2014–15 NHL season


The 2014–15 NHL season was the 98th season of operation of the National Hockey League.
The Los Angeles Kings became the first team to miss the playoffs after winning the Stanley Cup the previous season since the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006-07. The Boston Bruins also became the third defending Presidents' Trophy winner to miss the playoffs. The Winnipeg Jets clinched a playoff berth for the first time since the team's relocation from Atlanta in 2011. The San Jose Sharks' playoff streak ended at ten years. The Ottawa Senators also became the first team in NHL history to make the postseason after trailing for the final playoff spot by 14 points.

League business

Canadian television rights

The 2014–15 season brought a significant realignment for NHL broadcast rights in Canada, as it marked the first year of Rogers Communications' 12-year, $5.2 billion contract for exclusive national television and digital media rights to the league. The networks of Sportsnet replaced TSN as the English-language cable broadcasters of the league. National French-language rights were sub-licensed by Rogers to Quebecor Media, with TVA Sports replacing RDS as the national French-language television broadcaster of the NHL in Canada.
CBC Television, the previous over-the-air television broadcaster of the NHL, continues to participate in coverage to an extent: Rogers reached a deal with CBC to license the Hockey Night in Canada brand and maintain the network's traditional Saturday night games, along with postseason coverage and exclusive coverage of the Stanley Cup Final. HNIC began to air across CBC, City, the Sportsnet networks, and FX Canada. As part of the arrangement, CBC did not pay a rights fee to either Rogers or the NHL, but all the telecasts are brokered and produced by Sportsnet. CBC is allotted advertising time during the games to promote its own programming, but Rogers receives all ad revenue from the telecasts. City also introduced a new primetime game of the week on Sunday nights, known as Rogers Hometown Hockey, which was hosted on-location from various cities by Ron MacLean. Similarly to TSN under the previous contract, Sportsnet also has a flagship, national Wednesday night game.
With the loss of national cable rights, TSN expanded its regional coverage of the NHL using its new TSN3, TSN4 and TSN5 channels. The three channels broadcast regional Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Ottawa Senators games respectively. Regional rights to the Toronto Maple Leafs were split between TSN4 and Sportsnet Ontario beginning this season, with TSN4 airing 26 of these games. TSN5 began airing regional Senators games as part of a new 12-year deal between the team and TSN's parent company Bell Media, replacing Sportsnet East. The Senators were replaced on Sportsnet East by the Montreal Canadiens under a new three-year deal with Rogers.
TVA Sports' national French-language coverage consisted of themed games on selected nights of the week; its flagship telecasts, La super soirée LNH, primarily aired the Montreal Canadiens' Saturday night games, along with the All-Star Game, Winter Classic, and Stanley Cup playoffs. RDS continued its long-standing relationship with the Montreal Canadiens for French-language television coverage under a new, 12-year regional contract. As such, French-language broadcasts of the Canadiens on RDS are now blacked out for viewers outside of the team's home market of Quebec and eastern Canada.

Agreement with GoPro

Midway through the season, the league signed an agreement with GoPro to use the company's wearable cameras to record content for the league's television broadcasts and other video productions. They were first used by players in the All-Star Game.

Changes to the Draft Lottery

The NHL Board of Governors approved changes to the draft lottery format on June 24, 2014, starting with the 2015 Draft. Beginning in 2015, the odds of winning the first overall pick will be adjusted down for the first four lowest point-gaining teams, and adjusted up for the following ten. The change was made in order to "reflect the current state of competitive balance in the League." In 2016, the Draft Lottery will be used to choose the first three overall picks, not just the first.

Rule changes

The following rule changes were voted upon by the NHL Board of Governors in June, and were approved by the Players' Association in September 2014.
At the league's General Managers Meeting in November, it was decided to immediately end the dry-scrape prior to overtime, as it was felt that the average time of five minutes was too long and it seemed to have no significant difference. The GMs also voted to allow officials in the Situation Room to buzz the arena to have play immediately stopped for a video review without waiting for a whistle.

Uniforms

The regular season began on October 8, 2014, and ended on April 11, 2015. Both the first Saturday and the last day of the regular season featured 15 games.

Coaching changes

Winter Classic

The 2015 NHL Winter Classic, the annual regular season outdoor game was held on January 1 at Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.. The game, the seventh Winter Classic, featured the Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals.

Stadium Series

Only one regular season outdoor game in the NHL Stadium Series was scheduled this season: The San Jose Sharks hosted the Los Angeles Kings on February 21 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

All-Star Game

The 60th National Hockey League All-Star Game was an exhibition ice hockey game played on January 25, 2015. The game was held in Columbus, Ohio, at Nationwide Arena, home of the Columbus Blue Jackets. This was Columbus's first time hosting the NHL All-Star Game.
This was originally scheduled to take place on January 27, 2013, in Columbus, Ohio. It was canceled as a result of the ongoing 2012–13 NHL lockout. There was no all-star game last season due to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Postponed games

The Toronto Maple Leafs–Ottawa Senators game originally scheduled for October 22 was postponed due to the 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa. The game was rescheduled for November 9.
The New York Rangers–Buffalo Sabres game originally scheduled for November 21 was postponed due to the winter weather-related difficulties in the area. The game was rescheduled for February 20, 2015, displacing a Sabres home game with the Senators that was originally scheduled for the same day. That game was moved to December 15, 2014, as a result of the rescheduling of the Rangers–Sabres game.

League-wide mumps outbreak

The 2014–15 NHL season saw an unprecedented outbreak of mumps at the beginning of the season among many players on multiple different teams. Infected players included Corey Perry and Francois Beauchemin of the Anaheim Ducks, Derick Brassard and two other players on the New York Rangers, Sidney Crosby and four other players on the Pittsburgh Penguins, four players on the New Jersey Devils and five players on the Minnesota Wild. The league, teams and players then implemented several sanitary procedures, and the last reported mumps case occurred on January 11.

Standings

Tie Breakers:
1. Fewer number of games played.
2. Greater Regulation + OT Wins
3. Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play.
4. Greater Goal differential

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in regular season points at the conclusion of games played on April 11, 2015.
PlayerTeam
Dallas Stars82355287+164
New York Islanders82384886+546
Pittsburgh Penguins77285684+547
Washington Capitals81532881+1058
Philadelphia Flyers82225981+178
Washington Capitals82186078+540
Dallas Stars71374077−120
Calgary Flames78314576+1714
Vancouver Canucks82205676+518
St. Louis Blues77373673+2731

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in regular season goals against average at the conclusion of games played on April 11, 2015, while playing at least 1800 minutes.
PlayerTeam
Montreal Canadiens66441661309.9331.96
Arizona/Minnesota58361441156.9292.07
Nashville Predators64411761404.9232.18
New York Rangers342194775.9262.21
Washington Capitals734120101579.9232.22
Los Angeles Kings723622131566.9182.24
New York Rangers46301331035.9222.25
Philadelphia Flyers511818111083.9282.25
New Jersey Devils69263191485.9252.26
St. Louis Blues4626143965.9172.26

Playoffs

Bracket

NHL awards

Awards were presented at the NHL Awards ceremony, to be held following the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs. Finalists for voted awards are announced during the playoffs and winners are presented at the award ceremony. Voting will conclude immediately after the end of the regular season. The Presidents' Trophy, the Prince of Wales Trophy and Clarence S. Campbell Bowl are not presented at the awards ceremony. The Lester Patrick Trophy is announced during the summer and presented in the fall.
AwardRecipientRunner-up/Finalists
Stanley CupChicago BlackhawksTampa Bay Lightning
Presidents' Trophy
New York RangersMontreal Canadiens
Prince of Wales Trophy
Tampa Bay LightningNew York Rangers
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl
Chicago BlackhawksAnaheim Ducks
Art Ross Trophy
Jamie Benn John Tavares
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
Devan Dubnyk Devan Dubnyk
Andrew Hammond
Kris Letang
Calder Memorial Trophy
Aaron Ekblad Aaron Ekblad
Johnny Gaudreau
Mark Stone
Conn Smythe Trophy
Duncan Keith N/A
Frank J. Selke Trophy
Patrice Bergeron Patrice Bergeron
Anze Kopitar
Jonathan Toews
Hart Memorial Trophy
Carey Price Alexander Ovechkin
Carey Price
John Tavares
Jack Adams Award
Bob Hartley Bob Hartley
Peter Laviolette
Alain Vigneault
James Norris Memorial Trophy
Erik Karlsson Drew Doughty
Erik Karlsson
P. K. Subban
King Clancy Memorial Trophy
Henrik Zetterberg
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
Jiri Hudler Pavel Datsyuk
Jiri Hudler
Anze Kopitar
Ted Lindsay Award
Carey Price Jamie Benn
Alexander Ovechkin
Carey Price
Mark Messier Leadership Award
Jonathan Toews Ryan Getzlaf
Andrew Ladd
Jonathan Toews
Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy
Alexander Ovechkin Steven Stamkos
NHL Foundation Player Award
Brent Burns Brent Burns
Mark Giordano
Henrik Lundqvist
NHL General Manager of the Year Award
Steve Yzerman Bob Murray
Glen Sather
Steve Yzerman
Vezina Trophy
Carey Price Devan Dubnyk
Carey Price
Pekka Rinne
William M. Jennings Trophy
Carey Price and Corey Crawford Henrik Lundqvist and Cam Talbot
Lester Patrick Trophy
Jeremy Jacobs and Bob Crocker N/A

All-Star teams

Milestones

First games

The following is a list of notable players who played their first NHL game during the 2014–15 season, listed with their first team:
PlayerTeamNotability
Aaron EkbladFlorida PanthersFirst overall pick in the 2014 Draft, Calder Trophy winner.

Last games

The following is a list of players of note who played their last NHL game in 2014–15, listed with their team:
PlayerTeamNotability
Eric BrewerToronto Maple LeafsOver 1000 games played.
Daniel BriereColorado AvalancheOver 1000 games played.
Martin BrodeurSt. Louis Blues5-time William M. Jennings Trophy winner, 4-time Vezina Trophy winner, Calder Memorial Trophy winner, over 1400 games played.
Ray EmeryPhiladelphia FlyersWilliam M. Jennings Trophy winner.
Sergei GoncharMontreal Canadiens2-time NHL All-Star, over 1300 games played.
Dany HeatleyAnaheim DucksCalder Memorial Trophy winner, 1-time NHL All-Star.
Olli JokinenSt. Louis BluesOver 1200 games played.
Evgeni NabokovSan Jose SharksCalder Memorial Trophy winner, 1-time NHL All-Star, over 300 career NHL wins.
Chris PhillipsOttawa SenatorsOver 1100 games played.
Robyn RegehrLos Angeles KingsOver 1000 games played.
Martin St. LouisNew York RangersHart Memorial Trophy winner, 3-Time Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner, 2-time Art Ross Trophy winner, Lester B. Pearson Award winner, 5-time NHL All-Star, over 1100 games played.
Kimmo TimonenChicago BlackhawksOver 1000 games played.
Lubomir VisnovskyNew York IslandersNHL Second All-Star Team
Stephen WeissFlorida Panthers → Detroit Red WingsHold Florida Panthers record for games played and assists

Major milestones reached