Summer/fall 1991: season of holdouts

[vadim sharifijanov]

a blast from the past as we’re seeing so many big name RFAs still unsigned on the eve of training camp.

these are the holdouts i remember from the 1991-92 season—

calgary: gilmour walked out midseason, was quickly traded to the leafs

edmonton: messier, traded to the rangers at the beginning of the regular season.

hartford: john cullen, missed the first week of the season

nj: kirk muller and ken daneyko both missed training camp, muller was traded to the habs, daneyko started the season. i think scott stevens initially refused to report but not sure if he missed any of training camp. meanwhile sean burke was playing with the olympic team.

islanders: pat lafontaine, eventually traded to buffalo

pittsburgh: i know recchi and stevens both needed new deals (like cullen, their option line linemate) but not sure if they held out

quebec: lindros, of course

washington: beaupre, missed four weeks

i feel like there were many more that year. anyone remember?

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[Doctor No]

Mike Richter didn't sign until October 6, 1991, after the Rangers had played two games with John Vanbiesbrouck as the starter and Greg Millen - yes, Greg Millen - as the backup.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

two more big ones—

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Ed Belfour, last season's Calder and Vezina trophy winner, and the team have reached agreement on a two-year contract for roughly $1.8 million to end a holdout that drew the ire of coach Mike Keenan.

and

Center Ron Francis sat out nearly the first third of the season because of a long holdout.

 

[The Panther]

The very first post I ever made on this Forum (5.5 years ago) was regarding the destruction of the Oilers' line-up in the 1991 off-season. This is what I said:

[From the end of 1990-91 and the start of 1991-92], the following players were gone:
-- Mark Messier
-- Adam Graves
-- Steve Smith
-- Glenn Anderson
-- Jari Kurri (rights traded)
-- Grant Fuhr
-- Charlie Huddy

As if that weren't enough, they lost head coach John Muckler as well, after he'd been there for 10 years and been co- or head-coach for 5.

To put that into perspective, the Oilers, in one summer, lost five Hall of Famers, two future All-Stars (one would have his number retired by his team), and their head coach.


Now, of course, not all of these were hold-outs but anyway it might be the single worst player/coach-loss off-season in NHL history.

 

[c9777666]

The very first post I ever made on this Forum (5.5 years ago) was regarding the destruction of the Oilers' line-up in the 1991 off-season. This is what I said:

[From the end of 1990-91 and the start of 1991-92], the following players were gone:
-- Mark Messier
-- Adam Graves
-- Steve Smith
-- Glenn Anderson
-- Jari Kurri (rights traded)
-- Grant Fuhr
-- Charlie Huddy

As if that weren't enough, they lost head coach John Muckler as well, after he'd been there for 10 years and been co- or head-coach for 5.

To put that into perspective, the Oilers, in one summer, lost five Hall of Famers, two future All-Stars (one would have his number retired by his team), and their head coach.


Now, of course, not all of these were hold-outs but anyway it might be the single worst player/coach-loss off-season in NHL history.

And they STILL made it to the 92 conference finals

 

[Big Phil]

And they STILL made it to the 92 conference finals

They added some guys like Damphousse and Nicholls. Joe Murphy was still there and had a good year, Tikkanen and Lowe and Ranford hadn't left yet. Scott Mellanby was another one. I mean, certainly not a BAD team, but no way this team should go to the conference finals, I wouldn't think. Then again, their division was going through some changes. Calgary was bad that year, Winnipeg (meh), L.A. took a big step back. All that was left was Vancouver all of the sudden for once being good. So there wasn't the powerhouse Flames or Gretzky's Kings at their best in their way anymore.

 

[tony d]

I remember some of those. That Messier holdout especially, seemed like when he left the Oilers that helped lead to their downward spiral over the next few years.