1996–97 Ottawa Senators season

The 1996–97 Ottawa Senators season was the fifth season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season saw great improvement by the club, as the team finished out of last place in the National Hockey League (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.

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)
Penalty minutes	Denny Lambert (217)
Plus/minus	Frantisek Musil (+6)
Wins	Ron Tugnutt (17)
Goals against average	Damian Rhodes (2.72)

Regular season

Ottawa got 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 got better, finishing with a .500 record in their remaining 57 games and earned 45 points in the last 41 games of the regular season. The Senators went 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 led the club offensively, while Ron Tugnutt and Damian Rhodes provided 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, a game which included an own-goal by Alexei Yashin when the puck went past Tugnutt after the Sens won a faceoff in their zone.

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

Buffalo wins series 4–3

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Attendance
1	April 17	Ottawa	1 – 3	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

• Molson Cup - Alexei Yashin

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

Source: Ottawa Senators 2008–09 Media Guide. Ottawa Senators. 2008. p. 188.

Roster

1996-97 Ottawa Senators
Goaltenders 1 – Damian Rhodes  31 – Ron Tugnutt  35 – Mike Bales		Defencemen 2 – Lance Pitlick  3 – Frank Musil  4 – Sean Hill  6 – Wade Redden  21 – Dennis Vial  23 – Christer Olsson  27 – Janne Laukkanen  28 – Steve Duchesne  29 – Phil Von Stefenelli  33 – Jason York  44 – Radim Bicanek		Wingers 7 – Randy Cunneyworth  - C 10 – Andreas Dackell  11 – Daniel Alfredsson  15 – Shawn McEachern  17 – Tom Chorske  20 – Denis Chasse  25 – Bruce Gardiner  26 – Phil Crowe  38 – Jason Zent  42 – Denny Lambert		Centres 14 – Dave Hannan  16 – Sergei Zholtok  19 – Alexei Yashin  22 – Shaun Van Allen  76 – Radek Bonk  91 – Alexandre Daigle  GM: Pierre Gauthier Coach: Jacques Martin

Sources:

• 2008–09 Ottawa Senators Media Guide. Ottawa Senators. 2008. pp. 184–186.
• "NHL.com - Player Search". NHL. Retrieved 2009-03-09.

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	Francois Hardy	Canada	Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
8	212	Erich Goldmann	Germany	Adler Mannheim (DEL)
9	216	Ivan Ciernik	Slovakia	MHC Plastika Nitra (Slovakia)
9	239	Sami Salo	Finland	TPS (SM-liiga)

Farm teams

• Worcester IceCats (American Hockey League)
• Raleigh IceCaps (East Coast Hockey League)

See also

• 1996–97 NHL season

References

• Total Hockey: "Ottawa Senators 1992–93 to Date" by Bruce Garrioch, 1998
• Ottawa Senators Media Guide 2007
• The Internet Hockey Database
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

1. "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
2. "1996–97 Ottawa Senators Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
3. "1996-97 Ottawa Senators Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-17.