The 1991–92 NHL season was the 75th regular season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 22 teams with the addition of the expansion San Jose Sharks. A ten-day players' strike was called in April, delaying the final weeks of the regular season and the playoffs, and pushing the Stanley Cup Finals into June for the first time. The Pittsburgh Penguins repeated as Stanley Cup champions, winning the best of seven series four games to none against the Chicago Blackhawks.

League business

Expansion

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 to become the Cleveland Barons. The Sharks were the result of a compromise between the league and George and Gordon Gund, the owners of the Minnesota North Stars. The two brothers had previously owned the Seals/Barons before the team merged with the North Stars. In 1990, as a result of slipping attendance, the Gunds petitioned the NHL for permission to relocate the North Stars to the San Francisco Bay Area. Instead, the league granted the brothers a new expansion team, and the Gunds sold the North Stars. The 1991 NHL dispersal and expansion drafts were then held on May 30, 1991. The Sharks first selected 16 players from a pool of North Stars players. Then the Sharks and North Stars took turns selecting ten players each from a pool of players from the other NHL teams.

Entry draft

The 1991 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 22 at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. Eric Lindros was selected first overall by the Quebec Nordiques. However, Lindros immediately refused to sign a contract with the Nordiques, eventually leading to the one of the biggest trades in NHL history on June 30, 1992, sending him to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Rule changes

A new rule was added in which the final minute of every period is measured in tenths of a second, unlike whole seconds as in past seasons. This timekeeping procedure had previously been added to IIHF rules in 1990 (although the scoreboard at St. Louis Arena was not capable of measuring the final minute in tenths of a second until the following season).

75th season celebration

To celebrate the 75th anniversary season for the NHL, all players wore a special anniversary patch on their uniforms during this season. 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: The throwback uniforms would influence 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. Also, each team had an honorary celebrity captain to help celebrate the 75th anniversary. The celebrity captains were:

Arena changes

The expansion San Jose Sharks moved into the Cow Palace in Daly City, California.

Regular season

All-Star Game

The All-Star Game was held at The Spectrum in Philadelphia on 18 January, 1992, the home of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Players strike

On April 1, 1992, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) called the first strike action in NHL history. Issues between the players and league included how free agency worked, the arbitration process, playoff bonuses and pensions. The issue of how to share trading card revenue was considered to be one of the greatest stumbling blocks the two sides faced. By calling the strike so close to the end of the regular season, the players felt they had the advantage, as the majority of owners profits were realized in the playoffs. Playoff bonuses for players ranged from between US$3,000 for players on teams who lost in the first round, up to $25,000 for players on the Stanley Cup championship team. The owners, meanwhile, stood to earn $500,000 per playoff game played. The strike ended on April 10 after the two sides reached an agreement, retroactive to the beginning of the season, allowing the final 30 games of the regular season and the playoffs to go on. This pushed the Stanley Cup Finals into June for the first time. As part of the deal, the following seasons were expanded from 80 to 84 games, and the players received a large increase in playoff bonuses and changes to free agency and arbitration. The two sides agreed to have each team play two games in neutral site locations, partly as a means of gauging interest in future expansion. The strike fundamentally altered the relationship between the league and its players. As a result, NHL owners replaced John Ziegler as NHL President following the season, naming Gil Stein as interim president. Stein was then replaced in 1993 by Gary Bettman, who became the first Commissioner of the NHL. Working towards labour peace was among the tasks handed to Bettman when the owners hired him. More labour disputes would however occur under Bettman's watch: 1994–95, 2004–05, and 2012–13.

Highlights

New York Rangers player Brian Leetch became the fifth defenceman, and last until, to score 100 points in a season. He finished the season with 102 points and captured the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league's best defenceman. The Rangers ended the season with 105 points, winning the Presidents' Trophy as the top regular-season team in the NHL; it was the first time the Rangers had topped the league since the. For the first time, the NHL finished play in the month of June. A primary reason for this was the 10-day NHL strike, the first work stoppage in league history, that started on April 1. The games that were supposed to be played during the strike were not canceled, but rescheduled and made up when play resumed on April 12. For the first time in his NHL career, Wayne Gretzky failed to finish in the top two in scoring. The Pittsburgh Penguins' Kevin Stevens became only the third person in NHL history to outscore Gretzky in the regular season (Marcel Dionne tied Gretzky in Wayne's rookie year but scored more goals, and Mario Lemieux won the Art Ross Trophy over Gretzky in and ).

Final standings

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

Wales Conference

Campbell Conference

Playoffs

Bracket

The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). In the division semifinals, the fourth seeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. The two winning teams from each division's semifinals then met in the division finals. The two division winners of each conference then played in the conference finals. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

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

Coaches

Patrick Division

Adams Division

Norris Division

Smythe Division

Milestones

Debuts

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

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):

Broadcasting

This was the fourth season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals with TSN and Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. Saturday night regular season games continued to air on CBC, while TSN televised selected weeknight games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series. SportsChannel America signed a one-year extension to its U.S. national broadcast rights deal after its original three-year deal expired. Meanwhile, NBC televised the All-Star Game for the third consecutive season. After the season, the league signed a new deal with ESPN, replacing SportsChannel America.