The 1994–95 NHL season was the 78th regular season of the National Hockey League. The season start was delayed due to a lockout of players imposed by the NHL franchise owners. After a new labour agreement was reached between the owners and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), a 48-game season started on January 20. The season ended when the New Jersey Devils swept the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings for their first Stanley Cup win. It was also their first appearance in the finals overall.

League business

Entry draft

The 1994 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 28–29, 1994, at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Ed Jovanovski was selected first overall by the Florida Panthers.

Lockout

On October 1, 1994, the NHL initiated a lockout of the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA). The players had begun training camps a few weeks earlier as if to start the season. However, as these camps came to a close, labour negotiations remained unresolved. The big issue was the implementation of a salary cap. The NHL owners were strongly in favor of the cap while the players were opposed to it. The NHL wanted to levy a luxury tax, a financial penalty that is assigned by the league, on salaries that were higher than the average. However, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) viewed that as a variation on a salary cap and refused to accept it. This came right off the heels of the 1992 walkout by players, which interrupted the race for the Stanley Cup. Unlike in the 1992 strike however, it was the owners who wanted to make sure that they got the right deal. Under the leadership of executive director Bob Goodenow, the NHLPA position was that it would be open to a small tax, however the bulk of the financial goals could be achieved through revenue sharing. After the lockout had dragged on, the talk of salary cap faded and new items entered the debate. Talk of rookie salary cap, changes to the arbitration system, and loosened free agency. However, large market teams such as Toronto, Detroit, the New York Rangers, Dallas, and Philadelphia eventually broke with the league, as they feared that an extended lockout would outweigh the benefits from getting a salary cap and did not want to be the first league in North America to forfeit an entire season just to help out their small-market colleagues. The lockout ended on January 11, 1995. As a result, the league shortened the season length from 84 games, the length of the previous two seasons, to 48. The regular season would then last from January 20 to May 3, the first time in NHL history that the regular season extended into May. All games were limited to intra-conference play. The NHL and NHLPA agreed to shorten future seasons to 82 games. The NHL All-Star Game, which had been scheduled to take place January 20–21, 1995, in San Jose, California, was canceled; San Jose was then awarded 1997 NHL All-Star Game instead. The lost revenue due to the lockout would eventually contribute in part to three teams relocating: the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver, Colorado after the 1994–95 season to became the Colorado Avalanche; the Winnipeg Jets relocated to Phoenix, Arizona after the 1995–96 season to became the Phoenix Coyotes; and the Hartford Whalers moved to Greensboro, North Carolina after the 1996–97 season to become the Carolina Hurricanes.

Rule changes

Arenas

Regular season

The lockout delay pushed the start of the 1994–95 season to January 20. The regular season was shortened from 84 games, the length of the previous two seasons, down to 48. Regular season games would be limited to intra-conference play. The shortened regular season ended on May 3, the first time in NHL history that the regular season extended into that month. The March 10, 1995, Detroit Red Wings–San Jose Sharks game was postponed due to the Guadalupe River flooding, making it impossible for the teams to travel to the San Jose Arena. This was the first season since 1969–70, that the Montreal Canadiens missed the playoffs.

Final standings

Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

Bracket

The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the two division winners seeded 1–2 based on regular season records, and the six remaining teams seeded 3–8. 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). 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.

Awards

The NHL Awards presentation took place on July 6, 1995.

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Leading goaltenders

Regular season

Milestones

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1994–95, listed with their first team (asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games

The following is a list of players of note who played their last game in the NHL in 1994–95 (listed with their last team):

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Broadcasting

Canada

This was the seventh season that the league's Canadian national broadcast rights were split between TSN and Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. This was the first season that HNIC had doubleheaders on every Saturday night of the regular season. TSN continued to televise regular season weeknight games, primarily on Mondays and Thursdays. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series.

United States

This was the first season of the league's five-year U.S. national broadcast rights deals with Fox and ESPN. Fox's deal marked the NHL's first major American broadcast network agreement since the 1974–75 season. ESPN's original deal that began 1992–93 season was also restructured, as Fox replaced ESPN's brokered deal with its sister broadcast network ABC. Fox had the All-Star Game and weekly regional telecasts on the last five Sunday afternoons of the regular season, while ESPN and ESPN2 had weeknight games. For playoff coverage, this was the first time that all Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Finals games were exclusive to Fox or ESPN. American regional sports networks could still carry their teams' first and second-round games, but they could no longer televise local coverage beyond those rounds. During the first two rounds, ESPN and ESPN2 televised selected games, while Fox had regional Sunday afternoon telecasts. Fox's Sunday telecasts continued into the Conference Finals, while ESPN had the rest of the Conference Finals games. The Stanley Cup Finals were also split between Fox and ESPN.