The 1993-94 NHL season was the 77th regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-six teams each played 84 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the New York Rangers, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the Vancouver Canucks. The championship was the first for the Rangers in 54 seasons.
This was the first season for two expansion teams, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Florida Panthers. The Minnesota North Stars relocated to Dallas, Texas to become the Dallas Stars.
One major change this season drew the ire of some hockey purists: the names of the conferences were changed from Campbell and Wales to Western and Eastern respectively, and the divisions' names from Adams, Patrick, Norris and Smythe to Northeast, Atlantic, Central and Pacific respectively. New league commissioner Gary Bettman, who had previously worked in the National Basketball Association, thought the old names could be confusing to non-traditional fans and believed that a change to geographically-named divisions, as used in the NBA and most other North American professional sports, would be more easily understandable to new fans. In addition, the playoff format was slightly altered to resemble that of the NBA; where playoffs had previously been bracketed and seeded by division, the playoffs were now broken down only by conference: the division winners were seeded one-two by order of point finish, then the top six remaining teams were seeded three through eight.
Regular season
Final standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
Stanley Cup playoffs
Note: All dates in 1994
Conference quarterfinals
Eastern Conference
|
| | NY Rangers vs. NY Islanders
|
| Date | Away | Home
|
| April 17 | NY Islanders 0 | 6 NY Rangers
|
| April 18 | NY Islanders 0 | 6 NY Rangers
|
| April 21 | NY Rangers 5 | 1 NY Islanders
|
| April 24 | NY Rangers 5 | 2 NY Islanders
|
| NY Rangers wins series 4–0
|
| | Pittsburgh vs. Washington
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| Date | Away | Home
|
| April 17 | Washington 5 | 3 Pittsburgh
|
| April 19 | Washington 1 | 2 Pittsburgh
|
| April 21 | Pittsburgh 0 | 2 Washington
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| April 23 | Pittsburgh 1 | 4 Washington
|
| April 25 | Washington 2 | 3 Pittsburgh
|
| April 27 | Pittsburgh 3 | 6 Washington
|
| Washington wins series 4–2
|
|
| | New Jersey vs. Buffalo
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| Date | Away | Home
|
| April 17 | Buffalo 2 | 0 New Jersey
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| April 19 | Buffalo 1 | 2 New Jersey
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| April 21 | New Jersey 2 | 1 Buffalo
|
| April 23 | New Jersey 3 | 5 Buffalo
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| April 25 | Buffalo 3 | 5 New Jersey
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| April 27 | New Jersey 0 | 1 Buffalo | 4 OT
|
| April 29 | Buffalo 1 | 2 New Jersey
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| New Jersey wins series 4–3
|
|
Western Conference
| | Calgary vs. Vancouver
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| Date | Away | Home
|
| April 18 | Vancouver 5 | 0 Calgary
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| April 20 | Vancouver 5 | 7 Calgary
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| April 22 | Calgary 4 | 2 Vancouver
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| April 24 | Calgary 3 | 2 Vancouver
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| April 26 | Vancouver 2 | 1 Calgary | OT
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| April 28 | Calgary 2 | 3 Vancouver | OT
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| April 30 | Vancouver 4 | 3 Calgary | 2 OT
|
| Vancouver wins series 4–3
|
|
|
| | Dallas vs. St. Louis
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| Date | Away | Home
|
| April 17 | St. Louis 3 | 5 Dallas
|
| April 20 | St. Louis 2 | 4 Dallas
|
| April 22 | Dallas 5 | 4 St. Louis | OT
|
| April 24 | Dallas 2 | 1 St. Louis
|
| Dallas wins series 4–0
|
Conference Semifinals
Eastern Conference
|
| | NY Rangers vs. Washington
|
| Date | Away | Home
|
| May 1 | Washington 3 | 6 NY Rangers
|
| May 3 | Washington 2 | 5 NY Rangers
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| May 5 | NY Rangers 3 | 0 Washington
|
| May 7 | NY Rangers 2 | 4 Washington
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| May 9 | Washington 3 | 4 NY Rangers
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| NY Rangers win series 4–1
|
| | New Jersey vs. Boston
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| Date | Away | Home
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| May 1 | Boston 2 | 1 New Jersey
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| May 3 | Boston 6 | 5 New Jersey | OT
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| May 5 | New Jersey 4 | 2 Boston
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| May 7 | New Jersey 5 | 4 Boston | OT
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| May 9 | Boston 0 | 2 New Jersey
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| May 11 | New Jersey 5 | 3 Boston
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| New Jersey wins series 4–2
|
Western Conference
|
| | Toronto vs. San Jose
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| Date | Away | Home
|
| May 2 | San Jose 3 | 2 Toronto
|
| May 4 | San Jose 1 | 5 Toronto
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| May 6 | Toronto 2 | 5 San Jose
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| May 8 | Toronto 8 | 3 San Jose
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| May 10 | Toronto 2 | 5 San Jose
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| May 12 | San Jose 2 | 3 Toronto | OT
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| May 4 | San Jose 2 | 4 Toronto
|
| Toronto wins series 4–3
|
| | Dallas vs. Vancouver
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| Date | Away | Home
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| May 2 | Vancouver 6 | 4 Dallas
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| May 4 | Vancouver 3 | 0 Dallas
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| May 6 | Dallas 4 | 3 Vancouver
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| May 8 | Dallas 1 | 2 Vancouver | OT
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| May 10 | Dallas 2 | 4 Vancouver
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| Vancouver wins series 4–1
|
Conference Finals
|
| Eastern Conference
| NY Rangers vs. New Jersey
|
| Date | Away | Home
|
| May 15 | New Jersey 4 | 3 NY Rangers | 2 OT
|
| May 17 | New Jersey 0 | 4 NY Rangers
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| May 19 | NY Rangers 3 | 2 New Jersey | 2 OT
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| May 21 | NY Rangers 1 | 3 New Jersey
|
| May 23 | New Jersey 4 | 1 NY Rangers
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| May 25 | NY Rangers 4 | 2 New Jersey
|
| May 27 | New Jersey 1 | 2 NY Rangers | 2 OT
|
NY Rangers wins series 4–3
and Prince of Wales Trophy
|
|
Stanley Cup Finals
NHL Awards
| Presidents' Trophy: | New York Rangers
|
| Prince of Wales Trophy: | New York Rangers
|
| Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: | Vancouver Canucks
|
| Art Ross Memorial Trophy: | Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
|
| Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: | Cam Neely, Boston Bruins
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| Calder Memorial Trophy: | Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
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| Conn Smythe Trophy: | Brian Leetch, New York Rangers
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| Frank J. Selke Trophy: | Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
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| Hart Memorial Trophy: | Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
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| Jack Adams Award: | Jacques Lemaire, New Jersey Devils
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| James Norris Memorial Trophy: | Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
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| King Clancy Memorial Trophy: | Adam Graves, New York Rangers
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| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: | Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
|
| Lester B. Pearson Award: | Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
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| NHL Plus/Minus Award: | Scott Stevens, New Jersey Devils
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| Vezina Trophy: | Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
|
| William M. Jennings Trophy: | Dominik Hasek and Grant Fuhr, Buffalo Sabres
|
| Lester Patrick Trophy: | Wayne Gretzky, Robert Ridder
|
See also
References
The NHL on ABC
NHL 1993/94 | Saison LNH 1993-94
"1993-94 NHL season"