–1***|}|||

|bgcolor="#DDDDDD" colspan="4"|St. Louis vs. Detroit||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"||||
|May 3|St. Louis 2|**3 Detroit**|||
|May 5|St. Louis 3|**8 Detroit**|||
|May 8|Detroit 4|**5 St. Louis**|OT||
|May 10|Detroit 0|**1 St. Louis**|||
|May 12|**St. Louis 3**|2 Detroit|||
|May 14|**Detroit 4**|2 St. Louis|||
|May 16|St. Louis 0|**1 Detroit**|2OT||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***Detroit wins series 4–3***|}|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"|
|May 2|**Chicago 3**|2 Colorado|OT||
|May 4|Chicago 1|**5 Colorado**|||
|May 6|Colorado 3|**4 Chicago**|OT||
|May 8|**Colorado 3**|2 Chicago|3OT||
|May 11|Chicago 1|**4 Colorado**|||
|May 13|**Colorado 4**|3 Chicago|2OT||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***Colorado wins series 4–2***|}|||

### Conference finals

|bgcolor="#DDDDDD" colspan="4"|Florida vs. Pittsburgh||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"||||
|May 18|**Florida 5**|1 Pittsburgh|||
|May 20|Florida 2|**3 Pittsburgh**|||
|May 24|Pittsburgh 2|**5 Florida**|||
|May 26|**Pittsburgh 2**|1 Florida|||
|May 28|Florida 0|**3 Pittsburgh**|||
|May 30|Pittsburgh 3|**4 Florida**|||
|June 1|**Florida 3**|1 Pittsburgh|||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***Florida wins series 4–3 and Prince of Wales Trophy***|}|valign="top"|{| cellpadding="3" border="1"|
|May 19|**Colorado 3**|2 Detroit|OT||
|May 21|**Colorado 3**|0 Detroit|||
|May 23|**Detroit 6**|4 Colorado|||
|May 25|Detroit 2|**4 Colorado**|||
|May 27|Colorado 2|**5 Detroit**|||
|May 29|Detroit 1|**4 Colorado**|||
|align="center" colspan="4"|***Colorado wins series 4–2 and Clarence S. Campbell Bowl***|}|||

### Finals

|bgcolor="#DDDDDD" colspan="6"|Colorado vs. Florida|||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|June 4|Florida|1|**Colorado**|**3**||
|June 6|Florida|1|**Colorado**|**8**||
|June 8|**Colorado**|** 3**|Florida|2||
|June 10|**Colorado**|** 1**|Florida|0|3OT|
|align="center" colspan="6"|***Colorado wins series 4–0 and Stanley Cup***|||||
|align="center" colspan="6"|***Joe Sakic (Colorado) wins Conn Smythe Trophy***|||||

### Scoring leaders

**_Note:** GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points_
|Player|Team|GP|G|A|Pts|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Joe Sakic|Colorado|22|18|16|34|
|Mario Lemieux|Pittsburgh|18|11|16|27|
|Jaromir Jagr|Pittsburgh|18|11|12|23|
|Valeri Kamensky|Colorado|22|10|12|22|
|Peter Forsberg|Colorado|22|10|11|21|
|Petr Nedved|Pittsburgh|18|10|10|20|
|Steve Yzerman|Detroit|18|8|12|20|
|Sergei Fedorov|Detroit|19|2|18|20|
|Sandis Ozolinsh|Colorado|22|5|14|19|
|Dave Lowry|Florida|22|10|7|17|
|Mike Ricci|Colorado|22|6|11|17|
|Adam Deadmarsh|Colorado|22|5|12|17|

## NHL Awards

|Presidents' Trophy:|Detroit Red Wings|
| --- | --- |
|Prince of Wales Trophy:|Florida Panthers|
|Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:|Colorado Avalanche|
|Art Ross Memorial Trophy:|Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins|
|Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:|Gary Roberts, Calgary Flames|
|Calder Memorial Trophy:|Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators|
|Conn Smythe Trophy:|Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche|
|Frank J. Selke Trophy:|Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings|
|Hart Memorial Trophy:|Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins|
|Jack Adams Award:|Scotty Bowman, Detroit Red Wings|
|James Norris Memorial Trophy:|Chris Chelios, Chicago Blackhawks|
|King Clancy Memorial Trophy:|Kris King, Winnipeg Jets|
|Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:|Paul Kariya, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim|
|Lester B. Pearson Award:|Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins|
|NHL Plus/Minus Award:|Vladimir Konstantinov, Detroit Red Wings|
|Vezina Trophy:|Jim Carey, Washington Capitals|
|William M. Jennings Trophy:|Chris Osgood/Mike Vernon, Detroit Red Wings|
|Lester Patrick Trophy:|George Gund, Ken Morrow, Milt Schmidt|

### All-Star teams

|First Team|Position|Second Team||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Jim Carey, Washington Capitals|align=center|G|Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings|
|Chris Chelios, Chicago Blackhawks|align=center|D|Vladimir Konstantinov, Detroit Red Wings|
|Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins|align=center|D|Brian Leetch, New York Rangers|
|Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins|align=center|C|Eric Lindros, Philadelphia Flyers|
|Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins|align=center|RW|Alexander Mogilny, Vancouver Canucks|
|Paul Kariya, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim|align=center|LW|John LeClair, Philadelphia Flyers|

## First games

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1995–96 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):

- Kyle McLaren, Boston Bruins
- Jay McKee, Buffalo Sabres
- Martin Biron, Buffalo Sabres
- Jarome Iginla*, Calgary Flames
- Stephane Yelle, Colorado Avalanche
- Jere Lehtinen, Dallas Stars
- Miroslav Satan, Edmonton Oilers
- Ed Jovanovski, Florida Panthers
- Jeff O'Neill, Hartford Whalers
- Sami Kapanen, Hartford Whalers
- Darcy Tucker, Montreal Canadiens
- Jose Theodore, Montreal Canadiens
- Saku Koivu, Montreal Canadiens
- Patrik Elias, New Jersey Devils
- Petr Sykora, New Jersey Devils
- Steve Sullivan, New Jersey Devils
- Bryan McCabe, New York Islanders
- Todd Bertuzzi, New York Islanders
- Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators
- Daymond Langkow, Tampa Bay Lightning
- Andrew Brunette, Washington Capitals
- Brendan Witt, Washington Capitals

## 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):
- Cam Neely, Boston Bruins
- Alexei Kasatonov, Boston Bruins
- Troy Murray, Colorado Avalanche
- Paul Cavallini, Dallas Stars
- Jimmy Carson, Hartford Whalers
- Glenn Anderson, St. Louis Blues
- Greg Gilbert, St. Louis Blues
- Jim Sandlak, Vancouver Canucks

## 1996 Trading Deadline

- Trading Deadline: MARCH 20, 1996
- March 20, 1996: C Jesse Belanger traded from Florida to Vancouver for Vancouver's 3rd round pick in 1996 Entry Draft and future considerations.
- March 20, 1996: LW Ken Baumgartner traded from Toronto to Anaheim for Winnipeg's 4th round pick in 1996 Entry Draft (previously acquired).
- March 20, 1996: D J-J Daigneault traded from St. Louis to Pittsburgh for Pittsburgh's 6th round pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
- March 20, 1996: LW Kevin Miller traded from San Jose to Pittsburgh for Pittsburgh's 5th round choice in 1996 Entry Draft and future considerations.
- March 20, 1996: LW Pat Conacher and Calgary's 6th round pick in 1997 Entry Draft traded from Calgary to NY Islanders for C Bob Sweeney.
- March 20, 1996: RW Kirk Maltby traded from Edmonton to Detroit for D Dan McGillis.
- March 20, 1996: D Jaroslav Modry and Ottawa's 8th round pick in 1996 Entry Draft traded from Ottawa to Los Angeles for RW Kevin Brown.
- March 20, 1996: LW Patrick Poulin, D Igor Ulanov and Chicago's 2nd round pick in 1996 Entry Draft traded from Chicago to Tampa Bay for D Enrico Ciccone and Tampa Bay's 2nd round pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
- March 20, 1996: LW Yuri Khmylev and Buffalo's 8th round pick in 1996 Entry Draft traded from Buffalo to St. Louis for D Jean-Luc Grand Pierre, Ottawa's 2nd round pick in 1996 Entry Draft (previously acquired) and St. Louis' 3rd round pick in 1997 Entry Draft.
- March 20, 1996: C Dave Hannan traded from Buffalo to Colorado for Colorado's 6th round pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
- March 20, 1996: RW Alek Stojanov traded from Vancouver to Pittsburgh for RW Markus Naslund.
- March 20, 1996: RW Ravil Gusmanov traded from Winnipeg to Chicago for Chicago's 4th round pick in 1996 Entry Draft.
- March 20, 1996: RW Joe Kocur traded from NY Rangers to Vancouver for G Kay Whitmore.

## Other websites

- Hockey Database
- http://nhl.com/

## Infobox (sports season)

- **title**: 1995–96 NHL season
- **league**: National Hockey League
- **sport**: Ice hockey
- **duration**: October 6, 1995 – June 10, 1996
- **draft**: Draft
- **draft link**: 1995 NHL Draft
- **top pick link**: List of first overall NHL draft picks
- **top pick**: Bryan Berard
- **picked by**: Ottawa Senators
- **season**: Regular season
- **season champ name**: Presidents' Trophy
- **season champs**: Detroit Red Wings
- **mvp**: Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins, Penguins)
- **mvp link**: Hart Memorial Trophy
- **top scorer**: Mario Lemieux (Penguins)
- **top scorer link**: Art Ross Trophy
- **playoffs**: Playoffs
- **playoffs link**: 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs
- **finals**: Stanley Cup
- **finals link**: 1996 Stanley Cup Finals
- **finals champ**: Colorado Avalanche
- **finals runner-up**: Florida Panthers
- **playoffs mvp**: Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche, Avalanche)
- **playoffs mvp link**: Conn Smythe Trophy
- **nextseason year**: 1996–97 NHL season, 1996–97
- **prevseason year**: 1994–95 NHL season, 1994–95
- **seasonslistnames**: List of NHL seasons, NHL
- **no of games**: 82
- **no of teams**: 26
- **tv**: Hockey Night in Canada, CBC, TSN Hockey, TSN, La Soirée du hockey, SRC (Canada)
NHL on ESPN, ESPN, NHL on Fox, Fox (United States)