1996–97 New York Islanders season

1996–97 New York Islanders
Division	7th Atlantic
Conference	Eastern
1996–97 record	29–41–12
Goals for	240
Goals against	250
Team information
General manager	Mike Milbury
Coach	Mike Milbury (interim) Rick Bowness
Captain	Vacant

The 1996–97 New York Islanders season was the 25th season in the franchise's history. It saw the withdrawal of the "Fisherman" logo from 1995 at the start of the season and the return of the original logo.

Offseason

Captain Patrick Flatley leaves Long Island, signing with the rival New York Rangers. The team does not name a new captain until the 1997–98 season.

Regular season

Final standings

Atlantic Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	New Jersey Devils	82	45	23	14	231	182	104
2	3	Philadelphia Flyers	82	45	24	13	274	217	103
3	4	Florida Panthers	82	35	28	19	221	201	89
4	5	New York Rangers	82	38	34	10	258	231	86
5	9	Washington Capitals	82	33	40	9	214	231	75
6	11	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	32	40	10	217	247	74
7	12	New York Islanders	82	29	41	12	240	250	70

Eastern Conference

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

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

Playoffs

For the third consecutive year, the Islanders failed to make the playoffs.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Zigmund Palffy	RW	80	48	42	90	43	21	6	4	6
Travis Green	C	79	23	41	64	38	-5	10	0	3
Bryan Smolinski	C	64	28	28	56	25	9	9	0	1
Derek King	LW	70	23	30	53	20	-6	5	0	3
Bryan Berard	D	82	8	40	48	86	1	3	0	1
Niklas Andersson	LW	74	12	31	43	57	4	1	1	1
Marty McInnis	RW	70	20	22	42	20	-7	4	1	4
Bryan McCabe	D	82	8	20	28	165	-2	2	1	2
Todd Bertuzzi	RW	64	10	13	23	68	-3	3	0	1
Kenny Jonsson	D	81	3	18	21	24	10	1	0	0
Robert Reichel	C	12	5	14	19	4	7	0	1	0
Claude Lapointe	LW/C	73	13	5	18	49	-12	0	3	3
Scott Lachance	D	81	3	11	14	47	-7	1	0	0
Derek Armstrong	C	50	6	7	13	33	-8	0	0	2
Dan Plante	RW	67	4	9	13	75	-6	0	2	0
Randy Wood	LW/C	65	6	5	11	61	-7	0	1	2
Brent Hughes	LW	51	7	3	10	57	-4	0	0	0
Doug Houda	D	70	2	8	10	99	1	0	0	0
Paul Kruse	LW	48	4	2	6	111	-5	0	0	0
Rich Pilon	D	52	1	4	5	179	4	0	0	0
Steve Webb	RW	41	1	4	5	144	-10	1	0	0
Darius Kasparaitis	D	18	0	5	5	16	-7	0	0	0
Andreas Johansson	C	15	2	2	4	0	-6	1	0	0
Dennis Vaske	D	17	0	4	4	12	3	0	0	0
Dave McLlwain	C/RW	4	1	1	2	0	-2	1	0	0
Ken Belanger	LW	18	0	2	2	102	-1	0	0	0
Jason Holland	D	4	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
Mick Vukota	RW	17	1	0	1	71	-2	0	0	0
Tommy Salo	G	58	0	1	1	4	0	0	0	0
Dave Archibald	C/LW	7	0	0	0	4	-4	0	0	0
Jarrett Deuling	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Donnelly	LW	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Jim Dowd	C	3	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Eric Fichaud	G	34	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Corey Foster	D	7	0	0	0	2	-2	0	0	0
Tommy Soderstrom	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Taylor	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nick Vachon	C	1	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Andrei Vasilyev	LW	3	0	0	0	2	-3	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Tommy Salo	3208	58	20	27	8	151	2.82	5	1576	1425	.904
Eric Fichaud	1759	34	9	14	4	91	3.10	0	897	806	.899
Tommy Soderstrom	1	1	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0
Team:	4968	82	29	41	12	242	2.92	5	2473	2231	.902

Note: Pos = Position; 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;

Draft picks

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

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	3	Jean-Pierre Dumont	Canada	Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
2	29	Dan LaCouture	United States	Enfield Jr. Whalers (EJHL)
3	56	Zdeno Chara	Slovakia	Dukla Trenčín (Slovakia)
4	83	Tyrone Garner	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
5	109	Andrew Berenzweig	United States	University of Michigan (CCHA)
5	128	Petr Sachl	Czech Republic	HC České Budějovice (Czech Republic)
6	138	Todd Miller	Canada	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
7	165	J. R. Prestifilippo	United States	Hotchkiss School (USHS-CT)
8	192	Evgeny Korolev	Russia	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
9	218	Mike Muzechka	Canada	Calgary Hitmen (WHL)

External links

• "1996–97 New York Islanders Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-06.