The NFHL Game of the Day

 

Devils Take Wales Crown

The New Jersey Devils have taken the Wales Conference title with tonight's 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins on the final day of the 1994 NFHL season. Eric Desjardins scored twice and Claude Lemieux had 2 helpers for New Jersey as they leap frog over the Hartford Whalers and finish with 107 points.  Garry Galley and Hannu Jarvenpaa also scored for New Jersey.  Bill Houlder scored the lone Boston goal. As a result, the Devils will have home ice advantage throughout the Wales Conference playoffs, starting with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.  The Hartford Whalers finish as the Adams Division winner and #2 seeds in the conference and will host the Quebec Nordiques in the first round.

The final Skater and Goalie of the Month awards for the 1994 season were handed out tonight.  The Skater of the Month was Winnipeg winger Jari Kurri.  Kurri played 16 games this month, scoring 12 goals and adding 14 assists for 26 points.  Kurri had 49 shots and 28 hits in those 16 games, to go along with a +10 rating. Winnipeg earns $250,000 for this title.  He won the award over the likes of Philadelphia's Michel Goulet, Pittsburgh's Alexei Kovalev, and Edmonton's Mark Recchi.  The Goalie of the Month was a no-brainer.  Toronto's Glenn Healy had 4 shut outs this past month, accounting for a full half of his win total.  Healy was 8-2-3 in the month with 13 appearances, stopping a total of 305 shots on 331 attempts for a .921 save percentage.  Also under consideration were Detroit's John Vanbiesbrouck, Colorado's Kelly Hrudey, Philadelphia's Mike Richter and Pittsburgh's Sean Burke.

Three Stars of the Day

Bryan Smolinski (CHI) -  2 Goals (23), 2 Assists, +2, 2 Shots, 2 Hits
Warren Rychel (CGY) - 1 Goal (20), 3 Assists, +2, 4 Shots, 6 Hits
Josef Stumpel (SJS) - 1 Goal (15), 2 Assists, 2 Shots, 1 Hit