1996–97 NHL season

The 1996–97 NHL season was the 80th regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-six teams each played 82 games. 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. Goaltenders dominated the regular season as never before, combining for an all-time record of 127 shutouts. This domination 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.

League Business

This was the first season for the Phoenix Coyotes, who had relocated from Winnipeg, Manitoba and had previously been known as the Winnipeg Jets.

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 were 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. He 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 1 June, 1979. The first player to ever wear a helmet was George Owen in the 1928–29 NHL season.

Regular season

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

Final standings

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

coring leaders

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

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Conference semifinals

Conference finals

tanley Cup final

coring leaders

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

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
*Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Hartford Whalers
*Tomas Vokoun, Montreal Canadiens
*Jay Pandolfo, New Jersey Devils
*Bryan Berard, New York Islanders
*Wade Redden, Ottawa Senators
*Janne Niinimaa, Philadelphia Flyers
*Vaclav Prospal, 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, Philadelphia Flyers
*Dan Quinn, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Joe Mullen, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Tim Hunter, San Jose Sharks
*Craig MacTavish, St. Louis Blues
*Gary Leeman, St. Louis Blues
*Jon Casey, St. Louis Blues
*Jay Wells, Tampa Bay Lightning
*Don Beaupre, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Nick Kypreos, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Mike Ridley, Vancouver Canucks

1997 Trading Deadline

* Trading Deadline: MARCH 18, 1997 [ [http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/3969 NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out ] ]
*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 4th 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 6th 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 5th 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 8th 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 6th 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 6th 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.

ee also

* List of Stanley Cup champions
* 1996 NHL Entry Draft
* 47th National Hockey League All-Star Game
* National Hockey League All-Star Game
* NHL All-Rookie Team
* 1996 World Cup of Hockey
* 1996 in sports
* 1997 in sports

References

* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
* [http://nhl.com/ NHL.com]