The 1998–99 NHL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 27 teams with the addition of the Nashville Predators. The NHL also realigned to a strictly geographic six-division structure, with three per conference. The 1998–99 season marked the retirement of Wayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer, who played his final three NHL seasons with the New York Rangers. The Dallas Stars finished first in regular season play, and won the Stanley Cup championship over the Buffalo Sabres on a controversial triple-overtime goal by Brett Hull.
League business Expansion and realignment The Nashville Predators joined the NHL, increasing the league to 27 teams. The 1998 NHL expansion draft was held on June 26 to fill the Predators' roster.
With the debut of the Predators, and the planned expansion of three more teams within the next two seasons (Atlanta, Columbus, and Minnesota), the NHL realigned to a strictly geographic six-division structure (three per conference). This erased the last vestiges of the traditional Adams/Patrick/Norris/Smythe four-division structure abandoned in 1993–94. Other than the reassignment of Colorado to the Western Conference in 1995 due to its move from Quebec, the divisions' membership had remained static for five years although several franchises had relocated. As part of this realignment, the Toronto Maple Leafs moved from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference. This put three of the Original Six teams in the Northeast Division (Boston, Montreal, and Toronto), and the three original cities of the NHL in the Northeast (Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto). The playoff format was subsequently modified so the three division winners in each conference were seeded one through three by order of point finish, then the top five remaining teams in the conference were seeded four through eight.
Entry draft The 1998 NHL entry draft was held on June 27 at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. Vincent Lecavalier was selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Rule changes In an effort to reduce the number of disallowed goals due to the skate-in-the-crease violation, regulatory reforms were implemented resulting the goal crease shape and size being significantly reduced. In spite of this regulatory change, goaltenders and defensive systems continued to dominate the league, as only two teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils, averaged more than three goals scored per game. In addition, no player reached the 50-goal plateau. A total of 160 shutouts were recorded for the second-straight regular season. The league began to phase in a two-referee system. Each team played 20 selected regular games with two referees and two linesmen, instead of just one referee and two linesmen. The two-referee system was also used in all playoff games.
Preseason games in Austria Three preseason games were held in Austria. The Tampa Bay Lightning played against Austrian team VEU Feldkirch at Vorarlberghalle in Klagenfurt on September 15. One day later at the same arena, the Buffalo Sabres faced off against KAC Klagenfurt. The Sabres and the Lightning then met at Olympiahalle in Innsbruck on September 18.
Uniform changes Anaheim: The third and fourth jerseys from 1997 got new socks. Boston: The team wore a 75th-anniversary patch for their 75th season. Calgary: New Black Alternates introduced. Crest has its alternate Flaming-Horse Logo. Colorado: No updates in the regular season, but in the 1999 Playoffs, the Avalanche wore a CHS patch for the victims of the Columbine High School massacre on their left sleeve just above the number. The patch remained on the jerseys throughout the playoffs. Florida: The names on the back become vertically arched, and a navy blue alternate jersey is introduced. On that jersey, the panther is breaking a stick in half. Los Angeles: Jerseys Redesigned, Purple is Reintroduced. Nashville: white jerseys include a Blue triangle for the Crest, and the blue ones do not. The team wore an Inaugural season patch that would later become the team's alternate logo. New York Islanders: The jerseys reverted to its 1978–1995 design, retaining navy blue as its main color with a patch on the right shoulder featuring four diagonal stripes, symbolizing the team's four Stanley Cup titles in the 1980s. New York Rangers: White Lady Liberty Jerseys. Phoenix: The Coyotes introduce a new green alternate jersey, complete with a desertscape at the bottom and the sleeve ends St Louis: Alternates are retired and adopt a new color scheme San Jose: Alternates are retired and become the basis of the team's new uniforms. Tampa Bay: All-Star Game Patches for the 1999 NHL All-Star Game in Tampa. Toronto: Team wore alternate throwbacks and a patch to commemorate their final season at Maple Leaf Gardens. Washington: For the first few games, the Capitals wore a patch celebrating their 25th season in the NHL. The patch was worn on the upper right chest.
Arena changes The Edmonton Oilers' home arena, Edmonton Coliseum, was renamed Skyreach Centre as part of a new naming rights agreement with Skyreach Equipment. The Florida Panthers moved from Miami Arena in Miami to National Car Rental Center in Sunrise, Florida, with National Car Rental acquiring the naming rights. The expansion Nashville Predators moved into Gaylord Entertainment Center, with Gaylord Entertainment Company acquiring the naming rights. The Philadelphia Flyers's home arena, the CoreStates Center, was renamed the First Union Center after First Union acquired CoreStates Financial Corporation. The Toronto Maple Leafs moved from Maple Leaf Gardens to the Air Canada Centre on February 20, 1999, with Air Canada acquiring the naming rights.
Regular season International games The Calgary Flames and the San Jose Sharks played a two-game series on October 9 and 10, 1998 at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
All-Star Game The All-Star Game was held on January 24, 1999, at Ice Palace in Tampa, home to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Final standings
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Playoffs
Bracket In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the three division winners seeded 1–3 based on regular season record, and the five remaining teams seeded 4–8.
The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.
Awards The Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for the most goals by a player in a season made its debut this year.
+ 1998–99 NHL awards Award Recipient(s) Presidents' Trophy: Dallas Stars Prince of Wales Trophy: (Eastern Conference playoff champion) Buffalo Sabres Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: (Western Conference playoff champion) Dallas Stars Art Ross Trophy: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: John Cullen, Tampa Bay Lightning Calder Memorial Trophy: Chris Drury, Colorado Avalanche Conn Smythe Trophy: Joe Nieuwendyk, Dallas Stars Frank J. Selke Trophy: Jere Lehtinen, Dallas Stars Hart Memorial Trophy: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins Jack Adams Award: Jacques Martin, Ottawa Senators James Norris Memorial Trophy: Al MacInnis, St. Louis Blues King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Rob Ray, Buffalo Sabres Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, New York Rangers Lester B. Pearson Award: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy: Teemu Selanne, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL Foundation Player Award: Rob Ray, Buffalo Sabres NHL Plus-Minus Award: John LeClair, Philadelphia Flyers Vezina Trophy: Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres William M. Jennings Trophy: Ed Belfour and Roman Turek, Dallas Stars
All-Star teams First team Position Second teamDominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres GByron Dafoe, Boston BruinsAl MacInnis, St. Louis Blues DRay Bourque, Boston BruinsNicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings DEric Desjardins, Philadelphia FlyersPeter Forsberg, Colorado Avalanche CAlexei Yashin, Ottawa SenatorsJaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins RWTeemu Selanne, Mighty Ducks of AnaheimPaul Kariya, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim LWJohn LeClair, Philadelphia Flyers
Player statistics
Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh Penguins 81 44 83 127 66 Teemu Selanne Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 75 47 60 107 30 Paul Kariya Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 82 39 62 101 40 Peter Forsberg Colorado Avalanche 78 30 67 97 108 Joe Sakic Colorado Avalanche 73 41 55 96 29 Alexei Yashin Ottawa Senators 82 44 50 94 54 Eric Lindros Philadelphia Flyers 71 40 53 93 120 Theoren Fleury Calgary Flames /Colorado Avalanche 75 40 53 93 86 John LeClair Philadelphia Flyers 76 43 47 90 30 Pavol Demitra St. Louis Blues 82 37 52 89 16 Source: NHL.
Leading goaltenders Regular season Player Team GP MIN GA SO GAA SV% Ron Tugnutt Ottawa 43 2508 75 3 1.79 .925 Dominik Hasek Buffalo 64 3817 119 9 1.87 .937 Ed Belfour Dallas 61 3536 117 5 1.99 .915 Byron Dafoe Boston 68 4001 133 10 1.99 .926 Roman Turek Dallas 26 1382 48 1 2.08 .915 Nikolai Khabibulin Phoenix 63 3657 130 8 2.13 .920 John Vanbiesbrouck Philadelphia 62 3712 135 6 2.18 .902 Steve Shields San Jose 37 2162 80 4 2.22 .921 Arturs Irbe Carolina 62 3643 135 6 2.22 .923 Mike Vernon San Jose 49 2831 107 4 2.27 .911
Coaches Eastern Conference Boston Bruins: Pat Burns Buffalo Sabres: Lindy Ruff Carolina Hurricanes: Paul Maurice Florida Panthers: Terry Murray Montreal Canadiens: Alain Vigneault New Jersey Devils: Robbie Ftorek New York Islanders: Mike Milbury and Bill Stewart New York Rangers: John Muckler Ottawa Senators: Jacques Martin Philadelphia Flyers: Roger Neilson Pittsburgh Penguins: Kevin Constantine Tampa Bay Lightning: Jacques Demers Toronto Maple Leafs: Pat Quinn Washington Capitals: Ron Wilson
Western Conference Mighty Ducks of Anaheim: Craig Hartsburg Calgary Flames: Brian Sutter Chicago Blackhawks: Dirk Graham and Lorne Molleken Colorado Avalanche: Bob Hartley Dallas Stars: Ken Hitchcock Detroit Red Wings: Scotty Bowman Edmonton Oilers: Ron Low Los Angeles Kings: Larry Robinson Nashville Predators: Barry Trotz Phoenix Coyotes: Jim Schoenfeld San Jose Sharks: Darryl Sutter St. Louis Blues: Joel Quenneville Vancouver Canucks: Mike Keenan and Marc Crawford
Milestones
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1998–99 (listed with their first team, an asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
Martin St. Louis, Calgary Flames Chris Drury, Colorado Avalanche Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche Dan Boyle, Florida Panthers Jason Blake, Los Angeles Kings David Legwand, Nashville Predators Karlis Skrastins, Nashville Predators Kimmo Timonen, Nashville Predators Eric Brewer, New York Islanders Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs
Last games
The following is a list of players of note who played their last game in the NHL in 1998–99 (listed with their last team):
Dave Babych, Los Angeles Kings Brian Bellows, Washington Capitals Jim Carey, St. Louis Blues Bobby Carpenter, New Jersey Devils Dino Ciccarelli, Florida Panthers Russ Courtnall, Los Angeles Kings John Cullen, Tampa Bay Lightning Wayne Gretzky, New York Rangers