1999-2000 NHL season
Millennium patch celebrating the year 2000
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 1, 1999 - June 10, 2000
Number of games	82
Number of teams	28
Draft
Top draft pick	Patrik Stefan
Picked by	Atlanta Thrashers
Regular season
Presidents' Trophy	St. Louis Blues
Season MVP	Chris Pronger (Blues)
Top scorer	Jaromir Jagr (Penguins)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	New Jersey Devils
Eastern runners-up	Philadelphia Flyers
Western champions	Dallas Stars
Western runners-up	Colorado Avalanche
Playoffs MVP	Scott Stevens (Devils)
Stanley Cup
Champions	New Jersey Devils
Runners-up	Dallas Stars
NHL seasons
1998-99 2000-01 ->

The 1999-2000 NHL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Hockey League. With the addition of the expansion Atlanta Thrashers, 28 teams each played 82 games. This was the first season played in which teams were awarded a point for an overtime loss. The New Jersey Devils defeated the defending champion Dallas Stars for their second Stanley Cup championship. During the regular season, no player reached the 100-point plateau, the first time this had happened in a non-lockout season since the 1967-68 season. Also, in the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs, the New Jersey Devils overcame a three games to one deficit against the Philadelphia Flyers to win the Eastern Conference Finals.

League business

Throughout the regular season and playoffs, teams wore a patch celebrating the turn of the millennium (see above).

Beginning this season, teams would earn one point for an overtime loss in the regular season instead of zero. It was hoped that this change would stop teams from playing very defensively during the overtime to guarantee the single point from a tie. The number of ties had been going up for some years and the NHL was hoping to counter this trend and did so quite successfully with this rule change.^[1]

This season was also the start of the NHL's partnership with ABC, who would televise a few regional games every season, as well as games three through seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. ESPN, who with the ABC deal renewed their contract with the NHL, continued to show regular season and playoff games as well as the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Wayne Gretzky's jersey number, 99, was retired league-wide on February 6, 2000.

The 1999-2000 season was the inaugural year for the Atlanta Thrashers. They would join the Southeast Division, marking the return of the NHL to Atlanta since the Atlanta Flames moved to Calgary in 1980. It was also the first year for the Carolina Hurricanes' home rink, the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena, the Los Angeles Kings played their first season at the Staples Center after 32 seasons at the Great Western Forum, and the Colorado Avalanche played their first season at the Pepsi Center.

A new award, the Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award, was introduced this season for the goaltender with the best save percentage.

Overtime rule changes

The standings will record three points for games decided in overtime: 2 to the winning team, and 1 to the loser. In addition, overtimes will be played with four skaters per side, instead of five.^[2]

Uniform Changes and Patches

League wide: an NHL 2000 patch was worn this season for the New Millennium.

Anaheim: Jade Alternates Retired. Eggplant pants with Jade Stripes are restored.

Atlanta: White jerseys have the team logo, while the road darks have the alternate mark. The team wore Ignargural season patches for their first season.

Carolina: Shade of red is darkened. In addition to the NHL 2000 Patch, the Hurricanes wore two other patches this season, one celebrated the opening of the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena, and the other was in Memory of Steve Chiasson, who died in a single-vehicle, alcohol-involved crash after the Hurricanes were eliminated in the 1999 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Chicago: The tan outline on the crest is removed.

Colorado: Shade of Burgundy is darkened from 1998-1999

Dallas: The alternates from 1998-1999 become the basis of the team's new home Uniform. the actual 1998-1999 Alternates become the new road uniform.

Los Angeles: New Purple alternates introduced.

New York Rangers: Navy Blue Lady Liberty Alternates return.

Ottawa: The Alternates from the 1998-1999 become the new Road Uniforms

Phoenix: Crest on the alternates get a sand-colored outline.

Tampa Bay: the alternate jerseys are dropped.

Toronto: All-star game patch worn for 2000 NHL All Star Game. the Alternates worn during the 1998-1999 season for the last year at Maple Leaf Gardens go on a one year hiatus.

Regular season

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Divisions: AT - Atlantic, NE - Northeast, SE - Southeast

Z - Clinched Conference; Y - Clinched Division; X - Clinched Playoff spot

Western Conference

Divisions: CEN - Central, PAC - Pacific, NW - Northwest

bold - Qualified for playoffs; p - Won Presidents' Trophy; y - Won division

Playoffs

Two upsets occurred in the first round as seventh-place Pittsburgh defeated the second-place Washington Capitals in five games and eighth-place San Jose defeated the first-place St. Louis Blues in seven games. Both Pittsburgh and San Jose lost in the second round to end their seasons. In the East, fourth-place New Jersey Devils defeated fifth-place Florida Panthers, third-place Toronto Maple Leafs and first-place Philadelphia Flyers to advance to the final. In the West, the second-place Dallas Stars defeated the seventh-place Edmonton Oilers, eighth-place San Jose Sharks, and the third-place Colorado Avalanche to advance to the final.

Final

The New Jersey Devils defeated the Dallas Stars four games to two to win the Stanley Cup. Scott Stevens of New Jersey was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player.

Playoff bracket

• During the first three rounds home ice is determined by seeding number, not position on the bracket. In the Finals the team with the better regular season record has home ice.

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Source: 2001 NHL Yearbook

Coaches

Eastern Conference

• Atlanta Thrashers: Curt Fraser
• Boston Bruins: Pat Burns
• Buffalo Sabres: Lindy Ruff
• Carolina Hurricanes: Paul Maurice
• Florida Panthers: Terry Murray
• Montreal Canadiens: Alain Vigneault
• New Jersey Devils: Robbie Ftorek and Larry Robinson
• New York Islanders: Butch Goring
• New York Rangers: John Muckler and John Tortorella
• Ottawa Senators: Jacques Martin
• Philadelphia Flyers: Roger Neilson and Craig Ramsay
• Pittsburgh Penguins: Herb Brooks
• Tampa Bay Lightning: Steve Ludzik
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Pat Quinn
• Washington Capitals: Ron Wilson

Western Conference

• Mighty Ducks of Anaheim: Craig Hartsburg
• Calgary Flames: Brian Sutter
• Chicago Blackhawks: Lorne Molleken and Bob Pulford
• Colorado Avalanche: Bob Hartley
• Dallas Stars: Ken Hitchcock
• Detroit Red Wings: Scotty Bowman
• Edmonton Oilers: Kevin Lowe
• Los Angeles Kings: Larry Robinson
• Nashville Predators: Barry Trotz
• Phoenix Coyotes: Bobby Francis
• San Jose Sharks: Darryl Sutter
• St. Louis Blues: Joel Quenneville
• Vancouver Canucks: Marc Crawford

Milestones

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1999-2000 (listed with their first team, an asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Patrik Stefan, Atlanta Thrashers
• John Grahame, Boston Bruins
• Maxim Afinogenov, Buffalo Sabres
• Robyn Regehr, Calgary Flames
• Alex Tanguay, Colorado Avalanche
• Martin Skoula, Colorado Avalanche
• Brenden Morrow, Dallas Stars
• Steve Reinprecht, Los Angeles Kings
• Mike Ribeiro, Montreal Canadiens
• Brian Rafalski, New Jersey Devils
• Scott Gomez, New Jersey Devils
• Willie Mitchell, New Jersey Devils
• Roberto Luongo, New York Islanders
• Tim Connolly, New York Islanders
• Jan Hlavac, New York Rangers
• Mike York, New York Rangers
• Mike Fisher, Ottawa Senators
• Brian Boucher, Philadelphia Flyers
• Simon Gagne, Philadelphia Flyers
• Brad Stuart, San Jose Sharks
• Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks
• Ladislav Nagy, St. Louis Blues
• Nik Antropov, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1999-2000 (listed with their last team):

• Marty McSorley, Boston Bruins
• Grant Fuhr, Calgary Flames
• Steve Smith, Calgary Flames
• Ed Olczyk, Chicago Blackhawks
• Brian Skrudland, Dallas Stars
• Guy Carbonneau, Dallas Stars
• Ken Wregget, Detroit Red Wings
• Bill Ranford, Edmonton Oilers
• Ray Sheppard, Florida Panthers
• Esa Tikkanen, Florida Panthers
• Darren Turcotte, Nashville Predators
• Ulf Samuelsson, Philadelphia Flyers
• Zarley Zalapski, Philadelphia Flyers
• Rob Brown, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Pat Falloon, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Bob Rouse, San Jose Sharks
• Murray Craven, San Jose Sharks
• Dave Ellett, St. Louis Blues
• Geoff Courtnall, St. Louis Blues
• Derek King, St. Louis Blues
• Daren Puppa, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Shawn Burr, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Wendel Clark, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Doug Bodger, Vancouver Canucks

Trading deadline

Trading deadline: March 14, 2000.^[5]

• March 14, 2000: Anaheim traded D Dan Trebil to Pittsburgh for a fifth-round pick in the 2000 Entry Draft.
• March 14, 2000: Atlanta traded RW Ed Ward to Anaheim for a conditional pick in the 2001 Entry Draft.
• March 14, 2000: Atlanta traded RW Kirby Law to Philadelphia for Vancouver's sixth-round pick in the 2000 Entry Draft (previously acquired) and a conditional pick in 2001.
• March 14, 2000: Calgary traded D Cale Hulse and a third-round pick in the 2001 Entry Draft to Nashville for RW Sergei Krivokrasov.
• March 14, 2000: Calgary traded G Tyler Moss and LW Rene Corbet to Pittsburgh for D Brad Werenka.
• March 14, 2000: Carolina Hurricanes traded C Kent Manderville to Philadelphia Flyers for RW Sandy McCarthy.
• March 14, 2000: Edmonton traded LW Josef Beranek to Pittsburgh for LW German Titov.
• March 14, 2000: Florida traded C Ryan Johnson and LW Dwayne Hay to Tampa Bay for C Mike Sillinger.
• March 14, 2000: Nashville traded G Corey Hirsch to Anaheim for future considerations.
• March 14, 2000: New Jersey Devils traded C Brendan Morrison and C Denis Pederson to Vancouver Canucks for RW Alexander Mogilny.
• March 14, 2000: Ottawa Senators traded G Ron Tugnutt and D Janne Laukkanen to Pittsburgh Penguins for G Tom Barrasso.
• March 14, 2000: NY Islanders traded C Petr Sachl to Nashville for a ninth-round pick in the 2000 Entry Draft.
• March 10, 2000 - Buffalo Sabres obtain Doug Gilmour, Jean-Pierre Dumont and a conditional draft pick in 2001 or 2002 from the Chicago Blackhawks for Michal Grosek.
• March 6, 2000 - Colorado Avalanche obtain Ray Bourque and Dave Andreychuk from the Boston Bruins for Brian Rolston, Samuel Pahlsson, Martin Grenier and a 2000 first round draft pick (RW Martin Samuelsson).

Hat Tricks

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1999 NHL Entry Draft
• 1999 NHL Expansion Draft
• 50th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• NHL All-Star Game
• NHL All-Rookie Team
• 1999 in sports
• 2000 in sports

References

• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
• Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.

Notes

External links

• Hockey Database
• http://nhl.com/