1996–97 New York Rangers season

The 1996–97 New York Rangers season was the Rangers' 71st season. The highlight of the season was that it was Wayne Gretzky's first season in New York.

1996–97 New York Rangers
Division	4th Atlantic
Conference	5th Eastern
1996–97 record	38–34–10
Home record	21–14–6
Road record	17–20–4
Goals for	258
Goals against	231
Team information
General Manager	Neil Smith
Coach	Colin Campbell
Captain	Mark Messier
Alternate captains	Brian Leetch Adam Graves
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Average attendance	18,200 (100%)
Team leaders
Goals	Mark Messier (36)
Assists	Wayne Gretzky (72)
Points	Wayne Gretzky (97)
Penalty minutes	Darren Langdon (195)
Wins	Mike Richter (33)
Goals against average	Glenn Healy (2.61)

The Rangers qualified for the playoffs as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, and advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were defeated by the Philadelphia Flyers. This marked the last playoff appearance for the Rangers until the 2005–06 season.

Regular season

The Rangers had the fewest power-play opportunities during the regular season (287), but the best power-play percentage (21.95%).[1]

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[2]

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

1996-97 Game Log
October: 5-6-3 (Home: 4-3-1; Road: 1-3-0) Game October Opponent Score Record 1 5 @ Boston Bruins 4 - 4 OT 0-0-1 2 6 Florida Panthers 5 - 2 0-1-1 3 8 @ Florida Panthers 1 - 1 OT 0-1-2 4 10 Dallas Stars 2 - 1 0-2-2 5 12 @ Montreal Canadiens 5 - 2 0-3-2 6 14 Calgary Flames 5 - 4 1-3-2 7 16 Pittsburgh Penguins 8 - 1 2-3-2 8 18 St. Louis Blues 2 - 1 3-3-2 9 20 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 5 - 2 3-4-2 10 23 Washington Capitals 3 - 2 3-5-2 11 25 @ Florida Panthers 6 - 4 3-6-2 12 27 Buffalo Sabres 6 - 4 4-6-2 13 29 Florida Panthers 1 - 1 OT 4-6-3 14 30 @ New Jersey Devils 6 - 1 5-6-3
November: 4-7-1 (Home: 0-3-0; Road: 4-4-1) Game November Opponent Score Record 15 2 @ Boston Bruins 5 - 2 6-6-3 16 4 Tampa Bay Lightning 5 - 3 6-7-3 17 6 @ New York Islanders 1 - 1 OT 6-7-4 18 9 @ Washington Capitals 3 - 2 6-8-4 19 11 Vancouver Canucks 3 - 2 6-9-4 20 13 Philadelphia Flyers 2 - 1 6-10-4 21 16 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 8 - 3 7-10-4 22 18 @ Calgary Flames 5 - 3 7-11-4 23 21 @ Edmonton Oilers 3 - 2 7-12-4 24 23 @ Vancouver Canucks 5 - 3 7-13-4 25 26 @ Phoenix Coyotes 3 - 1 8-13-4 26 27 @ Colorado Avalanche 5 - 2 9-13-4
December: 11-3-1 (Home: 7-1-1; Road: 4-2-0) Game December Opponent Score Record 27 1 Montreal Canadiens 6 - 2 10-13-4 28 4 Philadelphia Flyers 1 - 1 OT 10-13-5 29 6 Toronto Maple Leafs 6 - 5 11-13-5 30 7 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4 - 0 12-13-5 31 9 Phoenix Coyotes 5 - 2 13-13-5 32 11 New York Islanders 5 - 3 13-14-5 33 13 @ Buffalo Sabres 3 - 0 14-14-5 34 16 Hartford Whalers 5 - 2 15-14-5 35 18 Los Angeles Kings 4 - 0 16-14-5 36 21 @ Montreal Canadiens 3 - 2 OT 17-14-5 37 22 Florida Panthers 7 - 3 18-14-5 38 26 @ Ottawa Senators 5 - 2 18-15-5 39 27 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 3 - 2 19-15-5 40 30 @ Dallas Stars 3 - 2 20-15-5 41 31 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 4 - 2 20-16-5
January: 5-4-2 (Home: 3-3-2; Road: 2-1-0) Game January Opponent Score Record 42 2 New York Islanders 4 - 3 21-16-5 43 4 Ottawa Senators 6 - 4 22-16-5 44 6 Colorado Avalanche 2 - 2 OT 22-16-6 45 8 Tampa Bay Lightning 4 - 3 22-17-6 46 9 @ Washington Capitals 2 - 0 22-18-6 47 12 New Jersey Devils 3 - 0 23-18-6 48 13 New York Islanders 4 - 2 23-19-6 49 21 Edmonton Oilers 4 - 4 OT 23-19-7 50 22 @ Washington Capitals 5 - 3 24-19-7 51 25 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 7 - 4 25-19-7 52 27 Chicago Blackhawks 2 - 1 25-20-7
February: 3-6-2 (Home: 1-1-1; Road: 2-5-1) Game February Opponent Score Record 53 1 @ Philadelphia Flyers 4 - 2 26-20-7 54 2 Boston Bruins 3 - 2 26-21-7 55 5 Hartford Whalers 5 - 2 27-21-7 56 8 @ New York Islanders 5 - 2 28-21-7 57 9 @ Florida Panthers 4 - 3 28-22-7 58 13 @ St. Louis Blues 4 - 1 28-23-7 59 15 @ Chicago Blackhawks 2 - 0 28-24-7 60 17 New Jersey Devils 2 - 2 OT 28-24-8 61 19 @ New Jersey Devils 1 - 1 OT 28-24-9 62 21 @ Hartford Whalers 7 - 2 28-25-9 63 23 @ Philadelphia Flyers 2 - 1 28-26-9
March: 7-6-0 (Home: 4-2-0; Road: 3-4-0) Game March Opponent Score Record 64 1 @ Detroit Red Wings 3 - 0 28-27-9 65 3 San Jose Sharks 5 - 4 OT 29-27-9 66 6 @ Los Angeles Kings 6 - 2 30-27-9 67 7 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 5 - 2 30-28-9 68 9 @ San Jose Sharks 2 - 1 31-28-9 69 12 Washington Capitals 3 - 2 32-28-9 70 14 @ Ottawa Senators 4 - 3 OT 33-28-9 71 17 Ottawa Senators 4 - 3 33-29-9 72 19 Montreal Canadiens 5 - 4 33-30-9 73 21 Detroit Red Wings 3 - 1 34-30-9 74 24 Pittsburgh Penguins 3 - 0 35-30-9 75 27 @ New Jersey Devils 4 - 0 35-31-9 76 29 @ Hartford Whalers 2 - 1 35-32-9
April: 3-2-1 (Home: 2-1-1; Road: 1-1-0) Game April Opponent Score Record 77 1 Buffalo Sabres 1 - 1 OT 35-32-10 78 3 Boston Bruins 5 - 4 36-32-10 79 4 @ Buffalo Sabres 5 - 1 36-33-10 80 7 Philadelphia Flyers 3 - 2 37-33-10 81 10 @ Philadelphia Flyers 6 - 3 38-33-10 82 11 Tampa Bay Lightning 4 - 2 38-34-10

Playoffs

Main article: 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs

Key:      Win      Loss

1997 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (4) Florida Panthers - New York Rangers win series 4-1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 April 17 New York Rangers 0 - 3 Florida Panthers Florida leads series 1-0 2 April 20 New York Rangers 3 - 0 Florida Panthers Series tied 1-1 3 April 22 Florida Panthers 3 - 4 New York Rangers OT New York Rangers lead series 2-1 4 April 23 Florida Panthers 2 - 3 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 3-1 5 April 25 New York Rangers 3 - 2 Florida Panthers OT New York Rangers win series 4-1
Conference Semi-finals: vs. (1) New Jersey Devils - New York Rangers win series 4-1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 May 2 New York Rangers 0 - 2 New Jersey Devils New Jersey leads series 1-0 2 May 4 New York Rangers 2 - 0 New Jersey Devils Series tied 1-1 3 May 6 New Jersey Devils 2 - 3 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 2-1 4 May 8 New Jersey Devils 0 - 3 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 3-1 5 May 11 New York Rangers 2 - 1 New Jersey Devils OT New York Rangers win series 4-1
Conference Finals: vs. (3) Philadelphia Flyers - Philadelphia wins series 4-1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 May 16 New York Rangers 1 - 3 Philadelphia Flyers Philadelphia leads series 1-0 2 May 18 New York Rangers 5 - 4 Philadelphia Flyers Series tied 1-1 3 May 20 Philadelphia Flyers 6 - 3 New York Rangers Philadelphia leads series 2-1 4 May 23 Philadelphia Flyers 3 - 2 New York Rangers Philadelphia leads series 3-1 5 May 25 New York Rangers 2 - 4 Philadelphia Flyers Philadelphia wins series 4-1

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM Wayne Gretzky 82 25 72 97 12 28 Mark Messier 71 36 48 84 12 88 Brian Leetch 82 20 58 78 31 40 Adam Graves 82 33 28 61 10 66 Niklas Sundstrom 82 24 28 52 23 20 Luc Robitaille 69 24 24 48 16 48 Alexander Karpovtsev 77 9 29 38 1 59 Alexei Kovalev 45 13 22 35 11 42 Bruce Driver 79 5 25 30 8 48 Patrick Flatley 68 10 12 22 6 26 Sergei Nemchinov^‡ 63 6 13 19 5 12 Ulf Samuelsson 73 6 11 17 3 138 Brian Noonan^†‡ 44 6 9 15 -7 28 Bill Berg 67 8 6 14 2 37 Daniel Goneau 41 10 3 13 -5 10 Jeff Beukeboom 80 3 9 12 22 167 Vladimir Vorobiev 16 5 5 10 4 6 Darren Langdon 60 3 6 9 -1 195 Mike Eastwood^† 27 1 7 8 2 10 Doug Lidster 48 3 4 7 10 24 Russ Courtnall^† 14 2 5 7 -3 2 David Oliver^† 14 2 1 3 3 4 Esa Tikkanen^† 14 1 2 3 0 6 Chris Ferraro 12 1 1 2 1 6 Christian Dube 27 1 1 2 -4 4 Ryan VandenBussche 11 1 0 1 -2 30 Jayson More^‡ 14 0 1 1 0 25 Eric Cairns 40 0 1 1 -7 147 Shane Churla 45 0 1 1 -10 106 Jeff Nielsen 2 0 0 0 -1 2 Peter Ferraro 2 0 0 0 0 0 Dallas Eakins^† 3 0 0 0 -1 6 Sylvain Blouin 6 0 0 0 -1 18 Sergio Momesso^‡ 9 0 0 0 -2 11

Playoffs Player GP G A Pts PIM Wayne Gretzky 15 10 10 20 2 Esa Tikkanen 15 9 3 12 26 Mark Messier 15 3 9 12 6 Luc Robitaille 15 4 7 11 4 Brian Leetch 15 2 8 10 6 Russ Courtnall 15 3 4 7 0 Doug Lidster 15 1 5 6 8 Niklas Sundstrom 9 0 5 5 2 Alexander Karpovtsev 13 1 3 4 20 Mike Eastwood 15 1 2 3 22 Adam Graves 15 2 1 3 12 Ulf Samuelsson 15 0 2 2 30 Jeff Beukeboom 15 0 1 1 34 Bruce Driver 15 0 1 1 2 Dallas Eakins 4 0 0 0 4 Peter Ferraro 2 0 0 0 0 Ken Gernander 9 0 0 0 0 Shane Churla 15 0 0 0 20 Eric Cairns 3 0 0 0 0 Christian Dube 3 0 0 0 0 David Oliver 3 0 0 0 0 Darren Langdon 10 0 0 0 2 Bill Berg 3 0 0 0 2 Patrick Flatley 11 0 0 0 14

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
Mike Richter	61	3598	33	22	6	161	2.68	1945	.917	4
Glenn Healy	23	59	5	12	4	59	2.61	632	.907	1

Playoffs

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
Mike Richter	15	939	9	6	33	2.11	488	.932	3

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

[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;

Draft picks

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

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	22	Jeff Brown	D	Canada	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
2	48	Daniel Goneau	LW	Canada	Granby Predateurs (QMJHL)
3	76	Dmitri Subbotin	LW	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russia)
5	131	Colin Pepperall	LW	Canada	Niagara Falls Thunder (OHL)
6	158	Ola Sandberg	D	Sweden	Djurgårdens IF (SEL)
7	185	Jeff Dessner	D	United States	Taft School (Connecticut)
8	211	Ryan McKie	D	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
9	237	Ronnie Sundin	D	Sweden	Frölunda HC (SEL)

Awards and records

• James Norris Memorial Trophy: Brian Leetch

References

• Rangers on Hockey Database

1. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1997.html
2. "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
3. "1996-97 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2010-08-01.