2005–06 NHL season

File:05 NHL Shield.gif

The modernized NHL shield logo

The 2005-06 NHL season is the 88th season (originally the 89th season) of the National Hockey League. This is the season after the 2004-05 season which was cancelled due to a labour dispute with the NHL Players Association over the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the league and its players.

On July 13, 2005, the NHL and NHLPA jointly announced that they had tentatively agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement which would allow the resumption of hockey for the 2005-06 season. The agreement was voted on July 21 by NHLPA members, and approved by a nearly 7-to-1 margin. The following day, the NHL's board of governors (owners) voted unanimously to approve the new agreement.

A new logo for the NHL was also unveiled, with "NHL" printed in upward-reading letters to project a vibrant, optimistic image, and having silver as the dominant colour to pay homage to the Stanley Cup. [1] American Television will also have a new look. OLN (formerly Outdoor Life Network) will take over broadcasting rights after ESPN decided not to renew their rights on cable television. The network, owned by Comcast, will have Monday and Tuesday night games during the regular season under an exclusivetivity clause prohibiting local telecasts those nights in the two participating teams' markets. NBC returns as the NHL's over-the-air partner after ABC parted ways following the 2003-04 season. They will carry select games on a regional basis starting in January. Comcast high-speed cable internet customers can watch at least 5 games a week over the internet as part of the new TV deal. The very first goal of the season was scored by J.P. Dumount of the Buffalo Sabres against the New York Islanders.

Rule changes

A number of new rules were introduced for the 2005-06 season:

• In case of a tie game after overtime, there is a shoot out with three shots per team, and if it is still tied, the shootout becomes sudden death. In preseason games (regardless of the outcome) shootouts were held. This rule will only be in effect for regular-season games.
• Playoff games will continue with twenty-minute periods until a sudden-death goal is scored.
• Two-line passes are now legal, meaning a plyer can now pass from inside their blue line to a player on their team on the opponents side of the red line.
• The Offside rule has now been changed back (up until 1995 it was this way) to tag-up offside. Under the old rules, a plyer could not be in the attacking zone before the puck. Now, if the puck leaves the attacking zone, a player can shoot it back in before all his team mates are out of the zone. The only exception to this rule is if the player shooting the puck into the zone directs it towards a player on his team still in the zone.
• The size of goaltender equipment was decreased by about 11%. In addition, the only area behind the goal line where a goalie can play the puck is in a new trapezoid-shaped zone directly behind the net.
• The goalie may still play the puck forward of the goal line in the same manner as before.
• The neutral zone becomes smaller by four feet (1.2 m), while the goal line was moved two feet (0.6 m) closer to the boards.
• If a team ices the puck, they are not allowed to make a line change afterwards.
• Linesmen are given more discretion when it comes to waving off icing calls when they are accidentally made as the result of a failed pass attempt.
• Players who instigate a fight in the last five minutes of a game will be given a game misconduct penalty plus one-game suspension and the player's coach will be fined $10,000 (US).
• All referees are equipped with wireless microphones so they can now announce penalties over the public address system.
• With multiple penalties, only the first will be announced by the referee calling the penalty, with the others being announced by the arena's PA announcer.

In the minds of the NHL front office, the purpose of these new rule changes are to create a more exciting game and will create more scoring opportunities, and therefore more goals.

Regular season

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This logo appeared on all teams sweaters for their first game and the jerseys were auctioned off to benefit of the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The NHL season began on October 5, and for the first time in the league's history, all of the league's thirty teams played a game on opening night. In the first period of each game, all teams wore a jersey (or "sweater") with a special patch as the league and players association auctioned off those jerseys for the benefit of the Red Cross in both the USA and Canada earmarking the proceeds for Hurricane Katrina victims. On opening night of this season, Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley, of the Ottawa Senators became the first players to score the winning goals for a shoot out in NHL History, they both scored against the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ed Belfour. Their sticks were subsequently sent to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The All-Star Game, which would have been in Phoenix this year, will not take place (they will get the 2009 event as a replacement); the league will instead take a break in February so that its players can participate in the 2006 Winter Olympics. The new schedule will feature more intra-division games in order to promote division rivalries. Consequently, there will be whole divisions in the opposite conference that teams will never play in the season. Hurricane Wilma had forced the NHL (among other major league sports) to reschedule some games. The Ottawa Senators-Florida Panthers game scheduled on the weekend of October 22-23 was rescheduled to December 5, while the Panthers' game against the Washington Capitals that was scheduled for October 29 was postponed to a later date.

Standings

Last updated: November 22, 2005 at 4:43 PM EST

Shaded denotes top eight teams in each conference (playoff spots)

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
File:NewYorkRangers 100.png New York Rangers	23	13	7	3	74	58	29
File:PhiladelphiaFlyers 100.png Philadelphia Flyers	19	12	4	3	83	67	27
File:NewYorkIslanders 100.png New York Islanders	21	11	10	0	67	72	22
File:NewJerseyDevils 100.png New Jersey Devils	20	9	9	2	61	72	20
File:PittsburghPenguins 100.png Pittsburgh Penguins	21	6	9	6	63	89	18

Northeast Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
File:OttawaSenators 100.png Ottawa Senators	18	15	3	0	85	38	30
File:Montrealcanadienslogo.gif Montreal Canadiens	21	13	5	3	65	64	29
File:TorontoMapleLeafs 100.png Toronto Maple Leafs	21	12	7	2	78	71	26
File:BuffaloSabres 100.png Buffalo Sabres	20	11	9	0	68	69	22
File:BostonBruins 100.png Boston Bruins	22	7	10	5	69	79	19

Southeast Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
File:CarolinaHurricanes 100.png Carolina Hurricanes	20	14	5	1	72	58	29
File:TampaBayLightning 100.png Tampa Bay Lightning	22	10	9	3	68	66	23
File:AtlantaThrashers 100.png Atlanta Thrashers	20	8	11	1	71	75	17
File:WashingtonCapitals 100.png Washington Capitals	20	8	12	0	57	85	16
File:FloridaPanthers 100.png Florida Panthers	21	6	11	4	47	64	16

Western Conference

Central Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
File:DetroitRedWings 100.png Detroit Red Wings	22	15	5	2	80	54	32
File:NashvillePredators 100.png Nashville Predators	18	12	3	3	54	49	27
File:ChicagoBlackhawks 100.png Chicago Blackhawks	20	9	11	0	59	74	18
File:StLouisBlues 100.png St. Louis Blues	19	4	12	3	49	74	11
File:ColumbusBlueJackets 100.png Columbus Blue Jackets	21	5	16	0	38	75	10

Northwest Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
File:VancouverCanucks 100.png Vancouver Canucks	21	13	6	2	70	61	28
File:CalgaryFlames 100.png Calgary Flames	23	13	8	2	59	60	28
File:EdmontonOilers 100.png Edmonton Oilers	23	12	10	1	71	69	25
File:ColoradoAvalanche 100.png Colorado Avalanche	21	11	7	3	81	68	25
File:MinnesotaWild 100.png Minnesota Wild	20	9	9	2	54	47	20

Pacific Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
File:LosAngelesKings 100.png Los Angeles Kings	21	14	6	1	79	60	29
File:DallasStars 100.png Dallas Stars	20	13	6	1	72	61	27
File:PhoenixCoyotes 100.png Phoenix Coyotes	23	11	10	2	64	59	24
File:SanJoseSharks 100.png San Jose Sharks	20	8	8	4	52	66	20
File:AnaheimMightyDucks 100.png Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	21	7	10	4	55	61	18

Scoring leaders

As of November 20, 2005 games

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Peter Forsberg	Philadelphia Flyers	19	6	30	36	18
Jaromir Jagr	New York Rangers	23	19	16	35	18
Daniel Alfredsson	Ottawa Senators	18	18	16	34	8
Dany Heatley	Ottawa Senators	18	15	17	32	12
Simon Gagne	Philadelphia Flyers	19	20	11	31	18
Eric Staal	Carolina Hurricanes	20	14	17	31	14
Vaclav Prospal	Tampa Bay Lightning	22	13	18	31	12
Jason Spezza	Ottawa Senators	18	6	25	31	2
Bryan McCabe	Toronto Maple Leafs	21	9	21	30	34
Pavol Demitra	Los Angeles Kings	21	11	18	29	18

Leading goaltenders

As of November 20, 2005 games. Minimum 300 minutes played.

Note: GP = Games Played; Mins = Minutes Played; W = Wins; L = Losses: T = Ties (after overtime); GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against Average

Player	Team	GP	Mins	W	L	T	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Dominik Hasek	Ottawa Senators	13	786	10	3	0	24	3	.937	1.83
Manny Fernandez	Minnesota Wild	11	647	6	3	1	21	0	.936	1.95
Martin Gerber	Carolina Hurricanes	12	647	9	3	0	23	2	.931	2.13
Dwayne Roloson	Minnesota Wild	10	561	3	6	1	23	1	.929	2.46
Curtis Joseph	Phoenix Coyotes	16	924	7	3	2	35	2	.927	2.27

Stanley Cup playoffs

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The Stanley Cup

Stanley Cup finals

NHL awards

Presidents' Trophy:
Prince of Wales Trophy:
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:
Calder Memorial Trophy:
Conn Smythe Trophy:
Frank J. Selke Trophy:
Hart Memorial Trophy:
Jack Adams Award:
James Norris Memorial Trophy:
King Clancy Memorial Trophy:
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:
Lester B. Pearson Award:
Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy:
NHL Plus/Minus Award:
Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award:
Vezina Trophy:
William M. Jennings Trophy:
Lester Patrick Trophy:

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 2005 NHL Entry Draft
• Ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics
• 2005 in sports
• 2006 in sports

References

• Hockey Database
• [2]

External links

NHL.com