1996–97 Pittsburgh Penguins season

The 1996-97 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the team's 30th in the National Hockey League. This was the final season for Mario Lemieux before his first retirement.
==Offseason==
==Regular season==
===Final standings===
===Game log===
# 	R	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	L	October 5, 1996 	3–4 OT	Tampa Bay Lightning (season) 	0–1–0
2 	L	October 8, 1996 	3–7 	@ Hartford Whalers (season) 	0–2–0
3 	L	October 11, 1996 	2–3 	@ Ottawa Senators (season) 	0–3–0
4 	W	October 12, 1996 	3–2 	Ottawa Senators (season) 	1–3–0
5 	L	October 16, 1996 	1–8 	@ New York Rangers (season) 	1–4–0
6 	L	October 17, 1996 	1–4 	@ Buffalo Sabres (season) 	1–5–0
7 	W	October 19, 1996 	2–1 	Washington Capitals (season) 	2–5–0
8 	L	October 22, 1996 	2–5 	@ Edmonton Oilers (season) 	2–6–0
9 	L	October 24, 1996 	5–7 	@ Calgary Flames (season) 	2–7–0
10	L	October 26, 1996 	1–2 	@ Vancouver Canucks (season) 	2–8–0
11	L	November 1, 1996 	2–4 	@ Washington Capitals (season) 	2–9–0
12	W	November 2, 1996 	7–3 	Ottawa Senators (season) 	3–9–0
13	W	November 6, 1996 	5–2 	Edmonton Oilers (season) 	4–9–0
14	T	November 8, 1996 	5–5 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (season) 	4–9–1
15	L	November 9, 1996 	2–4 	@ Florida Panthers (season) 	4–10–1
16	W	November 12, 1996	3–0 	Buffalo Sabres (season) 	5–10–1
17	L	November 14, 1996	1–2 OT	@ Boston Bruins (season) 	5–11–1
18	L	November 16, 1996	3–8 	New York Rangers (season) 	5–12–1
19	W	November 19, 1996	4–2 	St. Louis Blues (season) 	6–12–1
20	L	November 21, 1996	3–7 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (season) 	6–13–1
21	W	November 22, 1996	7–1 	@ Hartford Whalers (season) 	7–13–1
22	T	November 27, 1996	2–2 OT	Montreal Canadiens (season) 	7–13–2
23	W	November 30, 1996	6–2 	Boston Bruins (season) 	8–13–2
24	T	December 3, 1996 	4–4 OT	Hartford Whalers (season) 	8–13–3
25	W	December 4, 1996 	4–2 	@ Ottawa Senators (season) 	9–13–3
26	W	December 6, 1996 	5–3 	@ Washington Capitals (season) 	10–13–3
27	W	December 7, 1996 	5–3 	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (season) 	11–13–3
28	W	December 10, 1996	5–3 	@ Los Angeles Kings (season) 	12–13–3
29	W	December 11, 1996	7–3 	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (season)	13–13–3
30	W	December 13, 1996	4–0 	@ San Jose Sharks (season) 	14–13–3
31	L	December 15, 1996	1–2 	@ Chicago Blackhawks (season) 	14–14–3
32	L	December 17, 1996	4–6 	Boston Bruins (season) 	14–15–3
33	W	December 19, 1996	4–0 	@ St. Louis Blues (season) 	15–15–3
34	W	December 21, 1996	3–1 	San Jose Sharks (season) 	16–15–3
35	W	December 23, 1996	6–5 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (season) 	17–15–3
36	T	December 26, 1996	3–3 OT	Montreal Canadiens (season) 	17–15–4
37	W	December 28, 1996	2–0 	Buffalo Sabres (season) 	18–15–4
38	W	December 30, 1996	5–3 	Washington Capitals (season) 	19–15–4
39	W	January 2, 1997 	6–1 	@ New Jersey Devils (season) 	20–15–4
40	W	January 4, 1997 	7–3 	Tampa Bay Lightning (season) 	21–15–4
41	W	January 7, 1997 	5–3 	@ New York Islanders (season) 	22–15–4
42	W	January 10, 1997 	5–2 	New York Islanders (season) 	23–15–4
43	T	January 11, 1997 	3–3 OT	@ Ottawa Senators (season) 	23–15–5
44	W	January 14, 1997 	3–1 	Dallas Stars (season) 	24–15–5
45	W	January 15, 1997 	3–0 	@ Hartford Whalers (season) 	25–15–5
46	W	January 21, 1997 	4–2 	Calgary Flames (season) 	26–15–5
47	L	January 23, 1997 	3–4 OT	Colorado Avalanche (season) 	26–16–5
48	L	January 25, 1997 	4–7 	New York Rangers (season) 	26–17–5
49	W	January 26, 1997 	5–2 	@ Montreal Canadiens (season) 	27–17–5
50	L	January 29, 1997 	1–3 	@ Buffalo Sabres (season) 	27–18–5
51	W	February 1, 1997 	4–1 	Phoenix Coyotes (season) 	28–18–5
52	W	February 4, 1997 	6–4 	Vancouver Canucks (season) 	29–18–5
53	W	February 5, 1997 	6–3 	@ Montreal Canadiens (season) 	30–18–5
54	L	February 8, 1997 	5–6 OT	Detroit Red Wings (season) 	30–19–5
55	L	February 12, 1997	1–5 	New York Islanders (season) 	30–20–5
56	L	February 15, 1997	1–5 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (season) 	30–21–5
57	L	February 16, 1997	2–6 	Philadelphia Flyers (season) 	30–22–5
58	W	February 18, 1997	4–2 	Florida Panthers (season) 	31–22–5
59	L	February 22, 1997	2–5 	Chicago Blackhawks (season) 	31–23–5
60	L	February 23, 1997	1–4 	@ New York Islanders (season) 	31–24–5
61	L	February 27, 1997	1–4 	@ Detroit Red Wings (season) 	31–25–5
62	L	March 1, 1997 	3–6 	@ New Jersey Devils (season) 	31–26–5
63	L	March 4, 1997 	1–3 	New Jersey Devils (season) 	31–27–5
64	L	March 5, 1997 	2–4 	@ Buffalo Sabres (season) 	31–28–5
65	W	March 8, 1997 	3–2 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (season) 	32–28–5
66	T	March 10, 1997 	2–2 OT	Montreal Canadiens (season) 	32–28–6
67	T	March 12, 1997 	5–5 OT	@ Phoenix Coyotes (season) 	32–28–7
68	L	March 14, 1997 	3–6 	@ Colorado Avalanche (season) 	32–29–7
69	L	March 16, 1997 	2–6 	@ Dallas Stars (season) 	32–30–7
70	W	March 18, 1997 	5–3 	Buffalo Sabres (season) 	33–30–7
71	W	March 20, 1997 	6–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs (season) 	34–30–7
72	L	March 22, 1997 	2–3 	New Jersey Devils (season) 	34–31–7
73	L	March 24, 1997 	0–3 	@ New York Rangers (season) 	34–32–7
74	L	March 26, 1997 	5–8 	@ Montreal Canadiens (season) 	34–33–7
75	W	March 29, 1997 	4–1 	Los Angeles Kings (season) 	35–33–7
76	W	March 31, 1997 	4–3 	Florida Panthers (season) 	36–33–7
77	T	April 3, 1997 	5–5 OT	Hartford Whalers (season) 	36–33–8
78	W	April 5, 1997 	5–2 	Ottawa Senators (season) 	37–33–8
79	W	April 8, 1997 	3–1 	Boston Bruins (season) 	38–33–8
80	L	April 10, 1997 	3–4 	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (season) 	38–34–8
81	L	April 11, 1997 	2–4 	@ Florida Panthers (season) 	38–35–8
82	L	April 13, 1997 	3–7 	@ Boston Bruins (season) 	38–36–8
==Playoffs==
==Player stats==
===Regular season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	C 	76	50	72	122	65 	27 	15 	3 	7
 	RW 	63	47	48	95 	40 	22 	11 	2 	6
 	C 	81	27	63	90 	20 	7 	10 	1 	2
 	C 	74	33	38	71 	66 	-2 	12 	3 	4
 	D 	80	15	39	54 	103	11 	9 	0 	1
 	C 	62	17	22	39 	16 	-20	4 	0 	3
 	D 	57	6 	30	36 	28 	3 	2 	0 	1
 	D 	51	7 	20	27 	24 	21 	2 	0 	3
 	RW 	40	9 	15	24 	33 	4 	1 	1 	0
 	RW 	66	11	11	22 	24 	-19	3 	0 	1
 	RW 	54	7 	15	22 	4 	0 	1 	0 	1
 	LW 	55	5 	15	20 	76 	-6 	0 	0 	3
 	LW 	59	9 	9 	18 	63 	-4 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	57	2 	16	18 	84 	24 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	53	3 	14	17 	36 	-5 	0 	0 	1
 	C 	32	7 	9 	16 	14 	-13	1 	0 	0
 	C 	12	4 	7 	11 	6 	8 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	61	5 	5 	10 	155	-13	2 	0 	0
 	D 	36	4 	5 	9 	22 	-11	0 	0 	0
 	C 	27	2 	7 	9 	20 	-6 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	17	3 	4 	7 	25 	-6 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	45	2 	4 	6 	131	-25	0 	1 	0
 	D 	15	1 	5 	6 	24 	-4 	0 	0 	1
 	RW 	35	1 	4 	5 	79 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	LW/C	8 	3 	1 	4 	4 	-1 	1 	0 	0
 	LW 	11	2 	2 	4 	13 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	45	2 	2 	4 	70 	-7 	0 	0 	2
 	W 	9 	1 	3 	4 	4 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	64	0 	4 	4 	36 	-6 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	59	0 	3 	3 	81 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	16	0 	3 	3 	10 	-6 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	46	0 	1 	1 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	13	0 	0 	0 	49 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	5 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0 	0 	0 	7 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	39	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	7 	0 	0 	0 	4 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	6 	0 	0 	0 	8 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	23	0 	0 	0 	36 	-12	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T	GA 	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	2058	39	21	12	2	101	2.94	3 	1166	1065	.913
 	2514	46	17	17	6	136	3.25	2 	1383	1247	.902
 	270 	5 	0 	5 	0	26 	5.78	0 	186 	160 	.860
 	111 	2 	0 	2 	0	6 	3.24	0 	66 	60 	.909
Team: 	4953	82	38	36	8	269	3.26	5 	2801	2532	.904
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	RW 	5 	4	4	8 	4 	2 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	3	3	6 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	1	2	3 	2 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	1	2	3 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	1	2	3 	12 	0 	1 	0
 	D 	5 	0	3	3 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	1	1	2 	4 	1 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	1	0	1 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	1	0	1 	12 	0 	1 	1
 	C 	5 	0	1	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	5 	0	1	1 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	5 	0	1	1 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	0	1	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW/C	5 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0	0	0 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	1 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	0	0	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0	0	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	5 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	297	5 	1	4	18	3.64	0 	211	193	.915
Team: 	297	5 	1	4	18	3.64	0 	211	193	.915
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
      MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage; 
==Awards and records==
===Awards===
Player 	Award
Stu Barnes 	Unsung Hero Award
Joe Dziedzic 	Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award
Jaromir Jagr 	NHL Second All-Star Team
Patrick Lalime	Michel Briere Memorial Rookie of the Year AwardNHL All-Rookie Team
Mario Lemieux 	Leading Point Scorer AwardBooster Club AwardMost Valuable Player AwardArt Ross Memorial TrophyNHL First All-Star Team
Joe Mullen 	Pittsburgh Penguins Masterton NomineeBob Johnson Memorial AwardPlayer's Player Award
Chris Tamer 	Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award
Ken Wregget 	Disaster Specialists "Baz" Bastien Memorial "Good Guy" Award
==Transactions==
==Personnel==
==Draft picks==
==Farm teams==
The Johnstown Chiefs of the East Coast Hockey League finished last in the North Division with a 24-39-7 record.
The IHL's Cleveland Lumberjacks finished second in the Central Division with a record of 40-32-10. They defeated the Indianapolis Ice in the first round 3-1, then defeated the Orlando Solar Bears in the second round 4-1 before losing to the eventual Turner Cup champion Detroit Vipers 4-1.
==See also==
==References==
*Penguins on Hockey Database
Category:Pittsburgh Penguins seasons
Pittsburgh Penguins season, 1996–97
Pittsburgh Penguins season, 1996–97