1998–99 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1998–99 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the franchise's 82nd season. Two moves occurred this season. First, the club moved from the Western to the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). Secondly, the club moved from Maple Leaf Gardens to the new Air Canada Centre. Toronto qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Buffalo Sabres.

1998–99 Toronto Maple Leafs
Division	2nd Northeast
Conference	4th Eastern
1998–99 record	45–30–7
Home record	23–13–5
Road record	22–17–2
Goals for	268
Goals against	231
Team information
General manager	Ken Dryden
Coach	Pat Quinn
Captain	Mats Sundin
Arena	Maple Leaf Gardens (Oct.–Feb.) Air Canada Centre (Feb.–May)
Average attendance	16,765
Minor league affiliate(s)	St. John's Maple Leafs
Team leaders
Goals	Sergei Berezin (37)
Assists	Mats Sundin (52)
Points	Mats Sundin (83)
Penalty minutes	Tie Domi (198)
Plus/minus	Alexander Karpovtsev (+38)
Wins	Curtis Joseph (35)
Goals against average	Curtis Joseph (2.56)
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

Off-season

The Toronto Maple Leafs moved from the Central Division of the Western Conference to the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference.

Regular season

The 1998–99 season was a tremendous improvement for the Maple Leafs over the 1997–98 season and the team got plenty of help from its new members, including Bryan Berard, Sylvain Cote, Curtis Joseph, Alexander Karpovtsev (who led the NHL in plus-minus with +39, but was not eligible for the NHL Plus-Minus Award because he played just 58 games), Yanic Perreault and Steve Thomas (who finished second on the team in points, with 73). Former Vancouver Canucks head coach Pat Quinn replaced Mike Murphy as Toronto's head coach. Six Maple Leafs scored 20 or more goals. Toronto set a club record for most regular season wins (45) and earned 97 points to finish second in the Northeast Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference. They led the NHL in most goals for, with 268, and were the only team to score 200 or more even-strength goals.^[1]

On November 12, 1998, the Maple Leafs defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 10–3 away.^[2] Mats Sundin recorded a hat trick in the game, which was the first regular season game in which the Leafs had scored ten goals since February 17, 1989, when they defeated the New York Rangers 10–6 away.^[3]

Maple Leaf Gardens

• On February 13, 1999, the Maple Leafs ended a 67-year tradition when they played their last game at Maple Leaf Gardens. The team lost 6–2 to the Chicago Blackhawks. Former Maple Leaf Doug Gilmour scored a fluke goal in that game and notorious tough guy Bob Probert scored the final NHL goal in Gardens history in the game's third period. During the emotional post-game ceremony, legendary Canadian singer Anne Murray performed "The Maple Leaf Forever" while wearing a Toronto jersey. The Leafs were the last of the Original Six teams to leave their Original Six-era arena, three years after the Canadiens did so.

Air Canada Centre

• The first Maple Leafs home game took place on February 20, 1999, against the Montreal Canadiens, won by the Leafs 3–2 on an overtime goal by Steve Thomas.

Season standings

Northeast Division

R	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
1	2	Ottawa Senators	82	44	23	15	239	179	892	103
2	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	45	30	7	268	231	1095	97
3	6	Boston Bruins	82	39	30	13	214	181	1182	91
4	7	Buffalo Sabres	82	37	28	17	207	175	1561	91
5	11	Montreal Canadiens	82	32	39	11	184	209	1299	75

^[4]

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

Eastern Conference^[5]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	y – New Jersey Devils	ATL	82	47	24	11	248	196	105
2	y – Ottawa Senators	NE	82	44	23	15	239	179	103
3	y – Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	34	30	18	210	202	86
4	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	45	30	7	268	231	97
5	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	82	37	26	19	231	196	93
6	Boston Bruins	NE	82	39	30	13	214	181	91
7	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	37	28	17	207	175	91
8	Pittsburgh Penguins	ATL	82	38	30	14	242	225	90
9	Florida Panthers	SE	82	30	34	18	210	228	78
10	New York Rangers	ATL	82	33	38	11	217	227	77
11	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	32	39	11	184	209	75
12	Washington Capitals	SE	82	31	45	6	200	218	68
13	New York Islanders	ATL	82	24	48	10	194	244	58
14	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	19	54	9	179	292	47

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

bold – Qualified for playoffs; y – Won division

Playoffs

Eastern Conference Finals

The Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres met in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Maple Leafs were coming off a six-game series win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, while the Sabres were coming off a six-game series win themselves, over the Boston Bruins. Toronto was having its best playoff since 1994, when they last made a Conference Final series. Buffalo, meanwhile, was in the third round for the second consecutive year. With the series victory, the Sabres advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 24 years.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1998–99 regular season[6]
October: 5–4–1 (home: 1–2–1; road: 4–2–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 October 10, 1998 2–1 Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) 1–0–0 W 2 October 13, 1998 3–2 @ Edmonton Oilers (1998–99) 2–0–0 W 3 October 16, 1998 7–3 @ Calgary Flames (1998–99) 3–0–0 W 4 October 17, 1998 1–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1998–99) 3–1–0 L 5 October 19, 1998 2–2 OT Nashville Predators (1998–99) 3–1–1 T 6 October 23, 1998 5–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) 4–1–1 W 7 October 24, 1998 6–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 5–1–1 W 8 October 26, 1998 0–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 5–2–1 L 9 October 30, 1998 1–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 5–3–1 L 10 October 31, 1998 3–6 Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 5–4–1 L
November: 8–5–1 (home: 7–1–1; road: 1–4–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 11 November 4, 1998 3–0 Colorado Avalanche (1998–99) 6–4–1 W 12 November 5, 1998 1–4 @ Boston Bruins (1998–99) 6–5–1 L 13 November 7, 1998 6–6 OT New York Rangers (1998–99) 6–5–2 T 14 November 9, 1998 1–3 New York Islanders (1998–99) 6–6–2 L 15 November 11, 1998 3–2 Edmonton Oilers (1998–99) 7–6–2 W 16 November 12, 1998 10–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) 8–6–2 W 17 November 14, 1998 2–1 Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 9–6–2 W 18 November 18, 1998 1–4 @ Washington Capitals (1998–99) 9–7–2 L 19 November 20, 1998 1–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 9–8–2 L 20 November 21, 1998 2–1 Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 10–8–2 W 21 November 23, 1998 3–2 Calgary Flames (1998–99) 11–8–2 W 22 November 25, 1998 5–1 Vancouver Canucks (1998–99) 12–8–2 W 23 November 27, 1998 3–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 12–9–2 L 24 November 28, 1998 3–2 OT Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 13–9–2 W
December: 8–4–0 (home: 5–3–0; road: 3–1–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 25 December 2, 1998 3–1 Los Angeles Kings (1998–99) 14–9–2 W 26 December 5, 1998 4–3 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 15–9–2 W 27 December 7, 1998 2–6 @ New York Rangers (1998–99) 15–10–2 L 28 December 11, 1998 3–2 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) 16–10–2 W 29 December 12, 1998 0–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 16–11–2 L 30 December 16, 1998 5–2 Phoenix Coyotes (1998–99) 17–11–2 W 31 December 19, 1998 7–4 New York Rangers (1998–99) 18–11–2 W 32 December 21, 1998 7–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 19–11–2 W 33 December 23, 1998 1–5 Dallas Stars (1998–99) 19–12–2 L 34 December 26, 1998 1–2 Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 19–13–2 L 35 December 30, 1998 4–1 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1998–99) 20–13–2 W 36 December 31, 1998 4–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) 21–13–2 W
January: 7–4–1 (home: 3–1–0; road: 4–3–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 37 January 2, 1999 2–5 Washington Capitals (1998–99) 21–14–2 L 38 January 4, 1999 5–4 OT Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) 22–14–2 W 39 January 7, 1999 1–2 @ Boston Bruins (1998–99) 22–15–2 L 40 January 9, 1999 6–3 Boston Bruins (1998–99) 23–15–2 W 41 January 12, 1999 4–3 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) 24–15–2 W 42 January 13, 1999 3–3 OT @ Florida Panthers (1998–99) 24–15–3 T 43 January 16, 1999 4–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 25–15–3 W 44 January 18, 1999 2–4 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 25–16–3 L 45 January 20, 1999 6–4 @ Dallas Stars (1998–99) 26–16–3 W 46 January 21, 1999 4–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1998–99) 27–16–3 W 47 January 28, 1999 0–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 27–17–3 L 48 January 30, 1999 5–3 Washington Capitals (1998–99) 28–17–3 W
February: 6–4–2 (home: 2–2–1; road: 4–2–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 49 February 2, 1999 3–0 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) 29–17–3 W 50 February 3, 1999 2–5 @ Florida Panthers (1998–99) 29–18–3 L 51 February 6, 1999 3–2 @ New Jersey Devils (1998–99) 30–18–3 W 52 February 10, 1999 5–6 Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 30–19–3 L 53 February 13, 1999 2–6 Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) 30–20–3 L 54 February 15, 1999 3–3 OT @ New Jersey Devils (1998–99) 30–20–4 T 55 February 17, 1999 3–2 OT @ Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 31–20–4 W 56 February 20, 1999 3–2 OT Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 32–20–4 W 57 February 22, 1999 3–4 @ Washington Capitals (1998–99) 32–21–4 L 58 February 24, 1999 2–2 OT Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 32–21–5 T 59 February 25, 1999 4–1 @ New York Islanders (1998–99) 33–21–5 W 60 February 27, 1999 4–1 Florida Panthers (1998–99) 34–21–5 W
March: 6–7–1 (home: 2–4–1; road: 4–3–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 61 March 3, 1999 2–5 New Jersey Devils (1998–99) 34–22–5 L 62 March 4, 1999 4–0 @ St. Louis Blues (1998–99) 35–22–5 W 63 March 6, 1999 1–3 @ Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 35–23–5 L 64 March 8, 1999 2–3 OT @ New York Rangers (1998–99) 35–24–5 L 65 March 9, 1999 6–1 Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) 36–24–5 W 66 March 11, 1999 2–1 @ New York Islanders (1998–99) 37–24–5 W 67 March 13, 1999 1–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 37–25–5 L 68 March 17, 1999 1–4 Boston Bruins (1998–99) 37–26–5 L 69 March 20, 1999 3–1 New Jersey Devils (1998–99) 38–26–5 W 70 March 22, 1999 1–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 38–27–5 L 71 March 24, 1999 5–8 San Jose Sharks (1998–99) 38–28–5 L 72 March 26, 1999 7–2 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 39–28–5 W 73 March 27, 1999 2–2 OT Boston Bruins (1998–99) 39–28–6 T 74 March 31, 1999 6–5 @ Vancouver Canucks (1998–99) 40–28–6 W
April: 5–2–1 (home: 3–0–1; road: 2–2–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 75 April 1, 1999 5–1 @ Edmonton Oilers (1998–99) 41–28–6 W 76 April 3, 1999 5–1 @ Calgary Flames (1998–99) 42–28–6 W 77 April 5, 1999 2–2 OT St. Louis Blues (1998–99) 42–28–7 T 78 April 7, 1999 4–2 Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 43–28–7 W 79 April 8, 1999 1–3 @ Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 43–29–7 L 80 April 10, 1999 9–1 Florida Panthers (1998–99) 44–29–7 W 81 April 14, 1999 3–2 OT New York Islanders (1998–99) 45–29–7 W 82 April 17, 1999 2–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 45–30–7 L
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1999 Stanley Cup playoffs[6]
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers – Maple Leafs win 4–2 Game Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 April 22, 1999 0–3 Philadelphia Flyers Flyers lead 1–0 L 2 April 24, 1999 2–1 Philadelphia Flyers Series tied 1–1 W 3 April 26, 1999 2–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers Maple Leafs lead 2–1 W 4 April 28, 1999 2–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers Series tied 2–2 L 5 April 30, 1999 2–1 OT Philadelphia Flyers Maple Leafs lead 3–2 W 6 May 2, 1999 1–0 @ Philadelphia Flyers Maple Leafs win 4–2 W
Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (8) Pittsburgh Penguins – Maple Leafs win 4–2 Game Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 May 7, 1999 0–2 Pittsburgh Penguins Penguins lead 1–0 L 2 May 9, 1999 4–2 Pittsburgh Penguins Series tied 1–1 W 3 May 11, 1999 3–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins Penguins lead 2–1 L 4 May 13, 1999 3–2 OT @ Pittsburgh Penguins Series tied 2–2 W 5 May 15, 1999 4–1 Pittsburgh Penguins Maple Leafs lead 3–2 W 6 May 17, 1999 4–3 OT @ Pittsburgh Penguins Maple Leafs win 4–2 W
Eastern Conference Finals vs. (7) Buffalo Sabres – Sabres win 4–1 Game Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 May 23, 1999 4–5 Buffalo Sabres Sabres lead 1–0 L 2 May 25, 1999 6–3 Buffalo Sabres Series tied 1–1 W 3 May 27, 1999 2–4 @ Buffalo Sabres Sabres lead 2–1 L 4 May 29, 1999 2–5 @ Buffalo Sabres Sabres lead 3–1 L 5 May 31, 1999 2–4 Buffalo Sabres Sabres win 4–1 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	C	82	31	52	83	22	58	17	8	8	16	2	16
32	Steve Thomas	LW	78	28	45	73	26	33	17	6	3	9	−1	12
94	Sergei Berezin	RW	76	37	22	59	16	12	17	6	6	12	0	4
7	Derek King	LW	81	24	28	52	15	20	16	1	3	4	0	4
22	Igor Korolev	RW	66	13	34	47	11	46	1	0	0	0	0	0
20	Mike Johnson	RW	79	20	24	44	13	35	17	3	2	5	−1	4
11	Steve Sullivan	C	63	20	20	40	12	28	13	3	3	6	−3	14
19	Fredrik Modin	LW	67	16	15	31	14	35	8	0	0	0	−2	6
10	Garry Valk	LW	77	8	21	29	8	53	17	3	4	7	−1	22
3	Sylvain Cote	D	79	5	24	29	22	28	17	2	1	3	−3	10
36	Dmitri Yushkevich	D	78	6	22	28	25	88	17	1	5	6	7	22
52	Alexander Karpovtsev†	D	56	2	25	27	38	52	14	1	3	4	−7	12
18	Alyn McCauley	C	39	9	15	24	7	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
28	Tie Domi	RW	72	8	14	22	5	198	14	0	2	2	−1	24
15	Tomas Kaberle	D	57	4	18	22	3	12	14	0	3	3	0	2
8	Todd Warriner	LW	53	9	10	19	−6	28	9	0	0	0	0	2
34	Bryan Berard†	D	38	5	14	19	7	22	17	1	8	9	−10	8
44	Yanic Perreault†	C	12	7	8	15	10	12	17	3	6	9	−6	6
25	Jason Smith‡	D	60	2	11	13	−9	40	—	—	—	—	—	—
55	Danny Markov	D	57	4	8	12	5	47	17	0	6	6	9	18
38	Yannick Tremblay	D	35	2	7	9	0	16	—	—	—	—	—	—
14	Darby Hendrickson‡	C	35	2	3	5	−4	30	—	—	—	—	—	—
31	Curtis Joseph	G	67	0	5	5		6	17	0	0	0		2
12	Kris King	LW	67	2	2	4	−16	105	17	1	1	2	−1	25
39	Ladislav Kohn	RW	16	1	3	4	1	4	2	0	0	0	0	5
16	Lonny Bohonos	RW	7	3	0	3	3	4	9	3	6	9	3	2
2	Dallas Eakins	D	18	0	2	2	3	24	1	0	0	0	0	0
33	Chris McAllister†	D	20	0	2	2	4	39	6	0	1	1	−1	4
42	Kevyn Adams	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	2	2	−2	14
4	Kevin Dahl	D	3	0	0	0	0	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
30	Glenn Healy	G	9	0	0	0		0	1	0	0	0		0
37	Jason Podollan‡	RW	4	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
29	Felix Potvin‡	G	5	0	0	0		0	—	—	—	—	—	—
35	Jeff Reese†	G	2	0	0	0		0	—	—	—	—	—	—
21	Adam Mair	C	—	—	—	—	—	—	5	1	0	1	−1	14

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
31	Curtis Joseph	67	35	24	7	1903	171	2.56	.910	3	4001	17	9	8	440	41	2.43	.907	1	1011
30	Glenn Healy	9	6	3	0	257	27	2.97	.895	0	546	1	0	0	5	0	0.00	1.000	0	20
29	Felix Potvin‡	5	3	2	0	142	19	3.81	.866	0	299	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
35	Jeff Reese†	2	1	1	0	51	8	4.53	.843	0	106	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Curtis Joseph was a runner-up for the Lester B. Pearson Award and Vezina Trophy and Pat Quinn was a runner-up for the Jack Adams Award.^[7]

Type	Award/honour	Recipient	Ref
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Curtis Joseph[a]	[9]
		Mats Sundin
	NHL Player of the Week	Mats Sundin (October 26)	[10]
		Sergei Berezin (April 5)	[11]
Team	Molson Cup	Curtis Joseph	[12]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Tomas Kaberle	October 10, 1998	[13]
	Adam Mair	May 11, 1999	[14]
500th game played	Curtis Joseph	February 10, 1999

Transactions

The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1998-99 season.

Trades

July 2, 1998	To Calgary Flames David Cooper	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ladislav Kohn
October 14, 1998	To New York Rangers Mathieu Schneider	To Toronto Maple Leafs Alexander Karpovtsev 4th round pick in 1999 (Mirko Murovic)
January 9, 1999	To New York Islanders Felix Potvin 6th round pick in 1999 (Fedor Fedorov)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Bryan Berard 6th round pick in 1999 (Jan Socher)
February 16, 1999	To Vancouver Canucks Darby Hendrickson	To Toronto Maple Leafs Chris McAllister
February 17, 1999	To Florida Panthers Jeff Ware	To Toronto Maple Leafs David Nemirovsky
March 23, 1999	To Edmonton Oilers Jason Smith	To Toronto Maple Leafs 4th round pick in 1999 (Jonathan Zion) 2nd round pick in 2000 (Kris Vernarsky)
March 23, 1999	To Los Angeles Kings Jason Podollan 3rd round pick in 1999 (Cory Campbell)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Yanic Perreault

Waivers

October 5, 1998

From St. Louis Blues Kevin Dahl

Expansion draft

June 25, 1999

To Atlanta Thrashers Yannick Tremblay

Free agents

Player Former Team Steve Thomas New Jersey Devils Dallas Eakins Florida Panthers Curtis Joseph Edmonton Oilers Niklas Andersson San Jose Sharks Garry Valk Pittsburgh Penguins Glen Featherstone Chicago Wolves (IHL)

Player New Team Kelly Fairchild Dallas Stars Mike Craig San Jose Sharks Marcel Cousineau New York Islanders Wendel Clark Tampa Bay Lightning Matt Martin Dallas Stars

Draft picks

Toronto's draft picks at the 1998 NHL entry draft held at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York.^[15]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	10	Nik Antropov	Kazakhstan	Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan)
2	35	Petr Svoboda	Czech Republic	BK Havlíčkův Brod (Czech Republic)
3	69	Jamie Hodson	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
4	87	Alexei Ponikarovsky	Ukraine	Dynamo Moscow-2 (Russia)
5	126	Morgan Warren	Canada	Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)
6	154	Allan Rourke	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
7	181	Jonathan Gagnon	Canada	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
8	215	Dwight Wolfe	Canada	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
8	228	Michal Travnicek	Czech Republic	Chemopetrol Litvínov (Czech Republic)
9	236	Sergei Rostov	Russia	Dynamo Moscow-2 (Russia)

Notes

1. Joseph did not play and was replaced by Ron Tugnutt of the Ottawa Senators.^[8]