1998–99 NHL season


The 1998–99 NHL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 27 teams with the addition of the Nashville Predators. The Dallas Stars finished first in regular season play, and won the Stanley Cup championship over the Buffalo Sabres on a triple overtime goal by Brett Hull.

League business

With the addition of the expansion Nashville Predators, the NHL realigned this year to a strictly geographic six-division structure, erasing the last vestiges of the traditional Adams/Patrick/Norris/Smythe four-division structure abandoned in 1993–94. Other than the reassignment of Colorado to the Western Conference in 1995 due to its move from Quebec, the divisions' membership had remained static for five years although several franchises had relocated. As part of this realignment, the Toronto Maple Leafs moved from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference. This put three of the Original Six teams in the Northeast Division, and the three original cities of the NHL in the Northeast.
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.

Uniform Changes

Anaheim: The third and fourth jerseys from 1997 got new socks.
Boston: The team wore a 75th-anniversary patch for their 75th season.
Calgary: New Black Alternates introduced. Crest has its alternate Flaming-Horse Logo.
Colorado: No updates in the regular season, but in the 1999 Playoffs, the Avalanche wore a CHS patch for the victims of the Columbine High School massacre on their left sleeve just above the number. The patch remained on the jerseys throughout the playoffs.
Florida: The names on the back become vertically arched, and a navy blue alternate jersey is introduced. On that jersey, the panther is breaking a stick in half.
Los Angeles: Jerseys Redesigned, Purple is Reintroduced.
Nashville: white jerseys include a Blue triangle for the Crest, and the blue ones do not. The team wore an Inaugural season patch that would later become the team's alternate logo.
New York Islanders: In part two of making things right with Islanders fans, the team returned to their original design in 1998, keeping navy blue as its primary color. The jerseys feature a patch on the right shoulder featuring four diagonal stripes, symbolizing the team's four Stanley Cup titles in the 1980s.
New York Rangers: White Lady Liberty Jerseys.
Phoenix: The Coyotes introduce a new green alternate jersey, complete with a desertscape at the bottom and the sleeve ends
St Louis: Alternates are retired and adopt a new color scheme
San Jose: Alternates are retired and become the basis of the team's new uniforms.
Tampa Bay: All-Star Game Patches for the 1999 NHL All-Star Game in Tampa.
Toronto: Team wore alternate throwbacks and a patch to commemorate their final season at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Washington: For the first few games, the Capitals wore a patch celebrating their 25th season in the NHL. The patch was worn on the upper right chest.

Regular season

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.
This was the final season that Fox televised NHL games in the United States. It was also the final season for the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens, before moving to the Air Canada Centre in February and marked Toronto's first post-season appearance since the 1995–96 season. 1998–99 was also the final year that the Carolina Hurricanes played at Greensboro Coliseum; they moved to the brand-new Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh for the next season. The Colorado Avalanche played their fourth and final season at McNichols Sports Arena and would move to Pepsi Center the following season. The Los Angeles Kings played their final season at the Great Western Forum after 32 seasons before moving to the Staples Center for the next season.
In an effort to reduce the number of disallowed goals due to the skate-in-the-crease violation, the goal crease shape and size was significantly reduced. In spite of this, goaltenders and defensive systems continued to dominate the league, as only two teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils, averaged more than three goals scored per game. In addition, no player reached the 50-goal plateau. A total of 160 shutouts were recorded for the second-straight regular season.

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Playoffs

Stanley Cup Final

The teams split the first two games, held in Dallas, then split the following two games in Buffalo. In the fifth game, Dallas shut out Buffalo to put the Sabres on the brink of elimination. Game six was held in Buffalo and it went to triple-overtime before being decided on a goal scored by Brett Hull. Joe Nieuwendyk of Dallas was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player.

Playoff bracket

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
PlayerTeamGPGAPtsPIM
Jaromir JagrPittsburgh Penguins81448312766
Teemu SelanneMighty Ducks of Anaheim75476010730
Paul KariyaMighty Ducks of Anaheim82396210140
Peter ForsbergColorado Avalanche78306797108
Joe SakicColorado Avalanche7341559629
Alexei YashinOttawa Senators8244509454
Eric LindrosPhiladelphia Flyers71405393120
Theoren FleuryCalgary Flames /Colorado Avalanche7540539386
John LeClairPhiladelphia Flyers7643479030
Pavol DemitraSt. Louis Blues8237528916

Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders

Regular season
PlayerTeamGPMINGASOGAA
Ron TugnuttOttawa4325087531.79
Dominik HasekBuffalo64381711991.87
Ed BelfourDallas61353611751.99
Byron DafoeBoston684001133101.99
Roman TurekDallas2613824812.08
Nikolai KhabibulinPhoenix63365713082.13
John VanbiesbrouckPhiladelphia62371213562.18
Steve ShieldsSan Jose3721628042.22
Arturs IrbeCarolina62364313562.22
Mike VernonSan Jose49283110742.27

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Debuts

The following is a list of who played their first NHL game in 1998–99 :
The following is a list of who played their last game in the NHL in 1998–99 :