The 1984–85 NHL season was the 68th season of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

. The

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

won their second straight

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

by beating the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

four games to one in the final series.

League business

Entry draft

The 1984 NHL entry draft was held on June 9, at the

Montreal Forum Montreal Forum () is a historic building located facing Cabot Square, Montreal, Cabot Square in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by ''Sporting News'', it was an indoor arena which served as the home o ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Mario Lemieux Mario Lemieux (; ; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played parts of 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1984–85 NHL season, 1984 and 2005–06 NHL se ...

was selected first overall by the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

Ice officials begin wearing helmets

Referee Andy Van Hellemond becomes the first on ice official in league history to wear a helmet. Soon, several officials would follow his lead and wear helmets before it became mandatory for all officials for the 2006–07 season.

Regular season

The Philadelphia Flyers had the best record in the NHL, four points ahead of second place Edmonton Oilers. Flyers goaltender Pelle Lindbergh went on to become the first European to win the

Vezina Trophy The Vezina Trophy ( ) is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the thirty-two List of NHL general managers, NHL general managers vote to dete ...

. Oilers' star

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

once again won the

Art Ross Trophy The Art Ross Trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League (NHL) player who leads the league in Point (ice hockey), points at the end of the regular season. It was presented to the league by former player, general manager, and head coach Art Ros ...

by reaching the 200 plateau for the third time in four years. He also set a new record for assists in a season with 135 and won his sixth straight

Hart Memorial Trophy The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, is an annual award for the most valuable player to his team in the National Hockey League (NHL), voted by the members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. The original tr ...

made his NHL debut by scoring 100 points and winning the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year. On October 26, 1984,

Paul Coffey Paul Patrick Coffey (born June 1, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played for nine teams over 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Known for his speed and scoring prowess, Coffey ranks second all-time ...

of the Edmonton Oilers would be the last defenceman in the 20th century to score four goals in one game. It occurred in a game versus the Detroit Red Wings. The last two players active in the 1960s, Butch Goring and Brad Park, retired after the playoffs. Goring was the last active, playing his last playoff game three days after Park's last game.

Final standings

''Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes. Teams qualifying for the playoffs shown in bold.''

Prince of Wales Conference

Clarence Campbell Conference

Playoffs

Bracket

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

Awards

Hart Memorial Trophy voting

James Norris Memorial Trophy voting

Jack Adams Award voting

Vezina Trophy voting

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points'' Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders

''Note: GP = Games played; W = Won; L = Lost; T = Tied; GA = Goals allowed; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage'' DataBase Hockey

Coaches

Patrick Division

*New Jersey Devils: Doug Carpenter *New York Islanders: Al Arbour *New York Rangers:

Herb Brooks Herbert Paul Brooks (August 5, 1937 – August 11, 2003) was an American ice hockey player and coach (ice hockey), coach. His most notable achievement came in Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics, 1980 as head coach of the gold medal-winning Un ...

and Craig Patrick *Philadelphia Flyers:

Mike Keenan Michael Edward Keenan (born October 21, 1949) is a Canadian-American former professional hockey coach. Previously, he served as head coach and/or general manager with several NHL teams between 1984 and 2009. He currently ranks fifth in playoff win ...

*Pittsburgh Penguins: Bob Berry *Washington Capitals: Bryan Murray

Adams Division

*Boston Bruins: Gerry Cheevers and Harry Sinden *Buffalo Sabres:

Scotty Bowman William Scott Bowman (born September 18, 1933) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey head coach. He holds the record for most wins in National Hockey League (NHL) history, with 1,244 wins in the regular season and 223 in the Stanley Cup ...

*Hartford Whalers: Jack Evans *Montreal Canadiens: Jacques Lemaire *Quebec Nordiques: Michel Bergeron

Norris Division

*Chicago Black Hawks: Orval Tessier and Bob Pulford *Detroit Red Wings: Nick Polano *Minnesota North Stars: Glen Sonmor *St. Louis Blues: Jacques Demers *Toronto Maple Leafs:

Dan Maloney Daniel Charles "Snowshoes" Maloney (September 24, 1950 – November 19, 2018) was a Canadian professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), left winger in the National Hockey League (NHL) and NHL coach. He featured in the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals wit ...

Smythe Division

*Calgary Flames: Bob Johnson *Edmonton Oilers: Glen Sather *Los Angeles Kings: Pat Quinn *Vancouver Canucks: Bill LaForge and

Harry Neale Harold Watson Neale (born March 9, 1937) is a Canadian retired NCAA, NHL and WHA coach and general manager, and ice hockey broadcaster. Coaching career Following his playing career, Neale got his head coaching start at Hill Park Secondary Sch ...

*Winnipeg Jets: Barry Long

Milestones

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1984–85 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): * Gino Cavallini, Calgary Flames * Joel Otto, Calgary Flames * Ed Olczyk, Chicago Black Hawks * Marc Bergevin, Chicago Black Hawks * Gerard Gallant, Detroit Red Wings * Esa Tikkanen*, Edmonton Oilers * Steve Smith, Edmonton Oilers * Kevin Dineen, Hartford Whalers *

Ray Ferraro Raymond Vincent Ferraro (born August 23, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current broadcaster for ESPN/ ABC and select Vancouver Canucks games on CBC Sports/Sportsnet. He played for 18 seasons in the National Hocke ...

, Hartford Whalers * Sylvain Cote, Hartford Whalers * Ulf Samuelsson, Hartford Whalers * Garry Galley, Los Angeles Kings *

Patrick Roy Patrick Jacques Roy (; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, executive and former player who is the head coach for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Roy previously served as head coach for ...

, Montreal Canadiens * Petr Svoboda, Montreal Canadiens * Stephane Richer, Montreal Canadiens * Greg Adams, New Jersey Devils * Kirk Muller, New Jersey Devils * Dave Gagner, New York Rangers * Grant Ledyard, New York Rangers * Kelly Miller, New York Rangers * Tomas Sandstrom, New York Rangers * Rick Tocchet, Philadelphia Flyers * Doug Bodger, Pittsburgh Penguins *

, Pittsburgh Penguins * Steve Thomas, Toronto Maple Leafs * Todd Gill, Toronto Maple Leafs * Al Iafrate, Toronto Maple Leafs * Petri Skriko, Vancouver Canucks * Kevin Hatcher, Washington Capitals * Dave Ellett, Winnipeg Jets

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1984–85 (listed with their last team): * Terry O'Reilly, Boston Bruins * Butch Goring, Boston Bruins * Craig Ramsay, Buffalo Sabres *

Jerry Korab Gerald Joseph Korab (born September 15, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, who was a defenceman in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1971 to 1985. Korab was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Nicknamed "King Kong", ...

, Buffalo Sabres * Jim Schoenfeld, Buffalo Sabres * Real Cloutier, Buffalo Sabres * Bob MacMillan, Chicago Black Hawks * Brad Park, Detroit Red Wings * Colin Campbell, Detroit Red Wings *

Darryl Sittler Darryl Glen Sittler (born September 18, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1970 until 1985 for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings. H ...

, Detroit Red Wings * Ivan Boldirev, Detroit Red Wings * Steve Shutt, Los Angeles Kings * Paul Holmgren, Minnesota North Stars * Pierre Mondou, Montreal Canadiens * Anders Hedberg, New York Rangers * Robbie Ftorek, New York Rangers * Rick Kehoe, Pittsburgh Penguins * John Garrett, Vancouver Canucks ''Note: Goring and Park were the last two players to have played in the NHL in the 1960s.''

Broadcasting

This was the first season in more than a decade that

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

was not the lone Canadian national broadcaster. While

Molson The Molson Brewery is a Canada-based brewery based in Montreal and was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its Canadian operati ...

continued to present ''

Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'' on Saturday nights, rival brewery Carling O'Keefe began airing Friday night games on CTV. The two networks also split the playoffs and finals. CTV had previously aired ''HNIC''-produced telecasts in the 1960s. This was the third and final season of the league's U.S. national broadcast rights deal with USA, covering a slate of regular season games and selected playoff games.

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

then signed a three-year agreement with the league after bidding about twice as much as USA had been paying. USA would not televise the NHL again until after the network was acquired by

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

in the early 2000s, airing selected playoff games as part of

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

' overall NHL coverage between 2015 and 2021.

References

* * * * ;Notes

External links

Hockey DatabaseNHL.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:NHL, 1984-85 1984–85 in Canadian ice hockey by league 1984–85 in American ice hockey by league