Harman Patil (Editor)

1996–97 Hartford Whalers season

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Division
  
5th Northeast

Home record
  
23–15–3

Goals for
  
226

1996–97 record
  
32–39–11

Road record
  
9–24–8

Goals against
  
256

The 1996–97 Hartford Whalers season was the 25th season of the franchise and the 18th and final season in Hartford. The Whalers would move to Greensboro, North Carolina, the next season to become the Carolina Hurricanes.

Contents

Key dates prior to the start of the season:

  • The 1996 NHL Entry Draft

    • Regular season

    On April 13, 1997, the Whalers played their last game in Hartford, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2–1. Fittingly, team captain Kevin Dineen scored the final goal in Whaler history.

    Final standings

    Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

    bold – Qualified for playoffs

    Regular season

    Scoring
    Goaltending

    Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus-minus PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals;
          MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage;

    Transactions

    The Whalers were involved in the following transactions during the 1996–97 season.

    Trades

  • October 1, 1996 - Espen Knutsen traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Kevin Brown.
  • October 9, 1996 - Brendan Shanahan and Brian Glynn traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Paul Coffey, Keith Primeau, and Detroit's 1997 1st round draft pick (Nikos Tselios).
  • November 9, 1996 - Andrei Nikolishin traded to the Washington Capitals for Curtis Leschyshyn.
  • December 15, 1996 - Paul Coffey and Hartford's 1997 3rd round draft pick (Kris Mallette) traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Kevin Haller, Philadelphia's 1997 1st round draft pick (later traded to San Jose - San Jose selected Scott Hannan), and Hartford's 1997 7th round draft pick (previously acquired, Carolina selected Andrew Merrick).
  • March 5, 1997 - Hnat Domenichelli, Glen Featherstone, New Jersey's 1997 2nd round draft pick (previously acquired, Calgary selected Dimitri Kokorev), and Vancouver's 1998 3rd round draft pick (previously acquired, Calgary selected Paul Manning) traded to the Calgary Flames for Steve Chiasson and Colorado's 1997 3rd round draft pick (previously acquired, Carolina selected Francis Lessard).
  • March 18, 1997 - Mark Janssens traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Bates Battaglia and Anaheim's 1998 4th round draft pick (Josef Vasicek).
  • March 18, 1997 - Gerald Diduck traded to the Phoenix Coyotes for Chris Murray.
  • March 18, 1997 - Hartford's 1997 5th round draft pick (Adam Edinger) traded to the New York Islanders for Derek King.
  • March 18, 1997 - Kelly Chase traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Toronto's 1998 8th round draft pick (Jaroslav Svoboda).

    • Draft picks

    Hartford's picks at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft

    Departure from Hartford

    In 1994, Compuware founder Peter Karmanos purchased the Whalers. Karmanos pledged to keep the Whalers in Hartford for four years. Frustrated with lackluster attendance and corporate support, he announced in 1996 that if the Whalers were unable to sell at least 11,000 season tickets for the 1996–97 season, he would likely move the team. Furthermore, ownership only made season tickets available in full-season (41-game) packages, eliminating the popular five- and ten-game "mini plans," in a strategy largely designed to spur purchases from wealthier corporations and individuals. Sales were underwhelming at the beginning of the campaign, and at the end of the 1995–96 season it was still unknown whether the Whalers would stay in Connecticut or move. However, thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign, and the creative efforts of many fans (who pooled together resources to purchase some of the full-season packages collectively) the Whalers announced that they would stay in Connecticut for the 1996–97 season.

    In early 1996, negotiations between the Whalers and Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland to build a new $147.5 million arena seemed to be going well. However, negotiations fell apart when Rowland and the State refused Karmanos' demand to reimburse the Whalers for up to $45 million in losses during the three years the new arena was to be built. As a result, the team announced on March 26, 1997, that they would leave Hartford, one of the few times that a team announced it would leave its current city without having already selected a new city. Many suspected that Governor John G. Rowland did not want to keep the Whalers, as he harbored hopes of instead landing an NFL franchise. Ideally, Rowland wanted to use the state's resources to build a new stadium to lure the New England Patriots to Connecticut and did not have serious intentions of building an NHL arena for the Whalers.

    References

    1996–97 Hartford Whalers season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA