The NHL 75th anniversary logo

The 1991–92 NHL season was the 75th regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-two teams each played 80 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the best of seven series 4–0 against the Chicago Blackhawks. The championship was the second in a row for the Penguins.

League business

As mentioned above, 1991-92 was the 75th anniversary season for the NHL. Accordingly, all players wore a patch on their uniforms depicting the NHL 75th anniversary logo (seen at above right) for this season.

This was the first season for the San Jose Sharks, the first expansion team in the NHL since 1979. The birth of the Sharks returned NHL hockey to the San Francisco Bay Area after the California Golden Seals had relocated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1976.

This was also the last season for John Ziegler as NHL President. He would be succeeded by Gil Stein, who held the position for one year before being replaced by Gary Bettman.

New York Rangers defenceman Brian Leetch became the fifth, and last as of 2008, defenceman to score 100 points in a season. He finished the season with 102 points and captured the Norris Trophy.

For the first time, the NHL finished play in the month of June.

Regular season

Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against

Wales Conference

Campbell Conference

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average

Stanley Cup playoffs

The Stanley Cup

Note: All dates in 1992

Playoff bracket

Division semi-finals

Wales Conference

Campbell Conference

Division finals

Conference finals

Finals

Main article: 1992 Stanley Cup Finals

NHL awards

Although not an award per se, the Buffalo Sabres set an NHL record for team penalty minutes, with 2713.

All-Star teams

Throwback uniforms

As part of the NHL's 75th anniversary celebration, and taking cues from Major League Baseball's "Turn Back The Clock" uniform program, throwback uniforms were worn by Original Six teams for select games, and throwbacks were also worn for the All-Star Game.

The uniform styles that were worn include:

• Boston Bruins - circa 1933
• Chicago Blackhawks - circa 1940
• Detroit Red Wings - circa 1928
• Montreal Canadiens - circa 1926
• New York Rangers - circa 1940
• Toronto Maple Leafs - circa 1940
• Wales All-Stars - white All-Star jersey circa 1952
• Campbell All-Stars - red All-Star jersey circa 1952

The throwback uniforms would have an impact on future seasons in the NHL, as several teams adopted throwbacks as alternate jerseys. The National Football League and National Basketball Association would follow the NHL's lead, with teams wearing throwbacks to celebrate their leagues' 75th and 50th anniversaries, respectively.

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1991–92 (listed with their first team):

• Stu Barnes, Winnipeg Jets
• Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
• Pavel Bure, Vancouver Canucks
• Keith Carney, Buffalo Sabres
• Adam Foote, Quebec Nordiques
• Bill Guerin, New Jersey Devils
• Derian Hatcher, Minnesota North Stars
• Bret Hedican, St. Louis Blues
• Arturs Irbe, San Jose Sharks
• Joe Juneau, Boston Bruins
• Vladimir Konstantinov, Detroit Red Wings
• Vyacheslav Kozlov, Detroit Red Wings
• Martin Lapointe, Detroit Red Wings
• Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
• Glen Murray, Boston Bruins
• Scott Niedermayer, New Jersey Devils
• Felix Potvin, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Darryl Sydor, Los Angeles Kings
• Keith Tkachuk, Winnipeg Jets

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1991–92 (listed with their last team):

• Barry Pederson, Boston Bruins
• Rick Vaive, Buffalo Sabres
• Tony Tanti, Buffalo Sabres
• Clint Malarchuk, Buffalo Sabres
• Greg Millen, Detroit Red Wings
• Ilkka Sinisalo, Los Angeles Kings
• Larry Robinson, Los Angeles Kings
• Chris Nilan, Montreal Canadiens
• Patrik Sundstrom, New Jersey Devils
• Rick Green, New York Islanders
• John Tonelli, Quebec Nordiques
• Mark Pavelich, San Jose Sharks
• Ken Linseman, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Mike Bullard, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Randy Gregg, Vancouver Canucks
• Mike Liut, Washington Capitals
• Mario Marois, Winnipeg Jets
• Lucien DeBlois, Winnipeg Jets
• Aaron Broten, Winnipeg Jets

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1991 NHL Entry Draft
• 1991 NHL Dispersal and Expansion Drafts
• 43rd National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• NHL All-Rookie Team
• Ice hockey at the 1992 Winter Olympics
• 1991 Canada Cup
• 1991 in sports
• 1992 in sports

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com