# 1996–97 New York Rangers season

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

Atlantic Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 1 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 45 | 23 | 14 | 231 | 182 | 104 |
| 2 | 3 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 45 | 24 | 13 | 274 | 217 | 103 |
| 3 | 4 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 35 | 28 | 19 | 221 | 201 | 89 |
| 4 | 5 | New York Rangers | 82 | 38 | 34 | 10 | 258 | 231 | 86 |
| 5 | 9 | Washington Capitals | 82 | 33 | 40 | 9 | 214 | 231 | 75 |
| 6 | 11 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 217 | 247 | 74 |
| 7 | 12 | New York Islanders | 82 | 29 | 41 | 12 | 240 | 250 | 70 |
Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | New Jersey Devils | ATL | 82 | 45 | 23 | 14 | 231 | 182 | 104 |
| 2 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 237 | 208 | 92 |
| 3 | Philadelphia Flyers | ATL | 82 | 45 | 24 | 13 | 274 | 217 | 103 |
| 4 | Florida Panthers | ATL | 82 | 35 | 28 | 19 | 221 | 201 | 89 |
| 5 | New York Rangers | ATL | 82 | 38 | 34 | 10 | 258 | 231 | 86 |
| 6 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NE | 82 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 285 | 280 | 84 |
| 7 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 31 | 36 | 15 | 226 | 234 | 77 |
| 8 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 31 | 36 | 15 | 249 | 276 | 77 |
| 9 | Washington Capitals | ATL | 82 | 33 | 40 | 9 | 214 | 231 | 75 |
| 10 | Hartford Whalers | NE | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 226 | 256 | 75 |
| 11 | Tampa Bay Lightning | ATL | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 217 | 247 | 74 |
| 12 | New York Islanders | ATL | 82 | 29 | 41 | 12 | 240 | 250 | 70 |
| 13 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 26 | 47 | 9 | 234 | 300 | 61 |
Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast
bold – Qualified for playoffs

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

1996–97 regular season :
October: 5–6–3 (home: 4–3–1; road: 1–3–2)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
1October 5, 1996@ Boston Bruins4–4 OT0–0–1Recap
2October 6, 1996Florida Panthers5–20–1–1Recap
3October 8, 1996@ Florida Panthers1–1 OT0–1–2Recap
4October 10, 1996Dallas Stars2–10–2–2Recap
5October 12, 1996@ Montreal Canadiens5–20–3–2Recap
6October 14, 1996Calgary Flames5–41–3–2Recap
7October 16, 1996Pittsburgh Penguins8–12–3–2Recap
8October 18, 1996St. Louis Blues2–13–3–2Recap
9October 20, 1996@ Tampa Bay Lightning5–23–4–2Recap
10October 23, 1996Washington Capitals3–23–5–2Recap
11October 25, 1996@ Florida Panthers6–43–6–2Recap
12October 27, 1996Buffalo Sabres6–44–6–2Recap
13October 29, 1996Florida Panthers1–1 OT4–6–3Recap
14October 30, 1996@ New Jersey Devils6–15–6–3Recap :
November: 4–7–1 (home: 0–3–0; road: 4–4–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
15November 2, 1996@ Boston Bruins5–26–6–3Recap
16November 4, 1996Tampa Bay Lightning5–36–7–3Recap
17November 6, 1996@ New York Islanders1–1 OT6–7–4Recap
18November 9, 1996@ Washington Capitals3–26–8–4Recap
19November 11, 1996Vancouver Canucks3–26–9–4Recap
20November 13, 1996Philadelphia Flyers2–16–10–4Recap
21November 16, 1996@ Pittsburgh Penguins8–37–10–4Recap
22November 18, 1996@ Calgary Flames5–37–11–4Recap
23November 21, 1996@ Edmonton Oilers3–27–12–4Recap
24November 23, 1996@ Vancouver Canucks5–37–13–4Recap
25November 26, 1996@ Phoenix Coyotes3–18–13–4Recap
26November 27, 1996@ Colorado Avalanche5–29–13–4Recap :
December: 11–3–1 (home: 7–1–1; road: 4–2–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
27December 1, 1996Montreal Canadiens6–210–13–4Recap
28December 4, 1996Philadelphia Flyers1–1 OT10–13–5Recap
29December 6, 1996Toronto Maple Leafs6–511–13–5Recap
30December 7, 1996@ Toronto Maple Leafs4–012–13–5Recap
31December 9, 1996Phoenix Coyotes5–213–13–5Recap
32December 11, 1996New York Islanders5–313–14–5Recap
33December 13, 1996@ Buffalo Sabres3–014–14–5Recap
34December 16, 1996Hartford Whalers5–215–14–5Recap
35December 18, 1996Los Angeles Kings4–016–14–5Recap
36December 21, 1996@ Montreal Canadiens3–2 OT17–14–5Recap
37December 22, 1996Florida Panthers7–318–14–5Recap
38December 26, 1996@ Ottawa Senators5–218–15–5Recap
39December 27, 1996Mighty Ducks of Anaheim3–219–15–5Recap
40December 30, 1996@ Dallas Stars3–220–15–5Recap
41December 31, 1996@ Tampa Bay Lightning4–220–16–5Recap :
January: 5–4–2 (home: 3–3–2; road: 2–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
42January 2, 1997New York Islanders4–321–16–5Recap
43January 4, 1997Ottawa Senators6–422–16–5Recap
44January 6, 1997Colorado Avalanche2–2 OT22–16–6Recap
45January 8, 1997Tampa Bay Lightning4–322–17–6Recap
46January 9, 1997@ Washington Capitals2–022–18–6Recap
47January 12, 1997New Jersey Devils3–023–18–6Recap
48January 13, 1997New York Islanders4–223–19–6Recap
49January 21, 1997Edmonton Oilers4–4 OT23–19–7Recap
50January 22, 1997@ Washington Capitals5–324–19–7Recap
51January 25, 1997@ Pittsburgh Penguins7–425–19–7Recap
52January 27, 1997Chicago Blackhawks2–125–20–7Recap :
February: 3–6–2 (home: 1–1–1; road: 2–5–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
53February 1, 1997@ Philadelphia Flyers4–226–20–7Recap
54February 2, 1997Boston Bruins3–226–21–7Recap
55February 5, 1997Hartford Whalers5–227–21–7Recap
56February 8, 1997@ New York Islanders5–228–21–7Recap
57February 9, 1997@ Florida Panthers4–328–22–7Recap
58February 13, 1997@ St. Louis Blues4–128–23–7Recap
59February 15, 1997@ Chicago Blackhawks2–028–24–7Recap
60February 17, 1997New Jersey Devils2–2 OT28–24–8Recap
61February 19, 1997@ New Jersey Devils1–1 OT28–24–9Recap
62February 21, 1997@ Hartford Whalers7–228–25–9Recap
63February 23, 1997@ Philadelphia Flyers2–128–26–9Recap :
March: 7–6–0 (home: 4–2–0; road: 3–4–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
64March 1, 1997@ Detroit Red Wings3–028–27–9Recap
65March 3, 1997San Jose Sharks5–4 OT29–27–9Recap
66March 6, 1997@ Los Angeles Kings6–230–27–9Recap
67March 7, 1997@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim5–230–28–9Recap
68March 9, 1997@ San Jose Sharks2–131–28–9Recap
69March 12, 1997Washington Capitals3–232–28–9Recap
70March 14, 1997@ Ottawa Senators4–3 OT33–28–9Recap
71March 17, 1997Ottawa Senators4–333–29–9Recap
72March 19, 1997Montreal Canadiens5–433–30–9Recap
73March 21, 1997Detroit Red Wings3–134–30–9Recap
74March 24, 1997Pittsburgh Penguins3–035–30–9Recap
75March 27, 1997@ New Jersey Devils4–035–31–9Recap
76March 29, 1997@ Hartford Whalers2–135–32–9Recap :
April: 3–2–1 (home: 2–1–1; road: 1–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
77April 1, 1997Buffalo Sabres1–1 OT35–32–10Recap
78April 3, 1997Boston Bruins5–436–32–10Recap
79April 4, 1997@ Buffalo Sabres5–136–33–10Recap
80April 7, 1997Philadelphia Flyers3–237–33–10Recap
81April 10, 1997@ Philadelphia Flyers6–338–33–10Recap
82April 11, 1997Tampa Bay Lightning4–238–34–10Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

### Playoffs

1997 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (4) Florida Panthers – Rangers win 4–1
GameDateOpponentScoreSeriesRecap
1April 17, 1997@ Florida Panthers3–0Panthers lead 1–0Recap
2April 20, 1997@ Florida Panthers3–0Series tied 1–1Recap
3April 22, 1997Florida Panthers4–3 OTRangers lead 2–1Recap
4April 23, 1997Florida Panthers3–2Rangers lead 3–1Recap
5April 25, 1997@ Florida Panthers3–2 OTRangers win 4–1Recap :
Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (1) New Jersey Devils – Rangers win 4–1
GameDateOpponentScoreSeriesRecap
1May 2, 1997@ New Jersey Devils2–0Devils lead 1–0Recap
2May 4, 1997@ New Jersey Devils2–0Series tied 1–1Recap
3May 6, 1997New Jersey Devils3–2Rangers lead 2–1Recap
4May 8, 1997New Jersey Devils3–0Rangers lead 3–1Recap
5May 11, 1997@ New Jersey Devils2–1 OTRangers win 4–1Recap :
Eastern Conference Finals vs. (3) Philadelphia Flyers – Flyers win 4–1
GameDateOpponentScoreSeriesRecap
1May 16, 1997@ Philadelphia Flyers3–1Flyers lead 1–0Recap
2May 18, 1997@ Philadelphia Flyers5–4Series tied 1–1Recap
3May 20, 1997Philadelphia Flyers6–3Flyers lead 2–1Recap
4May 23, 1997Philadelphia Flyers3–2Flyers lead 3–1Recap
5May 25, 1997@ Philadelphia Flyers4–2Flyers win 4–1Recap :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## 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. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 99 | Wayne Gretzky | C | 82 | 25 | 72 | 97 | 12 | 28 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 5 | 2 |
| 11 | Mark Messier | C | 71 | 36 | 48 | 84 | 12 | 88 | 15 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Brian Leetch | D | 82 | 20 | 58 | 78 | 31 | 40 | 15 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 6 |
| 9 | Adam Graves | LW | 82 | 33 | 28 | 61 | 10 | 66 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| 24 | Niklas Sundstrom | RW | 82 | 24 | 28 | 52 | 23 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 20 | Luc Robitaille | LW | 69 | 24 | 24 | 48 | 16 | 48 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 4 |
| 25 | Alexander Karpovtsev | D | 77 | 9 | 29 | 38 | 1 | 59 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 20 |
| 27 | Alexei Kovalev | RW | 45 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 11 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 33 | Bruce Driver | D | 79 | 5 | 25 | 30 | 8 | 48 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 2 |
| 8 | Patrick Flatley | RW | 68 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 6 | 26 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| 13 | Sergei Nemchinov‡ | C | 63 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 5 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Ulf Samuelsson | D | 73 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 3 | 138 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 30 |
| 28 | Brian Noonan†‡ | RW | 44 | 6 | 9 | 15 | −7 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 18 | Bill Berg | LW | 67 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 2 | 37 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| 16 | Daniel Goneau | LW | 41 | 10 | 3 | 13 | −5 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 23 | Jeff Beukeboom | D | 80 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 22 | 167 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 34 |
| 39 | Vladimir Vorobiev | RW | 16 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | Darren Langdon | LW | 60 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −1 | 195 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| 32 | Mike Eastwood† | C | 27 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 22 |
| 6 | Doug Lidster | D | 48 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 24 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −2 | 8 |
| 21 | Russ Courtnall† | RW | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −3 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | David Oliver† | RW | 14 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Esa Tikkanen† | C | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 26 |
| 19 | Christian Dube | C | 27 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| 14 | Chris Ferraro | RW | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 37 | Ryan VandenBussche | RW | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 29 | Eric Cairns | D | 40 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −7 | 147 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Shane Churla | RW | 45 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −10 | 106 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 20 |
| 21 | Jayson More‡ | D | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 38 | Sylvain Blouin | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 28 | Dallas Eakins† | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 4 |
| 17 | Peter Ferraro | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Glenn Healy | G | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 32 | Sergio Momesso‡ | LW | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 36 | Jeff Nielsen | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 35 | Mike Richter | G | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 4 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 0 |
| 12 | Ken Gernander | C | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | 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 | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| No. | Player | 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 |
| League (annual) | James Norris Memorial Trophy | Brian Leetch |
| League (annual) | NHL First All-Star Team | Brian Leetch (Defense) |
| League (annual) | NHL Second All-Star Team | Wayne Gretzky (Center) |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Wayne Gretzky |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Brian Leetch |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Mark Messier |
| Team | Ceil Saidel Memorial Award | Adam Graves |
| Team | "Crumb Bum" Award | Mike Richter |
| Team | Frank Boucher Trophy | Mark Messier |
| Team | Good Guy Award | Wayne Gretzky |
| Team | Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award | Eric Cairns |
| Team | Players' Player Award | Darren Langdon |
| Team | Rangers MVP | Brian Leetch |
| Team | Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award | Brian Leetch |

### Milestones

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