The 1996–97 Calgary Flames season was the 17th National Hockey League season in Calgary. It was another season of decline, as the Flames began the rebuilding process after remaining near the top of the league standings for nearly a decade. Finishing 5th in the Pacific Division, the Flames missed the playoffs for the first time since 1992, and for only the second time since coming to Calgary.[1]
1996–97 Calgary Flames | |
---|---|
Division | 5th Pacific |
Conference | 10th Western |
1996–97 record | 32–41–9 |
Home record | 21–18–2 |
Road record | 11–23–7 |
Goals for | 214 (23rd) |
Goals against | 239 (12th) |
Team information | |
General manager | Al Coates |
Coach | Pierre Page |
Captain | Theoren Fleury |
Arena | Canadian Airlines Saddledome |
Average attendance | 17,089 |
Minor league affiliate(s) | Saint John Flames Roanoke Express |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Theoren Fleury (29) |
Assists | Theoren Fleury (38) |
Points | Theoren Fleury (67) |
Penalty minutes | Todd Simpson (208) |
Plus/minus | Yves Racine (+4) |
Wins | Trevor Kidd (21) |
Goals against average | Trevor Kidd (2.84) |
As a result of missing the playoffs, the Flames fired head coach Pierre Page following the season, replacing him with Brian Sutter. Page ended his Flames career with a coaching record of 66–78–20. His .463 winning percentage was, at the time, the worst for any coach in Flames history.[2]
On November 23, 1996, rugged forward Sasha Lakovic authored one of the more memorable moments in the history of the Battle of Alberta when he attempted to leap over the glass at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton to attack a drunken fan who had reached over the barrier to dump a beer on the head of Flames assistant coach Guy Lapointe. Lakovic, who was held back by his teammates from going into the crowd, was suspended two games, while the Edmonton Oilers were fined $20,000 for having inadequate security.[3]
Theoren Fleury was named to the Western Conference team at the 47th National Hockey League All-Star Game, where he recorded an assist.[4]
Rookie forward Jarome Iginla, acquired the previous season in a trade for Joe Nieuwendyk led all NHL rookies in scoring at 50 points.[5] Despite his success, Iginla failed to win the Calder Memorial Trophy, as defenceman Bryan Berard was voted the league's top rookie. Iginla was named to the All-Rookie team, however.[4]
Regular season
editThe Flames allowed the most shorthanded goals in the league in 1996–97, with 19.[6]
Season standings
editNo. | CR | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 49 | 24 | 9 | 277 | 205 | 107 |
2 | 4 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | 82 | 36 | 33 | 13 | 243 | 231 | 85 |
3 | 7 | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 36 | 37 | 9 | 252 | 247 | 81 |
4 | 9 | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 35 | 40 | 7 | 257 | 273 | 77 |
5 | 10 | Calgary Flames | 82 | 32 | 41 | 9 | 214 | 239 | 73 |
6 | 12 | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 28 | 43 | 11 | 214 | 268 | 67 |
7 | 13 | San Jose Sharks | 82 | 27 | 47 | 8 | 211 | 278 | 62 |
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.
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
edit1996–97 regular season[8] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 7–5–1 (home: 4–1–0; road: 3–4–1)
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November: 3–9–1 (home: 2–5–0; road: 1–4–1)
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December: 3–7–3 (home: 1–3–2; road: 2–4–1)
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January: 5–5–1 (home: 4–2–0; road: 1–3–1)
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February: 8–5–1 (home: 7–2–0; road: 1–3–1)
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March: 6–5–1 (home: 3–2–0; road: 3–3–1)
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April: 0–5–1 (home: 0–3–0; road: 0–2–1)
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Legend:
Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
Player statistics
editScoring
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 Flames only.
- ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | |||
14 | Theoren Fleury | RW | 81 | 29 | 38 | 67 | −12 | 104 |
51 | Dave Gagner | C | 82 | 27 | 33 | 60 | 2 | 48 |
13 | German Titov | LW | 79 | 22 | 30 | 52 | −12 | 36 |
12[a] | Jarome Iginla | RW | 82 | 21 | 29 | 50 | −4 | 37 |
26 | Robert Reichel‡ | C | 70 | 16 | 27 | 43 | −2 | 22 |
44 | Jonas Hoglund | LW | 68 | 19 | 16 | 35 | −4 | 12 |
34 | Corey Millen | C | 61 | 11 | 15 | 26 | −19 | 32 |
16 | Cory Stillman | LW | 58 | 6 | 20 | 26 | −6 | 14 |
20 | Todd Hlushko | LW | 58 | 7 | 11 | 18 | −2 | 49 |
22 | Ronnie Stern | RW | 79 | 7 | 10 | 17 | −4 | 157 |
23 | Aaron Gavey† | C | 41 | 7 | 9 | 16 | −11 | 34 |
21 | Steve Chiasson‡ | D | 47 | 5 | 11 | 16 | −11 | 32 |
36[b] | Yves Racine† | D | 46 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 4 | 24 |
5 | Tommy Albelin | D | 72 | 4 | 11 | 15 | −8 | 14 |
27 | Todd Simpson | D | 82 | 1 | 13 | 14 | −14 | 208 |
42 | Ed Ward | LW | 40 | 5 | 8 | 13 | −3 | 49 |
32 | Mike Sullivan | RW | 67 | 5 | 6 | 11 | −11 | 10 |
19 | Chris O'Sullivan | D | 27 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 2 |
6 | Joel Bouchard | D | 76 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −23 | 49 |
15 | Sandy McCarthy | RW | 33 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −8 | 113 |
18 | Marty McInnis† | C | 10 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −1 | 2 |
29 | Cale Hulse | D | 63 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −2 | 91 |
3 | James Patrick | D | 19 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
4 | Glen Featherstone† | D | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 19 |
7 | Jamie Huscroft‡ | D | 39 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 117 |
17 | Hnat Domenichelli† | LW | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
41 | Dale McTavish | C | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −4 | 2 |
12 | Paul Kruse‡ | LW | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −4 | 30 |
37 | Trevor Kidd | G | 55 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 | |
8 | Sami Helenius | D | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
38 | Sasha Lakovic† | LW | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 54 |
2 | Jamie Allison | D | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 35 |
45 | Marko Jantunen | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
28 | Marty Murray | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
30 | Dwayne Roloson | G | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
35 | Paxton Schulte | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
31 | Rick Tabaracci‡ | G | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
33 | Zarley Zalapski | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
Goaltending
edit- ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
No. | Player | Regular season | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | ||
37 | Trevor Kidd | 55 | 21 | 23 | 6 | 1416 | 141 | 2.84 | .900 | 4 | 2979 |
30 | Dwayne Roloson | 31 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 760 | 78 | 2.89 | .897 | 1 | 1618 |
31 | Rick Tabaracci‡ | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 155 | 14 | 2.33 | .910 | 1 | 361 |
Awards and records
editAwards
editType | Award/honour | Recipient | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
League (annual) |
NHL All-Rookie Team | Jarome Iginla (Forward) | [9] |
League (in-season) |
NHL All-Star Game selection | Theoren Fleury | [10] |
Team | Molson Cup | Trevor Kidd | [11] |
Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award | Mike Sullivan | [12] |
Transactions
editThe Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1996–97 season.
Trades
editNovember 19, 1996 | To Calgary Flames Aaron Gavey |
To Tampa Bay Lightning Rick Tabaracci |
March 5, 1997 | To Calgary Flames Hnat Domenichelli Glen Featherstone 2nd round pick in 1997 3rd round pick in 1998 |
To Hartford Whalers Steve Chiasson Conditional pick in 1997 |
March 18, 1997 | To Calgary Flames Marty McInnis Tyrone Garner 6th round pick in 1997 |
To New York Islanders Robert Reichel |
Free agents
edit
|
|
Draft picks
editCalgary's picks at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, held in St. Louis, Missouri.[13]
Rnd | Pick | Player | Nationality | Position | Team (league) | NHL statistics | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||||||
1 | 13 | Derek Morris | Canada | D | Regina Pats (WHL) | 1107 | 92 | 332 | 424 | 1004 |
2 | 39 | Travis Brigley | Canada | LW | Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL) | 55 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 16 |
2 | 40 | Steve Begin | Canada | C | Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMHJL) | 524 | 56 | 52 | 108 | 561 |
3 | 73 | Dmitri Vlasenkov | Russia | LW | Torpedo Yaroslavl (RSL) | |||||
4 | 89 | Toni Lydman | Finland | D | Tappara (SM-liiga) | 847 | 36 | 206 | 242 | 551 |
4 | 94 | Christian Lefebvre | Canada | D | Granby Prédateurs (QMJHL) | |||||
5 | 122 | Josef Straka | Czech Republic | C | HC Litvínov (Czech) | |||||
8 | 202 | Ryan Wade | Canada | F | Kelowna Rockets (WHL) | |||||
9 | 228 | Ronald Petrovicky | Slovakia | RW | Prince George Cougars (WHL) | 342 | 41 | 51 | 92 | 429 |
Farm teams
editThe Baby Flames finished the 1996–97 American Hockey League season in second place in the Canadian Division with a 28–36–13–3 record. They were defeated in three games to two by the Hamilton Bulldogs in the first round of the playoffs, however.[14] Jarrod Skalde led the Flames with 32 goals and 68 points. Darrin Madeley was the starting goaltender, posting an 11–18–11 record with a 3.21 GAA in 46 games.[15]
See also
editNotes
editReferences
edit- Player stats: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, p. 115.
- "Calgary Flames 1996-97 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- "1996-97 Calgary Flames Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- ^ Year-by-year results, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg. 106
- ^ Head Coaches, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg. 103
- ^ Francis, Eric, The Uncivil War, Calgary Sun, September 19, 2003, accessed January 26, 2007
- ^ a b All-Star Selections, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg. 22
- ^ 1996–97 season, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg. 115
- ^ "1996-97 NHL Summary".
- ^ "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
- ^ "1996-97 Calgary Flames Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- ^ "Postseason All-Star Teams". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
- ^ "1997 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ Hanlon, Peter; Kelso, Sean (eds.), 2010–11 Calgary Flames Media Guide, Calgary Flames Hockey Club, p. 143
- ^ "JAROME IGINLA SELECTED AS RECIPIENT OF RALPH SCURFIELD HUMANITARIAN AWARD". Calgary Flames. April 9, 2002. Archived from the original on October 21, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
- ^ Calgary Flames draft history, hockeydb.com, accessed January 12, 2007
- ^ 1997–98 AHL playoffs @ hockeydb.com, accessed January 26, 2007
- ^ Saint John Flames player stats @ hockeydb.com, accessed January 20, 2007