At the conclusion of the 2016-17 season, Chris Neil was adamant about wanting to play another season in the NHL, at the time wanting to finish his career with the Ottawa Senators.
Fast forward to this summer, and not only have Neil and the Senators parted ways, but the 16-year veteran is still without a job. It's a fact, however, that isn't bothering Neil in the slightest.
"I'm confident, because of the chats we've had with teams," Neil said Thursday, according to Don Brennan of Postmedia. "You look at the free-agent players that are out there now, there's a lot of veteran players that are good reliable players, and I'm one of those guys. You can't read too much into it. It's no different than any other year.
"I'm just kind of sitting back and enjoying the summer, and spending time with my family."
Neil is coming off the worst offensive campaign of his career, registering just one goal and three assists across 53 regular-season games last season while playing a diminished role for the Senators - he averaged only 7:34 of ice time.
Despite the lackluster performance and not having a professional contract signed for next season, Neil is seemingly at peace with his current position.
"Everyone's asking, 'Are you stressed?' I'm not stressed at all," he said. "Like I've always said, God has a way for me, and he'll lead me in the right direction."
Neil's truculence (2522 career penalty minutes) and playoff experience (95 career postseason games) could have some teams in need of veteran leadership sniffing around with one-year offers.
James Bisson celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1992-93 season with a look back at the most memorable moments of the greatest campaign in NHL history. This edition focuses on the Montreal Canadiens, who rode one of the most improbable streaks in history to their 23rd Stanley Cup title. Several members of the team agreed to share their memories of that incredible run.
After being swept by the Boston Bruins in the second round a year earlier, widespread change was the theme heading into Canadiens training camp. Gone was fiery head coach Pat Burns, who made the trek westward to become the new bench boss of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was replaced by Jacques Demers, who had last coached in the NHL with Detroit in 1989-90.
Gilbert Dionne: Pat was dealing with stress, as I realized later on in my career ... he spent four years in Montreal, faced a lot of pressure there, and things weren't working out, so changes had to be made. So Pat was on his way out and ended up going to Toronto, which back then we thought was our nemesis. The Toronto Maple Leafs, just down the road! (laughs) I'm like, "Wow, Pat's going there?"
Stephan LeBeau: I had played the three years prior under Pat Burns. I was playing great hockey, but didn't have a lot of ice time. I'm not saying it was a big battle between me and Pat - it was a battle between the media and Pat Burns regarding my situation. I was a French-Canadian, I was putting up the numbers for the ice time I had, so often the reporters were challenging Pat - not the best thing to do if you don't want to upset him. I struggled to get more ice time, and I felt it was a conflict of who's right in my situation - the reporters or Pat Burns. With Pat, it was step by step. "You're young, take your time, don't rush things." So when Jacques arrived, it was a complete change.
Burns and Demers couldn't have been more different. While Burns motivated largely through tough talk, Demers was known best for being a player's coach - and that made an immediate impact on a team whose average age among players who suited up that season was 24.9.
Vincent Damphousse: Jacques had a strong message for us. He was a very strong motivator. That was his strength. He was the best coach I ever had in my career. He was able to get the best out of everybody and find a role for everybody. He wasn't an Xs and Os coach or a tactical coach - just a guy who gets you to believe that you're really important, from the first to the last guy.
John LeClair: It wasn't about yelling. It was just his approach to things. Burnsie had his own approach and that's how he was successful, but Jacques' was successful in a way where he was positive, and that positive feeling was something that the team really took in and thrived on.
Dionne: When Jacques came in, we felt totally refreshed. For me, as a younger player, Pat was kind of harder on the young kids coming in. When Jacques came in he was more open to the rookies and made us feel welcome and want to be part of the team. We had a great coaching staff for that, with (assistants) Jacques Laperriere and Charles Thiffault ... these guys were there to teach us, not to punish us. I really enjoyed it when Jacques showed up and brought some positives to the team and helped us believe in ourselves.
LeBeau: Confidence is a key element of success both as teams and individuals; Jacques not only believed in us, he made us feel like we could do it. I don't remember how many exactly, but several players on that team had the best seasons of their career in 1992-93.
Demers' impact on the fresh-faced Canadiens was immediate. No longer was the bulk of the ice time reserved for the team's veteran skaters. Everyone got a chance to contribute across all forward lines and defense pairings.
Dionne: Back then, everyone was looking for a 50-goal scorer. But we weren't going with one man only to get us 50 goals. Jacques and the coaching staff said, "If we can go with four lines, and maybe limit some of these guys' ice time by a minute or two (per game), something good is going to come out of it." And sure enough, that gave me a great opportunity, getting some second-unit and power-play time, and getting a few goals here and there.
LeClair: Any time you get a new coach, there's always that boost of energy. Guys are excited to play for a new guy and show him what they can do. He gave guys different roles, me being one of them. I had a little bit of a bigger role with Jacques there than I did with Pat. You're a little bit more excited to play, and I think we proved that in our game.
LeBeau: I don't remember exactly when, but very early in training camp, Jacques brought me in his office and said to me, "Stephane, I know what you've been through, but I really need you this year. And you're going to have a big impact on the hockey team." That was his first message to me, and I walked out of his office, and I was relieved. I was lighter. For once, I felt the trust that my role was going to increase. And it did happen - and that's why I had my best season.
Demers wasn't the only new face in town. The Canadiens made two significant moves just prior to the start of the season; they acquired Damphousse from Edmonton for Shayne Corson, Brent Gilchrist, and Vladimir Vujtek, and snagged Brian Bellows from the Minnesota North Stars for Russ Courtnall.
While goal prevention was the trademark of the Patrick Roy-led Canadiens, the addition of Damphousse and Bellows - who combined for 68 goals and 96 assists in 1991-92 - was expected to bolster a moribund Montreal offense that ranked 14th in the 22-team league a season earlier.
Damphousse: I was traded in August, a week before a training camp. For me to come home and wear that jersey was unbelievable.
LeClair: With Bellows, he was a pure goal-scorer. He knew how to put the puck in the net. And obviously Vinny was a big offensive guy, too. Adding those two guys, you hope that you will see some increase. Shayne was more of a two-way player. He could score, but he had more of an all-around game. (Courtnall) was a goal-scorer, but he was streaky. With what we got, we were hoping to get more consistent goal-scoring out of those two guys.
Dionne: I think that helped big time; teams were coming in and they were confused, because even if the top line was shut down, we had the second and third lines stepping in and doing the job.
Despite the influx of scoring and an emphasis on youth, nobody was picking the Canadiens to go all the way - nobody, that is, except for Demers, who came out prior to the season and proclaimed that Montreal would shock the world and win the Cup.
Patrick Roy (as told to Hugo Fontaine of canadiens.com in March 2017): I remember when Jacques came out on the ice for our first practice and said that, we all just looked at each other with these confused expressions and wondered if maybe we hadn't heard him correctly or something.
LeBeau: I always think that we were underestimated. No, we weren't the favorite, and I won't argue that we weren't the best team in the league that year, but we were certainly one of the best. We didn't have a Mario Lemieux or a Steve Yzerman offensively, but our team was a quality one - and that's why I think we were underestimated. But it didn't feel like we were young. The way we handled adversity and success made it feel like we were a mature team.
Also working in the Habs' favor that season: leadership. Not only did they feature Guy Carbonneau as captain and a host of vocal veterans in Mike Keane, Kirk Muller, and Patrick Roy, but Canadiens players had access to more than a few guys who had played for the Cup before.
LeClair: Guy was huge. When you talk about us being a young team, the reason we were able to be successful was because of the leadership we had - and that started with Carbo. The guy doesn't panic, he doesn't change, he's the same temperament no matter the situation, always says the right thing. His leadership on the ice was fabulous. He's the biggest team guy I ever played with. He's one of those guys that everybody loves to play with. I have tremendous respect for the guy.
Dionne: We had great support up top with Serge Savard winning Stanley Cups, and with Maurice Richard and Jean Beliveau and Guy Lafleur coming in the dressing room. I would ask them, "What did you guys used to do back in the day?" Communication with the alumni guys was huge for me. It helped me big time. Mario Tremblay worked for a local radio station, and he would come to practice. I would say, "Mario, I'm struggling on the wing here. What's up?" And he would guide me. That worked for me, and I appreciated it.
The Canadiens came out on fire, putting together a 13-1-1 stretch from Oct. 17 to Nov. 17 en route to a 14-4-2 start to the year. But an 8-10-2 stretch over the next 20 games quelled much of the enthusiasm over the hot start - and typified the regular season for Montreal, which ran hot and cold for the majority of the campaign.
LeClair: I can't speak for everybody, but that was only my second full year in the league. I wasn't by any means a polished pro, and it takes a while to get that consistency in your game. Any pro has ups and downs throughout the year, but the guys who have been in the league a while, theirs are a lot shorter because they know how to handle it and they get out of it a little quicker. I do think being young did (contribute) to a lot of that roller-coaster ride.
Dionne: I think sometimes that's what happens with young players, and especially forwards like me. You gotta get goals, gotta get assists, and if you don't, you feel the pressure. I didn't want to go back to Fredericton. People talk, and the media puts pressure on you. And believe it or not, although you all like each other, sometimes when you're with the same players, you get grumpy. You get frustrated. Then you might start blaming others, saying, "I don't get the puck enough. I'm not getting enough playing time. I'm not getting enough power-play minutes." The forwards blame the defense, and the defensemen blame the forwards. And it snowballs.
LeBeau: Jacques was always in search of the right move to put us in the right spirits. Sometimes he was hard on us, and sometimes he would flatter us. The strategy depended on the situation. He could feel the mood of a dressing room and adjust accordingly. So sometimes we would be playing well and he would be tough on us, while sometimes we would be in a slump and it was time to release the pressure - and he would do that. Jacques always had a way to hold on to the dressing room.
While the Canadiens found themselves in a battle for top spot in the Adams Division with the Boston Bruins and Quebec Nordiques, the Journal de Montreal ran a poll in mid-January asking whether the team should trade Roy, who was having a good-but-not-great season to that point. The result: 57 percent of respondents said yes.
It spoke to the immense pressure both media and fans were placing on the Canadiens to go all the way - and the players noticed.
Dionne: There was so much stuff being said. You had a dozen reporters for one newspaper. I would drive to the rink with Carbo and we would hear things, and I would always look at him and ask, "Is this true? Is this true?" We had to listen to the radio so Guy was prepared to say something and wouldn't be caught off guard after the game or before the game when he met with the media. I personally said a few things I shouldn't have said, but you can't take it back. Though I wish I could, because I'd probably still be playing. (Iaughs)
LeClair: I thought Montreal fans were supposed to be knowledgeable fans, so I don't really understand that. For me, everybody had so much respect for Pat, and we believed in him more than everybody else. There's nobody I trusted back there more than him.
LeBeau: The mentality in Montreal has always been to win the Stanley Cup. If you don't win, you failed. Even though we were among the top teams in the league, the fans are demanding. So it wasn't a surprise to see that kind of pressure if we weren't on the top of the pyramid. And of course Patrick was our superstar; he had to make a difference every night. So when things weren't going well, people were complaining or criticizing us more than perhaps other fans would. But that's part of playing in Montreal.
Dionne: It was all about team camaraderie - and it wasn't easy back then. We had 10 French guys and nine English guys, and the media kept throwing things at us. We had to stick together.
In a precursor to their playoff run, the Canadiens closed the regular season with overtime outcomes in three of their final four games. They won just one of them, finishing with a 48-30-6 mark, good for 102 points and a third-place finish in the competitive Adams. Their first-round foe: The rival Nordiques.
Damphousse: Boston had 109 points, Quebec had 104, and we had 102. We had a very tough matchup in the first round, and it was split on who the experts thought was going to win. Quebec had a lot of punch on the attack with Sakic and Sundin, and a lot of young guys ... a lot of talent.
Jacques Demers (as told to Hugo Fontaine of canadiens.com in 2013): Just as the playoffs were about to start, I heard the song "Nothing's Gonna Stop us Now" by Starship. I went to my captains, Carbo, Muller, Damphousse, Roy, and Keane, and I asked them what they thought about playing that song before each of our games. Like the song says, "We can build this dream together ... nothing's gonna stop us now." The guys liked the idea.
Things got off to a rough start for the Canadiens, who dropped a pair of one-goal decisions in Quebec - including the lone overtime loss they would suffer all postseason. Demers had a major challenge on his hands in trying to keep his young roster from feeling discouraged.
LeClair: It wasn't panic at all. Everybody understood that we had to play better, and Jacques was relaying that message, too. He said, "There's a lot more that we can do, this isn't our best, and we need to bring our best."
Damphousse: I think we felt a bit down, but at the same time, we still believed in our chances. I remember Jacques having conversations with me at the morning skate, because I didn't really have an impact the first couple of games. He said, "You know we need you, I don't have to tell you. But you need to step it up the way you did during the season."
LeBeau: In those two games in Quebec, we were right there in the game. We knew we couldn't drop the third game, but if we win those two home games, we're back in the series. And I believe winning the third game was the key moment that brought us back, because we played two good games in Quebec, we won the third game, and we said, "We're back in the series; we can beat these guys."
At that point, the hockey gods took over. Damphousse scored the overtime winner in Game 3, kicking off an incredible stretch that saw the Canadiens win four straight games - two in extra time - to eliminate the Nordiques, then reel off a four-game sweep of the Buffalo Sabres in which three of the games were decided in OT. Indeed, something special was happening with the Habs.
Damphousse: Game 3 was the first of our 10 (overtime wins) in a row, and it really started something incredible. I don't think it'll be matched.
LeClair: I think when we got into Games 3 and 4 against Buffalo, we could see the bounces are going our way, and you could see there was something special going on with Patrick that was easy to ride with the way that Patrick was going in net.
LeBeau: For me, personally, (it felt special) after we beat Buffalo. The first two rounds are pretty tough mentally and physically; you're so far away from your goal and your dream. After you win the second round, now the trophy is within reach. And this is where you start to say, "Hey, there are only four teams left. Anything is possible."
The catalysts: a combination of balanced scoring - four different players contributed overtime goals in the first two rounds - and clutch goaltending from the oft-maligned Roy, who was steady, if not spectacular, in the first two rounds of the playoffs. And a little luck didn't hurt.
Damphousse: We felt very comfortable playing in tight games. You almost go into a routine in overtime. You get your equipment dried up; you don't know how long it's going to be. Trainers are running left and right. But everybody stayed very calm. Patrick made key saves in all the overtime games, and that made a big impact. Every game was a different guy, different story.
LeClair: It's a little calmer. You're not as nervous when you go to overtime when you've had so many in the playoffs and been on the right side of them. But it all comes back to Patrick. He says, "I'm not going to let them score," and everybody respects and believes him. We know they're not going to score. So it wasn't a matter of if, but when.
Dionne: We weren't getting nervous during overtime; we had the best goalie in the world. Patrick was so confident in himself, and we were confident in him. All he was asking is for us to score more than two goals. He would promise us and say, "I'm not gonna let more than two goals in, boys. If any." Every player had a job to do, every line had a job to do, and that's what we did. The further we went, the more confident we were in overtime. We were in the locker room and would say, "Who gets this winner, guys? Whose line is going to get it?" It was so much fun.
LeBeau: We had a quality team, but it takes some breaks. Boston had had our number in the playoffs, but lost to Buffalo. Break No. 1. And then the Pittsburgh Penguins are upset by the New York Islanders. Break No. 2. That made a big difference; if Pittsburgh wins, we get on a plane and we start the semifinal in Pittsburgh; if the Islanders win, we start the series in Montreal. We were in our hotel on the seventh floor, and the Islanders won in overtime, and we all got out of our room and high-fived. Between Boston and Buffalo, and between Pittsburgh and the Islanders, I think 99 percent of the players would have chosen Buffalo and the Islanders.
After riding two more overtime wins to a five-game elimination of the Islanders, the Canadiens found themselves in the Stanley Cup Final against Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings, who were coming off a grueling seven-game series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It didn't appear to affect the Kings, who prevailed 4-1 in Game 1 and held a 2-1 lead late in the third period of Game 2. And it was then that Demers pulled off one of the gutsiest moves in Stanley Cup history, asking for a measurement of Kings defenseman Marty McSorley's stick blade. The decision completely changed the complexion of the series.
LeBeau: Back then, it was more common to see teams trying to measure hockey sticks. Just behind the (Montreal Forum) dressing room was a hallway, and this is where we were cutting our sticks. And in between periods, the visiting teams would put the stick racks right there. During the regular season, we had access to those sticks. But during the playoffs, teams weren't putting the stick racks there. So we had to take a guess.
LeClair: It was a nervous time. We just didn't play that well in the first game, but we played pretty well in the second game. It wasn't do-or-die, but it was a desperate time; we didn't want to go down 2-0 heading back to their place.
Dionne: I'm sitting next to Guy on the bench, and Jacques is speaking in French to Carbo. It's unfortunate, because Marty and I are good friends, but even his backup stick was illegal. So Jacques decided to do it. And Carbo said, "Yes! Do it. Might as well do it now." And once I saw Kerry Fraser using that stick blade measurer at the penalty box ... everyone was so nervous, but I was confident. "That thing's illegal! There's way too much curve."
LeBeau: We were targeting (Luc) Robitaille and McSorley. We knew those two guys had illegal sticks. We had players on our side using illegal sticks; Vincent Damphousse played with a huge curve. But they always carried an extra stick, a good stick, just to make sure near the end of the game that, if it was going to get measured, it was going to be legal.
Damphousse: It was a turning point for us. We knew there was some guys that had illegal sticks, but to be able to call that was a gutsy move. If you make a mistake, you look a little dumb.
LeClair: There's no in-between on that one. You're a genius or an idiot.
The rest is Canadiens history. Eric Desjardins ended a lengthy Montreal power-play drought with the tying goal at 18:47, and completed an unlikely hat trick 51 seconds into overtime - Montreal's eighth straight OT triumph.
LeClair: We needed that extra advantage, and Eric got us a big goal.
Damphousse: Desjardins scored three goals that game, but the second goal was basically because of Jacques' guts.
Dionne: Eric Desjardins with a hat trick, plus an overtime goal ... who expects a defenseman to score three goals? It confused everybody.
LeClair, who had been under the radar for most of his first two NHL seasons, burst out in a big way in the 1993 playoffs. His virtuoso performance came in Tinseltown, when he potted overtime winners in Games 3 and 4 - contests in which Montreal squandered multi-goal leads - to give the Canadiens a 3-1 stranglehold in the series.
LeClair: You're a team, and you want everybody to succeed, from the first guy and the last guy. And when you have everybody in there contributing and pitching in, it just makes everybody feel part of it. For the most part, we played four lines, so everybody was a part of it. Everybody felt happy for everybody, and it made it that much more enjoyable.
Dionne: I remember flying back from L.A. after the two big overtime goals from LeClair, and I turn around in my seat and I'm looking at Carbonneau and the guys at the back of the plane, and I ask, "We're not coming back, are we? You think this is it?" I was personally getting tired, and the emotions were running high. I said, "Are we flying back? We're not flying back, are we?" And Carbonneau said, "Just sit down and eat your ice cream and relax." (laughs) Everyone was so calm, but I wasn't. I was excited, and I really didn't want to lose in Montreal. I wanted to win the Cup in Montreal.
LeBeau: I was injured. I had a right ankle injury, and then in the semifinal against the Islanders, when I scored that goal in the second overtime, during that game I was hit in the knee and I didn't play Games 3 or 4. I ended up finishing the playoffs on one leg, almost, so my offense wasn't as sharp as the regular season because I wasn't able to skate as well.
Despite this, LeBeau - who came into the game with just two goals in 12 postseason games - wound up scoring the biggest goal of the postseason in Game 5 at the Forum. His tally 11:31 into the third period gave the Canadiens a 3-1 lead, and the Kings wouldn't threaten again.
LeBeau: That goal was a big one. It was a rush, and if I remember, it was Mike Keane that dropped the puck to me about the top of the circle, and I was able to almost get by myself in front of Hrudey. I lost the puck a little bit but Hrudey lifted his leg a little bit, and I shot it between his legs.
LeClair: It was nice. It made the last part of the game a little more enjoyable; you're not holding your stick so tight. But it's a weird feeling knowing you're going to win but still seeing time left; that clock looked like it wasn't ticking.
LeBeau: As the playoffs went on, we became invincible. We felt that in the dressing room; I did, anyway. So at 3-1, the way we were playing, the way we were controlling the game, we knew it was going to be very difficult for them to beat us. And we were in complete control after that.
Montreal cruised to a 4-1 victory, securing its 23rd Stanley Cup in front of a delirious Forum crowd. Roy was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner for the Canadiens, who, nearly a quarter-century later, remain the last Canadian-based team to win the NHL championship.
Guy Carbonneau (as told to Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette in 2013): It's everybody's dream if you ask everybody that played hockey, especially in Canada. Here we play hockey in the streets and you dream of scoring the wining goal in the Stanley Cup Final and hoisting the Cup. To be able to do it for me was unbelievable in '86 and even better in '93 because we were able to do it here in Montreal and I was the captain. It was fun. For me, having the chance to win the Cup the second time and the third time (with Dallas in 1999) kind of made me reflect on it. I was able to sit back a little and enjoy it a lot more than I did the first one.
Dionne: It was very special, especially for my family. My older brother Marcel had a wonderful career, he's a Hall of Famer and a Top 100 player all time. We looked up to Marcel, we watched him all year, and saw how frustrating it was for him to play in L.A., and how disappointing it was for him to never have a chance to reach the Stanley Cup Final. My late father was so happy, he said to Marcel, "We finally did it! We finally won the Cup!" (laughs) Marcel was in the stands, and I said to him, "Just come on down to the room. We got it." I could tell in the pictures that he was so proud of what I had accomplished with Montreal.
LeClair: It's a great memory of mine. Any time you win the Stanley Cup, it's a special memory. I still get a chance to see some of the guys. It was so much fun to go through it with them.
Kirk Muller (as told to Hugo Fontaine of canadiens.com in 2013): I remember going to sit with Mike Keane in the Forum stands a few hours after the end of the game. We each sat there with a beer in one hand and a cigar in the other, and we looked out at the empty rink, saying to ourselves: "Oh my God, we just won the Stanley Cup!"
LeBeau: Twenty-five years ... I cannot believe it went so fast, but at the same time, it feels like yesterday that I was in the dressing room after that fifth game against L.A. with my teammates, and living my dream. It went so fast, it's unbelievable.
Damphousse: A lot of people underestimated our team. But when you look at everybody's career, how they turned out, we had a really solid team. LeClair turned out to be a 50-goal scorer in the league; he had just started his career, he was 22 at the time. Eric Desjardins made the Canadian national team. Patrice Brisebois played 18 years. Mathieu Schneider became one of the best defensemen in the league. We really had a lot of talent - and nobody knew how good we were except for the guys inside. And Jacques really believed in us. He said we were going to shock the hockey world. And we did.
James Bisson celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1992-93 season with a look back at the most memorable moments of the greatest campaign in NHL history. This edition focuses on other highlights from the campaign not covered in previous posts:
A lot happened during the 1992-93 NHL season. A lot.
So much, in fact, that we couldn't fit it all into five days' worth of posts. So here's a condensed look at 20 other major happenings from that magical campaign, including a few record-setters who deserve their due:
Chris Chelios won the Norris Trophy - and nobody would be surprised if voters chose him because they feared what would happen if they didn't. The Chicago Blackhawks star produced 15 goals and 58 assists that year, but it was the 282 penalty minutes he racked up that really stood out; it's the highest total by a Norris Trophy winner in NHL history. And nobody else has come remotely close.
While Pat LaFontaine generated plenty of accolades for his runner-up finish in the points race, the player he was traded to Buffalo for was terrific in his own right. New York Islanders phenom Pierre Turgeon finished fifth in Hart Trophy voting after racking up a career-best 132 points (58 goals, 74 assists); he also copped his lone Lady Byng Trophy after compiling an un-Chelios-like 26 penalty minutes.
Doug Gilmour will always be seen as the catalyst for the Toronto Maple Leafs' success that season - but even Killer will tell you there would have been no playoff run without Felix Potvin. The enigmatic rookie burst onto the scene in 1992-93, posting a 25-15-7 record while leading the NHL with a 2.50 goals-against average; he would go on to finish third in Calder Trophy voting and fourth in the Vezina Trophy race.
Pittsburgh Penguins winger Kevin Stevens solidified himself as hockey's ultimate power forward for the second year in a row, combining elite scoring prowess (111 points) with a heck of a mean streak (177 penalty minutes). He and Paul Coffey are the only players with at least 110 points and 170 penalty minutes in a season; Stevens has done it twice, having put up 123 points and 254 PIMs in 1991-92. Unreal.
Blackhawks netminder Ed Belfour rebounded from a difficult sophomore campaign to win his second Vezina Trophy in just three full seasons in the league. The future Hall of Famer posted 41 victories over a league-high 71 starts while leading the NHL in shutouts with seven. While Eddie the Eagle wouldn't win another Vezina, the undrafted Manitoba native would go on to finish in the top seven in voting seven more times.
Neutral-site games littered the NHL schedule that year, with 24 taking place in non-league cities. Four of them - Phoenix, Atlanta, Dallas, and Miami - would gain their own NHL teams in the coming years. A pair of Canadian cities were the most popular neutral-cite locales, with Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, hosting four regular-season NHL games and SaskPlace in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, hosting three.
One of the biggest stories involved Los Angeles Kings megastar Wayne Gretzky, who suffered a herniated thoracic disk in his back that had doctors giving him less than a 50 percent chance of playing that season. Gretzky recovered sufficiently to return to action in early January and would go on to record 65 points in 45 games - marking the first time in his NHL career he failed to finish in the top three in scoring.
The 1992-93 season saw the official launch of the Russian Rocket. Coming off a Calder Trophy-winning campaign a year earlier, Vancouver Canucks star Pavel Bure improved by leaps and bounds, racking up 60 goals and 110 points; the goal tally remains a franchise record, while the single-season points mark stood until 2009-10. Bure also led the league in shots (407) and shorthanded goals (seven).
Most hockey fans know just how much of a beating St. Louis Blues netminder Curtis Joseph took in his second-round playoff series against Toronto. But Joseph was used to it - he faced a whopping 2,202 shots in the regular season, the most in history since the league began tracking the stat. The mark has since been surpassed 10 times; Roberto Luongo holds the record with 2,488 shots faced in 2005-06.
Remember how effortless Dave Andreychuk looked on the power play, using his towering frame and 10-foot stick to create havoc in front of the opposing net? He was never better than during the 1992-93 season, when he scored a whopping 32 power-play goals. It remains the second-highest single-season total in history - Tim Kerr had 34 in 1985-86 - and no player has even managed more than 27 since 1995-96.
Jimmy Carson had a decent season, scoring 37 goals and adding 36 assists in 86 games. But that final number stands out - Carson set an NHL record for regular-season games played that year, gaining a pair of contests after being traded from Detroit to Los Angeles; Bob Kudelski tied the mark the following season, and no player has appeared in more than 84 games since before the 2004-05 lockout.
Kings defenseman Marty McSorley had a playoff run to remember, becoming Public Enemy No. 1 in Toronto after kneeing Doug Gilmour in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final, and wearing the goat horns after getting called for an illegal stick blade in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. He also reached an impressive level of thuggery in the regular season, racking up 399 penalty minutes - the fifth-highest total in history.
Alexander Mogilny cost a lot of people their headwear that season. The Sabres speedster recorded a whopping seven hat tricks en route to a league-high-tying 76 goals; three of those came during an incredible run in late December and early January during which he potted 13 goals in five games. To put that in perspective, no player has produced more than three hat tricks in a single season since the 2010-11 campaign.
Multi-point games are no big deal - but when a goaltender achieves the feat it's way cooler. Jeff Reese of the Calgary Flames did just that, setting an NHL record for points in a game by a netminder with three assists in a 13-1 shellacking of the San Jose Sharks. That output represented half the career point total of the journeyman goalie, who set up tallies by Robert Reichel (two) and Gary Roberts (one).
Luc Robitaille's contributions often went underappreciated, and 1992-93 was no exception. While Mario Lemieux, Teemu Selanne, and Gilmour dominated the headlines, all Robitaille did was establish single-season standards for goals (63) and points (125) by a left winger. And while that was enough to earn him All-Star honors, Robitaille wasn't even in the running for the Hart Trophy. Tough crowd.
The campaign produced a record number of 100-point scorers; 21 players reached triple digits in 1992-93, including a pair of rookies in Selanne and Joe Juneau. The season also saw a league-record 14 players score 50 or more goals, including five who reached the 60-goal plateau: Mogilny, Selanne, Lemieux, Robitaille, and Bure. Those records remain intact to this day.
The 1992-93 season was a boon for a number of players, but not everyone had a roaring good time. Ottawa Senators netminder Peter Sidorkiewicz, pictured here during much happier days in Hartford, suffered the third-most losses of any goalie in a single season (46); his eight victories were also the fewest of any netminder to register 40 or more defeats in a single campaign.
One of the feel-good stories of the season involved Kings netminder Rick Knickle, who finally reached the NHL 13 years after debuting in the International Hockey League. The 32-year-old didn't look completely out of place, posting a 6-4 record with a 3.95 goals-against average and an .880 save percentage; he would play four more games with Los Angeles the following year before returning to the IHL.
Fans bade farewell to four of the five remaining helmetless players in league history: defensemen Brad Marsh (pictured above), Rod Langway, Doug Wilson, and Randy Carlyle. Their retirements left just one active player in the league without a helmet - Edmonton Oilers forward Craig McTavish. The grandfathered rule allowed McTavish to continue playing without a lid until his retirement in 1997.
The Montreal Canadiens get the last factoid by virtue of their incredible Stanley Cup run, in which they reeled off 10 straight overtime victories. But here's something you might not have known - the Canadiens remain the last Cup-winning team with a Finals roster made up entirely of players born in North America - and with the game having expanded as far as it has, that mark might never be equaled again.
James Bisson celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1992-93 season with a look back at the most memorable moments of the greatest campaign in NHL history. This edition focuses on Boston Bruins winger Joe Juneau, who put together one of the quietest 100-point rookie seasons ever:
Joe Juneau will go down in NHL annals as a capable forward who finished with 572 points over 828 games with six different teams. He didn't win a Stanley Cup, but did play in two finals while reaching the playoffs eight times. All in all, it was a decent career for the native of Pont-Rouge, Quebec.
But Juneau is so much more than that.
For one, he's an actual rocket scientist - he earned a degree in aeronautical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before playing in the NHL, providing him the kind of job security few players have. It's part of the reason why he opted not to join the Bruins immediately following his time with RPI, as he explained to Patrick Cwiklinski of the Hockey News in 2011:
If you have a two-way (contract) it’s too easy for teams to send you to the minors and to forget about you so I didn’t want to be in that situation. I had a pretty good degree to fall back on so I said "what’s the point of me going to play in the minors in Portland for $30,000 a year when I could start working as an engineer and work on a nice career?"
The decision was a wise one, as Juneau entered the NHL as a skilled 24-year-old and piled up 19 points in 14 regular-season games - and another 15 in the postseason - to provide the Bruins a much-needed boost. He followed that up with one of the greatest-ever performances by a rookie, setting an NHL record for most assists by a left-winger that still stands today.
The 1992-93 Bruins weren't exactly world-beaters on offense, at least on paper; their top goal-scorer, bruising winger Cam Neely, wound up playing just 13 games that season due to injury. No. 1 center Adam Oates was known more for his playmaking abilities, while Boston fans didn't know what to expect out of Russian forward Dmitri Kvartalnov, a 1992 first-round pick.
With Neely hobbled, the Bruins relied heavily on a first line consisting of Oates, Juneau, and Kvartalnov. The results were stunning.
Both Juneau and Kvartalnov opened the season with points in each of their first 14 games; Juneau racked up 15 assists over that span, and finished the month with five goals and 12 assists in 10 games. He continued his surge through November, adding another five goals and 13 assists to challenge Winnipeg Jets phenom Teemu Selanne for the rookie scoring lead.
It was more of the same all the way to the All-Star break, by which time Juneau had amassed 22 goals and 47 assists through 54 games, though it wasn't enough to earn him a spot on the Wales Conference roster for the mid-season spectacle in Montreal. Undeterred, he carried a point-per-game pace after the break, putting him within reach of the left-wing assists record.
Juneau needed four helpers entering April to set the mark established a season earlier by Pittsburgh Penguins bruiser Kevin Stevens. He was limited to just one assist through his first three games of the month, but came alive in the regular-season finale in Ottawa, setting up the first three Boston goals in a 4-2 win for his 68th, 69th, and 70th assists of the season.
Juneau's sensational season went largely overlooked because of everything else going on in the league at the time, but it stands as one of the top showings by a rookie in NHL history. He finished with 102 points, making him one of only five rookies at that time to record 100 or more points. His 70 assists also remain the standard for rookie skaters.
Juneau's pass-happy ways also had huge impacts on his linemates. Kvartalnov finished with 30 goals - fourth among first-year players that season - while Oates piled up a career-best 45 goals, helping him to finish with 142 points; only Mario Lemieux and Pat LaFontaine had more.
Juneau finished a distant second to Selanne in the Calder Trophy voting, edging out Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Felix Potvin and Philadelphia Flyers superstar Eric Lindros for runner-up honors. He finished fourth at his position in All-Star voting - behind only Luc Robitaille, Stevens, and Dave Andreychuk - and was a slam-dunk choice for the All-Rookie Team.
Unfortunately for Juneau, his time with the Bruins was short-lived. Despite wanting to stay in Boston, he was shipped to the Washington Capitals on March 21, 1994 in a one-for-one deal for defenseman Al Iafrate. Juneau recorded 85 points that season, but never again reached those lofty heights as his skills waned and defensive hockey took over.
Juneau wrapped up his career with the Montreal Canadiens in 2003-04, registering five goals and 10 assists in 70 games. It was a quiet finish to what might look like an unspectacular career at first glance, but includes one of the most memorable seasons ever posted by a first-year player. And if the NHL hadn't worked out, at least Juneau had something really cool to fall back on.
The Toronto Maple Leafs' big-ticket addition made waves on Twitter on Thursday, when his wife shared a photo of he and his four children sporting his new colors.
Marleau signed with Toronto this offseason after spending the past 19 seasons with the San Jose Sharks. He ended his tenure in San Jose as the franchise leader in games played, goals, and points.
The 37-year-old inked a three-year deal that will see him take home nearly $19 million, and make him Toronto's highest-paid player in 2017-18.
"I can't really envision the Montreal Canadiens without Andrei Markov on the blue line. That's No. 1," Subban told Arpon Basu of NHL.com. "Even before I played for the team, I watched him play for the team and be their best defenseman. Even while I was there, I still thought he was our best defenseman, even though a lot of people thought because of what I got paid it was me. You can't really put a price tag on how he plays because he's so smart, the way he sees the ice.
"Anyone who's played with him knows how good he is."
Subban first joined the Canadiens in 2010, quickly endearing himself to local fans during a 14-game playoff stint where he first showed his electrifying abilities.
Markov, meanwhile, had anchored the Habs' blue line since 2000-01, and served as a mentor to Subban. On top of quarterbacking the top power-play unit together, the duo seemed to develop a close friendship over the years.
Add Mike Fisher to list of players who could be headed to the Olympics.
The Nashville Predators captain, who is currently an unrestricted free agent, has been approached to play for his home nation at the 2018 Winter Olympics, Jeff Paterson of TSN 1040 reports.
Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations for Hockey Canada, has made contact with Fisher, and he's also held talks with fellow free agents Jarome Iginla and Shane Doan.
On Wednesday, Team Canada general manager Sean Burke left open the possibility Iginla and Doan could be a part of the squad.
With the NHL sitting out the Olympics in 2018, all three players could be available to head to Pyeongchang if they do not sign an NHL contract beforehand.
While NHL players and those on two-way contracts won't take part in the Olympics, Team Canada could choose players on AHL deals, those toiling in European leagues, and unsigned players.
Should Fisher join the Olympic team, the 37-year-old will be walking away from a Predators squad that came within two wins of the Stanley Cup last season.
The club signed Evan Rodrigues to a two-year contract Thursday, the first year of which is a two-way deal and the second of which will be of the one-way variety.
Rodrigues split last season between the Sabres - with whom he collected six points in 30 games - and the AHL's Rochester Americans, with whom he notched 30 points in 48 contests.
He spent his senior season at Boston University playing with Eichel in the latter's lone NCAA campaign.
Buffalo initially signed the undrafted Rodrigues to a two-year, entry-level deal in the spring of 2015, about two months before selecting Eichel second overall.
