# 1996–97 Calgary Flames season

The 1996–97 Calgary Flames season was the 17th National Hockey League season in Calgary. It was another season of decline, as the Flames began the rebuilding process after remaining near the top of the league standings for nearly a decade. Finishing 5th in the Pacific Division, the Flames missed the playoffs for the first time since 1992, and for only the second time since coming to Calgary.
As a result of missing the playoffs, the Flames fired head coach Pierre Page following the season, replacing him with Brian Sutter. Page ended his Flames career with a coaching record of 66–78–20. His .463 winning percentage was, at the time, the worst for any coach in Flames history.
On November 23, 1996, rugged forward Sasha Lakovic authored one of the more memorable moments in the history of the Battle of Alberta when he attempted to leap over the glass at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton to attack a drunken fan who had reached over the barrier to dump a beer on the head of Flames assistant coach Guy Lapointe. Lakovic, who was held back by his teammates from going into the crowd, was suspended two games, while the Edmonton Oilers were fined $20,000 for having inadequate security.
Theoren Fleury was named to the Western Conference team at the 47th National Hockey League All-Star Game, where he recorded an assist.
Rookie forward Jarome Iginla, acquired the previous season in a trade for Joe Nieuwendyk led all NHL rookies in scoring at 50 points. Despite his success, Iginla failed to win the Calder Memorial Trophy, as defenceman Bryan Berard was voted the league's top rookie. Iginla was named to the All-Rookie team, however.

## Regular season

The Flames allowed the most shorthanded goals in the league in 1996–97, with 19.

### Season standings

Pacific Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 1 | Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 49 | 24 | 9 | 277 | 205 | 107 |
| 2 | 4 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | 82 | 36 | 33 | 13 | 243 | 231 | 85 |
| 3 | 7 | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 36 | 37 | 9 | 252 | 247 | 81 |
| 4 | 9 | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 35 | 40 | 7 | 257 | 273 | 77 |
| 5 | 10 | Calgary Flames | 82 | 32 | 41 | 9 | 214 | 239 | 73 |
| 6 | 12 | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 28 | 43 | 11 | 214 | 268 | 67 |
| 7 | 13 | San Jose Sharks | 82 | 27 | 47 | 8 | 211 | 278 | 62 |
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: 7–5–1 (home: 4–1–0; road: 3–4–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
1October 5Calgary1 – 3VancouverKidd17,5010–1–00Recap
2October 6Buffalo0 – 3CalgaryTabaracci17,3111–1–02Recap
3October 9St. Louis3 – 1CalgaryTabaracci15,0111–2–02Recap
4October 11Calgary2 – 1DetroitKidd19,9832–2–04Recap
5October 13Calgary1 – 0PhiladelphiaKiddN/A3–2–06Recap
6October 14Calgary4 – 5NY RangersKidd18,2003–3–06Recap
7October 16Calgary2 – 4MontrealTabaracci20,5973–4–06Recap
8October 20Edmonton3 – 6CalgaryKidd16,2954–4–08Recap
9October 22Colorado1 – 5CalgaryKidd15,6445–4–010Recap
10October 24Pittsburgh5 – 7CalgaryKidd15,8566–4–012Recap
11October 26Calgary0 – 0Los AngelesOTKidd12,7876–4–113Recap
12October 27Calgary4 – 1AnaheimTabaracci16,5927–4–115Recap
13October 30Calgary1 – 3San JoseKidd17,4427–5–115Recap :
November: 3–9–1 (home: 2–5–0; road: 1–4–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
14November 1Phoenix3 – 2CalgaryOTTabaracci16,2467–6–115Recap
15November 2Calgary3 – 4VancouverKidd17,5467–7–115Recap
16November 9St. Louis3 – 2CalgaryTabaracci16,7867–8–115Recap
17November 13Calgary3 – 3DallasOTRoloson16,1497–8–216Recap
18November 14Calgary2 – 1ChicagoOTKidd17,3598–8–218Recap
19November 16Calgary0 – 2St. LouisKidd16,8348–9–218Recap
20November 18NY Rangers3 – 5CalgaryKidd18,1739–9–220Recap
21November 20Dallas3 – 1CalgaryKidd15,1739–10–220Recap
22November 22Chicago5 – 2CalgaryKidd16,6139–11–220Recap
23November 23Calgary2 – 3EdmontonRoloson16,8299–12–220Recap
24November 26Edmonton10 – 1CalgaryKidd17,1469–13–220Recap
25November 28Los Angeles0 – 2CalgaryRoloson15,36710–13–222Recap
26November 30Calgary1 – 3PhoenixRoloson15,98810–14–222Recap :
December: 3–7–3 (home: 1–3–2; road: 2–4–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
27December 3Calgary1 – 3NY IslandersKidd8,71610–15–222Recap
28December 5Calgary1 – 2New JerseyRoloson13,53910–16–222Recap
29December 7Calgary1 – 1BostonOTKidd15,05510–16–323Recap
30December 10Ottawa5 – 5CalgaryOTRoloson16,10310–16–424Recap
31December 12Calgary5 – 1Los AngelesRoloson9,62011–16–426Recap
32December 14Colorado1 – 4CalgaryRolosonN/A12–16–428Recap
33December 16New Jersey5 – 0CalgaryRoloson15,18612–17–428Recap
34December 18Detroit3 – 3CalgaryOTKidd16,23712–17–529Recap
35December 20Calgary0 – 7AnaheimKidd17,08412–18–529Recap
36December 22Calgary7 – 2PhoenixRoloson15,53713–18–531Recap
37December 23Calgary3 – 4ColoradoRoloson16,06113–19–531Recap
38December 29Philadelphia4 – 2CalgaryKidd18,88213–20–531Recap
39December 31San Jose5 – 1CalgaryRoloson18,88213–21–531Recap :
January: 5–5–1 (home: 4–2–0; road: 1–3–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
40January 2Calgary2 – 3ColoradoKidd16,06113–22–531Recap
41January 4Calgary4 – 3San JoseKidd17,44214–22–533Recap
42January 7Toronto3 – 4CalgaryOTKidd17,34515–22–535Recap
43January 9Hartford2 – 3CalgaryRoloson17,12116–22–537Recap
44January 11Florida4 – 1CalgaryRoloson17,27316–23–537Recap
45January 15Anaheim1 – 2CalgaryKidd16,20717–23–539Recap
46January 21Calgary2 – 4PittsburghKidd16,76417–24–539Recap
47January 22Calgary3 – 5TorontoRoloson15,68517–25–539Recap
48January 24Calgary2 – 2OttawaOTKidd13,30617–25–640Recap
49January 28NY Islanders3 – 4CalgaryKidd16,07218–25–642Recap
50January 30San Jose6 – 3CalgaryKidd16,11718–26–642Recap :
February: 8–5–1 (home: 7–2–0; road: 1–3–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
51February 1Vancouver0 – 3CalgaryKidd18,66119–26–644Recap
52February 3Los Angeles3 – 2CalgaryKidd16,32819–27–644Recap
53February 5Calgary2 – 5EdmontonKidd16,77019–28–644Recap
54February 7Washington2 – 5CalgaryKidd16,68620–28–646Recap
55February 9Anaheim1 – 6CalgaryKidd16,21921–28–648Recap
56February 11Boston1 – 5CalgaryKidd18,33222–28–650Recap
57February 13Edmonton2 – 3CalgaryOTKidd18,88223–28–652Recap
58February 15Toronto0 – 3CalgaryKidd18,88224–28–654Recap
59February 18Calgary5 – 5BuffaloOTRoloson15,86724–28–755Recap
60February 19Calgary0 – 4DetroitKidd19,98324–29–755Recap
61February 21Calgary2 – 4DallasKidd16,92424–30–755Recap
62February 23Calgary5 – 3St. LouisRoloson19,15425–30–757Recap
63February 26Phoenix5 – 2CalgaryKidd16,65125–31–757Recap
64February 28Montreal2 – 3CalgaryRoloson18,88226–31–759Recap :
March: 6–5–1 (home: 3–2–0; road: 3–3–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
65March 1Dallas1 – 4CalgaryRoloson17,78727–31–761Recap
66March 4Calgary1 – 2WashingtonRoloson10,00327–32–761Recap
67March 5Calgary0 – 2HartfordKidd12,14027–33–761Recap
68March 7Calgary3 – 1FloridaRoloson14,70328–33–763Recap
69March 9Calgary1 – 2Tampa BayOTRoloson15,63628–34–763Recap
70March 12Calgary3 – 2ColoradoKidd16,06129–34–765Recap
71March 15Calgary5 – 2Los AngelesKidd15,13530–34–767Recap
72March 16Calgary2 – 2AnaheimOTKidd17,17430–34–868Recap
73March 19San Jose2 – 4CalgaryKidd16,61031–34–870Recap
74March 21Tampa Bay4 – 3CalgaryOTKidd17,27831–35–870Recap
75March 25Anaheim2 – 3CalgaryKidd17,11832–35–872Recap
76March 29Vancouver5 – 2CalgaryKidd18,88232–36–872Recap :
April: 0–5–1 (home: 0–3–0; road: 0–2–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
77April 2Colorado5 – 1CalgaryRoloson18,88232–37–872Recap
78April 4Calgary3 – 3VancouverOTKidd18,42232–37–973Recap
79April 6Chicago2 – 1CalgaryKidd18,39732–38–973Recap
80April 7Detroit3 – 2CalgaryOTRoloson17,84132–39–973Recap
81April 11Calgary3 – 7ChicagoRoloson22,47532–40–973Recap
82April 12Calgary1 – 4TorontoRoloson15,72632–41–973Recap :
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 Flames only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 14 | Theoren Fleury | RW | 81 | 29 | 38 | 67 | −12 | 104 |
| 51 | Dave Gagner | C | 82 | 27 | 33 | 60 | 2 | 48 |
| 13 | German Titov | LW | 79 | 22 | 30 | 52 | −12 | 36 |
| 12 | Jarome Iginla | RW | 82 | 21 | 29 | 50 | −4 | 37 |
| 26 | Robert Reichel‡ | C | 70 | 16 | 27 | 43 | −2 | 22 |
| 44 | Jonas Hoglund | LW | 68 | 19 | 16 | 35 | −4 | 12 |
| 34 | Corey Millen | C | 61 | 11 | 15 | 26 | −19 | 32 |
| 16 | Cory Stillman | LW | 58 | 6 | 20 | 26 | −6 | 14 |
| 20 | Todd Hlushko | LW | 58 | 7 | 11 | 18 | −2 | 49 |
| 22 | Ronnie Stern | RW | 79 | 7 | 10 | 17 | −4 | 157 |
| 23 | Aaron Gavey† | C | 41 | 7 | 9 | 16 | −11 | 34 |
| 21 | Steve Chiasson‡ | D | 47 | 5 | 11 | 16 | −11 | 32 |
| 36 | Yves Racine† | D | 46 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 4 | 24 |
| 5 | Tommy Albelin | D | 72 | 4 | 11 | 15 | −8 | 14 |
| 27 | Todd Simpson | D | 82 | 1 | 13 | 14 | −14 | 208 |
| 42 | Ed Ward | LW | 40 | 5 | 8 | 13 | −3 | 49 |
| 32 | Mike Sullivan | RW | 67 | 5 | 6 | 11 | −11 | 10 |
| 19 | Chris O'Sullivan | D | 27 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Joel Bouchard | D | 76 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −23 | 49 |
| 15 | Sandy McCarthy | RW | 33 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −8 | 113 |
| 18 | Marty McInnis† | C | 10 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −1 | 2 |
| 29 | Cale Hulse | D | 63 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −2 | 91 |
| 3 | James Patrick | D | 19 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Glen Featherstone† | D | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 19 |
| 7 | Jamie Huscroft‡ | D | 39 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 117 |
| 17 | Hnat Domenichelli† | LW | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 41 | Dale McTavish | C | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −4 | 2 |
| 12 | Paul Kruse‡ | LW | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −4 | 30 |
| 37 | Trevor Kidd | G | 55 | 0 | 2 | 2 | | 16 |
| 8 | Sami Helenius | D | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 38 | Sasha Lakovic† | LW | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 54 |
| 2 | Jamie Allison | D | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 35 |
| 45 | Marko Jantunen | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| 28 | Marty Murray | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 30 | Dwayne Roloson | G | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 2 |
| 35 | Paxton Schulte | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 31 | Rick Tabaracci‡ | G | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 33 | Zarley Zalapski | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |

### Goaltending

* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
| 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 |
| 37 | Trevor Kidd | 55 | 21 | 23 | 6 | 1416 | 141 | 2.84 | .900 | 4 | 2979 |
| 30 | Dwayne Roloson | 31 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 760 | 78 | 2.89 | .897 | 1 | 1618 |
| 31 | Rick Tabaracci‡ | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 155 | 14 | 2.33 | .910 | 1 | 361 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honour | Recipient |
| League (annual) | NHL All-Rookie Team | Jarome Iginla (Forward) |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Theoren Fleury |
| Team | Molson Cup | Trevor Kidd |
| Team | Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award | Mike Sullivan |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Jonas Hoglund | October 5, 1996 |
| First game | Chris O'Sullivan | October 5, 1996 |
| First game | Marko Jantunen | October 9, 1996 |
| First game | Sasha Lakovic | October 11, 1996 |
| First game | Dwayne Roloson | November 13, 1996 |
| First game | Sami Helenius | December 14, 1996 |
| First game | Dale McTavish | December 31, 1996 |

## Transactions

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1996–97 season.

### Trades

| November 19, 1996 | To Calgary Flames Aaron Gavey | To Tampa Bay Lightning Rick Tabaracci |
| March 5, 1997 | To Calgary Flames Hnat Domenichelli Glen Featherstone 2nd round pick in 1997 3rd round pick in 1998 | To Hartford Whalers Steve Chiasson Conditional pick in 1997 |
| March 18, 1997 | To Calgary Flames Marty McInnis Tyrone Garner 6th round pick in 1997 | To New York Islanders Robert Reichel |

### Free agents

| Player | Former team |
| Player | New team |

## Draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 1996 NHL entry draft, held in St. Louis, Missouri.
| Rnd | Pick | Player | Nationality | Position | Team (league) | NHL statistics | NHL statistics | NHL statistics | NHL statistics | NHL statistics |
| Rnd | Pick | Player | Nationality | Position | Team (league) | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1 | 13 | Derek Morris | Canada | D | Regina Pats (WHL) | 1107 | 92 | 332 | 424 | 1004 |
| 2 | 39 | Travis Brigley | Canada | LW | Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL) | 55 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 16 |
| 2 | 40 | Steve Begin | Canada | C | Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMHJL) | 524 | 56 | 52 | 108 | 561 |
| 3 | 73 | Dmitri Vlasenkov | Russia | LW | Torpedo Yaroslavl (RSL) | | | | | |
| 4 | 89 | Toni Lydman | Finland | D | Tappara (SM-liiga) | 847 | 36 | 206 | 242 | 551 |
| 4 | 94 | Christian Lefebvre | Canada | D | Granby Prédateurs (QMJHL) | | | | | |
| 5 | 122 | Josef Straka | Czech Republic | C | HC Litvínov (Czech) | | | | | |
| 8 | 202 | Ryan Wade | Canada | F | Kelowna Rockets (WHL) | | | | | |
| 9 | 228 | Ronald Petrovicky | Slovakia | RW | Prince George Cougars (WHL) | 342 | 41 | 51 | 92 | 429 |

## Farm teams
### Saint John Flames

The Baby Flames finished the 1996–97 American Hockey League season in second place in the Canadian Division with a 28–36–13–3 record. They were defeated in three games to two by the Hamilton Bulldogs in the first round of the playoffs, however. Jarrod Skalde led the Flames with 32 goals and 68 points. Darrin Madeley was the starting goaltender, posting an 11–18–11 record with a 3.21 GAA in 46 games.