2005–06 NHL season
The 2005–06 NHL season was the 89th season of operation of the National Hockey League. This season succeeded the 2004–05 season which had all of its scheduled games canceled due to a labor dispute with the National Hockey League Players' Association over the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the League and its players.
A mid-season break in February occurred to allow participation of NHL players in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Because of the Winter Olympics break, there was no NHL All-Star Game for 2006.
The 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs began on April 21, 2006, and concluded on June 19, with the Carolina Hurricanes defeating the Edmonton Oilers to win their first Stanley Cup, after which the Oilers would miss the postseason ten consecutive times and the Hurricanes would miss 11 of their next 12.
League business
On July 13, 2005, the NHL, and NHLPA jointly announced that they had tentatively agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement which would allow the resumption of hockey for the 2005–06 season. The agreement was voted on July 21 by NHLPA members, and approved by a nearly 7 to 1 margin. The following day, the NHL's Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve the new agreement.A new logo for the NHL was also unveiled, with "NHL" printed in upward-reading letters to project a vibrant, optimistic image, and having silver as the dominant color to pay homage to the Stanley Cup. Also, new Eastern and Western Conference logos were unveiled before the Olympic break, with red as the dominant East color, and blue as the dominant West hue.
American television also had a new look. Versus took over broadcasting rights after ESPN decided not to renew their rights on cable television. The network, owned by Comcast, had Monday and Tuesday night games during the regular season under an exclusivity clause prohibiting local telecasts those nights in the two participating teams' markets. NBC returned as the NHL's over-the-air partner after ABC parted ways following the 2003–04 season. Comcast high-speed cable internet customers could watch at least seven games a week over the Internet as part of the new TV deal.
Rule changes
The league returned with a revamped rulebook, to the point that many refer to "pre-lockout" and "post-lockout" when comparing statistics. The rule experimentation was based on the previous season of play in the AHL, and was based on creating a more exciting game with more scoring opportunities. Furthermore, a new Competition Committee was formed to discuss future rule changes, and players were invited to participate in the discussion.- The league introduced shoot-outs at the end of over-time if the score is tied. The shootout features only three shots per team, and if it is still tied, the shootout becomes sudden death. In preseason games shootouts were held. Shootouts are only in effect for regular-season games. Playoff games will continue with twenty-minute periods until a sudden-death goal is scored.
- The neutral zone becomes smaller by four feet.
- All blue and red lines are returned to the traditional width of 12 inches. The double-width lines used in the AHL 2004–05 season were abandoned.
- If a team ices the puck, it is not allowed to make a line change afterwards.
- Linesmen are given more discretion when it comes to waving off icing calls when they are accidentally made as the result of a failed pass attempt.
- The "two-line offside pass" rule was abolished; this rule required a stoppage in play if a pass originating from inside a team's defending zone was completed on the offensive side of the center line, unless the puck crossed the line before the player.
- Players who instigate a fight in the last five minutes of a game will be given a game misconduct penalty plus a one-game suspension. Furthermore, the player's coach will be fined $10,000.
- Goaltender equipment was reduced in size by eleven percent.
- All referees are equipped with wireless microphones so they can now announce penalties over the public address system, similar to National Football League and Canadian Football League referees.
- *With multiple penalties, only the first will be announced by the referee calling the penalty, with the others being announced by the arena's ice-side PA announcer ; penalty announcements will also be relayed in French via the Bell Centre's PA announcer for the Montreal Canadiens.
- Any player that shoots the puck over the glass from his own defensive zone will be penalized for delay of game. After the 2006 Olympic break, the rule was modified to read that the puck must cross the glass before crossing the blue line.
- After the 2006 Olympic break, all sticks to be used in the shootout will be measured prior to use.
Regular season
The NHL season began on October 5, and for the first time in the League's history, all of the league's 30 teams played a game on opening night. In the first period of each game, all teams wore a jersey with a special patch as the league and players association auctioned off those jerseys for the benefit of the Red Cross in both the United States and Canada earmarking the proceeds for Hurricane Katrina victims ; the league instead took a break in February so that many of its players could participate in the XX Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. The new schedule features more intra-division games in order to promote division rivalries. Consequently, there are whole divisions in the opposite conference that teams never played during the season.
This season saw the much-hyped debuts of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. It was only the second time that two rookies had over 100 points in a season. Ovechkin finished with 106 points, which is third best all-time among NHL rookies. Crosby surpassed teammate Mario Lemieux's 100-point rookie season, finishing with 102 points, currently fifth best all-time.
On November 30, 2005, Joe Thornton was traded from the Boston Bruins to the San Jose Sharks in a four-player deal which sent forwards Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau and defenseman Brad Stuart to Boston. Thornton went on to win the scoring title and to date has consistently been a top ten League scorer. The Bruins would not make the playoffs until 2008.
On November 26, the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals played the second-longest NHL shootout to date. Rangers defenseman Marek Malik scored the winning goal in the 15th round, pulling the puck between his own legs to defeat Capitals goaltender Olaf Kolzig, giving the Rangers the victory by the final score of 3–2.
Three early-season games had to be rescheduled due to various events. Hurricane Wilma had forced the NHL to reschedule two Florida Panthers home games, in which their game against Ottawa Senators scheduled on October 22 was rescheduled to December 5; the game against the Washington Capitals scheduled for October 29 was moved to December 1. The Nashville Predators–Detroit Red Wings game on November 22 was called off with 7:30 left in the first period after Red Wings defenseman Jiri Fischer suffered a seizure and had to be resuscitated. It was rescheduled to January 23, 2006, with the game starting 1–0 for Nashville as Greg Johnson's goal from the original date was allowed to stand. The game that was originally scheduled for January 23 at Nashville between the two teams was moved to March 30, 2006.
On January 12, the New York Rangers retired the number 11 of long-time captain Mark Messier to the rafters of Madison Square Garden. The Rangers would beat Messier's former team, the Edmonton Oilers, 5–4 in overtime.
On January 16 in Phoenix, Washington Capitals rookie winger Alexander Ovechkin to the league's historical highlight reel by scoring a goal from his back while rolling and sliding past the goal. Ovechkin was checked to the ice by Coyotes defenseman Paul Mara on a breakaway between the Coyotes' faceoff circles, but rolled to his back, reached over his head with his stick and hooked the puck in behind goaltender Brian Boucher.
On January 19, Los Angeles Kings veteran left winger Luc Robitaille scored his 550th, 551st and 552nd goals as a member of the Kings, eclipsing Marcel Dionne's franchise record of 550 goals. The 40-year-old Robitaille retired at season's end.
The season was rocked with scandal in early February when it came to light that Phoenix Coyotes Assistant Coach Rick Tocchet was found to be involved in a $1.6 million illegal sports gambling ring with Mafia ties. Apparently, no betting on NHL games was being done, but bets were being placed on college and professional football and college and professional basketball. Although Coyotes Head Coach Wayne Gretzky denied any knowledge or involvement in the ring, initial reports stated that wiretapped phone conversations he had proved that he not only knew about the ring, but was trying to find ways to conceal his wife's involvement in it. He was later cleared of these accusations, but long-term implications to his reputation are still unknown.
On April 15, in the Nashville Predators' 81st game of the season, Nashville goaltender Chris Mason was credited with a goal when the Phoenix Coyotes' Geoff Sanderson put the puck in his own net. Mason was awarded credit for the goal, as he was the last Predator to have touched the puck. It was the ninth regular season goal scored by a goaltender in NHL history. The last goal of the regular season was scored by Kyle Calder of the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime in a 3–2 victory over the St. Louis Blues, which ended the 2005–06 regular season at 10:50 EDT on April 18, 2006.
The Tampa Bay Lightning narrowly avoided becoming the first team since the New Jersey Devils in the 1995–96 season to miss the post-season after winning the Stanley Cup the previous season.
This season also marked the first time since the 1978–79 season that the St. Louis Blues did not qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs, ending the third-longest NHL post-season appearance streak at 25 seasons. Only the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins had longer streaks.
This season also marked the last time the Pittsburgh Penguins missed the playoffs. From 2007 to present, they have reached the playoffs every year.
Final standings
The Detroit Red Wings won the Presidents' Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.For ranking in conference, division leaders are automatically ranked 1–3. These three, plus the next five teams in the conference standings, earn playoff berths at the end of the season.
Eastern Conference">Eastern Conference (NHL)">Eastern Conference
Western Conference">Western Conference (NHL)">Western Conference
Tiebreaking procedures
If two or more clubs are tied in points during the regular season, the standing of the clubs is determined in the following order:- The fewer number of games played.
- The greater number of games won.
- The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs.
- The greater differential between goals for and against.
Playoffs
Stanley Cup Final
The 2006 Stanley Cup Final was contested between the Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes and the Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers. It was Carolina's second appearance in the Final, the other being in 2002, a loss to the Detroit Red Wings. It was Edmonton's seventh appearance in the Final and their first since their fifth Cup win in 1990. Carolina defeated Edmonton in seven games to win the franchise's first Stanley Cup, becoming the tenth post-1967 expansion team and third former World Hockey Association franchise to win the Cup.Playoff bracket
Awards
All-Star teams
Player statistics
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| Joe Thornton | Boston Bruins/San Jose Sharks | 81 | 29 | 96 | 125 | +31 | 61 |
| Jaromir Jagr | New York Rangers | 82 | 54 | 69 | 123 | +34 | 72 |
| Alexander Ovechkin | Washington Capitals | 81 | 52 | 54 | 106 | +2 | 52 |
| Dany Heatley | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 50 | 53 | 103 | +29 | 86 |
| Daniel Alfredsson | Ottawa Senators | 77 | 43 | 60 | 103 | +29 | 50 |
| Sidney Crosby | Pittsburgh Penguins | 81 | 39 | 63 | 102 | -1 | 110 |
| Eric Staal | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 45 | 55 | 100 | -8 | 81 |
| Ilya Kovalchuk | Atlanta Thrashers | 78 | 52 | 46 | 98 | -6 | 68 |
| Marc Savard | Atlanta Thrashers | 82 | 28 | 69 | 97 | +7 | 100 |
| Jonathan Cheechoo | San Jose Sharks | 82 | 56 | 37 | 93 | +23 | 25 |
Source: NHL.
Leading goaltenders
Minimum 1,000 minutes played.Note: GP = Games Played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/Shootout Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average
| Player | Team | GP | Min | W | L | OT | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
| Miikka Kiprusoff | Calgary Flames | 74 | 4379:40 | 42 | 20 | 11 | 151 | 10 | .923 | 2.07 |
| Dominik Hasek | Ottawa Senators | 43 | 2583:58 | 28 | 10 | 4 | 90 | 5 | .925 | 2.09 |
| Manny Legace | Detroit Red Wings | 51 | 2905:09 | 37 | 8 | 3 | 106 | 7 | .915 | 2.19 |
| Cristobal Huet | Montreal Canadiens | 36 | 2102:59 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 77 | 7 | .929 | 2.20 |
| Henrik Lundqvist | New York Rangers | 53 | 3111:53 | 30 | 12 | 9 | 116 | 2 | .922 | 2.24 |
| Manny Fernandez | Minnesota Wild | 58 | 3411:14 | 30 | 18 | 7 | 130 | 1 | .919 | 2.29 |
| Ilya Bryzgalov | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | 31 | 1575:13 | 13 | 12 | 1 | 66 | 1 | .910 | 2.51 |
| Marty Turco | Dallas Stars | 68 | 3910:12 | 41 | 19 | 5 | 166 | 3 | .898 | 2.55 |
| Vesa Toskala | San Jose Sharks | 37 | 2039:13 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 87 | 2 | .901 | 2.56 |
| Martin Brodeur | New Jersey Devils | 73 | 4364:35 | 43 | 23 | 7 | 187 | 5 | .911 | 2.57 |
Coaches
Eastern Conference
- Atlanta Thrashers: Bob Hartley
- Boston Bruins: Mike Sullivan
- Buffalo Sabres: Lindy Ruff
- Carolina Hurricanes: Peter Laviolette
- Florida Panthers: Jacques Martin
- Montreal Canadiens: Claude Julien and Bob Gainey
- New Jersey Devils: Larry Robinson, Lou Lamoriello and Claude Julien
- New York Islanders: Steve Stirling and Brad Shaw
- New York Rangers: Tom Renney
- Ottawa Senators: Bryan Murray
- Philadelphia Flyers: Ken Hitchcock
- Pittsburgh Penguins: Michel Therrien
- Tampa Bay Lightning: John Tortorella
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Pat Quinn
- Washington Capitals: Glen Hanlon
Western Conference
- Mighty Ducks of Anaheim: Randy Carlyle
- Calgary Flames: Darryl Sutter
- Chicago Blackhawks: Trent Yawney
- Colorado Avalanche: Joel Quenneville
- Columbus Blue Jackets: Gerard Gallant and Gary Agnew
- Dallas Stars: Dave Tippett
- Detroit Red Wings: Mike Babcock
- Edmonton Oilers: Craig MacTavish
- Los Angeles Kings: Andy Murray and John Torchetti
- Minnesota Wild: Jacques Lemaire
- Nashville Predators: Barry Trotz
- Phoenix Coyotes: Wayne Gretzky
- San Jose Sharks: Ron Wilson
- St. Louis Blues: Mike Kitchen
- Vancouver Canucks: Marc Crawford
Milestones
Debuts
The following are players of note who played their first NHL game in 2005-06:- Alex Burrows, Vancouver Canucks
- Dustin Byfuglien, Chicago Blackhawks
- Gregory Campbell, Florida Panthers
- Jeff Carter, Philadelphia Flyers
- Matthew Carle, San Jose Sharks
- Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
- Ryan Getzlaf, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
- Mike Green, Washington Capitals
- Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
- Andrew Ladd, Carolina Hurricanes
- Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
- Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
- Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils
- Dustin Penner, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
- Corey Perry, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
- Dion Phaneuf, Calgary Flames
- Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers
- Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators
- Alexander Steen, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Ryan Suter, Nashville Predators
- Maxime Talbot, Pittsburgh Penguins
- Thomas Vanek, Buffalo Sabres
- Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes
- Shea Weber, Nashville Predators
Last games
| Player | Team | Notability |
| Tommy Albelin | New Jersey Devils | 2-time Stanley Cup champion with the Devils. |
| Dave Andreychuk | Tampa Bay Lightning | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the Lightning, over 1600 games played. |
| Aki Berg | Toronto Maple Leafs | Olympic silver and bronze medalist. |
| Andrew Cassels | Washington Capitals | Over 1000 games played. |
| Mariusz Czerkawski | Boston Bruins | 1-time NHL All-Star, the highest-scoring Polish player in NHL history |
| Eric Daze | Chicago Blackhawks | 1-time NHL All-Star. |
| Eric Desjardins | Philadelphia Flyers | 1-time Stanley Cup winner with the Montreal Canadiens, 2-time NHL All-Star, over 1100 games played. |
| Chris Dingman | Tampa Bay Lightning | 2-time Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche and Lightning. |
| Tie Domi | Toronto Maple Leafs | Over 1000 games played and 3,500 penalty minutes. |
| Jiri Fischer | Detroit Red Wings | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the Red Wings. Best known for suffering cardiac arrest during a game against Nashville. |
| Brett Hull | Phoenix Coyotes | 2-time Stanley Cup champion with the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings, Olympic silver medalist, 8-time NHL All-Star, Hart Memorial Trophy winner, Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner, Lester B. Pearson Award winner, over 1200 games played. |
| Brian Leetch | Boston Bruins | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the New York Rangers, Olympic silver medalist, 10-time NHL All-Star, 2-time James Norris Memorial Trophy winner, Calder Memorial Trophy winner, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, over 1200 games played. |
| Mario Lemieux | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2-time Stanley Cup champion with the Penguins as a player, Olympic gold medalist, 10-time NHL All-Star, 6-time Art Ross Trophy winner, 4-time Lester B. Pearson Award winner, 3-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner, 2-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Bill Masterton Trophy winner, Calder Memorial Trophy winner, Lester Patrick Trophy winner, Lou Marsh Trophy winner, third member of Hockey Hall of Fame to resume career after induction. |
| Grant Marshall | New Jersey Devils | 2-time Stanley Cup champion with the Devils and the Dallas Stars. |
| Shawn McEachern | Boston Bruins | 1-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins. |
| Alexander Mogilny | New Jersey Devils | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the Devils, Olympic gold medalist, 5-time NHL All-Star, Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner, Triple Gold Club member. |
| Lyle Odelein | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the Montreal Canadiens, over 1000 games played. |
| Zigmund Palffy | Pittsburgh Penguins | 4-time NHL All-Star. |
| Keith Primeau | Philadelphia Flyers | 2-time NHL All-Star. |
| Luc Robitaille | Los Angeles Kings | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the Detroit Red Wings, 8-time NHL All-Star, Calder Memorial Trophy winner, over 1400 games played. |
| Turner Stevenson | Philadelphia Flyers | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the New Jersey Devils. |
| Scott Young | St. Louis Blues | 2-time Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche, over 1100 games played. |
| Steve Yzerman | Detroit Red Wings | 3-time Stanley Cup champion with the Red Wings, Olympic gold medalist, 10-time NHL All-Star, Bill Masterton Trophy winner, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Frank J. Selke Trophy winner, Lester B. Pearson Award winner, Lester Patrick Trophy winner, over 1500 games played. |
| Alexei Zhamnov | Boston Bruins | Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalist, 2-time NHL All-Star. |