1990–91 Quebec Nordiques season

The 1990–91 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques twelfth season in the National Hockey League.

1990–91 Quebec Nordiques
Division	5th Adams
Conference	11th 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
General manager	Pierre Page
Coach	Dave Chambers
Captain	Steven Finn and Joe Sakic
Arena	Colisée de Québec
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)

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 named his assistant coach from the North Stars, Dave Chambers, to be his head coach in Quebec. 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.

The Nordiques finished the regular season having allowed the most goals of all 21 teams, with 354. They also tied the New York Islanders for the fewest power-play goals scored (51), had the lowest power-play percentage (15.55%), allowed the most power-play goals (98) and had the lowest penalty-killing percentage (73.37%).[1]

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

[2]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[3]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Boston Bruins	ADM	80	44	24	12	299	264	100
2	Montreal Canadiens	ADM	80	39	30	11	273	249	89
3	Pittsburgh Penguins	PTK	80	41	33	6	342	305	88
4	New York Rangers	PTK	80	36	31	13	297	265	85
5	Washington Capitals	PTK	80	37	36	7	258	258	81
6	Buffalo Sabres	ADM	80	31	30	19	292	278	81
7	New Jersey Devils	PTK	80	32	33	15	272	264	79
8	Philadelphia Flyers	PTK	80	33	37	10	252	267	76
9	Hartford Whalers	ADM	80	31	38	11	238	276	73
10	New York Islanders	PTK	80	25	45	10	223	290	60
11	Quebec Nordiques	ADM	80	16	50	14	236	354	46

Divisions: PTK – Patrick, ADM – Adams

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance
1	T	October 4, 1990	3–3	@ Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	0–0–1	11,573
2	L	October 6, 1990	1–7	@ Boston Bruins (1990–91)	0–1–1	14,225
3	L	October 7, 1990	2–5	Boston Bruins (1990–91)	0–2–1	14,560
4	W	October 10, 1990	8–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	1–2–1	16,382
5	W	October 12, 1990	4–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	2–2–1	14,958
6	T	October 13, 1990	4–4 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	2–2–2	13,715
7	T	October 16, 1990	1–1 OT	Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	2–2–3	13,940
8	L	October 18, 1990	4–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91)	2–3–3	16,995
9	W	October 20, 1990	5–3	Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	3–3–3	13,106
10	L	October 21, 1990	2–3	Vancouver Canucks (1990–91)	3–4–3	14,094
11	L	October 25, 1990	3–6	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)	3–5–3	15,132
12	L	October 27, 1990	1–4	New York Rangers (1990–91)	3–6–3	13,470
13	L	October 29, 1990	0–5	@ New York Rangers (1990–91)	3–7–3	14,571
14	L	November 1, 1990	2–6	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	3–8–3	17,379
15	L	November 3, 1990	0–2	Minnesota North Stars (1990–91)	3–9–3	13,795
16	L	November 6, 1990	1–4	Washington Capitals (1990–91)	3–10–3	13,027
17	L	November 8, 1990	2–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1990–91)	3–11–3	5,286
18	L	November 10, 1990	2–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91)	3–12–3	14,426
19	L	November 11, 1990	4–5 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	3–13–3	16,896
20	L	November 13, 1990	2–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	3–14–3	14,304
21	L	November 15, 1990	0–6	@ Boston Bruins (1990–91)	3–15–3	14,002
22	L	November 17, 1990	2–7	Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	3–16–3	14,333
23	L	November 19, 1990	2–5	Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	3–17–3	15,399
24	T	November 21, 1990	4–4 OT	@ Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	3–17–4	11,395
25	L	November 24, 1990	4–11	Winnipeg Jets (1990–91)	3–18–4	13,881
26	T	November 25, 1990	4–4 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1990–91)	3–18–5	14,739
27	W	November 28, 1990	4–3	@ Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	4–18–5	10,682
28	W	December 1, 1990	4–2	Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	5–18–5	13,324
29	T	December 2, 1990	5–5 OT	Calgary Flames (1990–91)	5–18–6	13,682
30	L	December 5, 1990	2–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1990–91)	5–19–6	15,300
31	W	December 7, 1990	5–3	@ Calgary Flames (1990–91)	6–19–6	19,790
32	W	December 10, 1990	3–2 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1990–91)	7–19–6	14,132
33	L	December 13, 1990	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	7–20–6	19,290
34	L	December 15, 1990	2–7	New York Islanders (1990–91)	7–21–6	13,534
35	W	December 18, 1990	6–4	Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	8–21–6	15,346
36	T	December 19, 1990	1–1 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	8–21–7	16,832
37	L	December 22, 1990	1–4	New Jersey Devils (1990–91)	8–22–7	14,124
38	L	December 23, 1990	3–10	@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	8–23–7	14,404
39	L	December 26, 1990	1–4	Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	8–24–7	13,083
40	W	December 29, 1990	4–3	Washington Capitals (1990–91)	9–24–7	13,769
41	L	December 31, 1990	3–6	@ New York Islanders (1990–91)	9–25–7	11,189
42	L	January 3, 1991	7–8	@ St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	9–26–7	17,241
43	L	January 5, 1991	0–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	9–27–7	17,561
44	W	January 8, 1991	4–2	Boston Bruins (1990–91)	10–27–7	14,348
45	L	January 10, 1991	3–5	@ Boston Bruins (1990–91)	10–28–7	14,013
46	T	January 12, 1991	4–4 OT	St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	10–28–8	14,079
47	L	January 13, 1991	3–4	New York Islanders (1990–91)	10–29–8	12,359
48	L	January 17, 1991	1–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91)	10–30–8	17,287
49	T	January 22, 1991	4–4 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	10–30–9	10,861
50	L	January 24, 1991	1–6	@ New Jersey Devils (1990–91)	10–31–9	10,191
51	L	January 26, 1991	5–6	Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)	10–32–9	13,834
52	L	January 29, 1991	2–5	Winnipeg Jets (1990–91)	10–33–9	13,140
53	W	January 31, 1991	4–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	11–33–9	14,814
54	L	February 2, 1991	4–6	Minnesota North Stars (1990–91)	11–34–9	14,306
55	L	February 7, 1991	1–5	Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	11–35–9	15,399
56	W	February 9, 1991	3–1	New Jersey Devils (1990–91)	12–35–9	15,057
57	L	February 10, 1991	4–7	Boston Bruins (1990–91)	12–36–9	15,275
58	T	February 12, 1991	4–4 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	12–36–10	13,196
59	L	February 14, 1991	1–2 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	12–37–10	17,347
60	L	February 17, 1991	0–6	@ Winnipeg Jets (1990–91)	12–38–10	12,798
61	T	February 18, 1991	3–3 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1990–91)	12–38–11	14,024
62	L	February 20, 1991	1–6	@ Los Angeles Kings (1990–91)	12–39–11	16,005
63	L	February 23, 1991	8–10	@ Calgary Flames (1990–91)	12–40–11	20,132
64	L	February 24, 1991	3–6	@ Edmonton Oilers (1990–91)	12–41–11	16,375
65	L	February 28, 1991	1–5	Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	12–42–11	15,060
66	T	March 2, 1991	3–3 OT	Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	12–42–12	N/A
67	L	March 5, 1991	3–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	12–43–12	19,501
68	W	March 7, 1991	4–2	New York Rangers (1990–91)	13–43–12	15,055
69	L	March 9, 1991	0–3	Los Angeles Kings (1990–91)	13–44–12	15,399
70	W	March 10, 1991	2–1	@ Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	14–44–12	11,508
71	L	March 12, 1991	3–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	14–45–12	15,269
72	L	March 14, 1991	3–5	@ Washington Capitals (1990–91)	14–46–12	15,492
73	L	March 16, 1991	3–6	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)	14–47–12	16,164
74	L	March 19, 1991	6–7 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1990–91)	14–48–12	15,194
75	T	March 21, 1991	3–3 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1990–91)	14–48–13	14,448
76	W	March 23, 1991	7–3	Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	15–48–13	15,293
77	L	March 26, 1991	4–7	Boston Bruins (1990–91)	15–49–13	15,375
78	T	March 28, 1991	4–4 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	15–49–14	15,324
79	L	March 30, 1991	3–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	15–50–14	17,664
80	W	March 31, 1991	4–1	Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	16–50–14	15,399

Player statistics

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

[4]

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 Saguenéens (QMJHL) Denis Chasse Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) Jon Klemm Spokane Chiefs (WHL)

Player New Team Bobby Dollas Detroit Red Wings

Roster

1990–91 Quebec Nordiques
Goaltenders 1 – Ron Tugnutt  30 – Scott Gordon  31 – Stephane Fiset  32 – Jacques Cloutier  34 – John Tanner		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

Draft picks

Quebec's draft picks from the 1990 NHL Entry Draft which was held at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
1	1	Owen Nolan	Canada	Cornwall Royals (OHL)
2	22	Ryan Hughes	Canada	Cornell Big Red (NCAA)
3	43	Brad Zavisha	Canada	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
6	106	Jeff Parrott	Canada	Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (NCAA)
7	127	Dwayne Norris	Canada	Michigan State Spartans (NCAA)
8	148	Andrei Kovalenko	Soviet Union	CSKA Moscow (Soviet Union)
8	158	Alexander Karpovtsev	Soviet Union	Dynamo Moscow (Soviet Union)
9	169	Pat Mazzoli	Canada	Humboldt Broncos (SJHL)
10	190	Scott Davis	Canada	Manitoba Bisons (CWUAA)
11	211	Mika Stromberg	Finland	Jokerit (Finland)
12	232	Wade Klippenstein	Canada	Alaska Nanooks (NCAA)
S	1	Mike McKee	Canada	Princeton University (ECAC)

Farm Teams

• Halifax Citadels - AHL

References

• Nordiques on Hockey Database

1. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1991.html
2. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
3. "1990–1991 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
4. "1990-91 Quebec Nordiques Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-09-18.