1996–97 Ottawa Senators season
1996–97 Ottawa Senators | |
---|---|
Division | 3rd Northeast |
Conference | 7th Eastern |
1996–97 record | 31–36–15 |
Home record | 16–17–8 |
Road record | 15–19–7 |
Goals for | 226 |
Goals against | 234 |
Team information | |
General manager | Pierre Gauthier |
Coach | Jacques Martin |
Captain | Randy Cunneyworth |
Alternate captains | Steve Duchesne Alexei Yashin |
Arena | Corel Centre |
Average attendance | 15,371 (630,196 total) |
Minor league affiliate(s) | Worcester IceCats Raleigh IceCaps |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Alexei Yashin (35) |
Assists | Daniel Alfredsson (47) |
Points | Alexei Yashin (75) |
Penalty minutes | Denny Lambert (217) |
Plus/minus | Frantisek Musil (+6) |
Wins | Ron Tugnutt (17) |
Goals against average | Damian Rhodes (2.72) |
The 1996–97 Ottawa Senators season was the fifth season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season saw great improvement by the club, as the team finished out of last place in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the first time in team history, and went on to qualify for the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, the Senators lost in the first round (Conference Quarterfinals) to the Buffalo Sabres. This was the first of eleven consecutive playoff appearances for the Senators.
Regular season
[edit]Ottawa got off to a slow start, with a 7–12–6 record in their first 25 games, but as the season would go on, the team got better, finishing with a .500 record in their remaining 57 games and earned 45 points in the last 41 games of the regular season. The Senators went 10–4–2 in their final 16 games of the season, including a 1–0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres in the final game of the season to earn a playoff berth.
Alexei Yashin and Daniel Alfredsson led the club offensively, while Ron Tugnutt and Damian Rhodes provided very solid goaltending for the team throughout the season.
Final standings
[edit]No. | CR | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 237 | 208 | 92 |
2 | 6 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 285 | 280 | 84 |
3 | 7 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 31 | 36 | 15 | 226 | 234 | 77 |
4 | 8 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 31 | 36 | 15 | 249 | 276 | 77 |
5 | 10 | Hartford Whalers | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 226 | 256 | 75 |
6 | 13 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 26 | 47 | 9 | 234 | 300 | 61 |
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
Playoffs
[edit]The Ottawa Senators ended the 1996–97 regular season as the Eastern Conference's seventh seed. The Senators faced the Buffalo Sabres, and nearly pulled off the upset against their heavily favoured opponent, losing to the Sabres in overtime in the seventh game of the series, a game which included an own-goal by Alexei Yashin when the puck went past Tugnutt after the Sens won a faceoff in their zone.
Schedule and results
[edit]Regular season
[edit]1996–97 regular season[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 3–3–4 (home: 2–0–2; road: 1–3–2)
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November: 4–7–2 (home: 2–4–2; road: 2–3–0)
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December: 4–7–1 (home: 2–5–0; road: 2–2–1)
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January: 4–6–3 (home: 3–5–2; road: 1–1–1)
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February: 6–5–3 (home: 3–1–1; road: 3–4–2)
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March: 5–6–2 (home: 1–2–1; road: 4–4–1)
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April: 5–2–0 (home: 3–0–0; road: 2–2–0)
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Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
Playoffs
[edit]1997 Stanley Cup playoffs[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (2) Buffalo Sabres – Sabres win 4–3
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Legend: Win Loss |
Player statistics
[edit]Scoring
[edit]- 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 Senators only.
- ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Senators only.
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
19 | Alexei Yashin | C | 82 | 35 | 40 | 75 | −7 | 44 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −2 | 2 |
11 | Daniel Alfredsson | RW | 76 | 24 | 47 | 71 | 5 | 30 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 7 | −1 | 6 |
91 | Alexandre Daigle | C | 82 | 26 | 25 | 51 | −33 | 33 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 | 2 |
28 | Steve Duchesne | D | 78 | 19 | 28 | 47 | −9 | 38 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −3 | 0 |
7 | Randy Cunneyworth | LW | 76 | 12 | 24 | 36 | −7 | 99 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −3 | 10 |
10 | Andreas Dackell | RW | 79 | 12 | 19 | 31 | −6 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
15 | Shawn McEachern | RW | 65 | 11 | 20 | 31 | −5 | 18 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −1 | 8 |
6 | Wade Redden | D | 82 | 6 | 24 | 30 | 1 | 41 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −4 | 2 |
16 | Sergei Zholtok | C | 57 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 2 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
17 | Tom Chorske | LW | 68 | 18 | 8 | 26 | −1 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
22 | Shaun Van Allen | C | 80 | 11 | 14 | 25 | −8 | 35 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 4 |
25 | Bruce Gardiner | RW | 67 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 4 | 49 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
33 | Jason York | D | 75 | 4 | 17 | 21 | −8 | 67 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 4 |
27 | Janne Laukkanen | D | 76 | 3 | 18 | 21 | −14 | 76 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 6 |
42 | Denny Lambert | LW | 80 | 4 | 16 | 20 | −4 | 217 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
76 | Radek Bonk | C | 53 | 5 | 13 | 18 | −4 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 4 |
2 | Lance Pitlick | D | 66 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 91 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 4 |
38 | Jason Zent | LW | 22 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
23 | Christer Olsson† | D | 25 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −5 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
20 | Denis Chasse‡ | RW | 22 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 19 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
3 | Frantisek Musil | D | 57 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
14 | Dave Hannan‡ | C | 34 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −1 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
1 | Damian Rhodes | G | 50 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
44 | Radim Bicanek | D | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −4 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
26 | Phil Crowe | LW | 26 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
31 | Ron Tugnutt | G | 37 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
21 | Dennis Vial | LW | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
29 | Phil Von Stefenelli | D | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
35 | Mike Bales | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
4 | Sean Hill | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
94 | Stan Neckar | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Goaltending
[edit]Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
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No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
31 | Ron Tugnutt | 37 | 17 | 15 | 1 | 882 | 93 | 2.80 | .895 | 3 | 1991 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 169 | 14 | 1.98 | .917 | 1 | 425 |
1 | Damian Rhodes | 50 | 14 | 20 | 14 | 1213 | 133 | 2.72 | .890 | 1 | 2934 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
35 | Mike Bales | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 4 | 4.64 | .778 | 0 | 52 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Awards and records
[edit]Awards
[edit]Type | Award/honour | Recipient | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Daniel Alfredsson | [3] |
NHL Rookie of the Month | Wade Redden (April) | [4] | |
Team | Molson Cup | Alexei Yashin | [5] |
Transactions
[edit]May 1996
[edit]May 21 | Traded Michel Picard to the Washington Capitals for cash considerations. |
Source[6]
June 1996
[edit]June 22 | Acquired Shawn McEachern from the Boston Bruins for Trent McCleary and a 3rd round pick in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft - (Eric Naud). |
Source[7]
July 1996
[edit]July 1 | Acquired Mike Maneluk from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Kevin Brown. |
July 10 | Signed free agent Sergei Zholtok from the Las Vegas Thunder of the IHL to a two-year, $700,000 (CAD) contract. |
July 12 | Lost free agent Daniel Laperrière to the Washington Capitals on a one-year contract. |
July 15 | Lost free agent Jean-Yves Roy to the Boston Bruins on a one-year, $350,000 contract. |
July 17 | Signed free agent Phil von Stefenelli from the Boston Bruins on a one-year, $250,000 (CAD) contract. |
July 24 | Lost free agent Troy Mallette to the Boston Bruins on a one-year, $325,000 contract. |
July 29 | Signed free agent Denny Lambert from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to a one-year, $275,000 (CAD) contract. Signed free agent Phil Crowe from the Philadelphia Flyers to a one-year contact. |
Source[8]
August 1996
[edit]August 14 | Signed free agent Ron Tugnutt from the Washington Capitals to a one-year, $280,000 (CAD) contract. |
Source[9]
September 1996
[edit]September 6 | Signed free agent Denis Chassé from the Winnipeg Jets to a one-year, $275,000 (CAD) contract. Lost free agent Pat Elynuik to the Dallas Stars on a one-year, $400,000 contract. |
September 13 | Signed free agent Dave Hannan from the Colorado Avalanche to a one-year, $250,000 contract. |
Source[10]
October 1996
[edit]October 1 | Acquired Jason York and Shaun Van Allen from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Ted Drury and the rights to Marc Moro. |
October 3 | Lost free agent Scott Levins to the Phoenix Coyotes on a one-year contract. |
October 10 | Lost free agent Dave Archibald to the New York Islanders on a one-year, $325,000 contract. |
Source[11]
November 1996
[edit]November 27 | Acquired Christer Olsson from the St. Louis Blues for Pavol Demitra. |
Source[12]
March 1997
[edit]March 18 | Acquired Mike Prokopec from the Chicago Blackhawks for Denis Chassé, the rights to Kevin Bolibruck and a sixth-round pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft - (Chris Neil). |
Source[13]
April 1997
[edit]April 8 | Re-signed Randy Cunneyworth to a two-year, $1.05 million contract extension for the 1997-98 season and a club option for the 1998-99 season. |
Source[14]
Draft picks
[edit]Ottawa's draft picks at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft in St. Louis, Missouri.[15]
Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Chris Phillips | ![]() | Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) |
4 | 81 | Antti-Jussi Niemi | ![]() | Jokerit (SM-liiga) |
6 | 136 | Andreas Dackell | ![]() | Brynäs IF (Elitserien) |
7 | 163 | Francois Hardy | ![]() | Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL) |
8 | 212 | Erich Goldmann | ![]() | Adler Mannheim (DEL) |
9 | 216 | Ivan Ciernik | ![]() | MHC Plastika Nitra (Slovakia) |
9 | 239 | Sami Salo | ![]() | TPS (SM-liiga) |
Farm teams
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- "Ottawa Senators 1996-97 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
- "1996-97 Ottawa Senators Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
- Garrioch, Bruce (1998), "Ottawa Senators 1992–93 to Date", Total Hockey
- Ottawa Senators staff (2006). Ottawa Senators Media Guide 2007. Ottawa Senators.
- National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007
- ^ "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
- ^ a b "1996-97 Ottawa Senators Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
- ^ "NHL All-Star Game Historical Summaries - 1997". www.nhl.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
- ^ "NHL Rookies of the Month". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
- ^ Ottawa Senators 2014–15 Media Guide, p.162–82
- ^ "Transactions". prosportstransactions.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
- ^ "Transactions". prosportstransactions.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
- ^ "Transactions". prosportstransactions.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
- ^ "Transactions". prosportstransactions.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
- ^ "Transactions". prosportstransactions.com. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "Transactions".
- ^ "Transactions".
- ^ "Transactions".
- ^ "Transactions".
- ^ "1996 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.