2000-01 NHL season

The 2000-01 NHL season was the 84th regular season of the National Hockey League. Thirty teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalanche, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the New Jersey Devils. The focus of Colorado's Stanley Cup run was on star defenceman Raymond Bourque who was on a quest to win his first Stanley Cup championship in his illustrious 22-year career.

On December 27, 2000, Mario Lemieux, returned from his 3 1/2 year retirement, and, to the joy of many, that night on Hockey Night in Canada Mario registered his first assist 33 seconds into the game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs. He went on to add a goal and finish with three points, solidifying his return and bringing a struggling Jaromir Jagr back to his elite status, who went on to win his fourth straight Art Ross Trophy, just passing Joe Sakic. Despite playing in only 43 games in 2000-2001, Lemieux scored 76 points to finish 26th in scoring, finishing the season with the highest points-per-game average that season among NHL players. Lemieux was one of the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson NHLPA awards.

Two more expansion teams were added this season, both placed in the Western Conference, rounding the league to 30 teams: The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild.

The Dallas Stars were playing their final season at the Reunion Arena, before moving to their new home the following season.

Final standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

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

Leading goaltenders
Wins: Martin Brodeur (42); Shutouts: Dominik Hasek (11); GAA: Roman Cechmanek (2.01); SV%: Sean Burke (.922)

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

NHL Awards
The NHL Awards presentation took place in Toronto.

Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 2000-01 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
 * Andy McDonald, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
 * Andrew Raycroft, Boston Bruins
 * Samuel Påhlsson, Boston Bruins
 * David Vyborny, Columbus Blue Jackets
 * Jody Shelley, Columbus Blue Jackets
 * Marty Turco, Dallas Stars
 * Mike Comrie, Edmonton Oilers
 * Shawn Horcoff, Edmonton Oilers
 * Lubomir Visnovsky, Los Angeles Kings
 * Marian Gaborik, Minnesota Wild
 * Mathieu Garon, Montreal Canadiens
 * Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens
 * Rick DiPietro, New York Islanders
 * Martin Havlat, Ottawa Senators
 * Justin Williams, Philadelphia Flyers
 * Miikka Kiprusoff, San Jose Sharks
 * Mikael Samuelsson, San Jose Sharks
 * Brad Richards, Tampa Bay Lightning
 * Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
 * Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks

Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 2000-01 (listed with their last team):
 * Andrei Kovalenko, Boston Bruins
 * Paul Coffey, Boston Bruins
 * Ron Sutter, Calgary Flames
 * Kevin Hatcher, Carolina Hurricanes
 * Dave Reid, Colorado Avalanche
 * Ray Bourque, Colorado Avalanche
 * Doug Brown, Detroit Red Wings
 * Larry Murphy, Detroit Red Wings
 * Greg Adams, Florida Panthers
 * Garry Galley, New York Islanders
 * Chris Terreri, New York Islanders
 * Kirk McLean, New York Rangers
 * Guy Hebert, New York Rangers
 * Tony Granato, San Jose Sharks
 * Petr Svoboda, Tampa Bay Lightning
 * Glenn Healy, Toronto Maple Leafs
 * Joe Murphy, Washington Capitals