1998–99 New York Rangers season

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1998–99 New York Rangers
Division	4th Atlantic
Conference	11th Eastern
1998–99 record	33–38–11
Home record	17–19–5
Road record	16–19–6
Goals for	217
Goals against	227
Team information
General manager	Neil Smith
Coach	John Muckler
Captain	Brian Leetch
Alternate captains	Adam Graves Jeff Beukeboom
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Average attendance	18,200 (100%)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Hartford Wolf Pack Charlotte Checkers
Team leaders
Goals	Adam Graves (38)
Assists	Wayne Gretzky (53)
Points	Wayne Gretzky (62)
Penalty minutes	Ulf Samuelsson (93)
Plus/minus	Ulf Samuelsson (+6)
Wins	Mike Richter (27)
Goals against average	Mike Richter (2.63)
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

The 1998–99 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 73rd season. The Rangers missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season in what was Wayne Gretzky's final season in the National Hockey League.

Regular season

Final standings

Atlantic Division
R	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	New Jersey Devils	82	47	24	11	248	196	105
2	5	Philadelphia Flyers	82	37	26	19	231	196	93
3	8	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	38	30	14	242	225	90
4	10	New York Rangers	82	33	38	11	217	227	77
5	13	New York Islanders	82	24	48	10	194	244	58

^[1]

Eastern Conference^[2]
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

The Great One retires

Wayne Gretzky's Farewell Game at Madison Square Garden

Wayne Gretzky's last NHL game in Canada was on April 16, 1999, in a 2–2 tie with the Ottawa Senators. His 1,487th and final game was a 2–1 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins which had Jaromir Jagr, a future Ranger captain, scoring the game-winning goal on April 18, 1999, at Madison Square Garden. The national anthems in that game were adjusted to accommodate Gretzky's departure. In place of "O Canada, we stand on guard for thee," Bryan Adams sang "We're going to miss you Wayne Gretzky."^[3] John Amirante changed lyrics in "The Star-Spangled Banner" from "the land of the free" to "the land of Wayne Gretzky." He scored his final point in this game, assisting on the lone New York goal scored by team captain Brian Leetch. Gretzky was named as the first, second and third star of both games; only Maurice Richard had such an honour previously, for his performance in a 1944 playoff game.

At the time of his retirement, Gretzky was the second-to-last former WHA player still active in professional hockey, Mark Messier being the last. Messier, himself a former Ranger who would return to spend his final four playing years there, along with other representatives of the great Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s, attended the game.^[4] Gretzky's final game was considered a "national retirement party" in Canada,^[4] and Bryan Adams' rendition of "O Canada" was like a "lullaby."^[4] As the final seconds ticked away, the crowd at Madison Square Garden gave him a standing ovation, capping off "an entirely satisfying, weekend-long going-away party" in Canada,^[4] as there would be "No Regretzkys."^[4]

Gretzky told Scott Morrison that the final game of his career was his greatest day.^[5] He recounted:

My last game in New York was my greatest day in hockey...Everything you enjoy about the sport of hockey as a kid, driving to practice with mom [Phyllis] and dad [Walter], driving to the game with mom and dad, looking in the stands and seeing your mom and dad and your friends, that all came together in that last game in New York.^[5]

Schedule and results

1998–99 regular season^[6]

October: 3–4–3 (home: 3–3–1; road: 0–1–2)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
1	October 9, 1998	Philadelphia Flyers	1–0	0–1–0	Recap
2	October 10, 1998	@ Montreal Canadiens	7–1	0–2–0	Recap
3	October 12, 1998	St. Louis Blues	4–2	0–3–0	Recap
4	October 16, 1998	New Jersey Devils	2–1	0–4–0	Recap
5	October 17, 1998	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	3–3 OT	0–4–1	Recap
6	October 20, 1998	Edmonton Oilers	3–2	1–4–1	Recap
7	October 22, 1998	New York Islanders	3–2	2–4–1	Recap
8	October 24, 1998	@ Philadelphia Flyers	2–2 OT	2–4–2	Recap
9	October 27, 1998	Buffalo Sabres	0–0 OT	2–4–3	Recap
10	October 30, 1998	Carolina Hurricanes	1–0	3–4–3	Recap

November: 3–5–4 (home: 1–1–1; road: 2–4–3)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
11	November 3, 1998	@ New Jersey Devils	3–1	3–5–3	Recap
12	November 4, 1998	Montreal Canadiens	4–1	3–6–3	Recap
13	November 7, 1998	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	6–6 OT	3–6–4	Recap
14	November 10, 1998	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	10–2	4–6–4	Recap
15	November 11, 1998	@ Florida Panthers	4–1	4–7–4	Recap
16	November 13, 1998	Boston Bruins	3–3 OT	4–7–5	Recap
17	November 18, 1998	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	3–1	4–8–5	Recap
18	November 19, 1998	@ Los Angeles Kings	5–1	5–8–5	Recap
19	November 21, 1998	@ San Jose Sharks	2–2 OT	5–8–6	Recap
20	November 25, 1998	@ Buffalo Sabres	4–2	5–9–6	Recap
21	November 27, 1998	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	2–2 OT	5–9–7	Recap
22	November 29, 1998	Nashville Predators	5–1	6–9–7	Recap

December: 7–6–0 (home: 3–2–0; road: 4–4–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
23	December 1, 1998	Florida Panthers	5–4 OT	7–9–7	Recap
24	December 2, 1998	@ New York Islanders	3–2	8–9–7	Recap
25	December 5, 1998	@ Ottawa Senators	2–1	9–9–7	Recap
26	December 7, 1998	Toronto Maple Leafs	6–2	10–9–7	Recap
27	December 9, 1998	Colorado Avalanche	2–1	10–10–7	Recap
28	December 11, 1998	@ Buffalo Sabres	2–0	10–11–7	Recap
29	December 14, 1998	Calgary Flames	5–2	11–11–7	Recap
30	December 16, 1998	@ New Jersey Devils	6–3	11–12–7	Recap
31	December 19, 1998	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	7–4	11–13–7	Recap
32	December 23, 1998	Carolina Hurricanes	1–0	11–14–7	Recap
33	December 26, 1998	@ Carolina Hurricanes	6–3	12–14–7	Recap
34	December 30, 1998	@ Phoenix Coyotes	3–1	12–15–7	Recap
35	December 31, 1998	@ Colorado Avalanche	6–3	13–15–7	Recap

January: 6–7–0 (home: 3–4–0; road: 3–3–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
36	January 2, 1999	@ St. Louis Blues	1–0	14–15–7	Recap
37	January 4, 1999	San Jose Sharks	4–3	15–15–7	Recap
38	January 6, 1999	New Jersey Devils	5–2	15–16–7	Recap
39	January 7, 1999	@ Washington Capitals	5–1	15–17–7	Recap
40	January 10, 1999	Tampa Bay Lightning	5–2	16–17–7	Recap
41	January 13, 1999	New York Islanders	4–3 OT	17–17–7	Recap
42	January 15, 1999	Chicago Blackhawks	3–1	17–18–7	Recap
43	January 16, 1999	@ Montreal Canadiens	3–0	17–19–7	Recap
44	January 19, 1999	Ottawa Senators	2–1	17–20–7	Recap
45	January 21, 1999	Florida Panthers	2–1	17–21–7	Recap
46	January 26, 1999	@ Washington Capitals	4–1	18–21–7	Recap
47	January 28, 1999	@ Carolina Hurricanes	3–2 OT	18–22–7	Recap
48	January 30, 1999	@ Detroit Red Wings	3–2	19–22–7	Recap

February: 6–6–0 (home: 4–4–0; road: 2–2–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
49	February 1, 1999	Washington Capitals	3–1	19–23–7	Recap
50	February 4, 1999	Vancouver Canucks	8–4	20–23–7	Recap
51	February 7, 1999	@ Boston Bruins	3–2	20–24–7	Recap
52	February 12, 1999	Carolina Hurricanes	3–1	20–25–7	Recap
53	February 14, 1999	Detroit Red Wings	4–2	20–26–7	Recap
54	February 15, 1999	@ Nashville Predators	7–4	21–26–7	Recap
55	February 17, 1999	Montreal Canadiens	6–3	21–27–7	Recap
56	February 19, 1999	Pittsburgh Penguins	6–1	22–27–7	Recap
57	February 21, 1999	@ Edmonton Oilers	2–1 OT	23–27–7	Recap
58	February 22, 1999	@ Calgary Flames	6–2	23–28–7	Recap
59	February 26, 1999	Phoenix Coyotes	3–0	24–28–7	Recap
60	February 28, 1999	Philadelphia Flyers	6–5	25–28–7	Recap

March: 6–5–3 (home: 2–3–3; road: 4–2–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
61	March 2, 1999	Dallas Stars	2–2 OT	25–28–8	Recap
62	March 4, 1999	@ Washington Capitals	4–2	26–28–8	Recap
63	March 7, 1999	@ Boston Bruins	3–1	27–28–8	Recap
64	March 8, 1999	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–2 OT	28–28–8	Recap
65	March 10, 1999	Ottawa Senators	3–0	28–29–8	Recap
66	March 12, 1999	Boston Bruins	5–4	28–30–8	Recap
67	March 14, 1999	@ New York Islanders	3–2 OT	29–30–8	Recap
68	March 15, 1999	Washington Capitals	1–1 OT	29–30–9	Recap
69	March 19, 1999	Buffalo Sabres	3–2 OT	29–31–9	Recap
70	March 21, 1999	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–2 OT	29–31–10	Recap
71	March 22, 1999	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	6–3	29–32–10	Recap
72	March 24, 1999	@ Florida Panthers	2–1	30–32–10	Recap
73	March 27, 1999	@ Philadelphia Flyers	3–1	30–33–10	Recap
74	March 29, 1999	New York Islanders	3–1	31–33–10	Recap

April: 2–5–1 (home: 1–2–0; road: 1–3–1)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
75	April 2, 1999	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	4–1	31–34–10	Recap
76	April 4, 1999	@ New Jersey Devils	4–1	31–35–10	Recap
77	April 5, 1999	@ Philadelphia Flyers	5–1	32–35–10	Recap
78	April 8, 1999	@ Chicago Blackhawks	6–2	32–36–10	Recap
79	April 9, 1999	@ Dallas Stars	3–1	32–37–10	Recap
80	April 12, 1999	Tampa Bay Lightning	2–1	33–37–10	Recap
81	April 15, 1999	@ Ottawa Senators	2–2 OT	33–37–11	Recap
82	April 18, 1999	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–1 OT	33–38–11	Recap

Legend:

Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; 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 Rangers only.
‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
No.	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
99	Wayne Gretzky	C	70	9	53	62	−23	14
15	John MacLean	RW	82	28	27	55	5	46
2	Brian Leetch	D	82	13	42	55	−7	42
9	Adam Graves	LW	82	38	15	53	−12	47
93	Petr Nedved†	C	56	20	27	47	−6	50
33	Marc Savard	C	70	9	36	45	−7	38
17	Kevin Stevens	LW	81	23	20	43	−10	64
24	Niklas Sundstrom	LW	81	13	30	43	−2	20
22	Mike Knuble	RW	82	15	20	35	−7	26
25	Mathieu Schneider†	D	75	10	24	34	−19	71
20	Todd Harvey	RW	37	11	17	28	−1	72
6	Manny Malhotra	C	73	8	8	16	−2	13
5	Ulf Samuelsson‡	D	67	4	8	12	6	93
37	Brent Fedyk	LW	67	4	6	10	−11	30
23	Jeff Beukeboom	D	45	0	9	9	−2	60
27	Alexei Kovalev‡	RW	14	3	4	7	−6	12
21	Scott Fraser	RW	28	2	4	6	−12	14
4^[a]	Chris Tamer†	D	52	1	5	6	−12	92
34	Peter Popovic	D	68	1	4	5	−12	40
12	Rich Brennan	D	24	1	3	4	−4	23
36	Rumun Ndur†	D	31	1	3	4	−2	46
28	Eric Lacroix†	LW	30	2	1	3	−5	4
32	Sean Pronger†‡	C	14	0	3	3	−3	4
10	Esa Tikkanen	LW	32	0	3	3	−5	38
8	Jan Mertzig	D	23	0	2	2	−5	8
25	Alexander Karpovtsev‡	D	2	1	0	1	1	0
18	Derek Armstrong	C	3	0	0	0	0	0
39	Dan Cloutier	G	22	0	0	0		2
14	Christian Dube	C	6	0	0	0	0	0
26	Jeff Finley‡	D	2	0	0	0	−1	0
19	Darren Langdon	LW	44	0	0	0	−3	80
26	Mike Maneluk†	RW	4	0	0	0	−1	4
3	Stan Neckar†‡	D	18	0	0	0	−1	8
35	Mike Richter	G	68	0	0	0		0
14	Geoff Smith‡	D	4	0	0	0	−5	2
28	P. J. Stock	LW	5	0	0	0	−1	6
14	Johan Witehall	LW	4	0	0	0	0	0
32	Harry York‡	C	5	0	0	0	−1	4

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season
No.	Player	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
35	Mike Richter	68	27	30	8	1897	170	2.63	.910	4	3878
39	Dan Cloutier	22	6	8	3	570	49	2.68	.914	0	1097

Awards and honors

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Lady Byng Memorial Trophy	Wayne Gretzky	^[7]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Wayne Gretzky^[b]	^[9]
League (in-season)	NHL Player of the Week	Wayne Gretzky (April 19)	^[10]
Team	Ceil Saidel Memorial Award	Adam Graves	^[11]
	"Crumb Bum" Award	Rod Gilbert	^[11]
	Frank Boucher Trophy	Mike Richter	^[11]
	Good Guy Award	Kevin Stevens	^[11]
	Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award	Manny Malhotra	^[11]
	Players' Player Award	Adam Graves	^[11]
	Rangers MVP	Brian Leetch	^[11]
	Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award	Adam Graves	^[11]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Jan Mertzig	October 9, 1998	^[12]
	Manny Malhotra	October 10, 1998
	Johan Witehall	January 30, 1999
1,000th game played	John MacLean	November 11, 1998	^[13]
1,000th game played	Ulf Samuelsson	January 13, 1999	^[14]

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo, New York at the Marine Midland Arena.^[15]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	7	Manny Malhotra	C	Canada	Guelph Storm (OHL)
2	40	Randy Copley	LW	Canada	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
3	66	Jason LaBarbera	G	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
4	114	Boyd Kane	LW	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)
5	122	Pat Leahy	RW	United States	Miami University (Ohio) (NCAA)
5	131	Tomas Kloucek	D	Czech Republic	Slavia Prague (Czech Extraliga)
7	180	Stefan Lundqvist	RW	Sweden	Brynas IF (SEL)
8	207	Johan Witehall	LW	Sweden	Leksands IF (SEL)
9	235	Jan Mertzig	D	Sweden	Lulea HF (SEL)

Notes

^ Tamer wore number 3 in his first three games.
^ Gretzky was named the All-Star Game MVP.^[8]

References

"New York Rangers 1998-99 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
"1998-99 New York Rangers Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.

^ Dinger 2011, p. 155.
^ "1998-1999 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
^ Brady, Erik (April 19, 1999). "He loved 'every part of the game'". USA Today. Retrieved November 24, 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Cole, Stephen (2004). The Best of Hockey Night in Canada. Toronto: McArthur & Company. p. 133. ISBN 1-55278-408-8.
^ ^a ^b Morrison, Scott (2008). Hockey Night in Canada: My Greatest Day. Toronto: Key Porter Books. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-55470-086-8.
^ "1998-99 New York Rangers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
^ "Lady Byng Memorial Trophy". records.nhl.com. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
^ "Wayne Gretzky at the All-Star Game". NHL.com. October 2, 2004. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
^ "1999 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
^ "Gretzky Named Player of the Week". NHL.com. April 19, 1999. Archived from the original on October 9, 1999. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h 2014–15 New York Rangers Media Guide. New York Rangers. 2014. pp. 349–352.
^ "1998-99 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
^ "Bruins Rally To Tie Rangers - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. November 14, 1998. Retrieved June 27, 2023. Before the game, the Rangers presented MacLean with an award for playing in his 1,000th NHL game last Wednesday in Florida. MacLean is the 129th player to reach that milestone.
^ Lapointe, Joe (January 16, 1999). "HOCKEY; Last-Place Blackhawks Too Good for Rangers". The New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2023. In a pre-game ceremony, the Rangers and the league honored defenseman ULF SAMUELSSON, who played in his 1,000th. N.H.L. game on Wednesday night.
^ "1998 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved June 28, 2023.

v t e New York Rangers seasons
1920s	1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e 1998–99 NHL season
Atlantic	New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh
Northeast	Boston Buffalo Montreal Ottawa Toronto
Southeast	Carolina Florida Tampa Bay Washington
Central	Chicago Detroit Nashville St. Louis
Northwest	Calgary Colorado Edmonton Vancouver
Pacific	Anaheim Dallas Los Angeles Phoenix San Jose
See also	Draft Expansion draft Waiver draft All-Star Game 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs 1999 Stanley Cup Finals

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