1995–96 Hartford Whalers season

1995–96 Hartford Whalers
Division4th Northeast
Conference10th Eastern
1995–96 record34–39–9
Home record22–15–4
Road record12–24–5
Goals for237
Goals against259
Team information
General managerJim Rutherford
CoachPaul Holmgren (Oct.–Nov.)
Paul Maurice (Nov.–Apr.)
CaptainBrendan Shanahan
Alternate captainsGlen Wesley
Andrew Cassels
ArenaHartford Civic Center
Average attendance11,983 (76.6%) [1]
Minor league affiliate(s)Springfield Falcons (AHL)
Richmond Renegades (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsBrendan Shanahan (44)
AssistsAndrew Cassels (43)
PointsBrendan Shanahan (78)
Penalty minutesScott Daniels (254)
Plus/minusBrad McCrimmon (+15)
WinsSean Burke (28)
Goals against averageJason Muzzatti (2.90)

The 1995–96 Hartford Whalers season was the 24th season of the franchise, 17th season in the NHL. The Whalers missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

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.[2]

The Whalers were shutout a league-high 8 times during the regular season.[3]

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 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[4]
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 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

1995–96 regular season[3]
October: 4–4–1 (home: 3–2–1; road: 1–2–0)
Game Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap
1 October 7, 1995 2–0 New York Rangers (1995–96) 1–0–0 15,635 W
2 October 11, 1995 3–2 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 2–0–0 8,635 W
3 October 14, 1995 3–2 Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 3–0–0 15,500 W
4 October 16, 1995 7–5 @ New York Rangers (1995–96) 4–0–0 18,200 W
5 October 20, 1995 2–2 OT Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 4–0–1 15,635 T
6 October 21, 1995 0–3 @ Florida Panthers (1995–96) 4–1–1 12,503 L
7 October 25, 1995 2–4 St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 4–2–1 10,527 L
8 October 27, 1995 1–4 Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 4–3–1 11,157 L
9 October 28, 1995 0–3 @ Boston Bruins (1995–96) 4–4–1 17,565 L
November: 5–7–1 (home: 3–4–0; road: 2–3–1)
Game Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap
10 November 2, 1995 0–5 Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 4–5–1 10,458 L
11 November 4, 1995 5–4 @ Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 5–5–1 8,794 W
12 November 5, 1995 1–6 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 5–6–1 17,218 L
13 November 7, 1995 7–3 San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 6–6–1 8,628 W
14 November 11, 1995 1–4 New York Rangers (1995–96) 6–7–1 15,635 L
15 November 14, 1995 0–1 @ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 6–8–1 11,916 L
16 November 15, 1995 3–2 Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 7–8–1 7,641 W
17 November 18, 1995 2–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 7–9–1 13,910 L
18 November 20, 1995 3–4 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 7–10–1 16,312 L
19 November 22, 1995 4–2 Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 8–10–1 11,642 W
20 November 24, 1995 4–0 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 9–10–1 15,726 W
21 November 25, 1995 2–4 Washington Capitals (1995–96) 9–11–1 13,108 L
22 November 29, 1995 2–2 OT @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 9–11–2 15,203 T
December: 2–10–3 (home: 2–3–1; road: 0–7–2)
Game Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap
23 December 1, 1995 1–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 9–12–2 12,036 L
24 December 2, 1995 3–5 Florida Panthers (1995–96) 9–13–2 10,092 L
25 December 6, 1995 7–4 New York Islanders (1995–96) 10–13–2 8,760 W
26 December 9, 1995 0–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 10–14–2 16,114 L
27 December 10, 1995 1–4 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 10–15–2 17,955 L
28 December 13, 1995 2–3 Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 10–16–2 7,547 L
29 December 15, 1995 4–2 Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 11–16–2 9,826 W
30 December 16, 1995 3–3 OT @ New York Islanders (1995–96) 11–16–3 8,251 T
31 December 18, 1995 2–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 11–17–3 16,237 L
32 December 20, 1995 2–3 Calgary Flames (1995–96) 11–18–3 6,563 L
33 December 22, 1995 3–3 OT @ New York Rangers (1995–96) 11–18–4 18,200 T
34 December 23, 1995 3–3 OT Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 11–18–5 12,262 T
35 December 28, 1995 4–9 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 11–19–5 17,181 L
36 December 30, 1995 0–3 @ Washington Capitals (1995–96) 11–20–5 18,130 L
37 December 31, 1995 2–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 11–21–5 19,983 L
January: 8–4–1 (home: 4–0–1; road: 4–4–0)
Game Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap
38 January 3, 1996 2–0 Washington Capitals (1995–96) 12–21–5 8,087 W
39 January 5, 1996 4–2 Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 13–21–5 12,239 W
40 January 6, 1996 2–5 @ Boston Bruins (1995–96) 13–22–5 17,565 L
41 January 9, 1996 5–1 @ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 14–22–5 9,702 W
42 January 10, 1996 2–3 OT @ Calgary Flames (1995–96) 14–23–5 16,469 L
43 January 12, 1996 3–2 @ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 15–23–5 9,709 W
44 January 16, 1996 3–0 Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 16–23–5 11,124 W
45 January 17, 1996 6–3 @ New York Islanders (1995–96) 17–23–5 8,544 W
46 January 24, 1996 2–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 17–24–5 12,808 L
47 January 25, 1996 8–2 Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 18–24–5 13,757 W
48 January 27, 1996 4–4 OT New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 18–24–6 15,635 T
49 January 30, 1996 2–8 @ San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 18–25–6 17,190 L
50 January 31, 1996 6–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 19–25–6 11,775 W
February: 6–3–1 (home: 2–2–1; road: 4–1–0)
Game Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap
51 February 2, 1996 4–3 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 20–25–6 17,174 W
52 February 7, 1996 5–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 21–25–6 16,758 W
53 February 9, 1996 3–2 OT @ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 22–25–6 16,061 W
54 February 11, 1996 5–3 @ Dallas Stars (1995–96) 23–25–6 15,397 W
55 February 14, 1996 0–3 Boston Bruins (1995–96) 23–26–6 15,635 L
56 February 17, 1996 2–1 OT Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 24–26–6 15,291 W
57 February 21, 1996 5–3 Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 25–26–6 14,311 W
58 February 23, 1996 4–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 25–27–6 17,235 L
59 February 25, 1996 2–6 Dallas Stars (1995–96) 25–28–6 11,143 L
60 February 28, 1996 4–4 OT Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 25–28–7 9,360 T
March: 6–6–2 (home: 6–3–0; road: 0–3–2)
Game Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap
61 March 1, 1996 2–5 Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 25–29–7 11,552 L
62 March 2, 1996 7–1 Florida Panthers (1995–96) 26–29–7 11,935 W
63 March 6, 1996 2–4 Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 26–30–7 11,252 L
64 March 8, 1996 7–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 27–30–7 10,979 W
65 March 9, 1996 3–6 @ St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 27–31–7 20,803 L
66 March 13, 1996 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 28–31–7 11,850 W
67 March 16, 1996 2–1 Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 29–31–7 13,213 W
68 March 18, 1996 6–3 Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 30–31–7 11,440 W
69 March 20, 1996 2–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 30–32–7 21,255 L
70 March 22, 1996 1–1 OT @ Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 30–32–8 13,596 T
71 March 23, 1996 2–2 OT @ Washington Capitals (1995–96) 30–32–9 18,130 T
72 March 25, 1996 0–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 30–33–9 17,380 L
73 March 27, 1996 5–6 OT Boston Bruins (1995–96) 30–34–9 13,884 L
74 March 30, 1996 3–1 New York Islanders (1995–96) 31–34–9 13,628 W
April: 3–5–0 (home: 2–1–0; road: 1–4–0)
Game Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap
75 April 1, 1996 2–3 @ Florida Panthers (1995–96) 31–35–9 13,159 L
76 April 3, 1996 2–4 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 31–36–9 22,576 L
77 April 4, 1996 1–0 @ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 32–36–9 17,757 W
78 April 6, 1996 3–6 New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 32–37–9 13,521 L
79 April 8, 1996 5–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 33–37–9 12,683 W
80 April 11, 1996 2–3 @ Boston Bruins (1995–96) 33–38–9 17,565 L
81 April 13, 1996 2–0 Boston Bruins (1995–96) 34–38–9 15,635 W
82 April 14, 1996 1–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 34–39–9 16,230 L

Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

  • Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
  • † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.
  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.
No. Player Pos Regular season
GP G A Pts +/- PIM
94 Brendan Shanahan LW 74 44 34 78 2 125
8 Geoff Sanderson LW 81 34 31 65 0 40
21 Andrew Cassels C 81 20 43 63 8 39
16 Nelson Emerson RW 81 29 29 58 −7 78
13[a] Andrei Nikolishin C 61 14 37 51 −2 34
18 Robert Kron LW 77 22 28 50 −1 6
27 Jeff Brown† D 48 7 31 38 2 38
28 Paul Ranheim LW 73 10 20 30 −2 14
92 Jeff O'Neill RW 65 8 19 27 −3 40
20 Glen Wesley D 68 8 16 24 −9 88
12 Steven Rice RW 59 10 12 22 −4 47
6 Adam Burt D 78 4 9 13 −4 121
36 Glen Featherstone D 68 2 10 12 10 138
4[b] Gerald Diduck D 79 1 9 10 7 88
24 Sami Kapanen RW 35 5 4 9 0 6
10 Brad McCrimmon D 58 3 6 9 15 62
11 Kevin Dineen† RW 20 2 7 9 7 67
22 Mark Janssens C 81 2 7 9 −13 155
4 Frantisek Kucera‡ D 30 2 6 8 −3 10
15 Scott Daniels LW 53 3 4 7 −4 254
39 Kelly Chase RW 55 2 4 6 −4 230
1 Sean Burke G 66 0 6 6 16
32 Steve Martins C 23 1 3 4 −3 8
7 Brian Glynn D 54 0 4 4 −15 44
14 Kevin Smyth LW 21 2 1 3 −5 8
26 Jocelyn Lemieux‡ RW 29 1 2 3 −11 31
33 Jimmy Carson‡ C 11 1 0 1 1 0
5 Alexander Godynyuk D 3 0 0 0 −1 2
23 Marek Malik D 7 0 0 0 −3 4
25 Jason McBain D 3 0 0 0 −1 0
29 Jason Muzzatti G 22 0 0 0 33
35 Jeff Reese‡ G 7 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.
No. Player Regular season
GP W L T SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI
1 Sean Burke 66 28 28 6 2034 190 3.11 .907 4 3669
29 Jason Muzzatti 22 4 8 3 551 49 2.90 .911 1 1013
35 Jeff Reese‡ 7 2 3 0 170 14 3.06 .918 1 275

Awards and records

Awards

Type Award/honor Recipient Ref
League
(in-season) 		NHL All-Star Game selection Brendan Shanahan[c] [6]
Team Award of Excellence Brad McCrimmon [7]
Booster Club MVP Award Sean Burke [7]
Frank Keys Memorial Award Brad McCrimmon [7]
Mark Kravitz Award Sean Burke [7]
Most Valuable Defenseman Jeff Brown [7]
Three Star Award of Excellence Sean Burke [7]
Top Gun Award Brendan Shanahan [7]
True Grit Award Nelson Emerson [7]

Milestones

Milestone Player Date Ref
First game Jeff O'Neill October 7, 1995 [8]
Steve Martins December 6, 1995
Sami Kapanen December 13, 1995
Jason McBain April 11, 1996

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.[9]

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)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Nikolishin wore number 11 until Dineen was acquired.
  2. ^ Diduck wore number 44 through December 18.
  3. ^ Shanahan was voted to the starting lineup.[5]

References

  • "Hartford Whalers 1995-96 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  • "1995-96 Hartford Whalers Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  1. ^ "Hartford Whalers Yearly Attendance Graph". hockeydb.com.
  2. ^ "Red Wings 4, Whalers 2 - UPI Archives". UPI. March 6, 1996. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "1995-96 Hartford Whalers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  4. ^ "1995–1996 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  5. ^ "NHL All-Star Game Starting Lineups by Year (since 1986)". NHL.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "1996 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "Whalers Team Awards". www.whalershockey.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  8. ^ "1995-96 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  9. ^ "1995 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
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