1993-94 NHL season
| 1993–94 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 5, 1993 – June 14, 1994 |
| Number of games | 84 |
| Number of teams | 26 |
| Regular season | |
| Presidents' Trophy | New York Rangers |
| Season MVP | Sergei Fedorov (Red Wings) |
| Top scorer | Wayne Gretzky (Kings) |
| Playoffs | |
| Eastern champions | New York Rangers |
| Eastern runners-up | New Jersey Devils |
| Western champions | Vancouver Canucks |
| Western runners-up | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Playoffs MVP | Brian Leetch (Rangers) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | New York Rangers |
| Runners-up | Vancouver Canucks |
The 1993–94 NHL season was the 77th regular season of the National Hockey League. The New York Rangers were the Stanley Cup champions. It was the Rangers' fourth championship overall, and their first in 54 seasons, since 1939–40.
The spectacular play of Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres ushered in a new era of goaltending dominance in the NHL. Only three teams reached the 300-goal plateau, and only one team, the Detroit Red Wings, averaged more than four goals scored per game. Goaltenders combined for 99 shutouts during the regular season, a mark that broke the all-time regular-season record of 85 set in 1974-75.
For this season, the names of the conferences were changed from Campbell and Wales to Western and Eastern respectively, and the divisions' names were changed from Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe to Northeast, Atlantic, Central, and Pacific respectively. Each division had changes. The Northeast Division would welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins, previously from the Patrick Division. The Atlantic Division would welcome the newcomer Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, previously from the Norris Division. The Central Division would welcome the Winnipeg Jets, previously from the Smythe Division. The Pacific Division would welcome the newcomer Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. New league commissioner Gary Bettman, who had previously worked in the National Basketball Association (NBA), thought the old names could be confusing to non-traditional fans and believed that a change to geographically-named divisions, as used in the NBA and most other North American professional sports, would be more easily understandable to new fans.
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