The2011–12 NHL season was the95th season of operation (94thseason of play) of theNational Hockey League (NHL). TheLos Angeles Kings defeated theNew Jersey Devils in theStanley Cup Finals four games to two to win the team's first Stanley Cup in their second Stanley Cup Finals appearance; they had lost toMontreal Canadiens in the 1993 Finals.

During the off-season, theAtlanta Thrashers relocated toWinnipeg,Manitoba, to become the "new"Winnipeg Jets (the "old"Winnipeg Jets relocated in 1996 to become theArizona Coyotes). It was the first NHL team relocation since the1997–98 season, when theHartford Whalers relocated to become theCarolina Hurricanes. The league did not change its divisional structure to accommodate the move, and the Jets took the place of the Thrashers in the Southeast Division. In December 2011, the board of governors eventually approved a proposed realignment for thefollowing season, which would result in four conferences with the first two rounds of the playoffs being divisional, but this was rejected by theNHL Players' Association (NHLPA).

It was the fifth consecutive season with games in Europe at the start of the season. The Winter Classic was held on January 2, 2012, inPhiladelphia between thePhiladelphia Flyers and theNew York Rangers. The59th All-Star Game was held atScotiabank Place inOttawa,Ontario, the home arena of theOttawa Senators, on January 29, 2012.

Atlanta Spirit, LLC, which previously owned theAtlanta Thrashers, sold the team toTrue North Sports and Entertainment, who relocated them to the True North-ownedMTS Centre inWinnipeg,Manitoba^[1] and renamed theWinnipeg Jets, after aprevious NHL team in the market. Winnipeg took Atlanta's place in the Southeast Division for 2011–12.^[2]

On June 23, 2011, the NHL announced that the salary cap would be increased by US$4.9 million. As a result, the new salary cap ceiling was set at US$64.3 million while the salary cap floor was US$48.3 million.^[3]

The2011 NHL entry draft was held on June 24–25, 2011, at theXcel Energy Center inSaint Paul, Minnesota.^[4]Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was selected first overall by theEdmonton Oilers.

Several teams announced plans to change their uniforms in the 2011–12 season.^[5]

TheEdmonton Oilers unveiled a new away uniform parallel to their "retro" home uniform used from 1979 to 1996. They retained the navy blue, copper and red uniforms as their alternates.

TheNashville Predators unveiled new home and away uniforms on June 22, complete with the updatedsaber-toothed cat logo. Their use of gold as the home colors marked the first time since1988 that an NHL team wore gold in their home uniforms.

TheFlorida Panthers made minor changes to their home uniform, using red as the primary and relegating navy blue as a trim color.

TheLos Angeles Kings returned to the silver and black motif they used from 1988 to 1998, by designating their alternate home black and silver uniform as a regular uniform and unveiling a new white away uniform with black and silver trim. The purple and black uniform were retained as an alternate uniform.

TheOttawa Senators unveiled a new alternate home uniform based on theoriginal Senators barber pole design. The uniform does not use the Roman centurion logo, instead using an outlined "O" on stripes. The Senators' uniform also had an All-Star Game patch.

ThePittsburgh Penguins promoted their dark blue uniforms, worn during the2011 NHL Winter Classic, as the home alternates, replacing the2008 NHL Winter Classic alternates.

TheTampa Bay Lightning unveiled new home and road uniforms, featuring the simplified lightning logo. Originally the uniforms were simply blue and white, but by popular demand, black was added as a trim color to the uniform numbers, and added the lightning bolt to the pants. The "Bolts" alternate home uniform was retained.

TheToronto Maple Leafs unveiled a new alternate home uniform based on the Leafs uniforms worn during their run to the1967 Stanley Cup title, including the 11-pointmaple leaf logo.

TheWashington Capitals also promoted their 2011 NHL Winter Classic retro uniforms as their road alternates.

The newWinnipeg Jets unveiled uniforms consisting of navy with silver and light blue trim, containing a logo based on theroundel of theRoyal Canadian Air Force; these were significantly different from, but in a similar color scheme to, theoriginal Jets uniforms.

TheNew York Islanders unveiled a new black alternate uniform, featuring the team name above the player's number, a similar template theDallas Stars' uniforms currently use. Speaking of the Stars, they officially retired their alternate away jersey featuring the team crest, instead using their regular away jerseys with the city name and number in front for all 41 road games.

TheNew York Rangers andPhiladelphia Flyers wore special commemorative uniforms for the2012 NHL Winter Classic. The Flyers unveiled theirs on November 21, and is in a classic sweater design in orange featuring black numbers and different striping patterns on the yoke. The Rangers unveiled theirs on November 28, and features a mix of designs used from previous jerseys. The shield logo in front is a variation of the logos used during the 1930s–1940s, while the shoulder, arm and tail striping was taken from the current jersey. Both teams would wear their Winter Classic uniforms again on February 5 and 11 atMadison Square Garden andWells Fargo Center respectively, with the away team wearing the regular uniforms.

In addition several teams sported memorial patches throughout the season; many of these memorials were for related events (see "Off-Season" section below). Unless specified, the patches were seen on the team helmets:

• Anaheim Ducks –Ruslan Salei (24) memorial on uniforms
• Calgary Flames –Harley Hotchkiss (HH) memorial
• Carolina Hurricanes –Josef Vasicek (63) memorial; worn on uniforms
• Dallas Stars –Karlis Skrastins (37) memorial
• Detroit Red Wings –Brad McCrimmon,Ruslan Salei andStefan Liv (BM·RS·SL) memorial; worn on uniforms
• Minnesota Wild –Pavol Demitra (38) andDerek Boogaard (24) memorials
• Nashville Predators –Wade Belak (3) memorial
• New York Islanders – 40th anniversary of the franchise; worn on uniforms
• New York Rangers – Derek Boogaard (94) memorial
• Vancouver Canucks –Rick Rypien (37) memorial
• Winnipeg Jets – Rick Rypien (RR) memorial
• St. Louis Blues – Pavol Demitra andIgor Korolev (38) memorial

Furthermore, a new league-wide rule required that player numbers be displayed on the front of their helmets, as well as on the back.

Even though theNew Jersey Devils and theArizona Coyotes unveiled anniversary logos commemorating their 30th and 15th anniversaries of their respective relocations fromColorado andWinnipeg, they opted not to use them on their uniforms or helmets.

• TheCarolina Hurricanes' home arena,RBC Center, was renamedPNC Arena on March 15, 2012, in recognition ofPNC Financial Services purchasing the US assets ofRBC Bank.
• TheBuffalo Sabres home arena, HSBC Arena, was renamedFirst Niagara Center in recognition ofFirst Niagara Bank's purchase ofHSBC's upstate New York branches.
• TheTampa Bay Lightning's home arena, the St. Pete Times Forum, was renamed theTampa Bay Times Forum on January 1, 2012, in recognition of theSt. Petersburg Times newspaper being renamed to theTampa Bay Times.
• The relocatedWinnipeg Jets moved fromPhilips Arena inAtlanta toMTS Centre inWinnipeg, whereManitoba Telecom Services (MTS) had held the naming rights since the venue opened in 2004.

Boarding

Prior to the 2011–12 season, the Board of Governors unanimously agreed to update and re-word rule 41 involving boarding penalties. The new wording requires the player delivering the check to avoid or minimize contact if the opponent is defenceless.^[6]

Illegal hits to the head

The Board of Governors also approved an update to rule 48 involving illegal checks to the head. The new rule will penalize all hits where the head is the principal point of contact. The previous version of this rule only made checks from the blindside illegal. However, determination if the check is legal will depend on various factors including whether or not the player put himself in a vulnerable position or if the hit was unavoidable. A two-minute minor penalty, or a major penalty in the event the hit was deemed to be deliberate with intent to injure, may be assessed.^[6]

Three young (under 40) "enforcer"-type players died within a four-month span during the off-season. The deaths ofDerek Boogaard,Rick Rypien andWade Belak led to speculation about the effect of fighting on the mental health of players.

Several former NHL players died in the2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash involving theKontinental Hockey League (KHL)Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team inRussia. Those who perished in the plane crash included NHL All-StarPavol Demitra,Alexander Karpovtsev,Igor Korolev,Brad McCrimmon,Karel Rachunek,Ruslan Salei,Karlis Skrastins andJosef Vasicek along with nearly the entire team roster, coaches, and several young prospects.

The four teams going to Europe to open their regular seasons there as part of the NHL Premiere games also played exhibition games against European teams under the banner of NHL Premiere Challenge to close out their pre-seasons. The NHL teams had an overall record of 6–1–0 against the European teams, with the New York Rangers, playing four games in five days in four countries, having a record of 3–1–0.

Four teams participated in the 2011 Compuware NHL Premiere in Europe. TheAnaheim Ducks,Los Angeles Kings andNew York Rangers made their second trip to Europe while theBuffalo Sabres made its first trip. On October 7, Anaheim played Buffalo atHartwall Areena inHelsinki, Finland, and Los Angeles faced New York at theEricsson Globe Arena inStockholm, Sweden. All four teams played again on October 8 with Los Angeles against Buffalo at theO2 World Arena inBerlin, Germany, and Anaheim against New York in Stockholm.^[7]

As part of the league's updated television contract, the NHL debuted theThanksgiving Showdown, a nationally broadcast game on the day afterAmerican Thanksgiving in 2011. The game, which was sponsored byDiscover, featured theBoston Bruins (who have traditionally hostedBlack Friday matinées since 1990) hosting theDetroit Red Wings, with Detroit winning the game in a shootout, 3–2.

The2012 NHL Winter Classic was held at theCitizens Bank Park baseball stadium inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, on Monday, January 2, 2012. This season, thePhiladelphia Flyers hosted theNew York Rangers. It was the first Winter Classic game for the Rangers and the second for the Flyers. The result of the game was a 3–2 Ranger victory. Philadelphia last played in the2010 NHL Winter Classic against theBoston Bruins atFenway Park inBoston, Massachusetts. The Bruins won that game in overtime by a score of 2–1 on a goal scored byMarco Sturm.^[8]

This was the first time that the Winter Classic was not played on New Year's Day, which fell on a Sunday in 2012. If the Winter Classic was held on New Year's Day, it would have conflicted with the final game of theNational Football League season (in which thePhiladelphia Eagles hosted theWashington Redskins at nearbyLincoln Financial Field), and the annualMummers Parade in downtown Philadelphia. TheFlyers–Rangers rivalry is one of the NHL's most frequently televised rivalries on U.S. television networks; it was televised three times nationally onNBC in 2011–12, including the inauguralHockey Day in America.

NoHeritage Classic was played this season.^[9]

The2012 All-Star Game took place on January 29, 2012, atScotiabank Place inOttawa,Ontario, the home arena of theOttawa Senators.

Each of the 30 teams play an 82-game season of an unbalanced schedule. Teams play six games against division opponents; four games against other conference opponents; and one or two games against teams of the other conference. The first-place teams in each division place first, second and third in the conference standings. The top five finishers from the rest of the teams in each conference also qualified for the playoffs, making a total of eight playoff teams in each conference.

• Totals do not include four regular-season opening games played in Europe, and one outdoor regular season game.
• The Buffalo Sabres played one home game against the Anaheim Ducks atHartwall Areena inHelsinki,Finland.
• The Anaheim Ducks played one home game against the New York Rangers at theEricsson Globe inStockholm,Sweden
• The Los Angeles Kings played two home games, one against the New York Rangers atEricsson Globe inStockholm,Sweden, and one against the Buffalo Sabres atO2 World inBerlin,Germany.
• The Philadelphia Flyers played the New York Rangers outdoors in theWinter Classic atCitizens Bank Park inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania.

In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team withhome ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the three division winnersseeded 1–3 based on regular season record, and the five remaining teams seeded 4–8.

The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.

Awards were presented at the NHL Awards ceremony, held inLas Vegas,Nevada, on June 20, 2012. Finalists for voted awards are announced during the playoffs and winners are presented at the award ceremony. Voting concluded immediately after the end of the regular season. ThePresidents' Trophy, thePrince of Wales Trophy andClarence S. Campbell Bowl are not presented at the awards ceremony.

Source: NHL.^[11][12]

The following players lead the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season.^[13]

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = PPlus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

The following goaltenders led the league ingoals against average at the end of the regular season while playing at least 1,800 minutes.^[14]

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% =Save percentage; GAA =Goals against average

• Dallas Stars:Glen Gulutzan replaced the firedMarc Crawford.
• Florida Panthers:Kevin Dineen replaced the firedPeter DeBoer.
• Minnesota Wild:Mike Yeo replaced the firedTodd Richards.
• New Jersey Devils:Peter DeBoer was named as head coach for the 2011–12 season.John MacLean had been fired as head coach midway through the 2010–11 season, andJacques Lemaire, who had retired, served as interim head coach.
• New York Islanders: This wasJack Capuano's first full season after replacingScott Gordon on November 15, 2010.
• Ottawa Senators:Paul MacLean replaced the firedCory Clouston.
• Winnipeg Jets:Claude Noel replacedCraig Ramsay following the former-Atlanta Thrashers' relocation to Winnipeg.

• Anaheim Ducks:Randy Carlyle was fired on November 30, 2011, and replaced byBruce Boudreau the same day
• Los Angeles Kings: On December 12, 2011,Terry Murray was fired andJohn Stevens served as interim, untilDarryl Sutter was named team's head coach on December 20, 2011.
• Montreal Canadiens:Jacques Martin was fired on December 17, 2011, and assistant coachRandy Cunneyworth served as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
• St. Louis Blues:Ken Hitchcock replacedDavis Payne on November 6, 2011.
• Toronto Maple Leafs:Randy Carlyle replacedRon Wilson on March 2, 2012.
• Washington Capitals:Bruce Boudreau was fired on November 28, 2011, and replaced by interimDale Hunter.

The following is a list of notable players who played their first NHL game in 2011–12, listed with their first team:

The following is a list of players of note who played their last NHL game in 2011–12, listed with their team:

• On October 6, 2011,Philadelphia Flyers forwardJaromir Jagr recorded his 1,600th NHL point. He became the ninth player in league history to reach this milestone.
• On October 20, 2011,Montreal Canadiens defencemanHal Gill participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On October 21, 2011,San Jose Sharks forwardJoe Thornton participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On October 22, 2011,Detroit Red Wings defencemanNicklas Lidstrom participated in his 1,500th NHL game. He became the first European born (and 14th overall) player to play 1,500 NHL games.
• On November 12, 2011,Nashville Predators coachBarry Trotz andLos Angeles Kings coachTerry Murray both coached their 1,000th NHL games in separate contests. They became the 20th and 21st coaches in league history to reach this milestone.
• On November 16, 2011,New Jersey Devils forwardDainius Zubrus participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On November 25, 2011,Columbus Blue Jackets forwardVaclav Prospal participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On December 18, 2011,Chicago Blackhawks coachJoel Quenneville won his 600th game as an NHL coach. He became the tenth coach in league history to reach this milestone. He became the second fastest coach in league history to reach the milestone in 1,113 games (Scotty Bowman, currently a Blackhawks senior advisor, did it in 1,002 games).
• On December 20, 2011,Washington Capitals forwardMike Knuble participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On December 26, 2011,Carolina Hurricanes goaltenderCam Ward was credited with scoring a goal. He is the tenth goaltender to achieve this in league history.
• On January 1, 2012,Calgary Flames forwardOlli Jokinen participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On January 6, 2012,New Jersey Devils forwardPatrik Elias participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On January 7, 2012,Calgary Flames forwardJarome Iginla recorded his 500th career goal. He became the 42nd player in league history to reach this milestone.
• On January 10, 2012,Minnesota Wild forwardMatt Cullen participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On January 14, 2012,New York Islanders goaltenderEvgeni Nabokov recorded his 300th career win. He became the 26th goaltender in league history to reach this milestone.
• On February 2, 2012,Edmonton Oilers forwardSam Gagner registeredeight points (four goals and four assists) in one game. He became the 13th player in league history to achieve this.
• On February 8, 2012,Calgary Flames goaltenderMiikka Kiprusoff recorded his 300th career win. He became the 27th goaltender in league history to reach this milestone.
• On February 9, 2012,Ottawa Senators defencemanChris Phillips participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On February 10, 2012,Detroit Red Wings forwardTomas Holmstrom participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On February 14, 2012, theDetroit Red Wings set a new NHL record for consecutive home wins at 21 straight with a 3–1 win over theDallas Stars. The previous record of 20 consecutive wins was originally set by theBoston Bruins in1929–30 and tied by thePhiladelphia Flyers in1975–76. The new record is 23 consecutive home wins.
• On February 27, 2012,New York Rangers goaltenderHenrik Lundqvist recorded his 30th win of the season, making him the only goaltender in NHL history to record seven consecutive 30-win seasons to begin his career.
• On March 4, 2012,New Jersey Devils forwardPetr Sykora participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On March 11, 2012,Pittsburgh Penguins centerEvgeni Malkin scored his 500th career point.
• On March 12, 2012,Anaheim Ducks forwardSaku Koivu participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On March 24, 2012,Boston Bruins defencemanZdeno Chara participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On March 25, 2012,Phoenix Coyotes defencemanDerek Morris participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On March 30, 2012,Nashville Predators coachBarry Trotz won his 500th game as an NHL coach. He became the 17th coach in league history to reach this milestone.
• On March 31, 2012,Phoenix Coyotes forwardRay Whitney recorded his 1,000th NHL point. He became the 79th player in league history to reach this milestone.
• On April 5, 2012,New York Islanders defencemanSteve Staios participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
• On June 11, 2012, theLos Angeles Kings won their firstStanley Cup in franchise history, becoming the first eighth seed to win the Cup.

This was the fourth season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals withCBC andTSN. During the regular season, CBC continued to air Saturday nightHockey Night in Canada games while TSN aired games on Wednesdays and other selected weeknights. CBC and TSN then split the first three rounds of the playoffs, selecting the rights to individual series using a draft-like setup. The Stanley Cup Finals aired exclusively on CBC.

This was the first season under the NHL's ten-year U.S. rights deal withNBC Sports, and the first full season after the January 2011acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast (owner of the NHL's cable partner Versus). Notable changes under this new deal included an increase in nationally televised games on Versus (which was renamedNBCSN in January 2012), a new Thanksgiving Friday game on the NBC broadcast network, holding exclusive rights to all playoff games beginning with the second round (as opposed to the Conference Finals), and plans to broadcast all playoff games (subject toblackouts during the first round) nationally on NBC Universal channels.^[31][32]

• 2011 in sports
• 2012 in sports

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