2005–06 NHL season

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The modernized NHL shield logo was introduced for the 2005-06 season. The metallic silver color is said to have been inspired by the Stanley Cup, the trophy given to the playoff champion.

The 2005-06 NHL season is the 88th season (originally the 89th season) of the National Hockey League. This is the season after the 2004-05 season which was cancelled due to a labor dispute with the NHL Players Association over the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the league and its players.

On July 13, 2005, the NHL and NHLPA jointly announced that they had tentatively agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement which would allow the resumption of hockey for the 2005-06 season. The agreement was voted on July 21 by NHLPA members, and approved by a nearly 7-to-1 margin. The following day, the NHL's board of governors (owners) voted unanimously to approve the new agreement.

A new logo for the NHL was also unveiled, with "NHL" printed in upward-reading letters to project a vibrant, optimistic image, and having silver as the dominant colour to pay homage to the Stanley Cup. Also, new Eastern and Western Conference logos were unveiled before the Olympic break, with red as the dominant East color, and blue as the dominant West hue.^[1]

American television also has a new look. OLN (formerly Outdoor Life Network) took over broadcasting rights after ESPN decided not to renew their rights on cable television. The network, owned by Comcast, will have Monday and Tuesday night games during the regular season under an exclusivity clause prohibiting local telecasts those nights in the two participating teams' markets. NBC returned as the NHL's over-the-air partner after ABC parted ways following the 2003-04 season. Comcast high-speed cable internet customers can watch at least seven games a week over the internet as part of the new TV deal.

Rule changes

A number of new rules were introduced for the 2005-06 season:

In case of a tie game after overtime, there is a shoot out with three shots per team, and if it is still tied, the shootout becomes sudden death. In preseason games (regardless of the outcome) shootouts were held. (NOTE: This rule is only in effect for regular-season games. Playoff games will continue with twenty-minute periods until a sudden-death goal is scored.)
The rules regarding Two-line passes were changed. Previously, any pass that crossed a player's own blue line as well as the red line was considered a two-line pass, and the play was whistled dead. As of the 2005-06 season, in order for a pass to be whistled dead as a two-line pass, it must cross the player's own blue line, the red line, as well as the opposing team's blue line without being touched by another player.
The "tag-up offside" rule that was eliminated in 1995 was reinstated this season. An attacking player is considered offside if he or she enters his or her offensive zone prior to the puck entering the zone. Between 1995-2004, if a player was offside, the play would immediately be whistled dead by the linesman and a faceoff would be held in the neutral zone. The tag-up offside rule allows for play to continue as long as the offside player exits the offensive zone (and "tags-up") prior to touching the puck or becoming involved in the play.
The size of goaltender equipment was decreased by about 11%. In addition, the only area behind the goal line where a goalie can play the puck is in a new trapezoid-shaped zone directly behind the net.
The goalie may still play the puck forward of the goal line in the same manner as before.
The neutral zone becomes smaller by four feet (1.2 m), while the goal line was moved two feet (0.6 m) closer to the boards.
If a team ices the puck, it is not allowed to make a line change afterwards.
Linesmen are given more discretion when it comes to waving off icing calls when they are accidentally made as the result of a failed pass attempt.
Players who instigate a fight in the last five minutes of a game will be given a game misconduct penalty plus a one-game suspension and the player's coach will be fined $10,000 (US).
All referees are equipped with wireless microphones so they can now announce penalties over the public address system.
With multiple penalties, only the first will be announced by the referee calling the penalty, with the others being announced by the arena's ice-side PA announcer.

The purpose of these new rule changes are to create a more exciting game and will create more scoring opportunities, and therefore more goals.

Regular season

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This logo appeared on all teams sweaters for their first game and the jerseys were auctioned off to benefit of the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The NHL season began on October 5, and for the first time in the league's history, all of the league's thirty teams played a game on opening night. In the first period of each game, all teams wore a jersey (or "sweater") with a special patch as the league and players association auctioned off those jerseys for the benefit of the Red Cross in both the USA and Canada earmarking the proceeds for Hurricane Katrina victims. On opening night of this season, Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley, of the Ottawa Senators became the first players to score the winning goals for a shoot out in NHL history, they both scored against Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ed Belfour. Their sticks were subsequently sent to the nearby Hockey Hall of Fame.

The All-Star Game, which would have been in Phoenix this year, did not take place (they will get the 2009 event as a replacement); the league instead took a break in February so that many of its players could participate in the XX Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. The new schedule features more intra-division games in order to promote division rivalries. Consequently, there are whole divisions in the opposite conference that teams will never play in the season.

On November 26 the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals played the longest shootout to date. Marek Malik, a Rangers defenseman, scored the winning goal against Olaf Kolzig in the 15th round to give the Rangers the victory by the final score of 3-2.

Four games had to be rescheduled due to various events. Hurricane Wilma had forced the NHL (among other major league sports) to reschedule two Florida Panthers home games. Their game against Ottawa Senators scheduled on October 22 was rescheduled to December 5, the game against Washington Capitals scheduled for October 29 was moved to December 1. The Nashville Predators-Detroit Red Wings game on November 22 was called with 7:30 left in the first period after Red Wings defenseman Jíři Fischer suffered a seizure and had to be resuscitated. It was rescheduled to January 23,2006. Thus, the originally scheduled game at Nashville between the two teams was moved to March 30, 2006.

File:Ovechkin.gif

"The Goal:" Ovechkin's one-handed, sliding-on-his-back goal from Jan 16, 2006.

Also of note, on January 16, 2006, Alexander Ovechkin scored what has been called by some sports analysts as one of the most amazing goals in NHL history against the Phoenix Coyotes (pictured right). The play is commonly referred to as "The Goal".

The season was rocked with scandal in early February when it came to light that Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet was found to be involved in a $1.6 million illegal sports gambling ring with Mafia ties. Apparently no betting on NHL games was being done, but bets were being placed on college and professional football and college and professional basketball. Although Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky denied any knowledge or involvement in the ring, initial reports stated that wiretapped phone conversations he had proved that he not only knew about the ring, but was trying to find ways to conceal his wife's involvement in it. He was later cleared of these accusations, but long-term implications to his reputation are still unknown. For more information, see Operation Slapshot.

Standings

After games played on April 13, 2006. Each team plays 82 games.

Green shaded denotes top eight teams in each conference (playoff spots)

Blue shaded denotes clinched playoff berth

Yellow shaded denotes clinched division

Orange shaded denotes clinched conference

Red shaded denotes clinched Presidents' Trophy

Italics denotes teams eliminated from playoff contention

Bold denotes teams eliminated from winning division (where divison title winner not yet determined)

Eastern Conference

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Atlantic Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
File:NY Rangers.gif New York Rangers (3)	80	44	24	12	255	206	100
File:Philadelphia Flyers.gif Philadelphia Flyers (5)	79	43	25	11	258	252	97
File:New Jersey Devils.gif New Jersey Devils (6)	80	44	27	9	233	225	97
File:NY Islanders.gif New York Islanders (12)	79	35	38	6	223	264	76
File:Pittsburgh Penguins.gif Pittsburgh Penguins (15)	79	21	45	13	231	305	55

Northeast Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
File:Ottawa Senators.gif Ottawa Senators (1)	80	51	20	9	308	205	111
File:Buffalo Sabres.gif Buffalo Sabres (4)	79	49	24	6	267	237	104
File:Montreal Canadiens.gif Montreal Canadiens (7)	80	42	29	9	238	239	93
File:Toronto Maple Leafs.gif Toronto Maple Leafs (10)	79	39	32	8	247	260	86
File:Boston Bruins.gif Boston Bruins (13)	81	29	36	16	227	262	74

Southeast Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
File:Carolina Hurricanes.gif Carolina Hurricanes (2)	79	51	21	7	287	249	109
File:Tampa Bay Lightning.gif Tampa Bay Lightning (8)	79	42	32	5	244	249	89
File:Atlanta Thrashers.gif Atlanta Thrashers (9)	79	40	32	7	272	264	87
File:Florida Panthers.gif Florida Panthers (11)	80	36	34	10	237	254	82
File:Washington Capitals.gif Washington Capitals (14)	79	26	41	12	225	300	64

Western Conference

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Central Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
File:Detroit Redwings.gif Detroit Red Wings (1)	79	56	15	8	296	199	120
File:Nashville Predators.gif Nashville Predators (4)	80	46	25	8	248	223	102
File:Columbus Bluejackets.gif Columbus Blue Jackets (13)	79	33	42	4	210	269	70
File:Chicago Blackhawks.gif Chicago Blackhawks (14)	79	24	42	13	202	275	61
File:StLouis Blues.gif St. Louis Blues (15)	79	21	44	14	193	283	56

Northwest Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
File:Calgary Flames.gif Calgary Flames (3)	80	46	24	10	214	194	102
File:Colorado Avalanche.gif Colorado Avalanche (7)	80	43	29	8	278	249	94
File:Edmonton Oilers.gif Edmonton Oilers (8)	81	40	28	13	252	249	93
File:Vancouver Canucks.gif Vancouver Canucks (9)	81	41	32	8	252	252	90
File:Minnesota Wild.gif Minnesota Wild (11)	81	38	36	7	228	211	83

Pacific Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
File:Dallas Stars.gif Dallas Stars (2)	79	52	22	5	255	207	109
File:San Jose Sharks.gif San Jose Sharks (5)	80	43	26	11	260	235	97
File:Anaheim Mighty Ducks.gif Anaheim Mighty Ducks (6)	80	42	26	12	247	220	96
File:Los Angeles Kings.gif Los Angeles Kings (10)	80	40	35	5	243	269	85
File:Phoenix Coyotes.gif Phoenix Coyotes (12)	80	37	38	5	242	266	79

Tiebreakers

In the event of a tie in points, the following criteria is used:

1. The fewer number of games played (i.e., superior points percentage).

2. The greater number of games won.

3. The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any "odd" games, shall be used to determine the standing.

4. The greater differential between goals for and against for the entire regular season.

Scoring leaders

As of April 14, 2006 11:23 AM EST

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Jaromir Jagr	New York Rangers	80	54	68	122	+36	64
Joe Thornton	San Jose Sharks	79	28	94	122	+29	61
Alex Ovechkin	Washington Capitals	78	50	52	102	+2	52
Dany Heatley	Ottawa Senators	80	48	52	100	+28	86
Daniel Alfredsson	Ottawa Senators	75	42	57	99	+28	46
Ilya Kovalchuk	Atlanta Thrashers	75	52	46	98	-6	68
Marc Savard	Atlanta Thrashers	79	28	69	97	+10	100
Sidney Crosby	Pittsburgh Penguins	78	38	59	97	-3	104
Eric Staal	Carolina Hurricanes	79	45	52	97	-6	75
Marian Hossa	Atlanta Thrashers	77	39	52	91	+16	63

Leading goaltenders

As of April 13, 2006. Minimum 1,000 minutes played.

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/Shootout Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average

Player	Team	GP	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Dominik Hasek	Ottawa Senators	43	2583:58	28	10	4	90	5	.925	2.09
Miikka Kiprusoff	Calgary Flames	72	4254:40	41	20	10	150	9	.921	2.12
Cristobal Huet	Montreal Canadiens	35	2044:19	18	10	4	73	7	.930	2.14
Henrik Lundqvist	New York Rangers	52	3051:53	30	11	9	111	2	.924	2.18
Manny Legace	Detroit Red Wings	49	2785:30	35	8	3	101	7	.915	2.18

Stanley Cup playoffs

Stanley Cup finals

NHL awards

Presidents' Trophy:	Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy:
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:
Calder Memorial Trophy:
Conn Smythe Trophy:
Frank J. Selke Trophy:
Hart Memorial Trophy:
Jack Adams Award:
James Norris Memorial Trophy:
King Clancy Memorial Trophy:
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:
Lester B. Pearson Award:
Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy:
NHL Plus/Minus Award:
Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award:
Vezina Trophy:
William M. Jennings Trophy:
Lester Patrick Trophy:

Footnotes

^ NHL unveils new logo for 2005-06 season

References

Preceded by 2004-05 NHL season	NHL seasons	Succeeded by 2006-07 NHL season