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The 1998-99 NHL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-seven teams played 82 games each. The Dallas Stars finished first in regular season play, and won the Stanley Cup Championship over the Buffalo Sabres in a controversial fashion on a disputed overtime goal by Brett Hull. The Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy for the most goals by a player in a season made its debut this year. The first winner was Teemu Selanne of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

With the addition of the expansion Nashville Predators, the NHL realigned this year to a strictly geographic six-division structure (three per conference), erasing the last vestiges of the traditional four-division structure (Adams/Patrick/Norris/Smythe) abandoned in 1993-94; other than the necessary reassignment of Colorado in 1995 due to its two-thousand mile (over 3,200 km) east-west move from Quebec, the divisions' membership had remained static despite the renaming and the moves of several other franchises. As part of this realignment, the Toronto Maple Leafs moved from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference.

The Eastern Conference was considered to be weaker, which would make it easier for the Leafs to make the playoffs, although the team also landed coach Pat Quinn and superstar goaltender Curtis Joseph which contributed to the Leafs' dramatic improvement.

The 1998-99 season marked the retirement of Wayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer, who played his final three NHL seasons with the New York Rangers. The Rangers had been battling for a playoff spot up until the end of the regular season when they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins who were able to clinch the postseason berth when Jaromir Jagr scored the winning goal. The game was also symbolic because it appeared as though Gretzky was passing the torch to Jagr, signalling a changing of the guard of the NHL's greatest superstar.

This was the final season Fox televised NHL games in the United States.

Regular season

Final standings

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
New Jersey Devils 82 47 24 11 105 248 196 1355
Philadelphia Flyers 82 37 26 19 93 231 196 1075
Pittsburgh Penguins 82 38 30 14 90 242 225 977
New York Rangers 82 33 38 11 77 217 227 1087
New York Islanders 82 24 48 10 58 194 244 1111

Northeast Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Ottawa Senators 82 44 23 15 103 239 179 892
Toronto Maple Leafs 82 45 30 7 97 268 231 1095
Boston Bruins 82 39 30 13 91 214 181 1182
Buffalo Sabres 82 37 28 17 91 207 175 1561
Montreal Canadiens 82 32 39 11 75 184 209 1299
Southeast Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Carolina Hurricanes 82 34 30 18 86 210 202 1158
Florida Panthers 82 30 34 18 78 210 228 1522
Washington Capitals 82 31 45 6 68 200 218 1381
Tampa Bay Lightning 82 19 54 9 47 179 292 1316

Western Conference
Central Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Detroit Red Wings 82 43 32 7 93 245 202 1202
St. Louis Blues 82 37 32 13 87 237 209 1308
Chicago Blackhawks 82 29 41 12 70 202 248 1807
Nashville Predators 82 28 47 7 63 190 261 1420

Northwest Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Colorado Avalanche 82 44 28 10 98 239 205 1619
Edmonton Oilers 82 33 37 12 78 230 226 1373
Calgary Flames 82 30 40 12 72 211 234 1389
Vancouver Canucks 82 23 47 12 58 192 258 1764

Pacific Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Dallas Stars 82 51 19 12 114 236 168 1108
Phoenix Coyotes 82 39 31 12 90 205 197 1412
Anaheim Mighty Ducks 82 35 34 13 83 215 206 1323
San Jose Sharks 82 31 33 18 80 196 191 1423
Los Angeles Kings 82 32 45 5 69 189 222 1383

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh Penguins 81 44 83 127 66
Teemu Selanne Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 75 47 60 107 30
Paul Kariya Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 82 39 62 101 40
Peter Forsberg Colorado Avalanche 78 30 67 97 108
Joe Sakic Colorado Avalanche 73 41 55 96 29
Alexei Yashin Ottawa Senators 82 44 50 94 54
Eric Lindros Philadelphia Flyers 71 40 53 93 120
Theoren Fleury Calgary/Colorado 75 40 53 93 86
John Leclair Philadelphia Flyers 76 43 47 90 30
Pavol Demitra St. Louis Blues 82 37 52 89 16

Leading goaltenders

Stanley Cup playoffs

Several highlights of the playoffs include:

Eastern Conference

  • The New Jersey Devils held a 3-2 series lead entering game six but lost the two deciding games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and their superstar Jaromir Jagr. It was the Devils' second first-round playoff loss in a row.
  • The Ottawa Senators, despite setting regular season franchise records and being led by Hart Trophy runner-up Alexei Yashin, were swept in the first round by the Buffalo Sabres who were backstopped by Dominik Hasek.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs, who were the highest scoring team in the regular season, defeated the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins enroute to reaching to the conference finals for the first time since 1993-1994.
  • The Eastern Conference final, featuring the Maple Leafs and the Sabres, was expected to be a close matchup as well as a duel between the two best regular season goaltenders Dominik Hasek and Curtis Joseph. However, the series turned out to the lopsided as Sabres won it in five games, beating Joseph 21 times, despite Hasek sitting out the first two games with an injury to be replaced by rookie goaltender Dwayne Roloson.

Western Conference

  • The Detroit Red Wings, despite being the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, follow up their first wins with four straight losses to fall to the Colorado Avalanche and Patrick Roy in the second-round series.
  • The Avalanche take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference final against the Dallas Stars but the Stars win games six and seven both by scores of 4-1. The series is widely regarded as a duel between goaltenders Patrick Roy and Ed Belfour.

Stanley Cup finals

In the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, the Dallas Stars beat the Buffalo Sabres four games to two to win their first Stanley Cup. The Sabres shocked the Stars in the latter's arena to win the first game of the series. The Stars won the next two games and the Sabres took game four. A home-ice win for the Stars in game five set up the deciding match to be played in Buffalo.

In Game 6, the game went to a triple overtime. At 14:51 in the third overtime, Brett Hull scored the game-winning goal to secure the victory -- and the Stanley Cup -- for the Dallas Stars. Video replay showed that Hull's foot was in the crease, which the Sabres as well as ESPN analyst Gary Thorne argued was a violation of a rule that disallowed goals if an offensive player was in the goal crease. The goal was immediately reviewed as the Stars celebrated on the ice. The NHL officials allowed the goal to stand, arguing that Brett Hull's three consecutive shots on Hasek, the third of which went in, constituted possession of the puck through the end of the play; the rules did allow for a player to legally bring the puck into the crease and score. Partisans of one side or another debate the legality of the goal to this day, and it is arguably the most controversial Cup-winning goal in the history of Stanley Cup play.

NHL awards

Presidents' Trophy: Dallas Stars
Prince of Wales Trophy: Buffalo Sabres
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: Dallas Stars
Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: John Cullen, Tampa Bay Lightning
Calder Memorial Trophy: Chris Drury, Colorado Avalanche
Conn Smythe Trophy: Joe Nieuwendyk, Dallas Stars
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Jere Lehtinen, Dallas Stars
Hart Memorial Trophy: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins
Jack Adams Award: Jacques Martin, Ottawa Senators
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Al MacInnis, St. Louis Blues
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Rob Ray, Buffalo Sabres
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, New York Rangers
Lester B. Pearson Award: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins
Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy: Teemu Selänne, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
NHL Plus/Minus Award: John LeClair, Philadelphia Flyers
Vezina Trophy: Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
William M. Jennings Trophy: Ed Belfour & Roman Turek, Dallas Stars
Lester Patrick Trophy: Harry Sinden

See also

References

The NHL on FOX

NHL 1998/99

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "1998-99 NHL season".

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