1994–95 Quebec Nordiques season

National Hockey League team season March 2026 August 2020 NHL 1994–95 1994 Quebec Nordiques Northeast 1st Eastern 1st 30–13–5 19–1–4 11–12–1 185 134 Pierre Lacroix Marc Crawford Joe Sakic Wendel Clark Mike Ricci Colisée de Québec 14,397 (93.4%)https://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph_season.php?lid=NHL1927&sid=1995 National Hockey League 1994-95 Attendance Graph hockeydb.com Cornwall Aces (AHL) Owen Nolan (30) Joe Sakic (43) Joe Sakic (62) Curtis Leschyshyn (+29) Chris Simon (106) Stephane Fiset (17) Jocelyn Thibault (2.34) yes 1995–96 (Colorado) The 1994–95 Quebec Nordiques season was the 24th season of operation of the Nordiques and the last season that the team played in Quebec. The Nordiques finished first in the Eastern Conference, but lost in the first round to the New York Rangers. After the season, the club was sold and relocated to Denver, Colorado. Regular season The Nordiques exploded out of the gate, winning five-straight games and 12 of their first 13. Although they were terrible on the road, going just 11–12–1, the Nordiques had the best home record in the league: 19–1–4. Quebec's only defeat at home came on February 27 in a 7–5 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Captain Joe Sakic finished fourth in the league in points (62), Owen Nolan tied for third in the league in goals (30) and finished first in the league in game-winning goals (8), while Peter Forsberg led all rookies in points (50). Forsberg went on to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top rookie of the 1994–95 season. The team finished first in scoring in the league with 185 goals and was one of only two Eastern Conference teams to score at least one goal in all of their 48 regular-season games (the Buffalo Sabres were the other team). Quebec went on to finish first in the Eastern Conference with 65 points. The Nordiques tied the Flyers for most hat-tricks scored during the regular season, with six. Owen Nolan had three, while Wendel Clark, Uwe Krupp and Scott Young each had one. Season standings QUE QUE Playoffs The Nordiques faced the New York Rangers in the first round of the 1995 NHL playoffs. On paper, the Nordiques were the clear favorite, since they had a much better record and had won the season series against the Rangers. However, New York's players had more playoff experience, since most of them had been members of the 1994 Stanley Cup champion team. This fact, combined with the Nordiques players' playoff inexperience and inability to maintain their effective power play, proved to be the ultimate factors in the series, as New York defeated Quebec in six games. Although each team had allowed only 134 goals during the regular season (tied for 9th in the league), it was an offensive series, as 44 goals were scored (25 by New York, 19 by Quebec) over the six games. Schedule and results Regular season background:#fff; border-top:#0072CE 5px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 5px solid; 1994–95 regular season1994-95 Quebec Nordiques Schedule https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/QUE/1995_games.html Hockey-Reference.com September 5, 2023 y background:#fff; border-top:#0072CE 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; January: 5–0–0 (home: 3–0–0; road: 2–0–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap |- |1||January 21, 1995||3–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) ||1–0–0||17,380 || 1994020012 W |- |2||January 24, 1995||5–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Washington Capitals (1994–95) ||2–0–0||14,277 || 1994020026 W |- |3||January 27, 1995||7–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) ||3–0–0||16,232 || 1994020046 W |- |4||January 28, 1995||2–0 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Rangers (1994–95) ||4–0–0||14,382 || 1994020053 W |- |5||January 31, 1995||5–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) ||5–0–0||14,141 || 1994020069 W |- y background:#fff; border-top:#0072CE 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; February: 8–4–2 (home: 3–1–2; road: 5–3–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap |- |6||February 2, 1995||4–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New Jersey Devils (1994–95) ||5–1–0||12,096 || 1994020082 L |- |7||February 4, 1995||2–0 || style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey Devils (1994–95) ||6–1–0||13,220 || 1994020095 W |- |8||February 5, 1995||3–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Hartford Whalers (1994–95) ||7–1–0||13,207 || 1994020103 W |- |9||February 8, 1995||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Hartford Whalers (1994–95) ||8–1–0||8,032 || 1994020118 W |- |10||February 9, 1995||4–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Boston Bruins (1994–95) ||9–1–0||14,448 || 1994020123 W |- |11||February 11, 1995||5–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||10–1–0||14,231 || 1994020135 W |- |12||February 14, 1995||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Islanders (1994–95) ||11–1–0||10,225 || 1994020154 W |- |13||February 16, 1995||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) ||12–1–0||17,065 || 1994020166 W |- |14||February 18, 1995||2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Washington Capitals (1994–95) ||12–2–0||13,410 || 1994020178 L |- |15||February 19, 1995||4–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Florida Panthers (1994–95) ||13–2–0||14,703 || 1994020185 W |- |16||February 21, 1995||4–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) ||13–3–0||17,181 || 1994020195 L |- |17||February 23, 1995||6–6 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) ||13–3–1||13,301 || 1994020204 T |- |18||February 25, 1995||1–1 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Boston Bruins (1994–95) ||13–3–2||14,389 || 1994020219 T |- |19||February 27, 1995||5–7 || style="text-align:left;"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) ||13–4–2||15,399 || 1994020231 L |- y background:#fff; border-top:#0072CE 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; March: 10–4–1 (home: 7–0–1; road: 3–4–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap |- |20||March 1, 1995||8–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) ||14–4–2||13,131 || 1994020243 W |- |21||March 4, 1995||1–1 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) ||14–4–3||13,517 || 1994020259 T |- |22||March 6, 1995||6–3 || style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey Devils (1994–95) ||15–4–3||13,178 || 1994020274 W |- |23||March 7, 1995||5–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) ||16–4–3||17,181 || 1994020279 W |- |24||March 9, 1995||1–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Hartford Whalers (1994–95) ||16–5–3||8,886 || 1994020289 L |- |25||March 11, 1995||2–1 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Islanders (1994–95) ||17–5–3||14,525 || 1994020302 W |- |26||March 16, 1995||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) ||18–5–3||15,399 || 1994020329 W |- |27||March 18, 1995||4–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) ||18–6–3||17,959 || 1994020341 L |- |28||March 20, 1995||5–4 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Florida Panthers (1994–95) ||19–6–3||13,013 || 1994020353 W |- |29||March 22, 1995||6–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Boston Bruins (1994–95) ||20–6–3||14,096 || 1994020364 W |- |30||March 25, 1995||2–1 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Rangers (1994–95) ||21–6–3||15,399 || 1994020380 W |- |31||March 26, 1995||11–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||22–6–3||10,171 || 1994020385 W |- |32||March 28, 1995||3–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) ||22–7–3||14,899 || 1994020399 L |- |33||March 30, 1995||5–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Rangers (1994–95) ||23–7–3||18,200 || 1994020410 W |- |34||March 31, 1995||4–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Washington Capitals (1994–95) ||23–8–3||13,629 || 1994020414 L |- y background:#fff; border-top:#0072CE 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; April: 6–5–2 (home: 5–0–1; road: 1–5–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap |- |35||April 2, 1995||7–5 || style="text-align:left;"| Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||24–8–3||14,335 || 1994020427 W |- |36||April 5, 1995||5–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) ||24–9–3||17,469 || 1994020444 L |- |37||April 6, 1995||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) ||25–9–3||15,399 || 1994020450 W |- |38||April 8, 1995||2–2 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||25–9–4||10,575 || 1994020461 T |- |39||April 12, 1995||4–0 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Boston Bruins (1994–95) ||26–9–4||14,448 || 1994020482 W |- |40||April 14, 1995||5–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) ||27–9–4||15,399 || 1994020495 W |- |41||April 16, 1995||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Washington Capitals (1994–95) ||28–9–4||15,325 || 1994020508 W |- |42||April 18, 1995||2–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Islanders (1994–95) ||28–10–4||13,758 || 1994020524 L |- |43||April 20, 1995||2–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) ||28–11–4||17,705 || 1994020538 L |- |44||April 22, 1995||2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Florida Panthers (1994–95) ||28–12–4||14,703 || 1994020550 L |- |45||April 26, 1995||1–1 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) ||28–12–5||15,399 || 1994020573 T |- |46||April 29, 1995||4–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) ||29–12–5||15,399 || 1994020593 W |- |47||April 30, 1995||2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New Jersey Devils (1994–95) ||29–13–5||16,129 || 1994020598 L |- y background:#fff; border-top:#0072CE 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; May: 1–0–0 (home: 1–0–0; road: 0–0–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap |- |48||May 3, 1995||4–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Hartford Whalers (1994–95) ||30–13–5||15,399 || 1994020618 W |- |- | Legend: #cfc Win (2 points) 1px solid black W #fcc Loss (0 points) 1px solid black L #ffc Tie (1 point) 1px solid black T Playoffs background:#fff; border-top:#0072CE 5px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 5px solid; 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs y background:#fff; border-top:#0072CE 2px solid; border-bottom:#C8102E 2px solid; Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (8) New York Rangers – Rangers win 4–2 Game Date Score Opponent Series Recap |- | 1 || May 6, 1995 || 5–4 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Rangers || Nordiques lead 1–0 || 1994030111 W |- | 2 || May 8, 1995 || 3–8 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Rangers || Series tied 1–1 || 1994030112 L |- | 3 || May 10, 1995 || 3–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Rangers || Rangers lead 2–1 || 1994030113 L |- | 4 || May 12, 1995 || 2–3 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Rangers || Rangers lead 3–1 || 1994030114 L |- | 5 || May 14, 1995 || 4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Rangers || Rangers lead 3–2 || 1994030115 W |- | 6 || May 16, 1995 || 2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Rangers || Rangers win 4–2 || 1994030116 L |- |- | Legend: #cfc Win 1px solid black W #fcc Loss 1px solid black L Player statistics Scoring Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; 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 Nordiques only. = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Nordiques only. No. Jersey number Player Pos Position Regular season Playoffs GP Games played G Goals A Assists Pts Points +/- Plus/minus PIM Penalties in minutes GP Games played G Goals A Assists Pts Points +/- Plus/minus PIM Penalties in minutes 19 Joe Sakic C 47 19 43 62 7 30 6 4 1 5 −4 0 21 Peter Forsberg C 47 15 35 50 17 16 6 2 4 6 2 4 11 Owen Nolan RW 46 30 19 49 21 46 6 2 3 5 2 6 48 Scott Young ice hockey, born 1967 RW 48 18 21 39 9 14 6 3 3 6 3 2 9 Mike Ricci ice hockey C 48 15 21 36 5 40 6 1 3 4 4 8 17 Wendel Clark LW 37 12 18 30 −1 45 6 1 2 3 −6 6 13 Valeri Kamensky LW 40 10 20 30 3 22 2 1 0 1 0 0 28 Bob Bassen C 47 12 15 27 14 33 5 2 4 6 2 0 51 Andrei Kovalenko RW 45 14 10 24 −4 31 6 0 1 1 −3 2 4 Uwe Krupp D 44 6 17 23 14 20 5 0 2 2 −2 2 18 Adam Deadmarsh RW 48 9 8 17 16 56 6 0 1 1 −3 0 7 Curtis Leschyshyn D 44 2 13 15 29 20 3 0 1 1 −1 4 2 Sylvain Lefebvre D 48 2 11 13 13 17 6 0 2 2 5 2 47 Claude Lapointe C 29 4 8 12 5 41 5 0 0 0 −1 8 12 Chris Simon LW 29 3 9 12 14 106 6 1 1 2 −1 19 25 Martin Rucinsky Martin Ručinský LW 20 3 6 9 5 14 -1 — -1 — -1 — -1 — -99 — -1 — 6 Craig Wolanin D 40 3 6 9 12 40 6 1 1 2 5 4 52 Adam Foote D 35 0 7 7 17 52 6 0 1 1 −3 14 23 Paul MacDermid RW 14 3 1 4 3 22 3 0 0 0 0 2 15 Bill Huard LW 7 2 2 4 2 13 1 0 0 0 −1 0 5 Alexei Gusarov D 14 1 2 3 −1 6 -1 — -1 — -1 — -1 — -99 — -1 — 14 Dwayne Norris RW 13 1 2 3 1 2 -1 — -1 — -1 — -1 — -99 — -1 — 20 Rene Corbet René Corbet LW 8 0 3 3 3 2 2 0 1 1 1 0 29 Steven Finn ice hockey D 40 0 3 3 1 64 4 0 1 1 −4 2 35 Stephane Fiset Stéphane Fiset G 32 0 3 3 2 4 0 0 0 -98 0 22 Janne Laukkanen D 11 0 3 3 3 4 6 1 0 1 −2 2 31 Aaron Miller ice hockey D 9 0 3 3 2 6 -1 — -1 — -1 — -1 — -99 — -1 — 24 Jon Klemm D 4 1 0 1 3 2 -1 — -1 — -1 — -1 — -99 — -1 — 59 Dave Karpa D 2 0 0 0 −1 0 -1 — -1 — -1 — -1 — -99 — -1 — 1 Garth Snow G 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 -98 0 41 Jocelyn Thibault G 18 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 -98 0 Goaltending No. Jersey number Player Regular season Playoffs GP Games played W Wins L Losses T Ties SA Shots against GA Goals against GAA Goals against average SV% Save percentage SO Shutouts TOI Time on Ice GP Games played W Wins L Losses SA Shots against GA Goals against GAA Goals against average SV% Save percentage SO Shutouts TOI Time on Ice 35 Stephane Fiset 32 17 10 3 968 87 2.78 .910 2 1879 4 1 2 115 16 4.60 .861 0 209 41 Jocelyn Thibault 18 12 2 2 423 35 2.34 .917 1 898 3 1 2 76 8 3.24 .895 0 148 1 Garth Snow 2 1 1 0 63 11 5.54 .825 0 119 1 0 0 3 1 6.78 .667 0 9 Awards and records Awards TypeAward/honourRecipientRef League(annual) Calder Memorial Trophy Peter ForsbergCalder Memorial Trophy https://records.nhl.com/awards/trophies/calder-memorial-trophy records.nhl.com September 11, 2023 Jack Adams Award Marc CrawfordJack Adams Award https://records.nhl.com/awards/trophies/jack-adams-award records.nhl.com September 11, 2023 NHL All-Rookie Team Peter Forsberg (Forward)Postseason All-Star Teams https://records.nhl.com/awards/phwa-all-star-teams?season=19941995 records.nhl.com September 11, 2023 League(in-season) NHL Rookie of the Month Peter Forsberg (April)NHL Rookies of the Month https://www.hockey-reference.com/awards/rookiemonthly.html Hockey-Reference.com September 11, 2023 Team O'Keefe Cup Joe SakicQuebec Nordiques 1993-1994 Yearbook, p. 100 Milestones MilestonePlayerDateRef First game Adam Deadmarsh January 21, 19951994-95 NHL Debuts https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1995_debut.html Hockey-Reference.com October 5, 2024 Peter Forsberg Janne Laukkanen January 24, 1995 Transactions The Nordiques were involved in the following transactions during the 1994-95 season. Trades March 8, 1995To Anaheim Mighty DucksDave KarpaTo Quebec NordiquesConditional draft pick in 1997Norwood Robyn Ducks Trade for Youth, Kings' Reject https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-09-sp-40704-story.html Los Angeles Times September 5, 2023 March 9, 1995 March 23, 1995To Calgary FlamesEd WardTo Quebec NordiquesFrancois Groleau April 7, 1995To Ottawa SenatorsMika Stromberg 4th round pick in 1995 (Kevin Boyd)To Quebec NordiquesBill Huard Free agents Player New Team Niklas Andersson New York Islanders Len Esau Calgary Flames Draft picks Quebec's draft picks at the 1994 NHL entry draft in Hartford, Connecticut.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1994e.html 1994 NHL Entry Draft hockeydb.com Round Pick Player Nationality College/junior/club team 1 12 Wade Belak (RW) Saskatoon Blades (WHL) 1 22 Jeff Kealty (D) Catholic Memorial High School (USHS-MA) 2 35 Josef Marha (C) Dukla Jihlava (Czech Republic)361Sebastien Bety (D)Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) 3 72Chris Drury (C) Fairfield College Preparatory School (USHS-CT) 4 87Milan Hejduk (RW) HC Pardubice (Czech Republic)5113Tony Tuzzolino (RW)Michigan State University (CCHA)6139Nicholas Windsor (D)Cornwall Colts (COJHL)7165Calvin Elfring (D)Powell River Paper Kings (BCHL)8191Jay Bertsch (RW)Spokane Chiefs (WHL) 9 217Tim Thomas (G) University of Vermont (Hockey East)10243Chris Pittman (C)Kitchener Rangers (OHL)11285Steve Low (D)Sherbrooke Faucons (QMJHL)S 9 Reid Simonton (D) Union College (ECAC Hockey) Relocation to Denver, Colorado thumb|right|Had the Nordiques stayed in Quebec City instead of heading for Denver, this would have been the franchise's new logo starting in 1995–96. In the 1994–95 shortened season of 48 games, the Nordiques played well and finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference. The team faltered in the postseason and was eliminated in the first round by the defending Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers. The playoff loss proved to be Quebec's swan song in the NHL as the team's financial troubles increasingly took center stage, even in the face of renewed fan support over the previous three years. The league's Canadian teams (with the exception of Montreal, Toronto, and to a lesser extent, Vancouver) found it difficult to compete in a new age of rising player salaries without a salary cap. Aubut unsuccessfully petitioned for a bailout from the Government of Quebec. In May 1995, shortly after the Nordiques were eliminated from the playoffs, Aubut chose to sell the team to a group of investors in Denver, Colorado. The franchise was moved to Denver where it was renamed the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in their first season after the move, and added another in 2001, and a third in 2022. The Nordiques had planned to change their logo, colours, and uniforms for the 1995–96 season, and the new design had already appeared in the Canadian press. References Quebec Nordiques 1994-95 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000471995.html www.hockeydb.com September 5, 2023 1994-95 Quebec Nordiques Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/QUE/1995.html Hockey-Reference.com September 5, 2023 Quebec Nordiques season, 1994-95 Category:Quebec Nordiques seasons Que Category:1990s in Quebec City Category:1994 in sports in Quebec Category:1995 in sports in Quebec