1996–97 Phoenix Coyotes season

1996–97 Phoenix Coyotes
Division	3rd Central
Conference	5th Western
1996–97 record	38–37–7
Home record	15–19–7
Road record	23–18–0
Goals for	240
Goals against	243
Team information
General manager	John Paddock (Oct–Dec) Bobby Smith (Dec–Apr)
Coach	Don Hay
Captain	Keith Tkachuk
Team leaders
Goals	Keith Tkachuk (52)
Assists	Oleg Tverdovsky (45)
Points	Keith Tkachuk (86)
Penalty minutes	Keith Tkachuk (228)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 Phoenix Coyotes' season was the team's first season in the National Hockey League (NHL) since relocating from Winnipeg the season prior. The franchise's 25th season since its founding in 1972, and 18th season in the National Hockey League since 1979.

Off-season[]

NHL Entry Draft[]

Phoenix's draft picks at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team
1	11	Dan Focht (D)	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
1	24	Daniel Briere (C)	Canada	Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)
3	62	Per-Anton Lundstrom (D)	Sweden	MODO (Sweden)
5	119	Richard Lintner (D)	Slovakia	Dukla Trencin Jr. (Slovakia)
6	139	Robert Esche (G)	United States	Detroit Whalers (OHL)
7	174	Trevor Letowski (RW)	Canada	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
8	200	Nick Lent (RW)	United States	Omaha Lancers (USHL)
9	226	Marc-Etienne Hubert (C)	Canada	Laval Titan College Francais (QMJHL)

Regular season[]

The Winnipeg Jets team was sold to Phoenix businessmen Steven Gluckstern and Richard Burke, and in 1996, the club moved to Arizona and became the Phoenix Coyotes.

In the summer that the move took place, the franchise saw the exit of Jets stars like Teemu Selanne and Alexei Zhamnov, while the team added established superstar Jeremy Roenick from the Chicago Blackhawks. Roenick teamed up with power wingers Keith Tkachuk and Rick Tocchet to form a dynamic 1–2–3 offensive punch that led the Coyotes through their first years in Arizona. Also impressive were young players like Shane Doan (the last remaining original Jet still active in the NHL), Oleg Tverdovsky and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, whom the fans nicknamed the "Bulin Wall."

Forward Keith Tkachuk is re-named captain, replacing Kris King.

Final standings[]

Central Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Dallas Stars	82	48	26	8	252	198	104
2	3	Detroit Red Wings	82	38	26	18	253	197	94
3	5	Phoenix Coyotes	82	38	37	7	240	243	83
4	6	St. Louis Blues	82	36	35	11	236	239	83
5	8	Chicago Blackhawks	82	34	35	13	223	210	81
6	11	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	30	44	8	230	273	68

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Western Conference^[1]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Colorado Avalanche	PAC	82	49	24	9	277	205	107
2	Dallas Stars	CEN	82	48	26	8	252	198	104
3	Detroit Red Wings	CEN	82	38	26	18	253	197	94
4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PAC	82	36	33	13	245	233	85
5	Phoenix Coyotes	CEN	82	38	37	7	240	243	83
6	St. Louis Blues	CEN	82	36	35	11	236	239	83
7	Edmonton Oilers	PAC	82	36	37	9	252	247	81
8	Chicago Blackhawks	CEN	82	34	35	13	223	210	81
9	Vancouver Canucks	PAC	82	35	40	7	257	273	77
10	Calgary Flames	PAC	82	32	41	9	214	239	73
11	Toronto Maple Leafs	CEN	82	30	44	8	230	273	68
12	Los Angeles Kings	PAC	82	28	43	11	214	268	67
13	San Jose Sharks	PAC	82	27	47	8	211	278	62

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy

Schedule and results[]

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 5, 1996	0–1	@ Hartford Whalers (1996–97)	0–1–0
2	W	October 7, 1996	5–2	@ Boston Bruins (1996–97)	1–1–0
3	W	October 10, 1996	4–1	San Jose Sharks (1996–97)	2–1–0
4	W	October 12, 1996	4–2	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)	3–1–0
5	L	October 14, 1996	3–6	Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)	3–2–0
6	L	October 18, 1996	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97)	3–3–0
7	T	October 20, 1996	1–1 OT	Florida Panthers (1996–97)	3–3–1
8	L	October 22, 1996	1–2	St. Louis Blues (1996–97)	3–4–1
9	L	October 26, 1996	2–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97)	3–5–1
10	W	October 28, 1996	5–4 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1996–97)	4–5–1
11	L	October 30, 1996	1–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)	4–6–1
12	W	November 1, 1996	3–2 OT	@ Calgary Flames (1996–97)	5–6–1
13	T	November 3, 1996	4–4 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1996–97)	5–6–2
14	L	November 6, 1996	2–3	Dallas Stars (1996–97)	5–7–2
15	L	November 8, 1996	1–4	Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)	5–8–2
16	L	November 14, 1996	1–2	Hartford Whalers (1996–97)	5–9–2
17	W	November 16, 1996	3–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97)	6–9–2
18	T	November 18, 1996	2–2 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)	6–9–3
19	L	November 20, 1996	0–6	@ Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)	6–10–3
20	L	November 21, 1996	3–4 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1996–97)	6–11–3
21	T	November 23, 1996	3–3 OT	New York Islanders (1996–97)	6–11–4
22	L	November 26, 1996	1–3	New York Rangers (1996–97)	6–12–4
23	W	November 28, 1996	4–3 OT	New Jersey Devils (1996–97)	7–12–4
24	W	November 30, 1996	3–1	Calgary Flames (1996–97)	8–12–4
25	L	December 3, 1996	1–4	Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)	8–13–4
26	W	December 5, 1996	3–0	@ St. Louis Blues (1996–97)	9–13–4
27	W	December 7, 1996	4–3 OT	@ New Jersey Devils (1996–97)	10–13–4
28	L	December 9, 1996	2–5	@ New York Rangers (1996–97)	10–14–4
29	L	December 10, 1996	2–8	@ New York Islanders (1996–97)	10–15–4
30	W	December 13, 1996	4–2	@ Ottawa Senators (1996–97)	11–15–4
31	W	December 14, 1996	5–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97)	12–15–4
32	W	December 17, 1996	4–3	Washington Capitals (1996–97)	13–15–4
33	W	December 20, 1996	5–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97)	14–15–4
34	L	December 22, 1996	2–7	Calgary Flames (1996–97)	14–16–4
35	W	December 23, 1996	2–1	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)	15–16–4
36	L	December 26, 1996	2–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)	15–17–4
37	W	December 27, 1996	7–4	Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)	16–17–4
38	W	December 30, 1996	5–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)	17–17–4
39	W	January 2, 1997	4–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)	18–17–4
40	L	January 3, 1997	0–3	@ Washington Capitals (1996–97)	18–18–4
41	L	January 5, 1997	1–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1996–97)	18–19–4
42	L	January 9, 1997	4–5 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)	18–20–4
43	W	January 10, 1997	4–3	@ Dallas Stars (1996–97)	19–20–4
44	L	January 12, 1997	2–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1996–97)	19–21–4
45	L	January 13, 1997	4–5	@ San Jose Sharks (1996–97)	19–22–4
46	L	January 15, 1997	1–4	St. Louis Blues (1996–97)	19–23–4
47	W	January 23, 1997	6–3	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)	20–23–4
48	W	January 25, 1997	4–0	Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)	21–23–4
49	L	January 28, 1997	1–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97)	21–24–4
50	W	January 29, 1997	3–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)	22–24–4
51	L	February 1, 1997	1–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97)	22–25–4
52	L	February 4, 1997	0–2	Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97)	22–26–4
53	W	February 6, 1997	3–2	Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)	23–26–4
54	L	February 8, 1997	4–5 OT	Dallas Stars (1996–97)	23–27–4
55	W	February 10, 1997	4–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1996–97)	24–27–4
56	W	February 12, 1997	5–0	@ Dallas Stars (1996–97)	25–27–4
57	L	February 13, 1997	2–3	Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)	25–28–4
58	W	February 15, 1997	5–4 OT	Boston Bruins (1996–97)	26–28–4
59	W	February 18, 1997	6–1	Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)	27–28–4
60	L	February 22, 1997	2–4	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)	27–29–4
61	L	February 24, 1997	3–5	Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)	27–30–4
62	W	February 26, 1997	5–2	@ Calgary Flames (1996–97)	28–30–4
63	L	February 27, 1997	2–6	@ Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)	28–31–4
64	L	March 2, 1997	0–4	Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)	28–32–4
65	W	March 5, 1997	3–0	@ Florida Panthers (1996–97)	29–32–4
66	W	March 6, 1997	5–0	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97)	30–32–4
67	W	March 8, 1997	2–0	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)	31–32–4
68	L	March 10, 1997	1–4	Ottawa Senators (1996–97)	31–33–4
69	T	March 12, 1997	5–5 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97)	31–33–5
70	W	March 14, 1997	4–1	@ San Jose Sharks (1996–97)	32–33–5
71	W	March 17, 1997	3–2	St. Louis Blues (1996–97)	33–33–5
72	L	March 19, 1997	2–7	@ Dallas Stars (1996–97)	33–34–5
73	W	March 20, 1997	4–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)	34–34–5
74	W	March 22, 1997	3–0	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97)	35–34–5
75	T	March 27, 1997	1–1 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97)	35–34–6
76	L	March 29, 1997	1–3	Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)	35–35–6
77	W	April 1, 1997	7–1	San Jose Sharks (1996–97)	36–35–6
78	W	April 3, 1997	5–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)	37–35–6
79	L	April 6, 1997	1–2	@ Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)	37–36–6
80	T	April 7, 1997	2–2 OT	Dallas Stars (1996–97)	37–36–7
81	L	April 9, 1997	4–6	@ Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)	37–37–7
82	W	April 11, 1997	6–2	@ Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)	38–37–7

Playoffs[]

In their first year, the Coyotes managed to make the playoffs. However, they lost to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4 games to 3 in round one.

1997 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Western Conference Quarter-final vs. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (4) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 April 16 Phoenix 2 – 4 Anaheim 0 – 1 2 April 18 Phoenix 2 – 4 Anaheim 0 – 2 3 April 20 Anaheim 1 – 4 Phoenix 1 – 2 4 April 22 Anaheim 0 – 2 Phoenix 2 – 2 5 April 24 Phoenix 5 – 2 Anaheim 3 – 2 6 April 27 Anaheim 3 – 2 Phoenix OT 3 – 3 7 April 29 Phoenix 0 – 3 Anaheim 4 – 3

Anaheim Wins Series 4–3

Player statistics[]

Regular season[]

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Keith Tkachuk	LW	81	52	34	86	228	-1	9	2	7
Jeremy Roenick	C	72	29	40	69	115	-7	10	3	7
Mike Gartner	RW	82	32	31	63	38	-11	13	1	7
Oleg Tverdovsky	D	82	10	45	55	30	-5	3	1	2
Craig Janney	C	77	15	38	53	26	-1	5	0	1
Cliff Ronning	C	69	19	32	51	26	-9	8	0	2
Dallas Drake	RW	63	17	19	36	52	-11	5	1	1
Teppo Numminen	D	82	2	25	27	28	-3	0	0	0
Darrin Shannon	LW	82	11	13	24	41	4	1	0	2
Bob Corkum	C	80	9	11	20	40	-7	0	1	3
Dave Manson	D	66	3	17	20	164	-25	2	0	0
Mike Stapleton	C	55	4	11	15	36	-4	2	0	1
Kris King	LW	81	3	11	14	185	-7	0	0	0
Deron Quint	D	27	3	11	14	4	-4	1	0	0
Norm Maciver	D	32	4	9	13	24	-11	1	0	1
Shane Doan	RW	63	4	8	12	49	-3	0	0	0
Jeff Finley	D	65	3	7	10	40	-8	1	0	1
Jim Johnson	D	55	3	7	10	74	5	0	0	0
Igor Korolev	C	41	3	7	10	28	-5	2	0	0
Jim McKenzie	LW	65	5	3	8	200	-5	0	0	1
Chad Kilger	LW	24	4	3	7	13	-5	1	0	0
Jay More	D	23	1	6	7	37	10	0	0	1
Brad McCrimmon	D	37	1	5	6	18	2	0	0	0
Mike Eastwood	C	33	1	3	4	4	-3	0	0	0
Gerald Diduck	D	11	1	2	3	23	2	1	0	0
Nikolai Khabibulin	G	72	0	3	3	16	0	0	0	0
Jocelyn Lemieux	RW	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Darcy Wakaluk	G	16	0	1	1	4	0	0	0	0
Murray Baron	D	8	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
Kevin Dahl	D	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Parris Duffus	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dallas Eakins	D	4	0	0	0	10	-3	0	0	0
Tavis Hansen	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Hudson	C/LW	7	0	0	0	2	-4	0	0	0
Pat Jablonski	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jason Simon	LW	1	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Brent Thompson	D	1	0	0	0	7	-1	0	0	0
Juha Ylonen	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Nikolai Khabibulin	4091	72	30	33	6	193	2.83	7	2094	1901	.908
Darcy Wakaluk	782	16	8	3	1	39	2.99	1	386	347	.899
Parris Duffus	29	1	0	0	0	1	2.07	0	8	7	.875
Pat Jablonski	59	2	0	1	0	2	2.03	0	24	22	.917
Team:	4961	82	38	37	7	235	2.84	8	2512	2277	.906

Playoffs[]

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Cliff Ronning	C	7	0	7	7	12	0	0	0
Keith Tkachuk	LW	7	6	0	6	7	2	0	0
Teppo Numminen	D	7	3	3	6	0	1	0	1
Jeremy Roenick	C	6	2	4	6	4	0	0	0
Darrin Shannon	LW	7	3	1	4	4	0	0	1
Bob Corkum	C	7	2	2	4	4	0	0	1
Mike Gartner	RW	7	1	2	3	4	0	0	0
Craig Janney	C	7	0	3	3	4	0	0	0
Deron Quint	D	7	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
Dallas Drake	RW	7	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Oleg Tverdovsky	D	7	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Murray Baron	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gerald Diduck	D	7	0	0	0	10	0	0	0
Shane Doan	RW	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Jeff Finley	D	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Jim Johnson	D	6	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Nikolai Khabibulin	G	7	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
Kris King	LW	7	0	0	0	17	0	0	0
Igor Korolev	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jocelyn Lemieux	RW	2	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Jim McKenzie	LW	7	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Jay More	D	7	0	0	0	7	0	0	0
Mike Stapleton	C	7	0	0	0	14	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Nikolai Khabibulin	426	7	3	4	15	2.11	1	222	207	.932
Team:	426	7	3	4	15	2.11	1	222	207	.932

^[2]

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;

Playoffs[]

Phoenix vs. Anaheim
Date	Away	Home
April 16	Phoenix 2	4 Anaheim
April 18	Phoenix 2	4 Anaheim
April 20	Anaheim 1	4 Phoenix
April 22	Anaheim 0	2 Phoenix
April 24	Phoenix 5	2 Anaheim
April 27	Anaheim 3	2 Phoenix	OT
April 29	Phoenix 0	3 Anaheim
Anaheim wins series 4–3

Roster[]

1996–97 Phoenix Coyotes
Goaltenders 1 – Parris Duffus  35 – Nikolai Khabibulin  39 – Pat Jablonski  43 – Darcy Wakaluk		Defensemen 3 – Brent Thompson  4 – Gerald Diduck  4 – Dave Manson  5 – Deron Quint  6 – Dallas Eakins  6 – Jay More  8 – Jim Johnson  10 – Brad McCrimmon  20 – Oleg Tverdovsky  24 – Kevin Dahl  26 – Jeff Finley  27 – Teppo Numminen  36 – Murray Baron  44 – Norm Maciver		Wingers 7 – Keith Tkachuk  – C 11 – Dallas Drake  17 – Kris King  19 – Shane Doan  22 – Mike Gartner  23 – Igor Korolev  32 – Jocelyn Lemieux  33 – Jim McKenzie  34 – Darrin Shannon  38 – Jason Simon  97 – Jeremy Roenick		Centres 14 – Mike Stapleton  15 – Craig Janney  18 – Chad Kilger  21 – Bob Corkum  28 – Mike Hudson  32 – Mike Eastwood  36 – Juha Ylonen  47 – Tavis Hansen  77 – Cliff Ronning  GM: John Paddock GM: Bobby Smith Coach: Don Hay

Awards and records[]

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Transactions[]

Trades[]

June 22, 1996	To Toronto Maple Leafs 4th round pick in 1996 (Vladimir Antipov)	To Phoenix Coyotes Mike Gartner
July 1, 1996	To Calgary Flames 3rd round pick in 1997 (Erik Andersson)	To Phoenix Coyotes Compensation for head coach Don Hay
August 16, 1996	To Chicago Blackhawks Alexei Zhamnov Craig Mills 1st round pick in 1997 (Ty Jones)	To Phoenix Coyotes Jeremy Roenick
February 6, 1997	To New York Rangers Mike Eastwood Dallas Eakins	To Phoenix Coyotes Jay More
March 18, 1997	To Montreal Canadiens Dave Manson Steve Cheredaryk	To Phoenix Coyotes Murray Baron Pat Jablonski Chris Murray

Waivers[]

September 30, 1996

From Philadelphia Flyers Bob Corkum

Free agents[]

Joining the Coyotes:

Player	Former Team
Cliff Ronning	Vancouver Canucks
Brad McCrimmon	Hartford Whalers
Jim Johnson	Dallas Stars
Darcy Wakaluk	Dallas Stars
Reggie Savage	Colorado Avalanche
Kevin Dahl	Calgary Flames
Scott Levins	Ottawa Senators
Mike Hudson	St. Louis Blues
Jocelyn Lemieux	Calgary Flames

Leaving the Coyotes:

Player	New Team
Dominic Roussel	Philadelphia Flyers
Ed Olczyk	Los Angeles Kings
Craig Martin	Florida Panthers
Iain Fraser	San Jose Sharks
Denis Chasse	Ottawa Senators

References[]

• Coyotes on Hockey Database