1996–97 St. Louis Blues season

1996–97 St. Louis Blues
Division	4th Central
Conference	6th Western
1996–97 record	36–35–11
Home record	17–20–4
Road record	19–15–7
Goals for	236
Goals against	239
Team information
General Manager	Mike Keenan Ron Caron interim
Coach	Joel Quenneville
Captain	Vacant
Arena	Kiel Center
Team leaders
<1995–96	1997–98>

The highlight of the 1996–97 St. Louis Blues season was, after losing Wayne Gretzky the Blues were in turmoil as an ugly public feud between Brett Hull and Coach Mike Keenan developed. This was the last season until early 2009, that a huge Blue note would appear at center ice

Offseason

After losing captain Wayne Gretzky to free-agency, the Blues were in turmoil as an ugly public feud between Brett Hull and Coach Mike Keenan developed, as the Blues got off to a slow start. On December 19 the Keenan era would come to a sudden end as he is fired as GM and Coach. Eventually he would be replaced by Joel Quenneville behind the bench as the Blues recovered and made the playoffs for the 18th straight season with a 36–35–11 record. However, once again the Blues would make a quick exit in the playoffs as they are beaten by the Detroit Red Wings in 6 games.

Regular season

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

Game log

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

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Hull, BrettBrett Hull	RW	77	42	40	82	10	-9	12	2	6
Turgeon, PierrePierre Turgeon	C	69	25	49	74	12	4	5	0	7
Courtnall, GeoffGeoff Courtnall	LW	82	17	40	57	86	3	4	0	2
Murphy, JoeJoe Murphy	RW	75	20	25	45	69	-1	4	1	2
Campbell, JimJim Campbell	RW	68	23	20	43	68	3	5	0	6
MacInnis, AlAl MacInnis	D	72	13	30	43	65	2	6	1	1
Matteau, StephaneStephane Matteau	LW	74	16	20	36	50	11	1	2	2
Pronger, ChrisChris Pronger	D	79	11	24	35	143	15	4	0	0
York, HarryHarry York	C	74	14	18	32	24	1	3	1	3
Kravchuk, IgorIgor Kravchuk	D	82	4	24	28	35	7	1	0	0
Petrovicky, RobertRobert Petrovicky	C	44	7	12	19	10	2	0	0	1
Pellerin, ScottScott Pellerin	LW	54	8	10	18	35	12	0	2	2
Conroy, CraigCraig Conroy	C	61	6	11	17	43	0	0	0	1
Zezel, PeterPeter Zezel	C	35	4	9	13	12	6	0	0	1
Persson, RicardRicard Persson	D	53	4	8	12	45	-2	1	0	0
MacTavish, CraigCraig MacTavish	C	50	2	5	7	33	-12	0	0	0
Noonan, BrianBrian Noonan	RW	13	2	5	7	0	2	0	0	0
Rivers, JamieJamie Rivers	D	15	2	5	7	6	-4	1	0	0
Zabransky, LiborLibor Zabransky	D	34	1	5	6	44	-1	0	0	1
Peluso, MikeMike Peluso	LW	44	2	3	5	158	0	0	0	0
Momesso, SergioSergio Momesso	LW	31	1	3	4	37	-4	0	0	0
Bergevin, MarcMarc Bergevin	D	82	0	4	4	53	-9	0	0	0
Demitra, PavolPavol Demitra	LW	8	3	0	3	2	0	2	0	1
Corson, ShayneShayne Corson	LW	11	2	1	3	24	-4	1	0	0
Leach, StephenStephen Leach	RW	17	2	1	3	24	-2	0	0	0
Shafranov, KonstantinKonstantin Shafranov	RW	5	2	1	3	0	1	0	0	0
Pearson, RobRob Pearson	RW	18	1	2	3	37	-5	0	0	0
Twist, TonyTony Twist	LW	64	1	2	3	121	-8	0	0	0
Baron, MurrayMurray Baron	D	11	0	2	2	11	-4	0	0	0
Fuhr, GrantGrant Fuhr	G	73	0	2	2	6	0	0	0	0
Yawney, TrentTrent Yawney	D	39	0	2	2	17	2	0	0	0
Khmylev, YuriYuri Khmylev	LW	2	1	0	1	2	-1	0	0	0
Leeman, GaryGary Leeman	RW	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Mayers, JamalJamal Mayers	RW	6	0	1	1	2	-3	0	0	0
Olsson, ChristerChrister Olsson	D	5	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
Casey, JonJon Casey	G	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fitzpatrick, RoryRory Fitzpatrick	D	2	0	0	0	2	-2	0	0	0
McAlpine, ChrisChris McAlpine	D	15	0	0	0	24	-2	0	0	0
Vasilevski, AlexanderAlexander Vasilevski	RW	3	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Fuhr, GrantGrant Fuhr	4261	73	33	27	11	193	2.72	3	1940	1747	.901
Casey, JonJon Casey	707	15	3	8	0	40	3.39	0	299	259	.866
Team:	4968	82	36	35	11	233	2.81	3	2239	2006	.896

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Hull, BrettBrett Hull	RW	6	2	7	9	2	4	0	0	0
Courtnall, GeoffGeoff Courtnall	LW	6	3	1	4	23	0	1	0	2
Demitra, PavolPavol Demitra	LW	6	1	3	4	6	3	0	0	0
MacInnis, AlAl MacInnis	D	6	1	2	3	4	-1	1	0	0
Murphy, JoeJoe Murphy	RW	6	1	1	2	10	-2	1	0	0
Pronger, ChrisChris Pronger	D	6	1	1	2	22	0	0	0	0
Turgeon, PierrePierre Turgeon	C	5	1	1	2	2	0	1	0	0
Bergevin, MarcMarc Bergevin	D	6	1	0	1	8	2	0	0	0
Campbell, JimJim Campbell	RW	4	1	0	1	6	-1	1	0	0
McAlpine, ChrisChris McAlpine	D	4	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
Conroy, CraigCraig Conroy	C	6	0	0	0	8	-1	0	0	0
Fuhr, GrantGrant Fuhr	G	6	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
Kravchuk, IgorIgor Kravchuk	D	2	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Leach, StephenStephen Leach	RW	6	0	0	0	33	-2	0	0	0
MacTavish, CraigCraig MacTavish	C	1	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Matteau, StephaneStephane Matteau	LW	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Momesso, SergioSergio Momesso	LW	3	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0
Pellerin, ScottScott Pellerin	LW	6	0	0	0	6	-1	0	0	0
Peluso, MikeMike Peluso	LW	5	0	0	0	25	-1	0	0	0
Persson, RicardRicard Persson	D	6	0	0	0	27	-1	0	0	0
Petrovicky, RobertRobert Petrovicky	C	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Twist, TonyTony Twist	LW	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
York, HarryHarry York	C	5	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Fuhr, GrantGrant Fuhr	357	6	2	4	13	2.18	2	183	170	.929
Team:	357	6	2	4	13	2.18	2	183	170	.929

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;

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1996 NHL Entry Draft
• 46th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• NHL All-Rookie Team
• 1996 in sports
• 1997 in sports

External links

• Blues on Hockey Database
• Hickok Sports
• The National Hockey League Web Site
• Official website of the St. Louis Blues
• The HockeyNut