1984–85 NHL season

The 1984–85 NHL season was the 68th season of the National Hockey League. The Edmonton Oilers won their second straight Stanley Cup by beating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to one in the final series.

League business

This was the first year since they began broadcasting that CBC was not the lone network broadcaster in Canada. While Molson continued to present Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights, rival brewery Carling O'Keefe began airing Friday night games on CTV. The two networks split the playoffs and finals.

Referee Andy Van Hellemond becomes the first on ice official in league history to wear a helmet. Soon, several officials would follow his lead and wear helmets before it became mandatory for all officials for the 2007-08 season.

Regular season

The Philadelphia Flyers had the best record in the NHL, a mere four points ahead of second place Edmonton Oilers. Flyers goaltender Pelle Lindbergh went on to become the first European to win the Vezina Trophy. Oilers' star Wayne Gretzky once again won the Art Ross Trophy by reaching the 200 plateau for the third time in four years. He also set a new record for assists in a season with 135 and won his sixth straight Hart Trophy. Mario Lemieux made his NHL debut by scoring 100 points and winning the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year. On October 26, 1984, Paul Coffey of the Edmonton Oilers would be the last defenceman in the 20th Century to score four goals in one game. It occurred in a game versus the Detroit Red Wings.^[1]

The last two players active in the 1960s, Butch Goring and Brad Park, retired after the playoffs. Goring was the last active, playing his last playoff game three days after Park's last game.

Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes. Teams qualifying for the playoffs shown in bold.

Prince of Wales Conference

Clarence Campbell Conference

Playoffs

The defending champion Edmonton Oilers returned to the Final, meeting the overall regular season champion Philadelphia Flyers. In the Final, Edmonton would lose the first game to the Flyers but would then take the next four to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

Final

Edmonton Oilers vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Edmonton Oilers win series 4–1.

Playoff bracket

^[3]

NHL awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Source: NHL.^[4]

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; W = Won; L = Lost; T = Tied; GA = Goals allowed; GAA = Goals allowed average; SO = Shutouts

^[5]

Milestones

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1984–85 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Gino Cavallini, Calgary Flames
• Joel Otto, Calgary Flames
• Ed Olczyk, Chicago Black Hawks
• Marc Bergevin, Chicago Black Hawks
• Gerard Gallant, Detroit Red Wings
• Esa Tikkanen*, Edmonton Oilers
• Steve Smith, Edmonton Oilers
• Kevin Dineen, Hartford Whalers
• Ray Ferraro, Hartford Whalers
• Sylvain Cote, Hartford Whalers
• Ulf Samuelsson, Hartford Whalers
• Garry Galley, Los Angeles Kings
• Patrick Roy, Montreal Canadiens
• Petr Svoboda, Montreal Canadiens
• Stephane Richer, Montreal Canadiens
• Greg Adams, New Jersey Devils
• Kirk Muller, New Jersey Devils
• Dave Gagner, New York Rangers
• Grant Ledyard, New York Rangers
• Kelly Miller, New York Rangers
• Tomas Sandstrom, New York Rangers
• Rick Tocchet, Philadelphia Flyers
• Doug Bodger, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Steve Thomas, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Todd Gill, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Al Iafrate, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Petri Skriko, Vancouver Canucks
• Kevin Hatcher, Washington Capitals
• Dave Ellett, Winnipeg Jets

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1984–85 (listed with their last team):

• Terry O'Reilly, Boston Bruins
• Butch Goring, Boston Bruins (Last player to have played in the 1960s.)
• Craig Ramsay, Buffalo Sabres
• Jerry Korab, Buffalo Sabres
• Jim Schoenfeld, Buffalo Sabres
• Real Cloutier, Buffalo Sabres
• Bob MacMillan, Chicago Black Hawks
• Brad Park, Detroit Red Wings
• Colin Campbell, Detroit Red Wings
• Darryl Sittler, Detroit Red Wings
• Ivan Boldirev, Detroit Red Wings
• Steve Shutt, Los Angeles Kings
• Anders Hedberg, New York Rangers
• Robbie Ftorek, New York Rangers
• Rick Kehoe, Pittsburgh Penguins
• John Garrett, Vancouver Canucks

Trading deadline

Trading deadline: March 12, 1985.^[6]

• March 12, 1985: Glen Cochrane traded from Philadelphia to Vancouver for future considerations.
• March 12, 1985: Dean Evason and Peter Sidorkiewicz traded from Washington to Hartford for David Jensen.
• March 12, 1985: Jim McGeough traded from Washington to Pittsburgh for Mark Taylor.
• March 12, 1985: Tiger Williams traded from Detroit to Los Angeles for future considerations.

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1984 NHL Entry Draft
• 37th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• NHL All-Rookie Team
• 1984 Canada Cup
• 1984 in sports
• 1985 in sports

References

• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2008). Total Stanley Cup 2008. NHL. 
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5. 
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9. 
• 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.. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1. 

Notes

1. ^ Hockey’s Book of Firsts, p.27, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225. 
3. ^ Diamond, pp. 34–45
4. ^ Dinger 2011, p. 152.
5. ^ DataBase Hockey
6. ^ NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out

External links

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com
• Oiler playoff highlights
• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2008). Total Stanley Cup 2008. NHL.