1992–93 NHL season

This was the final season of the Wales and Campbell Conferences, and the Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe divisions. Both the conferences and the divisions would be renamed to reflect geography rather than the league's history for the following season. This was also the last year (until the 2013 realignment) in which the playoff structure bracketed and seeded teams by division; they would be bracketed and seeded by conference (as in the NBA) for 1993–94.

This season saw two new clubs join the league: the Ottawa Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Senators were the second Ottawa-based NHL franchise (see Ottawa Senators (original)) and brought professional hockey back to Canada's capital, while the Tampa Bay franchise (headed by Hockey Hall of Fame brothers Phil and Tony Esposito) strengthened the NHL's presence in the American Sun Belt, which had first started with the birth of the Los Angeles Kings in 1967.

This was also the final season of play for the Minnesota North Stars, before relocating to Dallas, Texas, the following season.

All teams wore a commemorative patch this year celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Stanley Cup.

Gil Stein was appointed NHL President in the summer of 1992, on an interim basis.

On February 1, 1993, Gary Bettman became the first NHL Commissioner. With the expiration of Gil Stein's tenure on July 1, 1993 (note: Bettman's office was created senior to Stein's), the position of President was merged into the position of Commissioner.

On March 28, 1993, through a brokered deal with ESPN, ABC begins the first of a two year deal with the National Hockey League to televise six regional Sunday afternoon broadcasts (including the first three Sundays of the playoffs). This marked the first time that regular season National Hockey League games were broadcast on American network television[3] since 1974–75 (when NBC was the NHL's American broadcast television partner).

Teemu Selanne of the Winnipeg Jets shattered the rookie scoring record by scoring 76 goals and 56 assists for 132 points this season. He was named the winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year, and his goals and points marks remain the NHL rookie records as of 2020.

The New York Rangers missed the playoffs. This marked the first time since the President's Trophy had been introduced that the previous season's top team missed the next year's playoffs.

For the first time in his NHL career, Wayne Gretzky did not finish in the top three in scoring. A back injury limited Gretzky to 45 games in which he scored 65 points.

The Pittsburgh Penguins set a new NHL record, winning 17 consecutive games. The streak ending with the regular season.

As a part of the 1992 strike settlement, the NHL and Bruce McNall's Multivision Marketing and Public Relations Co. organized 24 regular season games in 15 cities that did not have a franchise, providing as a litmus test for future expansion. Four of the cities chosen – Phoenix, Atlanta, Dallas and Miami – were eventually the sites of expansion or relocations, and although neither Cleveland nor Cincinnati received NHL franchises, there would be one placed in Columbus, located halfway between the two cities.

Two arenas that hosted neutral-site games had hosted NHL teams before: Atlanta's The Omni (Atlanta Flames) and Cleveland's Richfield Coliseum (Cleveland Barons).

The Hartford-St. Louis game was originally scheduled to be played on December 29, 1992, in Birmingham, Alabama.

• Manon Rheaume became the first woman to play for a major sports league in North America as she tended goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning in an exhibition game on September 23, 1992, against the St. Louis Blues.
• The Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning were two new teams to be added to the league, bringing the league to 24 teams, one-third of which were Canadian teams, as they comprised eight of the twenty-four teams. Both teams would win their opening games and briefly sit atop their respective Divisions, which led to Harry Neale jokingly proclaiming before the end of Ottawa's first win that both the Senators and Lightning would reach the Stanley Cup finals in May.
• October 1992: Gil Stein named NHL President.
• February 1993: Gary Bettman named NHL Commissioner.
• Record set for most 100-point scorers and most 50-goal scorers in one season.
• February 10, 1993: In a 13–1 drubbing of the San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames goaltender Jeff Reese set NHL records for most points and most assists by a goaltender in one game, with three.
• The 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs marked the 100th anniversary of the Stanley Cup.
• Pittsburgh Penguins set the NHL record for longest win streak at 17 games. Conversely, the San Jose Sharks tied the NHL record for longest losing streak at 17 games.

Trading deadline: March 22, 1993.[6]

• March 22, 1993: Mark Hardy and Ottawa's fifth round choice in 1993 Entry Draft (previously acquired from Ottawa) traded from NY Rangers to Los Angeles for John McIntyre.
• March 22, 1993: Jim Hrivnak and future considerations traded from Washington to Winnipeg for Rick Tabaracci.
• March 22, 1993: Peter Taglianetti traded from Tampa Bay to Pittsburgh for Pittsburgh's third round choice in 1993 Entry Draft.
• March 22, 1993: Steve Konroyd traded from Hartford to Detroit for Detroit's sixth round choice in 1993 Entry Draft.
• March 22, 1993: Vancouver's ninth round choice in 1993 Entry Draft traded from Vancouver to Winnipeg for Dan Ratushny.
• March 22, 1993: Mike Hartman traded from Tampa Bay to New York Rangers for Randy Gilhen.
• March 22, 1993: Murray Craven and Vancouver's fifth round choice in 1993 Entry Draft (previously acquired from Vancouver) traded from Hartford to Vancouver for Robert Kron, Vancouver's third round choice in 1993 Entry Draft and future considerations.
• March 22, 1993: Mike Ramsey traded from Buffalo to Pittsburgh for Bob Errey.
• March 22, 1993: Craig Muni traded from Edmonton to Chicago for Mike Hudson.

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1992 NHL Entry Draft
• 1992 NHL Expansion Draft
• 1992 NHL Supplemental Draft
• 44th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• NHL All-Rookie Team
• 1992 in sports
• 1993 in sports

• 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.

Notes

• Hockey Database
• NHL Official Guide & Record Book 1993–94. Toronto, ON: NHL Publishing. 1993. ISBN 978-1-880141-43-4.