| 1984–85 NHL season | |
| League: | National Hockey League |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Duration: | October 11, 1984 – May 30, 1985 |
| Draft: | Draft |
| Draft Link: | 1984 NHL Draft |
| Top Pick Link: | List of first overall NHL draft picks |
| Picked By: | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champs: | Philadelphia Flyers |
| Mvp: | Wayne Gretzky (Oilers) |
| Mvp Link: | Hart Memorial Trophy |
| Top Scorer: | Wayne Gretzky (Oilers) |
| Top Scorer Link: | Art Ross Trophy |
| Playoffs: | Playoffs |
| Playoffs Link: | 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs |
| Finals: | Stanley Cup |
| Finals Link: | 1985 Stanley Cup Finals |
| Finals Champ: | Edmonton Oilers |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Philadelphia Flyers |
| Playoffs Mvp: | Wayne Gretzky (Oilers) |
| Playoffs Mvp Link: | Conn Smythe Trophy |
| No Of Games: | 80 |
| No Of Teams: | 21 |
| Tv: | CBC, CTV, SRC (Canada) USA (United States) |
The 1984–85 NHL season was the 68th season of the National Hockey League. The Edmonton Oilers won their second straight Stanley Cup by beating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to one in the final series.
Referee Andy Van Hellemond becomes the first on ice official in league history to wear a helmet. Soon, several officials would follow his lead and wear helmets before it became mandatory for all officials for the 2006–07 season.
The Philadelphia Flyers had the best record in the NHL, four points ahead of second place Edmonton Oilers. Flyers goaltender Pelle Lindbergh went on to become the first European to win the Vezina Trophy. Oilers' star Wayne Gretzky once again won the Art Ross Trophy by reaching the 200 plateau for the third time in four years. He also set a new record for assists in a season with 135 and won his sixth straight Hart Memorial Trophy. Mario Lemieux made his NHL debut by scoring 100 points and winning the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year. On October 26, 1984, Paul Coffey of the Edmonton Oilers would be the last defenceman in the 20th century to score four goals in one game. It occurred in a game versus the Detroit Red Wings.[1]
The last two players active in the 1960s, Butch Goring and Brad Park, retired after the playoffs. Goring was the last active, playing his last playoff game three days after Park's last game.
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes. Teams qualifying for the playoffs shown in bold.
See main article: 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs. The defending champion Edmonton Oilers returned to the Final, meeting the overall regular season champion Philadelphia Flyers. In the Final, Edmonton would lose the first game to the Flyers but would then take the next four to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup.
For the second consecutive and last season, the finals used the 2–3–2 home ice format.
See main article: 1985 Stanley Cup Finals.
| 1985 NHL awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prince of Wales Trophy
| Philadelphia Flyers | |
| Clarence S. Campbell Bowl
| Edmonton Oilers | |
| Art Ross Trophy
| Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers | |
| Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
| Anders Hedberg, New York Rangers | |
| Calder Memorial Trophy
| Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins | |
| Conn Smythe Trophy
| Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers | |
| Frank J. Selke Trophy
| Craig Ramsay, Buffalo Sabres | |
| Hart Memorial Trophy
| Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers | |
| Jack Adams Award
| Mike Keenan, Philadelphia Flyers | |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy
| Paul Coffey, Edmonton Oilers | |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
| Jari Kurri, Edmonton Oilers | |
| Lester B. Pearson Award
| Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers | |
| NHL Plus/Minus Award
| Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers | |
| William M. Jennings Trophy
| Tom Barrasso/Bob Sauve, Buffalo Sabres | |
| Vezina Trophy
| Pelle Lindbergh, Philadelphia Flyers | |
| Player | Team | Total votes | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne Gretzky | 303 | 60 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 91 | 1 | 23 | 17 | |||
| 56 | 0 | 15 | 11 | |||
| 28 | 1 | 6 | 5 | |||
| 21 | 0 | 5 | 6 | |||
| 13 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||
| 10 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |||
| 9 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |||
| 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Philadelphia Flyers | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Washington Capitals | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Edmonton Oilers | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Edmonton Oilers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| St. Louis Blues | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| New York Islanders | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| New York Islanders | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Philadelphia Flyers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Player | Team | Total votes | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Coffey | 223 | 32 | 19 | 6 | ||
| 136 | 12 | 20 | 16 | |||
| 89 | 8 | 10 | 19 | |||
| 84 | 9 | 11 | 6 | |||
| Washington Capitals | 13 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 12 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Philadelphia Flyers | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Edmonton Oilers | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Coach | Team | Total votes | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Keenan | 114 | 19 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 66 | 3 | 15 | 6 | |||
| 61 | 8 | 6 | 3 | |||
| 19 | 0 | 5 | 4 | |||
| 12 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Player | Team | Total votes | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pelle Lindbergh | 88 | 14 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 58 | 7 | 6 | 5 | |||
| 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |||
| 10 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |||
| 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |||
| 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Edmonton Oilers | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| First team | Position | Second team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pelle Lindbergh, Philadelphia Flyers | align=center | Goaltender | Tom Barrasso, Buffalo Sabres |
| Paul Coffey, Edmonton Oilers | align=center | Defence | Rod Langway, Washington Capitals |
| Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins | align=center | Defence | Doug Wilson, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers | align=center | Centre | Dale Hawerchuk, Winnipeg Jets |
| Jari Kurri, Edmonton Oilers | align=center | Right wing | Mike Bossy, New York Islanders |
| John Ogrodnick, Detroit Red Wings | align=center | Left wing | John Tonelli, New York Islanders |
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 73 | 135 | 208 | 52 | ||
| Edmonton Oilers | 73 | 71 | 64 | 135 | 30 | ||
| Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 53 | 77 | 130 | 74 | ||
| Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 46 | 80 | 126 | 46 | ||
| Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 37 | 84 | 121 | 97 | ||
| New York Islanders | 76 | 58 | 59 | 117 | 38 | ||
| Detroit Red Wings | 79 | 55 | 50 | 105 | 30 | ||
| Chicago Black Hawks | 79 | 38 | 67 | 105 | 56 | ||
| St. Louis Blues | 76 | 30 | 73 | 103 | 27 | ||
| Washington Capitals | 80 | 50 | 52 | 102 | 71 |
Note: GP = Games played; W = Won; L = Lost; T = Tied; GA = Goals allowed; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage
| Player | Team | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO | SV% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Sabres | 54 | 25 | 18 | 10 | 144 | 2.66 | 5 | .887 | ||
| Washington Capitals | 57 | 28 | 20 | 7 | 168 | 2.98 | 2 | .886 | ||
| Philadelphia Flyers | 65 | 40 | 17 | 7 | 194 | 3.02 | 2 | .899 | ||
| Montreal Canadiens | 54 | 26 | 18 | 8 | 167 | 3.08 | 1 | .876 | ||
| St. Louis Blues | 40 | 23 | 12 | 5 | 126 | 3.26 | 0 | .885 | ||
| Quebec Nordiques | 36 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 111 | 3.30 | 1 | .877 | ||
| Calgary Flames | 56 | 30 | 12 | 10 | 183 | 3.46 | 1 | .888 | ||
| Boston Bruins | 51 | 19 | 26 | 4 | 172 | 3.47 | 1 | .868 | ||
| Quebec Nordiques | 29 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 101 | 3.49 | 0 | .877 | ||
| New York Islanders | 41 | 19 | 17 | 3 | 141 | 3.62 | 2 | .886 |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1984–85 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1984–85 (listed with their last team):
Note: Goring and Park were the last two players to have played in the NHL in the 1960s.
This was the first season in more than a decade that CBC was not the lone Canadian national broadcaster. While Molson continued to present Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights, rival brewery Carling O'Keefe began airing Friday night games on CTV. The two networks also split the playoffs and finals.[3] CTV had previously aired HNIC-produced telecasts in the 1960s.
This was the third and final season of the league's U.S. national broadcast rights deal with USA, covering a slate of regular season games and selected playoff games. ESPN then signed a three-year agreement with the league after bidding about twice as much as USA had been paying.[4] [5] USA would not televise the NHL again until after the network was acquired by NBCUniversal in the early 2000s, airing selected playoff games as part of NBC Sports' overall NHL coverage between 2015 and 2021.