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1996–97 New York Rangers season

NHL hockey team season

Field	Value
League	NHL
Season	1996–97
year	1996
Team	New York Rangers
Conference	Eastern
ConferenceRank	5th
Division	Atlantic
DivisionRank	4th
Record	38–34–10
HomeRecord	21–14–6
RoadRecord	17–20–4
GoalsFor	258
GoalsAgainst	231
GeneralManager	Neil Smith
Coach	Colin Campbell
Captain	Mark Messier
AltCaptain	Brian Leetch
Adam Graves
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Attendance	18,200 (100%)
MinorLeague	Binghamton Rangers
Charlotte Checkers
GoalsLeader	Mark Messier (36)
AssistsLeader	Wayne Gretzky (72)
PointsLeader	Wayne Gretzky (97)
PIMLeader	Darren Langdon (195)
PlusMinusLeader	Brian Leetch (+31)
WinsLeader	Mike Richter (33)
GAALeader	Glenn Healy (2.61)

Adam Graves Charlotte Checkers

The 1996–97 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 71st season. The highlight of the season was that it was Wayne Gretzky's first season in New York.

The Rangers qualified for the playoffs as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, and advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were defeated by the Philadelphia Flyers. This marked the last playoff appearance for the Rangers until the 2005–06 season.

Regular season

The Rangers had the fewest power-play opportunities during the regular season (287), but the best power-play percentage (21.95%).

Final standings

Playoffs

Main article: 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs

Schedule and results

Regular season

|- | 1 || October 5, 1996 || @ Boston Bruins || 4–4 OT || 0–0–1 || |- | 2 || October 6, 1996 || Florida Panthers || 5–2 || 0–1–1 || |- | 3 || October 8, 1996 || @ Florida Panthers || 1–1 OT || 0–1–2 || |- | 4 || October 10, 1996 || Dallas Stars || 2–1 || 0–2–2 || |- | 5 || October 12, 1996 || @ Montreal Canadiens || 5–2 || 0–3–2 || |- | 6 || October 14, 1996 || Calgary Flames || 5–4 || 1–3–2 || |- | 7 || October 16, 1996 || Pittsburgh Penguins || 8–1 || 2–3–2 || |- | 8 || October 18, 1996 || St. Louis Blues || 2–1 || 3–3–2 || |- | 9 || October 20, 1996 || @ Tampa Bay Lightning || 5–2 || 3–4–2 || |- | 10 || October 23, 1996 || Washington Capitals || 3–2 || 3–5–2 || |- | 11 || October 25, 1996 || @ Florida Panthers || 6–4 || 3–6–2 || |- | 12 || October 27, 1996 || Buffalo Sabres || 6–4 || 4–6–2 || |- | 13 || October 29, 1996 || Florida Panthers || 1–1 OT || 4–6–3 || |- | 14 || October 30, 1996 || @ New Jersey Devils || 6–1 || 5–6–3 ||

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| Legend:

Playoffs

|- | 1 ||April 17, 1997 || @ Florida Panthers || 3–0 || Panthers lead 1–0 || |- | 2 ||April 20, 1997 || @ Florida Panthers || 3–0 || Series tied 1–1 || |- | 3 ||April 22, 1997 || Florida Panthers || 4–3 OT || Rangers lead 2–1 || |- | 4 ||April 23, 1997 || Florida Panthers || 3–2 || Rangers lead 3–1 || |- | 5 ||April 25, 1997 || @ Florida Panthers || 3–2 OT || Rangers win 4–1 ||

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| Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring

Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; 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 Rangers only.*
- = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.*

No.	Pos	Regular season	Playoffs	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts
99	C	82	25	72	97	12	28	15	10	10	20	5	2
11	C	71	36	48	84	12	88	15	3	9	12	2	6
2	D	82	20	58	78	31	40	15	2	8	10	5	6
9	LW	82	33	28	61	10	66	15	2	1	3	1	12
24	RW	82	24	28	52	23	20	9	0	5	5	3	2
20	LW	69	24	24	48	16	48	15	4	7	11	7	4
25	D	77	9	29	38	1	59	13	1	3	4	2	20
27	RW	45	13	22	35	11	42
33	D	79	5	25	30	8	48	15	0	1	1	−3	2
8	RW	68	10	12	22	6	26	11	0	0	0	2	14
13	C	63	6	13	19	5	12
5	D	73	6	11	17	3	138	15	0	2	2	1	30
28	RW	44	6	9	15	−7	28
18	LW	67	8	6	14	2	37	3	0	0	0	−1	2
16	LW	41	10	3	13	−5	10
23	D	80	3	9	12	22	167	15	0	1	1	5	34
39	RW	16	5	5	10	4	6
15	LW	60	3	6	9	−1	195	10	0	0	0	−1	2
32	C	27	1	7	8	2	10	15	1	2	3	0	22
6	D	48	3	4	7	10	24	15	1	5	6	−2	8
21	RW	14	2	5	7	−3	2	15	3	4	7	1	0
26	RW	14	2	1	3	3	4	3	0	0	0	0	0
10	C	14	1	2	3	0	6	15	9	3	12	2	26
19	C	27	1	1	2	−4	4	3	0	0	0	−2	0
14	RW	12	1	1	2	1	6
37	RW	11	1	0	1	−2	30
29	D	40	0	1	1	−7	147	3	0	0	0	0	0
22	RW	45	0	1	1	−10	106	15	0	0	0	−3	20
21	D	14	0	1	1	0	25
38	D	6	0	0	0	−1	18
28	D	3	0	0	0	−1	6	4	0	0	0	−1	4
17	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
30	G	23	0	0	0		4
32	LW	9	0	0	0	−2	11
36	RW	2	0	0	0	−1	2
35	G	61	0	0	0		4	15	0	1	1		0
12	C							9	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season	Playoffs	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
35	Mike Richter	61	33	22	6	1945	161	2.69	.917	4	3598	15	9	6	488	33	2.11	.932	3	939
30	Glenn Healy	23	5	12	4	632	59	2.61	.907	1	1357	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref	League
(annual)	League
(in-season)	Team
James Norris Memorial Trophy	Brian Leetch
NHL First All-Star Team	Brian Leetch (Defense)	title=Postseason All-Star Teams	url=https://records.nhl.com/awards/phwa-all-star-teams?season=19961997	website=records.nhl.com	access-date=July 26, 2023}}
NHL Second All-Star Team	Wayne Gretzky (Center)
[NHL All-Star Game](1997-national-hockey-league-all-star-game) selection	Wayne Gretzky
Brian Leetch
Mark Messier
Ceil Saidel Memorial Award	Adam Graves	title=2014–15 New York Rangers Media Guide	publisher=New York Rangers	year=2014	pages=349–352}}
"Crumb Bum" Award	Mike Richter
Frank Boucher Trophy	Mark Messier
Good Guy Award	Wayne Gretzky
Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award	Eric Cairns
Players' Player Award	Darren Langdon
Rangers MVP	Brian Leetch
Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award	Brian Leetch

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref	First game
Daniel Goneau	October 5, 1996
Eric Cairns	October 8, 1996
Christian Dube
Sylvain Blouin	November 18, 1996
Ryan VandenBussche	December 13, 1996
Vladimir Vorobiev	January 12, 1997
Jeff Nielsen	February 19, 1997

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1996 NHL entry draft in St. Louis, Missouri at the Kiel Center.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	22	Jeff Brown	D	Canada	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
2	48	Daniel Goneau	LW	Canada	Granby Predateurs (QMJHL)
3	76	Dmitri Subbotin	LW	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russia)
5	131	Colin Pepperall	LW	Canada	Niagara Falls Thunder (OHL)
6	158	Ola Sandberg	D	Sweden	Djurgårdens IF (SEL)
7	185	Jeff Dessner	D	United States	Taft School (Connecticut)
8	211	Ryan McKie	D	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
9	237	Ronnie Sundin	D	Sweden	Frölunda HC (SEL)

Notes

References

"1996-97 NHL Summary".
"1996-97 New York Rangers Schedule".
"James Norris Memorial Trophy".
"Postseason All-Star Teams".
"NHL All-Star Game Starting Lineups by Year (since 1986)".
"1997 NHL All-Star Game Rosters".
(2014). "2014–15 New York Rangers Media Guide". New York Rangers.
"1996-97 NHL Debuts".
"1996 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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