1995–96 Hartford Whalers season
1995–96 Hartford Whalers | |
---|---|
Division | 4th Northeast |
Conference | 10th Eastern |
1995–96 record | 34–39–9 |
Home record | 22–15–4 |
Road record | 12–24–5 |
Goals for | 237 |
Goals against | 259 |
Team information | |
General manager | Jim Rutherford |
Coach | Paul Holmgren (Oct-Nov) Paul Maurice (Nov-Apr) |
Captain | Brendan Shanahan |
Alternate captains | Glen Wesley Andrew Cassels |
Arena | Hartford Civic Center |
Average attendance | 11,983 (76.6%) [1] |
Minor league affiliate(s) | Springfield Falcons (AHL) Richmond Renegades (ECHL) |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Brendan Shanahan (44) |
Assists | Andrew Cassels (43) |
Points | Brendan Shanahan (78) |
Penalty minutes | Scott Daniels (254) |
Plus/minus | Brad McCrimmon (+15) |
Wins | Sean Burke (28) |
Goals against average | Jason Muzzatti (2.90) |
The 1995–96 Hartford Whalers season was the 24th season of the franchise, 17th season in the NHL. The Whalers missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
Off-season
On May 31, the Whalers acquired a fourth round draft pick in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Jan Vopat.
The Whalers participated in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta on July 8. With their first round selection, 13th overall, Hartford selected Jean-Sébastien Giguère from the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Giguere had a record of 14-27-5 with a 3.94 GAA and a .889 save percentage with the Mooseheads during the 1994-95 season. In the fourth round, the club selected Sami Kapanen from HIFK of the SM-liiga. In 49 games, Kapanen scored 14 goals and 42 points. Other notable players the Whalers selected in the draft include Ian MacNeil, Byron Ritchie and Mike Rucinski.
Hartford signed free agent Jeff Daniels on July 18. Daniels played in three games with the Florida Panthers during the 1994-95, earning no points. He played a majority of the season with the Detroit Vipers of the IHL, scoring eight goals and 20 points in 25 games.
On July 27, the Whalers and St. Louis Blues were involved in a blockbuster trade. Hartford acquired Brendan Shanahan from the Blues in exchange for Chris Pronger. In 45 games during the 1994-95 season, Shanahan scored 20 goals and 41 points. Shanahan had back-to-back 50+ goal seasons in 1992-93 and 1993-94. Shanahan was named to the NHL First All-Star Team during the 1993-94 season, as he scored 52 goals and 102 points in 81 games, while accumulating 211 penalty minutes.
The Whalers signed free agent Gerald Diduck on August 24. Diduck split the 1994-95 season between the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks. In 35 games, he scored two goals and five points.
On October 6, the Whalers acquired Nelson Emerson in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Darren Turcotte. In 1994-95, Emerson scored 14 goals and 37 points in 48 games with the Jets. During the 1993-94 season, Emerson scored a career high 33 goals and 74 points in 83 games with Winnipeg. Also, on October 6, at the NHL Waiver Draft, the Whalers selected Jason Muzzatti from the Calgary Flames. Muzzatti had a 10-14-4 record with the Saint John Flames during the 1994-95 season.
Regular season
Against the Hartford Whalers on March 6, 1996, Chris Osgood became the third goaltender in NHL history to score a goal.[2]
The Whalers were shutout a league-high 8 times during the regular season.[3]
Final standings
No. | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 49 | 29 | 4 | 362 | 284 | 102 |
2 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 40 | 31 | 11 | 282 | 269 | 91 |
3 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 40 | 32 | 10 | 265 | 248 | 90 |
4 | Hartford Whalers | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 237 | 259 | 77 |
5 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 247 | 262 | 72 |
6 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 18 | 59 | 5 | 191 | 291 | 41 |
R | Div | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Philadelphia Flyers | ATL | 82 | 45 | 24 | 13 | 282 | 208 | 103 |
2 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NE | 82 | 49 | 29 | 4 | 362 | 284 | 102 |
3 | New York Rangers | ATL | 82 | 41 | 27 | 14 | 272 | 237 | 96 |
4 | Florida Panthers | ATL | 82 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 254 | 234 | 92 |
5 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 40 | 31 | 11 | 282 | 269 | 91 |
6 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 40 | 32 | 10 | 265 | 248 | 90 |
7 | Washington Capitals | ATL | 82 | 39 | 32 | 11 | 234 | 204 | 89 |
8 | Tampa Bay Lightning | ATL | 82 | 38 | 32 | 12 | 238 | 248 | 88 |
9 | New Jersey Devils | ATL | 82 | 37 | 33 | 12 | 215 | 202 | 86 |
10 | Hartford Whalers | NE | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 237 | 259 | 77 |
11 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 247 | 262 | 73 |
12 | New York Islanders | ATL | 82 | 22 | 50 | 10 | 229 | 315 | 54 |
13 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 18 | 59 | 5 | 191 | 291 | 41 |
Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast
bold – Qualified for playoffs
Schedule and results
1995–96 regular season[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 4–4–1 (home: 3–2–1; road: 1–2–0)
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November: 5–7–1 (home: 3–4–0; road: 2–3–1)
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December: 2–10–3 (home: 2–3–1; road: 0–7–2)
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January: 8–4–1 (home: 4–0–1; road: 4–4–0)
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February: 6–3–1 (home: 2–2–1; road: 4–1–0)
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March: 6–6–2 (home: 6–3–0; road: 0–3–2)
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April: 3–5–0 (home: 2–1–0; road: 1–4–0)
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Legend:
Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
Player statistics
Scoring
- Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
- † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.
- ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.
No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | |||
94 | Brendan Shanahan | LW | 74 | 44 | 34 | 78 | 2 | 125 |
8 | Geoff Sanderson | LW | 81 | 34 | 31 | 65 | 0 | 40 |
21 | Andrew Cassels | C | 81 | 20 | 43 | 63 | 8 | 39 |
16 | Nelson Emerson | RW | 81 | 29 | 29 | 58 | −7 | 78 |
13[a] | Andrei Nikolishin | C | 61 | 14 | 37 | 51 | −2 | 34 |
18 | Robert Kron | LW | 77 | 22 | 28 | 50 | −1 | 6 |
27 | Jeff Brown† | D | 48 | 7 | 31 | 38 | 2 | 38 |
28 | Paul Ranheim | LW | 73 | 10 | 20 | 30 | −2 | 14 |
92 | Jeff O'Neill | RW | 65 | 8 | 19 | 27 | −3 | 40 |
20 | Glen Wesley | D | 68 | 8 | 16 | 24 | −9 | 88 |
12 | Steven Rice | RW | 59 | 10 | 12 | 22 | −4 | 47 |
6 | Adam Burt | D | 78 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 121 |
36 | Glen Featherstone | D | 68 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 138 |
4[b] | Gerald Diduck | D | 79 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 88 |
24 | Sami Kapanen | RW | 35 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 6 |
10 | Brad McCrimmon | D | 58 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 62 |
11 | Kevin Dineen† | RW | 20 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 67 |
22 | Mark Janssens | C | 81 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −13 | 155 |
4 | Frantisek Kucera‡ | D | 30 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −3 | 10 |
15 | Scott Daniels | LW | 53 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −4 | 254 |
39 | Kelly Chase | RW | 55 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −4 | 230 |
1 | Sean Burke | G | 66 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 16 | |
32 | Steve Martins | C | 23 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −3 | 8 |
7 | Brian Glynn | D | 54 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −15 | 44 |
14 | Kevin Smyth | LW | 21 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −5 | 8 |
26 | Jocelyn Lemieux‡ | RW | 29 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −11 | 31 |
33 | Jimmy Carson‡ | C | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
5 | Alexander Godynyuk | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
23 | Marek Malik | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 4 |
25 | Jason McBain | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
29 | Jason Muzzatti | G | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | |
35 | Jeff Reese‡ | G | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending
- ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.
No. | Player | Regular season | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | ||
1 | Sean Burke | 66 | 28 | 28 | 6 | 2034 | 190 | 3.11 | .907 | 4 | 3669 |
29 | Jason Muzzatti | 22 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 551 | 49 | 2.90 | .911 | 1 | 1013 |
35 | Jeff Reese‡ | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 170 | 14 | 3.06 | .918 | 1 | 275 |
Awards and records
Awards
Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
League (in-season) |
NHL All-Star Game selection | Brendan Shanahan[c] | [6] |
Team | Award of Excellence | Brad McCrimmon | [7] |
Booster Club MVP Award | Sean Burke | [7] | |
Frank Keys Memorial Award | Brad McCrimmon | [7] | |
Mark Kravitz Award | Sean Burke | [7] | |
Most Valuable Defenseman | Jeff Brown | [7] | |
Three Star Award of Excellence | Sean Burke | [7] | |
Top Gun Award | Brendan Shanahan | [7] | |
True Grit Award | Nelson Emerson | [7] |
Transactions
The Whalers were involved in the following transactions during the 1995–96 season.
Trades
May 31, 1995 | To Los Angeles Kings Jan Vopat |
To Hartford Whalers 4th round pick in 1995 - Ian MacNeil |
July 27, 1995 | To St. Louis Blues Chris Pronger |
To Hartford Whalers Brendan Shanahan |
October 6, 1995 | To Winnipeg Jets Darren Turcotte |
To Hartford Whalers Nelson Emerson |
November 29, 1995 | To Dallas Stars Robert Petrovicky |
To Hartford Whalers Dan Kesa |
December 1, 1995 | To Tampa Bay Lightning Jeff Reese |
To Hartford Whalers 9th round pick in 1996 - Askhat Rakhmatulin |
December 19, 1995 | To New Jersey Devils Jocelyn Lemieux 2nd round pick in 1998 - John Erskine |
To Hartford Whalers Jim Dowd 2nd round pick in 1997 - Dmitri Kokorev |
December 19, 1995 | To Vancouver Canucks Jim Dowd Frantisek Kucera 2nd round pick in 1997 - Ryan Bonni |
To Hartford Whalers Jeff Brown 3rd round pick in 1998 - Paul Manning |
December 28, 1995 | To Philadelphia Flyers 3rd round pick in 1997 - Kris Mallette 7th round pick in 1997 - Andrew Merrick |
To Hartford Whalers Kevin Dineen |
Waivers
October 6, 1995 | From Calgary Flames Jason Muzzatti |
Free agents
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Draft picks
Hartford's picks at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta.[8]
Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 13 | Jean-Sebastien Giguere | Goaltender | ![]() |
Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) |
2 | 35 | Sergei Fedotov | Defense | ![]() |
Dynamo Moscow (Russia) |
4 | 85 | Ian MacNeil | Center | ![]() |
Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
4 | 87 | Sami Kapanen | Right wing | ![]() |
HIFK (Finland) |
5 | 113 | Hugh Hamilton | Defense | ![]() |
Spokane Chiefs (WHL) |
7 | 165 | Byron Ritchie | Center | ![]() |
Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL) |
8 | 191 | Milan Kostolny | Right wing | ![]() |
Detroit Junior Red Wings (OHL) |
9 | 217 | Mike Rucinski | Defense | ![]() |
Detroit Junior Red Wings (OHL) |
See also
Notes
References
- "Hartford Whalers 1995-96 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
- "1995-96 Hartford Whalers Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
- ^ "Hartford Whalers Yearly Attendance Graph". hockeydb.com.
- ^ "Red Wings 4, Whalers 2 - UPI Archives". UPI. March 6, 1996. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
- ^ a b "1995-96 Hartford Whalers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
- ^ "1995–1996 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
- ^ "NHL All-Star Game Starting Lineups by Year (since 1986)". NHL.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "1996 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Whalers Team Awards". www.whalershockey.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
- ^ "1995 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 28, 2023.