1996–97 Phoenix Coyotes season

1996–97 Phoenix Coyotes
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.

Off-season

NHL Entry Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team
1	24	Daniel Briere (C)	Canada	Drummondville Voltigeurs (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."

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

Goaltenders

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

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

^ "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
^ "1996-97 Phoenix Coyotes Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.

[1] "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.

[2] "1996-97 Phoenix Coyotes Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.

[1]

[2]

v t e Arizona Coyotes
Formerly the Winnipeg Jets and Phoenix Coyotes Founded in 1972 Based in Tempe, Arizona Suspended in 2024
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Expansion draft Seasons
History	Bankruptcy Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters Utah Hockey Club
Personnel	Owner Alex Meruelo
Arenas	America West Arena Gila River Arena Mullett Arena ~~New Tempe Arena~~
Culture and lore	Howler Shane Doan
Category Commons

v t e Arizona Coyotes seasons
List of Winnipeg Jets (1972–1996) seasons
1990s	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Operations ceased in 2024

v t e 1996–97 NHL season
Northeast	Boston Buffalo Hartford Montreal Ottawa Pittsburgh
Atlantic	Florida New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Tampa Bay Washington
Central	Chicago Dallas Detroit Phoenix St. Louis Toronto
Pacific	Anaheim Calgary Colorado Edmonton Los Angeles San Jose Vancouver
See also	Draft Waiver draft Red Wings–Avalanche brawl Legion of Doom Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals