The 1990–91 NHL season was the 74th season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the best of seven series 4–2 against the Minnesota North Stars to claim their first championship. This was the last NHL season to end in May.

League business

Approval for expansion by 1992

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 president Gil Stein, Stein revealed that the two groups were the only ones of the applicants who agreed to the $50 million expansion fee without question. The Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning began play in the 1992–93 season.

Entry draft

The 1990 NHL entry draft was held on June 16, at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. Owen Nolan was selected first overall by the Quebec Nordiques.

Regular season

Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

;Wales Conference

;Campbell Conference

Playoffs

Bracket

The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). In the division semifinals, the fourth seeded 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.

Awards

{| class="wikitable"

| Presidents' Trophy: || Chicago Blackhawks

|-

| Prince of Wales Trophy: <br><small>(Wales Conference playoff champion)</small> || Pittsburgh Penguins

|-

| Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: <br><small>(Campbell Conference playoff champion)</small> || Minnesota North Stars

|-

| Art Ross Trophy: || Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings

|-

| Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: || Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings

|-

| Calder Memorial Trophy: || Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks

|-

| Conn Smythe Trophy: || Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins

|-

| Frank J. Selke Trophy: || Dirk Graham, Chicago Blackhawks

|-

| Hart Memorial Trophy: || Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues

|-

| Jack Adams Award: || Brian Sutter, St. Louis Blues

|-

| James Norris Memorial Trophy: || Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins

|-

| King Clancy Memorial Trophy: || Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings

|-

| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: || Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings

|-

| Lester B. Pearson Award: || Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues

|-

| NHL Plus-Minus Award: || Marty McSorley, Los Angeles Kings and Theo Fleury, Calgary Flames

|-

| Vezina Trophy: || Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks

|-

| William M. Jennings Trophy: || Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks

|}

All-Star teams

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! First Team !! &nbsp; Position &nbsp; !! Second Team

|-

|Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks

| align=center | G

|Patrick Roy, Montreal Canadiens

|-

|Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins

| align=center | D

|Chris Chelios, Chicago Blackhawks

|-

|Al MacInnis, Calgary Flames

| align=center | D

|Brian Leetch, New York Rangers

|-

|Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings

| align=center | C

|Adam Oates, St. Louis Blues

|-

|Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues

| align=center | RW

|Cam Neely, Boston Bruins

|-

|Luc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings

| align=center | LW

|Kevin Stevens, Pittsburgh Penguins

|-

|}

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes, PPG = Powerplay goals, SHG = Shorthanded goals, GWG = Game winning goals

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="125" | Player

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="150" | Team

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5" | GP

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5" | G

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5" | A

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5" | Pts

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5" | PIM

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5" | ±

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5" | PPG

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5" | SHG

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5" | GWG

|-

| align="left" | Wayne Gretzky || align="left" | Los Angeles Kings || 78 || 41 || 122 || 163 || 16 || +30 || 8 || 0 || 5

|-

| align="left" | Brett Hull || align="left" | St. Louis Blues || 78 || 86 || 45 || 131 || 22 || +23 || 29 || 0 || 11

|-

| align="left" | Adam Oates || align="left" | St. Louis Blues || 61 || 25 || 90 || 115 || 29 || +15 || 3 || 1 || 3

|-

| align="left" | Mark Recchi || align="left" | Pittsburgh Penguins || 78 || 40 || 73 || 113 || 48 || 0 || 12 || 0 || 9

|-

| align="left" | John Cullen || align="left" | Pittsburgh Penguins/ Hartford Whalers || 78 || 39 || 71 || 110 || 101 || -6 || 14 || 0 || 3

|-

| align="left" | Joe Sakic || align="left" | Quebec Nordiques || 80 || 48 || 61 || 109 || 24 || -26 || 12 || 3 || 7

|-

| align="left" | Steve Yzerman || align="left" | Detroit Red Wings || 80 || 51 || 57 || 108 || 34 || -2 || 12 || 6 || 4

|-

| align="left" | Theoren Fleury || align="left" | Calgary Flames || 79 || 51 || 53 || 104 || 136 || +48 || 9 || 7 || 9

|-

| align="left" | Al MacInnis || align="left" | Calgary Flames || 78 || 28 || 75 || 103 || 90 || +42 || 17 || 0 || 1

|-

| align="left" | Steve Larmer || align="left" | Chicago Blackhawks || 80 || 44 || 57 || 101 || 79 || +37 || 17 || 2 || 9

|} Meanwhile, NBC televised the All-Star Game for the second consecutive season.

See also

  • List of Stanley Cup champions
  • 1990 NHL entry draft
  • 1990-91 NHL transactions
  • 42nd National Hockey League All-Star Game
  • National Hockey League All-Star Game
  • NHL All-Rookie Team
  • Lester Patrick Trophy
  • 1990 in sports
  • 1991 in sports

Notes

References

;Notes

  • 1990-91 Regular Season Scoring Leaders - quanthockey.com
  • 1990-91 Regular Season Goaltender Leaders - quanthockey.com
  • Hockey Database
  • http://nhl.com/