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1996–97 Montreal Canadiens season
NHL hockey team season
NHL hockey team season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Team | Montreal Canadiens |
| League | NHL |
| Season | 1996–97 |
| year | 1996 |
| Conference | Eastern |
| ConferenceRank | 8th |
| Division | Northeast |
| DivisionRank | 4th |
| Record | 31–36–15 |
| HomeRecord | 17–17–7 |
| RoadRecord | 14–19–8 |
| GoalsFor | 249 |
| GoalsAgainst | 276 |
| GeneralManager | Rejean Houle |
| Coach | Mario Tremblay |
| Captain | Pierre Turgeon (Oct.) |
| Vincent Damphousse (Oct.–Apr.) | |
| Arena | Molson Centre |
| Attendance | 21,001 (98.7%) |
| MinorLeague | Fredericton Canadiens |
| Wheeling Nailers | |
| GoalsLeader | Mark Recchi (34) |
| AssistsLeader | Vincent Damphousse (54) |
| PointsLeader | Vincent Damphousse (81) |
| PlusMinusLeader | Peter Popovic (+9) |
| PIMLeader | Scott Thornton (128) |
| WinsLeader | Jocelyn Thibault (22) |
| GAALeader | Jocelyn Thibault (2.90) |
Vincent Damphousse (Oct.–Apr.) Wheeling Nailers The 1996–97 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 88th season and the first full season at the Molson Centre. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs despite a sub-.500 season. The Canadiens were eliminated in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals (the first round) by the New Jersey Devils 4 games to 1.
Regular season
On Wednesday, October 16, 1996, the Canadiens scored three short-handed goals in a 4–2 win over the Calgary Flames.
Pierre Turgeon was traded on October 29, 1996, to the St. Louis Blues. Veteran forward Vincent Damphousse was named the new captain.
The Canadiens finished the regular season 26th in both power-play goals allowed (71) and penalty-killing percentage (79.54%).
Final standings
Playoffs
In the first game of the series against New Jersey, on April 17, 1997, with the Devils up by two goals late in the game, Martin Brodeur fired the puck the length of the ice and into the Canadiens' empty net to ensure a 5-2 victory. It was only the second time in NHL history that a goaltender had scored in the playoffs, and the fifth time overall.
Schedule and results
Regular season
|- |1||October 5, 1996||3–3 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Ottawa Senators||0–0–1 || |- |2||October 7, 1996||6–6 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim||0–0–2 || |- |3||October 9, 1996||6–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Los Angeles Kings||1–0–2 || |- |4||October 12, 1996||5–2 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Rangers||2–0–2 || |- |5||October 15, 1996||2–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New Jersey Devils||2–1–2 || |- |6||October 16, 1996||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Calgary Flames||3–1–2 || |- |7||October 19, 1996||3–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Ottawa Senators||3–2–2 || |- |8||October 24, 1996||3–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Buffalo Sabres||3–3–2 || |- |9||October 26, 1996||6–5 || style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia Flyers||4–3–2 || |- |10||October 28, 1996||4–5 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix Coyotes||4–4–2 || |- |11||October 30, 1996||3–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Detroit Red Wings||4–5–2 ||
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| Legend:
Playoffs
|- |1|| April 17, 1997 || 2–5 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils || Devils lead 1–0 || |- |2|| April 19, 1997 || 1–4 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils || Devils lead 2–0 || |- |3|| April 22, 1997 || 4–6 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils || Devils lead 3–0 || |- |4|| April 24, 1997 || 4–3 3OT|| align="left"| New Jersey Devils || Devils lead 3–1 || |- |5|| April 26, 1997 || 0–4 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils || Devils win 4–1 ||
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| Legend:
Player statistics
Scoring
- Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
-
- = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.*
-
- = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.*
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Playoffs | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | C | 82 | 27 | 54 | 81 | −6 | 82 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 | 2 | |||
| 8 | RW | 82 | 34 | 46 | 80 | −1 | 58 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | |||
| 49 | LW | 81 | 23 | 37 | 60 | −14 | 39 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 11 | C | 50 | 17 | 39 | 56 | 7 | 38 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 10 | |||
| 26 | LW | 70 | 28 | 27 | 55 | 1 | 62 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 | 4 | |||
| 44 | RW | 63 | 22 | 24 | 46 | 0 | 32 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 0 | |||
| 18 | RW | 64 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −4 | 2 | |||
| 38 | D | 65 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 3 | 43 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 6 | |||
| 17 | LW | 39 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 6 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||
| 5 | D | 71 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 1 | 100 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 6 | |||
| 30 | RW | 65 | 8 | 13 | 21 | −14 | 97 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 27 | LW | 47 | 6 | 15 | 21 | −5 | 80 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −5 | 4 | |||
| 24 | LW | 73 | 10 | 10 | 20 | −19 | 128 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 42 | RW | 73 | 7 | 13 | 20 | −5 | 110 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 28 | C | 43 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 4 | 16 | |||||||||
| 3 | D | 61 | 6 | 9 | 15 | −9 | 63 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 43 | D | 49 | 2 | 13 | 15 | −7 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 24 | |||
| 34 | D | 78 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 2 | |||
| 71 | C | 28 | 2 | 9 | 11 | −3 | 2 | |||||||||
| 77 | C | 9 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 2 | |||||||||
| 35 | D | 49 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 42 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 | |||
| 22 | RW | 56 | 4 | 2 | 6 | −8 | 114 | |||||||||
| 36 | D | 60 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −16 | 107 | |||||||||
| 52 | D | 35 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 54 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 14 | |||
| 37 | D | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 17 | |||
| 20 | C | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| 53 | D | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 6 | |||||||||
| 35 | LW | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 38 | |||||||||
| 32 | D | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 22 | |||||||||
| 48 | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||
| 39 | G | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 51 | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 14 | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 15 | LW | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |||||||||
| 60 | G | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 41 | G | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 37 | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending
-
- = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.*
| No. | Player | Regular season | Playoffs | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | Jocelyn Thibault | 61 | 22 | 24 | 11 | 1815 | 164 | 2.90 | .910 | 1 | 3397 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 101 | 13 | 4.36 | .871 | 0 | 179 | ||
| 60 | Jose Theodore | 16 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 508 | 53 | 3.87 | .896 | 0 | 821 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 108 | 7 | 2.51 | .935 | 0 | 168 | ||
| 39 | Pat Jablonski | 17 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 438 | 50 | 3.98 | .886 | 0 | 754 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 37 | Tomas Vokoun | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 12.00 | .714 | 0 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Awards and records
Awards
| Type | Award/honour | Recipient | Ref | League | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in-season) | Team | ||||
| [NHL All-Star Game](1997-national-hockey-league-all-star-game) selection | Mark Recchi | ||||
| Jacques Beauchamp Molson Trophy | Stephane Quintal | ||||
| Molson Cup | Mark Recchi |
Milestones
| Milestone | Player | Date | Ref | First game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Ryan | October 26, 1996 | |||
| Eric Houde | December 29, 1996 | |||
| Brad Brown | January 11, 1997 | |||
| David Ling | ||||
| Tomas Vokoun | February 6, 1997 |
Draft picks
Montreal's picks at the 1996 NHL entry draft held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | Matt Higgins | Centre | Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL) | |
| 2 | 44 | Mathieu Garon | Goalie | Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) | |
| 3 | 71 | Arron Asham | Right wing | Red Deer Rebels (WHL) | |
| 4 | 92 | Kim Staal | Left wing | Malmö IF (Sweden) | |
| 4 | 99 | Etienne Drapeau | Centre | Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL) | |
| 5 | 127 | Daniel Archambault | Defence | Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL) | |
| 6 | 154 | Brett Clark | Defence | University of Maine (NCAA) | |
| 7 | 181 | Timo Vertala | Left wing | JYP (Finland) | |
| 8 | 207 | Mattia Baldi | Left wing | Ambri-Piotta (Swiss) | |
| 9 | 233 | Michel Tremblay | Left wing | Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL) |
Notes
References
References
- "Calgary Flames at Montreal Canadiens Box Score — October 16, 1996".
- "1996-97 NHL Summary".
- "Martin Brodeur - Facts". MartinBrodeur.net.
- "1996-97 Montreal Canadiens Schedule".
- "1997 NHL All-Star Game Rosters".
- Montreal Canadiens 2014–2015 Media Guide, p.553
- Montreal Canadiens 2014–2015 Media Guide, p.552
- "1996-97 NHL Debuts".
- "1996 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".
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