Сезон НХЛ 1995–96: «Колорадо» и смена арен

National Hockey League season

The 1995–96 NHL season was the 79th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalanche (formerly the Quebec Nordiques), who, in their first year as the Avalanche, swept the Florida Panthers in the finals, in four games.

The 1995–96 season was the first season in Denver for the Avalanche, who had relocated from Quebec City where they were previously known as the Quebec Nordiques. Prior to the season, Colorado was assigned to the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They played at McNichols Arena, the building that the Colorado Rockies played in from 1976 to 1982 before they were purchased and moved to become the New Jersey Devils. The Avs would play in that building until they moved to the Pepsi Center in 1999. It was also the final season for the original Winnipeg Jets, as they announced that they would be moving from Manitoba to Arizona and become the Phoenix Coyotes at season's end. The NHL would not return to Manitoba until the Atlanta Thrashers moved there to become the "new" Winnipeg Jets following the 2010–11 season. This season would mark the last season the Buffalo Sabres would play in the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, the Philadelphia Flyers at the CoreStates Spectrum, the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Thunderdome, the Senators at the Ottawa Civic Centre, and the Canadiens at the Montreal Forum. The Sabres made their new home at the Marine Midland Arena, the Flyers at the CoreStates Center, the Lightning at the Ice Palace, the Senators at the Corel Centre, and the Canadiens at the Molson Centre. The latter two arenas opened before the end of this season. With the Montreal Forum closed, Maple Leaf Gardens was the last remaining arena from the Original Six era at the time. The Boston Bruins played their first season at Fleet Center after spending the last 67 at the old Boston Garden, and the Vancouver Canucks played their first game at General Motors Place. During the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons, each team played 84 games (including two neutral site games). The 1994–95 NHL lockout had resulted in a shortened 48 game season and the cancellation of the planned neutral site games. Starting in the 1995–96 season, the neutral site games were eliminated, which reduced the regular season to 82 games per team where it remains as of 2024.

Improvements in dye sublimation printing on modern uniform fabrics, having been featured in recent seasons on uniforms in the National Basketball Association and the Canadian Football League, had caught the interest of the NHL, which decided to allow alternate jerseys that could take advantage of this technology to produce new and unusual designs not possible under traditional jersey making techniques. Six teams elected to participate in the process, but St. Louis Blues coach and general manager Mike Keenan vetoed the Blues' proposed third jersey, which would have featured blaring trumpets across the front. The five teams that did participate were the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Vancouver Canucks. The Ducks' and Kings' third jerseys proved unpopular at the time and were retired by the end of the season, while the Canucks underwent a complete rebrand for the 1997–98 season. The Penguins' third jersey was promoted to their primary road jersey for the 1997 Stanley Cup Playoffs through the 2001–02 season, and the Bruins retained their third jersey the longest, through the 2005–06 season.

1995 96 National Hockey League Division Team City Arena Capacity Atlantic Florida Panthers Miami, Florida Miami Arena 14,703 New Jersey Devils East Rutherford, New Jersey Brendan Byrne Arena 19,040 New York Islanders Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 16,297 New York Rangers New York, New York Madison Square Garden 18,200 Philadelphia Flyers Philadelphia, Pennsylvania CoreStates Spectrum 17,380 Tampa Bay Lightning St. Petersburg, Florida ThunderDome 28,183 Washington Capitals Landover, Maryland USAir Arena 18,130 Northeast Boston Bruins Boston, Massachusetts FleetCenter 17,850 Buffalo Sabres Buffalo, New York Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 16,325 Hartford Whalers Hartford, Connecticut Hartford Civic Center 15,635 Montreal Canadiens Montreal, Quebec Montreal Forum Molson Centre 17,959 21,273 Ottawa Senators Ottawa, Ontario Kanata, Ontario Ottawa Civic Centre Palladium 10,525 18,500 Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Civic Arena 17,181 Central Chicago Blackhawks Chicago, Illinois United Center 20,500 Dallas Stars Dallas, Texas Reunion Arena 16,924 Detroit Red Wings Detroit, Michigan Joe Louis Arena 19,875 St. Louis Blues St. Louis, Missouri Kiel Center 19,260 Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto, Ontario Maple Leaf Gardens 15,646 Winnipeg Jets Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg Arena 15,565 Pacific Calgary Flames Calgary, Alberta Canadian Airlines Saddledome 19,289 Colorado Avalanche Denver, Colorado McNichols Sports Arena 16,061 Edmonton Oilers Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton Coliseum 17,100 Los Angeles Kings Inglewood, California Great Western Forum 16,005 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Anaheim, California Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim 17,174 San Jose Sharks San Jose, California San Jose Arena 17,190 Vancouver Canucks Vancouver, British Columbia General Motors Place 18,422

The Detroit Red Wings enjoyed a spectacular season, having finished the year as the Western Conferences's top seed with 131 points, and at the time second only to the 1976–77 Montreal Canadiens, and setting the NHL record for most wins ever in the regular season (62). Neither mark was eclipsed until 27 years later, when the Boston Bruins achieved a record breaking 65 wins and 135 points in the 2022–23 season. However, the Wings fell to the future Stanley Cup champion Avalanche in the Western Conference Final, the sixth game of which marked the beginning of the heated Detroit Colorado rivalry, which would last for years to come. The New Jersey Devils became the first team since the 1969–70 Montreal Canadiens to miss the playoffs after winning the Stanley Cup during the previous season.

+ 1995–96 NHL awards Award Recipient(s) Runner(s) up/Finalists Stanley Cup Colorado Avalanche Florida Panthers Presidents' Trophy(Best regular season record) Detroit Red Wings Colorado Avalanche Prince of Wales Trophy(Eastern Conference playoff champion) Florida Panthers Pittsburgh Penguins Clarence S. Campbell Bowl(Western Conference playoff champion) Colorado Avalanche Detroit Red Wings Alka Seltzer Plus Minus Award(Best plus minus statistic) Vladimir Konstantinov (Detroit Red Wings) Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings) Art Ross Trophy(Player with most points) Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) Jaromír Jágr (Pittsburgh Penguins) Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy(Perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication) Gary Roberts (Calgary Flames) N/A Calder Memorial Trophy(Best first year player) Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa Senators) Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa Senators)Éric Dazé (Chicago Blackhawks)Ed Jovanovski (Florida Panthers) Conn Smythe Trophy(Most valuable player, playoffs) Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche) N/A Frank J. Selke Trophy(Best defensive forward) Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings) Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings)Ron Francis (Pittsburgh Penguins)Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings) Hart Memorial Trophy(Most valuable player, regular season) Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins)Eric Lindros (Philadelphia Flyers)Mark Messier (New York Rangers) Jack Adams Award(Best coach) Scotty Bowman (Detroit Red Wings) Scotty Bowman (Detroit Red Wings)Terry Crisp (Tampa Bay Lightning)Doug MacLean (Florida Panthers) James Norris Memorial Trophy(Best defenceman) Chris Chelios (Chicago Blackhawks) Ray Bourque (Boston Bruins)Chris Chelios (Chicago Blackhawks)Brian Leetch (New York Rangers) King Clancy Memorial Trophy(Leadership and humanitarian contribution) Kris King (Winnipeg Jets) N/A Lady Byng Memorial Trophy(Sportsmanship and excellence) Paul Kariya (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) Paul Kariya (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)Adam Oates (Boston Bruins)Teemu Selänne (Winnipeg Jets/Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) Lester B. Pearson Award(Outstanding player) Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) N/A Vezina Trophy(Best goaltender) Jim Carey (Washington Capitals) Jim Carey (Washington Capitals)Chris Osgood (Detroit Red Wings)Daren Puppa (Tampa Bay Lightning) William M. Jennings Trophy(Goaltender(s) of team with fewest goals against) Chris Osgood and Mike Vernon (Detroit Red Wings) N/A Lester Patrick Trophy(Service to ice hockey in U. S.) George Gund III, Ken Morrow, Milt Schmidt N/A

Team Coach CommentsMighty Ducks of AnaheimRon WilsonCalgary FlamesPierre Page Chicago BlackhawksCraig Hartsburg Colorado AvalancheMarc CrawfordDallas Stars Bob Gainey Replaced midseason by Ken HitchcockDetroit Red WingsScotty Bowman Edmonton OilersRon LowLos Angeles KingsLarry RobinsonSt. Louis BluesMike KeenanSan Jose SharksKevin Constantine Replaced early in the season by Jim WileyToronto Maple Leafs Pat Burns Replaced late in the season by Nick BeverleyVancouver Canucks Rick Ley Replaced late in the season by Pat QuinnWinnipeg JetsTerry Simpson

This was the eighth season that the league's Canadian national broadcast rights were split between TSN and Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. During the regular season, Saturday night games aired on CBC, while TSN primarily had Monday and Thursday night games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all U. S. series.

This was the second season of the league's five year U. S. national broadcast rights deals with Fox and ESPN. Both ESPN and ESPN2 aired weeknight games throughout the regular season, and Fox had the All Star Game and weekly regional telecasts on six selected weekend afternoons between January and April. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected games, while Fox had Sunday regional telecasts. Each U. S. team's regional broadcaster produced local coverage of first and second round games (except for those games on Fox). Fox's Sunday telecasts continued into the Conference Finals, while ESPN had the rest of the third round games. The Stanley Cup Finals were also split between Fox and ESPN.