This season marked the first time that all three New York City area NHL teams, including the New Jersey Devils, made the playoffs in the same season, a feat which has since been repeated thrice more: in the 1993–94, the 2006–07, and the 2022–23 seasons.
Until 2017, this was last time the Detroit Red Wings missed the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Sam St. Laurent of the Red Wings became the last goalie to wear a full fiberglass mask during an NHL game.
Final standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
In the division semifinals, the fourth seeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. The two winning teams from each division's semifinals then met in the division finals. The two division winners of each conference then played in the conference finals. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.
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). Home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record, and played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary); the other team then played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary).
The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Boston Bruins in the Final series, four games to one. For the Oilers, it was their fifth Cup win in seven years, and their only one without Wayne Gretzky (in fact, they defeated Gretzky's Kings in the second round). In game one, Petr Klima scored at 15:13 of the third overtime period to give the Oilers a 3–2 win. As of 2020[update], this game remains the longest in Stanley Cup Finals history (Longest NHL overtime games), edging both Brett Hull's cup-winner in 1999 and Igor Larionov's game-winner in 2002 by less than 30 seconds. In game five at the Boston Garden on May 24, the Oilers won 4–1. Craig Simpson scored the game-winning goal.
This season would be the last the Toronto Maple Leafs would play under the 29 year ownership of Harold Ballard as a result of his death in April 1990 and the subsequent sale of the franchise.
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1989–90 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
This was the second season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals with TSN and Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. Saturday night regular season games continued to air on CBC, while TSN televised selected weeknight games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series.
This was also the second season of the league's U.S. national broadcast rights deal SportsChannel America, with up to three regular season games a week and coverage of the playoffs. Meanwhile, NBC agreed to televise the All-Star Game, reportedly wanting to test the appeal of hockey.[5]
Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN0-7710-4179-9.
Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc. ISBN0-7853-9624-1.
Notes
^ abcdDinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN9781894801225.