1994–95 Quebec Nordiques season
1994–95 Quebec Nordiques | |
---|---|
Northeast Division champions | |
Division | 1st Northeast |
Conference | 1st Eastern |
1994–95 record | 30–13–5 |
Home record | 19–1–4 |
Road record | 11–12–1 |
Goals for | 185 |
Goals against | 134 |
Team information | |
General manager | Pierre Lacroix |
Coach | Marc Crawford |
Captain | Joe Sakic |
Alternate captains | Wendel Clark Mike Ricci |
Arena | Colisée de Québec |
Average attendance | 14,397 (93.4%)[1] |
Minor league affiliate(s) | Cornwall Aces (AHL) |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Owen Nolan (30) |
Assists | Joe Sakic (43) |
Points | Joe Sakic (62) |
Penalty minutes | Chris Simon (106) |
Plus/minus | Curtis Leschyshyn (+29) |
Wins | Stephane Fiset (17) |
Goals against average | Jocelyn Thibault (2.34) |
The 1994–95 Quebec Nordiques season was the 23rd season of operation of the Nordiques and the last season that the team played in Quebec. The Nordiques finished first in the Eastern Conference, but lost in the first round to the New York Rangers. After the season, the club was sold and relocated to Denver, Colorado.
Regular season
[edit]The Nordiques exploded out of the gate, winning five-straight games and 12 of their first 13. Although they were terrible on the road, going just 11–12–1, the Nordiques had the best home record in the league: 19–1–4. Quebec's only defeat at home came on February 27 in a 7–5 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Captain Joe Sakic finished fourth in the league in points (62), Owen Nolan tied for third in the league in goals (30) and finished first in the league in game-winning goals (8), while Peter Forsberg led all rookies in points (50). Forsberg went on to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top rookie of the 1994–95 season. The team finished first in scoring in the league with 185 goals and was one of only two Eastern Conference teams to score at least one goal in all of their 48 regular-season games (the Buffalo Sabres were the other team). Quebec went on to finish first in the Eastern Conference with 65 points. The Nordiques tied the Flyers for most hat-tricks scored during the regular season, with six. Owen Nolan had three, while Wendel Clark, Uwe Krupp and Scott Young each had one.
Season standings
[edit]No. | CR | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Quebec Nordiques | 48 | 30 | 13 | 5 | 185 | 134 | 65 |
2 | 3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 48 | 29 | 16 | 3 | 181 | 158 | 61 |
3 | 4 | Boston Bruins | 48 | 27 | 18 | 3 | 150 | 127 | 57 |
4 | 7 | Buffalo Sabres | 48 | 22 | 19 | 7 | 130 | 119 | 51 |
5 | 10 | Hartford Whalers | 48 | 19 | 24 | 5 | 127 | 141 | 43 |
6 | 11 | Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 18 | 23 | 7 | 125 | 148 | 43 |
7 | 14 | Ottawa Senators | 48 | 9 | 34 | 5 | 117 | 174 | 23 |
R | Div | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Quebec Nordiques | NE | 48 | 30 | 13 | 5 | 185 | 134 | 65 |
2 | Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 48 | 28 | 16 | 4 | 150 | 132 | 60 |
3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NE | 48 | 29 | 16 | 3 | 181 | 158 | 61 |
4 | Boston Bruins | NE | 48 | 27 | 18 | 3 | 150 | 127 | 57 |
5 | New Jersey Devils | AT | 48 | 22 | 18 | 8 | 136 | 121 | 52 |
6 | Washington Capitals | AT | 48 | 22 | 18 | 8 | 136 | 120 | 52 |
7 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 48 | 22 | 19 | 7 | 130 | 119 | 51 |
8 | New York Rangers | AT | 48 | 22 | 23 | 3 | 139 | 134 | 47 |
9 | Florida Panthers | AT | 48 | 20 | 22 | 6 | 115 | 127 | 46 |
10 | Hartford Whalers | NE | 48 | 19 | 24 | 5 | 127 | 141 | 43 |
11 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 48 | 18 | 23 | 7 | 125 | 148 | 43 |
12 | Tampa Bay Lightning | AT | 48 | 17 | 28 | 3 | 120 | 144 | 37 |
13 | New York Islanders | AT | 48 | 15 | 28 | 5 | 126 | 158 | 35 |
14 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 48 | 9 | 34 | 5 | 117 | 174 | 23 |
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast
bold – Qualified for playoffs
Playoffs
[edit]The Nordiques faced the New York Rangers in the first round of the 1995 NHL playoffs. On paper, the Nordiques were the clear favorite, since they had a much better record and had won the season series against the Rangers. However, New York's players had more playoff experience, since most of them had been members of the 1994 Stanley Cup champion team. This fact, combined with the Nordiques players' playoff inexperience and inability to maintain their effective power play, proved to be the ultimate factors in the series, as New York defeated Quebec 4 games to 2. Although each team had allowed only 134 goals during the regular season (tied for 9th in the league), it was an offensive series, as 44 goals were scored (25 by New York, 19 by Quebec) over the 6 games.
Schedule and results
[edit]Regular season
[edit]1994–95 regular season[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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January: 5–0–0 (home: 3–0–0; road: 2–0–0)
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February: 8–4–2 (home: 3–1–2; road: 5–3–0)
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March: 10–4–1 (home: 7–0–1; road: 3–4–0)
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April: 6–5–2 (home: 5–0–1; road: 1–5–1)
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May: 1–0–0 (home: 1–0–0; road: 0–0–0)
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Legend:
Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
Playoffs
[edit]1995 Stanley Cup playoffs[4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (8) New York Rangers – Rangers win 4–2
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Legend:
Win Loss |
Player statistics
[edit]Scoring
[edit]- Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; 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 Nordiques only.
- ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Nordiques only.
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
19 | Joe Sakic | C | 47 | 19 | 43 | 62 | 7 | 30 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 |
21 | Peter Forsberg | C | 47 | 15 | 35 | 50 | 17 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
11 | Owen Nolan | RW | 46 | 30 | 19 | 49 | 21 | 46 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 6 |
48 | Scott Young | RW | 48 | 18 | 21 | 39 | 9 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
9 | Mike Ricci | C | 48 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 5 | 40 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
17 | Wendel Clark | LW | 37 | 12 | 18 | 30 | −1 | 45 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −6 | 6 |
13 | Valeri Kamensky | LW | 40 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 3 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
28 | Bob Bassen | C | 47 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 14 | 33 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
51 | Andrei Kovalenko | RW | 45 | 14 | 10 | 24 | −4 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 2 |
4 | Uwe Krupp | D | 44 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 14 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 | 2 |
18 | Adam Deadmarsh | RW | 48 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 16 | 56 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 0 |
7 | Curtis Leschyshyn | D | 44 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 29 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 4 |
2 | Sylvain Lefebvre | D | 48 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
47 | Claude Lapointe | C | 29 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 5 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 8 |
12 | Chris Simon | LW | 29 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 106 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 19 |
25 | Martin Rucinsky | LW | 20 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
6 | Craig Wolanin | D | 40 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 40 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
52 | Adam Foote | D | 35 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 52 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 14 |
23 | Paul MacDermid | RW | 14 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
15 | Bill Huard† | LW | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
5 | Alexei Gusarov | D | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
14 | Dwayne Norris | RW | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
20 | Rene Corbet | LW | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
29 | Steven Finn | D | 40 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 64 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −4 | 2 |
35 | Stephane Fiset | G | 32 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
22 | Janne Laukkanen | D | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 2 |
31 | Aaron Miller | D | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
24 | Jon Klemm | D | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
59 | Dave Karpa‡ | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
1 | Garth Snow | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
41 | Jocelyn Thibault | G | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending
[edit]Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
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No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
35 | Stephane Fiset | 32 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 968 | 87 | 2.78 | .910 | 2 | 1879 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 115 | 16 | 4.60 | .861 | 0 | 209 |
41 | Jocelyn Thibault | 18 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 423 | 35 | 2.34 | .917 | 1 | 898 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 76 | 8 | 3.24 | .895 | 0 | 148 |
1 | Garth Snow | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 63 | 11 | 5.54 | .825 | 0 | 119 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6.78 | .667 | 0 | 9 |
Awards and records
[edit]Awards
[edit]Type | Award/honour | Recipient | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
League (annual) |
Calder Memorial Trophy | Peter Forsberg | [5] |
Jack Adams Award | Marc Crawford | [6] | |
NHL All-Rookie Team | Peter Forsberg (Forward) | [7] | |
League (in-season) |
NHL Rookie of the Month | Peter Forsberg (April) | [8] |
Team | O'Keefe Cup | Joe Sakic | [9] |
Transactions
[edit]The Nordiques were involved in the following transactions during the 1994-95 season.
Trades
[edit]March 8, 1995 | To Anaheim Mighty Ducks Dave Karpa |
To Quebec Nordiques Conditional draft pick in 1997 |
[10] |
March 23, 1995 | To Calgary Flames Ed Ward |
To Quebec Nordiques Francois Groleau |
|
April 7, 1995 | To Ottawa Senators Mika Stromberg 4th round pick in 1995 (Kevin Boyd) |
To Quebec Nordiques Bill Huard |
Free agents
[edit]
|
Draft picks
[edit]Quebec's draft picks at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft in Hartford, Connecticut.[11]
Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | College/junior/club team |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 12 | Wade Belak (RW) | ![]() |
Saskatoon Blades (WHL) |
1 | 22 | Jeff Kealty (D) | ![]() |
Catholic Memorial High School (USHS-MA) |
2 | 35 | Josef Marha (C) | ![]() |
Dukla Jihlava (Czech Republic) |
3 | 61 | Sebastien Bety (D) | ![]() |
Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) |
3 | 72 | Chris Drury (C) | ![]() |
Fairfield College Preparatory School (USHS-CT) |
4 | 87 | Milan Hejduk (RW) | ![]() |
HC Pardubice (Czech Republic) |
5 | 113 | Tony Tuzzolino (RW) | ![]() |
Michigan State University (CCHA) |
6 | 139 | Nicholas Windsor (D) | ![]() |
Cornwall Colts (COJHL) |
7 | 165 | Calvin Elfring (D) | ![]() |
Powell River Paper Kings (BCHL) |
8 | 191 | Jay Bertsch (RW) | ![]() |
Spokane Chiefs (WHL) |
9 | 217 | Tim Thomas (G) | ![]() |
University of Vermont (Hockey East) |
10 | 243 | Chris Pittman (C) | ![]() |
Kitchener Rangers (OHL) |
11 | 285 | Steve Low (D) | ![]() |
Sherbrooke Faucons (QMJHL) |
S | 9 | Reid Simonton (D) | ![]() |
Union College (ECAC Hockey) |
Relocation to Denver, Colorado
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5f/QuebecNordiquesNew.png/220px-QuebecNordiquesNew.png)
In the 1994–95 shortened season of 48 games, the Nordiques played well and finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference. The team faltered in the postseason and was eliminated in the first round by the defending Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers.
The playoff loss proved to be Quebec's swan song in the NHL as the team's financial troubles increasingly took center stage, even in the face of renewed fan support over the previous three years. Quebec City was by far the smallest market in the NHL, and the second-smallest market in North America to host a big-league team (behind only Green Bay, Wisconsin). The league's Canadian teams (with the exception of Montreal, Toronto, and to a lesser extent, Vancouver) found it difficult to compete in a new age of rising player salaries. This made many of the players concerned about their marketability, especially since the Nords always played in the long shadow of the Canadiens. In addition, most players were skittish about playing in what was virtually a unilingual Francophone city. Then as now, there were no privately owned English-language radio stations in the city, and only one privately owned English-language television station. The only English-language newspaper is a weekly. Unlike in Montreal, public address announcements were given only in French.
Aubut unsuccessfully petitioned for a bailout from Quebec's provincial government. In May 1995, shortly after the Nordiques were eliminated from the playoffs, Aubut was forced to sell the team to a group of investors in Denver, Colorado. The franchise was moved to Denver where it was renamed the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in their first season after the move, and added another in 2001, and a third in 2022.
The Nordiques had planned to change their logo, colours, and uniforms for the 1995–96 season, and the new design had already appeared in the Canadian press.
References
[edit]- "Quebec Nordiques 1994-95 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
- "1994-95 Quebec Nordiques Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
- ^ "National Hockey League 1994-95 Attendance Graph". hockeydb.com.
- ^ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
- ^ "1994-1995 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
- ^ a b "1994-95 Quebec Nordiques Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
- ^ "Calder Memorial Trophy". records.nhl.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
- ^ "Jack Adams Award". records.nhl.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
- ^ "Postseason All-Star Teams". records.nhl.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
- ^ "NHL Rookies of the Month". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
- ^ Quebec Nordiques 1993-1994 Yearbook, p. 100
- ^ Norwood, Robyn (March 9, 1995). "Ducks Trade for Youth, Kings' Reject". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
- ^ "1994 NHL Entry Draft". hockeydb.com.