The 1989–90 NHL season was the 73rd

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

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 Stanley Cup winners were 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 ...

, who won the best of seven series 4–1 against the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

. The championship was the Oilers' fifth Stanley Cup in seven seasons.

Entry draft

The 1989 NHL entry draft was held on June 17, at the

Met Center The Met Center was an indoor arena that stood in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States, a suburb of Minneapolis. The arena, which was completed in 1967 by Minnesota Ice, just to the north of Metropolitan Stadium, seated 15,784. It was the home ...

Bloomington, Minnesota Bloomington is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis and just south of the Interstate 494/Inter ...

Mats Sundin Mats Johan Sundin (; born 13 February 1971) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL), retiring in 2009. Originally drafted List of NHL first overall draft choice ...

was selected first overall by the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

Regular season

Wayne Gretzky records his 1,851st point, passing Gordie Howe for the most in NHL history on Oct. 15, 1989. This season marked the first time that all three New York City area NHL teams, including the New Jersey Devils, made the playoffs in the same season, a feat which has since been repeated thrice more: in the , the , and the seasons. Until

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, this was last time the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

missed the Stanley Cup playoffs. Sam St. Laurent of the Red Wings became the last goalie to wear a full fiberglass mask during an NHL game.

Final standings

''Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes''

Prince of Wales Conference

Clarence 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

All-Star teams

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'' Sources: NHL, Quanthockey.com.

Leading goaltenders

''GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA =

Goals against average Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...

; Sv% = Save percentage'' Source: Quanthockey.com.

Coaches

Patrick Division

*New Jersey Devils: Jim Schoenfeld and John Cunniff *New York Islanders: Al Arbour *New York Rangers:

Roger Neilson Roger Paul Neilson, (June 16, 1934 – June 21, 2003) was a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, most notably in the NHL, where he served with eight teams. Known as Captain Video because of his technological contributions to the game, he is ...

*Philadelphia Flyers: Paul Holmgren *Pittsburgh Penguins: Gene Ubriaco and Craig Patrick *Washington Capitals: Bryan Murray and Terry Murray

Adams Division

*Boston Bruins:

Mike Milbury Michael James Milbury (born June 17, 1952) is an American former professional ice hockey player and current sports announcer. He played for twelve seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), all for the Boston Bruins. He helped the Bruins reach ...

*Buffalo Sabres: Rick Dudley *Hartford Whalers:

Rick Ley Richard Norman Ley (born November 2, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA). Playing career Ley was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the thir ...

*Montreal Canadiens: Pat Burns *Quebec Nordiques: Michel Bergeron

Norris Division

*Chicago Blackhawks:

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 ...

*Detroit Red Wings: Jacques Demers *Minnesota North Stars: Pierre Page *St. Louis Blues: Brian Sutter *Toronto Maple Leafs: Doug Carpenter

Smythe Division

*Calgary Flames: Terry Crisp *Edmonton Oilers: John Muckler *Los Angeles Kings: Tom Webster *Vancouver Canucks: Bob McCammon *Winnipeg Jets: Bob Murdoch

Milestones

This season would be the last the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

would play under the 29 year ownership of

Harold Ballard Harold Edwin Ballard (born Edwin Harold Ballard, July 30, 1903 – April 11, 1990) was a Canadian businessman and sportsman. Ballard was an owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) as well as their home arena, Maple ...

as a result of his death in April 1990 and the subsequent sale of the franchise.

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1989–90 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): * Wes Walz, Boston Bruins * Alexander Mogilny, Buffalo Sabres * Rob Ray, Buffalo Sabres * Donald Audette*, Buffalo Sabres * Sergei Makarov, Calgary Flames * Rob Blake, Los Angeles Kings * Helmut Balderis, Minnesota North Stars * Mike Modano, Minnesota North Stars * Andrew Cassels, Montreal Canadiens * Lyle Odelein, Montreal Canadiens * Vyacheslav Fetisov, New Jersey Devils *

Alexei Kasatonov Alexei Viktorovich Kasatonov (; born 14 October 1959) is a Russian former ice hockey defenceman, who was a long-time member of the Soviet Union national ice hockey team. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2009. Career On the interna ...

, New Jersey Devils * Murray Baron, Philadelphia Flyers * Curtis Joseph, St. Louis Blues * Tie Domi, Toronto Maple Leafs *

Vladimir Krutov Vladimir Yevgenyevich Krutov (; 1 June 1960 – 6 June 2012), nicknamed "The Tank", was a Russian professional ice hockey forward (ice hockey), forward. Together with Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov (ice hockey, born 1958), Sergei Makarov, he was ...

, Vancouver Canucks *

Igor Larionov Igor Nikolayevich Larionov (; born 3 December 1960) is a Russian Coach (ice hockey), ice hockey coach, sports agent and former professional ice hockey player, known as "the Professor". Considered one of the best hockey players of all time, he, a ...

, Vancouver Canucks * Olaf Kolzig, Washington Capitals

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1989–90 (listed with their last team): * Reed Larson, Buffalo Sabres * Al Secord, Chicago Blackhawks * Bob Murray, Chicago Blackhawks * Duane Sutter, Chicago Blackhawks * Bernie Federko, Detroit Red Wings * Borje Salming, Detroit Red Wings * Reijo Ruotsalainen, Edmonton Oilers * Barry Beck, Los Angeles Kings * Helmut Balderis, Minnesota North Stars * Curt Fraser, Minnesota North Stars * Mark Johnson, New Jersey Devils * Ron Greschner, New York Rangers * Doug Smith, Pittsburgh Penguins *

, Vancouver Canucks * Paul Reinhart, Vancouver Canucks * Doug Wickenheiser, Washington Capitals

Broadcasting

This was the second season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals with TSN and ''

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

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 ** ...

. Saturday night regular season games continued to air on CBC, while TSN televised selected weeknight games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series. This was also the second season of the league's U.S. national broadcast rights deal SportsChannel America, with up to three regular season games a week and coverage of the playoffs. Meanwhile, NBC agreed to televise the All-Star Game, reportedly wanting to test the appeal of hockey.

Notes

References

* * * * ;Notes

External links

Hockey Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:1989-90 NHL season 1989–90 in Canadian ice hockey by league 1989–90 in American ice hockey by league