green alternate jersey, complete with a desertscape at the bottom and the sleeve ends St Louis: Alternates are retired and adopt a new color scheme San Jose: Alternates are retired and become the basis of the team's new uniforms. Tampa Bay: All-Star Game Patches for the 1999 NHL All-Star Game in Tampa. Toronto: Team wore alternate throwbacks and a patch to commemorate their final season at Maple Leaf Gardens. Washington: For the first few games, the Capitals wore a patch celebrating their 25th season in the NHL. The patch was worn on the upper right chest. Regular season 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. This was the final season that Fox televised NHL games in the United States. It was also the final season for the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens, before moving to the Air Canada Centre in February and marked Toronto's first post-season appearance since the 1995–96 season. 1998–99 was also the final year that the Carolina Hurricanes played at Greensboro Coliseum; they moved to the brand-new Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh for the next season. The Colorado Avalanche played their fourth and final season at McNichols Sports Arena and would move to Pepsi Center the following season. The Los Angeles Kings played their final season at the Great Western Forum after 32 seasons before moving to the Staples Center for the next season. In an effort to reduce the number of disallowed goals due to the skate-in-the-crease violation, the goal crease shape and size was significantly reduced. In spite of this, goaltenders and defensive systems continued to dominate the league, as only two teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils, averaged more than three goals scored per game. In addition, no player reached the 50-goal plateau. A total of 160 shutouts were recorded for the second-straight regular season. Final standings Eastern Conference Western Conference Playoffs Bracket Awards All-Star teams Player statistics Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points Source: NHL. Leading goaltenders Regular season Coaches Eastern Conference Boston Bruins: Pat Burns Buffalo Sabres: Lindy Ruff Carolina Hurricanes: Paul Maurice Florida Panthers: Terry Murray Montreal Canadiens: Alain Vigneault New Jersey Devils: Robbie Ftorek New York Islanders: Mike Milbury and Bill Stewart New