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2015–16 NHL season

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2015–16 NHL season
LeagueNational Hockey League
SportIce Hockey
DurationOctober 7, 2015 – April 9, 2016
Number of games82
Number of teams30
Regular season
Playoffs
Stanley Cup
NHL seasons

The 2015–16 NHL season will be the 99th season of operation (98th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). Thirty teams will compete 82-game regular season schedules prior to the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs.

League business

In December 2014, commissioner Gary Bettman told teams that he projected the salary cap to increase to at least $73 million for the 2015-16 season, citing the fluctuating value of the Canadian dollar.[1]

Rule changes

Rule changes approved by the NHL Board of Governors on June 24, 2015, include:[2]

  • 3-on-3 overtime: Overtime during the regular season will now have three skaters per side, instead of the 4-on-4 overtime system that had been used since 1999-2000.[3] However, if there are carry-over penalties from the third period to overtime, a side is still guaranteed to have at least three skaters and the man-advantage will be adjusted accordingly (e.g. a 5-on-4 power play at the end of regulation will be converted to a 4-on-3 one at the start of overtime).[2] The Board of Governors implemented 3-on-3 overtime to help decrease shootouts.[3]
  • Expanded video review with coach's challenge: Video review has been expanded to include a coach's challenge, similar to the system used by the NFL since 1999:[2]
    • Like the NFL, each challenge will require the use of a team's timeout. If the challenge is successful, the timeout is restored.
    • Teams may only challenge the following situations:
      • Whether a goal called on the ice should have instead been disallowed because the attacking team was offside.
      • Whether a goal called on the ice should have instead been disallowed because of goalkeeper interference.
      • Whether a disallowed goal, called on grounds of goalkeeper interference, should instead be overturned because either:
        • there was no actual contact between the attacking player and the goalie
        • the attacking player was actually pushed or fouled by a defender into the goalie
        • the attacking player's position in the crease did not actually impair or impact the goalie's play
    • Inside the final minute of regulation, and during overtime, all reviews that would otherwise be subject to the coach's challenge will instead be initiated by the NHL's Situation Room in Toronto
    • All reviews involving whether the puck entered the net will still be initiated by the Situation Room.[2]
  • New faceoff rule: During most faceoffs, the player who is on the defensive side of the red line will now be required to put his stick down first.[2] For faceoffs at the center-ice dot, the visiting player will still be the first one to place down his stick. This rule change, giving the attacking team a slightly better advantage during most faceoffs (as oppose to giving this advantage to the home team all the time), is intended to help increase puck-possession time and potentially more goals.[2]

Islanders first season in Brooklyn

The 2015-16 season will mark the New York Islanders first season at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, after previously playing at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

Oilers final season at Rexall Place

The 2015–16 NHL season will also be the final season at which the Edmonton Oilers will play at Rexall Place, the home of the team since the 1974-75 season. After the 2015-16 season, they will move to Rogers Place.

Uniforms

  • The Arizona Coyotes unveiled new home and away jerseys. The primary logo stays the same. The jerseys have added a large black stripe on each arm running from just below the shoulder to the elbow. From there it's red-white-red before it runs white right to the cuff. There's a single hem stripe, black on homes and red on the whites. The home red features a new shoulder patch, a beige/sand coyote paw print with a black "A" on it. The road white features a modernized "AZ/map" patch, with the font updated to match the new team wordmark. The pants are black, socks are red, black and white similar to the striping on each arm. The new home and away jerseys replace the home and away jerseys that the Coyotes unveiled last year.[4]
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets altered their home and road jerseys slightly. The blue Union Army cap shoulder patch worn from the 2003-04 season until the 2014-15 season is now gone and replaced with a new shoulder patch logo. The new shoulder patch logo features the 1857 Napoleon cannon. It is very similar to the club's current third jersey logo, with the only difference is that the logo features the club's primary colors - Navy Blue, Red, Silver and White.[5]
  • The Edmonton Oilers unveiled a new throwback jersey. This new throwback jersey is a remake of the jersey worn by the franchise during their first two seasons as a member of the World Hockey Association back in the early 1970s. The jersey is orange with blue and white shoulders and blue/white/blue stripes on the sleeves. The numbers are in the same location as the original WHA jersey that they're based off of.[6]
  • The Montreal Canadiens unveiled new home and away jerseys. Four brass hexagonal eyelets and white laces will be reintroduced around the collar, which will also revert to pure white in color. On the team’s red home jersey, the French “LNH” logo will be stitched at the nape of the neck, and the lone exception to the English “NHL” on the away jersey. It is very similar to the club's home and away jerseys worn from the 1970–71 season to the 1974–75 season. The new home and away jerseys replace the home and away jerseys worn from the 2007–08 season until the 2014–15 season.[7]
  • The Washington Capitals added a new third jersey to their lineup. The primary color for the uniform is red and closely resembles the team’s jersey worn from 1974–75 through 1994–95 seasons. The original Capitals wordmark is featured on the front of the jersey with six stars above it and five stars beneath the numbers on each sleeve. The Capitals will wear blue pants and red helmets with their third jerseys. The new third jersey replace the white third jersey the Capitals wore from 2011–12 to the 2014–15 season.[8]

Regular season

The regular season will begin on Wednesday, October 7, 2015, and will end on Saturday, April 9, 2016. The playoffs will begin on Wednesday, April 13, 2016.

Winter Classic

The 2016 NHL Winter Classic, the annual regular season outdoor game, will be held on Friday January 1, 2016 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The game, the eighth Winter Classic, will feature the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins.[9]

Stadium Series

There will be two Stadium Series games. The first one will feature the Chicago Blackhawks and the Minnesota Wild at TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday, February 21, 2016, and the other one will be the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche at Coors Field on Saturday, February 27, 2016.

All–Star Game

The 61st National Hockey League All-Star Game is an exhibition ice hockey game being played on Sunday, January 31, 2016. The game will be held in Nashville, Tennessee at Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators. This is Nashville's first time hosting the NHL All–Star Game.

Coaching changes

Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 2014–15 coach 2015–16 coach Story/accomplishments
Buffalo Sabres Ted Nolan Dan Bylsma Nolan was fired on April 12, 2015. In his second stint with the club, he compiled a record of 40–87–17 over the course of 1¾ seasons, both of which ended with the team in last place in the league.[10] On May 28, Bylsma succeeded after serving on the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2009 to 2014, where he accumulated a 252–117–32 regular season record and a 43–35 postseason record. In 2009, he guided the Penguins to win the Stanley Cup. For his efforts during the 2010–11 season, he was awarded the Jack Adams Award as the league's most outstanding coach.[11]
Detroit Red Wings Mike Babcock Jeff Blashill Babcock's contract with the Red Wings was to expire July 1, 2015; the Red Wings granted his request to pursue employment elsewhere on May 8, after failing to come to terms on a contract.[12] In ten seasons with the Red Wings, Babcock accumulated a record of 458–223–15, made the playoffs every year, and won the Stanley Cup in 2008. Babcock was highly sought after on the open market, and on May 20, 2015, after several teams courted him, Babcock signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs.[13] The Red Wings promoted Jeff Blashill, who coached the Red Wings' minor league affiliate the Grand Rapids Griffins. Once the Griffins completed their playoff run, the Red Wings retained Blashill's rights and did not allow any NHL team to interview him for openings.[12]
Edmonton Oilers Dallas Eakins,
Todd Nelson*
Todd McLellan Eakins, in 1½ seasons with the Oilers, compiled a record of 36–63–14 and was fired on December 15, 2014. Nelson completed the season with a record of 17–25–9. On May 19, McLellan succeeded after serving seven seasons as a head coach with the San Jose Sharks, after mutually agreeing to part ways with them on April 20, 2015. In his tenure in San Jose, he became the most successful coach to date and compiled a regular season record of 311–163–66. He made the playoffs six out of the seven seasons, compiling a record of 30-32.[14]
New Jersey Devils Peter DeBoer,
Scott Stevens*,
Adam Oates*
John Hynes DeBoer, in 3½ seasons with the Devils, compiled a record of 114–93–41 before being fired on December 26, 2014. The Devils used interim head coaches Scott Stevens and Adam Oates for the remainder of the season. DeBoer joined the San Jose Sharks. On June 2, 2015, Hynes succeeds after serving on the the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League as a head coach from 2009 to 2010, where he compiled a 231-126-10-17. He qualified for the playoffs in all five seasons behind the bench. With this hiring, he became the youngest coach in the NHL at the age of 40.[15]
Philadelphia Flyers Craig Berube Dave Hakstol Berube was fired on April 17, 2015, after accumulating a record of 75–58–28 in two seasons.[16] In his first season, he took the Flyers to the playoffs. They ended up losing to the New York Rangers in the first round 4-3. The team missed the playoffs in Berube's second season at the helm. Hakstol, whom the Flyers hired on May 18, 2015, was previously head coach of the University of North Dakota men's ice hockey team for the previous 11 years.[17]
San Jose Sharks Todd McLellan Peter DeBoer McLellan was San Jose's most successful coach to date and compiled a regular season record of 311–163–66 over seven seasons. However, the San Jose Sharks and Todd McLellan mutually agreed to part ways on April 20, 2015, after failing to make the playoffs for the first time in his tenure.[18] On May 19, 2015, McLellan then became head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. On May 28, 2015, the Sharks announced that they had hired Peter DeBoer. He had previously been the head coach of the New Jersey Devils, where he left with a 114-94-41 record over parts of four seasons. In his tenure, he guided the Devils to the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals where they lost in six games to the Los Angeles Kings.[19]
Toronto Maple Leafs Randy Carlyle,
Peter Horachek*
Mike Babcock Carlyle began the season as the head coach, but was fired on January 6, 2015, after posting a 21-16-3 record through 40 games. In 3½ seasons with the Leafs, he compiled a record of 91–78–19. Horachek finished the season with a record of 9–28–5 and was dismissed on April 12, 2015.[20] On May 20, 2015, the Maple Leafs signed Babcock to an eight-year, US$50,000,000 contract (the largest for a coach in NHL history).[13] In ten seasons with the Red Wings, Babcock accumulated a record of 458–223–15, made the playoffs every year, and won the Stanley Cup in 2008.

(*) indicates an interim head coach.

References

  1. ^ "Bettman: Salary-cap projection for '15-16 around $73M, but, it only went up to $71.2m". NHL.com. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Board of Governors approves 2015-16 rules changes". NHL.com. June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2015. Cite error: The named reference "NHLRuleChanges" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b "NHL GMs approve 3-on-3 overtime, but what format?". Yahoo! Sports. March 17, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  4. ^ "Coyotes Reveal New Uniforms at NHL Draft Party". June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  5. ^ "Blue Jackets unveil new secondary mark to be worn as shoulder patch". June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  6. ^ "Edmonton Oilers Unveil Orange Jersey". June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  7. ^ "Montreal Canadiens unveil new 2015-16 jersey". June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  8. ^ "Capitals unveil new third jersey for 2015-16". June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  9. ^ "NHL announces 2016 Winter Classic, Stadium Series". NHL.com. NHL.com. January 24, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  10. ^ "Nolan relieved of duties as Sabres' head coach". April 12, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  11. ^ http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HKN_SABRES_BYLSMA_PAOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
  12. ^ a b Roose, Bill (May 8, 2015). "Babcock is free to explore opportunities". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  13. ^ a b ""Twitter reaction: Mike Babcock joins Maple Leafs", Sportnets.ca, (2015)".
  14. ^ http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=768182
  15. ^ http://devils.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=769654
  16. ^ "Craig Berube relieved of duties as Flyers head coach". April 17, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  17. ^ Peaslee, Evan. "Flyers name Dave Hakstol new head coach". Sportsnet. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Sharks and McLellan mutually agree to part ways". NHL. April 20, 2015.
  19. ^ http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=769154
  20. ^ ""Maple Leafs fire GM Nonis, interim coach Horachek", Sportsnet.ca, (2015)".