2000–01 NHL season


The 2000–01 NHL season was the 84th regular season of the National Hockey League. With the addition of the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild, 30 teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalanche, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the New Jersey Devils. The focus of Colorado's Stanley Cup run was on star defenceman Ray Bourque, who was on a quest to win his first Stanley Cup championship in his illustrious 22-year career.

League business

Expansion

Two expansion teams, the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets, joined the league at the beginning of the season, increasing the number of NHL teams to 30. The Blue Jackets would join the Central Division, while the Wild would join the Northwest Division. This divisional alignment would remain static until the 2012–13 season, while the league did not expand again until the 2017–18 season when the Vegas Golden Knights entered the league. This was the first time the NHL would have a team in Minnesota since the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas, Texas in 1993, and the first time for Ohio since the Cleveland Barons merged with the North Stars in 1978.
The 2000 NHL expansion draft was held on June 23, 2000 to fill the rosters of the new expansion teams.

Entry draft

The 2000 NHL entry draft was held on June 24 and 25, 2000, at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta. Rick DiPietro was selected first overall by the New York Islanders.

Rule changes

The four-official system become mandatory for all games. It was previously used for selected regular season games in 1998–99 and 1999–2000, but all playoff games in both of those seasons.

Preseason games in Europe

This was the first preseason of the NHL Challenge, where selected NHL teams traveled to Europe to play exhibition games against European teams. The Vancouver Canucks traveled to Stockholm Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, to play against Swedish teams MoDo Örnsköldsvik on September 13, 2000, and Djurgården Stockholm on September 15.

Uniform changes

  • Buffalo: New Red Alternates.
  • Calgary: Previous Black Alternates become the new road uniforms.
  • Carolina: Black outline added to players' names.
  • Chicago: 75th-anniversary patch.
  • Colorado: 2001 NHL All-Star Game Patch.
  • Columbus: White Jerseys with red and blue stripes, Blue road jerseys have Red stripe. Team also wears an inaugural season patch. Alt marks are on the shoulders.
  • Detroit: 75th-anniversary patch
  • Minnesota: White Jerseys with red and green stripes, the Green jerseys have just the red stripe. Alt marks are on the shoulders.
  • New York Rangers: 75th-anniversary patch.
  • Ottawa: The team introduces a new alternate jersey—this one black with the forward-looking centurion crest.
  • Pittsburgh: The Penguins introduce a new alternate jersey, welcoming back the skating penguin and introducing Vegas gold.
  • San Jose: 10th Anniversary patch.
  • Toronto: Alternates from 1998 to 1999 return, as well as a new TML Patch.
  • Washington: Black alternates from 1999 to 2000 become new road uniforms.

    Arenas

  • The Calgary Flames' home arena, Canadian Airlines Saddledome, was renamed Pengrowth Saddledome as part of a new naming rights agreement with Pengrowth Energy.
  • The expansion Columbus Blue Jackets moved into Nationwide Arena, named after the arena's original majority owner, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
  • The Dallas Stars played their final season at the Reunion Arena before moving to the American Airlines Center.
  • The expansion Minnesota Wild moved into Xcel Energy Center, with Xcel Energy acquiring the naming rights.
  • The St. Louis Blues's home arena, the Kiel Center, was renamed the Savvis Center as part of a new naming rights agreement with Savvis.

    Cheerleaders

were introduced to the league during this season, with the New York Islanders Ice Girls making their debut.

Regular season

International games

The NHL opened the season in Japan with two games between the Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 9 and 10, at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama.

All-Star Game

The All-Star Game was played on February 4, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, the home of the Colorado Avalanche.

Highlights

On December 27, 2000, Mario Lemieux returned from his three-and-a-half-year retirement and, in a game nationally televised on Hockey Night in Canada and ESPN National Hockey Night, registered his first assist 33 seconds into the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He went on to add a goal and finish with three points, solidifying his return and bringing a struggling Jaromir Jagr back to his elite status, who went on to win his fourth straight Art Ross Trophy, narrowly surpassing Joe Sakic. Despite playing in only 43 games in 2000–01, Lemieux scored 76 points to finish 26th in scoring, finishing the season with the highest points-per-game average that season among NHL players. Lemieux was one of the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award.
The record for most shutouts in a season was eclipsed, as 186 shutouts were recorded.

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Playoffs

Bracket

In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format. The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two, and the other team played at home for games three and four. The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the three division winners seeded 1–3 based on regular season record, and the five remaining teams seeded 4–8.
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, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.

Awards

The presentation ceremonies were held in Toronto.
AwardRecipientRunner-up/Finalists
Presidents' Trophy
Colorado AvalancheDetroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy
New Jersey DevilsPittsburgh Penguins
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl
Colorado AvalancheSt. Louis Blues
Art Ross Trophy
Jaromir Jagr Joe Sakic
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
Adam Graves N/A
Calder Memorial Trophy
Evgeni Nabokov Martin Havlat
Brad Richards
Conn Smythe Trophy
Patrick Roy N/A
Frank J. Selke Trophy
John Madden Mike Modano
Joe Sakic
Hart Memorial Trophy
Joe Sakic Jaromir Jagr
Mario Lemieux
Jack Adams Award
Bill Barber Scotty Bowman
Jacques Martin
James Norris Memorial Trophy
Nicklas Lidstrom Ray Bourque
Scott Stevens
King Clancy Memorial Trophy
Shjon Podein N/A
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
Joe Sakic Nicklas Lidstrom
Adam Oates
Lester B. Pearson Award
Joe Sakic N/A
Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy
Pavel Bure Joe Sakic
NHL Foundation Player Award
Olaf Kolzig
NHL Plus-Minus Award
Patrik Elias
Joe Sakic 		Scott Stevens
Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award
Marty Turco Mike Dunham
Vezina Trophy
Dominik Hasek Martin Brodeur
Roman Cechmanek
William M. Jennings Trophy
Dominik Hasek N/A

All-Star teams

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Regular season

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
PlayerTeamGPGAPts
Jaromir JagrPittsburgh815269121
Joe SakicColorado825464118
Patrik EliasNew Jersey82405696
Alexei KovalevPittsburgh79445195
Jason AllisonBoston82365995
Martin StrakaPittsburgh82276895
Pavel BureFlorida82593392
Doug WeightEdmonton82256590
Zigmund PalffyLos Angeles73385189
Peter ForsbergColorado73276289