1994–95 Quebec Nordiques season

The 1994–95 Quebec Nordiques season was the twenty-third season of operation of the Nordiques and the last season that the team played in Quebec. The Nordiques would finish first over-all in the Eastern Conference, but lost in the first round to the New York Rangers. After the season, the club would be sold and relocated to Denver, Colorado.
==Offseason==
==Regular season==
The Nordiques exploded out of the gate, winning 5 games in a row and 12 of their first 13. Although they were an average team on the road, going just 11–12–1, the Nordiques had the best home record in the league: 19–1–4. Quebec's only defeat at home came on February 27 in a 7-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Penuins. Captain Joe Sakic finished fourth in the league in points (62), Owen Nolan tied for third in the league in goals (30) and finished first in the leage in game-winning goals (8), while Peter Forsberg led all rookies in points (50). Forsberg would go on to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie of the 1994–95 season. The team finished first in scoring in the league with 185 goals and was one of only two Eastern Conference teams to score at least one goal in all of their 48 regular-season games (the Buffalo Sabres were the other team). Quebec went on to finish first in the Eastern Conference with 65 points. The Nordiques tied the Flyers for most hat tricks scored during the regular season, with 6. Owen Nolan had 3, and Wendel Clark, Uwe Krupp and Scott Young each had 1.
===Season standings===
===Game log===
No.	R	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	W	January 21, 1995 	3–1 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)	1–0–0
2 	W	January 24, 1995 	5–1 	Washington Capitals (1994–95) 	2–0–0
3 	W	January 27, 1995 	7–3 	@ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) 	3–0–0
4 	W	January 28, 1995 	2–0 	New York Rangers (1994–95) 	4–0–0
5 	W	January 31, 1995 	5–2 	Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) 	5–0–0
6 	L	February 2, 1995 	4–5 	@ New Jersey Devils (1994–95) 	5–1–0
7 	W	February 4, 1995 	2–0 	New Jersey Devils (1994–95) 	6–1–0
8 	W	February 5, 1995 	3–1 	Hartford Whalers (1994–95) 	7–1–0
9 	W	February 8, 1995 	3–2 	@ Hartford Whalers (1994–95) 	8–1–0
10 	W	February 9, 1995 	4–3 	@ Boston Bruins (1994–95) 	9–1–0
11 	W	February 11, 1995	5–2 	Ottawa Senators (1994–95) 	10–1–0
12 	W	February 14, 1995	3–2 	@ New York Islanders (1994–95) 	11–1–0
13 	W	February 16, 1995	4–2 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)	12–1–0
14 	L	February 18, 1995	2–4 	@ Washington Capitals (1994–95)	12–2–0
15 	W	February 19, 1995	4–1 	@ Florida Panthers (1994–95) 	13–2–0
16 	L	February 21, 1995	4–5 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)	13–3–0
17 	T	February 23, 1995	6–6 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) 	13–3–1
18 	T	February 25, 1995	1–1 OT	Boston Bruins (1994–95) 	13–3–2
19 	L	February 27, 1995	5–7 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) 	13–4–2
20 	W	March 1, 1995 	8–2 	Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) 	14–4–2
21 	T	March 4, 1995 	1–1 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) 	14–4–3
22 	W	March 6, 1995 	6–3 	New Jersey Devils (1994–95) 	15–4–3
23 	W	March 7, 1995 	5–4 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)	16–4–3
24 	L	March 9, 1995 	1–2 	@ Hartford Whalers (1994–95) 	16–5–3
25 	W	March 11, 1995 	2–1 	New York Islanders (1994–95) 	17–5–3
26 	W	March 16, 1995 	3–2 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) 	18–5–3
27 	L	March 18, 1995 	4–5 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) 	18–6–3
28 	W	March 20, 1995 	5–4 OT	Florida Panthers (1994–95) 	19–6–3
29 	W	March 22, 1995 	6–2 	Boston Bruins (1994–95) 	20–6–3
30 	W	March 25, 1995 	2–1 	New York Rangers (1994–95) 	21–6–3
31 	W	March 26, 1995 	11–4 	@ Ottawa Senators (1994–95) 	22–6–3
32 	L	March 28, 1995 	3–5 	@ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) 	22–7–3
33 	W	March 30, 1995 	5–4 	@ New York Rangers (1994–95) 	23–7–3
34 	L	March 31, 1995 	4–6 	@ Washington Capitals (1994–95)	23–8–3
35 	W	April 2, 1995 	7–5 	Ottawa Senators (1994–95) 	24–8–3
36 	L	April 5, 1995 	5–6 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) 	24–9–3
37 	W	April 6, 1995 	3–2 	Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) 	25–9–3
38 	T	April 8, 1995 	2–2 OT	@ Ottawa Senators (1994–95) 	25–9–4
39 	W	April 12, 1995 	4–0 	@ Boston Bruins (1994–95) 	26–9–4
40 	W	April 14, 1995 	5–2 	Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) 	27–9–4
41 	W	April 16, 1995 	4–2 	Washington Capitals (1994–95) 	28–9–4
42 	L	April 18, 1995 	2–5 	@ New York Islanders (1994–95) 	28–10–4
43 	L	April 20, 1995 	2–5 	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)	28–11–4
44 	L	April 22, 1995 	2–4 	@ Florida Panthers (1994–95) 	28–12–4
45 	T	April 26, 1995 	1–1 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) 	28–12–5
46 	W	April 29, 1995 	4–1 	Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) 	29–12–5
47 	L	April 30, 1995 	2–4 	@ New Jersey Devils (1994–95) 	29–13–5
48 	W	May 3, 1995 	4–1 	Hartford Whalers (1994–95) 	30–13–5
==Playoffs==
The Nordiques faced the New York Rangers in the first round of the 1995 NHL Playoffs. On paper, the Nordiques were the clear favorite, since they had a much better record and had won the season series against the Rangers. However, New York's players had more playoff experience, since most of them had been members of the 1994 Stanley Cup champion team. This fact, combined with the Nordiques players' playoff inexperience and inability to maintain their effective power play, proved to be the ultimate factors in the series, as New York defeated Quebec 4 games to 2. Although each team had allowed only 134 goals during the regular season (tied for 9th in the league), it was an offensive series, as 44 goals were scored (25 by New York, 19 by Quebec) over the 6 games. To make things even worse, the following year, they would win the Stanley Cup in their first year in Colorado.
Quebec vs. NY Rangers 	Quebec vs. NY Rangers 	Quebec vs. NY Rangers 	Quebec vs. NY Rangers
Date 	Away 	Home 	
May 6 	NY Rangers 4 	5 Quebec 	
May 8 	NY Rangers 8 	3 Quebec 	
May 10 	Quebec 3 	4 NY Rangers 	
May 12 	Quebec 2 	3 NY Rangers 	OT
May 14 	NY Rangers 2 	4 Quebec 	
May 16 	Quebec 2 	4 NY Rangers 	
NY Rangers wins series 4–2	NY Rangers wins series 4–2	NY Rangers wins series 4–2	NY Rangers wins series 4–2
==Relocation to Colorado==
In the 1994–95 shortened season of 48 games, the Nordiques played well and finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference. However, the team faltered in the postseason and was eliminated in the first round by the defending Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers.
The playoff loss proved to be Quebec's swan song in the NHL as the team's financial troubles increasingly took center stage, even in the face of renewed fan support over the previous three years. Quebec City was by far the smallest market in the NHL, and the second-smallest market in North America to host a big-league team (behind only Green Bay, Wisconsin). The league's Canadian teams (with the exception of Montreal, Toronto, and to a lesser extent, Vancouver) found it difficult to compete in a new age of rising player salaries. This made many of the players concerned about their marketability, especially since the Nords always played in the long shadow of the Canadiens. In addition, most players were skittish about playing in what was virtually a unilingual Francophone city. Then as now, there were no privately-owned English language radio stations in the city, and only one privately-owned English language television station. The only English-language newspaper is a weekly. Unlike in Montreal, public address announcements were given only in French.
Aubut asked for a bailout from Quebec's provincial government. It didn't go through, and in May 1995, shortly after the Nordiques were eliminated from the playoffs, Aubut was forced to sell the team to a group of investors in Denver, Colorado. The franchise was moved to Denver where it was renamed the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche would win the Stanley Cup in their first season after the move, and add another in 2001.
The Nordiques had planned to change their logo, colours, and uniforms for the 1995–96 season, and the new design had already appeared in the Canadian press.
==Player stats==
Regular season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	Pos 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	C 	47	19	43	62 	30 	7 	3 	2 	5
 	C 	47	15	35	50 	16 	17 	3 	0 	3
 	RW 	46	30	19	49 	46 	21 	13 	2 	8
 	RW 	48	18	21	39 	14 	9 	3 	3 	0
 	C 	48	15	21	36 	40 	5 	9 	0 	1
 	LW/D	37	12	18	30 	45 	-1 	5 	0 	0
 	LW 	40	10	20	30 	22 	3 	5 	1 	5
 	C 	47	12	15	27 	33 	14 	0 	1 	1
 	RW 	45	14	10	24 	31 	-4 	1 	0 	3
 	D 	44	6 	17	23 	20 	14 	3 	0 	1
 	RW 	48	9 	8 	17 	56 	16 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	44	2 	13	15 	20 	29 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	48	2 	11	13 	17 	13 	0 	0 	0
 	LW/C	29	4 	8 	12 	41 	5 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	29	3 	9 	12 	106	14 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	20	3 	6 	9 	14 	5 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	40	3 	6 	9 	40 	12 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	35	0 	7 	7 	52 	17 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	14	3 	1 	4 	22 	3 	0 	0 	1
 	LW 	7 	2 	2 	4 	13 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	14	1 	2 	3 	6 	-1 	0 	0 	1
 	RW 	13	1 	2 	3 	2 	1 	0 	0 	1
 	LW 	8 	0 	3 	3 	2 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	40	0 	3 	3 	64 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	32	0 	3 	3 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	11	0 	3 	3 	4 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	9 	0 	3 	3 	6 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	1 	0 	1 	2 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	18	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	Pos 	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	RW 	6 	3	3	6 	2 	3 	0 	1 	0
 	C 	5 	2	4	6 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	6 	2	4	6 	4 	2 	1 	0 	0
 	C 	6 	4	1	5 	0 	-4 	1 	1 	1
 	RW 	6 	2	3	5 	6 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	6 	1	3	4 	8 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	LW/D	6 	1	2	3 	6 	-6 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	6 	1	1	2 	19 	-1 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	6 	1	1	2 	4 	5 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0	2	2 	2 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	0	2	2 	2 	5 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	2 	1	0	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	1	0	1 	2 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	2 	0	1	1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	6 	0	1	1 	0 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	0	1	1 	2 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	0	1	1 	14 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	6 	0	1	1 	2 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	1	1 	4 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	4 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	1 	0	0	0 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	LW/C	5 	0	0	0 	8 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	3 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	1 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Note: Pos = Position; 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==
*April 7, 1995: LW Bill Huard traded from Ottawa to Quebec for D Mika Stromberg and Quebec's fourth round pick in 1995 Entry Draft. NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out
==Awards and records==
* Peter Forsberg, Calder Trophy
* Peter Forsberg, NHL All-Rookie Team
==Draft picks==
===NHL draft===
	= NHL All-Star Players are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career.			= Hall of Famers
Round	Pick	Player 	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1 	12 	Wade Belak (D) 	 	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
1 	22 	Jeff Kealty (D) 	 	Catholic Memorial High School (USA)
3 	35 	Josef Marha (Centre) 	 	Dukla Jihlava (Czech Republic}
3 	72 	Chris Drury (Centre) 	 	Fairfield College Preparatory School (Conn.)
4 	87 	Milan Hejduk (Right wing)	 	HC Pardubice (Czech)
 http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1994e.html
==References==
* Nordiques on Hockey Database
Quebec Nordiques season, 1994–95
Quebec Nordiques season, 1994–95
Category:Quebec Nordiques seasons