Trisha Shetty (Editor)

1996–97 NHL season

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League
  
National Hockey League

Presidents' Trophy
  
Colorado Avalanche

Eastern runners-up
  
New York Rangers

Start date
  
1996

Number of teams
  
26

Sport
  
Ice hockey

Eastern champions
  
Philadelphia Flyers

Champion
  
Detroit Red Wings

Number of games
  
82

Duration
  
October 4, 1996 – June 7, 1997

Top scorer
  
Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Season MVP
  
Dominik Hašek (Buffalo Sabres)

Similar
  
1998–99 NHL season, 1991–92 NHL season, 2001–02 NHL season, 2003–04 NHL season, 1992–93 NHL season

The 1996–97 NHL season was the 80th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Detroit Red Wings, who swept the Philadelphia Flyers in four games and won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 42 years.

Contents

The regular season saw a decline in scoring and rise in the number of shutouts to an all-time record of 127. This trend continued into the playoffs, during which an all-time record of 18 shutouts were recorded. Only two players, Mario Lemieux and Teemu Selanne, reached the 100-point plateau during the regular season (compared with 12 who reached the plateau in 1995–96). Many factors, including fewer power plays, more calls of the skate-in-the-crease rule, fewer shots on goal and more injuries to star players than the season before, contributed to the reduction in scoring and skyrocketing in shutouts. Paradoxically, teams averaged more even-strength goals scored (174) than in 1995–96 (172).

This was the first time in 30 years—and in the entire expansion era—that the Boston Bruins had either a losing record or missed the playoffs, ending a still-unsurpassed North American professional sports streak of 29-straight seasons in the playoffs.

League business

This was the first season for the Phoenix Coyotes, who had relocated from Winnipeg and had previously been known as the Winnipeg Jets. They would remain in the Central Division.

On March 25, 1997, the Hartford Whalers announced that they would move from Connecticut following the 1996–97 season. Starting in the 1997–98 NHL season, they would be known as the Carolina Hurricanes.

The 1996–97 season marked the retirement of Craig MacTavish, the last active NHL player who played without a protective helmet. MacTavish had been grandfathered under the old rule requiring them to be worn because he had signed a pro contract before the rule was established on June 1, 1979. The first player to ever wear a helmet was George Owen in the 1928–29 season.

Regular season

The Boston Bruins recorded the League's worst record, missing the playoffs for the first time in 30 seasons and ending the longest consecutive playoff streak ever recorded in the history of North American professional sports.

On November 16, 1996, the eight-sided scoreboard at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo crashed to the ice during a maintenance check. The accident occurred only 90 minutes after the visiting Boston Bruins players had conducted their morning practice. No-one was injured, but the game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Bruins was postponed.

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Western Conference

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy


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

Stanley Cup Final

The Red Wings swept the Flyers in four games to win for the eighth time in franchise history and the first time since 1955. Mike Vernon of Detroit was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Detroit wins series 4–0 and Stanley Cup

Playoff bracket

  • During the first three rounds home ice is determined by seeding number, not position on the bracket. In the Finals the team with the better regular season record has home ice.

    • Awards

    The NHL Awards presentation took place on June 19, 1997.

    Scoring leaders

    Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

    Leading goaltenders

    Regular season

    Debuts

    The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1996–97 (listed with their first team, asterisk (*) marks debut in playoffs):

  • Dwayne Roloson, Calgary Flames
  • Marc Denis, Colorado Avalanche
  • Roman Turek, Dallas Stars
  • Tomas Holmstrom, Detroit Red Wings
  • Mike Knuble, Detroit Red Wings
  • Mike Grier, Edmonton Oilers
  • Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Hartford Whalers
  • Tomas Vokoun, Montreal Canadiens
  • Jay Pandolfo, New Jersey Devils
  • Bryan Berard, New York Islanders
  • Todd Bertuzzi, New York Islanders
  • Wade Redden, Ottawa Senators
  • Janne Niinimaa, Philadelphia Flyers
  • Vaclav Prospal, Philadelphia Flyers
  • Dainius Zubrus, Philadelphia Flyers
  • Patrick Lalime, Pittsburgh Penguins

    • Last games

    The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1996–97 (listed with their last team):

  • Tim Cheveldae, Boston Bruins
  • Charlie Huddy, Buffalo Sabres
  • Denis Savard, Chicago Blackhawks
  • Sergei Makarov, Dallas Stars
  • Neal Broten, Dallas Stars
  • Mike Ramsey, Detroit Red Wings
  • Vladimir Konstantinov, Detroit Red Wings
  • Dale Hawerchuk, Philadelphia Flyers
  • Brad McCrimmon, Phoenix Coyotes
  • Dan Quinn, Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Joe Mullen, Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Tim Hunter, San Jose Sharks
  • Craig MacTavish, St. Louis Blues (The last helmetless player)
  • Jon Casey, St. Louis Blues
  • Jay Wells, Tampa Bay Lightning
  • Don Beaupre, Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Nick Kypreos, Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Mike Ridley, Vancouver Canucks
  • Dave McLlwain, New York Islanders
  • Roman Oksiuta, Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Todd Elik, Boston Bruins
  • Anatoli Semenov, Buffalo Sabres
  • Randy Wood, New York Islanders
  • Yuri Khmylev, St. Louis Blues
  • Pat Flatley, New York Rangers
  • Dave Hannan, Ottawa Senators
  • Steven Finn, Los Angeles Kings
  • Todd Ewen, San Jose Sharks
  • Adam Creighton, Chicago Blackhawks
  • Shane Churla, New York Rangers
  • Dave Archibald, New York Islanders
  • Brian Glynn, Hartford Whalers
  • Mike Hudson, Phoenix Coyotes
  • Brent Hughes, New York Islanders
  • Mike Lalor, Dallas Stars
  • Gary Leeman, St. Louis Blues
  • Sergio Momesso, St. Louis Blues

    • Trading deadline

  • Trading Deadline: March 18, 1997
  • March 18, 1997: G Pat Jablonski traded from Montreal to Phoenix for D Steve Cheredaryk.
  • March 18, 1997: RW Roman Oksiuta traded from Anaheim to Pittsburgh for C Richard Park.
  • March 18, 1997: LW Josef Beranek traded from Vancouver to Pittsburgh for future considerations.
  • March 18, 1997: D Marc Hussey traded from Calgary to Chicago for LW Ravil Gusmanov.
  • March 18, 1997: C Ed Olczyk traded from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh for RW Glen Murray.
  • March 18, 1997: LW Jon Battaglia and Anaheim's fourth round pick in 1998 Entry Draft traded from Anaheim to Hartford for C Mark Janssens.
  • March 18, 1997: RW Mike Prokopec traded from Chicago to Ottawa for RW Denis Chasse, D Kevin Bolibruck, and Ottawa's sixth round pick in 1998 Entry Draft.
  • March 18, 1997: D Larry Murphy traded from Toronto to Detroit for future considerations.
  • March 18, 1997: LW Derek King traded from NY Islanders to Hartford for Hartford's fifth round pick in 1997 Entry Draft.
  • March 18, 1997: D Frantisek Kucera traded from Vancouver to Philadelphia for future considerations.
  • March 18, 1997: D Jamie Huscroft traded from Calgary to Tampa Bay for G Tyler Moss.
  • March 18, 1997: RW Kelly Chase traded from Hartford to Toronto for Toronto's eighth round pick in 1998 Entry Draft.
  • March 18, 1997: D Dave Manson traded from Phoenix to Montreal for RW Chris Murray and D Murray Baron.
  • March 18, 1997: RW Chris Murray traded from Phoenix to Hartford to D Gerald Diduck.
  • March 18, 1997: C Robert Reichel traded from Calgary to NY Islanders for LW Marty McInnis, G Tyrone Garner and Calgary's sixth round pick in 1997 Entry Draft (previously acquired by NY Islanders).
  • March 18, 1997: D Jeff Norton traded from Edmonton to Tampa Bay for D Drew Bannister and the earlier of Tampa Bay or Anaheim's sixth round draft pick in 1997 Entry Draft (Anaheim pick previously acquired by Tampa Bay).
  • March 18, 1997: LW Miroslav Satan traded from Edmonton to Buffalo for LW Barrie Moore and D Craig Millar.
  • March 18, 1997: C Kirk Muller traded from Toronto to Florida for RW Jason Podollan.

    • References

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