2008–09 NHL season

League business

Increase in salary cap

National Hockey League announced that the regular season salary cap would be going up for the fourth straight season. The 2008–09 salary cap is being increased by $6,400,000 (US) per team to bring the salary cap up to $56,700,000 (US). The salary floor is at $40,700,000 (US), which is higher than the salary cap on 2005–06 season.

Rule changes

The NHL brought in a number of rule changes for the start of the 2008–09 NHL season aimed at increasing offence and safety. The first rule change was to Rule 76.2 on faceoffs. The first faceoff of a power play will now be in the defending zone of the team that committed the foul, regardless of where the play was stopped. The second rule dealt with the issue of safety while players are pursuing the puck on a potential icing call. Rule 81.1 states that, "Any contact between opposing players while pursuing the puck on an icing must be for the sole purpose of playing the puck and not for eliminating the opponent from playing the puck. Unnecessary or dangerous contact could result in penalties being assessed to the offending player." The third rule change also dealt with faceoff position: if a puck is shot off the goal frame, goal post or crossbar, the subsequent faceoff will remain in the end zone where the puck went out of play. Another rule change prohibits TV commercials, game breaks, and any line changes immediately after an icing call.

Return to pre-lockout schedule

The 2008–09 schedule returns to the pre-lockout schedule. The new schedule eliminates the three-year rotation where teams would only play teams in two of the three divisions of the opposite conference; instead the new schedule guarantees that each team plays every other team at least once. In this new schedule, each team played their divisional rivals six times for a total of 24 games; they played all other conference teams four times for a total of 40 games, and played every team in the opposite conference at least once for a total of 15 games. To obtain a total of 82 games there are an additional three-wild card games; for the Canadian teams, the three-wild card games are composed of playing the three Canadian teams in the opposite conference an additional time.

Entry draft

The 2008 NHL entry draft was held on June 20–21, 2008, at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario, the home of the Ottawa Senators. Steven Stamkos was selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Trade deadline

The NHL and National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) agreed to move the trade deadline from Tuesday, March 3, 2009, to Wednesday, March 4, 2009. This was done mainly because the schedule has twelve games on March 3 and only two on March 4.

General Managers' meeting

At the meeting, held in Naples, Florida from March 9–11, 2009, general managers of the teams discussed issues that concerned them. Consensus on any topic would lead to action by the Board of Governors or the Competition committee in later meetings. Paul Kelly, executive director of the NHLPA, made a presentation on the topic of dangerous hits to the head, proposing new rules to penalize intentional hits. The general managers could not agree on the planned rule change and took no further action. Kelly intends to review the issue at the future Competition committee meeting, which is held after the Stanley Cup Finals. The general managers also discussed the topic of fighting in hockey, and agreed to penalize further players who start fights directly after face-offs and to further enforce the existing 'instigator' rule. The managers agreed to award a second-round compensatory pick in the 2009 entry draft to the New York Rangers due to the death of Alexei Cherepanov.

Regular season

European openers

The regular season started with four games played in Europe. The Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburgh Penguins played each other twice in Stockholm, Sweden with the two teams splitting a two-game premiere, and the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning played each other twice in Prague, Czech Republic. The Rangers swept Tampa Bay 2–0, going on to represent the NHL in the inaugural Victoria Cup challenge game as part of the club's pre-season schedule. The four teams also played some pre-season exhibition games in Europe.

Other than the four overseas regular season games starting October 4, October 9 was the actual first day of regular season games as far as widespread continental North American broadcast from most providers, including pay per view hockey packages. Other teams still played preseason games between October 4 and 6.

By February 23, 2009, all four teams who started the season in Europe had fired their coaches.

Winter Classic

Because of the success of the 2008 Winter Classic, another outdoor game was held in the 2008–09 NHL season. While Yankee Stadium was considered an early favorite, in a game to be hosted by the Rangers, cold-weather issues involving the old stadium put that location out of the mix. Another site considered was Beaver Stadium at Penn State University, with that game to likely involve the Penguins and the Flyers.

On May 29, 2008, TSN reported that the 2009 NHL Winter Classic would be held in Chicago, Illinois on January 1, 2009, played between the Chicago Blackhawks and defending champion Detroit Red Wings. Soldier Field was considered an early candidate, however the NFL's Chicago Bears objected, citing a possible home game for the 2008 NFL playoffs that weekend (January 3–4); ironically, the Bears ended up being eliminated from contention in the last week. It was decided that the game would be played at Wrigley Field, the North Side home of the Chicago Cubs, as confirmed by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on July 6. Ten days afterward, the NHL confirmed the reports that the game would officially be held on New Year's Day. Faceoff was scheduled for 1 pm EST (12 noon CST). The Red Wings won the game 6–4.

All-star Game

The All-Star Game was held on January 25, 2009, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, home of the Montreal Canadiens, in conjunction with the Canadiens' centennial celebrations.

Highlights

The first goal of the season was scored by Markus Naslund of the New York Rangers in Prague against the Tampa Bay Lightning. On October 16, 2008, the Blackhawks fired head coach Denis Savard and replaced him with former Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues head coach Joel Quenneville. On Saturday, October 25, the NHL scheduled fifteen games—with all 30 teams playing—for the second time in league history.

On November 3, 2008, in a game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Islanders, Islanders defenceman Chris Campoli scored twice in one overtime. First, Campoli retrieved a loose puck and fired a shot past Jacket's goaltender Fredrik Norrena. The shot went through the net and, while Campoli celebrated, the game continued. Campoli then received a pass in front of the goal and shot the puck again into the net.

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Barry Melrose would record his first win as a head coach in over 13 years on October 21, 2008, with a 3–2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers. However, the Lightning did not get off to a great start as hoped, and Melrose was fired by the Lightning with a 5–7–4 record. Rick Tocchet, who had been hired as assistant coach during the previous offseason, was promoted to interim head coach. Melrose subsequently re-signed with broadcaster ESPN. Melrose proceeded to get into a war of words with the Lightning management, accusing the management of interference during an interview on a Toronto radio station.

On December 2, 2008, Carolina Hurricanes' head coach Peter Laviolette was fired and Paul Maurice was rehired in his place. Ron Francis became the team's associate head coach.

During the annual December board of governors' meeting, the issue of the state of the economy was raised. The Phoenix Coyotes were reported to lose up to $35 million on the 2008–09 season. Asked to comment on Phoenix's loss, Commissioner Gary Bettman was quoted as saying "They're going to get through the season just fine." The Buffalo Sabres, while not for sale, had been approached for purchase.

On December 5, Sean Avery of the Dallas Stars was suspended six games for 'off-colour' remarks prior to a game against the Calgary Flames. On December 14, the Stars' management announced that he would not be returning to the team. After Avery's reinstatement by the league, he reported to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. He was placed on re-entry waivers and was claimed by the New York Rangers, his team in 2007–08.

Standings

GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime/shootout losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points.

bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)

AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

Tiebreakers

Pittsburgh Received the 4 seed over Philadelphia by a wins tie breaker (45 to 44 in favor of PIT)

Montreal Received the 8 seed over Florida, because they won the season series between the two (3-1)

bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, p – Presidents' Trophy winner

CE – Central Division, NW – Northwest Division, PA – Pacific Division

Tiebreaking procedures

In the event of a tie in points in the standings at the end of the season, ties are broken using the following tiebreaking procedures.

The higher ranked team is the one with:

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 for the entire regular season.

Playoffs

Bracket

In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the three division winners seeded 1–3 based on regular season record, and the five remaining teams seeded 4–8.

The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.

Awards

All-Star teams

First All-Star team

Forwards: Alexander Ovechkin • Evgeni Malkin • Jarome Iginla

Defencemen: Mike Green • Zdeno Chara

Goaltender: Tim Thomas

Second All-Star team

Forwards: Zach Parise • Pavel Datsyuk • Marian Hossa

Defencemen: Nicklas Lidstrom • Dan Boyle

Goaltender: Steve Mason

NHL All-Rookie team

Forwards: Patrik Berglund • Kris Versteeg • Bobby Ryan

Defencemen: Drew Doughty • Luke Schenn

Goaltender: Steve Mason

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Source: NHL

Leading goaltenders

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

Records

February 14, 2009 – Mike Green, defenceman with the Washington Capitals, scored in eight consecutive games to set a new NHL record for a defenceman.

February 15, 2009 – Mike Richards, center with the Philadelphia Flyers, became the first player in NHL history to score three career 3-on-5 shorthanded goals when he beat New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in a 5–2 win.

March 12, 2009 – Henrik Lundqvist, goaltender with the New York Rangers, became the first goaltender in NHL history to win 30 games in each of his first four seasons.

March 17, 2009 – Martin Brodeur, goaltender with the New Jersey Devils, won his 552nd game, surpassing Patrick Roy for the all-time wins record.

April 8, 2009 – Curtis Joseph, goaltender with the Toronto Maple Leafs, lost his 352nd game, tying Gump Worsley for most losses by a goaltender.

June 12, 2009 – Sidney Crosby became the youngest captain in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup.

June 12, 2009 – Evgeni Malkin became the first Russian player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Atlanta Thrashers: John Anderson

Boston Bruins: Claude Julien

Buffalo Sabres: Lindy Ruff

Carolina Hurricanes: Peter Laviolette and Paul Maurice

Florida Panthers: Peter DeBoer

Montreal Canadiens: Guy Carbonneau and Bob Gainey

New Jersey Devils: Brent Sutter

New York Islanders: Scott Gordon

New York Rangers: Tom Renney and John Tortorella

Ottawa Senators: Craig Hartsburg and Cory Clouston

Philadelphia Flyers: John Stevens

Pittsburgh Penguins: Michel Therrien and Dan Bylsma

Tampa Bay Lightning: Barry Melrose and Rick Tocchet

Toronto Maple Leafs: Ron Wilson

Washington Capitals: Bruce Boudreau

Western Conference

Anaheim Ducks: Randy Carlyle

Calgary Flames: Mike Keenan

Chicago Blackhawks: Denis Savard and Joel Quenneville

Colorado Avalanche: Joe Sacco

Columbus Blue Jackets: Ken Hitchcock

Dallas Stars: Dave Tippett

Detroit Red Wings: Mike Babcock

Edmonton Oilers: Craig MacTavish

Los Angeles Kings: Terry Murray

Minnesota Wild: Jacques Lemaire

Nashville Predators: Barry Trotz

Phoenix Coyotes: Wayne Gretzky

San Jose Sharks: Todd McLellan

St. Louis Blues: Andy Murray

Vancouver Canucks: Alain Vigneault

Milestones

First games

The following is a list of players of note that played their first NHL game in 2008–09, listed with their first team:

Last games

The following is a list of players of note who played their last NHL game in 2008–09, listed with their team:

Broadcasting rights

In June 2008, the NHL reached a new Canadian television deal with TSN, allowing the network to broadcast 70 regular season games per season featuring at least one Canadian team. CBC continued to air Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada regular season games. The league also removed the restriction that only allowed all playoff games involving Canadian teams to air only on CBC, even if it meant such games had to be broadcast regionally. CBC and TSN continued to split the first three rounds of the playoffs, and CBC still maintained exclusive coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals. But under the new deal, CBC and TSN selected the rights to individual series using a draft-like setup, regardless if they involve Canadian teams.

This was the fourth season of the league's U.S. national broadcast rights deals with NBC and Versus. During the regular season, Versus aired games generally on Monday and Tuesday nights, while NBC had games on selected weekends. During the playoffs, NBC had the rights to air selected weekend games during the first three postseason rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and games 3–7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, while Versus televised selected first and second round playoff games, all Conference Finals games not aired on NBC, and the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals.