1996–97 NHL season

The 1996–97 NHL season was the 80th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Winnipeg Jets relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, becoming the Phoenix Coyotes. 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.

1996–97 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 4, 1996 – June 7, 1997
Number of games	82
Number of teams	26
TV partner(s)	CBC, TSN, SRC (Canada) ESPN, Fox (United States)
Draft
Top draft pick	Chris Phillips
Picked by	Ottawa Senators
Regular season
Presidents' Trophy	Colorado Avalanche
Season MVP	Dominik Hasek (Sabres)
Top scorer	Mario Lemieux (Penguins)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP	Mike Vernon (Red Wings)
Stanley Cup
Champions	Detroit Red Wings
Runners-up	Philadelphia Flyers

The regular season saw a decline in scoring and rise in the number of shutouts to an all-time record of 127.^[1] This trend continued into the playoffs, during which an all-time record of 18 shutouts were recorded.^[2] Only two players, Mario Lemieux and Teemu Selanne, reached the 100-point plateau during the regular season^[3] (compared with 12 who reached the plateau in 1995–96^[4]). Many regulatory factors, including ruling changes that resulted in 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.

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

League business

Franchise relocation

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

On March 26, 1997, the Hartford Whalers announced that they would move from Connecticut following the 1996–97 season. On May 5, they announced that starting in the 1997–98 NHL season, they would be known as the Carolina Hurricanes.

Entry draft

The 1996 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 22. Chris Phillips was selected first overall by the Ottawa Senators.

Rule changes

• The maximum stick length was increased from the 60-inch limit set in 1985–86 to 63 inches.^[5]
• Offside rules were clarified, requiring all players to clear their opponents' zone before they can shoot the puck back into that zone.^[5]
• Craig MacTavish, the last active NHL player who played without a protective helmet, retired after this 1996–97 season. MacTavish was the last active player who had been grandfathered under the 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.

Arena changes

• The Buffalo Sabres moved from Buffalo Memorial Auditorium to Marine Midland Arena, with Marine Midland Bank acquiring the naming rights.
• The New Jersey Devils' home arena, Brendan Byrne Arena, was renamed Continental Airlines Arena in January 2000 as part of a new naming rights deal with Continental Airline.
• The relocated Phoenix Coyotes moved from Winnipeg Arena to America West Arena.
• The Philadelphia Flyers moved from the CoreStates Spectrum to the CoreStates Center, with CoreStates Financial Corporation also acquiring the naming rights.
• The Tampa Bay Lightning moved from the Thunderdome in St. Petersburg, Florida to the Ice Palace in Tampa, Florida.
• The Washington Capitals' home arena, the USAir Arena, was renamed US Airways Arena after USAir rebranded to US Airways.

Regular season

All-Star Game

The All-Star Game was held on January 18, 1997, at San Jose Arena in San Jose, home of the San Jose Sharks.

Highlights

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.^[6]

A large-scale on-ice brawl occurred during the Colorado Avalanche–Detroit Red Wings game on March 26. The game featured 18 fighting major penalties and 144 minutes in penalties.

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	New Jersey Devils	82	45	23	14	231	182	104
2	3	Philadelphia Flyers	82	45	24	13	274	217	103
3	4	Florida Panthers	82	35	28	19	221	201	89
4	5	New York Rangers	82	38	34	10	258	231	86
5	9	Washington Capitals	82	33	40	9	214	231	75
6	11	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	32	40	10	217	247	74
7	12	New York Islanders	82	29	41	12	240	250	70

Northeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Buffalo Sabres	82	40	30	12	237	208	92
2	6	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	38	36	8	285	280	84
3	7	Ottawa Senators	82	31	36	15	226	234	77
4	8	Montreal Canadiens	82	31	36	15	249	276	77
5	10	Hartford Whalers	82	32	39	11	226	256	75
6	13	Boston Bruins	82	26	47	9	234	300	61

Eastern Conference^[7]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	New Jersey Devils	ATL	82	45	23	14	231	182	104
2	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	40	30	12	237	208	92
3	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	82	45	24	13	274	217	103
4	Florida Panthers	ATL	82	35	28	19	221	201	89
5	New York Rangers	ATL	82	38	34	10	258	231	86
6	Pittsburgh Penguins	NE	82	38	36	8	285	280	84
7	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	31	36	15	226	234	77
8	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	31	36	15	249	276	77
9	Washington Capitals	ATL	82	33	40	9	214	231	75
10	Hartford Whalers	NE	82	32	39	11	226	256	75
11	Tampa Bay Lightning	ATL	82	32	40	10	217	247	74
12	New York Islanders	ATL	82	29	41	12	240	250	70
13	Boston Bruins	NE	82	26	47	9	234	300	61

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Western Conference

Central Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Dallas Stars	82	48	26	8	252	198	104
2	3	Detroit Red Wings	82	38	26	18	253	197	94
3	5	Phoenix Coyotes	82	38	37	7	240	243	83
4	6	St. Louis Blues	82	36	35	11	236	239	83
5	8	Chicago Blackhawks	82	34	35	13	223	210	81
6	11	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	30	44	8	230	273	68

Pacific Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Colorado Avalanche	82	49	24	9	277	205	107
2	4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	82	36	33	13	243	231	85
3	7	Edmonton Oilers	82	36	37	9	252	247	81
4	9	Vancouver Canucks	82	35	40	7	257	273	77
5	10	Calgary Flames	82	32	41	9	214	239	73
6	12	Los Angeles Kings	82	28	43	11	214	268	67
7	13	San Jose Sharks	82	27	47	8	211	278	62

Western Conference^[8]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Colorado Avalanche	PAC	82	49	24	9	277	205	107
2	Dallas Stars	CEN	82	48	26	8	252	198	104
3	Detroit Red Wings	CEN	82	38	26	18	253	197	94
4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PAC	82	36	33	13	245	233	85
5	Phoenix Coyotes	CEN	82	38	37	7	240	243	83
6	St. Louis Blues	CEN	82	36	35	11	236	239	83
7	Edmonton Oilers	PAC	82	36	37	9	252	247	81
8	Chicago Blackhawks	CEN	82	34	35	13	223	210	81
9	Vancouver Canucks	PAC	82	35	40	7	257	273	77
10	Calgary Flames	PAC	82	32	41	9	214	239	73
11	Toronto Maple Leafs	CEN	82	30	44	8	230	273	68
12	Los Angeles Kings	PAC	82	28	43	11	214	268	67
13	San Jose Sharks	PAC	82	27	47	8	211	278	62

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

Playoffs

Main article: 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs

Bracket

The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the two division winners seeded 1–2 based on regular season records, and the six remaining teams seeded 3–8. In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home-ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

	Conference quarterfinals					Conference semifinals					Conference finals					Stanley Cup Finals
	1	New Jersey	4
	8	Montreal	1
						1	New Jersey	1
						5	NY Rangers	4
	2	Buffalo	4
	7	Ottawa	3
											5	NY Rangers	1
	Eastern Conference
											3	Philadelphia	4
	3	Philadelphia	4
	6	Pittsburgh	1
						2	Buffalo	1
						3	Philadelphia	4
	4	Florida	1
	5	NY Rangers	4
																E3	Philadelphia	0
																W3	Detroit	4
	1	Colorado	4
	8	Chicago	2
						1	Colorado	4
						7	Edmonton	1
	2	Dallas	3
	7	Edmonton	4
											1	Colorado	2
	Western Conference
											3	Detroit	4
	3	Detroit	4
	6	St. Louis	2
						3	Detroit	4
						4	Anaheim	0
	4	Anaheim	4
	5	Phoenix	3

Awards

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

Presidents' Trophy:	Colorado Avalanche
Prince of Wales Trophy: (Eastern Conference playoff champion)	Philadelphia Flyers
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: (Western Conference playoff champion)	Detroit Red Wings
Art Ross Trophy:	Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:	Tony Granato, San Jose Sharks
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Bryan Berard, New York Islanders
Conn Smythe Trophy:	Mike Vernon, Detroit Red Wings
Frank J. Selke Trophy:	Michael Peca, Buffalo Sabres
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
Jack Adams Award:	Ted Nolan, Buffalo Sabres
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Brian Leetch, New York Rangers
King Clancy Memorial Trophy:	Trevor Linden, Vancouver Canucks
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Paul Kariya, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Lester B. Pearson Award:	Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
NHL Plus-Minus Award:	John LeClair, Philadelphia Flyers
Vezina Trophy:	Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
William M. Jennings Trophy:	Martin Brodeur/Mike Dunham, New Jersey Devils

All-Star teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres	G	Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Brian Leetch, New York Rangers	D	Chris Chelios, Chicago Blackhawks
Sandis Ozolinsh, Colorado Avalanche	D	Scott Stevens, New Jersey Devils
Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins	C	Wayne Gretzky, New York Rangers
Teemu Selanne, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	RW	Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins
Paul Kariya, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	LW	John LeClair, Philadelphia Flyers

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Regular season

Playoffs

Player Team GP G A Pts Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh 76 50 72 122 Teemu Selanne Anaheim 78 51 58 109 Paul Kariya Anaheim 69 44 55 99 John LeClair Philadelphia 82 50 47 97 Wayne Gretzky NY Rangers 82 25 72 97 Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh 63 47 48 95 Mats Sundin Toronto 82 41 53 94 Zigmund Palffy NY Islanders 80 48 42 90 Ron Francis Pittsburgh 81 27 63 90 Brendan Shanahan Hartford/ Detroit 81 47 41 88 Source: NHL.[9]

Player Team GP G A Pts Eric Lindros Phi 19 12 14 26 Joe Sakic Col 17 8 17 25 Claude Lemieux Col 17 13 10 23 Valeri Kamensky Col 17 8 14 22 Rod Brind'Amour Phi 19 13 8 21 John LeClair Phi 19 9 12 21 Wayne Gretzky NYR 15 10 10 20 Sergei Fedorov Det 20 8 12 20 Brendan Shanahan Det 20 9 8 17 Peter Forsberg Col 14 5 12 17 Sandis Ozolinsh Col 17 4 13 17

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

Leading goaltenders

Regular season

Player	Team	GP	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
Martin Brodeur	New Jersey	67	3838	120	10	1.88	.927
Andy Moog	Dallas	48	2738	98	3	2.15	.913
Jeff Hackett	Chicago	41	2473	89	2	2.16	.927
Dominik Hasek	Buffalo	67	4037	153	5	2.27	.930
John Vanbiesbrouck	Florida	57	3347	128	2	2.29	.919
Chris Osgood	Detroit	47	2769	106	6	2.30	.910
Patrick Roy	Colorado	62	3698	143	7	2.32	.923
Mark Fitzpatrick	Florida	30	1680	66	0	2.36	.914
Mike Vernon	Detroit	33	1952	79	0	2.43	.899
Garth Snow	Philadelphia	35	1884	79	2	2.52	.903

^[3]

Coaches

Eastern Conference

• Boston Bruins: Steve Kasper
• Buffalo Sabres: Ted Nolan
• Florida Panthers: Doug MacLean
• Hartford Whalers: Paul Maurice
• Montreal Canadiens: Mario Tremblay
• New Jersey Devils: Jacques Lemaire
• New York Islanders: Mike Milbury and Rick Bowness
• New York Rangers: Colin Campbell
• Ottawa Senators: Jacques Martin
• Philadelphia Flyers: Terry Murray
• Pittsburgh Penguins: Eddie Johnston and Craig Patrick
• Tampa Bay Lightning: Terry Crisp
• Washington Capitals: Jim Schoenfeld

Western Conference

• Mighty Ducks of Anaheim: Ron Wilson
• Calgary Flames: Pierre Page
• Chicago Blackhawks: Craig Hartsburg
• Colorado Avalanche: Marc Crawford
• Dallas Stars: Ken Hitchcock
• Detroit Red Wings: Scotty Bowman
• Edmonton Oilers: Ron Low
• Los Angeles Kings: Larry Robinson
• Phoenix Coyotes: Don Hay
• San Jose Sharks: Al Sims and Darryl Sutter
• St. Louis Blues: Mike Keenan, Jim Roberts (interim) and Joel Quenneville
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Mike Murphy
• Vancouver Canucks: Tom Renney

Milestones

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
• 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
• Bryan Berard, New York Islanders
• Todd Bertuzzi, New York Islanders
• Wade Redden, Ottawa Senators
• Vaclav Prospal, Philadelphia Flyers
• Dainius Zubrus, Philadelphia Flyers
• Patrick Lalime, Pittsburgh Penguins

Last games

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

• 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
• Joe Mullen, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Tim Hunter, San Jose Sharks
• Craig MacTavish, St. Louis Blues (the last helmetless player)
• Jay Wells, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Don Beaupre, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Dave McLlwain, New York Islanders
• Gary Leeman, St. Louis Blues

Broadcasting

Canada

This was the ninth season that the league's Canadian national broadcast rights were split between TSN and Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. During the regular season, Saturday night games aired on CBC, while TSN primarily had Monday and Thursday night games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series.

United States

This was the third season of the league's five-year U.S. national broadcast rights deals with Fox and ESPN. Both ESPN and ESPN2 aired weeknight games throughout the regular season, and Fox had the All-Star Game and weekly regional telecasts on six selected weekend afternoons between January and March. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected games, while Fox provided Sunday regional telecasts. Each U.S. team's regional broadcaster produced local coverage of first and second round games (except for those games on Fox). Fox's Sunday telecasts continued into the Conference Finals, while ESPN had the rest of the third round games. The Stanley Cup Finals were also split between Fox and ESPN.

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1996 NHL Entry Draft
• 1996–97 NHL transactions
• 47th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• NHL All-Rookie Team
• Lester Patrick Trophy
• 1996 World Cup of Hockey
• 1996 in sports
• 1997 in sports