1996–97 Ottawa Senators season

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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 per game (630,196 total)
Team leaders
Goals Alexei Yashin (35)
Assists Daniel Alfredsson (47)
Points Alexei Yashin (75)
Penalties in minutes Denny Lambert (217)
Plus/minus Frantisek Musil (+6)
Wins Ron Tugnutt (17)
Goals against average Damian Rhodes (2.72)
<1995–96 1997–98>

The 1996–97 Ottawa Senators season was a season of great improvement by the club, as the team finished out of last place in the 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 quarter-finals) to the Buffalo Sabres.

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Regular season

Ottawa would get 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 would get better, finishing with a .500 record in their remaining 57 games, and would earn 45 points in the last 41 games of the regular season. The Sens would go 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 would lead the club offensively, while Ron Tugnutt and Damian Rhodes would provide very solid goaltending for the team throughout the season.

Final standings

Northeast Division
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
Eastern Conference[1]
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


Schedule and results

Regular season schedule
No. R Date Score Opponent Record Attendance
1 T October 5, 1996 3–3 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 0–0–1 20,639
2 T October 9, 1996 3–3 OT New York Islanders (1996–97) 0–0–2 15,352
3 W October 11, 1996 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 1–0–2 12,337
4 L October 12, 1996 2–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 1–1–2 15,472
5 T October 18, 1996 2–2 OT @ New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 1–1–3 14,710
6 W October 19, 1996 6–3 Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 2–1–3 18,201
7 L October 23, 1996 2–5 @ Florida Panthers (1996–97) 2–2–3 14,703
8 W October 24, 1996 5–2 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 3–2–3 16,286
9 L October 26, 1996 1–5 @ Dallas Stars (1996–97) 3–3–3 15,118
10 T October 30, 1996 2–2 OT Los Angeles Kings (1996–97) 3–3–4 13,053
11 T November 1, 1996 2–2 OT Detroit Red Wings (1996–97) 3–3–5 14,158
12 L November 2, 1996 3–7 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 3–4–5 15,441
13 W November 7, 1996 6–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97) 4–4–5 18,500
14 L November 9, 1996 3–4 Boston Bruins (1996–97) 4–5–5 14,411
15 L November 10, 1996 0–2 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97) 4–6–5 17,326
16 L November 13, 1996 0–4 Edmonton Oilers (1996–97) 4–7–5 15,312
17 W November 15, 1996 4–3 Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97) 5–7–5 12,468
18 W November 16, 1996 4–1 @ New York Islanders (1996–97) 6–7–5 12,288
19 L November 19, 1996 1–2 New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 6–8–5 15,232
20 T November 23, 1996 3–3 OT Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 6–8–6 14,648
21 W November 27, 1996 2–1 @ Washington Capitals (1996–97) 7–8–6 12,911
22 L November 29, 1996 0–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1996–97) 7–9–6 18,595
23 L November 30, 1996 3–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 7–10–6 14,920
24 L December 4, 1996 2–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 7–11–6 11,679
25 L December 6, 1996 2–5 @ Edmonton Oilers (1996–97) 7–12–6 15,060
26 W December 7, 1996 3–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1996–97) 8–12–6 16,605
27 T December 10, 1996 5–5 OT @ Calgary Flames (1996–97) 8–12–7 16,103
28 L December 13, 1996 2–4 Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97) 8–13–7 11,441
29 L December 15, 1996 0–4 Dallas Stars (1996–97) 8–14–7 14,249
30 W December 19, 1996 5–2 Florida Panthers (1996–97) 9–14–7 13,264
31 L December 21, 1996 2–3 Buffalo Sabres (1996–97) 9–15–7 11,597
32 W December 23, 1996 6–0 @ Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 10–15–7 21,273
33 W December 26, 1996 5–2 New York Rangers (1996–97) 11–15–7 18,280
34 L December 28, 1996 2–3 @ Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 11–16–7 14,092
35 L December 30, 1996 3–4 OT Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97) 11–17–7 17,605
36 W January 1, 1997 3–2 Boston Bruins (1996–97) 12–17–7 15,381
37 L January 3, 1997 0–1 New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 12–18–7 12,082
38 L January 4, 1997 4–6 @ New York Rangers (1996–97) 12–19–7 18,200
39 L January 6, 1997 3–4 Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 12–20–7 11,329
40 L January 9, 1997 0–2 Colorado Avalanche (1996–97) 12–21–7 17,126
41 T January 11, 1997 3–3 OT Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 12–21–8 18,223
42 W January 13, 1997 4–3 @ Boston Bruins (1996–97) 13–21–8 16,135
43 W January 15, 1997 5–1 Washington Capitals (1996–97) 14–21–8 12,152
44 L January 22, 1997 1–4 Boston Bruins (1996–97) 14–22–8 14,249
45 T January 24, 1997 2–2 OT Calgary Flames (1996–97) 14–22–9 13,306
46 W January 27, 1997 5–3 Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 15–22–9 13,283
47 T January 29, 1997 1–1 OT @ New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 15–22–10 12,366
48 L January 30, 1997 2–5 St. Louis Blues (1996–97) 15–23–10 11,830
49 W February 1, 1997 2–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97) 16–23–10 15,726
50 W February 3, 1997 6–4 Vancouver Canucks (1996–97) 17–23–10 14,455
51 W February 4, 1997 4–3 @ Boston Bruins (1996–97) 18–23–10 15,550
52 T February 8, 1997 3–3 OT San Jose Sharks (1996–97) 18–23–11 18,500
53 L February 9, 1997 1–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1996–97) 18–24–11 14,841
54 T February 11, 1997 5–5 OT @ New York Islanders (1996–97) 18–24–12 8,380
55 L February 13, 1997 2–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 18–25–12 19,425
56 L February 15, 1997 1–2 @ Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 18–26–12 13,767
57 W February 16, 1997 4–2 Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 19–26–12 18,338
58 W February 18, 1997 6–1 @ Washington Capitals (1996–97) 20–26–12 9,784
59 T February 20, 1997 1–1 OT @ St. Louis Blues (1996–97) 20–26–13 14,305
60 L February 23, 1997 3–4 @ Colorado Avalanche (1996–97) 20–27–13 16,061
61 L February 26, 1997 5–8 Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 20–28–13 18,245
62 W February 28, 1997 4–1 New York Islanders (1996–97) 21–28–13 17,413
63 L March 1, 1997 1–3 Buffalo Sabres (1996–97) 21–29–13 17,231
64 L March 5, 1997 1–4 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97) 21–30–13 17,174
65 L March 6, 1997 0–2 @ San Jose Sharks (1996–97) 21–31–13 17,442
66 L March 8, 1997 1–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1996–97) 21–32–13 12,086
67 W March 10, 1997 4–1 @ Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97) 22–32–13 16,210
68 L March 14, 1997 3–4 OT New York Rangers (1996–97) 22–33–13 18,500
69 T March 15, 1997 2–2 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 22–33–14 21,273
70 W March 17, 1997 4–3 @ New York Rangers (1996–97) 23–33–14 18,200
71 T March 20, 1997 2–2 OT Florida Panthers (1996–97) 23–33–15 18,219
72 W March 22, 1997 5–4 @ Boston Bruins (1996–97) 24–33–15 15,188
73 L March 25, 1997 0–5 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 24–34–15 17,873
74 W March 27, 1997 3–2 @ Florida Panthers (1996–97) 25–34–15 14,703
75 W March 29, 1997 5–2 Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 26–34–15 18,500
76 W April 2, 1997 2–0 @ Buffalo Sabres (1996–97) 27–34–15 18,595
77 W April 3, 1997 4–0 Washington Capitals (1996–97) 28–34–15 18,500
78 L April 5, 1997 2–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 28–35–15 17,238
79 L April 6, 1997 1–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 28–36–15 19,608
80 W April 9, 1997 5–4 Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 29–36–15 18,500
81 W April 11, 1997 3–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1996–97) 30–36–15 19,983
82 W April 12, 1997 1–0 Buffalo Sabres (1996–97) 31–36–15 18,500

[2]

Playoffs

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, ending a very memorable season for the team.

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (2) Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo wins series 4–3

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Attendance
1 April 17 Ottawa 0 – 1 Buffalo 0 – 1 18,595
2 April 19 Ottawa 3 – 1 Buffalo 1 – 1 18,595
3 April 21 Buffalo 3 – 2 Ottawa 1 – 2 18,500
4 April 23 Buffalo 0 – 1 Ottawa 2 – 2 18,500
5 April 25 Ottawa 4 – 1 Buffalo 3 – 2 18,595
6 April 27 Buffalo 3 – 0 Ottawa 3 – 3 18,500
7 April 29 Ottawa 2 – 3 Buffalo 3 – 4 18,595

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Alexei Yashin C 82 35 40 75 44 -7 10 0 5
Daniel Alfredsson RW 76 24 47 71 30 5 11 1 1
Alexandre Daigle C 82 26 25 51 33 -33 4 0 5
Steve Duchesne D 78 19 28 47 38 -9 10 2 3
Randy Cunneyworth LW 76 12 24 36 99 -7 6 0 3
Andreas Dackell RW 79 12 19 31 8 -6 2 0 3
Shawn McEachern RW 65 11 20 31 18 -5 0 1 2
Wade Redden D 82 6 24 30 41 1 2 0 1
Sergei Zholtok C 57 12 16 28 19 2 5 0 0
Tom Chorske LW 68 18 8 26 16 -1 1 1 1
Shaun Van Allen C 80 11 14 25 35 -8 1 1 2
Bruce Gardiner RW 67 11 10 21 49 4 0 1 2
Jason York D 75 4 17 21 67 -8 1 0 0
Janne Laukkanen D 76 3 18 21 76 -14 2 0 0
Denny Lambert LW 80 4 16 20 217 -4 0 0 1
Radek Bonk C 53 5 13 18 14 -4 0 1 0
Lance Pitlick D 66 5 5 10 91 2 0 0 1
Jason Zent LW 22 3 3 6 9 5 0 0 0
Christer Olsson D 25 2 3 5 10 -5 1 0 0
Denis Chasse RW 22 1 4 5 19 3 0 0 0
Frantisek Musil D 57 0 5 5 58 6 0 0 0
Dave Hannan C 34 2 2 4 8 -1 0 1 1
Damian Rhodes G 50 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0
Radim Bicanek D 21 0 1 1 8 -4 0 0 0
Phil Crowe LW 26 0 1 1 30 0 0 0 0
Ron Tugnutt G 37 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Dennis Vial D/LW 11 0 1 1 25 0 0 0 0
Phil Von Stefenelli D 6 0 1 1 7 -3 0 0 0
Mike Bales G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sean Hill D 5 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0
Stan Neckar D 5 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Ron Tugnutt 1991 37 17 15 1 93 2.80 3 882 789 .895
Damian Rhodes 2934 50 14 20 14 133 2.72 1 1213 1080 .890
Mike Bales 52 1 0 1 0 4 4.62 0 18 14 .778
Team: 4977 82 31 36 15 230 2.77 4 2113 1883 .891

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Daniel Alfredsson RW 7 5 2 7 6 -1 3 0 2
Alexei Yashin C 7 1 5 6 2 -2 1 0 0
Steve Duchesne D 7 1 4 5 0 -3 1 0 1
Wade Redden D 7 1 3 4 2 -4 0 0 0
Shawn McEachern RW 7 2 0 2 8 -1 1 0 0
Randy Cunneyworth LW 7 1 1 2 10 -3 0 0 0
Sergei Zholtok C 7 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0
Andreas Dackell RW 7 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Radek Bonk C 7 0 1 1 4 -1 0 0 0
Tom Chorske LW 5 0 1 1 2 -1 0 0 0
Bruce Gardiner RW 7 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Denny Lambert LW 6 0 1 1 9 0 0 0 0
Janne Laukkanen D 7 0 1 1 6 -1 0 0 0
Shaun Van Allen C 7 0 1 1 4 -3 0 0 0
Radim Bicanek D 7 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0
Phil Crowe LW 3 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 0
Alexandre Daigle C 7 0 0 0 2 -5 0 0 0
Lance Pitlick D 7 0 0 0 4 -1 0 0 0
Ron Tugnutt G 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jason York D 7 0 0 0 4 -3 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Ron Tugnutt 425 7 3 4 14 1.98 1 169 155 .917
Team: 425 7 3 4 14 1.98 1 169 155 .917

[3]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

Trades

May 21, 1996 To Washington Capitals
future considerations		 To Ottawa Senators
Michel Picard
June 22, 1996 To Boston Bruins
Trent McCleary
Ottawa's third-round pick in 1996 Draft (Eric Naud)		 To Ottawa Senators
Shawn McEachern
October 1, 1996 To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Ted Drury
Marc Moro		 To Ottawa Senators
Mika Stromberg
Jason York
Shaun Van Allen
November 27, 1996 To St. Louis Blues
Pavol Demitra		 To Ottawa Senators
Christer Olsson
March 18, 1997 To Chicago Blackhawks
Denis Chasse
Kevin Bolibruck
Ottawa's sixth-round pick 1998 Entry Draft (Ottawa later reacquired pick -Chris Neil)		 To Ottawa Senators
Mike Prokopec

Waivers

No waiver transactions.

Free agents

Player Former team
Sergei Zholtok Las Vegas Thunder (IHL)
Denny Lambert Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Phil Crowe Philadelphia Flyers
Ron Tugnutt Washington Capitals
Denis Chasse Winnipeg Jets
Player New team
Daniel Laperriere Washington Capitals
Pat Elyniuk Dallas Stars

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Roster

1996-97 Ottawa Senators
Goaltenders

Defencemen

Wingers

Centres

Sources:

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Draft picks

Ottawa's draft picks at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft in St. Louis, Missouri.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 1 Chris Phillips  Canada Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
4 81 Antti-Jussi Niemi  Finland Jokerit (SM-liiga)
6 136 Andreas Dackell  Sweden Brynäs IF (Elitserien)
7 163 François Hardy  Canada Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
8 212 Erich Goldmann  Germany Mannheim Eagles (DEL)
9 216 Ivan Ciernik  Slovakia MHC Plastika Nitra (Slovakia)
9 239 Sami Salo  Finland TPS (SM-liiga)

Farm teams

See also

References

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  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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