1994–95 Hartford Whalers season

The 1994–95 Hartford Whalers season was the 23rd season of the franchise, 16th season in the NHL. Despite trading away star forward Pat Verbeek to the New York Rangers on March 23, 1995, the Whalers played solid over the next 16 games from March 25 to April 24, with a record of 8-7-1. However, the Whalers could not keep pace with the New York Rangers who went on to take 8th place in the Eastern Conference. It was the third consecutive season that the Whalers missed the playoffs. On a positive note, the Whalers had the most overtime wins and the best overtime record in the NHL, going 4-0-5. Darren Turcotte led all NHL skaters in overtime goals scored with 2.

1994–95 Hartford Whalers
Division5th Northeast
Conference10th Eastern
1994–95 record19–24–5
Home record12–10–2
Road record7–14–3
Goals for127
Goals against141
Team information
General managerJim Rutherford
CoachPaul Holmgren
CaptainPat Verbeek (Oct-Mar)
Vacant (Mar-May)
Alternate captainsGlen Wesley
Andrew Cassels
Adam Burt (Mar-May)
ArenaHartford Civic Center
Average attendance11,835 (75.7%)[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)Springfield Falcons (AHL)
Richmond Renegades (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsGeoff Sanderson (18)
AssistsAndrew Cassels (30)
PointsAndrew Cassels (37)
Penalty minutesKelly Chase (141)
Plus/minusBrad McCrimmon (+7)
Andrei Nikolishin (+7)
WinsSean Burke (17)
Goals against averageSean Burke (2.68)

Off-season

The Whalers announced on May 19 that head coach Pierre McGuire would not return to the club. McGuire took over the head coaching duties early in the 1993-94, as Paul Holmgren focused on his role as general manager of the team. In 67 games, McGuire led the Whalers to a 23-37-7 record.

On June 28, the Whalers selected Steve Martins in the 1994 NHL Supplemental Draft. Martins played the 1993-94 season with Harvard University, where he 25 goals and 60 points in 32 games.

At the 1994 NHL Entry Draft held at the Hartford Civic Center on June 28, the Whalers selected Jeff O'Neill from the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League with their first round, fifth overall selection. O'Neill scored 45 goals and 126 points in 66 games with the Storm during the 1993-94 season. The only other player that the Whalers selected in the draft that played in the NHL was Hnat Domenichelli, who Hartford selected in the fourth round.

On June 28, the NHL announced that the Whalers ownership transferred to the Compuware group, led by Peter Karmanos Jr., Thomas Thewes and Jim Rutherford. The group owned the Detroit Junior Red Wings of the Ontario Hockey League, originally named the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors, since they were awarded an OHL expansion franchise on December 11, 1989. Rutherford took over the general manager duties of the Whalers at this time, replacing Paul Holmgren, who returned to head coaching duties. Rutherford was a former NHL goaltender, amassing a 151-227-59 record with a 3.66 GAA in 457 games with the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings in a career that spanned from 1970-1983. Following his playing career, Rutherford was the general manager of the Windsor Compuware Spitfires from 1985-1989. He then became the general manager of the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors/Detroit Junior Red Wings franchise from 1989-1994.

The Whalers signed free agent Jimmy Carson on July 13. Carson split the 1993-94 season between the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks, as he scored 14 goals and 28 points in 59 games. Carson's best NHL season was in 1987-88 with the Kings, when he scored 55 goals and 107 points in 80 games. On August 9, 1988, Carson was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in a blockbuster trade in which Wayne Gretzky was traded to Los Angeles.

On August 18, the Whalers signed restricted free agent Steven Rice from the Edmonton Oilers. In 63 games, Rice scored 17 goals and 32 points during the 1993-94 season. As compensation for signing Rice, Hartford sent Bryan Marchment to the Oilers on August 30.

The Whalers acquired Glen Wesley from the Boston Bruins in a trade on August 26, sending their first round draft picks in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, 1996 NHL Entry Draft and 1997 NHL Entry Draft to the Bruins. Wesley scored 14 goals and 58 points in 81 games during the 1993-94 season. He was drafted third overall by Boston in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, and had accumulated 77 goals and 307 points in 537 games since beginning his career in the 1987-88 season.

Following the 1994-95 NHL lockout, which postponed the start of the season until January 1995, the Whalers participated in the waiver draft on January 18. Hartford selected Brian Glynn from the Vancouver Canucks and Kelly Chase from the St. Louis Blues. Glynn split the 1993-94 season with the Ottawa Senators and Canucks, scoring two goals and 15 points in 64 games. In 17 playoff games with Vancouver, Glynn had three assists. Chase played in 68 games with the Blues during the 1993-94, scoring two goals and seven points, along with 278 penalty minutes.

Regular season

The Whalers tied the Dallas Stars and the Toronto Maple Leafs for the lowest shooting percentage during the regular season, with just 127 goals on 1,428 shots (8.9%).[2]

Final standings
Northeast Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
11Quebec Nordiques483013518513465
23Pittsburgh Penguins482916318115861
34Boston Bruins482718315012757
47Buffalo Sabres482219713011951
510Hartford Whalers481924512714143
611Montreal Canadiens481823712514843
714Ottawa Senators48934511717423

[3]

Eastern Conference[4]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1Quebec NordiquesNE483013518513465
2Philadelphia FlyersAT482816415013260
3Pittsburgh PenguinsNE482916318115861
4Boston BruinsNE482718315012757
5New Jersey DevilsAT482218813612152
6Washington CapitalsAT482218813612052
7Buffalo SabresNE482219713011951
8New York RangersAT482223313913447
9Florida PanthersAT482022611512746
10Hartford WhalersNE481924512714143
11Montreal CanadiensNE481823712514843
12Tampa Bay LightningAT481728312014437
13New York IslandersAT481528512615835
14Ottawa SenatorsNE48934511717423

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results
1994–95 regular season[5]
January: 1–2–2 (home: 1–1–2; road: 0–1–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
1TJanuary 21, 19951–1 OTWashington Capitals (1994–95)0–0–115,635Recap
2TJanuary 22, 19952–2 OTNew Jersey Devils (1994–95)0–0–212,054Recap
3WJanuary 25, 19954–1Ottawa Senators (1994–95)1–0–28,567Recap
4LJanuary 26, 19952–3@ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)1–1–216,557Recap
5LJanuary 28, 19951–2Florida Panthers (1994–95)1–2–29,419Recap
February: 6–7–1 (home: 3–2–0; road: 3–5–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
6WFebruary 1, 19952–1@ Ottawa Senators (1994–95)2–2–29,663Recap
7LFebruary 4, 19954–5@ Boston Bruins (1994–95)2–3–214,448Recap
8LFebruary 5, 19951–3@ Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)2–4–213,207Recap
9LFebruary 8, 19952–3Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)2–5–28,032Recap
10LFebruary 10, 19953–4@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)2–6–216,639Recap
11LFebruary 11, 19953–4@ Florida Panthers (1994–95)2–7–214,311Recap
12TFebruary 13, 19952–2 OT@ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95)2–7–316,370Recap
13WFebruary 15, 19954–1Montreal Canadiens (1994–95)3–7–311,445Recap
14LFebruary 16, 19952–5@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)3–8–313,179Recap
15WFebruary 18, 19954–2Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)4–8–312,888Recap
16WFebruary 22, 19953–2 OTBoston Bruins (1994–95)5–8–314,021Recap
17WFebruary 24, 19952–1@ New York Rangers (1994–95)6–8–318,200Recap
18LFebruary 25, 19951–3Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)6–9–313,117Recap
19WFebruary 28, 19956–3@ Ottawa Senators (1994–95)7–9–39,174Recap
March: 6–6–2 (home: 5–4–0; road: 1–2–2)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
20LMarch 1, 19952–5New York Rangers (1994–95)7–10–315,011Recap
21WMarch 4, 19953–2 OTTampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)8–10–39,151Recap
22LMarch 5, 19952–5Boston Bruins (1994–95)8–11–315,635Recap
23LMarch 7, 19951–3@ New York Islanders (1994–95)8–12–310,371Recap
24WMarch 9, 19952–1Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)9–12–38,886Recap
25LMarch 12, 19951–4Florida Panthers (1994–95)9–13–39,741Recap
26WMarch 14, 19956–4New York Islanders (1994–95)10–13–38,137Recap
27TMarch 16, 19952–2 OT@ New Jersey Devils (1994–95)10–13–416,032Recap
28LMarch 20, 19950–5Washington Capitals (1994–95)10–14–48,219Recap
29WMarch 22, 19954–3Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)11–14–410,149Recap
30WMarch 25, 19955–1New York Islanders (1994–95)12–14–413,337Recap
31WMarch 26, 19954–3 OT@ Washington Capitals (1994–95)13–14–411,739Recap
32TMarch 29, 19954–4 OT@ Florida Panthers (1994–95)13–14–513,507Recap
33LMarch 31, 19950–2@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)13–15–517,961Recap
April: 6–8–0 (home: 3–3–0; road: 3–5–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
34LApril 4, 19953–6@ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)13–16–513,751Recap
35WApril 5, 19958–4@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)14–16–515,091Recap
36WApril 8, 19954–2Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)15–16–513,409Recap
37LApril 9, 19950–3Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)15–17–510,725Recap
38WApril 12, 19954–2Ottawa Senators (1994–95)16–17–510,509Recap
39WApril 14, 19954–3 OTMontreal Canadiens (1994–95)17–17–515,635Recap
40LApril 16, 19952–3@ New Jersey Devils (1994–95)17–18–513,613Recap
41WApril 18, 19952–1@ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)18–18–515,123Recap
42LApril 20, 19952–3@ New York Rangers (1994–95)18–19–518,200Recap
43LApril 21, 19953–6@ Washington Capitals (1994–95)18–20–515,721Recap
44LApril 23, 19952–4Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)18–21–514,813Recap
45WApril 24, 19954–3@ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95)19–21–516,794Recap
46LApril 26, 19950–1@ Boston Bruins (1994–95)19–22–514,448Recap
47LApril 28, 19953–4Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)19–23–515,515Recap
May: 0–1–0 (home: 0–0–0; road: 0–1–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
48LMay 3, 19951–4@ Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)19–24–515,399Recap
Legend:

  Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring
  • Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
  • † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.
  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.
Regular season
No. Player Pos GP G A Pts +/- PIM
21Andrew CasselsC4673037−318
89Darren TurcotteC47171835122
8Geoff SandersonLW46181432−1024
12Steven RiceRW40111021261
28Paul RanheimLW4761420−310
4Frantisek KuceraD4831720330
33Jimmy CarsonC3891019529
18Robert KronLW3710818−310
11Andrei NikolishinC3981018710
6Adam BurtD4671118065
16Pat Verbeek‡RW2971118053
20Glen WesleyD4821416−650
44Chris ProngerD435914−1254
26Jocelyn LemieuxRW416511−732
13Ted DruryC34369−321
22Mark JanssensC46257−893
7[lower-alpha 1]Brian GlynnD43167−232
14Kevin SmythLW16156−313
32Igor ChibirevC831410
27Kelly ChaseRW280441141
24Jim StormLW603320
36Glen Featherstone†D13112−732
17Scott DanielsLW12022155
1Sean BurkeG420118
23Marek MalikD101110
10Brad McCrimmonD33011742
5Alexander GodynyukD1400018
39Robert PetrovickyC200000
35Jeff ReeseG110000
52Jim SandlakRW13000−100

Goaltending
Regular season
No. Player GP W L T SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI
1Sean Burke421719412331082.68.91202418
35Jeff Reese11251234263.27.8890477

Awards and records

Awards
Type Award/honor Recipient Ref
Team Booster Club MVP Award Sean Burke [6]
Favorite Whaler Award Jocelyn Lemieux [6]
Frank Keys Memorial Award Adam Burt [6]
Mark Kravitz Award Sean Burke [6]
Most Valuable Defenseman Frantisek Kucera [6]
Three Star Award of Excellence Sean Burke [6]
Top Gun Award Andrew Cassels [6]
True Grit Award Andrei Nikolishin [6]

Transactions

The Whalers were involved in the following transactions during the 1994–95 season.

Trades
August 26, 1994 To Boston Bruins
1st round pick in 1995 - Kyle McLaren
1st round pick in 1996 - Johnathan Aitken
1st round pick in 1997 - Sergei Samsonov		 To Hartford Whalers
Glen Wesley
August 30, 1994 To Edmonton Oilers
Bryan Marchment (Compensation for Restricted Free Agent)		 To Hartford Whalers
Steven Rice (Restricted Free Agent)
March 23, 1995 To New York Rangers
Pat Verbeek		 To Hartford Whalers
Glen Featherstone
Michael Stewart
1st round pick in 1995 - Jean-Sébastien Giguère
4th round pick in 1996 - Steve Wasylko

Waivers
January 18, 1995 From Vancouver Canucks
Brian Glynn
January 18, 1995 From St. Louis Blues
Kelly Chase

Free agents
PlayerFormer Team
Jeff ChychrunEdmonton Oilers
Jimmy CarsonVancouver Canucks
Steven RiceEdmonton Oilers
Bob WrenLos Angeles Kings
PlayerNew Team
Marc PotvinBoston Bruins
Frank PietrangeloNew York Islanders

Draft picks

Hartford's draft picks at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.[7]

Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
15Jeff O'NeillCenter CanadaGuelph Storm (OHL)
483Hnat DomenichelliLeft Wing CanadaKamloops Blazers (WHL)
5109Ryan RisidoreDefense CanadaGuelph Storm (OHL)
8187Tom BuckleyCenter United StatesSt. Joseph's High School (USHS-NY)
9213Ashlin HalfnightDefense CanadaHarvard University (ECAC)
9230Matt BallRight Wing CanadaDetroit Junior Red Wings (OHL)
10239Brian ReganGoaltender United StatesWestminster School (USHS-CT)
11265Steve NimigonLeft Wing CanadaNiagara Falls Thunder (OHL)
S5Steve MartinsCenter CanadaHarvard University (ECAC)

See also

Notes
  1. Glynn wore number 3 in his first two games.

References
  • "Hartford Whalers 1994-95 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  • "1994-95 Hartford Whalers Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  1. "Hartford Whalers Yearly Attendance Graph". hockeydb.com.
  2. "1994-95 NHL Summary". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  3. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  4. "1994-1995 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  5. "1994-95 Hartford Whalers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  6. "Whalers Team Awards". www.whalershockey.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  7. "1994 NHL Entry Draft". hockeydb.com.
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