The 1994–95 NHL lockout came after a year of NHL

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 hockey that was played without a collective bargaining agreement. The lockout caused the 1994–95 season to be shortened to 48 games.

Background

This 104 day lockout stretched from October 1, 1994 to January 11, 1995. A total of 468 games were lost due to the lockout, along with the All-Star Game. Much like the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the big issue was the implementation of a salary cap

Salary cap

In professional sports, a salary cap is a cartel agreement between teams that places a limit on the amount of money that can be spent on player salaries. The limit exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both...

. The NHL owners were strongly in favor of the cap while the players were opposed to it.

The issues at hand

Going into the negotiations both the players and the owners agreed on one big issue, the small market franchises. The league wanted to tie salaries to revenue in order to subsidize the operation of weaker teams while the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) sought revenue sharing to help the smaller market teams. However, large market teams such as Toronto

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

, Detroit

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...

, the New York Rangers

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...

, Dallas

Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The...

, and Philadelphia

Philadelphia Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 eventually broke with the league, as they feared that an extended lockout would outweigh the benefits from getting a salary cap.

The 4-on-4 Challenge

While some NHL players decided to play in various European leagues others decided to remain in North America. Around that time, the "4-on-4 Challenge" (i.e. four players and a goalie on the ice) was initiated. This NHLPA organized tournament was played over the course of three days from the 10th to the 12th of November 1994 during the owners' lockout of 1994-95, all the games were played in Hamilton Canada's Copps Coliseum. In the end, Team Ontario beat out Team USA, Team Western Canada and Team Quebec to win the tournament, which raised more than half a million dollars to support the Ronald McDonald Children's Charities of Canada and minor hockey associations throughout North America. Many NHL superstars notably Patrick Roy

Patrick Roy

Patrick Edward Armand Roy is a former Canadian ice hockey goaltender. Nicknamed "Saint Patrick," Roy split his professional career between the Montreal Canadiens, whom he played with for 10 years, and the Colorado Avalanche, whom he played with for 8 years, both of the National Hockey League...

, Luc Robitaille

Luc Robitaille

Luc Robitaille is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. During his 19-season National Hockey League career, Robitaille won a Stanley Cup in 2001–02 with the Detroit Red Wings, and played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers, but is most known for his fourteen seasons,...

, Brett Hull

Brett Hull

Brett Andrew Hull is a former Canadian-American NHL player and the former Executive Vice President of the Dallas Stars. He is the son of Bobby Hull and nephew of Dennis Hull, both former NHL players. Hull is also known as "The Golden Brett," which is a play off of his father's nickname, "The...

, Joe Sakic

Joe Sakic

Joseph Steven "Joe" Sakic is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player and current hockey executive. He played his entire National Hockey League career with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise. In his 20-year tenure, Sakic won the Stanley Cup twice, captured numerous NHL...

, Doug Gilmour

Doug Gilmour

Douglas Robert Gilmour is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who is the current general manager of the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League . During his National Hockey League career, Gilmour played for 7 NHL clubs: the St...

, Rob Blake

Rob Blake

Robert Bowlby Blake is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 1988, appearing in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy and serving as team captain for five seasons in his initial 11 season-stint with...

 and Mike Richter

Mike Richter

Michael Thomas Richter is a former ice hockey goaltender. One of the most successful American-born goaltenders in history, he is best known for having led the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup title in 1994 and for repeatedly representing the United States in international play. Due to his...

, took part in this competition.

Also in the meantime, Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...

 and some friends formed the Ninety Nine All Stars Tour

Ninety Nine All Stars Tour

The Ninety Nine All Stars Tour was a tour of ice hockey exhibition games where the team Ninety Nine All Stars was touring five countries during the 1994–95 NHL lockout. It was formed by Wayne Gretzky and some of his personal friends. The purposes were to stay in shape during the lockout, raise...

 and played some exhibition games in various countries.

The end of the lockout

The lockout ended on January 13, 1995. As a result, the league shortened the season length from 84 games, the length of the previous two seasons, to 48. Furthermore, the season would last from January 20 to May 3; this was the first and only time in NHL history that the regular season extended into May. Regular-season games would be limited to intra-conference play (Eastern Conference teams did not play Western Conference teams). During the lockout the NHL and NHLPA agreed to shorten the season to 82 games. San Jose

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

, which was to host the All-Star game that year, was awarded the 1997 game instead. The lockout would eventually lead to two Canadian teams moving to the United States-the Quebec Nordiques

Quebec Nordiques

The Quebec Nordiques were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association and the National Hockey League...

 moved to Denver in the summer of 1995 and became the Colorado Avalanche

Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise...

, and the original Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

 and became the Phoenix Coyotes

Phoenix Coyotes

The Phoenix Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in Glendale, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their home games at Jobing.com Arena....

 the following summer. The Hartford Whalers

Hartford Whalers

The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.. The club played in the World Hockey Association from 1972–79 and in the National Hockey League from 1979–97...

 became the Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League , and play their home games at the 18,680-seat RBC Center...

 in 1997. The Avs and Canes would win the Stanley Cup

Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

within the next decade.

The salary cap for rookies was instituted, and all players signing rookie contract needed to sign two-way contracts.