1994–95 Hartford Whalers season

1994–95 Hartford Whalers
1994–95 Hartford Whalers
Division	5th Northeast
Conference	10th Eastern
1994–95 record	19–24–5
Home record	12–10–2
Road record	7–14–3
Goals for	127
Goals against	141
Team information
General manager	Jim Rutherford
Coach	Paul Holmgren
Captain	Pat Verbeek (Oct.–Mar.); Vacant (Mar.–May)
Alternate captains	Glen Wesley ; Andrew Cassels ; Adam Burt (Mar.–May)
Arena	Hartford Civic Center
Average attendance	11,835 (75.7%)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Springfield Falcons (AHL) ; Richmond Renegades (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Geoff Sanderson (18)
Assists	Andrew Cassels (30)
Points	Andrew Cassels (37)
Penalty minutes	Kelly Chase (141)
Plus/minus	Brad McCrimmon (+7) ; Andrei Nikolishin (+7)
Wins	Sean Burke (17)
Goals against average	Sean Burke (2.68)
	← 1993–94 1995–96 →

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.

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
1	1	Quebec Nordiques	48	30	13	5	185	134	65
2	3	Pittsburgh Penguins	48	29	16	3	181	158	61
3	4	Boston Bruins	48	27	18	3	150	127	57
4	7	Buffalo Sabres	48	22	19	7	130	119	51
5	10	Hartford Whalers	48	19	24	5	127	141	43
6	11	Montreal Canadiens	48	18	23	7	125	148	43
7	14	Ottawa Senators	48	9	34	5	117	174	23

^[3]

Eastern Conference^[4]
R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Quebec Nordiques	NE	48	30	13	5	185	134	65
2	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	48	28	16	4	150	132	60
3	Pittsburgh Penguins	NE	48	29	16	3	181	158	61
4	Boston Bruins	NE	48	27	18	3	150	127	57
5	New Jersey Devils	AT	48	22	18	8	136	121	52
6	Washington Capitals	AT	48	22	18	8	136	120	52
7	Buffalo Sabres	NE	48	22	19	7	130	119	51
8	New York Rangers	AT	48	22	23	3	139	134	47

9	Florida Panthers	AT	48	20	22	6	115	127	46
10	Hartford Whalers	NE	48	19	24	5	127	141	43
11	Montreal Canadiens	NE	48	18	23	7	125	148	43
12	Tampa Bay Lightning	AT	48	17	28	3	120	144	37
13	New York Islanders	AT	48	15	28	5	126	158	35
14	Ottawa Senators	NE	48	9	34	5	117	174	23

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)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance	Recap
1	T	January 21, 1995	1–1 OT	Washington Capitals (1994–95)	0–0–1	15,635	Recap
2	T	January 22, 1995	2–2 OT	New Jersey Devils (1994–95)	0–0–2	12,054	Recap
3	W	January 25, 1995	4–1	Ottawa Senators (1994–95)	1–0–2	8,567	Recap
4	L	January 26, 1995	2–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)	1–1–2	16,557	Recap
5	L	January 28, 1995	1–2	Florida Panthers (1994–95)	1–2–2	9,419	Recap

February: 6–7–1 (home: 3–2–0; road: 3–5–1)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance	Recap
6	W	February 1, 1995	2–1	@ Ottawa Senators (1994–95)	2–2–2	9,663	Recap
7	L	February 4, 1995	4–5	@ Boston Bruins (1994–95)	2–3–2	14,448	Recap
8	L	February 5, 1995	1–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)	2–4–2	13,207	Recap
9	L	February 8, 1995	2–3	Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)	2–5–2	8,032	Recap
10	L	February 10, 1995	3–4	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)	2–6–2	16,639	Recap
11	L	February 11, 1995	3–4	@ Florida Panthers (1994–95)	2–7–2	14,311	Recap
12	T	February 13, 1995	2–2 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95)	2–7–3	16,370	Recap
13	W	February 15, 1995	4–1	Montreal Canadiens (1994–95)	3–7–3	11,445	Recap
14	L	February 16, 1995	2–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)	3–8–3	13,179	Recap
15	W	February 18, 1995	4–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)	4–8–3	12,888	Recap
16	W	February 22, 1995	3–2 OT	Boston Bruins (1994–95)	5–8–3	14,021	Recap
17	W	February 24, 1995	2–1	@ New York Rangers (1994–95)	6–8–3	18,200	Recap
18	L	February 25, 1995	1–3	Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)	6–9–3	13,117	Recap
19	W	February 28, 1995	6–3	@ Ottawa Senators (1994–95)	7–9–3	9,174	Recap

March: 6–6–2 (home: 5–4–0; road: 1–2–2)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance	Recap
20	L	March 1, 1995	2–5	New York Rangers (1994–95)	7–10–3	15,011	Recap
21	W	March 4, 1995	3–2 OT	Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)	8–10–3	9,151	Recap
22	L	March 5, 1995	2–5	Boston Bruins (1994–95)	8–11–3	15,635	Recap
23	L	March 7, 1995	1–3	@ New York Islanders (1994–95)	8–12–3	10,371	Recap
24	W	March 9, 1995	2–1	Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)	9–12–3	8,886	Recap
25	L	March 12, 1995	1–4	Florida Panthers (1994–95)	9–13–3	9,741	Recap
26	W	March 14, 1995	6–4	New York Islanders (1994–95)	10–13–3	8,137	Recap
27	T	March 16, 1995	2–2 OT	@ New Jersey Devils (1994–95)	10–13–4	16,032	Recap
28	L	March 20, 1995	0–5	Washington Capitals (1994–95)	10–14–4	8,219	Recap
29	W	March 22, 1995	4–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)	11–14–4	10,149	Recap
30	W	March 25, 1995	5–1	New York Islanders (1994–95)	12–14–4	13,337	Recap
31	W	March 26, 1995	4–3 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1994–95)	13–14–4	11,739	Recap
32	T	March 29, 1995	4–4 OT	@ Florida Panthers (1994–95)	13–14–5	13,507	Recap
33	L	March 31, 1995	0–2	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)	13–15–5	17,961	Recap

April: 6–8–0 (home: 3–3–0; road: 3–5–0)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance	Recap
34	L	April 4, 1995	3–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)	13–16–5	13,751	Recap
35	W	April 5, 1995	8–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)	14–16–5	15,091	Recap
36	W	April 8, 1995	4–2	Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)	15–16–5	13,409	Recap
37	L	April 9, 1995	0–3	Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)	15–17–5	10,725	Recap
38	W	April 12, 1995	4–2	Ottawa Senators (1994–95)	16–17–5	10,509	Recap
39	W	April 14, 1995	4–3 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1994–95)	17–17–5	15,635	Recap
40	L	April 16, 1995	2–3	@ New Jersey Devils (1994–95)	17–18–5	13,613	Recap
41	W	April 18, 1995	2–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)	18–18–5	15,123	Recap
42	L	April 20, 1995	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1994–95)	18–19–5	18,200	Recap
43	L	April 21, 1995	3–6	@ Washington Capitals (1994–95)	18–20–5	15,721	Recap
44	L	April 23, 1995	2–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)	18–21–5	14,813	Recap
45	W	April 24, 1995	4–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95)	19–21–5	16,794	Recap
46	L	April 26, 1995	0–1	@ Boston Bruins (1994–95)	19–22–5	14,448	Recap
47	L	April 28, 1995	3–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)	19–23–5	15,515	Recap

May: 0–1–0 (home: 0–0–0; road: 0–1–0)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance	Recap
48	L	May 3, 1995	1–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)	19–24–5	15,399	Recap

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.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
No.	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
21	Andrew Cassels	C	46	7	30	37	−3	18
89	Darren Turcotte	C	47	17	18	35	1	22
8	Geoff Sanderson	LW	46	18	14	32	−10	24
12	Steven Rice	RW	40	11	10	21	2	61
28	Paul Ranheim	LW	47	6	14	20	−3	10
4	Frantisek Kucera	D	48	3	17	20	3	30
33	Jimmy Carson	C	38	9	10	19	5	29
18	Robert Kron	LW	37	10	8	18	−3	10
11	Andrei Nikolishin	C	39	8	10	18	7	10
6	Adam Burt	D	46	7	11	18	0	65
16	Pat Verbeek‡	RW	29	7	11	18	0	53
20	Glen Wesley	D	48	2	14	16	−6	50
44	Chris Pronger	D	43	5	9	14	−12	54
26	Jocelyn Lemieux	RW	41	6	5	11	−7	32
13	Ted Drury	C	34	3	6	9	−3	21
22	Mark Janssens	C	46	2	5	7	−8	93
7^[a]	Brian Glynn	D	43	1	6	7	−2	32
14	Kevin Smyth	LW	16	1	5	6	−3	13
32	Igor Chibirev	C	8	3	1	4	1	0
27	Kelly Chase	RW	28	0	4	4	1	141
24	Jim Storm	LW	6	0	3	3	2	0
36	Glen Featherstone†	D	13	1	1	2	−7	32
17	Scott Daniels	LW	12	0	2	2	1	55
1	Sean Burke	G	42	0	1	1		8
23	Marek Malik	D	1	0	1	1	1	0
10	Brad McCrimmon	D	33	0	1	1	7	42
5	Alexander Godynyuk	D	14	0	0	0	1	8
39	Robert Petrovicky	C	2	0	0	0	0	0
35	Jeff Reese	G	11	0	0	0		0
52	Jim Sandlak	RW	13	0	0	0	−10	0

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season
No.	Player	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
1	Sean Burke	42	17	19	4	1233	108	2.68	.912	0	2418
35	Jeff Reese	11	2	5	1	234	26	3.27	.889	0	477

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]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Andrei Nikolishin	January 21, 1995	^[7]
First game	Marek Malik	January 22, 1995	^[7]

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

Player	Former Team
Jeff Chychrun	Edmonton Oilers
Jimmy Carson	Vancouver Canucks
Steven Rice	Edmonton Oilers
Bob Wren	Los Angeles Kings

Player	New Team
Marc Potvin	Boston Bruins
Frank Pietrangelo	New York Islanders

Draft picks

Hartford's draft picks at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.^[8]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	5	Jeff O'Neill	Center	Canada	Guelph Storm (OHL)
4	83	Hnat Domenichelli	Left Wing	Canada	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
5	109	Ryan Risidore	Defense	Canada	Guelph Storm (OHL)
8	187	Tom Buckley	Center	United States	St. Joseph's High School (USHS-NY)
9	213	Ashlin Halfnight	Defense	Canada	Harvard University (ECAC)
9	230	Matt Ball	Right Wing	Canada	Detroit Junior Red Wings (OHL)
10	239	Brian Regan	Goaltender	United States	Westminster School (USHS-CT)
11	265	Steve Nimigon	Left Wing	Canada	Niagara Falls Thunder (OHL)
S	5	Steve Martins	Center	Canada	Harvard University (ECAC)

Notes

^ 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.

^ "Hartford Whalers Yearly Attendance Graph". hockeydb.com.
^ "1994-95 NHL Summary". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
^ 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.
^ "1994-1995 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
^ "1994-95 Hartford Whalers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Whalers Team Awards". www.whalershockey.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
^ "1994-95 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
^ "1994 NHL Entry Draft". hockeydb.com.