1996–97 NHL season

**The 1996–97 NHL season** was the 80th regular season of the NHL which lasted from October 4, 1996 to June 7, 1997.

The Stanley Cup winners were the Detroit Red Wings, who swept the Philadelphia Flyers in four games and won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 42 years.

The regular season saw a decline in scoring and rise in the number of shutouts to an all-time record of 127; this trend continued into the playoffs, during which an all-time record of 18 shutouts were recorded.

Only two players, Mario Lemieux and Teemu Selanne reached the 100-point plateau during the regular seaso (compared with 12 who reached the plateau in the 1995–96 season).

Many factors (including fewer power plays, more calls of the skate-in-the-crease rule, fewer shots on goal and more injuries to star players than the season before) contributed to the reduction in scoring and skyrocketing in shutouts.

Paradoxically, teams averaged more even-strength goals scored (174) than in the 1995–96 season (172).

This was the first time in 30 years (and in the entire expansion era) that the Boston Bruins had a losing record and missed the playoffs, ending a still-unsurpassed North American professional sports streak of 29-straight seasons in the playoffs.

## League Business

This was the first season for the Phoenix Coyotes (who had relocated from Winnipeg and had previously been known as the Winnipeg Jets). They would remain in the Central Division.

On March 25, 1997, the Hartford Whalers announced that they would move from Connecticut following the 1996–97 season.

Starting in the 1997–98 NHL season, they would be known as the Carolina Hurricanes.

The 1996–97 season marked the retirement of Craig MacTavish, the last active NHL player who played without a protective helmet.

MacTavish had been grandfathered under the old 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.

## Regular Season

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. Although nobody was injured, the game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Bruins was postponed.

## 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
* New York Rangers: Colin Campbell
* Ottawa Senators: Jacques Martin
* Philadelphia Flyers: Terry Murray
* Pittsburgh Penguins: Eddie Johnston & 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: Jim Roberts
* Toronto Maple Leafs: Mike Murphy
* Vancouver Canucks: Tom Renney

## Milestones

### Debuts

* Dwayne Roloson, Calgary Flames
* Marc Denis, Colorado Avalanche
* 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
* Jay Pandolfo, New Jersey Devils
* Bryan Berard, New York Islanders
* Todd Bertuzzi, New York Islanders
* Wade Redden, Ottawa Senators
* Janne Niinimaa, Philadelphia Flyers
* Vaclav Prospal, Philadelphia Flyers
* Dainius Zubrus, Philadelphia Flyers
* Patrick Lalime, Pittsburgh Penguins

### Last games

* Tim Cheveldae, Boston Bruins
* 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
* Dan Quinn, Pittsburgh Penguins
* Joe Mullen, Pittsburgh Penguins
* Tim Hunter, San Jose Sharks
* Craig MacTavish, St. Louis Blues (The last helmetless player)
* Jon Casey, St. Louis Blues
* Jay Wells, Tampa Bay Lightning
* Don Beaupre, Toronto Maple Leafs
* Nick Kypreos, Toronto Maple Leafs
* Mike Ridley, Vancouver Canucks
* Dave McLlwain, New York Islanders
* Roman Oksiuta, Pittsburgh Penguins
* Todd Elik, Boston Bruins
* Anatoli Semenov, Buffalo Sabres
* Randy Wood, New York Islanders
* Yuri Khmylev, St. Louis Blues
* Pat Flatley, New York Rangers
* Dave Hannan, Ottawa Senators
* Steven Finn, Los Angeles Kings
* Todd Ewen, San Jose Sharks
* Adam Creighton, Chicago Blackhawks
* Shane Churla, New York Rangers
* Dave Archibald, New York Islanders
* Brian Glynn, Hartford Whalers
* Mike Hudson, Phoenix Coyotes
* Brent Hughes, New York Islanders
* Mike Lalor, Dallas Stars
* Gary Leeman, St. Louis Blues
* Sergio Momesso, St. Louis Blues