1998–99 New York Rangers season

1998–99 New York Rangers
Division	4th Atlantic
Conference	11th Eastern
1998–99 record	33–38–11
Home record	17–19–5
Road record	16–19–6
Goals for	217
Goals against	227
Team information
General manager	Neil Smith
Coach	John Muckler
Captain	Brian Leetch
Alternate captains	Adam Graves; Jeff Beukeboom
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Average attendance	18,200 (100%)
Team leaders
Goals	Adam Graves (38)
Assists	Wayne Gretzky (53)
Points	Wayne Gretzky (62)
Penalty minutes	Ulf Samuelsson (93)
Wins	Mike Richter (27)
Goals against average	Mike Richter (2.63)

The 1998–99 New York Rangers season was the 73rd season for the franchise. The Rangers missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season in what was Wayne Gretzky's final season in the National Hockey League.

Wayne Gretzky's Farewell Game at Madison Square Garden

Regular season

Final standings

Atlantic Division
R	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	New Jersey Devils	82	47	24	11	248	196	105
2	5	Philadelphia Flyers	82	37	26	19	231	196	93
3	8	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	38	30	14	242	225	90
4	10	New York Rangers	82	33	38	11	217	227	77
5	13	New York Islanders	82	24	48	10	194	244	58

[1]

Eastern Conference[2]
R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	y – New Jersey Devils	ATL	82	47	24	11	248	196	105
2	y – Ottawa Senators	NE	82	44	23	15	239	179	103
3	y – Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	34	30	18	210	202	86
4	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	45	30	7	268	231	97
5	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	82	37	26	19	231	196	93
6	Boston Bruins	NE	82	39	30	13	214	181	91
7	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	37	28	17	207	175	91
8	Pittsburgh Penguins	ATL	82	38	30	14	242	225	90

9	Florida Panthers	SE	82	30	34	18	210	228	78
10	New York Rangers	ATL	82	33	38	11	217	227	77
11	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	32	39	11	184	209	75
12	Washington Capitals	SE	82	31	45	6	200	218	68
13	New York Islanders	ATL	82	24	48	10	194	244	58
14	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	19	54	9	179	292	47

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

bold – Qualified for playoffs; y – Won division

The Great One retires

Wayne Gretzky's last NHL game in Canada was on April 16, 1999, in a 2–2 tie with the Ottawa Senators. His 1,487th and final game was a 2–1 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins which had Jaromir Jagr, a future Ranger captain, scoring the game-winning goal on April 18, 1999, at Madison Square Garden. The national anthems in that game were adjusted to accommodate Gretzky's departure. In place of "O Canada, we stand on guard for thee," Bryan Adams sang "We're going to miss you Wayne Gretzky."[3] John Amirante changed lyrics in "The Star-Spangled Banner" from "the land of the free" to "the land of Wayne Gretzky." He scored his final point in this game, assisting on the lone New York goal scored by Brian Leetch. Gretzky was named as the first, second and third star of both games; only Maurice Richard had such an honour previously, for his performance in a 1944 playoff game.

At the time of his retirement, Gretzky was the second-to-last former WHA player still active in professional hockey, Mark Messier being the last. Messier, himself a former Ranger who would return to spend his final four playing years there, along with other representatives of the great Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s, attended the game.[4] Gretzky's final game was considered a "national retirement party" in Canada,[4] and Bryan Adams' rendition of "O Canada" was like a "lullaby."[4] As the final seconds ticked away, the crowd at Madison Square Garden gave him a standing ovation, capping off "an entirely satisfying, weekend-long going-away party" in Canada,[4] as there would be "No Regretzkys."[4]

Gretzky told Scott Morrison that the final game of his career was his greatest day.[5] He recounted:

My last game in New York was my greatest day in hockey...Everything you enjoy about the sport of hockey as a kid, driving to practice with mom [Phyllis] and dad [Walter], driving to the game with mom and dad, looking in the stands and seeing your mom and dad and your friends, that all came together in that last game in New York.[5]

Schedule and results

1998-99 Game Log

October: 3-4-3 (Home: 3-3-1; Road: 0-1-2)

November: 3-5-4 (Home: 1-1-1; Road: 2-4-3)

December: 7-6-0 (Home: 3-2-0; Road: 4-4-0)

January: 6-7-0 (Home: 3-4-0; Road: 3-3-0)

February: 6-6-0 (Home: 4-4-0; Road: 2-2-0)

March: 6-5-3 (Home: 2-3-3; Road: 4-2-0)

April: 2-5-1 (Home: 1-2-0; Road: 1-3-1)

Playoffs

The Rangers failed to qualify for the 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs, missing the playoffs for the second straight season.

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Wayne Gretzky	70	9	53	62	-23	14
John MacLean	82	28	27	55	5	46
Brian Leetch	82	13	42	55	-7	42
Adam Graves	82	38	15	53	-12	47
Petr Nedved	56	20	27	47	-6	50
Marc Savard	70	9	36	45	-7	38
Kevin Stevens	81	23	20	43	-10	64
Niklas Sundstrom	81	13	30	43	-2	20
Mike Knuble	82	15	20	35	-7	26
Mathieu Schneider	75	10	24	34	-19	71
Todd Harvey	37	11	17	28	-1	72
Manny Malhotra	73	8	8	16	-2	13
Ulf Samuelsson^‡	67	4	8	12	6	93
Brent Fedyk	67	4	6	10	-11	30
Jeff Beukeboom	45	0	9	9	-2	60
Alexei Kovalev^‡	14	3	4	7	-6	12
Scott Fraser	28	2	4	6	-12	14
Chris Tamer^†	52	1	5	6	-12	92
Peter Popovic	68	1	4	5	-12	40
Rich Brennan	24	1	3	4	-4	23
Rumun Ndur^†	31	1	3	4	-2	46
Eric Lacroix^†	30	2	1	3	-5	4
Sean Pronger^†‡	14	0	3	3	-3	4
Esa Tikkanen	32	0	3	3	-5	38
Jan Mertzig	23	0	2	2	-5	8
Alexander Karpovtsev^‡	2	1	0	1	1	0
Jeff Finley^‡	2	0	0	0	-1	0
Derek Armstrong	3	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Maneluk^†	4	0	0	0	-1	4
Geoff Smith	4	0	0	0	-5	2
Johan Witehall	4	0	0	0	0	0
Harry York^‡	5	0	0	0	-1	4
P. J. Stock	5	0	0	0	-1	6
Christian Dube	6	0	0	0	0	0
Stan Neckar^†‡	18	0	0	0	-1	8
Darren Langdon	44	0	0	0	-3	80

Goaltenders

Regular Season
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
Mike Richter	68	3878	27	30	8	170	2.63	1897	.910	4
Dan Cloutier	22	1097	6	8	3	49	2.68	570	.914	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

[6]

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo, New York at the Marine Midland Arena.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	7	Manny Malhotra	C	Canada	Guelph Storm (OHL)
2	40	Randy Copley	LW	Canada	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
3	66	Jason LaBarbera	G	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
4	114	Boyd Kane	LW	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)
5	122	Pat Leahy	RW	United States	Miami University (Ohio) (NCAA)
5	131	Tomas Kloucek	D	Czech Republic	Slavia Prague (Czech Extraliga)
7	180	Stefan Lundqvist	RW	Sweden	Brynas IF (SEL)
8	207	Johan Witehall	LW	Sweden	Leksands IF (SEL)
9	235	Jan Mertzig	D	Sweden	Lulea HF (SEL)

Awards and honors

Wayne Gretzky, Lady Byng Trophy
Wayne Gretzky, MVP of NHL All-Star Game

References

Bibliography

Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
Rangers on Hockey Database

Dinger 2011, p. 155.
"1998-1999 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
Brady, Erik (April 19, 1999). "He loved 'every part of the game'". USA Today. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
Cole, Stephen (2004). The Best of Hockey Night in Canada. Toronto: McArthur & Company. p. 133. ISBN 1-55278-408-8.
Morrison, Scott (2008). Hockey Night in Canada: My Greatest Day. Toronto: Key Porter Books. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-55470-086-8.
"1998-99 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-01.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[FOOTNOTEDinger2011155-1] Dinger 2011, p. 155.

[2] "1998-1999 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.

[3] Brady, Erik (April 19, 1999). "He loved 'every part of the game'". USA Today. Retrieved 24 November 2007.

[StephenCole-4] Cole, Stephen (2004). The Best of Hockey Night in Canada. Toronto: McArthur & Company. p. 133. ISBN 1-55278-408-8.

[GreatestDay-5] Morrison, Scott (2008). Hockey Night in Canada: My Greatest Day. Toronto: Key Porter Books. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-55470-086-8.

[6] "1998-99 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-01.

1998–99 NHL season
Atlantic	New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh
Northeast	Boston Buffalo Montreal Ottawa Toronto
Southeast	Carolina Florida Tampa Bay Washington
Central	Chicago Detroit Nashville St. Louis
Northwest	Calgary Colorado Edmonton Vancouver
Pacific	Anaheim Dallas Los Angeles Phoenix San Jose
See also	Draft Expansion Draft All-Star Game 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs 1999 Stanley Cup Finals

New York Rangers
Founded in 1926 Based in New York City, New York
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season
History	History (Original Six) Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) The Madison Square Garden Company (James Dolan, chairman) General manager Jeff Gorton Head coach David Quinn Team captain Vacant Current roster
Arenas	Madison Square Garden III Madison Square Garden IV
Rivalries	New Jersey Devils New York Islanders Philadelphia Flyers Washington Capitals
Affiliates	AHL Hartford Wolf Pack ECHL Maine Mariners
Media	TV MSG Network Radio WEPN-FM
Culture and lore	Curse of 1940 "It's a power play goal!" GAG line Eric Lindros trade Messier's Guarantee "Matteau, Matteau, Matteau" George Kalinsky Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award Hockey Night Live! "The Face Painter" (Seinfeld episode) Mystery, Alaska 1991 Las Vegas outdoor game 2011 NHL Premiere 2012 NHL Winter Classic 2014 NHL Stadium Series 2018 NHL Winter Classic
Category Commons

New York Rangers seasons
1920s	1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
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2020s	2020–21
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship