The1998–99 NHLseason was the82nd regular season of theNational Hockey League. The league expanded to 27 teams with the addition of theNashville Predators. The NHL also realigned to a strictly geographic six-division structure, with three per conference. The 1998–99 season marked the retirement ofWayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer, who played his final threeNHL seasons with theNew York Rangers.^[1] TheDallas Stars finished first in regular season play, and won theStanley Cup championship over theBuffalo Sabres on a controversial triple-overtime goal byBrett Hull.

TheNashville Predators joined the NHL, increasing the league to 27 teams. The1998 NHL expansion draft was held on June 26 to fill the Predators' roster.

With the debut of the Predators, and the planned expansion of three more teams within the next two seasons (Atlanta,Columbus, andMinnesota), the NHL realigned to a strictly geographic six-division structure (three per conference). This erased the last vestiges of the traditionalAdams/Patrick/Norris/Smythe four-division structure abandoned in1993–94. Other than the reassignment ofColorado to theWestern Conference in1995 due to its move fromQuebec, the divisions' membership had remained static for five years although several franchises had relocated. As part of this realignment, theToronto Maple Leafs moved from the Western Conference to theEastern Conference. This put three of the Original Six teams in the Northeast Division (Boston, Montreal, and Toronto), and the three original cities of the NHL in the Northeast (Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto). The playoff format was subsequently modified so the three division winners in each conference were seeded one through three by order of point finish, then the top five remaining teams in the conference were seeded four through eight.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

The1998 NHL entry draft was held on June 27 at theMarine Midland Arena inBuffalo, New York.Vincent Lecavalier was selected first overall by theTampa Bay Lightning.

• In an effort to reduce the number of disallowed goals due to the skate-in-the-crease violation, regulatory reforms were implemented resulting the goal crease shape and size being significantly reduced.^[7] In spite of this regulatory change, goaltenders and defensive systems continued to dominate the league, as only two teams, theToronto Maple Leafs and theNew Jersey Devils,^[8] averaged more than three goals scored per game. In addition, no player reached the 50-goal plateau.^[9] A total of 160 shutouts were recorded for the second-straight regular season.^[10][11]
• The league began to phase in a two-referee system. Each team played 20 selected regular games with two referees and two linesmen, instead of just one referee and two linesmen. The two-referee system was also used in all playoff games.

Three preseason games were held in Austria. TheTampa Bay Lightning played against Austrian teamVEU Feldkirch atVorarlberghalle inKlagenfurt on September 15. One day later at the same arena, theBuffalo Sabres faced off againstKAC Klagenfurt. The Sabres and the Lightning then met atOlympiahalle inInnsbruck on September 18.

• Anaheim: The third and fourth jerseys from 1997 got new socks.
• Boston: The team wore a 75th-anniversary patch for their 75th season.
• Calgary: New Black Alternates introduced. Crest has its alternate Flaming-Horse Logo.
• Colorado: No updates in the regular season, but in the 1999 Playoffs, the Avalanche wore a CHS patch for the victims of theColumbine High School massacre on their left sleeve just above the number. The patch remained on the jerseys throughout the playoffs.
• Florida: The names on the back become vertically arched, and a navy blue alternate jersey is introduced. On that jersey, the panther is breaking a stick in half.
• Los Angeles: Jerseys Redesigned, Purple is Reintroduced.
• Nashville: white jerseys include a Blue triangle for the Crest, and the blue ones do not. The team wore an Inaugural season patch that would later become the team's alternate logo.
• New York Islanders: The jerseys reverted to its 1978–1995 design, retaining navy blue as its main color with a patch on the right shoulder featuring four diagonal stripes, symbolizing the team's four Stanley Cup titles in the 1980s.
• New York Rangers: White Lady Liberty Jerseys.
• Phoenix: The Coyotes introduce a new green alternate jersey, complete with a desertscape at the bottom and the sleeve ends
• St Louis: Alternates are retired and adopt a new color scheme
• San Jose: Alternates are retired and become the basis of the team's new uniforms.
• Tampa Bay: All-Star Game Patches for the1999 NHL All-Star Game in Tampa.
• Toronto: Team wore alternate throwbacks and a patch to commemorate their final season atMaple Leaf Gardens.
• Washington: For the first few games, the Capitals wore a patch celebrating their 25th season in the NHL. The patch was worn on the upper right chest.

• TheEdmonton Oilers' home arena, Edmonton Coliseum, was renamedSkyreach Centre as part of a new naming rights agreement with Skyreach Equipment.
• TheFlorida Panthers moved fromMiami Arena in Miami toNational Car Rental Center inSunrise, Florida, withNational Car Rental acquiring the naming rights.
• The expansionNashville Predators moved intoGaylord Entertainment Center, withGaylord Entertainment Company acquiring the naming rights.
• ThePhiladelphia Flyers's home arena, the CoreStates Center, was renamed theFirst Union Center afterFirst Union acquiredCoreStates Financial Corporation.
• TheToronto Maple Leafs moved fromMaple Leaf Gardens to theAir Canada Centre on February 20, 1999, withAir Canada acquiring the naming rights.

TheCalgary Flames and theSan Jose Sharks played a two-game series on October 9 and 10, 1999 atYoyogi National Gymnasium inTokyo, Japan.

TheAll-Star Game was held on January 24, 1999, atIce Palace inTampa, home to theTampa Bay Lightning.

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Divisions:ATL – Atlantic Division,NE – Northeast Division,SE – Southeast Division

bold – Qualified for playoffs;y – Won division

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Divisions:CEN – Central,PAC – Pacific,NW – Northwest

bold – Qualified for playoffs;p – WonPresidents' Trophy;y – Won division

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.

TheMaurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for the most goals by a player in a season made its debut this year.

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Source: NHL.^[12]

Regular season

^[15]

• Boston Bruins:Pat Burns
• Buffalo Sabres:Lindy Ruff
• Carolina Hurricanes:Paul Maurice
• Florida Panthers:Terry Murray
• Montreal Canadiens:Alain Vigneault
• New Jersey Devils:Robbie Ftorek
• New York Islanders:Mike Milbury andBill Stewart
• New York Rangers:John Muckler
• Ottawa Senators:Jacques Martin
• Philadelphia Flyers:Roger Neilson
• Pittsburgh Penguins:Kevin Constantine
• Tampa Bay Lightning:Jacques Demers
• Toronto Maple Leafs:Pat Quinn
• Washington Capitals:Ron Wilson

• Mighty Ducks of Anaheim:Craig Hartsburg
• Calgary Flames:Brian Sutter
• Chicago Blackhawks:Dirk Graham andLorne Molleken
• Colorado Avalanche:Bob Hartley
• Dallas Stars:Ken Hitchcock
• Detroit Red Wings:Scotty Bowman
• Edmonton Oilers:Ron Low
• Los Angeles Kings:Larry Robinson
• Nashville Predators:Barry Trotz
• Phoenix Coyotes:Jim Schoenfeld
• San Jose Sharks:Darryl Sutter
• St. Louis Blues:Joel Quenneville
• Vancouver Canucks:Mike Keenan andMarc Crawford

The following is a list ofplayers of note who played their first NHL game in 1998–99 (listed with their first team, an asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Martin St. Louis, Calgary Flames
• Chris Drury, Colorado Avalanche
• Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche
• Dan Boyle, Florida Panthers
• Jason Blake, Los Angeles Kings
• David Legwand, Nashville Predators
• Karlis Skrastins, Nashville Predators
• Kimmo Timonen, Nashville Predators
• Eric Brewer, New York Islanders
• Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs

The following is a list ofplayers of note who played their last game in the NHL in 1998–99 (listed with their last team):

• Dave Babych,Los Angeles Kings
• Brian Bellows,Washington Capitals
• Jim Carey,St. Louis Blues
• Bobby Carpenter,New Jersey Devils
• Dino Ciccarelli,Florida Panthers
• Russ Courtnall,Los Angeles Kings
• John Cullen,Tampa Bay Lightning
• Wayne Gretzky,New York Rangers
• Ron Hextall,Philadelphia Flyers
• Dale Hunter,Colorado Avalanche
• Craig Ludwig,Dallas Stars
• Jamie Macoun,Detroit Red Wings
• Bernie Nicholls,San Jose Sharks
• Kjell Samuelsson,Tampa Bay Lightning (Last player born in the 1950s)
• Tomas Sandstrom,Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
• Esa Tikkanen,Florida Panthers
• Mark Tinordi,Washington Capitals

This was the first season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals withCBC andCTV Sportsnet. CBC continued to air Saturday nightHockey Night in Canada regular season games. The fledgling CTV Sportsnet replacedTSN as the league's cable broadcaster.Tuesday Night Hockey became CTV Sportsnet's signature weekly regular season telecasts. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs continued to primarily be on CBC, while CTV Sportsnet aired first round all-U.S. series.

This was the fifth and final season of the league's U.S. national broadcast rights deals withFox andESPN. Both ESPN andESPN2 aired weeknight games throughout the regular season, and Fox had the All-Star Game and weekly regional telecasts on 11 weekend afternoons between February and April. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected games, while Fox had Sunday regional telecasts. Each U.S. team's regional broadcaster produced local coverage of first and second round games (except for those games on Fox). Fox's Sunday telecasts continued into the Conference Finals, while ESPN had the rest of the third round games. The Stanley Cup Finals were also split between Fox and ESPN.

The league then signed a new five-year deal with ESPN that also called for sister networkABC to become the new broadcast network partner.

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1998 NHL entry draft
• 1998 NHL expansion draft
• 1998–99 NHL transactions
• 49th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• Lester Patrick Trophy
• 1998 in sports
• 1999 in sports

• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000).Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports.ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011).The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates.ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000).Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
• Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003).The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc.ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.

Notes

• Hockey Database
• http://nhl.com/

• 1998–99 NHL season
• 1998–99 in Canadian ice hockey by league
• 1998–99 in American ice hockey by league

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2023
• Short description matches Wikidata