With the addition of the expansion Nashville Predators, the NHL realigned this year to a strictly geographic six-division structure (three per conference), erasing the last vestiges of the traditional four-division structure (Adams/Patrick/Norris/Smythe) abandoned in 1993–94. Other than the necessary reassignment of Colorado to the Western Conference in 1995 due to its two-thousand mile (over 3,200 km) move west from Quebec, the divisions' membership had remained static for five years although several franchises had relocated. As part of this realignment, the Toronto Maple Leafs moved from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference. This put three of the Original Six teams in the Northeast Division (Boston, Montreal and Toronto), and the three original cities of the NHL in the Northeast (Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto).
In an effort to reduce the number of disallowed goals due to the skate-in-the-crease violation, the goal crease size was significantly reduced. In spite of this, goaltenders and defensive systems continued to dominate the league, as only two teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils,[2] averaged more than three goals scored per game. In addition, no player reached the 50-goal plateau.[3] A total of 160 shutouts were recorded for the second-straight regular season.[4]
The teams split the first two games, held in Dallas, then split the following two games in Buffalo. In the fifth game, Dallas shut out Buffalo to put the Sabres on the brink of elimination. Game six was held in Buffalo and it went to triple-overtime before being decided on a controversial goal scored by Brett Hull while he was in the goal crease.[1]Joe Nieuwendyk of Dallas was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player.
During the first three rounds home ice is determined by seeding number, not position on the bracket. In the Finals the team with the better regular season record has home ice.
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1998–99 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
March 23, 1999: Detroit traded G Kevin Hodson and San Jose’s second-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft (previously acquired) to Tampa Bay for LW Wendel Clark and Detroit’s sixth-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft (previously acquired).
March 23, 1999: Washington traded C Dale Hunter and a third-round pick in the 2000 Entry Draft to Colorado for a second-round pick in the 1999 or 2000 Entry Draft.
March 23, 1999: Florida traded D Rhett Warrener and a fifth-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft to Buffalo for D Mike Wilson.
March 23, 1999: Calgary traded RW Greg Pankewicz to San Jose for future considerations.
March 23, 1999: Los Angeles traded C Yanic Perreault to Toronto for C Jason Podollan and a third-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft.
March 23, 1999: Montreal traded C Vincent Damphousse to San Jose for a fifth-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft and a conditional draft pick or picks in the 2000 Entry Draft.
March 23, 1999: Vancouver traded C Peter Zezel to Anaheim for future considerations.
March 23, 1999: Los Angeles traded D Steve Duchesne to Philadelphia for D Dave Babych and a fifth-round pick in the 2000 Entry Draft.
March 23, 1999: NY Rangers trade D Stan Neckar to Phoenix for D Jason Doig and a sixth-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft.
March 23, 1999: NY Rangers trade D Ulf Samuelsson to Detroit for a second-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft and a third-round pick in the 2000 Entry Draft.
March 23, 1999: Toronto traded D Jason Smith to Edmonton for a fourth-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft and a second-round pick in the 2000 Entry Draft.
March 23, 1999: Buffalo traded C Derek Plante to Dallas for a second-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft.
March 23, 1999: Washington traded LW Craig Berube to Philadelphia for future considerations.
March 23, 1999: Tampa Bay traded D Sami Helenius to Colorado for a conditional draft pick.
March 23, 1999: Phoenix traded C Jean-Francois Jomphe to Montreal for future considerations.
March 23, 1999: Chicago traded RW Nelson Emerson to Ottawa for RW Chris Murray.
Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
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.