1994–95 Hartford Whalers season

Off-season

The Whalers announced on May 19 that head coach Pierre McGuire would not return to the club. McGuire took over the head coaching duties early in the 1993–94, as Paul Holmgren focused on his role as general manager of the team. In 67 games, McGuire led the Whalers to a 23-37-7 record.

On June 28, the Whalers selected Steve Martins in the 1994 NHL supplemental draft. Martins played the 1993–94 season with Harvard University, where he 25 goals and 60 points in 32 games.

At the 1994 NHL entry draft held at the Hartford Civic Center on June 28, the Whalers selected Jeff O'Neill from the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League with their first round, fifth overall selection. O'Neill scored 45 goals and 126 points in 66 games with the Storm during the 1993–94 season. The only other player that the Whalers selected in the draft that played in the NHL was Hnat Domenichelli, who Hartford selected in the fourth round.

On June 28, the NHL announced that the Whalers ownership transferred to the Compuware group, led by Peter Karmanos Jr., Thomas Thewes and Jim Rutherford. The group owned the Detroit Junior Red Wings of the Ontario Hockey League, originally named the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors, since they were awarded an OHL expansion franchise on December 11, 1989. Rutherford took over the general manager duties of the Whalers at this time, replacing Paul Holmgren, who returned to head coaching duties. Rutherford was a former NHL goaltender, amassing a 151-227-59 record with a 3.66 GAA in 457 games with the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings in a career that spanned from 1970 to 1983. Following his playing career, Rutherford was the general manager of the Windsor Compuware Spitfires from 1985 to 1989. He then became the general manager of the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors/Detroit Junior Red Wings franchise from 1989 to 1994.

The Whalers signed free agent Jimmy Carson on July 13. Carson split the 1993–94 season between the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks, as he scored 14 goals and 28 points in 59 games. Carson's best NHL season was in 1987–88 with the Kings, when he scored 55 goals and 107 points in 80 games. On August 9, 1988, Carson was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in a blockbuster trade in which Wayne Gretzky was traded to Los Angeles.

On August 18, the Whalers signed restricted free agent Steven Rice from the Edmonton Oilers. In 63 games, Rice scored 17 goals and 32 points during the 1993–94 season. As compensation for signing Rice, Hartford sent Bryan Marchment to the Oilers on August 30.

The Whalers acquired Glen Wesley from the Boston Bruins in a trade on August 26, sending their first round draft picks in the 1995 NHL entry draft, 1996 NHL entry draft and 1997 NHL entry draft to the Bruins. Wesley scored 14 goals and 58 points in 81 games during the 1993–94 season. He was drafted third overall by Boston in the 1987 NHL entry draft, and had accumulated 77 goals and 307 points in 537 games since beginning his career in the 1987–88 season.

Following the 1994–95 NHL lockout, which postponed the start of the season until January 1995, the Whalers participated in the waiver draft on January 18. Hartford selected Brian Glynn from the Vancouver Canucks and Kelly Chase from the St. Louis Blues. Glynn split the 1993–94 season with the Ottawa Senators and Canucks, scoring two goals and 15 points in 64 games. In 17 playoff games with Vancouver, Glynn had three assists. Chase played in 68 games with the Blues during 1993–94, scoring two goals and seven points, along with 278 penalty minutes.

Regular season

The Whalers tied the Dallas Stars and the Toronto Maple Leafs for the lowest shooting percentage during the regular season, with just 127 goals on 1,428 shots (8.9%).

Final standings

Schedule and results

|- |1||January 21, 1995||1–1 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Washington Capitals (1994–95) ||0–0–1 || 15,635 || |- |2||January 22, 1995||2–2 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey Devils (1994–95) ||0–0–2 || 12,054 || |- |3||January 25, 1995||4–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||1–0–2 || 8,567 || |- |4||January 26, 1995||2–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) ||1–1–2 || 16,557 || |- |5||January 28, 1995||1–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Florida Panthers (1994–95) ||1–2–2 || 9,419 ||

| Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• • = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.*
• • = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Whalers only.*

Goaltending

Awards and records

Awards

Milestones

Transactions

The Whalers were involved in the following transactions during the 1994–95 season.

Trades

Waivers

Free agents

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Draft picks

Hartford's draft picks at the 1994 NHL entry draft.

Notes

References

References

1. "Hartford Whalers Yearly Attendance Graph".
2. "1994-95 NHL Summary".
3. "1994-95 Hartford Whalers Schedule".
4. "Whalers Team Awards".
5. "1994-95 NHL Debuts".
6. "1994 NHL Entry Draft".