1990–91 Quebec Nordiques season

1990–91 Quebec Nordiques
1990–91 Quebec Nordiques
Division	5th Adams
Conference	11th Prince of Wales
1990–91 record	16–50–14
Home record	9–23–8
Road record	7–27–6
Goals for	236
Goals against	354
Team information
Coach	Pierre Page
Captain	Steven Finn and ; Joe Sakic
Arena	Le Colisée
Team leaders
Goals	Joe Sakic (48)
Assists	Joe Sakic (61)
Points	Joe Sakic (109)
Penalty minutes	Steven Finn (228)
Wins	Ron Tugnutt (12)
Goals against average	Stephane Fiset (3.87)
	← 1989–90 1991–92 →

The aspect of the Quebec Nordiques season was that it was Guy Lafleur’s final season.

Offseason

After finishing in last place in the NHL in 1989-90 with only 31 points, Quebec hired Pierre Page to become the general manager, as Maurice Filion finished the previous season on an interim basis. Page had spent the previous two seasons as head coach of the Minnesota North Stars, helping them to the playoffs in each season with the team.

Page then fired head coach Michel Bergeron, and replaced him with his assistant coach from the North Stars, Dave Chambers. This would be Chambers first time as a head coach at the NHL level.

The Nordiques had the first overall pick in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, and the club drafted Owen Nolan from the Cornwall Royals of the OHL. Nolan had 51 goals and 110 points with the Royals in 59 games, as well as recording 240 penalty minutes. The team also signed Mats Sundin, their first overall pick from the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, and would have him on the club for the 1990-91 season.

Regular season

Quebec began the season with a 3-3-3 record in their first nine games, however, the rebuilding team hit a rough patch, and would fall into last place in the Adams Division as they went on a 17 game winless streak. The Nordiques began to make some trades, as Michel Petit, Aaron Broten and Lucien DeBlois were traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Scott Pearson, the Leafs second round pick in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, and the Leafs second rounder in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft.

As the season continued on, the losses continued to pile up, and more trades were made. Joe Cirella was traded to the New York Rangers for Aaron Miller and the Rangers fifth round draft pick in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, Tony McKegney was sent to the Chicago Blackhawks for Jacques Cloutier, Darin Kimble was traded to the St. Louis Blues for Herb Raglan, Tony Twist and Andy Rymsha, and Paul Gillis and Dan Vincelette were traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for Ryan McGill and Mike McNeill.

The Nordiques finished the season in last place once again, however, there was moderate improvement, as the club had a 16-50-14 record, earning 46 points, which was a 15 point improvement over the 1989-90 season.

Leading the team offensively was Joe Sakic, as he had 48 goals and 61 assists for 109 points in 80 games to lead the club in those categories. Rookie Mats Sundin had a very successful season, scoring 23 goals and 59 points while playing in all 80 games. Guy Lafleur had 12 goals and 28 points in 59 games in his last season, as he announced his retirement.

On defense, Bryan Fogarty rebounded from a poor rookie season, and led the Nordiques blueline with 31 points in only 45 games. Steven Finn had 19 points, while Craig Wolanin had 18 points from the Quebec defense.

In goal, Ron Tugnutt was the starter, earning a team high 12 wins and a team best 4.05 GAA. In a game against the Boston Bruins on March 21, 1991, Tugnutt made a club record 70 saves on 73 shots, as Quebec tied the Bruins 3-3.

Final standings

Adams Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Boston Bruins	80	44	24	12	299	264	100
Montreal Canadiens	80	39	30	11	273	249	89
Buffalo Sabres	80	31	30	19	292	278	81
Hartford Whalers	80	31	38	11	238	276	73
Quebec Nordiques	80	16	50	14	236	354	46

^[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game log

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
3	L	October 7, 1990	2–5	Boston Bruins (1990–91)	0–2–1
4	W	October 10, 1990	8–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	1–2–1
5	W	October 12, 1990	4–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	2–2–1
6	T	October 13, 1990	4–4 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	2–2–2
7	T	October 16, 1990	1–1 OT	Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	2–2–3
8	L	October 18, 1990	4–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91)	2–3–3
9	W	October 20, 1990	5–3	Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	3–3–3
10	L	October 21, 1990	2–3	Vancouver Canucks (1990–91)	3–4–3
11	L	October 25, 1990	3–6	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)	3–5–3
12	L	October 27, 1990	1–4	New York Rangers (1990–91)	3–6–3
13	L	October 29, 1990	0–5	@ New York Rangers (1990–91)	3–7–3
14	L	November 1, 1990	2–6	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	3–8–3
15	L	November 3, 1990	0–2	Minnesota North Stars (1990–91)	3–9–3
16	L	November 6, 1990	1–4	Washington Capitals (1990–91)	3–10–3
17	L	November 8, 1990	2–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1990–91)	3–11–3
18	L	November 10, 1990	2–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91)	3–12–3
19	L	November 11, 1990	4–5 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	3–13–3
20	L	November 13, 1990	2–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	3–14–3
21	L	November 15, 1990	0–6	@ Boston Bruins (1990–91)	3–15–3
22	L	November 17, 1990	2–7	Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	3–16–3
23	L	November 19, 1990	2–5	Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	3–17–3
24	T	November 21, 1990	4–4 OT	@ Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	3–17–4
25	L	November 24, 1990	4–11	Winnipeg Jets (1990–91)	3–18–4
26	T	November 25, 1990	4–4 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1990–91)	3–18–5
27	W	November 28, 1990	4–3	@ Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	4–18–5
28	W	December 1, 1990	4–2	Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	5–18–5
29	T	December 2, 1990	5–5 OT	Calgary Flames (1990–91)	5–18–6
30	L	December 5, 1990	2–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1990–91)	5–19–6
31	W	December 7, 1990	5–3	@ Calgary Flames (1990–91)	6–19–6
32	W	December 10, 1990	3–2 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1990–91)	7–19–6
33	L	December 13, 1990	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	7–20–6
34	L	December 15, 1990	2–7	New York Islanders (1990–91)	7–21–6
35	W	December 18, 1990	6–4	Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	8–21–6
36	T	December 19, 1990	1–1 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	8–21–7
37	L	December 22, 1990	1–4	New Jersey Devils (1990–91)	8–22–7
38	L	December 23, 1990	3–10	@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	8–23–7
39	L	December 26, 1990	1–4	Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	8–24–7
40	W	December 29, 1990	4–3	Washington Capitals (1990–91)	9–24–7
41	L	December 31, 1990	3–6	@ New York Islanders (1990–91)	9–25–7
42	L	January 3, 1991	7–8	@ St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	9–26–7
43	L	January 5, 1991	0–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	9–27–7
44	W	January 8, 1991	4–2	Boston Bruins (1990–91)	10–27–7
45	L	January 10, 1991	3–5	@ Boston Bruins (1990–91)	10–28–7
46	T	January 12, 1991	4–4 OT	St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	10–28–8
47	L	January 13, 1991	3–4	New York Islanders (1990–91)	10–29–8
48	L	January 17, 1991	1–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91)	10–30–8
49	T	January 22, 1991	4–4 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	10–30–9
50	L	January 24, 1991	1–6	@ New Jersey Devils (1990–91)	10–31–9
51	L	January 26, 1991	5–6	Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)	10–32–9
52	L	January 29, 1991	2–5	Winnipeg Jets (1990–91)	10–33–9
53	W	January 31, 1991	4–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	11–33–9
54	L	February 2, 1991	4–6	Minnesota North Stars (1990–91)	11–34–9
55	L	February 7, 1991	1–5	Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	11–35–9
56	W	February 9, 1991	3–1	New Jersey Devils (1990–91)	12–35–9
57	L	February 10, 1991	4–7	Boston Bruins (1990–91)	12–36–9
58	T	February 12, 1991	4–4 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	12–36–10
59	L	February 14, 1991	1–2 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	12–37–10
60	L	February 17, 1991	0–6	@ Winnipeg Jets (1990–91)	12–38–10
61	T	February 18, 1991	3–3 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1990–91)	12–38–11
62	L	February 20, 1991	1–6	@ Los Angeles Kings (1990–91)	12–39–11
63	L	February 23, 1991	8–10	@ Calgary Flames (1990–91)	12–40–11
64	L	February 24, 1991	3–6	@ Edmonton Oilers (1990–91)	12–41–11
65	L	February 28, 1991	1–5	Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	12–42–11
66	T	March 2, 1991	3–3 OT	Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	12–42–12
67	L	March 5, 1991	3–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	12–43–12
68	W	March 7, 1991	4–2	New York Rangers (1990–91)	13–43–12
69	L	March 9, 1991	0–3	Los Angeles Kings (1990–91)	13–44–12
70	W	March 10, 1991	2–1	@ Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	14–44–12
71	L	March 12, 1991	3–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	14–45–12
72	L	March 14, 1991	3–5	@ Washington Capitals (1990–91)	14–46–12
73	L	March 16, 1991	3–6	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)	14–47–12
74	L	March 19, 1991	6–7 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1990–91)	14–48–12
75	T	March 21, 1991	3–3 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1990–91)	14–48–13
76	W	March 23, 1991	7–3	Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	15–48–13
77	L	March 26, 1991	4–7	Boston Bruins (1990–91)	15–49–13
78	T	March 28, 1991	4–4 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	15–49–14
79	L	March 30, 1991	3–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	15–50–14
80	W	March 31, 1991	4–1	Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	16–50–14

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Joe Sakic	C	80	48	61	109	24	-26	12	3	7
Mats Sundin	C	80	23	36	59	58	-24	4	0	0
Tony Hrkac	C	70	16	32	48	16	-22	6	0	0
Stephane Morin	C	48	13	27	40	30	6	3	1	2
Tony McKegney	LW	50	17	16	33	44	-25	7	0	2
Mike Hough	LW	63	13	20	33	111	-7	1	1	1
Bryan Fogarty	D	45	9	22	31	24	-11	3	0	2
Guy Lafleur	RW	59	12	16	28	2	-10	3	0	0
Steven Finn	D	71	6	13	19	228	-26	0	0	0
Craig Wolanin	D	80	5	13	18	89	-13	0	1	0
Scott Pearson	LW	35	11	4	15	86	-4	0	0	0
Claude Loiselle	C	59	5	10	15	86	-20	0	2	0
Shawn Anderson	D	31	3	10	13	21	2	2	0	0
Owen Nolan	RW	59	3	10	13	109	-19	0	0	0
Alexei Gusarov	D	36	3	9	12	12	-4	1	0	0
Joe Cirella	D	39	2	10	12	59	-28	0	0	0
Randy Velischek	D	79	2	10	12	42	-19	0	0	0
Michel Petit	D	19	4	7	11	47	-15	3	0	0
Paul Gillis	C	49	3	8	11	91	-19	0	1	0
Everett Sanipass	LW	29	5	5	10	41	-15	1	0	0
Curtis Leschyshyn	D	55	3	7	10	49	-19	2	0	1
Aaron Broten	LW/C	20	5	4	9	6	-3	1	0	0
Kip Miller	C	13	4	3	7	7	-1	0	0	0
Ken Quinney	RW	19	3	4	7	2	-2	1	0	0
Mark Vermette	RW	34	3	4	7	10	-15	0	0	0
Darin Kimble	RW	35	2	5	7	114	-5	0	0	0
Mike McNeill	RW	14	2	5	7	4	5	1	0	0
Jeff Jackson	LW	10	3	1	4	4	3	0	0	0
Lucien DeBlois	C	14	2	2	4	13	1	0	0	1
Claude Lapointe	LW/C	13	2	2	4	4	3	0	0	0
Herb Raglan	RW	15	1	3	4	30	1	0	0	0
Marc Fortier	C	14	0	4	4	6	-3	0	0	0
Jamie Baker	C	18	2	0	2	8	-4	0	1	0
Wayne Van Dorp	LW	4	1	0	1	30	1	0	0	0
Dan Vincelette	LW	16	0	1	1	38	-10	0	0	0
Jacques Cloutier	G	15	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
Daniel Dore	RW	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Mario Doyon	D	12	0	0	0	4	-3	0	0	0
Stephane Fiset	G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scott Gordon	G	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dan Lambert	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
David Latta	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bruce Major	C	4	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Ken McRae	C	12	0	0	0	36	-7	0	0	0
Serge Roberge	RW	9	0	0	0	24	0	0	0	0
Greg Smyth	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
John Tanner	G	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Ron Tugnutt	G	56	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tony Twist	LW	24	0	0	0	104	-4	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%
Ron Tugnutt	3144	56	12	29	10	212	4.05	1851	1639	.885
Jacques Cloutier	829	15	3	8	2	61	4.41	526	465	.884
John Tanner	228	6	1	3	1	16	4.21	133	117	.880
Stephane Fiset	186	3	0	2	1	12	3.87	123	111	.902
Scott Gordon	485	13	0	8	0	48	5.94	225	177	.787
Team:	4872	80	16	50	14	349	4.30	2858	2509	.878

^[2]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions

The Nordiques were involved in the following transactions during the 1990-91 season.

Trades

November 10, 1990	To Edmonton Oilers Max Middendorf	To Quebec Nordiques 9th round pick in 1991 - Brent Brekke
November 17, 1990	To Toronto Maple Leafs Michel Petit Lucien DeBlois Aaron Broten	To Quebec Nordiques Scott Pearson 2nd round pick in 1991 - Eric Lavigne 2nd round pick in 1992 - Tuomas Gronman
January 17, 1991	To New York Rangers Joe Cirella	To Quebec Nordiques Aaron Miller 5th round pick in 1991 - Bill Lindsay
January 29, 1991	To Chicago Blackhawks Tony McKegney	To Quebec Nordiques Jacques Cloutier
February 4, 1991	To St. Louis Blues Darin Kimble	To Quebec Nordiques Herb Raglan Tony Twist Andy Rymsha
March 5, 1991	To Chicago Blackhawks Paul Gillis Dan Vincelette	To Quebec Nordiques Ryan McGill Mike McNeill
May 25, 1991	To New York Rangers Stephane Guerard	To Quebec Nordiques Miloslav Horava
May 31, 1991	To Minnesota North Stars Alan Haworth	To Quebec Nordiques Guy Lafleur
June 3, 1991	To New Jersey Devils Brent Severyn	To Quebec Nordiques Dave Marcinyshyn
June 22, 1991	To Washington Capitals 2nd round pick in 1991 - Eric Lavigne	To Quebec Nordiques Mikhail Tatarinov

Waivers

October 1, 1990	From Minnesota North Stars Aaron Broten
October 1, 1990	From Washington Capitals Shawn Anderson
October 1, 1990	From Chicago Blackhawks Wayne Van Dorp
October 3, 1990	To St. Louis Blues Mario Marois
March 5, 1991	To Toronto Maple Leafs Claude Loiselle

Expansion Draft

May 30, 1991	To Minnesota North Stars Guy Lafleur

Free agents

Player	Former Team
Serge Roberge	Montreal Canadiens
Stephane Charbonneau	Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
Denis Chasse	Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)
Jon Klemm	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)

Player	New Team
Bobby Dollas	Detroit Red Wings

Roster

Goaltenders

Defensemen

2 – Joe Cirella
2 – Greg Smyth
5 – Alexei Gusarov
6 – Craig Wolanin
7 – Curtis Leschyshyn
24 – Michel Petit
27 – Randy Velischek
29 – Steven Finn - C
37 – Shawn Anderson
43 – Bryan Fogarty
50 – Dan Lambert
58 – Mario Doyon

Wingers

5 – Wayne Van Dorp
10 – Guy Lafleur
14 – Tony McKegney
14 – Herb Raglan
15 – Darin Kimble
15 – Tony Twist
17 – Dan Vincelette
18 – Mike Hough
20 – Mike McNeill
21 – Everett Sanipass
22 – Aaron Broten
22 – Scott Pearson
32 – Jeff Jackson
33 – Daniel Dore
36 – Ken Quinney
38 – David Latta
39 – Serge Roberge
45 – Mark Vermette
88 – Owen Nolan

Centres

9 – Marc Fortier
12 – Ken McRae
13 – Mats Sundin
19 – Joe Sakic - C
20 – Claude Loiselle
23 – Paul Gillis
25 – Stephane Morin
28 – Jamie Baker
32 – Lucien DeBlois
40 – Tony Hrkac
42 – Bruce Major
47 – Claude Lapointe
49 – Kip Miller

Coach: Dave Chambers

Awards and honors

References

Nordiques on Hockey Database

^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
^ "1990-91 Quebec Nordiques Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-09-18. ^{[dead link‍]}

[nhl-gd-standings-1] Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.

[2] "1990-91 Quebec Nordiques Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-09-18. ^{[dead link‍]}

[1]

[2]

v t e 1990–91 NHL season
Patrick	New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh Washington
Adams	Boston Buffalo Hartford Montreal Quebec
Norris	Chicago Detroit Minnesota St. Louis Toronto
Smythe	Calgary Edmonton Los Angeles Vancouver Winnipeg
See also	Entry draft Supplemental draft Waiver draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals

v t e Quebec Nordiques seasons
1970s	1970–71 . 1971–72 . 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 Colorado

v t e Colorado Avalanche
Formerly the Quebec Nordiques Founded in 1972 Based in Denver, Colorado
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks expansion draft Seasons Current season
History	Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (Stan Kroenke, chairman) General manager Chris MacFarland Head coach Jared Bednar Team captain Gabriel Landeskog Current roster
Arenas	McNichols Sports Arena Ball Arena
Rivalries	Detroit Red Wings
Affiliates	AHL Colorado Eagles ECHL Utah Grizzlies
Media	TV Altitude Sports and Entertainment Radio KKSE-FM
Culture and lore	Colorado Rockies (NHL) Quebec Nordiques Bernie Howler Frozen Fury Todd Bertuzzi–Steve Moore incident Avalanche–Red Wings brawl "Stanley's Cup" (South Park) 2016 Stadium Series 2020 Stadium Series Outdoors at Lake Tahoe "All the Small Things" Alan Roach
Category Commons

v t e Defunct and relocated National Hockey League teams
Defunct	California/Oakland/Bay Area Seals/California Golden Seals / Cleveland Barons Montreal Maroons Montreal Wanderers New York/Brooklyn Americans Ottawa Senators (original) / St. Louis Eagles Pittsburgh Pirates / Philadelphia Quakers Quebec Athletic Club/Athletics / Hamilton Tigers Winnipeg Jets (1972–1996) / Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes
Relocated (still active)	Atlanta Flames (became Calgary Flames) Atlanta Thrashers (became Winnipeg Jets) Hartford Whalers (became Carolina Hurricanes) Kansas City Scouts / Colorado Rockies (became New Jersey Devils) Minnesota North Stars (became Dallas Stars) Quebec Nordiques (became Colorado Avalanche)