1989–90 New York Rangers season

NHL hockey team season

1989–90 New York Rangers
Patrick Division champions
Division	1st Patrick
Conference	T-4th Wales
1989–90 record	36–31–13
Goals for	279
Goals against	267
Team information
General manager	Neil Smith
Coach	Roger Neilson
Captain	Kelly Kisio
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals	John Ogrodnick (43)
Assists	Brian Leetch (45)
Points	John Ogrodnick (74)
Penalty minutes	Troy Mallette (305)
Wins	John Vanbiesbrouck (19)
Goals against average	Mike Richter (3.00)
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

The 1989–90 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 64th season. During the regular season, the Rangers led the Patrick Division with 85 points and qualified for the NHL playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, the Rangers defeated the New York Islanders four games to one and earned a berth in the Patrick Division Finals. There, New York lost to the Washington Capitals in five games.^[1]

Offseason

During the offseason, Gulf+Western, owners of the Rangers, and all MSG properties since 1977,^[2] changed their name to Paramount Communications. The new name was chosen in honor of the company's leading subsidiary, the Paramount Pictures film studio.^[3]

Regular season

The Rangers finished the regular season with the most power-play opportunities (442) and the most power-play goals scored (103).^[4]

Final standings

Patrick Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
New York Rangers	80	36	31	13	279	267	85
New Jersey Devils	80	37	34	9	295	288	83
Washington Capitals	80	36	38	6	284	275	78
New York Islanders	80	31	38	11	281	288	73
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	32	40	8	318	359	72
Philadelphia Flyers	80	30	39	11	290	297	71

^[5]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.

Wales Conference^[6]
R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Boston Bruins	ADM	80	46	25	9	289	232	101
2	Buffalo Sabres	ADM	80	45	27	8	286	248	98
3	Montreal Canadiens	ADM	80	41	28	11	288	234	93
4	Hartford Whalers	ADM	80	38	33	9	275	268	85
5	New York Rangers	PTK	80	36	31	13	279	267	85
6	New Jersey Devils	PTK	80	37	34	9	295	288	83
7	Washington Capitals	PTK	80	36	38	6	284	275	78
8	New York Islanders	PTK	80	31	38	11	281	288	73
9	Pittsburgh Penguins	PTK	80	32	40	8	318	359	72
10	Philadelphia Flyers	PTK	80	30	39	11	290	297	71
11	Quebec Nordiques	ADM	80	12	61	7	240	407	31

Divisions: PTK – Patrick, ADM – Adams

bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy

Schedule and results

1989–90 Game Log

October: 8–2–3 (Home: 4–1–3; Road: 4–1–0)

Game	October	Opponent	Score	Record
1	6	@ Winnipeg Jets	4–1	1–0–0
2	8	@ Chicago Blackhawks	5–3	2–0–0
3	11	Calgary Flames	5–4	3–0–0
4	13	@ Washington Capitals	7–4	3–1–0
5	15	Pittsburgh Penguins	4–2	4–1–0
6	17	Chicago Blackhawks	3 – 3 OT	4–1–1
7	19	Hartford Whalers	7–3	5–1–1
8	21	@ Philadelphia Flyers	3–1	6–1–1
9	23	Vancouver Canucks	5–3	7–1–1
10	25	Edmonton Oilers	3 – 3 OT	7–1–2
11	27	New York Islanders	5 – 5 OT	7–1–3
12	28	@ New York Islanders	4–1	8–1–3
13	30	Philadelphia Flyers	3–1	8–2–3

November: 5–7–1 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 1–6–0)

Game	November	Opponent	Score	Record
14	2	Quebec Nordiques	6–1	9–2–3
15	4	@ Montreal Canadiens	3–2	9–3–3
16	6	Detroit Red Wings	6–1	10–3–3
17	8	Montreal Canadiens	3–2	10–4–3
18	12	New York Islanders	4–2	11–4–3
19	14	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	6–0	11–5–3
20	17	@ New Jersey Devils	5 – 4 OT	11–6–3
21	18	@ Hartford Whalers	3–2	12–6–3
22	20	Winnipeg Jets	3 – 3 OT	12–6–4
23	22	@ Buffalo Sabres	4–1	12–7–4
24	25	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	7–4	12–8–4
25	26	Quebec Nordiques	3–1	13–8–4
26	29	@ Winnipeg Jets	5–4	13–9–4

December: 2–9–3 (Home: 1–4–2; Road: 1–5–1)

Game	December	Opponent	Score	Record
27	1	@ Vancouver Canucks	4–3	14–9–4
28	2	@ Los Angeles Kings	6–0	14–10–4
29	6	New Jersey Devils	5–3	15–10–4
30	9	@ New York Islanders	0 – 0 OT	15–10–5
31	10	Philadelphia Flyers	4–2	15–11–5
32	13	St. Louis Blues	3–1	15–12–5
33	16	@ New York Islanders	4–3	15–13–5
34	17	Montreal Canadiens	2–0	15–14–5
35	20	Buffalo Sabres	2 – 2 OT	15–14–6
36	23	@ Washington Capitals	3–2	15–15–6
37	26	New Jersey Devils	4 – 4 OT	15–15–7
38	27	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	7–4	15–16–7
39	29	@ New Jersey Devils	3–2	15–17–7
40	31	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–4	15–18–7

January: 5–4–3 (Home: 2–1–2; Road: 3–3–1)

Game	January	Opponent	Score	Record
41	3	Washington Capitals	2–1	16–18–7
42	4	@ Minnesota North Stars	8–2	16–19–7
43	6	@ St. Louis Blues	4–3	16–20–7
44	8	Pittsburgh Penguins	7–5	16–21–7
45	10	Chicago Blackhawks	2 – 2 OT	16–21–8
46	13	@ Boston Bruins	3–2	17–21–8
47	14	Philadelphia Flyers	4 – 3 OT	18–21–8
48	18	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	3 – 3 OT	18–21–9
49	23	@ Edmonton Oilers	4–3	19–21–9
50	25	@ Calgary Flames	8–5	19–22–9
51	27	@ Los Angeles Kings	3–1	20–22–9
52	31	St. Louis Blues	2 – 2 OT	20–22–10

February: 9–3–1 (Home: 5–2–0; Road: 4–1–1)

Game	February	Opponent	Score	Record
53	3	@ Boston Bruins	2–1	21–22–10
54	4	Minnesota North Stars	4–3	22–22–10
55	7	Edmonton Oilers	5–2	23–22–10
56	9	@ Buffalo Sabres	3–2	23–23–10
57	11	Calgary Flames	5–2	23–24–10
58	13	@ Philadelphia Flyers	4–3	24–24–10
59	14	Pittsburgh Penguins	4 – 3 OT	24–25–10
60	16	@ New Jersey Devils	2–1	25–25–10
61	19	New Jersey Devils	4 – 3 OT	26–25–10
62	21	@ Detroit Red Wings	4 – 4 OT	26–25–11
63	23	@ Washington Capitals	6–3	27–25–11
64	26	Boston Bruins	6–1	28–25–11
65	28	Washington Capitals	3–2	29–25–11

March: 7–5–2 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 3–4–1)

Game	March	Opponent	Score	Record
66	2	New York Islanders	6–3	30–25–11
67	3	@ Hartford Whalers	6–4	30–26–11
68	5	Detroit Red Wings	3–2	31–26–11
69	8	@ Philadelphia Flyers	7–5	32–26–11
70	10	@ Minnesota North Stars	2 – 2 OT	32–26–12
71	12	Los Angeles Kings	6–2	32–27–12
72	14	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	8–2	33–27–12
73	17	@ New York Islanders	6–3	33–28–12
74	18	Vancouver Canucks	5–2	34–28–12
75	21	Toronto Maple Leafs	5 – 5 OT	34–28–13
76	25	Philadelphia Flyers	7–3	35–28–13
77	27	@ Quebec Nordiques	7–4	36–28–13
78	29	@ New Jersey Devils	6–4	36–29–13
79	31	@ Washington Capitals	2–1	36–30–13

April: 0–1–0 (Home: 0–1–0; Road: 0-0-0)

Game	April	Opponent	Score	Record
80	1	Washington Capitals	3–2	36–31–13

Playoffs

Key: Win Loss

1990 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Division Semi-finals: vs. New York Islanders – New York Rangers win series 4–1
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Attendance	Series
1	April 5	New York Islanders	1–2	New York Rangers		16,651	New York Rangers lead series 1–0
2	April 7	New York Islanders	2–5	New York Rangers		16,651	New York Rangers lead series 2–0
3	April 9	New York Rangers	3–4	New York Islanders	2OT	16,297	New York Rangers lead series 2–1
4	April 11	New York Rangers	6–1	New York Islanders		16,297	New York Rangers lead series 3–1
5	April 13	New York Islanders	5–6	New York Rangers		16,651	New York Rangers win series 4–1

Division Finals: vs. Washington Capitals – Washington wins series 4–1
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Attendance	Series
1	April 19	Washington Capitals	3–7	New York Rangers		16,651	New York Rangers lead series 1–0
2	April 21	Washington Capitals	6–3	New York Rangers		16,651	Series tied 1–1
3	April 23	New York Rangers	1–7	Washington Capitals		18,011	Washington leads series 2–1
4	April 25	New York Rangers	3–4	Washington Capitals	OT	18,130	Washington wins series 3–1
5	April 27	Washington Capitals	2–1	New York Rangers	OT	16,651	Washington wins series 4–1

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
John Ogrodnick	80	43	31	74	11	44
Brian Mullen	76	27	41	68	7	42
Darren Turcotte	76	32	34	66	3	32
Kelly Kisio	68	22	44	66	11	105
James Patrick	73	14	43	57	4	50
Brian Leetch	72	11	45	56	−18	26
Tomas Sandstrom^‡	48	19	19	38	−10	100
Bernie Nicholls^†	32	12	25	37	−3	20
Ulf Dahlen^‡	63	18	18	36	−4	30
Troy Mallette	79	13	16	29	−8	305
Carey Wilson	41	9	17	26	4	57
Tony Granato^‡	37	7	18	25	1	77
Mike Gartner^†	12	11	5	16	4	6
Mark Hardy	54	0	15	15	4	94
Miloslav Horava	45	4	10	14	10	26
Kris King	68	6	7	13	2	286
Mark Janssens	80	5	8	13	−26	161
Jan Erixon	58	4	9	13	−17	8
Randy Moller	60	1	12	13	−1	139
David Shaw	22	2	10	12	−3	22
Ron Greschner	55	1	9	10	−7	53
Lindy Ruff	56	3	6	9	−10	80
Paul Broten	32	5	3	8	−4	26
Jeff Bloemberg	28	3	3	6	−8	25
Dave Archibald^†	19	2	3	5	0	6
Kevin Miller	16	0	5	5	−1	2
Normand Rochefort	31	3	1	4	2	24
Chris Nilan	25	1	2	3	−8	59
Rick Bennett	6	1	0	1	−4	5
Corey Millen	4	0	0	0	−2	2
Todd Charlesworth	7	0	0	0	−3	6
Rudy Poeschek	15	0	0	0	−1	55

Playoffs
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Bernie Nicholls	10	7	5	12	16
James Patrick	10	3	8	11	0
Kelly Kisio	10	2	8	10	8
John Ogrodnick	10	6	3	9	0
Mike Gartner	10	5	3	8	12
Randy Moller	10	1	6	7	32
Darren Turcotte	10	1	6	7	4
Troy Mallette	10	2	2	4	81
Brian Mullen	10	2	2	4	8
Normand Rochefort	10	2	1	3	26
Jeff Bloemberg	7	0	3	3	5
Lindy Ruff	8	0	3	3	12
Mark Janssens	9	2	1	3	10
Carey Wilson	10	2	1	3	0
Paul Broten	6	1	1	2	2
Chris Nilan	4	0	1	1	19
Jan Erixon	10	1	0	1	2
Kris King	10	0	1	1	30
Miloslav Horava	2	0	1	1	0
Mark Hardy	3	0	1	1	2
Kevin Miller	1	0	0	0	0
Ron Greschner	10	0	0	0	16

Goaltenders

Regular Season
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
John Vanbiesbrouck	47	2734	19	19	7	154	3.38	1362	.887	1
Mike Richter	23	1320	12	5	5	66	3.00	686	.904	0
Bob Froese	15	812	5	7	1	45	3.33	355	.873	0

Playoffs
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
Mike Richter	6	330	3	2	19	3.45	181	.895	0
John Vanbiesbrouck	6	298	2	3	15	3.02	153	.902	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.

^[7]

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;

Awards and records

Transactions

September 1, 1989: the Rangers traded Barry Beck to the Los Angeles Kings for future considerations.^[8]
September 7, 1989: the Rangers traded Chris McRae and a 5th round draft pick in 1990 to the Detroit Red Wings for Kris King.^[9]
September 14, 1989: the Rangers acquired Lee Giffin from the Pittsburgh Penguins for future considerations.^[10]
October 5, 1989: the Rangers traded Michel Petit to the Quebec Nordiques for Randy Moller.^[11]
November 1, 1989: the Rangers traded Jayson More to the Minnesota North Stars for Dave Archibald.^[12]
January 20, 1990: the Rangers traded Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato to the Los Angeles Kings for Bernie Nicholls.^[13]
March 6, 1990: the Rangers traded Ulf Dahlen, a 4th round draft pick in 1990, and future considerations (a 4th round draft pick in 1991) to the Minnesota North Stars for Mike Gartner.^[13]^[14]

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1989 NHL Entry Draft in Bloomington, Minnesota at the Met Center.^[15]^[16]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	20	Steven Rice	RW	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
2	40	Jason Prosofsky	RW	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
3	45	Rob Zamuner	LW	Canada	Guelph Platers (OHL)
3	49	Louie DeBrusk	LW	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
4	67	Jim Cummins	RW	United States	Michigan State University (NCAA)
5	88	Aaron Miller	D	United States	Niagara Scenics (NAHL)
6	118	Joby Messier	D	Canada	Michigan State University (NCAA)
7	139	Greg Leahy	F	United States	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
8	160	Greg Spenrath	D	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
9	181	Mark Bavis	LW	United States	Cushing Academy (Massachusetts)
10	202	Roman Oksiuta	RW	Soviet Union	Voskresensk Khimik (Russia)
11	223	Steve Locke	D	Canada	Niagara Falls Thunder (OHL)
12	244	Kenneth MacDermid	LW	Canada	Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)

Supplemental Draft

New York's picks at the 1989 NHL Supplemental Draft.^[17]

Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
Anthony Palumbo	C	Canada	Lake Superior State University (CCHA)

Farm teams

References

^ "1989–90 New York Rangers Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
^ "Gulf & Western buys out Gardens". The Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. August 22, 1977. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
^ "Gulf and Western plans to sell off its financial services". New Straits Times. April 11, 1989. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
^ "1989–90 NHL Season Summary". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
^ "1989–1990 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
^ "1989–90 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
^ "Sports People: Hockey; Rangers Trade Beck". The New York Times. September 2, 1989. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
^ "NHL Player Search: Chris McRae". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
^ "NHL Player Search: Lee Giffin". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
^ "The Sidelines: N.Y. Rangers Trade Petit for Moller". Los Angeles Times. October 5, 1989. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
^ "Stars demote More again". United Press International. January 29, 1990. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Biggest Trades in New York Rangers History". National Hockey League. MSG Network. December 31, 2001. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
^ Proteau, Adam (February 28, 2015). "Picking Winners of Five Blockbuster Trades From the Past 25 Years". The Hockey News. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
^ "1989 NHL Entry Draft". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
^ "NHL Draft History". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on January 28, 2001. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
^ "1989 NHL Supplemental Draft". hockeydb.com. Retrieved October 22, 2011.

New York Rangers seasons

1920s

1920–21 . 1921–22 . 1922–23 . 1923–24 . 1924–25 . 1925–26 . 1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e 1989–90 NHL season by team
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	1989 NHL Entry Draft Waiver Draft All-Star Game 1990 Stanley Cup Finals Transactions