1990–91 NHL season

The 1990–91 NHL season was the 74th season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the best of seven series 4–2 against the Minnesota North Stars to claim their first championship. This was the last NHL season to end in May.

League business
At meetings in Florida on December 6, 1990, the NHL Board of Governors awarded provisional franchises to groups from Ottawa and Tampa. The Ottawa franchise marked a return to one of the original cities of the NHL, while Tampa meant the first franchise in the sunbelt state of Florida. In a later book published by NHL president Gil Stein, Stein revealed that the two groups were the only ones of the applicants who agreed to the $50 million expansion fee without question. The Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning began play in the 1992–93 season.

Final standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points


 * Wales Conference


 * Campbell Conference

Playoff bracket
The North Stars defeated the Edmonton Oilers to become the first Norris Division team to appear in the Stanley Cup Finals since the 1981 realignment. At the time a record of 92 playoff games were played, and for the first time since the 1973 playoffs, no team was swept in a playoff series.

Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes, PPG = Powerplay goals, SHG = Shorthanded goals, GWG = Game winning goals

Leading goaltenders
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average = SV% = Save percentage

Patrick Division

 * New Jersey Devils: John Cunniff and Tom McVie
 * New York Islanders: Al Arbour
 * New York Rangers: Roger Neilson
 * Philadelphia Flyers: Paul Holmgren
 * Pittsburgh Penguins: Bob Johnson
 * Washington Capitals: Terry Murray

Adams Division

 * Boston Bruins: Mike Milbury
 * Buffalo Sabres: Rick Dudley
 * Hartford Whalers: Rick Ley
 * Montreal Canadiens: Pat Burns
 * Quebec Nordiques: Dave Chambers

Norris Division

 * Chicago Blackhawks: Mike Keenan
 * Detroit Red Wings: Bryan Murray
 * Minnesota North Stars: Bob Gainey
 * St. Louis Blues: Brian Sutter
 * Toronto Maple Leafs: Tom Watt

Smythe Division

 * Calgary Flames: Doug Risebrough
 * Edmonton Oilers: John Muckler
 * Los Angeles Kings: Tom Webster
 * Vancouver Canucks: Bob McCammon and Pat Quinn
 * Winnipeg Jets: Bob Murdoch

Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1990–91 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):


 * Robert Reichel, Calgary Flames
 * Dominik Hasek, Chicago Blackhawks
 * Keith Primeau, Detroit Red Wings
 * Mike Sillinger, Detroit Red Wings
 * Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
 * Bobby Holik, Hartford Whalers
 * Geoff Sanderson, Hartford Whalers
 * John LeClair, Montreal Canadiens
 * Patrice Brisebois, Montreal Canadiens
 * Sean Hill*, Montreal Canadiens
 * Doug Weight*, New York Rangers
 * Tony Amonte*, New York Rangers
 * Mike Ricci, Philadelphia Flyers
 * Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins
 * Mats Sundin, Quebec Nordiques
 * Owen Nolan, Quebec Nordiques
 * Petr Nedved, Vancouver Canucks
 * Dmitri Khristich, Washington Capitals
 * Peter Bondra, Washington Capitals
 * Kris Draper, Winnipeg Jets

Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1990–91 (listed with their last team):
 * Gord Kluzak, Boston Bruins
 * Tony McKegney, Chicago Blackhawks
 * Glen Hanlon, Detroit Red Wings
 * Don Maloney, New York Islanders
 * Lindy Ruff, New York Rangers
 * Pete Peeters, Philadelphia Flyers
 * Guy Lafleur, Quebec Nordiques
 * Harold Snepsts, St. Louis Blues
 * Paul MacLean, St. Louis Blues
 * Rick Meagher, St. Louis Blues
 * Stan Smyl, Vancouver Canucks
 * Joel Quenneville, Washington Capitals

Broadcasting
This was the third season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals with TSN and Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. Saturday night regular season games continued to air on CBC, while TSN televised selected weeknight games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series.

This was the third and final season of the league's original U.S. national broadcast rights deal SportsChannel America, with up to three regular season games a week and coverage of the playoffs. SportsChannel America then signed a one-year extension for the 1991–92 season. Meanwhile, NBC televised the All-Star Game for the second consecutive season.