The 2011–12 NHL season was the 95th season of operation (94th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Los Angeles Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Final four games to two to win the team's first Stanley Cup in their second Stanley Cup Final appearance; they had lost to Montreal Canadiens in the 1993 Final.
During the off-season, the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg, to become the "new" Winnipeg Jets, reviving the franchise that had last played in the 1995–96 season. It was the first NHL team relocation since the 1997–98 season, when the Hartford Whalers relocated to become the Carolina Hurricanes. The league did not change its divisional structure to accommodate the move, and the Jets took the place of the Thrashers in the Southeast Division. In December 2011, the board of governors eventually approved a proposed realignment for the following season, which would result in four conferences with the first two rounds of the playoffs being divisional, but this was rejected by the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA).
It was the fifth consecutive season with games in Europe at the start of the season. The Winter Classic was held on January 2, 2012, in Philadelphia between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers. The 59th All-Star Game was held at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario, the home arena of the Ottawa Senators, on January 29, 2012.
League business
Franchise relocation Atlanta Spirit, LLC, which previously owned the Atlanta Thrashers, sold the team to True North Sports and Entertainment, who relocated them to the True North-owned MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba and renamed the Winnipeg Jets, reviving the franchise that had originally played from 1972 to 1996. Winnipeg took Atlanta's place in the Southeast Division for 2011–12.
Salary cap On June 23, 2011, the NHL announced that the salary cap would be increased by US$4.9 million. As a result, the new salary cap ceiling was set at US$64.3 million while the salary cap floor was US$48.3 million.
Entry draft The 2011 NHL entry draft was held on June 24–25, 2011, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was selected first overall by the Edmonton Oilers.
Uniform changes Several teams announced plans to change their uniforms in the 2011–12 season.NHL Jersey Watch 2011 , Icetherics.info, October 5, 2011.
The Edmonton Oilers unveiled a new away uniform parallel to their "retro" home uniform used from 1979 to 1996. They retained the navy blue, copper and red uniforms as their alternates.
The Nashville Predators unveiled new home and away uniforms on June 22, complete with the updated saber-toothed cat logo. Their use of gold as the home colors marked the first time since 1988 that an NHL team wore gold in their home uniforms.
The Florida Panthers made minor changes to their home uniform, using red as the primary and relegating navy blue as a trim color.
The Los Angeles Kings returned to the silver and black motif they used from 1988 to 1998, by designating their alternate home black and silver uniform as a regular uniform and unveiling a new white away uniform with black and silver trim. The purple and black uniform were retained as an alternate uniform.
The Ottawa Senators unveiled a new alternate home uniform based on the original Senators barber pole design. The uniform does not use the Roman centurion logo, instead using an outlined "O" on stripes. The Senators' uniform also had an All-Star Game patch.
The Pittsburgh Penguins promoted their dark blue uniforms, worn during the 2011 NHL Winter Classic, as the home alternates, replacing the 2008 NHL Winter Classic alternates.
The Tampa Bay Lightning unveiled new home and road uniforms, featuring the simplified lightning logo. Originally the uniforms were simply blue and white, but by popular demand, black was added as a trim color to the uniform numbers, and added the lightning bolt to the pants. The "Bolts" alternate home uniform was retained.
The Toronto Maple Leafs unveiled a new alternate home uniform based on the Leafs uniforms worn during their run to the 1967 Stanley Cup title, including the 11-point maple leaf logo.
The Washington Capitals also promoted their 2011 NHL Winter Classic retro uniforms as their road alternates.
The new Winnipeg Jets unveiled uniforms consisting of navy with silver and light blue trim, containing a logo based on the roundel of the Royal Canadian Air Force; these were significantly different from, but in a similar color scheme to, the original Jets uniforms.
The New York Islanders unveiled a new black alternate uniform, featuring the team name above the player's number, a similar template the Dallas Stars' uniforms currently use. Speaking of the Stars, they officially retired their alternate away jersey featuring the team crest, instead using their regular away jerseys with the city name and number in front for all 41 road games.
The New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers wore special commemorative uniforms for the 2012 NHL Winter Classic. The Flyers unveiled theirs on November 21, and is in a classic sweater design in orange featuring black numbers and different striping patterns on the yoke. The Rangers unveiled theirs on November 28, and features a mix of designs used from previous jerseys. The shield logo in front is a variation of the logos used during the 1930s–1940s, while the shoulder, arm and tail striping was taken from the current jersey. Both teams would wear their Winter Classic uniforms again on February 5 and 11 at Madison Square Garden and Wells Fargo Center respectively, with the away team wearing the regular uniforms.
In addition several teams sported memorial patches throughout the season; many of these memorials were for related events (see "Off-Season" section below). Unless specified, the patches were seen on the team helmets: Anaheim Ducks – Ruslan Salei (24) memorial on uniforms Calgary Flames – Harley Hotchkiss (HH) memorial Carolina Hurricanes – Josef Vasicek (63) memorial; worn on uniforms Dallas Stars – Karlis Skrastins (37) memorial Detroit Red Wings – Brad McCrimmon, Ruslan Salei and Stefan Liv (BM·RS·SL) memorial; worn on uniforms Minnesota Wild – Pavol Demitra (38) and Derek Boogaard (24) memorials Nashville Predators – Wade Belak (3) memorial New York Islanders – 40th anniversary of the franchise; worn on uniforms New York Rangers – Derek Boogaard (94) memorial Vancouver Canucks – Rick Rypien (37) memorial Winnipeg Jets – Rick Rypien (RR) memorial St. Louis Blues – Pavol Demitra and Igor Korolev (38) memorial
Furthermore, a new league-wide rule required that player numbers be displayed on the front of their helmets, as well as on the back.
Even though the New Jersey Devils and the Arizona Coyotes unveiled anniversary logos commemorating their 30th and 15th anniversaries of their respective relocations from Colorado and Winnipeg, they opted not to use them on their uniforms or helmets.
Arena changes The Carolina Hurricanes' home arena, RBC Center, was renamed PNC Arena on March 15, 2012, in recognition of PNC Financial Services purchasing the US assets of RBC Bank. The Buffalo Sabres home arena, HSBC Arena, was renamed First Niagara Center in recognition of First Niagara Bank's purchase of HSBC's upstate New York branches. The Tampa Bay Lightning's home arena, the St. Pete Times Forum, was renamed the Tampa Bay Times Forum on January 1, 2012, in recognition of the St. Petersburg Times newspaper being renamed to the Tampa Bay Times. The relocated Winnipeg Jets moved from Philips Arena in Atlanta to MTS Centre in Winnipeg, where Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) had held the naming rights since the venue opened in 2004.
Rule changes Boarding Prior to the 2011–12 season, the Board of Governors unanimously agreed to update and re-word rule 41 involving boarding penalties. The new wording requires the player delivering the check to avoid or minimize contact if the opponent is defenceless.
Illegal hits to the head The Board of Governors also approved an update to rule 48 involving illegal checks to the head. The new rule will penalize all hits where the head is the principal point of contact. The previous version of this rule only made checks from the blindside illegal. However, determination if the check is legal will depend on various factors including whether or not the player put himself in a vulnerable position or if the hit was unavoidable. A two-minute minor penalty, or a major penalty in the event the hit was deemed to be deliberate with intent to injure, may be assessed.
Off-season Three young (under 40) "enforcer"-type players died within a four-month span during the off-season. The deaths of Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak led to speculation about the effect of fighting on the mental health of players.
Several former NHL players died in the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash involving the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team in Russia. Those who perished in the plane crash included NHL All-Star Pavol Demitra, Alexander Karpovtsev, Igor Korolev, Brad McCrimmon, Karel Rachunek, Ruslan Salei, Karlis Skrastins and Josef Vasicek along with nearly the entire team roster, coaches, and several young prospects.
Pre-season
European exhibition games
The four teams going to Europe to open their regular seasons there as part of the NHL Premiere games also played exhibition games against European teams under the banner of NHL Premiere Challenge to close out their pre-seasons. The NHL teams had an overall record of 6–1–0 against the European teams, with the New York Rangers, playing four games in five days in four countries, having a record of 3–1–0.
Date City NHL team European team Score September 29 Prague, Czech Republic New York Rangers HC Sparta Praha 2–0 September 30 Gothenburg, Sweden New York Rangers Frölunda HC 4–2 October 2 Bratislava, Slovakia New York Rangers HC Slovan Bratislava 4–1 October 3 Zug, Switzerland New York Rangers EV Zug 4–8 October 4 Helsinki, Finland Anaheim Ducks Jokerit 4–3 OT October 4 Hamburg, Germany Los Angeles Kings Hamburg Freezers 5–4 October 4 Mannheim, Germany Buffalo Sabres Adler Mannheim 8–3
Regular season
Premiere games
Four teams participated in the 2011 Compuware NHL Premiere in Europe. The Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers made their second trip to Europe while the Buffalo Sabres made its first trip. On October 7, Anaheim played Buffalo at Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland, and Los Angeles faced New York at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. All four teams played again on October 8 with Los Angeles against Buffalo at the O2 World Arena in Berlin, Germany, and Anaheim against New York in Stockholm.
Thanksgiving Showdown As part of the league's updated television contract, the NHL debuted the Thanksgiving Showdown, a nationally broadcast game on the day after American Thanksgiving in 2011. The game, which was sponsored by Discover, featured the Boston Bruins (who have traditionally hosted Black Friday matinées since 1990) hosting the Detroit Red Wings, with Detroit winning the game in a shootout, 3–2.
2012 Winter Classic The 2012 NHL Winter Classic was held at the Citizens Bank Park baseball stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Monday, January 2, 2012. This season, the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the New York Rangers. It was the first Winter Classic game for the Rangers and the second for the Flyers. The result of the game was a 3–2 Ranger victory. Philadelphia last played in the 2010 NHL Winter Classic against the Boston Bruins at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The Bruins won that game in overtime by a score of 2–1 on a goal scored by Marco Sturm.