1995–96 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1995–96 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 79th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

1995–96 Toronto Maple Leafs
Division	3rd Central
Conference	4th Western
1995–96 record	34–36–12
Home record	19–15–7
Road record	15–21–5
Goals for	247
Goals against	252
Team information
General manager	Cliff Fletcher
Coach	Pat Burns (Oct.–Mar.) Nick Beverley (Mar.–Apr.)
Captain	Doug Gilmour
Arena	Maple Leaf Gardens
Average attendance	15,729
Minor league affiliate(s)	St. John's Maple Leafs
Team leaders
Goals	Mike Gartner (35)
Assists	Mats Sundin (50)
Points	Mats Sundin (83)
Penalty minutes	Tie Domi (297)
Plus/minus	Kenny Jonsson (+12)
Wins	Felix Potvin (30)
Goals against average	Damian Rhodes (2.79)
← 1994–95 1996–97 →

Offseason

Regular season

The Leafs headed into the 1995–96 regular season with high hopes considering the fact the club reached the playoffs for the last three years. Pat Burns was the head coach until an eight-game losing streak (and a miserable run of 3–16–3 over January and February) led to his termination.^[1] General manager Cliff Fletcher felt that Nick Beverley could get the job done for the rest of the season and named him interim coach.^[1] The team under Beverley went an impressive 9–6–2 and clinched a playoff spot on the final day of their regular season.

• December 11, 1995: Patrick Roy earned his first victory in net as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.^[2] It was a 5–1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
• December 30, 1995: Mats Sundin scored just 6 seconds into the overtime period to give the Maple Leafs a 4–3 road win over the St. Louis Blues.^[3][4] It would prove to be the fastest regular-season overtime goal ever scored and has been matched twice since.^[5][6]

Season standings

Central Division

No.		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Detroit Red Wings	82	62	13	7	325	181	131
2	Chicago Blackhawks	82	40	28	14	273	220	94
3	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	34	36	12	247	252	80
4	St. Louis Blues	82	32	34	16	219	248	80
5	Winnipeg Jets	82	36	40	6	275	291	78
6	Dallas Stars	82	26	42	14	227	280	66

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Western Conference^[7]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Detroit Red Wings	CEN	82	62	13	7	325	181	131
2	Colorado Avalanche	PAC	82	47	25	10	326	240	104
3	Chicago Blackhawks	CEN	82	40	28	14	273	220	94
4	Toronto Maple Leafs	CEN	82	34	36	12	247	252	80
5	St. Louis Blues	CEN	82	32	34	16	219	248	80
6	Calgary Flames	PAC	82	34	37	11	241	240	79
7	Vancouver Canucks	PAC	82	32	35	15	278	278	79
8	Winnipeg Jets	CEN	82	36	40	6	275	291	78
9	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PAC	82	35	39	8	234	247	78
10	Edmonton Oilers	PAC	82	30	44	8	240	304	68
11	Dallas Stars	CEN	82	26	42	14	227	280	66
12	Los Angeles Kings	PAC	82	24	40	18	256	302	66
13	San Jose Sharks	PAC	82	20	55	7	252	357	47

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

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

Schedule and results

Regular season

1995–96 regular season[8]
October: 4–5–1 (home: 3–2–1; road: 1–3–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 October 7, 1995 3–8 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 0–1–0 L 2 October 10, 1995 7–3 New York Islanders (1995–96) 1–1–0 W 3 October 14, 1995 0–2 New York Rangers (1995–96) 1–2–0 L 4 October 17, 1995 7–2 San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 2–2–0 W 5 October 20, 1995 4–3 OT Calgary Flames (1995–96) 3–2–0 W 6 October 21, 1995 3–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 3–3–0 L 7 October 24, 1995 1–6 Florida Panthers (1995–96) 3–4–0 L 8 October 26, 1995 2–1 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 4–4–0 W 9 October 28, 1995 2–2 OT Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 4–4–1 T 10 October 29, 1995 2–3 @ New York Rangers (1995–96) 4–5–1 L
November: 7–4–3 (home: 4–1–0; road: 3–3–3) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 11 November 1, 1995 4–2 @ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 5–5–1 W 12 November 3, 1995 4–4 OT @ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 5–5–2 T 13 November 4, 1995 3–3 OT @ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 5–5–3 T 14 November 7, 1995 6–3 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 6–5–3 W 15 November 10, 1995 6–1 Washington Capitals (1995–96) 7–5–3 W 16 November 11, 1995 3–1 @ Boston Bruins (1995–96) 8–5–3 W 17 November 14, 1995 2–5 @ Florida Panthers (1995–96) 8–6–3 L 18 November 16, 1995 5–4 OT @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 9–6–3 W 19 November 18, 1995 2–1 Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 10–6–3 W 20 November 21, 1995 5–2 St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 11–6–3 W 21 November 24, 1995 0–4 Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 11–7–3 L 22 November 25, 1995 2–2 OT @ St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 11–7–4 T 23 November 28, 1995 3–4 @ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 11–8–4 L 24 November 30, 1995 2–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 11–9–4 L
December: 8–4–2 (home: 3–2–1; road: 5–2–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 25 December 2, 1995 4–4 OT Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 11–9–5 T 26 December 5, 1995 4–1 Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 12–9–5 W 27 December 7, 1995 2–1 @ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 13–9–5 W 28 December 9, 1995 3–1 Dallas Stars (1995–96) 14–9–5 W 29 December 11, 1995 1–5 Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 14–10–5 L 30 December 14, 1995 4–1 @ San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 15–10–5 W 31 December 16, 1995 6–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 16–10–5 W 32 December 17, 1995 3–2 OT @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 17–10–5 W 33 December 20, 1995 2–4 Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 17–11–5 L 34 December 21, 1995 3–3 OT @ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 17–11–6 T 35 December 23, 1995 6–1 Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 18–11–6 W 36 December 27, 1995 0–4 @ Calgary Flames (1995–96) 18–12–6 L 37 December 29, 1995 2–3 @ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 18–13–6 L 38 December 30, 1995 4–3 OT @ St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 19–13–6 W
January: 3–6–3 (home: 2–3–2; road: 1–3–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 39 January 1, 1996 1–0 @ Dallas Stars (1995–96) 20–13–6 W 40 January 3, 1996 4–4 OT Boston Bruins (1995–96) 20–13–7 T 41 January 5, 1996 1–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 20–14–7 L 42 January 6, 1996 5–2 Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 21–14–7 W 43 January 10, 1996 5–4 Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 22–14–7 W 44 January 11, 1996 3–4 @ New York Islanders (1995–96) 22–15–7 L 45 January 13, 1996 2–5 Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 22–16–7 L 46 January 17, 1996 2–4 Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 22–17–7 L 47 January 24, 1996 2–2 OT Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 22–17–8 T 48 January 27, 1996 2–2 OT @ Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 22–17–9 T 49 January 30, 1996 2–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 22–18–9 L 50 January 31, 1996 0–4 St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 22–19–9 L
February: 3–9–1 (home: 2–4–1; road: 1–5–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 51 February 3, 1996 1–4 Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 22–20–9 L 52 February 5, 1996 4–6 @ San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 22–21–9 L 53 February 7, 1996 2–1 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 23–21–9 W 54 February 8, 1996 3–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 23–22–9 L 55 February 10, 1996 2–2 OT Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 23–22–10 T 56 February 12, 1996 4–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 24–22–10 W 57 February 14, 1996 4–3 San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 25–22–10 W 58 February 16, 1996 3–4 @ Washington Capitals (1995–96) 25–23–10 L 59 February 18, 1996 2–3 Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 25–24–10 L 60 February 21, 1996 2–3 OT Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 25–25–10 L 61 February 22, 1996 3–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 25–26–10 L 62 February 24, 1996 2–3 Dallas Stars (1995–96) 25–27–10 L 63 February 28, 1996 3–4 @ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 25–28–10 L
March: 6–6–2 (home: 3–2–2; road: 3–4–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 64 March 2, 1996 1–5 @ Dallas Stars (1995–96) 25–29–10 L 65 March 3, 1996 0–4 @ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 25–30–10 L 66 March 6, 1996 2–2 OT New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 25–30–11 T 67 March 8, 1996 4–7 @ Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 25–31–11 L 68 March 9, 1996 4–3 Calgary Flames (1995–96) 26–31–11 W 69 March 13, 1996 3–3 OT Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 26–31–12 T 70 March 15, 1996 3–0 Dallas Stars (1995–96) 27–31–12 W 71 March 17, 1996 4–2 Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 28–31–12 W 72 March 19, 1996 5–6 @ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 28–32–12 L 73 March 20, 1996 3–4 OT Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 28–33–12 L 74 March 23, 1996 0–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 28–34–12 L 75 March 25, 1996 4–2 @ Calgary Flames (1995–96) 29–34–12 W 76 March 27, 1996 6–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 30–34–12 W 77 March 30, 1996 4–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 31–34–12 W
April: 3–2–0 (home: 2–1–0; road: 1–1–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 78 April 3, 1996 2–5 Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 31–35–12 L 79 April 4, 1996 3–1 @ St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 32–35–12 W 80 April 6, 1996 5–1 St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 33–35–12 W 81 April 11, 1996 2–5 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 33–36–12 L 82 April 13, 1996 6–3 Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 34–36–12 W
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1996 Stanley Cup playoffs[8]
Western Conference Quarterfinals vs. (5) St. Louis Blues: Blues win 4–2 Game Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 April 16, 1996 1–3 St. Louis Blues Blues lead 1–0 L 2 April 18, 1996 5–4 OT St. Louis Blues Series tied 1–1 W 3 April 21, 1996 2–3 OT @ St. Louis Blues Blues lead 2–1 L 4 April 23, 1996 1–5 @ St. Louis Blues Blues lead 3–1 L 5 April 25, 1996 5–4 OT St. Louis Blues Blues lead 3–2 W 6 April 27, 1996 1–2 @ St. Louis Blues Blues win 4–2 L
Legend: W Win L Loss

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 Maple Leafs only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Maple Leafs only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
13	Mats Sundin	RW	76	33	50	83	8	46	6	3	1	4	−8	4
93	Doug Gilmour	C	81	32	40	72	−5	77	6	1	7	8	−4	12
55	Larry Murphy	D	82	12	49	61	−2	34	6	0	2	2	−8	4
11	Mike Gartner	RW	82	35	19	54	5	52	6	4	1	5	−5	4
14	Dave Andreychuk‡	LW	61	20	24	44	−11	54	—	—	—	—	—	—
33	Benoit Hogue‡	LW	44	12	25	37	6	68	—	—	—	—	—	—
19	Kenny Jonsson‡	D	50	4	22	26	12	22	—	—	—	—	—	—
21	Kirk Muller†	C	36	9	16	25	−3	42	6	3	2	5	−1	0
23	Todd Gill	D	74	7	18	25	−15	116	6	0	0	0	−2	24
15	Dave Gagner†	LW	28	7	15	22	−2	59	6	0	2	2	−5	6
4	Dave Ellett	D	80	3	19	22	−10	59	6	0	0	0	−5	4
9	Mike Craig	LW	70	8	12	20	−8	42	6	0	0	0	0	18
24	Randy Wood‡	LW	46	7	9	16	−4	36	—	—	—	—	—	—
17	Wendel Clark†	LW	13	8	7	15	7	16	6	2	2	4	−6	2
7	Sergio Momesso‡	LW	54	7	8	15	−11	112	—	—	—	—	—	—
8	Todd Warriner	C	57	7	8	15	−11	26	6	1	1	2	0	2
28	Tie Domi	RW	72	7	6	13	−3	297	6	0	2	2	0	4
16	Darby Hendrickson‡	LW	46	6	6	12	−2	47	—	—	—	—	—	—
26	Dmitri Yushkevich	D	69	1	10	11	−14	54	4	0	0	0	1	0
25	Paul DiPietro	C	20	4	4	8	−3	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
34	Jamie Macoun	D	82	0	8	8	2	87	6	0	2	2	3	8
12	Brandon Convery	C	11	5	2	7	−7	4	5	0	0	0	0	2
72	Mathieu Schneider†	D	13	2	5	7	−2	10	6	0	4	4	−7	8
22	Ken Baumgartner‡	LW	60	2	3	5	−5	152	—	—	—	—	—	—
37	Mark Kolesar	RW	21	2	2	4	0	14	3	1	0	1	1	2
18	Wayne Presley†	RW	19	2	2	4	−4	14	5	0	0	0	0	2
15	Mike Hudson‡	RW	27	2	0	2	−5	29	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	Bill Berg‡	LW	23	1	1	2	−6	33	—	—	—	—	—	—
32	Nick Kypreos†	LW	19	1	1	2	0	30	5	0	0	0	0	4
20	Zdenek Nedved	RW	7	1	1	2	−1	6	—	—	—	—	—	—
40	Kelly Fairchild	C	1	0	1	1	1	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	Rob Zettler	D	29	0	1	1	−1	48	2	0	0	0	0	0
33	Don Beaupre†	G	8	0	0	0		14	2	0	0	0		0
52	Sean Haggerty‡	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
38	David Harlock	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
36	Jamie Heward	D	5	0	0	0	−1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	Matt Martin	D	13	0	0	0	−1	14	—	—	—	—	—	—
29	Felix Potvin	G	69	0	0	0		4	6	0	0	0		2
1	Damian Rhodes‡	G	11	0	0	0		0	—	—	—	—	—	—
18	Peter White†	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—

Goaltending

• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Maple Leafs only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Maple Leafs only.

No.	Player	Regular season										Playoffs
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
29	Felix Potvin	69	30	26	11	2135	192	2.87	.910	2	4009	6	2	4	198	19	3.26	.904	0	350
1	Damian Rhodes‡	11	4	5	1	301	29	2.79	.904	0	624	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
33	Don Beaupre†	8	0	5	0	170	26	4.64	.847	0	336	2	0	0	13	2	5.88	.846	0	20

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honour	Recipient	Ref
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Mike Gartner	[9]
		Larry Murphy[a]
		Felix Potvin
		Mats Sundin
Team	Molson Cup	Felix Potvin	[11]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Mark Kolesar	October 28, 1995	[12]
	Jamie Heward	February 3, 1996
	Sean Haggerty	February 22, 1996
	Brandon Convery	March 2, 1996
	Kelly Fairchild	March 20, 1996
1,000th point	Doug Gilmour	December 23, 1995	[13]
	Larry Murphy	March 27, 1996	[14]

Transactions

The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1995-96 season.

Trades

August 30, 1995	To Philadelphia Flyers 1st round pick in 1996 – Dainius Zubrus 4th round pick in 1996 – Mikael Simons 2nd round pick in 1997 – Jean-Marc Pelletier	To Toronto Maple Leafs Dmitry Yushkevich 2nd round pick in 1996 – Francis Larivee
October 2, 1995	To Colorado Avalanche Warren Rychel	To Toronto Maple Leafs 7th round pick in 1997 – Shawn Thornton
December 4, 1995	To Edmonton Oilers Kent Manderville	To Toronto Maple Leafs Peter White 4th round pick in 1996 – Jason Sessa
January 23, 1996	To New York Islanders Damian Rhodes Ken Belanger	To Toronto Maple Leafs Don Beaupre Kirk Muller
January 28, 1996	To Dallas Stars Randy Wood Benoit Hogue	To Toronto Maple Leafs Dave Gagner 6th round pick in 1996 – Dmitri Yakushin
January 29, 1996	To Chicago Blackhawks Cash	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Pomichter
February 29, 1996	To New York Rangers Sergio Momesso Bill Berg	To Toronto Maple Leafs Nick Kypreos Wayne Presley
March 13, 1996	To New Jersey Devils Dave Andreychuk	To Toronto Maple Leafs 2nd round pick in 1996 – Marek Posmyk 4th round pick in 1998 – Kristian Antila
March 13, 1996	To New York Islanders Darby Hendrickson Sean Haggerty Kenny Jonsson 1st round pick in 1997 – Roberto Luongo	To Toronto Maple Leafs Wendel Clark Mathieu Schneider D. J. Smith
March 20, 1996	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Ken Baumgartner	To Toronto Maple Leafs 4th round pick in 1996 – Kim Staal
June 14, 1996	To San Jose Sharks Todd Gill	To Toronto Maple Leafs Jamie Baker 5th round pick in 1996 – Peter Cava
June 22, 1996	To Phoenix Coyotes Mike Gartner	To Toronto Maple Leafs 4th round pick in 1996 – Vladimir Antipov
June 22, 1996	To Calgary Flames Dave Gagner	To Toronto Maple Leafs 3rd round pick in 1996 – Mike Lankshear

Waivers

October 2, 1995	To St. Louis Blues Pat Jablonski
January 4, 1996	To St. Louis Blues Mike Hudson

Free agents

Player Former Team Mike Hudson Pittsburgh Penguins

Player New Team Grant Jennings Buffalo Sabres

Draft picks

Toronto's draft picks at the 1995 NHL entry draft held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta.^[15]

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	15	Jeff Ware (D)	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
3	54	Ryan Pepperall (RW)	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
6	139	Doug Bonner (G)	United States	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
6	145	Yannick Tremblay (D)	Canada	Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL)
7	171	Marek Melenovsky (C)	Czech Republic	HC Dukla Jihlava Jr. (Czech Republic)
8	197	Mark Murphy (LW)	United States	Stratford Cullitons (MWJBHL)
9	223	Danny Markov (D)	Russia	Spartak Moscow (Russia)

Farm teams

• The Maple Leafs farm team was the St. John's Maple Leafs in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Notes

1. Murphy was an injury replacement for Gary Suter of the Chicago Blackhawks.^[10]