1998-99 NHL season

The 1998-99 NHL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-seven teams played 82 games each. The Dallas Stars finished first in regular season play, and won the Stanley Cup Championship over the Buffalo Sabres in a controversial fashion on a disputed overtime goal by Brett Hull.

League Business
With the addition of the expansion Nashville Predators, the NHL realigned this year to a strictly geographic six-division structure (three per conference), erasing the last vestiges of the traditional four-division structure (Adams/Patrick/Norris/Smythe) abandoned in 1993-94; other than the necessary reassignment of Colorado in 1995 due to its two-thousand mile (over 3,200 km) east-west move from Quebec, the divisions' membership had remained static for six years despite the renaming and the moves of several other franchises. As part of this realignment, the Toronto Maple Leafs moved from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference.

The 1998-99 season marked the retirement of Wayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer, who played his final three NHL seasons with the New York Rangers. The Rangers had been battling for a playoff spot up until the end of the regular season when they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins who were able to clinch the postseason berth when Jaromir Jagr scored the winning goal. The game was also symbolic because it appeared as though Gretzky was passing the torch to Jagr, signalling a changing of the guard of the NHL's greatest superstar.

This was the final season Fox televised NHL games in the United States. It was also the final season for the Carolina Hurricanes at the Greensboro Coliseum, before moving their home games to the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena for the following season.

The Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy for the most goals by a player in a season made its debut this year. The first winner was Teemu Selanne of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Finals
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Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1998-99 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
 * Martin St. Louis, Calgary Flames
 * Jean-Pierre Dumont, Chicago Blackhawks
 * Chris Drury, Colorado Avalanche
 * Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche
 * Tom Poti, Edmonton Oilers
 * Dan Boyle, Florida Panthers
 * Jason Blake, Los Angeles Kings
 * David Legwand, Nashville Predators
 * Karlis Skrastins, Nashville Predators
 * Kimmo Timonen, Nashville Predators
 * John Madden, New Jersey Devils
 * Eric Brewer, New York Islanders
 * Sami Salo, Ottawa Senators
 * Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning
 * Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1998-99 (listed with their last team):
 * Tomas Sandstrom, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
 * Randy Cunneyworth, Buffalo Sabres
 * Steve Chiasson, Carolina Hurricanes
 * Dale Hunter, Colorado Avalanche
 * Craig Ludwig, Dallas Stars
 * Jamie Macoun, Detroit Red Wings
 * Petr Klima, Detroit Red Wings
 * Dino Ciccarelli, Florida Panthers
 * Russ Courtnall, Los Angeles Kings
 * Dave Babych, Los Angeles Kings
 * Bob Carpenter, New Jersey Devils
 * Craig Janney, New York Islanders
 * Esa Tikkanen, New York Rangers
 * Wayne Gretzky, New York Rangers
 * Ron Hextall, Philadelphia Flyers
 * Bernie Nicholls, San Jose Sharks
 * Jim Carey, St. Louis Blues
 * Peter Zezel, Vancouver Canucks
 * Dave Gagner, Vancouver Canucks
 * Brian Bellows, Washington Capitals
 * Kelly Miller, Washington Capitals
 * Michal Pivonka, Washington Capitals