The 1992-93 NHL rookie class was something else. Leading the way? None other than Winnipeg Jets scoring sensation Teemu Selanne.
Teemu Selanne was the cream of the 1992-93 rookie crop, running away with the scoring title with an NHL record 76 goals as a first-year player.
That accomplishment will likely never be broken.
Just how was his career with the Winnipeg Jets? Most would recognize the 'Finnish Flash' as one of the best to ever skate for Winnipeg.
The following THN Archive story illustrates just how strong of a rookie class Selanne's 1992-93 mates were, with the author, Rand Simon, going about it in a futuristic, visionary way.
In terms of mentioned Jets connection, included in the piece are bits on Selanne, Alexei Zhamnov and Keith Tkachuk.
(You can read all of THN’s new Archive by subscribing to the magazine.)
FIRST CLASS ACT
April 30, 1993 – Vol. 46, Issue 32
By Rand Simon
To fully appreciate the talent of the 1992-93 NHL rookie class, we take you on a trip to the future. The date, June 26, 1997. The speaker (sorry), is Alan Thicke:
“And there you have it, the 1996-97 NHL award winners:
Eric Lindros (Hart), Teemu Selanne (Art Ross), Scott Nieder-mayer (Norris), Felix Potvin (Vezina), Joe Juneau (Lady Byng) Dallas Drake (Selke) and from the Stanley Cup-champion New York Rangers, Alexei Kovalev (Conn Smythe).”
Not only are all these future award winners part of the star-studded ’92-93 crop of freshmen, they represent only the surface of the NHL’s best rookie class ever.
“All you see in the national (sports) publications is how basketball, with the retirement of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, got rejuvenated with a great rookie class,” says San Jose Sharks’ director of hockey operations Dean Lombardi of an National Basketball Association group that includes Shaquille O’Neal and Christian Laet-tner. “Well, our rookie class matches up three-fold-and it’s not just the Europeans. This is just what our league needs.”
Lindros may be no match for the Shaq Attack on the hardwood, but show us a league with 20 standout rookies and we’ll show you the NHL, circa 1992-93.
THN normally honors the top first-year players by naming first and second all-rookie teams. But this season the talent runs so deep, we’ve come up with a whole team of rookies, ready to take on all comers. After all, we didn’t want to rook any first-year players out of their due recognition.
The only rookie-class that comes close to matching this season’s talent level was the 1980-81 group that included Peter Stastny, Jari Kurd, Denis Savard and Larry Murphy. But for our money, we’ll take Lindros, Selanne, Juneau, Potvin, Niedermayer, Kovalev, etc. And so will the experts.
“No question this is the best ever,” says Calgary Flames’ pro scout Nick Polano. “So many young players stepped right into the league and contributed to their teams’ success.”
THN’s all-rookie team of two goaltenders, six defensemen and 12 forwards is led by 34-year-old boys wonder Don Maloney (New York Islanders) as general manager and Darryl Sutter (Chicago Blackhawks) as coach.
Maloney and Sutter inherit a team full of young talent, thanks largely to the biggest European invasion ever and the 1992 Olympics, which delayed the rookie NHL season for some players. Eleven of the team’s 20 players are European. Fourteen participated in the Olympics.
“You’ve got to have a balance on your team and I have a feeling 10 or 11 Europeans may be too much,” Maloney says. “But with these guys, I wouldn’t be too worried. I wouldn’t mind going into the ’90s with this team.”
Maloney also likes his rookie coach.
“We’d probably take Mrs. Sutter if she wanted to coach,” Maloney says. “All the Sutters are determined, disciplined and lead by example. You can’t help but respect them.”
The all-rookie team includes three Philadelphia Flyers-Lindros, Tommy So-derstrom and Dimitri Yush-kevich-and three Winnipeg Jets-Selanne, Alexei Zhamnov and Keith Tkachuk.
It also includes a likely Vezina Trophy final-mist-Toronto Maple Leafs’ Felix Potvin-and a probable NHL first-team all-star at right wing in Selanne. No. rookie forward has ever been named to the NHL’s first all-star team.
Most impressive is the quantity and quality of defensemen. There were 21 rookie blueliners who played at least half the season-that’s up from 12 last season and eight in 1990-91.
The talent level is so high, such future mainstays as Roman Hamrlik (Tampa Bay Lightning), Drake Berehowsky (Toronto) and Scott Lachance (Islanders) have been assigned to THN’s all-rookie team in the American League. More than a third of NHL teams had a rookie rearguard among their top four defensemen.
“The three guys on the Islanders (Vladimir Malakhov, Darius Kasparaitis and Lachance) rejuvenated their team and made them a playoff team,” says former Rangers’ coach Roger Neilson. “Defensemen are so hard to find; getting three like that at once is a big thing.”
But it is the New Jersey Devils’ Niedermayer who has the brightest future among the rookie defensemen. “The one with the most upside is Niedermayer,” Polano says. “He has been tremendous. There’s nothing he can’t do.”
We’ve also put together a taxi squad of top rookie prospects: forward Slava Kozlov of the Red Wings, defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh of the San Jose Sharks and goalie Corey Hirsch of the Rangers. Ozolinsh would be on the team had he not sustained a season-ending knee injury 37 games into the season.
Like any team, we need all types of players to be successful.
That’s why grinding winger Bill Guerin (14 goals in 63 games) is on the team and flashy forward Evgeny Davydov of the Jets (27 goals in 77 games) was a late cut. There were other tough decisions. Rob Zamuner (Tampa Bay), Dixon Ward (Vancouver Canucks), Ted Donato (Boston Bruins), Steve Heinze (Boston), Marty McInnis (Islanders) and Rob Gaudreau (San Jose) were demoted, even though all made valuable contributions this season.
Our checking line is Drake centering Guerin and Martin Rucinsky (Quebec Nordiques). Drake and Rucinsky form one penalty-killing pair with Shawn McEachern (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Andrei Kovalenko (Quebec) on the second unit. Malakhov and Kasparaitis will be on the ice in the game’s final minute when the THN rookies are protecting a one-goal lead.
The No. 1 line of Lindros, Juneau and Selanne is also the top power-play unit, with Malakhov and Niedermayer manning the points. McEachern, Zhamnov, Kovalev, Alexei Zhitnik (Los Angeles Kings) and Sergei Zubov (Rangers) will go out for the rest of the power play-if the first unit is somehow stopped.
In goal, San Jose’s Arturs Irbe impressed us-except on long shots-but was beaten out for the No. 2 netminding job behind Potvin by Tommy Soderstrom. Other candidates who didn’t make the grade were Robb Stauber (Los Angeles) and Dominic Roussel (Philadelphia).
Every team must have a captain and ours is Lindros, although he told THN last year he’s not the captain type. But we think he has it in him, especially on such a young team. Drake and Malakhov are the assistants.
The Flyers had the most rookies play regularly this season. Using 40 games as a minimum for skaters and 20 for goaltenders, Philadelphia had six rookies. The Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers didn’t have any first-year players meet our minimum requirements this season.
So, how would this team fare against real NHL teams? “Boy, that’s a good hockey team.,” Polano says. “A really good hockey team.”
NHL ROOKIE RECORDS
Three prestigious rookie records were equalled or bettered this season. Mike Bossy’s goal record was set in 1977-78, while-Peter Stastny set his marks in ’80-81.
A REAL TEAM OF ROOKIES
MANAGEMENT
Don Maloney, 34, Isles
Darryl Sutter, 34, Blackhawks
GOAL
Felix Potvin, 21, Leafs
T. Soderstrom, 23, Flyers
DEFENSE
Vladimir Malakhov, 24, Isles
Scott Niedermayer,19, Devils
Darius Kasparaitls, 20. Isles
Dimitri Yushkevich, 21, Flyers
Alexei Zhitnik, 21, Kings
Sergei Zubov, 22, Rangers
LEFT WING
Joe Juneau, 25, Bruins
Keith Tkachuk, 21, Jets
Patrick Poulin, 20, Whalers
Martin Rucinsky, 22, Nordiques
CENTER
Eric Lindros, 20, Flyers
Alexei Zhamnov, 22. Jets
S. McEachern, 24, Penguins
Dallas Drake, 24, Red Wings
RIGHT WING
Teemu Selanne, 22, Jets
Alexei Kovalev, 20, Rangers
A. Kovalenko, 22, Nordiques
Bill Guerin, 22. Devils
The Hockey News Archive is a vault of 2,640 issues and more than 156,000 articles exclusively for subscribers, chronicling the complete history of The Hockey News from 1947 until today. Visit the archives at THN.com/archive and subscribe today at subscribe.thehockeynews.com