1992–93 Quebec Nordiques season

1992–93 Quebec Nordiques
Division	2nd Adams
Conference	3rd Prince of Wales
1992–93 record	47-27-10
Home record	23-17-2
Road record	24-10-8
Goals for	351
Goals against	300
Team information
Coach	Pierre Page
Captain	Joe Sakic
Alternate captains	Mike Hough Mike Ricci
Team leaders
Goals	Joe Sakic (48)
Assists	Mats Sundin (67)
Points	Mats Sundin (114)
Penalty minutes	Owen Nolan (185)
Wins	Ron Hextall (29)
Goals against average	Stephane Fiset (3.40)

The aspect of the Quebec Nordiques season was that the Nordiques qualified for the playoffs for the first time since the 1986–87 season. Also, Joe Sakic became captain (after a stint as co-captain in the 1990–91). Four Nordiques (Owen Nolan, Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin and Scott Young reached the 30-goal plateau. Nordiques goaltenders did not record a shutout during the regular season and playoffs. Quebec was not shut out in any game during the 84-game regular season and their 6-game playoff series. In addition, Quebec led all teams in shorthanded goals scored during the regular season (21).

Offseason

NHL draft

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	4.	Todd Warriner	Canada	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

The Eric Lindros trade

Eric Lindros was selected first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. Lindros had signaled in advance that he would never play for the Nordiques, citing distance, lack of marketing potential, and having to speak French. He went as far as to refuse to wear the team's jersey on draft day; the team selected him anyway.

The president of the Nordiques publicly announced that they would make Lindros the centerpiece of their franchise turnaround, and refused to trade Lindros, saying that he would not have a career in the NHL as long as he held out. Due to Lindros' popularity and hype, it is alleged that the NHL president intervened to get the Nordiques to trade him, as it would otherwise damage the image of the league. During the hold out, Lindros spent the time playing with the Oshawa Generals and also participated in the 1992 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal.

In 1992, the Nordiques worked out trades for him with both the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. Eventually an arbitrator, Larry Bertuzzi (grand-uncle of Todd Bertuzzi), ruled in favour of the Flyers, for whom he played from 1992 to 2000, most of the time as the team's captain. The trade between the Nordiques and the Rangers that was ruled invalid by the arbitrator had Lindros being traded for Doug Weight, Tony Amonte, Alexei Kovalev, John Vanbiesbrouck and three first round draft picks (1993, 1994 and 1995) and $12 million.

June 20, 1992

To Philadelphia Flyers rights to Eric Lindros

To Quebec Nordiques Steve Duchesne Ron Hextall Kerry Huffman Mike Ricci Chris Simon rights to Peter Forsberg 1st round pick in 1993 1st round pick in 1994 $15 million

Regular season

Final standings

Adams Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Boston Bruins	84	51	26	7	332	268	109
Quebec Nordiques	84	47	27	10	351	300	104
Montreal Canadiens	84	48	30	6	326	280	102
Buffalo Sabres	84	38	36	10	335	297	86
Hartford Whalers	84	26	52	6	284	369	58
Ottawa Senators	84	10	70	4	202	395	24

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game log

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 8, 1992	5–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1992–93)	1–0–0
2	W	October 10, 1992	9–2	Ottawa Senators (1992–93)	2–0–0
3	W	October 13, 1992	6–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1992–93)	3–0–0
4	W	October 15, 1992	4–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1992–93)	4–0–0
5	L	October 17, 1992	5–6	St. Louis Blues (1992–93)	4–1–0
6	T	October 21, 1992	5–5 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1992–93)	4–1–1
7	L	October 22, 1992	2–5	@ Minnesota North Stars (1992–93)	4–2–1
8	L	October 24, 1992	2–3	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1992–93)	4–3–1
9	W	October 27, 1992	4–3	Tampa Bay Lightning (1992–93)	5–3–1
10	W	October 29, 1992	6–3	@ New York Rangers (1992–93)	6–3–1
11	W	October 31, 1992	3–2	Winnipeg Jets (1992–93)	7–3–1
12	T	November 3, 1992	3–3 OT	@ Hartford Whalers (1992–93)	7–3–2
13	L	November 5, 1992	4–6	@ Boston Bruins (1992–93)	7–4–2
14	L	November 7, 1992	4–7	Chicago Blackhawks (1992–93)	7–5–2
15	T	November 8, 1992	5–5 OT	Calgary Flames (1992–93)	7–5–3
16	W	November 11, 1992	7–3	@ Ottawa Senators (1992–93)	8–5–3
17	T	November 12, 1992	4–4 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1992–93)	8–5–4
18	W	November 14, 1992	6–3	New York Rangers (1992–93)	9–5–4
19	W	November 17, 1992	3–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1992–93)	10–5–4
20	W	November 19, 1992	4–3	Montreal Canadiens (1992–93)	11–5–4
21	W	November 21, 1992	8–2	Hartford Whalers (1992–93)	12–5–4
22	L	November 22, 1992	4–6	Washington Capitals (1992–93)	12–6–4
23	T	November 25, 1992	1–1 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1992–93)	12–6–5
24	W	November 26, 1992	5–4 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1992–93)	13–6–5
25	L	November 28, 1992	3–6	New Jersey Devils (1992–93)	13–7–5
26	L	November 30, 1992	3–4	Boston Bruins (1992–93)	13–8–5
27	L	December 3, 1992	2–3 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1992–93)	13–9–5
28	L	December 5, 1992	4–7	Minnesota North Stars (1992–93)	13–10–5
29	W	December 7, 1992	4–3	Buffalo Sabres (1992–93)	14–10–5
30	W	December 10, 1992	5–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1992–93)	15–10–5
31	W	December 12, 1992	8–7 OT	@ San Jose Sharks (1992–93)	16–10–5
32	T	December 13, 1992	3–3 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1992–93)	16–10–6
33	W	December 16, 1992	5–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1992–93)	17–10–6
34	L	December 17, 1992	3–8	Montreal Canadiens (1992–93)	17–11–6
35	W	December 20, 1992	5–3	New York Islanders (1992–93)	18–11–6
36	L	December 21, 1992	4–7	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1992–93)	18–12–6
37	W	December 26, 1992	4–2	Ottawa Senators (1992–93)	19–12–6
38	W	December 27, 1992	6–1	@ Ottawa Senators (1992–93)	20–12–6
39	W	December 29, 1992	4–1	New Jersey Devils (1992–93)	21–12–6
40	W	December 31, 1992	6–2	@ Hartford Whalers (1992–93)	22–12–6
41	L	January 2, 1993	2–6	Detroit Red Wings (1992–93)	22–13–6
42	W	January 5, 1993	2–1	@ New York Islanders (1992–93)	23–13–6
43	W	January 7, 1993	3–2 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1992–93)	24–13–6
44	L	January 9, 1993	2–4	@ Hartford Whalers (1992–93)	24–14–6
45	L	January 14, 1993	3–5	Montreal Canadiens (1992–93)	24–15–6
46	W	January 16, 1993	4–1	San Jose Sharks (1992–93)	25–15–6
47	W	January 19, 1993	5–2	@ Ottawa Senators (1992–93)	26–15–6
48	L	January 22, 1993	2–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1992–93)	26–16–6
49	W	January 23, 1993	4–3	Buffalo Sabres (1992–93)	27–16–6
50	T	January 26, 1993	4–4 OT	Boston Bruins (1992–93)	27–16–7
51	W	January 28, 1993	6–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1992–93)	28–16–7
52	T	January 29, 1993	3–3 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1992–93)	28–16–8
53	W	February 2, 1993	3–2	Los Angeles Kings (1992–93)	29–16–8
54	L	February 3, 1993	1–4	Boston Bruins (1992–93)	29–17–8
55	L	February 9, 1993	1–5	Vancouver Canucks (1992–93)	29–18–8
56	T	February 12, 1993	4–4 OT	@ Calgary Flames (1992–93)	29–18–9
57	W	February 14, 1993	3–2 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1992–93)	30–18–9
58	W	February 17, 1993	6–4	Ottawa Senators (1992–93)	31–18–9
59	W	February 20, 1993	5–2	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1992–93)	32–18–9
60	W	February 21, 1993	6–3	@ New Jersey Devils (1992–93)	33–18–9
61	W	February 23, 1993	6–3	Edmonton Oilers (1992–93)	34–18–9
62	W	February 25, 1993	6–4	New York Islanders (1992–93)	35–18–9
63	L	February 27, 1993	3–5	Hartford Whalers (1992–93)	35–19–9
64	L	February 28, 1993	4–6	@ Ottawa Senators (1992–93)	35–20–9
65	W	March 2, 1993	7–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1992–93)	36–20–9
66	T	March 4, 1993	3–3 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1992–93)	36–20–10
67	W	March 6, 1993	10–2	New York Rangers (1992–93)	37–20–10
68	L	March 8, 1993	2–4	Hartford Whalers (1992–93)	37–21–10
69	L	March 10, 1993	4–7	Buffalo Sabres (1992–93)	37–22–10
70	W	March 13, 1993	5–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1992–93)	38–22–10
71	W	March 15, 1993	4–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1992–93)	39–22–10
72	L	March 18, 1993	2–5	Montreal Canadiens (1992–93)	39–23–10
73	W	March 20, 1993	5–1	@ New Jersey Devils (1992–93)	40–23–10
74	L	March 23, 1993	1–5	@ Washington Capitals (1992–93)	40–24–10
75	W	March 27, 1993	8–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1992–93)	41–24–10
76	W	March 28, 1993	3–2	@ New York Rangers (1992–93)	42–24–10
77	W	March 31, 1993	6–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1992–93)	43–24–10
78	W	April 1, 1993	4–2	@ Ottawa Senators (1992–93)	44–24–10
79	L	April 3, 1993	3–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (1992–93)	44–25–10
80	L	April 6, 1993	1–7	Boston Bruins (1992–93)	44–26–10
81	L	April 8, 1993	2–6	@ Boston Bruins (1992–93)	44–27–10
82	W	April 10, 1993	6–3	Hartford Whalers (1992–93)	45–27–10
83	W	April 11, 1993	3–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1992–93)	46–27–10
84	W	April 13, 1993	6–2	Ottawa Senators (1992–93)	47–27–10

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Sundin, MatsMats Sundin C 80 47 67 114 96 21 13 4 9 Sakic, JoeJoe Sakic C 78 48 57 105 40 -3 20 2 4 Duchesne, SteveSteve Duchesne D 82 20 62 82 57 15 8 0 2 Ricci, MikeMike Ricci C 77 27 51 78 123 8 12 1 10 Nolan, OwenOwen Nolan RW 73 36 41 77 185 -1 15 0 4 Kovalenko, AndreiAndrei Kovalenko RW 81 27 41 68 57 13 8 1 4 Young, ScottScott Young RW 82 30 30 60 20 5 9 6 5 Rucinsky, MartinMartin Rucinsky LW 77 18 30 48 51 16 4 0 1 Kamensky, ValeriValeri Kamensky LW 32 15 22 37 14 13 2 3 0 Lapointe, ClaudeClaude Lapointe LW/C 74 10 26 36 98 5 0 0 1 Leschyshyn, CurtisCurtis Leschyshyn D 82 9 23 32 61 25 4 0 2 Gusarov, AlexeiAlexei Gusarov D 79 8 22 30 57 18 0 2 1 Hough, MikeMike Hough LW 77 8 22 30 69 -11 2 1 2 Cavallini, GinoGino Cavallini LW 67 9 15 24 34 10 0 0 0 Huffman, KerryKerry Huffman D 52 4 18 22 54 0 3 0 0 Foote, AdamAdam Foote D 81 4 12 16 168 6 0 1 0 Pearson, ScottScott Pearson LW 41 13 1 14 95 3 0 0 1 Finn, StevenSteven Finn D 80 5 9 14 160 -3 0 0 0 Lindsay, BillBill Lindsay RW 44 4 9 13 16 0 0 0 0 Hunter, TimTim Hunter RW 48 5 3 8 94 -4 0 0 0 Tatarinov, MikhailMikhail Tatarinov D 28 2 6 8 28 6 1 0 0 Wolanin, CraigCraig Wolanin D 24 1 4 5 49 9 0 0 0 Simon, ChrisChris Simon LW 16 1 1 2 67 -2 0 0 1 Fiset, StephaneStephane Fiset G 37 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 Hextall, RonRon Hextall G 54 0 2 2 56 0 0 0 0 Twist, TonyTony Twist LW 34 0 2 2 64 0 0 0 0 Andersson, NiklasNiklas Andersson LW 3 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Esau, LenLen Esau D 4 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 Karpa, DaveDave Karpa D 12 0 1 1 13 -6 0 0 0 Cloutier, JacquesJacques Cloutier G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Hextall, RonRon Hextall 2988 54 29 16 5 172 3.45 0 1529 1357 .888 Fiset, StephaneStephane Fiset 1939 37 18 9 4 110 3.40 0 945 835 .884 Cloutier, JacquesJacques Cloutier 154 3 0 2 1 10 3.90 0 65 55 .846 Team: 5081 84 47 27 10 292 3.45 0 2539 2247 .885

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Sakic, JoeJoe Sakic C 6 3 3 6 2 -3 1 0 0 Lapointe, ClaudeClaude Lapointe LW/C 6 2 4 6 8 4 0 0 0 Ricci, MikeMike Ricci C 6 0 6 6 8 5 0 0 0 Young, ScottScott Young RW 6 4 1 5 0 5 0 0 2 Duchesne, SteveSteve Duchesne D 6 0 5 5 6 0 0 0 0 Sundin, MatsMats Sundin C 6 3 1 4 6 -4 1 0 0 Leschyshyn, CurtisCurtis Leschyshyn D 6 1 1 2 6 3 1 0 0 Rucinsky, MartinMartin Rucinsky LW 6 1 1 2 4 -3 1 0 0 Kovalenko, AndreiAndrei Kovalenko RW 4 1 0 1 2 -5 0 0 0 Nolan, OwenOwen Nolan RW 5 1 0 1 2 -2 0 0 0 Finn, StevenSteven Finn D 6 0 1 1 8 -3 0 0 0 Foote, AdamAdam Foote D 6 0 1 1 2 -3 0 0 0 Gusarov, AlexeiAlexei Gusarov D 5 0 1 1 0 -3 0 0 0 Hough, MikeMike Hough LW 6 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Kamensky, ValeriValeri Kamensky LW 6 0 1 1 6 -1 0 0 0 Cavallini, GinoGino Cavallini LW 4 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 Fiset, StephaneStephane Fiset G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Hextall, RonRon Hextall G 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Huffman, KerryKerry Huffman D 3 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 Karpa, DaveDave Karpa D 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pearson, ScottScott Pearson LW 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Simon, ChrisChris Simon LW 5 0 0 0 26 -2 0 0 0 Wolanin, CraigCraig Wolanin D 4 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Hextall, RonRon Hextall 372 6 2 4 18 2.90 0 211 193 .915 Fiset, StephaneStephane Fiset 21 1 0 0 1 2.86 0 12 11 .917 Team: 393 6 2 4 19 2.90 0 223 204 .915

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Playoffs

Quebec vs. Montreal

Montreal coach Jacques Demers held himself to a promise he made to goaltender Patrick Roy earlier in the season and kept him as the starting goalie despite a couple of weak goals allowed in the first two games of the series against the Nordiques. With the Canadiens staring a potential 3-0 series deficit to the rival Nords in the face, overtime in Game 3 was marked by two disputed goals that were reviewed by the video goal judge. The first review ruled that Stephan Lebeau had knocked the puck in with a high stick, but the second upheld the Habs' winning goal, as it was directed in by the skate of Quebec defenceman Alexei Gusarov, and not that of a Montreal player.

• April 18 - Montreal 2 Quebec 3 (OT)
• April 20 - Montreal 1 Quebec 4
• April 22 - Quebec 1 Montreal 2 (OT)
• April 24 - Quebec 2 Montreal 3
• April 26 - Montreal 5 Quebec 4 (OT)
• April 28 - Quebec 2 Montreal 6

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4-2.

References

• Nordiques on Hockey Database