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The 1990–91 NHL season was the 74th regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the best of seven series 4–2 against the Minnesota North Stars. The North Stars defeated the Edmonton Oilers to become the first Norris Division team to appear in the Stanley Cup Finals since all the teams were moved around in 1981. The championship was the first in Penguins history. A record high 92 playoff games were held, and for the first time since the 1973 playoffs, no team was beat in four games in a playoff series.
| 1990–91 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 4, 1990 – May 25, 1991 |
| Number of games | 80 |
| Number of teams | 21 |
| TV partner(s) | CBC, TSN, SRC (Canada) SportsChannel America, NBC[lower-alpha 1] (United States) |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Owen Nolan |
| Picked by | Quebec Nordiques |
| Regular season | |
| Presidents' Trophy | Chicago Blackhawks |
| Season MVP | Brett Hull (Blues) |
| Top scorer | Wayne Gretzky (Kings) |
| Playoffs | |
| Playoffs MVP | Mario Lemieux (Penguins) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Runners-up | Minnesota North Stars |
This was the last NHL season to end in the month of May.
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Final standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
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Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne Gretzky | Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 41 | 122 | 163 | |
| Brett Hull | St. Louis Blues | 78 | 86 | 45 | 131 | |
| Adam Oates | St. Louis Blues | 61 | 25 | 90 | 115 | |
| Mark Recchi | Pittsburgh Penguins | 78 | 40 | 73 | 113 | |
| John Cullen | Pittsburgh Penguins / Hartford Whalers | 78 | 39 | 71 | 110 | |
| Joe Sakic | Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 48 | 61 | 109 | |
| Steve Yzerman | Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 51 | 57 | 108 | |
| Theoren Fleury | Calgary Flames | 79 | 51 | 53 | 104 | |
| Al MacInnis | Calgary Flames | 78 | 28 | 75 | 103 | |
| Steve Larmer | Chicago Blackhawks | 80 | 44 | 57 | 101 |
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Note: All dates in 1991
Playoff bracket
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Conference Finals | Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||||||
| A1 | Boston | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| A4 | Hartford | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| A1 | Boston | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| A2 | Montreal | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| A2 | Montreal | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| A3 | Buffalo | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| A1 | Boston | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Prince of Wales Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| P4 | New Jersey | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| P3 | Washington | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| P2 | NY Rangers | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| P3 | Washington | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| N1 | Chicago | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Minnesota | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Minnesota | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| N2 | St. Louis | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| N2 | St. Louis | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| N3 | Detroit | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Minnesota | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Clarence Campbell Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Edmonton | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Los Angeles | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| S4 | Vancouver | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Los Angeles | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Edmonton | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Calgary | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Edmonton | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
Division semi-finals
Wales Conference
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Campbell Conference
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Division Finals
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Conference Finals
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Finals
| Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Minnesota North Stars | |||||
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| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
| May 15 | Minnesota | 5 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |
| May 17 | Minnesota | 1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |
| May 19 | Pittsburgh | 1 | Minnesota | 3 | |
| May 21 | Pittsburgh | 5 | Minnesota | 3 | |
| May 23 | Minnesota | 4 | Pittsburgh | 6 | |
| May 25 | Pittsburgh | 8 | Minnesota | 0 | |
| Pittsburgh wins series 4–2 and Stanley Cup | |||||
| Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh) wins Conn Smythe Trophy | |||||
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| Presidents' Trophy: | Chicago Blackhawks |
| Prince of Wales Trophy: | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: | Minnesota North Stars |
| Art Ross Memorial Trophy: | Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings |
| Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: | Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: | Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks |
| Conn Smythe Trophy: | Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Frank J. Selke Trophy: | Dirk Graham, Chicago Blackhawks |
| Hart Memorial Trophy: | Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues |
| Jack Adams Award: | Brian Sutter, St. Louis Blues |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy: | Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins |
| King Clancy Memorial Trophy: | Dave Taylor, Los Angeles Kings |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: | Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings |
| Lester B. Pearson Award: | Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues |
| NHL Plus/Minus Award: | Marty McSorley, Los Angeles Kings & Theo Fleury, Calgary Flames |
| Vezina Trophy: | Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks |
| William M. Jennings Trophy: | Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks |
| Lester Patrick Trophy: | Rod Gilbert, Mike Ilitch |
All-Star teams
| First Team | Position | Second Team |
|---|---|---|
| Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks | G | Patrick Roy, Montreal Canadiens |
| Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins | D | Chris Chelios, Chicago Blackhawks |
| Al MacInnis, Calgary Flames | D | Brian Leetch, New York Rangers |
| Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings | C | Adam Oates, St. Louis Blues |
| Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues | RW | Cam Neely, Boston Bruins |
| Luc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings | LW | Kevin Stevens, Pittsburgh Penguins |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1990–91 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
- Robert Reichel, Calgary Flames
- Dominik Hasek, Chicago Blackhawks
- Keith Primeau, Detroit Red Wings
- Mike Sillinger, Detroit Red Wings
- Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
- Bobby Holik, Hartford Whalers
- Geoff Sanderson, Hartford Whalers
- John LeClair, Montreal Canadiens
- Patrice Brisebois, Montreal Canadiens
- Sean Hill*, Montreal Canadiens
- Doug Weight*, New York Rangers
- Tony Amonte*, New York Rangers
- Mike Ricci, Philadelphia Flyers
- Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins
- Mats Sundin, Quebec Nordiques
- Owen Nolan, Quebec Nordiques
- Petr Nedved, Vancouver Canucks
- Dmitri Khristich, Washington Capitals
- Peter Bondra, Washington Capitals
- Kris Draper, Winnipeg Jets
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The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1990–91 (listed with their last team):
- Gord Kluzak, Boston Bruins
- Tony McKegney, Chicago Blackhawks
- Glen Hanlon, Detroit Red Wings
- Don Maloney, New York Islanders
- Lindy Ruff, New York Rangers
- Pete Peeters, Philadelphia Flyers
- Guy Lafleur, Quebec Nordiques
- Harold Snepsts, St. Louis Blues
- Paul MacLean, St. Louis Blues
- Rick Meagher, St. Louis Blues
- Stan Smyl, Vancouver Canucks
- Joel Quenneville, Washington Capitals
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- Trading Deadline: MARCH 5, 1991[1]
- March 4, 1991: Ron Francis, Grant Jennings and Ulf Samuelsson traded from Hartford to Pittsburgh for John Cullen, Jeff Parker and Zarley Zalapski.
- March 5, 1991: Allan Bester traded from Toronto to Detroit for Detroit's 6th round pick in 1991 Entry Draft.
- March 5, 1991: Geoff Courtnall, Robert Dirk, Sergio Momesso, Cliff Ronning and future considerations traded from St. Louis to Vancouver for Dan Quinn and Garth Butcher.
- March 5, 1991: Mark Hunter traded from Calgary to Hartford for Carey Wilson.
- March 5, 1991: Mark Pederson traded from Montreal to Philadelphia for Philadelphia's 2nd round pick in 1991 Entry Draft and future considerations.
- March 5, 1991: Keith Osborne traded from St. Louis to Toronto for Darren Veitch and future considerations.
- March 5, 1991: Ken Priestlay traded from Buffalo to Pittsburgh for Tony Tanti.
- March 5, 1991: Dana Murzyn traded from Calgary to Vancouver for Ron Stern, Kevan Guy and future considerations.
- March 5, 1991: Kim Issel traded from Edmonton to Pittsburgh for Brad Aitken.
- March 5, 1991: Steve Weeks traded from Vancouver to Buffalo for future considerations.
- March 5, 1991: Marc Bureau traded from Calgary to Minnesota for Minnesota's 3rd round choice in 1991 Entry Draft.
- March 5, 1991: Joey Kocur and Per Djoos traded from Detroit to NY Rangers for Kevin Miller, Jim Cummins and Dennis Vial.
- March 5, 1991: Bobby Reynolds traded from Toronto to Washington for Robert Mendel.
- March 5, 1991: Mike McNeill and Ryan McGill traded from Chicago to Quebec for Paul Gillis and Daniel Vincelette.
- March 5, 1991: Ilkka Sinisalo traded from Minnesota to Los Angeles for Los Angeles' 8th round choice in 1991 Entry Draft.
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