1994–95 New Jersey Devils season

New Jersey Devils

Company type	Professional ice hockey team
Industry	Sports
Founded	1974
Headquarters	Newark , United States
Area served	National Hockey League (NHL)
Key people	Martin Brodeur (goaltender), Claude Lemieux (Conn Smythe Trophy winner)
Products	Ice hockey team
Number of employees	N/A
Parent	National Hockey League

The 1994–95 New Jersey Devils campaign represented the 21st season for the franchise since its inception in 1974 and the 13th since its relocation from Colorado prior to the 1982–83 NHL season. Although the regular season was shortened to 48 games due to the 1994–95 NHL lockout, the Devils achieved a historic milestone by capturing their inaugural Stanley Cup.

Securing the second seed in the Atlantic Division and ranking fifth in the Eastern Conference entering the 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs, New Jersey notably swept the favored Detroit Red Wings during the Stanley Cup Finals.

Preseason

Before NHL players were locked out between October 1, 1994, and January 11, 1995, the Devils completed their preseason with a record of 5 wins, 2 losses, and 2 ties.

Regular season

The Devils distinguished themselves as the most disciplined team in the league, allowing only 22 power-play goals on 164 opportunities against. They were shorthanded just 149 times, which was the fewest among all NHL teams that season.

Preseason

|- | 1 || September 11 || New Jersey || 5–4 || Philadelphia || || || || 1–0–0 || W |- | 2 || September 12 || New Jersey || 1–3 || Pittsburgh || || || || 1–1–0 || L |- | 3 || September 15 || New Jersey || 3–2 || Boston || || || || 2–1–0 || W |- | 4 || September 16 || New Jersey || 3–4 || N.Y. Rangers || || || || 2–2–0 || L |- | 5 || September 20 || New Jersey || 4–1 || N.Y. Islanders || || || || 3–2–0 || W |- | 6 || September 21 || Philadelphia || 1–4 || New Jersey || || || || 4–2–0 || W |- | 7 || September 23 || N.Y. Islanders||1–4||New Jersey||||||||5–2–0||W |- | 8 || September 25||New Jersey||3–3||Hartford||OT||||||5–1–0||T |- |9||September27||N.Y. Rangers||2-2||New Jersey||OT||||||5-2-2||T |- | colspan="11" style="text-align:center;"| Notes:
Game held at Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, New York. |-

|- | Legend:

Regular season

|- |1||January22||New Jersey||2–2||Hartford||OT||Martin Brodeur||12,054||0–0–1||1|| |- |2||January25||New Jersey||1–2||Buffalo||||Martin Brodeur||16,232||0–1–1||1|| |- |3||January26||New Jersey||0-1||Boston||OT||Chris Terreri||13,842||0-2-1||1|| |- |4||January28||New Jersey||1-5||Montreal|||Martin Brodeur|||16,354|||0-3-1|||1|| |- |5||January31|||[[1994-95 Buffalo Sabres season]|Buffalo]]|||1-2|||New Jersey|||Martin Brodeur|||16,311|||1-3-1|||3|| |}

|-

|6 |February02 |[[1994-95 Quebec Nordiques season]|Quebec] |4-5 |New Jersey | |Martin Brodeur |12,096 |2-3-1 |5 |
|-  
|7 |February04 |New Jersey |0-2 |[[1994-95 Quebec Nordiques season]|Quebec] | |Chris Terreri |13,220 |2-4-1 |5 |
|-  
|8 |February05 |[[1994-95 Pittsburgh Penguins season]|Pittsburgh] |3-3 |New Jersey |OT |Martin Brodeur |15,280 |2-4-2 |6 |
|-  
|9 |February09 |[[1994-95 New York Rangers season]|N.Y. Rangers] |1-4 |New Jersey | |Martin Brodeur |19,040 |3-4-2 |8 |
|-  
|10 |February11  [[1994-95 Philadelphia Flyers season]|Philadelphia]  3-1  New Jersey  -|  Chris Terreri  19,040  3-5-2  8 |
|-  

...

Playoff Series

1	May 7	New Jersey	5–0	Boston		Brodeur	14,448	Devils lead series 1–0
2	May 8	New Jersey	3–0	Boston		Brodeur	14,448	Devils lead series 2–0
3	May 10	Boston	3–2	New Jersey		Brodeur	16,523	Devils lead series 2–1
4	May 12	Boston	0–1	New Jersey	OT	Brodeur	19,040	Devils lead series 3–1
5	May 14	New Jersey	3–2	Boston		Brodeur	14,448	Devils win series 4–1

1	May 20	New Jersey	2–3	Pittsburgh		Brodeur	16,643	Penguins lead series 1–0
2	May 22	New Jersey	4–2	Pittsburgh		Brodeur	16,817	Series tied 1–1
3	May24	Pittsburgh	1–5	New Jersey		Brodeur	18,139	Devils lead series 2–1
4	May26	Pittsburgh	1–2	New Jersey	OT	Brodeur	19,040	Devils lead series 3–1
5	May28	New Jersey	4–1	Pittsburgh		Brodeur	17,187	Devils win series 4–1

1	June3	New Jersey	4–1	Philadelphia		Brodeur	17,380	Devils lead series 1–0
2	June5	New Jersey	5–2	Philadelphia		Brodeur	17,380	Devils lead series 2–0
3	June7	Philadelphia	3–2	New Jersey	OT	Brodeur	19,040	Devils lead series 2–1
4	June10	Philadelphia	4–2	New Jersey		Brodeur	19,040	Series tied 2–2
5	June11	New Jersey	3–2	Philadelphia	Brodeur	17,380	Devils lead series 3–2
6	June13	Philadelphia	2–4	New Jersey	Brodeur	19,040	Devils win series 4–2

1	June17	New Jersey	2–1	Detroit	Brodeur	19,875	Devils lead series 1–0
2	June20	New Jersey	4–2	Detroit	Brodeur	19,875	Devils lead series 2–0
3	June22	Detroit	2–5	New Jersey	Brodeur	19,040	Devils lead series 3–0
4	June24	Detroit	2-5	New Jersey	Brodeur	19,040	Devils win series 4-0

Legend:

Offensive Statistics

• Position keys: C = Center; D = Defenceman; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Acquired by the team through a transaction during the season. Stats represent only time with the Devils.
• Template:Double-dagger = Departed the team during the season via transaction. Stats reflect only tenure with the Devils.

22 | Claude Lemieux | LW |45 |6 |13 |19 |2 |86 |20 |13 |3 |16 |12 |20 27 | Scott Niedermayer | D |48 |4 |15 |19 |19 |18 |20 |4 |7 |11 |11 |10 17 | Tom Chorske | LW |42 |10 |8 |-18 |-4 |-16 |-17 |-1 |-5 |-6 |-2 |-4 14 | Brian Rolston | C |40 |7 |-11 |-18 |-5 |-17 |-6 |-2 |-1 |-3 |-6 |-4

No.	Player	Pos.	Regular Season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
44		Stephane Richer		RW		45		23		16		39		8		10		19		6		15		21		9		2
15		John MacLean		RW		46		17		12		29		13		32		20		5		13		18		8		14
9†		Neal Broten		C		30		8		20		28		9		20		20		7		12		19		13		6
12		Bill Guerin		RW		48		12		13		25		6		72		20		3		8		11		6		30
4		Scott Stevens		D		48		2		20		22		4		56		20		1		7		8		10		24
16		Bobby Holik		C		48		10		10		20		9		18		20'' '4'' '4'' '8'' '7'' '22

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season											Playoffs
		GP	GS	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	GS	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
30	Martin Brodeur	40	39	19	11	6	908	89	2.44	.902	3	2,184:25	20	20	16	4	463	34	1.67	.927	3	1,221:58
31	Chris Terreri	15	9	3	7	2	309	31	2.53	.900	0	734:00	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00	1.000	0	7:45

Awards

Category	Award/Honor	Recipient
League (annual)	Conn Smythe Trophy	Claude Lemieux
League (in-season)	NHL Player of the Week	Martin Brodeur (April 3–9)
Team	Devils' Players' Player	Chris Terreri
	Hugh Delano Unsung Hero	Tommy Albelin
	Most Valuable Devil	Stephane Richer
	Three-Star Award	Stephane Richer

Milestones

Achievement	Player	Date
Debut game	Chris McAlpine	February 2, 1995
	Brian Rolston	February 5, 1995
	Sergei Brylin	February 17, 1995
	Kevin Dean	February 27, 1995
Assist number 600	Neal Broten	April 4, 1995
Game number 1,000 played	Neal Broten	April 28, 1995

Transactions

Throughout the course of the 1994–95 campaign, the Devils completed a series of significant roster moves.

Trades

'Date'	'Transaction details'
June 29, 1994	To Calgary Flames: third-round pick in the 1994 draft (#77 overall), Vancouver’s pick (#91 overall), Ottawa’s fifth-round pick (#107 overall)	To New Jersey Devils: third-round pick in the 1994 draft (#71 overall)
January 30, 1995	To Chicago Blackhawks: Dean Malkoc	To New Jersey Devils: Rob Conn
February 27, 1995	To Dallas Stars: Corey Millen	To New Jersey Devils: Neal Broten
March 14, 1995	To Tampa Bay Lightning: Ben Hankinson, Alexander Semak	To New Jersey Devils: Shawn Chambers, Danton Cole
April 3, 1995	To Detroit Red Wings: Viacheslav Fetisov	To New Jersey Devils: third-round pick in the 1995 draft (#78 overall)

Free agents

Date	Player	Team
July 10, 1994	Bryan Helmer
August 26, 1994	Jason Miller	joined Detroit Red Wings
January 26, 1995	Kent Nilsson	signed by Edmonton Oilers

Draft picks

The following list details the New Jersey Devils' selections during the 1994 NHL entry draft, which took place on June 28–29, 1994.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	Position	College/Junior/Club team (League)	Remarks
1	25	Vadim Sharifijanov	Russia	Left Wing	Salavat Yulaev Ufa (RSL)
2	51	Patrik Elias	Czech Republic	Left Wing	HC Kladno (Czech Extraliga)
3	71	Sheldon Souray	Canada	Defenseman	Tri-City Americans (WHL)	(acquired from Calgary)
4	103	Zdenek Skorepa	Czech Republic	Left Wing	HC Litvínov (Czech Extraliga)
5	129	Christian Gosselin	Canada	Defenseman	Saint-Hyacinthe Laser (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League)
6	134	Ryan Smart	United States	Forward	Meadville High School (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association)	(from Winnipeg)
6	155	Luciano Caravaggio	Canada	Goaltender	Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey (Western Collegiate Hockey Association)
7	181	Jeff Williams	Canada	Left Wing	Guelph Storm (Ontario Hockey League)
8	207	Eric Bertrand	Canada	Left Wing	Granby Bisons (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League)
9	233	Steve Sullivan	Canada	'Center'	'Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (Ontario Hockey League)'
'10'	'259'	'Scott Swanjord'	'United States'	'Goaltender'	'Waterloo Black Hawks (United States Hockey League)'
'11'	'269'	'Mike Hanson'	'United States'	'Center'	'minot High School (North Dakota High School Activities Association)'	'(from Quebec)'

Media

Broadcasting of games was handled by SportsChannel New York and SportsChannel America, featuring play-by-play commentary from Mike Emrick and Spencer Ross, with analysis provided by Peter McNab. Radio coverage was transmitted via WABC–AM 770, where Mike Miller delivered play-by-play and color commentary was offered by Sherry Ross.