1994–95 Edmonton Oilers season

1994–95 Edmonton Oilers
1994–95 Edmonton Oilers
Division	5th Pacific
Conference	11th Western
1994–95 record	17–27–4
Home record	11–12–1
Road record	6–15–3
Goals for	136
Goals against	183
Team information
General manager	Glen Sather
Coach	George Burnett (Jan.–Apr.); Ron Low (Apr.–May)
Captain	Shayne Corson (Jan.–Apr.); Vacant (Apr.–May)
Alternate captains	Kelly Buchberger; Luke Richardson
Arena	Northlands Coliseum
Average attendance	13,123 (76.7%)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Cape Breton Oilers (AHL); Wheeling Thunderbirds (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	David Oliver (16)
Assists	Doug Weight (33)
Points	Doug Weight (40)
Penalty minutes	Bryan Marchment (184)
Plus/minus	Dean Kennedy (+2)
Wins	Bill Ranford (15)
Goals against average	Bill Ranford (3.62)
	← 1993–94 1995–96 →

The 1994–95 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' 16th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a tough 1993–94 season, when they finished the year 25–45–14, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the 2nd straight season.

The 1994–95 season was nearly cancelled due to a lockout, however, on January 11, 1995, an agreement was made between the NHL owners and the players, and a shortened 48 game schedule was used for the season.

The Oilers named George Burnett as head coach of the club, as Burnett coached the Oilers AHL affiliate, the Cape Breton Oilers for the previous 2 seasons, including leading the team to the Calder Cup in 1993. Edmonton got off to a solid start, and 27 games into the season, the Oilers sat in 2nd place in the Pacific Division with 26 points, only 3 behind the division leading Calgary Flames. The Oilers then went on a 10-game winless streak, costing Burnett his job, as former Oilers goaltender Ron Low replaced him.^[1] It was too little too late, as Edmonton would finish the season 17–27–4, earning 38 points, and missed the playoffs for the 3rd straight season.

Offensively, Doug Weight led the team with 40 points, while David Oliver was the Oilers goal scoring leader with 16. Jason Arnott had another solid season, scoring 15 goals and earning 37 points. Defenseman Igor Kravchuk led the blueline with 18 points in 36 games, while Bryan Marchment had a club high 184 penalty minutes.

In goal, Bill Ranford played in 40 games, winning 15 of them, with a 3.62 GAA and 2 shutouts along the way. However, the Oilers allowed a league-high 183 goals and Oilers goaltenders combined for a league-low .877 save percentage.

The Oilers had the most power-play opportunities during the regular season, with 259. They also allowed the most power-play goals, with 52.^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division
No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Calgary Flames	48	24	17	7	163	135	55
2	6	Vancouver Canucks	48	18	18	12	153	148	48
3	7	San Jose Sharks	48	19	25	4	129	161	42
4	9	Los Angeles Kings	48	16	23	9	142	174	41
5	11	Edmonton Oilers	48	17	27	4	136	183	38
6	12	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	48	16	27	5	125	164	37

^[3]

Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Western Conference^[4]
R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Detroit Red Wings	CEN	48	33	11	4	180	117	70
2	x – Calgary Flames	PAC	48	24	17	7	163	135	55
3	St. Louis Blues	CEN	48	28	15	5	178	135	61
4	Chicago Blackhawks	CEN	48	24	19	5	156	115	53
5	Toronto Maple Leafs	CEN	48	21	19	8	135	146	50
6	Vancouver Canucks	PAC	48	18	18	12	153	148	48
7	San Jose Sharks	PAC	48	19	25	4	129	161	42
8	Dallas Stars	CEN	48	17	23	8	136	135	42

9	Los Angeles Kings	PAC	48	16	23	9	142	174	41
10	Winnipeg Jets	CEN	48	16	25	7	157	177	39
11	Edmonton Oilers	PAC	48	17	27	4	136	183	38
12	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PAC	48	16	27	5	125	164	37

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

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

Schedule and results

1994–95 regular season^[5]

January: 2–4–0 (home: 1–1–0 ; road: 1–3–0)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
1	January 20	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	1 – 2	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	14,967	1–0–0	2	Recap
2	January 22	Edmonton Oilers	4 – 3	Los Angeles Kings		Ranford	13,160	2–0–0	4	Recap
3	January 23	Edmonton Oilers	4 – 5	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	OT	Ranford	17,174	2–1–0	4	Recap
4	January 25	Edmonton Oilers	1 – 5	Chicago Blackhawks		Ranford	20,536	2–2–0	4	Recap
5	January 28	Edmonton Oilers	2 – 5	Detroit Red Wings		Brathwaite		2–3–0	4	Recap
6	January 30	Detroit Red Wings	4 – 2	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	12,120	2–4–0	4	Recap

February: 5–6–2 (home: 4–2–1 ; road: 1–4–1)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
7	February 1	Chicago Blackhawks	7 – 0	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	10,492	2–5–0	4	Recap
8	February 3	Toronto Maple Leafs	3 – 5	Edmonton Oilers		Brathwaite	14,307	3–5–0	6	Recap
9	February 7	Edmonton Oilers	4 – 4	Vancouver Canucks	OT	Ranford	12,347	3–5–1	7	Recap
10	February 8	Winnipeg Jets	3 – 3	Edmonton Oilers	OT	Ranford	10,308	3–5–2	8	Recap
11	February 10	San Jose Sharks	1 – 5	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	11,555	4–5–2	10	Recap
12	February 12	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	0 – 2	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	12,487	5–5–2	12	Recap
13	February 15	Edmonton Oilers	4 – 1	Toronto Maple Leafs		Ranford	15,746	6–5–2	14	Recap
14	February 17	Edmonton Oilers	2 – 4	Detroit Red Wings		Ranford	19,875	6–6–2	14	Recap
15	February 19	Edmonton Oilers	1 – 4	Chicago Blackhawks		Brathwaite	20,536	6–7–2	14	Recap
16	February 20	Edmonton Oilers	0 – 4	St. Louis Blues		Ranford	17,119	6–8–2	14	Recap
17	February 22	Dallas Stars	1 – 2	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	10,242	7–8–2	16	Recap
18	February 25	Los Angeles Kings	4 – 3	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	16,945	7–9–2	16	Recap
19	February 28	Edmonton Oilers	2 – 5	Calgary Flames		Brathwaite	19,127	7–10–2	16	Recap

March: 5–7–1 (home: 4–4–0 ; road: 1–3–1)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
20	March 1	Dallas Stars	5 – 3	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	9,502	7–11–2	16	Recap
21	March 3	Chicago Blackhawks	5 – 2	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	12,248	7–12–2	16	Recap
22	March 5	Detroit Red Wings	2 – 4	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	12,780	8–12–2	18	Recap
23	March 8	Edmonton Oilers	5 – 2	San Jose Sharks		Ranford	17,190	9–12–2	20	Recap
24	March 12	Vancouver Canucks	5 – 2	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	12,768	9–13–2	20	Recap
25	March 14	St. Louis Blues	5 – 6	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	10,707	10–13–2	22	Recap
26	March 17	San Jose Sharks	3 – 5	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	12,369	11–13–2	24	Recap
27	March 20	Calgary Flames	2 – 5	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	14,060	12–13–2	26	Recap
28	March 22	Edmonton Oilers	4 – 4	Dallas Stars	OT	Brathwaite	16,494	12–13–3	27	Recap
29	March 23	Edmonton Oilers	1 – 2	Dallas Stars		Ranford	16,924	12–14–3	27	Recap
30	March 26	Edmonton Oilers	1 – 5	St. Louis Blues		Ranford	20,185	12–15–3	27	Recap
31	March 27	Edmonton Oilers	3 – 4	Toronto Maple Leafs		Brathwaite	15,746	12–16–3	27	Recap
32	March 31	Calgary Flames	6 – 2	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	17,013	12–17–3	27	Recap

April: 5–8–1 (home: 2–4–0 ; road: 3–4–1)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
33	April 1	Vancouver Canucks	5 – 1	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	14,465	12–18–3	27	Recap
34	April 3	Edmonton Oilers	2 – 7	Los Angeles Kings		Ranford	16,008	12–19–3	27	Recap
35	April 5	Edmonton Oilers	3 – 4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	OT	Ranford	17,174	12–20–3	27	Recap
36	April 7	Edmonton Oilers	0 – 5	San Jose Sharks		Ranford	17,190	12–21–3	27	Recap
37	April 9	San Jose Sharks	5 – 2	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	12,185	12–22–3	27	Recap
38	April 13	Edmonton Oilers	6 – 4	Vancouver Canucks		Brathwaite	13,290	13–22–3	29	Recap
39	April 15	Calgary Flames	4 – 2	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	16,121	13–23–3	29	Recap
40	April 17	Edmonton Oilers	6 – 5	Winnipeg Jets		Ranford	14,501	14–23–3	31	Recap
41	April 19	Los Angeles Kings	0 – 2	Edmonton Oilers		Ranford	15,403	15–23–3	33	Recap
42	April 21	Edmonton Oilers	3 – 3	Los Angeles Kings	OT	Ranford	15,624	15–23–4	34	Recap
43	April 22	Edmonton Oilers	1 – 6	Vancouver Canucks		Ranford	14,275	15–24–4	34	Recap
44	April 25	Edmonton Oilers	5 – 3	Winnipeg Jets		Ranford	12,994	16–24–4	36	Recap
45	April 27	St. Louis Blues	2 – 3	Edmonton Oilers	OT	Ranford	12,655	17–24–4	38	Recap
46	April 29	Winnipeg Jets	5 – 1	Edmonton Oilers		Brathwaite	15,219	17–25–4	38	Recap

May: 0–2–0 (home: 0–1–0 ; road: 0–1–0)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
47	May 1	Toronto Maple Leafs	6 – 5	Edmonton Oilers		Gage	14,044	17–26–4	38	Recap
48	May 3	Edmonton Oilers	3 – 5	Calgary Flames		Gage	18,851	17–27–4	38	Recap

Legend:

Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; 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 Oilers only.
‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Oilers only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
No.	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
39	Doug Weight	C	48	7	33	40	−17	69
7	Jason Arnott	C	42	15	22	37	−14	128
9	Shayne Corson	LW	48	12	24	36	−17	86
20	David Oliver	RW	44	16	14	30	−11	20
26	Todd Marchant	C	45	13	14	27	−3	32
16	Kelly Buchberger	RW	48	7	17	24	0	82
17	Scott Thornton	LW	47	10	12	22	−4	89
21	Igor Kravchuk	D	36	7	11	18	−15	29
25	Mike Stapleton	RW	46	6	11	17	−12	21
28	Roman Oksiuta‡	RW	26	11	2	13	−14	8
22	Luke Richardson	D	46	3	10	13	−6	40
18	Kirk Maltby	RW	47	8	3	11	−11	49
32	Dean Kennedy	D	40	2	8	10	2	25
15	Fredrik Olausson	D	33	0	10	10	−4	20
2	Boris Mironov	D	29	1	7	8	−9	40
27	Peter White	C	9	2	4	6	1	0
24	Bryan Marchment	D	40	1	5	6	−11	184
28	Jiri Slegr†	D	12	1	5	6	−5	14
34	Len Esau‡	D	14	0	6	6	−8	15
33	Scott Pearson‡	RW	28	1	4	5	−11	54
6^[a]	Ken Sutton†	D	12	3	1	4	−1	12
8	Zdeno Ciger	LW	5	2	2	4	−1	0
38	Iain Fraser†	C	9	3	0	3	3	0
29	Louie DeBrusk	LW	34	2	0	2	−4	93
6	Gord Mark	D	18	0	2	2	−9	35
30	Bill Ranford	G	40	0	2	2		2
23	Jason Bonsignore	C	1	1	0	1	−1	0
14	Kent Nilsson†	C	6	1	0	1	−5	0
19	Tyler Wright	C	6	1	0	1	1	14
12	Micah Aivazoff	LW	21	0	1	1	−2	2
1	Joaquin Gage	G	2	0	1	1		0
36	Ralph Intranuovo	C	1	0	1	1	1	0
43	Dennis Bonvie	D	2	0	0	0	0	0
31	Fred Brathwaite	G	14	0	0	0		0
37	Dean McAmmond	LW	6	0	0	0	−1	0
34	Ryan McGill†	D	8	0	0	0	−4	8
10	Ryan Smyth	LW	3	0	0	0	−1	0
33	Marko Tuomainen	RW	4	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season
No.	Player	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
30	Bill Ranford	40	15	20	3	1134	133	3.62	.883	2	2203
31	Fred Brathwaite	14	2	5	1	292	40	4.00	.863	0	601
1	Joaquin Gage	2	0	2	0	40	7	4.25	.825	0	99

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honour	Recipient	Ref
Team	Community Service Award	Bill Ranford	^[6]
	Defenceman of the Year	Luke Richardson	^[6]
	Molson Cup	Bill Ranford	^[6]
	Most Popular Player	Kirk Maltby	^[6]
	Top Defensive Forward	Kelly Buchberger	^[6]
	Top First Year Oiler	Todd Marchant	^[6]
	Unsung Hero	David Oliver	^[6]
	Zane Feldman Trophy	Jason Arnott	^[6]

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached
David Oliver	1st NHL Game 1st NHL Goal 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point	January 20, 1995
Igor Kravchuk	100th NHL Game	January 22, 1995
Ryan Smyth	1st NHL Game	January 22, 1995
Todd Marchant	1st NHL Goal	January 28, 1995
Dean Kennedy	1,100th NHL PIM	January 30, 1995
Shayne Corson	400th NHL Point	February 19, 1995
Bryan Marchment	800th NHL PIM	February 19, 1995
Mike Stapleton	300th NHL Game	February 22, 1995
Jason Arnott	200th NHL PIM	February 25, 1995
Scott Thornton	200th NHL PIM
Scott Pearson	500th NHL PIM
Dean Kennedy	700th NHL Game	March 8, 1995
Jason Arnott	100th NHL Game	March 12, 1995
Jason Arnott	1st NHL Hat-trick	March 20, 1995
David Oliver	1st NHL Hat-trick	March 22, 1995
Luke Richardson	100th NHL Point	March 22, 1995
Boris Mironov	100th NHL Game	March 23, 1995
Bryan Marchment	900th NHL PIM	March 26, 1995
Ralph Intranuovo	1st NHL Game 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point	March 27, 1995
Kirk Maltby	100th NHL Game 100th NHL PIM	April 1, 1995
Kelly Buchberger	1,200th NHL PIM	April 3, 1995
Shayne Corson	600th NHL Game	April 7, 1995
Marko Tuomainen	1st NHL Game	April 19, 1995
Louie DeBrusk	600th NHL PIM	April 15, 1995
Jason Arnott	100th NHL Point	April 17, 1995
Dennis Bonvie	1st NHL Game	April 19, 1995
Bill Ranford	10th NHL Shutout	April 19, 1995
Doug Weight	200th NHL PIM	April 21, 1995
Shayne Corson	1,300th NHL PIM	April 22, 1995
Joaquin Gage	1st NHL Game 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point	May 1, 1995
Jason Bonsignore	1st NHL Game 1st NHL Goal 1st NHL Point	May 3, 1995

Transactions

Trades

March 13, 1995	To Philadelphia Flyers Brad Zavisha 6th round pick in 1995	To Edmonton Oilers Ryan McGill
April 7, 1995	To Buffalo Sabres Scott Pearson	To Edmonton Oilers Ken Sutton
April 7, 1995	To Vancouver Canucks Roman Oksiuta	To Edmonton Oilers Jiri Slegr

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team
August 25, 1994 (1994-08-25)	Dennis Bonvie	Cape Breton Oilers (AHL)
January 26, 1995 (1995-01-26)	Kent Nilsson	Vålerenga Ishockey (Eliteserien)

Players lost

Date	Player	New team
May 27, 1994 (1994-05-27)	Jeff Chychrun	Hartford Whalers
July 7, 1994 (1994-07-07)	Brent Grieve	Chicago Blackhawks
July 27, 1994 (1994-07-27)	Shjon Podein	Philadelphia Flyers
August 18, 1994 (1994-08-18)	Steven Rice	Hartford Whalers
August 29, 1994 (1994-08-29)	Bob Beers	New York Islanders
September 18, 1994 (1994-09-18)	Ilya Byakin	San Jose Sharks
November 17, 1994 (1994-11-17)	Tim Tisdale	Fredericton Canadiens (AHL)

Waivers

Date	Player	Team
January 18, 1995 (1995-01-18)	Micah Aivazoff	from Pittsburgh Penguins
	Len Esau	from Calgary Flames
	Dean Kennedy	from Winnipeg Jets
March 3, 1995 (1995-03-03)	Iain Fraser	from Dallas Stars
March 7, 1995 (1995-03-07)	Len Esau	to Calgary Flames

Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft held at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut.^[7]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	4	Jason Bonsignore	United States	Niagara Falls Thunder (OHL)
1	6	Ryan Smyth	Canada	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
2	32	Mike Watt	Canada	Stratford Cullitons (MOJHL)
3	53	Corey Neilson	Canada	North Bay Centennials (OHL)
3	60	Brad Symes	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
4	79	Adam Copeland	Canada	Burlington Cougars (OPJHL)
4	95	Jussi Tarvainen	Finland	KalPa (Finland)
5	110	Jon Gaskins	United States	Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)
6	136	Terry Marchant	United States	Niagara Scenics (NAJHL)
7	160	Curtis Sheptak	Canada	Olds Grizzlys (AJHL)
7	162	Dmitri Sulga	Belarus	Tivali Minsk (Russia)
7	179	Chris Wickenheiser	Canada	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
8	185	Rob Guinn	Canada	Newmarket Royals (OHL)
8	188	Jason Reid	Canada	St. Andrew's College (High school)
9	214	Jeremy Jablonski	Canada	Victoria Cougars (WHL)
11	266	Ladislav Benýšek	Czech Republic	Sigma Olomouc (Czech Republic)
S	6	Chad Dameworth	United States	Northern Michigan University (CCHA)

Notes

^ Sutton wore number 40 in his first game.

References

"Edmonton Oilers 1994-95 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
"1994-95 Edmonton Oilers Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

^ "SPORTS PEOPLE: HOCKEY; Oilers Fire Coach". The New York Times. April 7, 1995. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
^ "1994-95 NHL Summary".
^ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
^ "1994-1995 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
^ "1994-95 Edmonton Oilers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h 2014–15 Edmonton Oilers Media Guide, p.173
^ "1994 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 10, 2023.

[6] Sutton wore number 40 in his first game.

[1] "SPORTS PEOPLE: HOCKEY; Oilers Fire Coach". The New York Times. April 7, 1995. Retrieved September 10, 2023.

[2] "1994-95 NHL Summary".

[3] Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.

[4] "1994-1995 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.

[5] "1994-95 Edmonton Oilers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2023.

[Teamawards-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h 2014–15 Edmonton Oilers Media Guide, p.173

[8] "1994 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 10, 2023.

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