# 1996–97 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1996–97 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 80th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).
The Maple Leafs entered the 1996–97 NHL season with the hopes of making the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year. Mike Murphy was hired prior to the season as the head coach replacing interim coach Nick Beverley. The team played poorly for most of the season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1992. This season would be Cliff Fletcher's last as general manager of the Maple Leafs. In one of his final moves, Fletcher traded captain Doug Gilmour to the New Jersey Devils in February.

## Regular season
### Season standings

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 |
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
Western Conference :
| 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

## Schedule and results

1996–97 regular season :
October: 5–6–0 (home: 3–4–0; road: 2–2–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
1WOctober 5, 19964–1Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)1–0–0Recap
2LOctober 8, 19962–4Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)1–1–0Recap
3LOctober 12, 19964–7Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97)1–2–0Recap
4LOctober 15, 19961–3Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)1–3–0Recap
5LOctober 17, 19961–6@ St. Louis Blues (1996–97)1–4–0Recap
6LOctober 19, 19960–2@ Dallas Stars (1996–97)1–5–0Recap
7WOctober 22, 19964–3San Jose Sharks (1996–97)2–5–0Recap
8WOctober 24, 19962–1@ Boston Bruins (1996–97)3–5–0Recap
9WOctober 26, 19965–2Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97)4–5–0Recap
10LOctober 29, 19962–5Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)4–6–0Recap
11WOctober 31, 19965–3@ New York Islanders (1996–97)5–6–0Recap :
November: 5–9–0 (home: 5–1–0; road: 0–8–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
12WNovember 2, 19966–2Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)6–6–0Recap
13WNovember 5, 19966–3St. Louis Blues (1996–97)7–6–0Recap
14LNovember 7, 19962–6@ Ottawa Senators (1996–97)7–7–0Recap
15WNovember 9, 19967–3Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)8–7–0Recap
16LNovember 10, 19961–3@ Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97)8–8–0Recap
17LNovember 13, 19962–3@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)8–9–0Recap
18LNovember 14, 19961–4@ Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)8–10–0Recap
19LNovember 16, 19962–3@ Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97)8–11–0Recap
20WNovember 19, 19964–3Buffalo Sabres (1996–97)9–11–0Recap
21LNovember 21, 19963–6@ Buffalo Sabres (1996–97)9–12–0Recap
22LNovember 23, 19963–4Montreal Canadiens (1996–97)9–13–0Recap
23WNovember 26, 19963–2Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)10–13–0Recap
24LNovember 27, 19962–5@ Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)10–14–0Recap
25LNovember 30, 19962–5@ Dallas Stars (1996–97)10–15–0Recap :
December: 7–7–0 (home: 3–4–0; road: 4–3–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
26WDecember 3, 19962–0St. Louis Blues (1996–97)11–15–0Recap
27LDecember 6, 19965–6@ New York Rangers (1996–97)11–16–0Recap
28LDecember 7, 19960–4New York Rangers (1996–97)11–17–0Recap
29WDecember 9, 19963–1@ Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)12–17–0Recap
30LDecember 10, 19962–5New Jersey Devils (1996–97)12–18–0Recap
31LDecember 14, 19963–5Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97)12–19–0Recap
32LDecember 15, 19961–3@ Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)12–20–0Recap
33WDecember 17, 19966–3@ San Jose Sharks (1996–97)13–20–0Recap
34LDecember 20, 19962–5@ Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97)13–21–0Recap
35WDecember 21, 19966–2@ Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)14–21–0Recap
36LDecember 23, 19965–6Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97)14–22–0Recap
37WDecember 27, 19963–2@ St. Louis Blues (1996–97)15–22–0Recap
38WDecember 28, 19965–4Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)16–22–0Recap
39WDecember 30, 19962–0New York Islanders (1996–97)17–22–0Recap :
January: 2–10–1 (home: 1–5–0; road: 1–5–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
40LJanuary 3, 19973–4@ Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)17–23–0Recap
41LJanuary 4, 19973–7@ Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)17–24–0Recap
42LJanuary 7, 19973–4 OT@ Calgary Flames (1996–97)17–25–0Recap
43LJanuary 11, 19972–3Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)17–26–0Recap
44LJanuary 13, 19973–6@ Washington Capitals (1996–97)17–27–0Recap
45LJanuary 15, 19972–3Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)17–28–0Recap
46LJanuary 20, 19971–3@ Hartford Whalers (1996–97)17–29–0Recap
47WJanuary 22, 19975–3Calgary Flames (1996–97)18–29–0Recap
48WJanuary 24, 19972–1 OT@ Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)19–29–0Recap
49LJanuary 25, 19971–5Dallas Stars (1996–97)19–30–0Recap
50LJanuary 27, 19972–5Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)19–31–0Recap
51LJanuary 29, 19970–4St. Louis Blues (1996–97)19–32–0Recap
52TJanuary 31, 19973–3 OT@ New Jersey Devils (1996–97)19–32–1Recap :
February: 4–5–1 (home: 2–2–0; road: 2–3–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
53LFebruary 1, 19971–2Ottawa Senators (1996–97)19–33–1Recap
54WFebruary 5, 19974–2Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)20–33–1Recap
55WFebruary 8, 19974–2Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)21–33–1Recap
56LFebruary 12, 19972–5@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)21–34–1Recap
57TFebruary 13, 19974–4 OT@ Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)21–34–2Recap
58LFebruary 15, 19970–3@ Calgary Flames (1996–97)21–35–2Recap
59WFebruary 18, 19976–5@ Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)22–35–2Recap
60LFebruary 19, 19975–6@ Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)22–36–2Recap
61WFebruary 22, 19975–1@ Montreal Canadiens (1996–97)23–36–2Recap
62LFebruary 26, 19971–3Washington Capitals (1996–97)23–37–2Recap :
March: 5–4–5 (home: 2–3–3; road: 3–1–2)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
63WMarch 1, 19973–2San Jose Sharks (1996–97)24–37–2Recap
64WMarch 3, 19974–2Boston Bruins (1996–97)25–37–2Recap
65TMarch 5, 19974–4 OTDetroit Red Wings (1996–97)25–37–3Recap
66TMarch 8, 19971–1 OTHartford Whalers (1996–97)25–37–4Recap
67TMarch 10, 19973–3 OTDallas Stars (1996–97)25–37–5Recap
68LMarch 12, 19972–3Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)25–38–5Recap
69TMarch 15, 19973–3 OT@ Florida Panthers (1996–97)25–38–6Recap
70WMarch 16, 19973–1@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97)26–38–6Recap
71LMarch 19, 19973–6Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97)26–39–6Recap
72LMarch 20, 19973–6@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97)26–40–6Recap
73LMarch 22, 19970–3Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97)26–41–6Recap
74WMarch 26, 19972–1@ San Jose Sharks (1996–97)27–41–6Recap
75TMarch 27, 19971–1 OT@ Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97)27–41–7Recap
76WMarch 29, 19973–2@ Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)28–41–7Recap :
April: 2–3–1 (home: 2–1–0; road: 0–2–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
77WApril 2, 19973–1Florida Panthers (1996–97)29–41–7Recap
78TApril 3, 19972–2 OT@ Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)29–41–8Recap
79LApril 5, 19972–4Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)29–42–8Recap
80LApril 9, 19972–3@ Dallas Stars (1996–97)29–43–8Recap
81LApril 10, 19971–5@ St. Louis Blues (1996–97)29–44–8Recap
82WApril 12, 19974–1Calgary Flames (1996–97)30–44–8Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## 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 Maple Leafs only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Maple Leafs only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 13 | Mats Sundin | C | 82 | 41 | 53 | 94 | 6 | 59 |
| 93 | Doug Gilmour‡ | C | 61 | 15 | 45 | 60 | −5 | 46 |
| 17 | Wendel Clark | LW | 65 | 30 | 19 | 49 | −2 | 75 |
| 94 | Sergei Berezin | LW | 73 | 25 | 16 | 41 | −3 | 2 |
| 55 | Larry Murphy‡ | D | 69 | 7 | 32 | 39 | 1 | 20 |
| 21 | Kirk Muller‡ | C | 66 | 20 | 17 | 37 | −23 | 85 |
| 8 | Todd Warriner | LW | 75 | 12 | 21 | 33 | −3 | 41 |
| 28 | Tie Domi | RW | 80 | 11 | 17 | 28 | −17 | 275 |
| 9 | Mike Craig | RW | 65 | 7 | 13 | 20 | −20 | 62 |
| 14 | Darby Hendrickson† | C | 64 | 11 | 6 | 17 | −20 | 47 |
| 16 | Jamie Baker | C | 58 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 28 |
| 11 | Steve Sullivan† | C | 21 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 5 | 23 |
| 4 | David Ellett‡ | D | 56 | 4 | 10 | 14 | −8 | 34 |
| 36 | Dmitri Yushkevich | D | 74 | 4 | 10 | 14 | −24 | 56 |
| 2 | Rob Zettler | D | 48 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 8 | 51 |
| 19 | Fredrik Modin | RW | 76 | 6 | 7 | 13 | −14 | 24 |
| 72 | Mathieu Schneider | D | 26 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 20 |
| 34 | Jamie Macoun | D | 73 | 1 | 10 | 11 | −14 | 93 |
| 12 | Brandon Convery | RW | 39 | 2 | 8 | 10 | −9 | 20 |
| 10 | Zdenek Nedved | RW | 23 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 6 |
| 42 | David Cooper | D | 19 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 16 |
| 32 | Nick Kypreos | LW | 35 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 62 |
| 26 | Jamie Heward | RW | 20 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −6 | 6 |
| 25 | Jason Smith† | D | 21 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −4 | 16 |
| 20 | Mike Johnson† | RW | 13 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 4 |
| 3 | Matt Martin | D | 36 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −12 | 38 |
| 26 | Craig Wolanin† | D | 23 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| 24 | Tom Pederson† | D | 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| 7 | Jason Podollan† | C | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −2 | 6 |
| 29 | Felix Potvin | G | 74 | 0 | 3 | 3 | | 19 |
| 43 | Nathan Dempsey | LW | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −2 | 2 |
| 7 | Kelly Fairchild | C | 22 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −5 | 2 |
| 31 | Marcel Cousineau | G | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 0 |
| 20 | Ralph Intranuovo‡ | C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| 4 | D. J. Smith | D | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −5 | 7 |
| 33 | Don Beaupre | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 39 | Kelly Chase† | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| 44 | John Craighead | RW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 37 | Mark Kolesar | RW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 0 |
| 22 | Scott Pearson | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 | Greg Smyth | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Shayne Toporowski | RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 38 | Yannick Tremblay | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 0 |
| 23 | Jeff Ware | D | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 15 | Brian Wiseman | C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltending

| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 29 | Felix Potvin | 74 | 27 | 36 | 7 | 2438 | 224 | 3.15 | .908 | 0 | 4271 |
| 31 | Marcel Cousineau | 13 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 317 | 31 | 3.29 | .902 | 1 | 566 |
| 33 | Don Beaupre | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 60 | 10 | 5.46 | .833 | 0 | 110 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honour | Recipient |
| League (annual) | NHL All-Rookie Team | Sergei Berezin (Forward) |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Mats Sundin |
| League (in-season) | NHL Rookie of the Month | Steve Sullivan (March) |
| Team | Molson Cup | Felix Potvin |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Sergei Berezin | October 5, 1996 |
| First game | Fredrik Modin | October 5, 1996 |
| First game | Jeff Ware | October 5, 1996 |
| First game | Marcel Cousineau | November 21, 1996 |
| First game | John Craighead | November 21, 1996 |
| First game | Brian Wiseman | December 14, 1996 |
| First game | David Cooper | December 15, 1996 |
| First game | Shayne Toporowski | January 7, 1997 |
| First game | Nathan Dempsey | January 31, 1997 |
| First game | Mike Johnson | March 16, 1997 |
| First game | D. J. Smith | March 26, 1997 |
| First game | Yannick Tremblay | March 27, 1997 |
| 1,000th game played | Doug Gilmour | November 16, 1996 |

## Transactions

The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1996–97 season.

### Trades

| October 10, 1996 | To New York Islanders5th round pick in 1998 (Jiri Dopita) | To Toronto Maple LeafsDarby Hendrickson |
| January 31, 1997 | To Tampa Bay Lightning3rd round pick in 1998 (Alex Henry) | To Toronto Maple LeafsCraig Wolanin |
| February 25, 1997 | To New Jersey DevilsDoug Gilmour Dave Ellett 3rd round pick in 1999 (Andre Lakos) | To Toronto Maple LeafsJason Smith Alyn McCauley Steve Sullivan |
| March 18, 1997 | To Detroit Red WingsLarry Murphy | To Toronto Maple LeafsFuture Considerations |
| March 18, 1997 | To Florida PanthersKirk Muller | To Toronto Maple LeafsJason Podollan |
| March 18, 1997 | To Hartford Whalers8th round pick in 1998 (Jaroslav Svoboda) | To Toronto Maple LeafsKelly Chase |
| June 12, 1997 | To Florida PanthersMike Lankshear | To Toronto Maple LeafsPer Gustafsson |

### Waivers

| September 30, 1996 | From Edmonton OilersRalph Intranuovo |
| October 25, 1996 | To Edmonton OilersRalph Intranuovo |

### Free agents

| Player | Former Team |
| John Craighead | Detroit Vipers (IHL) |
| Scott Pearson | Buffalo Sabres |
| Brian Wiseman | Chicago Wolves (IHL) |
| Daniel Marois | Dallas Stars |
| Greg Smyth | Los Angeles Ice Dogs (IHL) |
| David Cooper | Buffalo Sabres |
| Tom Pederson | San Jose Sharks |
| Mike Johnson | Undrafted free agent |
| Player | New Team |
| Paul DiPietro | Los Angeles Kings |

## Draft picks

Toronto's picks at the 1996 NHL entry draft held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
| Round | # | Name | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team |
| 2 | 36 | Marek Posmyk | Czech Republic | Dukla Jihlava (Czech Republic) |
| 2 | 50 | Francis Larivee | Canada | Laval Titan (QMJHL) |
| 3 | 66 | Mike Lankshear | Canada | Guelph Storm (OHL) |
| 3 | 68 | Konstantin Kalmikov | Ukraine | Detroit Falcons (CoHL) |
| 4 | 86 | Jason Sessa | United States | Lake Superior State University (CCHA) |
| 4 | 103 | Vladimir Antipov | Russia | Torpedo Yaroslavl (Russia) |
| 5 | 110 | Peter Cava | Canada | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) |
| 5 | 111 | Brandon Sugden | Canada | London Knights (OHL) |
| 6 | 140 | Dmytro Yakushyn | Ukraine | Pembroke Lumber Kings (COJHL) |
| 6 | 148 | Chris Bogas | United States | Michigan State University (CCHA) |
| 6 | 151 | Lucio DeMartinis | Canada | Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL) |
| 7 | 178 | Reggie Berg | United States | University of Minnesota (WCHA) |
| 8 | 204 | Tomas Kaberle | Czech Republic | HC Kladno (Czech Republic) |
| 9 | 230 | Jared Hope | Canada | Spokane Chiefs (WHL) |

## Farm teams

The Maple Leafs farm team was the St. John's Maple Leafs, based in St. John's, Newfoundland.