1990–91 NHL season

The 1990–91 NHL season was the 74th season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the best of seven series 4–2 against the Minnesota North Stars to claim their first championship. This was the last NHL season to end in May.

League business

Approval for expansion by 1992

At meetings in Florida on December 6, 1990, the NHL Board of Governors awarded provisional franchises to groups from Ottawa and Tampa. The Ottawa franchise marked a return to one of the original cities of the NHL, while Tampa meant the first franchise in the sunbelt state of Florida. In a later book published by NHL president Gil Stein, Stein revealed that the two groups were the only ones of the applicants who agreed to the $50 million expansion fee without question. The Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning began play in the 1992–93 season.

Entry draft

The 1990 NHL entry draft was held on June 16, at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. Owen Nolan was selected first overall by the Quebec Nordiques.

Regular season

Final standings

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

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes, PPG = Powerplay goals, SHG = Shorthanded goals, GWG = Game winning goals

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	±	PPG	SHG	GWG
Wayne Gretzky	Los Angeles Kings	78	41	122	163	16	+30	8	0	5
Brett Hull	St. Louis Blues	78	86	45	131	22	+23	29	0	11
Adam Oates	St. Louis Blues	61	25	90	115	29	+15	3	1	3
Mark Recchi	Pittsburgh Penguins	78	40	73	113	48	0	12	0	9
John Cullen	Pittsburgh Penguins/ Hartford Whalers	78	39	71	110	101	-6	14	0	3
Joe Sakic	Quebec Nordiques	80	48	61	109	24	-26	12	3	7
Steve Yzerman	Detroit Red Wings	80	51	57	108	34	-2	12	6	4
Theoren Fleury	Calgary Flames	79	51	53	104	136	+48	9	7	9
Al MacInnis	Calgary Flames	78	28	75	103	90	+42	17	0	1
Steve Larmer	Chicago Blackhawks	80	44	57	101	79	+37	17	2	9

Leading goaltenders

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average = SV% = Save percentage

Player	Team	GP	Min	W	L	T	SO	GAA	SV%
Ed Belfour	Chicago Blackhawks	74	4127	43	19	7	4	2.47	.910
Tim Cheveldae	Detroit Red Wings	65	3615	30	26	5	2	3.55	.875
Bill Ranford	Edmonton Oilers	60	3415	27	27	3	0	3.2	.893
Ron Tugnutt	Quebec Nordiques	56	3144	12	29	10	0	4.05	.886
Peter Ing	Toronto Maple Leafs	56	3126	16	29	8	1	3.84	.883
Jon Casey	Minnesota North Stars	55	3185	21	20	11	3	2.98	.891
Bob Essensa	Winnipeg Jets	55	2916	19	24	6	4	3.15	.889
Mike Vernon	Calgary Flames	54	3121	31	19	3	1	3.31	.878
Glenn Healy	New York Islanders	53	2999	18	24	9	0	3.32	.893
Chris Terreri	New Jersey Devils	53	2970	24	21	7	1	2.91	.893

Coaches

Patrick Division

New Jersey Devils: John Cunniff and Tom McVie
New York Islanders: Al Arbour
New York Rangers: Roger Neilson
Philadelphia Flyers: Paul Holmgren
Pittsburgh Penguins: Bob Johnson
Washington Capitals: Terry Murray

Adams Division

Boston Bruins: Mike Milbury
Buffalo Sabres: Rick Dudley
Hartford Whalers: Rick Ley
Montreal Canadiens: Pat Burns
Quebec Nordiques: Dave Chambers

Norris Division

Chicago Blackhawks: Mike Keenan
Detroit Red Wings: Bryan Murray
Minnesota North Stars: Bob Gainey
St. Louis Blues: Brian Sutter
Toronto Maple Leafs: Tom Watt

Smythe Division

Calgary Flames: Doug Risebrough
Edmonton Oilers: John Muckler
Los Angeles Kings: Tom Webster
Vancouver Canucks: Bob McCammon and Pat Quinn
Winnipeg Jets: Bob Murdoch

Milestones

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1990–91 :

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1990–91 :

Gord Kluzak, Boston Bruins
Tony McKegney, Chicago Blackhawks
Glen Hanlon, Detroit Red Wings
Don Maloney, New York Islanders
Lindy Ruff, New York Rangers
Pete Peeters, Philadelphia Flyers
Guy Lafleur, Quebec Nordiques
Harold Snepsts, St. Louis Blues
Paul MacLean, St. Louis Blues
Rick Meagher, St. Louis Blues
Stan Smyl, Vancouver Canucks
Joel Quenneville, Washington Capitals

Broadcasting

This was the third 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.
This was the third and final season of the league's original U.S. national broadcast rights deal SportsChannel America, with up to three regular season games a week and coverage of the playoffs. SportsChannel America then signed a one-year extension for the 1991–92 season. Meanwhile, NBC televised the All-Star Game for the second consecutive season.