1996–97 NHL season

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.
• Offside rules were clarified, requiring all players to clear their opponents' zone before they can shoot the puck back into that zone.
• 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 1996 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.

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 ;Western Conference

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.

Awards

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

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Source: NHL. |

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

Leading goaltenders

Regular season

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.

References

• {{cite book |last1=Fischler |first1=Stan |last2=Fischler |first2=Shirley ;Notes

References

1. "1996-97 NHL Goalie Statistics".
2. "1997 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Goalie Statistics".
3. "1996-97 NHL Leaders".
4. "1995-96 NHL Leaders".
5. "Historical Rule Changes".
6. Weekes, Don. (2003). "The Best and Worst of Hockey's Firsts: The Unofficial Guide". Greystone Books.