1990–91 Edmonton Oilers season

The 1990–91 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' 12th season in the NHL, and they were coming off of their 5th Stanley Cup in the last 7 seasons, after defeating the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals. The Oilers would finish the season with a 37–37–6 record for 80 points, their lowest point total since 1980–81, and Edmonton scored a franchise low 272 goals, however, the Oilers set a franchise record for fewest goals against, with 272. After a 2–11–2 start to the season, the Oilers rebounded and finished 3rd in the Smythe Division and continued their playoff streak of making the playoffs every year they've been in the NHL.

1990–91 Edmonton Oilers
Division3rd Smythe
Conference5th Campbell
1990–91 record37–37–6
Home record22–15–3
Road record15–22–3
Goals for272 (T-11th)
Goals against272 (12th)
Team information
General managerGlen Sather
CoachJohn Muckler
CaptainMark Messier
Alternate captainsKevin Lowe
Craig MacTavish
ArenaNorthlands Coliseum
Average attendance16,843 (96.2%)
Minor league affiliate(s)Cape Breton Oilers (AHL)
Knoxville Cherokees (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsPetr Klíma (40)
AssistsMark Messier (52)
PointsEsa Tikkanen (69)
Penalty minutesSteve Smith (193)
Plus/minusPetr Klíma (+24)
WinsBill Ranford (27)
Goals against averageBill Ranford (3.20)

Prior to the season, long time Oiler Jari Kurri left the team due to a contract dispute signing with Italian club Milano Devils, leaving a big hole on the team's top line. Injuries also hurt the Oilers, as Mark Messier missed 29 games due to injuries, and his 64 points was his lowest total since 1984–85. Messier also matched the lowest goal total of his career with 12, which matched his rookie season total back in 1979–80. Esa Tikkanen led the club in points with 69, while Petr Klíma scored a career high 40 goals to lead Edmonton in that department. Steve Smith would lead the Oilers defense with 54 points, and his 193 penalty minutes led the club.

In goal, Bill Ranford had a solid season, winning a team high 27 games and posting a 3.20 GAA. Grant Fuhr was suspended by the NHL for the season, but the suspension was lifted by the league after 59 games and his completion of a two-week rehab program,[1] finishing out the regular season with a solid 6–4–3 record and a 3.01 GAA.

The Oilers finished the regular season with the fewest short-handed goals allowed (4).[2]

Season standings

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Smythe Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Los Angeles Kings 80 46 24 10 340 254 102
Calgary Flames 80 46 26 8 344 263 100
Edmonton Oilers 80 37 37 6 272 272 80
Vancouver Canucks 80 28 43 9 243 315 65
Winnipeg Jets 80 26 43 11 260 288 63

[3]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Campbell Conference[4]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 p – Chicago Blackhawks NRS 80 49 23 8 284 211 106
2 St. Louis Blues NRS 80 47 22 11 310 250 105
3 Los Angeles Kings SMY 80 46 24 10 340 254 102
4 Calgary Flames SMY 80 46 26 8 344 263 100
5 Edmonton Oilers SMY 80 37 37 6 272 272 80
6 Detroit Red Wings NRS 80 34 38 8 273 298 76
7 Minnesota North Stars NRS 80 27 39 14 256 266 68
8 Vancouver Canucks SMY 80 28 43 9 243 315 65
9 Winnipeg Jets SMY 80 26 43 11 260 288 63
10 Toronto Maple Leafs NRS 80 23 46 11 241 318 57

Divisions: NRS – Norris, SMY – Smythe

bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy


Schedule and results

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1990–91 Game Log

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

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In the playoffs, the Oilers faced their Battle of Alberta rivals, the Calgary Flames, who finished with 20 more points than they did, were huge favourites to win the series. The series went the full 7 games, with the Oilers winning the series in OT at the Saddledome in Calgary to advance to the division finals. There, they met the Los Angeles Kings, who finished 22 points better than Edmonton, however, the Oilers overtime magic continued after dropping game one, as Edmonton won 2 games in a row in double OT to take the series lead. Edmonton won the series in 6 games, clinching the series in OT. Having defeated the top two teams of their division, the Oilers advanced to the Conference Finals, facing the even more surprising Minnesota North Stars, who finished the season 12 games under .500, yet defeated the Presidents' Trophy winning Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues, who finished 1 point behind Chicago, to make it to the 3rd round against Edmonton. The North Stars cinderella playoff run continued, as they defeated the Oilers in 5 games, ending Edmonton's chance for back-to-back Stanley Cups.

1991 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Season stats

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Scoring leaders

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Player GP G A Pts PIM
Esa Tikkanen 79 27 42 69 85
Petr Klíma 70 40 28 68 113
Mark Messier 53 12 52 64 34
Joe Murphy 80 27 35 62 35
Craig Simpson 75 30 27 57 66

Goaltending

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Player GP TOI W L T GA SO Save % GAA
Grant Fuhr 13 778 6 4 3 39 1 .897 3.01
Bill Ranford 60 3415 27 27 3 182 0 .893 3.20
Kari Takko 11 529 4 4 0 37 0 .867 4.20
Pokey Reddick 2 120 0 2 0 9 0 .847 4.50

Playoff stats

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Scoring leaders

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Player GP G A Pts PIM
Esa Tikkanen 18 12 8 20 24
Craig Simpson 18 5 11 16 12
Mark Messier 18 4 11 15 16
Petr Klíma 18 7 6 13 16
Glenn Anderson 18 6 7 13 41

Goaltending

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Player GP TOI W L GA SO Save % GAA
Grant Fuhr 17 1019 8 7 51 0 .895 3.00
Bill Ranford 3 135 1 2 8 0 .897 3.56

Awards and records

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Awards

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Milestones

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Regular Season
Player Milestone Reached
Jeff Beukeboom 200th NHL Game October 6, 1990
Anatoli Semenov 1st NHL Game
Mark Messier 800th NHL Game October 7, 1990
Anatoli Semenov 1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Assist
1st NHL Point
October 11, 1990
Esa Tikkanen 5th NHL Hat-trick October 14, 1990
Dave Brown 400th NHL Game October 16, 1990
Kelly Buchberger 500th NHL PIM October 19, 1990
Steve Smith 1st NHL Gordie Howe hat trick
900th NHL PIM
Craig MacTavish 400th NHL PIM October 24, 1990
Tomas Srsen 1st NHL Game October 31, 1990
David Haas 1st NHL Game November 6, 1990
David Haas 1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Point
November 8, 1990
Mark Messier 600th NHL Assist November 24, 1990
Craig Simpson 400th NHL Game December 5, 1990
Igor Vyazmikin 1st NHL Game December 12, 1990
Petr Klíma 300th NHL Point December 15, 1990
Igor Vyazmikin 1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Point
December 18, 1990
Chris Joseph 100th NHL PIM December 20, 1990
Mark Messier 1,100th NHL PIM
Craig MacTavish ??? NHL Hat-trick December 22, 1990
Geoff Smith 100th NHL Game December 23, 1990
Dave Brown 1,300th NHL PIM December 27, 1990
Steve Smith 1,000th NHL PIM
Kevin Lowe 1,000th NHL PIM December 30, 1990
Esa Tikkanen 600th NHL PIM January 4, 1991
Jeff Beukeboom 600th NHL PIM January 9, 1991
Steve Smith 200th NHL Point January 12, 1991
Glenn Anderson 400th NHL Goal January 13, 1991
Mark Messier 1,000th NHL Point
Esa Tikkanen 200th NHL Assist
Chris Joseph 100th NHL Game January 17, 1991
Petr Klíma 300th NHL PIM
400th NHL Game
January 25, 1991
Joe Murphy 200th NHL Game
Glenn Anderson 800th NHL Game January 30, 1991
Kelly Buchberger 600th NHL PIM
Adam Graves 1st NHL Gordie Howe hat trick
Petr Klíma ??? NHL Hat-trick
Martin Gélinas 100th NHL Game February 3, 1991
Petr Klíma ??? NHL Hat-trick February 5, 1991
Ken Linseman 800th NHL Point
Craig Simpson 500th NHL PIM February 6, 1991
Adam Graves 300th NHL PIM February 8, 1991
Geoff Smith 100th NHL PIM
Ken Linseman 1,700th NHL PIM February 11, 1991
Shaun Van Allen 1st NHL Game February 18, 1991
Dan Currie 1st NHL Game February 22, 1991
Kevin Lowe 900th NHL Game
Joe Murphy 100th NHL Point
Adam Graves 200th NHL Game February 24, 1991
Esa Tikkanen 400th NHL Game
Kelly Buchberger 200th NHL Game March 24, 1991
Charlie Huddy 500th NHL PIM March 28, 1991
Petr Klíma ??? NHL Hat-trick March 31, 1991
Playoffs
Player Milestone Reached
Mark Messier 150th NHL Game April 6, 1991
Craig Simpson 50th NHL Game
Glenn Anderson 150th NHL Game April 10, 1991
Jeff Beukeboom 1st NHL Assist
1st NHL Point
Kelly Buchberger 1st NHL Goal
Petr Klíma 50th NHL PIM April 12, 1991
Kevin Lowe 150th NHL Game
Grant Fuhr 100th NHL Game April 14, 1991
Charlie Huddy 100th NHL PIM
Esa Tikkanen 150th NHL PIM
Norm Maciver 1st NHL Assist
1st NHL Point
April 16, 1991
Anatoli Semenov 1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Point
Craig Simpson 50th NHL PIM
Esa Tikkanen 2nd NHL Hat-trick
Anatoli Semenov 1st NHL Assist April 20, 1991
Jeff Beukeboom 1st NHL Goal April 22, 1991
Mark Lamb 50th NHL Game April 24, 1991
Steve Smith 200th NHL PIM April 26, 1991
Glenn Anderson 100th NHL Assist April 28, 1991
Petr Klíma ??? NHL Hat-trick
??? NHL Natural Hat-trick
May 4, 1991
Glenn Anderson 300th NHL PIM May 8, 1991
Jeff Beukeboom 50th NHL PIM May 10, 1991
Dave Brown 200th NHL PIM

Transactions

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Trades

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October 22, 1990 To Boston Bruins
Vladimir Ruzicka
To Edmonton Oilers
Greg Hawgood
November 10, 1990 To New Jersey Devils
9th round pick in 1991
To Edmonton Oilers
Max Middendorf
November 22, 1990 To Minnesota North Stars
Bruce Bell
Future considerations
To Edmonton Oilers
Kari Takko
March 5, 1991 To Philadelphia Flyers
Kim Issel
To Edmonton Oilers
Brad Aitken

Players acquired

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Date Player Former team
July 1, 1990 (1990-07-01) Kevin McDonald Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL)
August 31, 1990 (1990-08-31) Ken Linseman Philadelphia Flyers

Players lost

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Date Player New team
July 16, 1990 (1990-07-16) Steve Graves Los Angeles Kings

Waivers

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Date Player Team
October 1, 1990 (1990-10-01) Randy Gregg to Vancouver Canucks

Draft picks

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Edmonton's draft picks at the 1990 NHL Entry Draft

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 17 Scott Allison   Canada Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
2 38 Alexander Legault   Canada Boston University (NCAA)
3 59 Joe Crowley   United States Lawrence Academy (USHS)
4 67 Joel Blain   Canada Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)
5 101 Greg Louder   United States Cushing Academy (USHS)
6 122 Keijo Säilynoja   Finland Jokerit (SM-liiga)
7 143 Mike Power   Canada Western Michigan University (NCAA)
8 164 Roman Mejzlik   Czechoslovakia Dukla Jihlava (Czech.)
9 185 Richard Žemlička   Czechoslovakia Sparta Praha (Czech.)
10 206 Petr Korinek   Czechoslovakia Dukla Jihlava (Czech.)
12 248 Sami Nuutinen   Finland Kiekko-Espoo (SM-liiga)
S 22 Sandy Galuppo   United States Boston College (Hockey East)

References

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  • National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007