The1996–97 NHL season was the80thregular season of theNational Hockey League. TheWinnipeg Jets relocated toPhoenix, Arizona, becoming thePhoenix Coyotes. TheStanley Cup winners were theDetroit Red Wings, who swept thePhiladelphia Flyers in four games and won theStanley 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.^[1] This trend continued into the playoffs, during which an all-time record of 18 shutouts were recorded.^[2] Only two players,Mario Lemieux andTeemu Selanne, reached the 100-point plateau during the regular season^[3] (compared with 12 who reached the plateau in 1995–96^[4]). Many regulatory factors, including ruling changes that resulted in 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.

This was the first time in 30 years—and in the entire expansion era—that theBoston 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.

This was the first season for thePhoenix Coyotes, who had relocated fromWinnipeg and had previously been known as thefirst incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets. They would remain in the Central Division.

On March 26, 1997, theHartford Whalers announced that they would move fromConnecticut following the 1996–97 season. On May 5, they announced that starting in the1997–98 NHL season, they would be known as theCarolina Hurricanes.

The1996 NHL entry draft was held at theKiel Center inSt. Louis, Missouri, on June 22.Chris Phillips was selected first overall by theOttawa Senators.

• The maximum stick length was increased from the 60-inch limit set in1985–86 to 63 inches.^[5]
• Offside rules were clarified, requiring all players to clear their opponents' zone before they can shoot the puck back into that zone.^[5]
• Craig MacTavish, the last active NHL player who played without a protectivehelmet, retired after this 1996–97 season. MacTavish was the last active player who had beengrandfathered under the 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 wasGeorge Owen in the1928–29 season.

• TheBuffalo Sabres moved fromBuffalo Memorial Auditorium toMarine Midland Arena, withMarine Midland Bank acquiring the naming rights.
• TheNew Jersey Devils' home arena, Brendan Byrne Arena, was renamedContinental Airlines Arena in January 2000 as part of a new naming rights deal withContinental Airline.
• The relocatedPhoenix Coyotes moved fromWinnipeg Arena toAmerica West Arena.
• ThePhiladelphia Flyers moved from theCoreStates Spectrum to theCoreStates Center, withCoreStates Financial Corporation also acquiring the naming rights.
• TheTampa Bay Lightning moved from theThunderdome inSt. Petersburg, Florida to theIce Palace inTampa, Florida.
• TheWashington Capitals' home arena, the USAir Arena, was renamedUS Airways Arena after USAir rebranded toUS Airways.

TheAll-Star Game was held on January 18, 1997, atSan Jose Arena inSan Jose, home of theSan Jose Sharks.

TheBoston 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 theMarine Midland Arena inBuffalo 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. No-one was injured, but the game between theBuffalo Sabres and the Bruins was postponed.^[6]

Alarge-scale on-ice brawl occurred during theColorado Avalanche–Detroit Red Wings game on March 26. The game featured 18 fighting major penalties and 144 minutes in penalties.

Eastern Conference

Divisions:ATL – Atlantic,NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Western Conference

Divisions:CEN – Central,PAC – Pacific

bold – Qualified for playoffs;p – WonPresidents' Trophy

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the two division winnersseeded 1–2 based on regular season records, and the six remaining teams seeded 3–8. In each round, teams competed in abest-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home-ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

TheNHL Awards presentation took place on June 19, 1997.

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Regular season

^[3]

• 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 andRick Bowness
• New York Rangers:Colin Campbell
• Ottawa Senators:Jacques Martin
• Philadelphia Flyers:Terry Murray
• Pittsburgh Penguins:Eddie Johnston andCraig Patrick
• Tampa Bay Lightning:Terry Crisp
• Washington Capitals:Jim Schoenfeld

• 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 andDarryl Sutter
• St. Louis Blues:Mike Keenan,Jim Roberts (interim) andJoel Quenneville
• Toronto Maple Leafs:Mike Murphy
• Vancouver Canucks:Tom Renney

The following is a list ofplayers of note who played their first NHL game in 1996–97 (listed with their first team, asterisk (*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Dwayne Roloson, Calgary Flames
• 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
• Bryan Berard, New York Islanders
• Todd Bertuzzi, New York Islanders
• Wade Redden, Ottawa Senators
• Vaclav Prospal, Philadelphia Flyers
• Dainius Zubrus, Philadelphia Flyers
• Patrick Lalime, Pittsburgh Penguins

The following is a list ofplayers of note who played their last game in the NHL in 1996–97 (listed with their last team):

• 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
• Joe Mullen, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Tim Hunter, San Jose Sharks
• Craig MacTavish, St. Louis Blues (the last helmetless player)
• Jay Wells, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Don Beaupre, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Dave McLlwain, New York Islanders
• Gary Leeman, St. Louis Blues

This was the ninth season that the league's Canadian national broadcast rights were split betweenTSN andHockey Night in Canada onCBC. During the regular season, Saturday night games aired on CBC, while TSN primarily had Monday and Thursday night games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series.

This was the third season of the league's five-year U.S. national broadcast rights deals withFox andESPN. Both ESPN andESPN2 aired weeknight games throughout the regular season, and Fox had the All-Star Game and weekly regional telecasts on six selected weekend afternoons between January and March. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected games, while Fox provided Sunday regional telecasts. Each U.S. team's regional broadcaster produced local coverage of first and second round games (except for those games on Fox). Fox's Sunday telecasts continued into the Conference Finals, while ESPN had the rest of the third round games. The Stanley Cup Finals were also split between Fox and ESPN.

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1996 NHL entry draft
• 1996–97 NHL transactions
• 47th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• NHL All-Rookie Team
• Lester Patrick Trophy
• 1996 World Cup of Hockey
• 1996 in sports
• 1997 in sports

• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000).Total Hockey. Kingston, New York: Total Sports.ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011).The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates.ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000).Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
• Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003).The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International Inc.ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.

Notes

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com

• 1996–97 NHL season
• 1996–97 in American ice hockey by league
• 1996–97 in Canadian ice hockey by league

• Use mdy dates from January 2021
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Short description is different from Wikidata