1994–95 New Jersey Devils season

The 1994–95 New Jersey Devils season was the 21st season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974, and 13th season since the franchise relocated from Colorado prior to the 1982–83 NHL season.^[1] Although they played an abbreviated 48-game season, shortened by the 1994–95 NHL lockout, the Devils won their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

1994–95 New Jersey Devils
Stanley Cup champions
Eastern Conference champions
Division	2nd Atlantic
Conference	5th Eastern
1994–95 record	22–18–8
Home record	14–4–6
Road record	8–14–2
Goals for	136
Goals against	121
Team information
General manager	Lou Lamoriello
Coach	Jacques Lemaire
Captain	Scott Stevens
Alternate captains	Bruce Driver John MacLean
Arena	Brendan Byrne Arena
Average attendance	16,379
Minor league affiliate(s)	Albany River Rats (AHL) Raleigh IceCaps (ECHL) Flint Generals (UHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Stephane Richer (23)
Assists	Neal Broten Scott Stevens (20)
Points	Stephane Richer (39)
Penalty minutes	Mike Peluso (167)
Plus/minus	Scott Niedermayer (+19)
Wins	Martin Brodeur (19)
Goals against average	Martin Brodeur (2.45)
← 1993–94 1995–96 →

The Devils entered the 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs as the second seed in the Atlantic Division. The Devils eventually swept the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Off-season

Preseason

After a 5–2–2 preseason record, the Devils, along with the rest of NHL players, were locked-out from October 1, 1994, to January 11, 1995.

Regular season

During the regular season, the Devils scored the fewest power-play goals (22) and had the fewest power-play opportunities in the NHL, with just 164. They were also the least penalized team, being shorthanded only 149 times.^[2]

Standings

Atlantic Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Philadelphia Flyers	48	28	16	4	150	132	60
2	5	New Jersey Devils	48	22	18	8	136	121	52
3	6	Washington Capitals	48	22	18	8	136	120	52
4	8	New York Rangers	48	22	23	3	139	134	47
5	9	Florida Panthers	48	20	22	6	115	127	46
6	12	Tampa Bay Lightning	48	17	28	3	120	144	37
7	13	New York Islanders	48	15	28	5	126	158	35

^[3]

Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

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

Pre-season

1994 pre-season
Pre-season: 5–2–2 (home: 2–0–1; road: 3–2–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Recap 1 September 11 New Jersey 5–4 Philadelphia 1–0–0 2 September 12 New Jersey 1–3 Pittsburgh 1–1–0 3[a] September 15 New Jersey 3–2 Boston 2–1–0 4 September 16 New Jersey 3–4 N.Y. Rangers 2–2–0 5 September 20 New Jersey 4–1 N.Y. Islanders 3–2–0 6 September 21 Philadelphia 1–4 New Jersey 4–2–0 7 September 23 N.Y. Islanders 1–4 New Jersey 5–2–0 8 September 25 New Jersey 3–3 Hartford OT 5–1–0 9 September 27 N.Y. Rangers 2–2 New Jersey OT 5–2–2 Notes: a Game was played at Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York.
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Regular season

1994–95 regular season[5]
January: 1–3–1 (home: 1–1–2; road: 0–3–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 January 22 New Jersey 2–2 Hartford OT Brodeur 12,054 0–0–1 1 Recap 2 January 25 New Jersey 1–2 Buffalo Brodeur 16,232 0–1–1 1 Recap 3 January 26 New Jersey 0–1 Boston OT Terreri 13,842 0–2–1 1 Recap 4 January 28 New Jersey 1–5 Montreal Brodeur 16,354 0–3–1 1 Recap 5 January 31 Buffalo 1–2 New Jersey Brodeur 16,311 1–3–1 3 Recap
February: 6–4–3 (home: 4–2–3; road: 2–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 6 February 2 Quebec 4–5 New Jersey Brodeur 12,096 2–3–1 5 Recap 7 February 4 New Jersey 0–2 Quebec Terreri 13,220 2–4–1 5 Recap 8 February 5 Pittsburgh 3–3 New Jersey OT Brodeur 15,280 2–4–2 6 Recap 9 February 9 N.Y. Rangers 1–4 New Jersey Brodeur 19,040 3–4–2 8 Recap 10 February 11 Philadelphia 3–1 New Jersey Terreri 19,040 3–5–2 8 Recap 11 February 12 New Jersey 4–2 Florida Brodeur 14,375 4–5–2 10 Recap 12 February 15 Washington 2–4 New Jersey Brodeur 11,970 5–5–2 12 Recap 13 February 17 N.Y. Islanders 2–2 New Jersey OT Brodeur 18,501 5–5–3 13 Recap 14 February 18 New Jersey 2–3 N.Y. Islanders Terreri 15,671 5–6–3 13 Recap 15 February 20 New Jersey 2–0 Washington Brodeur 10,761 6–6–3 15 Recap 16 February 23 Boston 3–2 New Jersey Brodeur 15,411 6–7–3 15 Recap 17 February 25 Washington 3–3 New Jersey OT Brodeur 16,832 6–7–4 16 Recap 18 February 27 Montreal 1–6 New Jersey Terreri 14,005 7–7–4 18 Recap
March: 7–6–2 (home: 3–1–1; road: 4–5–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 19 March 2 New Jersey 2–7 Boston Terreri 14,448 7–8–4 18 Recap 20 March 4 Florida 1–6 New Jersey Brodeur 18,005 8–8–4 20 Recap 21 March 6 New Jersey 3–6 Quebec Brodeur 13,178 8–9–4 20 Recap 22 March 8 New Jersey 4–6 N.Y. Rangers Brodeur 18,200 8–10–4 20 Recap 23 March 10 New Jersey 3–2 Tampa Bay Brodeur 23,649 9–10–4 22 Recap 24 March 12 New Jersey 3–4 Philadelphia Brodeur 17,380 9–11–4 22 Recap 25 March 14 Ottawa 2–4 New Jersey Brodeur 13,234 10–11–4 24 Recap 26 March 16 Hartford 2–2 New Jersey OT Brodeur 16,032 10–11–5 25 Recap 27 March 18 Tampa Bay 2–1 New Jersey Brodeur 17,690 10–12–5 25 Recap 28 March 19 Boston 3–4 New Jersey OT Terreri 16,172 11–12–5 27 Recap 29 March 22 New Jersey 5–2 N.Y. Rangers Brodeur 18,200 12–12–5 29 Recap 30 March 24 New Jersey 2–5 Pittsburgh Brodeur 17,181 12–13–5 29 Recap 31 March 26 New Jersey 5–5 N.Y. Islanders OT Terreri 15,418 12–13–6 30 Recap 32 March 29 New Jersey 4–2 Ottawa Brodeur 9,582 13–13–6 32 Recap 33 March 30 New Jersey 4–3 Philadelphia Brodeur 17,380 14–13–6 34 Recap
April: 8–4–2 (home: 5–1–2; road: 3–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 34 April 1 Montreal 1–4 New Jersey Brodeur 19,040 15–13–6 36 Recap 35 April 4 Tampa Bay 1–1 New Jersey OT Terreri 13,735 15–13–7 37 Recap 36 April 5 New Jersey 2–0 Ottawa Brodeur 9,251 16–13–7 39 Recap 37 April 9 N.Y. Rangers 0–2 New Jersey Brodeur 19,040 17–13–7 41 Recap 38 April 10 New Jersey 1–2 Montreal Brodeur 16,479 17–14–7 41 Recap 39 April 12 New Jersey 2–1 Washington Brodeur 13,248 18–14–7 43 Recap 40 April 14 N.Y. Islanders 3–6 New Jersey Brodeur 19,040 19–14–7 45 Recap 41 April 16 Hartford 2–3 New Jersey Brodeur 13,613 20–14–7 47 Recap 42 April 18 New Jersey 2–3 Tampa Bay Terreri 18,202 20–15–7 47 Recap 43 April 20 New Jersey 0–1 Florida Brodeur 14,389 20–16–7 47 Recap 44 April 22 Philadelphia 4–3 New Jersey OT Brodeur 19,040 20–17–7 47 Recap 45 April 26 Pittsburgh 3–3 New Jersey OT Brodeur 17,174 20–17–8 48 Recap 46 April 28 Florida 1–3 New Jersey Brodeur 16,676 21–17–8 50 Recap 47 April 30 Quebec 2–4 New Jersey Brodeur 16,129 22–17–8 52 Recap
May: 0–1–0 (home: 0–0–0; road: 0–1–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 48 May 3 New Jersey 4–5 Buffalo Terreri 15,304 22–18–8 52 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1995 Stanley Cup playoffs[5]
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (4) Boston Bruins – Devils win 4–1 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 7 New Jersey 5–0 Boston Brodeur 14,448 Devils lead 1–0 Recap 2 May 8 New Jersey 3–0 Boston Brodeur 14,448 Devils lead 2–0 Recap 3 May 10 Boston 3–2 New Jersey Brodeur 16,523 Devils lead 2–1 Recap 4 May 12 Boston 0–1 New Jersey OT Brodeur 19,040 Devils lead 3–1 Recap 5 May 14 New Jersey 3–2 Boston Brodeur 14,448 Devils win 4–1 Recap
Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (3) Pittsburgh Penguins – Devils win 4–1 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 20 New Jersey 2–3 Pittsburgh Brodeur 16,643 Penguins lead 1–0 Recap 2 May 22 New Jersey 4–2 Pittsburgh Brodeur 16,817 Series tied 1–1 Recap 3 May 24 Pittsburgh 1–5 New Jersey Brodeur 18,139 Devils lead 2–1 Recap 4 May 26 Pittsburgh 1–2 New Jersey OT Brodeur 19,040 Devils lead 3–1 Recap 5 May 28 New Jersey 4–1 Pittsburgh Brodeur 17,187 Devils win 4–1 Recap
Eastern Conference Finals vs. (2) Philadelphia Flyers – Devils win 4–2 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 June 3 New Jersey 4–1 Philadelphia Brodeur 17,380 Devils lead 1–0 Recap 2 June 5 New Jersey 5–2 Philadelphia Brodeur 17,380 Devils lead 2–0 Recap 3 June 7 Philadelphia 3–2 New Jersey OT Brodeur 19,040 Devils lead 2–1 Recap 4 June 10 Philadelphia 4–2 New Jersey Brodeur 19,040 Series tied 2–2 Recap 5 June 11 New Jersey 3–2 Philadelphia Brodeur 17,380 Devils lead 3–2 Recap 6 June 13 Philadelphia 2–4 New Jersey Brodeur 19,040 Devils win 4–2 Recap
Stanley Cup Finals vs. (W1) Detroit Red Wings – Devils win 4–0 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 June 17 New Jersey 2–1 Detroit Brodeur 19,875 Devils lead 1–0 Recap 2 June 20 New Jersey 4–2 Detroit Brodeur 19,875 Devils lead 2–0 Recap 3 June 22 Detroit 2–5 New Jersey Brodeur 19,040 Devils lead 3–0 Recap 4 June 24 Detroit 2–5 New Jersey Brodeur 19,040 Devils win 4–0 Recap
Legend:   Win   Loss

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 Devils only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Devils only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
44	Stephane Richer	RW	45	23	16	39	8	10	19	6	15	21	9	2
15	John MacLean	RW	46	17	12	29	13	32	20	5	13	18	8	14
9	Neal Broten†	C	30	8	20	28	9	20	20	7	12	19	13	6
12	Bill Guerin	RW	48	12	13	25	6	72	20	3	8	11	6	30
4	Scott Stevens	D	48	2	20	22	4	56	20	1	7	8	10	24
16	Bobby Holik	C	48	10	10	20	9	18	20	4	4	8	7	22
22	Claude Lemieux	LW	45	6	13	19	2	86	20	13	3	16	12	20
27	Scott Niedermayer	D	48	4	15	19	19	18	20	4	7	11	11	10
17	Tom Chorske	LW	42	10	8	18	−4	16	17	1	5	6	−2	4
14	Brian Rolston	C	40	7	11	18	5	17	6	2	1	3	6	4
19	Bob Carpenter	C	41	5	11	16	−1	19	17	1	4	5	−1	6
23	Bruce Driver	D	41	4	12	16	−1	18	17	1	6	7	13	8
6	Tommy Albelin	D	48	5	10	15	9	20	20	1	7	8	5	2
18	Sergei Brylin	C	26	6	8	14	12	8	12	1	2	3	1	4
21	Randy McKay	RW	33	5	7	12	10	44	19	8	4	12	5	11
8	Mike Peluso	LW	46	2	9	11	5	167	20	1	2	3	4	8
20	Alexander Semak‡	C	19	2	6	8	−4	13	—	—	—	—	—	—
29	Shawn Chambers†	D	21	2	5	7	2	6	20	4	5	9	2	2
10	Corey Millen‡	C	17	2	3	5	2	8	—	—	—	—	—	—
11	Jim Dowd	C	10	1	4	5	−5	0	11	2	1	3	3	8
20	Danton Cole†	LW	12	1	2	3	0	8	1	0	0	0	−1	0
3	Ken Daneyko	D	25	1	2	3	4	54	20	1	0	1	9	22
25	Valeri Zelepukin	LW	4	1	2	3	3	6	18	1	2	3	1	12
7	Chris McAlpine	D	24	0	3	3	4	17	—	—	—	—	—	—
30	Martin Brodeur	G	40	0	2	2		2	20	0	1	1		6
28	Kevin Dean	D	17	0	1	1	6	4	3	0	2	2	0	0
24	David Emma	RW	6	0	1	1	−2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	Viacheslav Fetisov‡	D	4	0	1	1	−2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
29	Ben Hankinson‡	RW	8	0	0	0	−6	7	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	Jaroslav Modry	D	11	0	0	0	−1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
33	Reid Simpson	LW	9	0	0	0	−1	27	—	—	—	—	—	—
26	Jason Smith	D	2	0	0	0	−3	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
31	Chris Terreri	G	15	0	0	0		0	1	0	0	0		0

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season											Playoffs
		GP	GS	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	GS	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
30	Martin Brodeur	40	39	19	11	6	908	89	2.44	.902	3	2,184:25	20	20	16	4	463	34	1.67	.927	3	1,221:58
31	Chris Terreri	15	9	3	7	2	309	31	2.53	.900	0	734:00	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00	1.000	0	7:45

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Conn Smythe Trophy	Claude Lemieux	[6]
League (in-season)	NHL Player of the Week	Martin Brodeur (April 3–9)	[7]
Team	Devils' Players' Player	Chris Terreri	[8]
	Hugh Delano Unsung Hero	Tommy Albelin	[8]
	Most Valuable Devil	Stephane Richer	[8]
	Three-Star Award	Stephane Richer	[8]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Chris McAlpine	February 2, 1995	[9]
	Brian Rolston	February 5, 1995
	Sergei Brylin	February 17, 1995
	Kevin Dean	February 27, 1995
600th assist	Neal Broten	April 4, 1995	[10]
1,000th game played	Neal Broten	April 28, 1995	[11]

Transactions

The Devils have been involved in the following transactions during the 1994–95 season.

Trades

Date	Details
June 29, 1994	To Calgary Flames 1994 3rd-round pick (#77 overall) 1994 VAN pick (#91 overall) 1994 OTT 5th-round pick (#107 overall)	To New Jersey Devils 1994 3rd-round pick (#71 overall)
January 30, 1995	To Chicago Blackhawks Dean Malkoc	To New Jersey Devils Rob Conn
February 27, 1995	To Dallas Stars Corey Millen	To New Jersey Devils Neal Broten
March 14, 1995	To Tampa Bay Lightning Ben Hankinson Alexander Semak	To New Jersey Devils Shawn Chambers Danton Cole
April 3, 1995	To Detroit Red Wings Viacheslav Fetisov	To New Jersey Devils 1995 3rd-round pick (#78 overall)

Free agents

Date	Player	Team
July 10, 1994 (1994-07-10)	Bryan Helmer
August 26, 1994 (1994-08-26)	Jason Miller	to Detroit Red Wings
January 26, 1995 (1995-01-26)	Kent Nilsson	to Edmonton Oilers

Draft picks

See also: List of New Jersey Devils draft picks

Below are the New Jersey Devils' selections at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 28 and 29, 1994.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	Pos	College/Junior/Club team (League)	Notes
1	25	Vadim Sharifijanov	Russia	LW	Salavat Yulaev Ufa (RSL)
2	51	Patrik Elias	Czech Republic	LW	HC Kladno (Czech Extraliga)
3	71	Sheldon Souray	Canada	D	Tri-City Americans (WHL)	[a](from Calgary)
4	103	Zdenek Skorepa	Czech Republic	LW	HC Chemopetrol Litvínov (Czech Extraliga)
5	129	Christian Gosselin	Canada	D	Saint-Hyacinthe Laser (QMJHL)
6	134	Ryan Smart	United States	F	Meadville High School (Pennsylvania)	[b](from Winnipeg)
6	155	Luciano Caravaggio	Canada	G	Michigan Technological University (WCHA)
7	181	Jeff Williams	Canada	LW	Guelph Storm (OHL)
8	207	Eric Bertrand	Canada	LW	Granby Bisons (QMJHL)
9	233	Steve Sullivan	Canada	C	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
10	259	Scott Swanjord	United States	G	Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL)
11	269	Mike Hanson	United States	C	Minot High School (North Dakota)	[c](from Quebec)

Media

Television coverage of the season was carried on SportsChannel New York and SportsChannel New York Plus, with Mike Emrick and Spencer Ross handling play-by-play duties and Peter McNab providing color commentary. On the radio, the games were broadcast on WABC–AM 770, with Mike Miller describing the play and Sherry Ross providing color commentary.

Notes

1. The Devils acquired the 1994 third-round pick from Calgary for the Devils' original third-round pick (used on Chris Clark), Vancouver's 1994 fourth-round pick (used on Ryan Duthie) and Ottawa's 1994 fifth-round pick (used on Nils Ekman) on June 29, 1994.
2. The Devils acquired the 1994 sixth-round pick from Winnipeg for Brent Severyn on September 30, 1993.
3. The Devils acquired the 1994 eleventh-round pick from Quebec for Stephane Yelle and the Devils' original eleventh-round pick (used on Steven Low) on June 3, 1994.

References

• "New Jersey Devils 1994-95 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
• "1994-95 New Jersey Devils Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 6, 2023.

1. National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.
2. "1994-95 NHL Summary".
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 New Jersey Devils Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
6. "Conn Smythe Trophy". records.nhl.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
7. "Devils' Award Winners" (PDF). devilsmedia.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/new-jersey-devils-2014-15-media-guide.pdf. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
8. Levine, Mike (ed.), 2009-10 New Jersey Devils Media Guide, New Jersey Devils Hockey Club, p. 225
9. "1994-95 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
10. "NHL / Usher Conked By Helmet / Incident mars Buffalo's win". San Francisco Chronicle. April 5, 1995. Retrieved September 11, 2023. Stephane Richer scored on a deflection with 13 seconds left in the third period, giving Neal Broten his 600th assist
11. Yannis, Alex (April 29, 1995). "HOCKEY; An Owner's Thumbs Up As Devils Clinch Berth". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2023. NEAL BROTEN of the Devils was honored before the game for playing in his 1,000th National Hockey League game.