| 1990–91 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 4, 1990 – May 25, 1991 |
| Number of games | 80 |
| Number of teams | 21 |
| TV partner(s) | CBC,TSN,SRC (Canada) SportsChannel America,NBC[a] (United States) |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Owen Nolan |
| Picked by | Quebec Nordiques |
| Regular season | |
| Presidents' Trophy | Chicago Blackhawks |
| SeasonMVP | Brett Hull (Blues) |
| Top scorer | Wayne Gretzky (Kings) |
| Playoffs | |
| PlayoffsMVP | Mario Lemieux (Penguins) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Runners-up | Minnesota North Stars |
| NHL seasons | |
← 1989–90 1991–92 → | |
The1990–91 NHL season was the74thseason of theNational Hockey League. TheStanley Cup winners were thePittsburgh Penguins, who won the best of seven series 4–2 against theMinnesota North Stars to claim their first championship. This was the last NHL season to end in May.
At meetings in Florida on December 6, 1990, the NHL Board of Governors awarded provisional franchises to groups from Ottawa and Tampa. The Ottawa franchise marked a return to one of the original cities of the NHL, while Tampa meant the first franchise in the sunbelt state of Florida. In a later book published by NHL presidentGil Stein, Stein revealed that the two groups were the only ones of the applicants who agreed to the $50 million expansion fee without question.[1] TheOttawa Senators andTampa Bay Lightning began play in the1992–93 season.
The1990 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 16, atBC Place inVancouver,British Columbia.Owen Nolan was selected first overall by theQuebec Nordiques.
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
| 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 |
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 41 | 33 | 6 | 342 | 305 | 88 |
| New York Rangers | 80 | 36 | 31 | 13 | 297 | 265 | 85 |
| Washington Capitals | 80 | 37 | 36 | 7 | 258 | 258 | 81 |
| New Jersey Devils | 80 | 32 | 33 | 15 | 272 | 264 | 79 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 33 | 37 | 10 | 252 | 267 | 76 |
| New York Islanders | 80 | 25 | 45 | 10 | 223 | 290 | 60 |
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Blackhawks | 80 | 49 | 23 | 8 | 284 | 211 | 106 |
| St. Louis Blues | 80 | 47 | 22 | 11 | 310 | 250 | 105 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 34 | 38 | 8 | 273 | 298 | 76 |
| Minnesota North Stars | 80 | 27 | 39 | 14 | 256 | 266 | 68 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 80 | 23 | 46 | 11 | 241 | 318 | 57 |
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 46 | 24 | 10 | 340 | 254 | 102 |
| Calgary Flames | 80 | 46 | 26 | 8 | 344 | 263 | 100 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 37 | 37 | 6 | 272 | 272 | 80 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 80 | 28 | 43 | 9 | 243 | 315 | 65 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 26 | 43 | 11 | 260 | 288 | 63 |
The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. In each round, teams competed in abest-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). In the division semifinals, the fourthseeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. The two winning teams from each division's semifinals then met in the division finals. The two division winners of each conference then played in the conference finals. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.
| Division semifinals | Division finals | Conference finals | Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||
| A1 | Boston | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| A4 | Hartford | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| A1 | Boston | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| A2 | Montreal | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| A2 | Montreal | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| A3 | Buffalo | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| A1 | Boston | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Prince of Wales Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| P4 | New Jersey | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| P3 | Washington | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| P2 | NY Rangers | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| P3 | Washington | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Minnesota | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| N1 | Chicago | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Minnesota | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Minnesota | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| N2 | St. Louis | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| N2 | St. Louis | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| N3 | Detroit | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Minnesota | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Clarence Campbell Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Edmonton | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Los Angeles | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| S4 | Vancouver | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Los Angeles | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Edmonton | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Calgary | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Edmonton | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes, PPG = Powerplay goals, SHG = Shorthanded goals, GWG = Game winning goals
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne Gretzky | Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 41 | 122 | 163 | 16 | +30 | 8 | 0 | 5 |
| Brett Hull | St. Louis Blues | 78 | 86 | 45 | 131 | 22 | +23 | 29 | 0 | 11 |
| Adam Oates | St. Louis Blues | 61 | 25 | 90 | 115 | 29 | +15 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Mark Recchi | Pittsburgh Penguins | 78 | 40 | 73 | 113 | 48 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 9 |
| John Cullen | Pittsburgh Penguins/Hartford Whalers | 78 | 39 | 71 | 110 | 101 | -6 | 14 | 0 | 3 |
| Joe Sakic | Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 48 | 61 | 109 | 24 | -26 | 12 | 3 | 7 |
| Steve Yzerman | Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 51 | 57 | 108 | 34 | -2 | 12 | 6 | 4 |
| Theoren Fleury | Calgary Flames | 79 | 51 | 53 | 104 | 136 | +48 | 9 | 7 | 9 |
| Al MacInnis | Calgary Flames | 78 | 28 | 75 | 103 | 90 | +42 | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| Steve Larmer | Chicago Blackhawks | 80 | 44 | 57 | 101 | 79 | +37 | 17 | 2 | 9 |
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA =Goals against average = SV% = Save percentage
| Player | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Belfour | Chicago Blackhawks | 74 | 4127 | 43 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 2.47 | .910 |
| Tim Cheveldae | Detroit Red Wings | 65 | 3615 | 30 | 26 | 5 | 2 | 3.55 | .875 |
| Bill Ranford | Edmonton Oilers | 60 | 3415 | 27 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 3.2 | .893 |
| Ron Tugnutt | Quebec Nordiques | 56 | 3144 | 12 | 29 | 10 | 0 | 4.05 | .886 |
| Peter Ing | Toronto Maple Leafs | 56 | 3126 | 16 | 29 | 8 | 1 | 3.84 | .883 |
| Jon Casey | Minnesota North Stars | 55 | 3185 | 21 | 20 | 11 | 3 | 2.98 | .891 |
| Bob Essensa | Winnipeg Jets | 55 | 2916 | 19 | 24 | 6 | 4 | 3.15 | .889 |
| Mike Vernon | Calgary Flames | 54 | 3121 | 31 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 3.31 | .878 |
| Glenn Healy | New York Islanders | 53 | 2999 | 18 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 3.32 | .893 |
| Chris Terreri | New Jersey Devils | 53 | 2970 | 24 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 2.91 | .893 |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1990–91 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1990–91 (listed with their last team):
This was the third season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals withTSN andHockey Night in Canada onCBC. Saturday night regular season games continued to air on CBC, while TSN televised selected weeknight games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series.
This was the third and final season of the league's original U.S. national broadcast rights dealSportsChannel America, with up to three regular season games a week and coverage of the playoffs. SportsChannel America then signed a one-year extension for the1991–92 season.[3] Meanwhile,NBC televised the All-Star Game for the second consecutive season.