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 (5-6-1) Paul Maurice (29-33-8)
Captain	Brendan Shanahan
Alternate captains	Glen Wesley Andrew Cassels
Arena	Hartford Civic Center
Average attendance	11,983 (76.6%)
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.

Key dates prior to the start of the season:

• The 1995 NHL Entry Draft

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.

The Whalers were shutout a league-high 8 times during the Regular season.

Final standings

Northeast Division

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

Eastern Conference

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

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance
1	W	October 7, 1995	2–0	New York Rangers (1995–96)	1–0–0	15,635
2	W	October 11, 1995	3–2	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	2–0–0	8,635
3	W	October 14, 1995	3–2	Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	3–0–0	15,500
4	W	October 16, 1995	7–5	@ New York Rangers (1995–96)	4–0–0	18,200
5	T	October 20, 1995	2–2 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	4–0–1	15,635
6	L	October 21, 1995	0–3	@ Florida Panthers (1995–96)	4–1–1	12,503
7	L	October 25, 1995	2–4	St. Louis Blues (1995–96)	4–2–1	10,527
8	L	October 27, 1995	1–4	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	4–3–1	11,157
9	L	October 28, 1995	0–3	@ Boston Bruins (1995–96)	4–4–1	17,565
10	L	November 2, 1995	0–5	Ottawa Senators (1995–96)	4–5–1	10,458
11	W	November 4, 1995	5–4	@ Ottawa Senators (1995–96)	5–5–1	8,794
12	L	November 5, 1995	1–6	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)	5–6–1	17,218
13	W	November 7, 1995	7–3	San Jose Sharks (1995–96)	6–6–1	8,628
14	L	November 11, 1995	1–4	New York Rangers (1995–96)	6–7–1	15,635
15	L	November 14, 1995	0–1	@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96)	6–8–1	11,916
16	W	November 15, 1995	3–2	Ottawa Senators (1995–96)	7–8–1	7,641
17	L	November 18, 1995	2–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)	7–9–1	13,910
18	L	November 20, 1995	3–4 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	7–10–1	16,312
19	W	November 22, 1995	4–2	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	8–10–1	11,642
20	W	November 24, 1995	4–0	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	9–10–1	15,726
21	L	November 25, 1995	2–4	Washington Capitals (1995–96)	9–11–1	13,108
22	T	November 29, 1995	2–2 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)	9–11–2	15,203
23	L	December 1, 1995	1–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	9–12–2	12,036
24	L	December 2, 1995	3–5	Florida Panthers (1995–96)	9–13–2	10,092
25	W	December 6, 1995	7–4	New York Islanders (1995–96)	10–13–2	8,760
26	L	December 9, 1995	0–6	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	10–14–2	16,114
27	L	December 10, 1995	1–4	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	10–15–2	17,955
28	L	December 13, 1995	2–3	Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)	10–16–2	7,547
29	W	December 15, 1995	4–2	Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)	11–16–2	9,826
30	T	December 16, 1995	3–3 OT	@ New York Islanders (1995–96)	11–16–3	8,251
31	L	December 18, 1995	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	11–17–3	16,237
32	L	December 20, 1995	2–3	Calgary Flames (1995–96)	11–18–3	6,563
33	T	December 22, 1995	3–3 OT	@ New York Rangers (1995–96)	11–18–4	18,200
34	T	December 23, 1995	3–3 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)	11–18–5	12,262
35	L	December 28, 1995	4–9	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	11–19–5	17,181
36	L	December 30, 1995	0–3	@ Washington Capitals (1995–96)	11–20–5	18,130
37	L	December 31, 1995	2–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	11–21–5	19,983
38	W	January 3, 1996	2–0	Washington Capitals (1995–96)	12–21–5	8,087
39	W	January 5, 1996	4–2	Ottawa Senators (1995–96)	13–21–5	12,239
40	L	January 6, 1996	2–5	@ Boston Bruins (1995–96)	13–22–5	17,565
41	W	January 9, 1996	5–1	@ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)	14–22–5	9,702
42	L	January 10, 1996	2–3 OT	@ Calgary Flames (1995–96)	14–23–5	16,469
43	W	January 12, 1996	3–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)	15–23–5	9,709
44	W	January 16, 1996	3–0	Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)	16–23–5	11,124
45	W	January 17, 1996	6–3	@ New York Islanders (1995–96)	17–23–5	8,544
46	L	January 24, 1996	2–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	17–24–5	12,808
47	W	January 25, 1996	8–2	Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)	18–24–5	13,757
48	T	January 27, 1996	4–4 OT	New Jersey Devils (1995–96)	18–24–6	15,635
49	L	January 30, 1996	2–8	@ San Jose Sharks (1995–96)	18–25–6	17,190
50	W	January 31, 1996	6–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)	19–25–6	11,775
51	W	February 2, 1996	4–3	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	20–25–6	17,174
52	W	February 7, 1996	5–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)	21–25–6	16,758
53	W	February 9, 1996	3–2 OT	@ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)	22–25–6	16,061
54	W	February 11, 1996	5–3	@ Dallas Stars (1995–96)	23–25–6	15,397
55	L	February 14, 1996	0–3	Boston Bruins (1995–96)	23–26–6	15,635
56	W	February 17, 1996	2–1 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	24–26–6	15,291
57	W	February 21, 1996	5–3	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	25–26–6	14,311
58	L	February 23, 1996	4–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	25–27–6	17,235
59	L	February 25, 1996	2–6	Dallas Stars (1995–96)	25–28–6	11,143
60	T	February 28, 1996	4–4 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)	25–28–7	9,360
61	L	March 1, 1996	2–5	Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)	25–29–7	11,552
62	W	March 2, 1996	7–1	Florida Panthers (1995–96)	26–29–7	11,935
63	L	March 6, 1996	2–4	Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	26–30–7	11,252
64	W	March 8, 1996	7–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	27–30–7	10,979
65	L	March 9, 1996	3–6	@ St. Louis Blues (1995–96)	27–31–7	20,803
66	W	March 13, 1996	3–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	28–31–7	11,850
67	W	March 16, 1996	2–1	Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	29–31–7	13,213
68	W	March 18, 1996	6–3	Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)	30–31–7	11,440
69	L	March 20, 1996	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	30–32–7	21,255
70	T	March 22, 1996	1–1 OT	@ Ottawa Senators (1995–96)	30–32–8	13,596
71	T	March 23, 1996	2–2 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1995–96)	30–32–9	18,130
72	L	March 25, 1996	0–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)	30–33–9	17,380
73	L	March 27, 1996	5–6 OT	Boston Bruins (1995–96)	30–34–9	13,884
74	W	March 30, 1996	3–1	New York Islanders (1995–96)	31–34–9	13,628
75	L	April 1, 1996	2–3	@ Florida Panthers (1995–96)	31–35–9	13,159
76	L	April 3, 1996	2–4	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)	31–36–9	22,576
77	W	April 4, 1996	1–0	@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96)	32–36–9	17,757
78	L	April 6, 1996	3–6	New Jersey Devils (1995–96)	32–37–9	13,521
79	W	April 8, 1996	5–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	33–37–9	12,683
80	L	April 11, 1996	2–3	@ Boston Bruins (1995–96)	33–38–9	17,565
81	W	April 13, 1996	2–0	Boston Bruins (1995–96)	34–38–9	15,635
82	L	April 14, 1996	1–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	34–39–9	16,230

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Brendan Shanahan	LW	74	44	34	78	125	2	17	2	6
Geoff Sanderson	LW	81	34	31	65	40	0	6	0	7
Andrew Cassels	C	81	20	43	63	39	8	6	0	1
Nelson Emerson	RW	81	29	29	58	78	-7	12	2	5
Andrei Nikolishin	C	61	14	37	51	34	-2	4	1	3
Robert Kron	LW	77	22	28	50	6	-1	8	1	3
Jeff Brown	D	48	7	31	38	38	2	5	0	0
Paul Ranheim	LW	73	10	20	30	14	-2	0	1	1
Jeff O'Neill	RW	65	8	19	27	40	-3	1	0	1
Glen Wesley	D	68	8	16	24	88	-9	6	0	1
Steven Rice	RW	59	10	12	22	47	-4	1	0	2
Adam Burt	D	78	4	9	13	121	-4	0	0	1
Glen Featherstone	D	68	2	10	12	138	10	0	0	1
Gerald Diduck	D	79	1	9	10	88	7	0	0	0
Sami Kapanen	RW	35	5	4	9	6	0	0	0	0
Brad McCrimmon	D	58	3	6	9	62	15	0	1	0
Kevin Dineen	RW	20	2	7	9	67	7	0	0	0
Mark Janssens	C	81	2	7	9	155	-13	0	0	0
Frantisek Kucera	D	30	2	6	8	10	-3	0	0	1
Scott Daniels	LW	53	3	4	7	254	-4	0	0	0
Kelly Chase	RW	55	2	4	6	230	-4	0	0	1
Sean Burke	G	66	0	6	6	16	0	0	0	0
Steve Martins	C	23	1	3	4	8	-3	0	0	0
Brian Glynn	D	54	0	4	4	44	-15	0	0	0
Kevin Smyth	LW	21	2	1	3	8	-5	1	0	0
Jocelyn Lemieux	RW	29	1	2	3	31	-11	0	0	0
Jimmy Carson	C	11	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
Alexander Godynyuk	D	3	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Marek Malik	D	7	0	0	0	4	-3	0	0	0
Jason McBain	D	3	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Jason Muzzatti	G	22	0	0	0	33	0	0	0	0
Jeff Reese	G	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Sean Burke	3669	66	28	28	6	190	3.11	4	2034	1844	.907
Jason Muzzatti	1013	22	4	8	3	49	2.90	1	551	502	.911
Jeff Reese	275	7	2	3	0	14	3.05	1	170	156	.918
Team:	4957	82	34	39	9	253	3.06	6	2755	2502	.908

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus-minus PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals;
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage;

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

Player Former Team Jeff Daniels Detroit Vipers (IHL) Gerald Diduck Chicago Blackhawks David Williams Anaheim Mighty Ducks

Player New Team Jeff Bloemberg Detroit Red Wings Jim Sandlak Vancouver Canucks

Draft picks

Hartford's picks at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	13	Jean-Sebastien Giguere	Goaltender	Canada	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
2	35	Sergei Fedotov	Defense	Russia	Dynamo Moscow (Russia)
4	85	Ian MacNeil	Center	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
4	87	Sami Kapanen	Right Wing	Finland	HIFK (Finland)
5	113	Hugh Hamilton	Defense	Canada	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
7	165	Byron Ritchie	Center	Canada	Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
8	191	Milan Kostolny	Right Wing	Slovakia	Detroit Junior Red Wings (OHL)
9	217	Mike Rucinski	Defense	United States	Detroit Junior Red Wings (OHL)

Roster

1995-96 Hartford Whalers
Goaltenders 1 – Sean Burke  29 – Jason Muzzatti  35 – Jeff Reese		Defensemen 4 – Gerald Diduck  4 – Frantisek Kucera  5 – Alexander Godynyuk  6 – Adam Burt  7 – Brian Glynn  10 – Brad McCrimmon  20 – Glen Wesley  23 – Marek Malik  25 – Jason McBain  27 – Jeff Brown  36 – Glen Featherstone		Wingers 8 – Geoff Sanderson  11 – Kevin Dineen  12 – Steven Rice  14 – Kevin Smyth  15 – Scott Daniels  16 – Nelson Emerson  18 – Robert Kron  24 – Sami Kapanen  26 – Jocelyn Lemieux  28 – Paul Ranheim  39 – Kelly Chase  94 – Brendan Shanahan  - C		Centers 13 – Andrei Nikolishin  21 – Andrew Cassels  22 – Mark Janssens  32 – Steve Martins  33 – Jimmy Carson  92 – Jeff O'Neill  Coach: Paul Holmgren (5-6-1) Coach: Paul Maurice (29-33-8) GM: Jim Rutherford

See also

• 1995–96 NHL season

References

• Whalers on Hockey Database