1996–97 Washington Capitals season

The 1996–97 Washington Capitals season was the team's 23rd season of play. The Capitals finished fifth in the division, and ninth in the conference, and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

1996–97 Washington Capitals
Division	5th Atlantic
Conference	9th Eastern
1996–97 record	33–40–9
Goals for	214
Goals against	231
Team information
General Manager	David Poile
Coach	Jim Schoenfeld
Captain	Dale Hunter

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[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

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

Playoffs

The Capitals missed the playoffs for the first time for the since 1982 due to injuries.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Peter Bondra	RW	77	46	31	77	72	7	10	4	3
Dale Hunter	C	82	14	32	46	125	-2	3	0	5
Steve Konowalchuk	LW	78	17	25	42	67	-3	2	1	3
Joe Juneau	C	58	15	27	42	8	-11	9	1	3
Phil Housley	D	77	11	29	40	24	-10	3	1	2
Sergei Gonchar	D	57	13	17	30	36	-11	3	0	3
Kelly Miller	LW	77	10	14	24	33	4	0	1	3
Sylvain Cote	D	57	6	18	24	28	11	2	0	0
Michal Pivonka	C	54	7	16	23	22	-15	2	0	1
Chris Simon	LW	42	9	13	22	165	-1	3	0	1
Jason Allison	C	53	5	17	22	25	-3	1	0	1
Andrei Nikolishin	C	59	7	14	21	30	5	1	0	0
Calle Johansson	D	65	6	11	17	16	-2	2	0	0
Todd Krygier	LW	47	5	11	16	37	-10	1	0	1
Adam Oates	C	17	4	8	12	4	-2	1	0	1
Andrew Brunette	LW	23	4	7	11	12	-3	2	0	0
Ken Klee	D	80	3	8	11	115	-5	0	0	2
Jaroslav Svejkovsky	RW	19	7	3	10	4	-1	2	0	1
Rick Tocchet	RW	13	5	5	10	31	0	1	0	1
Joe Reekie	D	65	1	8	9	107	8	0	0	0
Mark Tinordi	D	56	2	6	8	118	3	0	0	0
Mike Eagles	C/LW	70	1	7	8	42	-4	0	0	0
Craig Berube	LW	80	4	3	7	218	-11	0	0	1
Anson Carter	RW	19	3	2	5	7	0	1	0	1
Brendan Witt	D	44	3	2	5	88	-20	0	0	0
Keith Jones	RW	11	2	3	5	13	-2	1	0	0
Richard Zednik	RW	11	2	1	3	4	-5	1	0	0
Kevin Kaminski	C	38	1	2	3	130	0	0	0	0
Eric Charron	D	25	1	1	2	20	1	0	0	0
Bill Ranford	G	18	0	1	1	7	0	0	0	0
Patrick Boileau	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jim Carey	G	40	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Olaf Kolzig	G	29	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
Curtis Leschyshyn	D	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Stewart Malgunas	D	6	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0
Pat Peake	C	4	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	0
Stefan Ustorf	C	6	0	0	0	2	-3	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Jim Carey	2293	40	17	18	3	105	2.75	1	984	879	.893
Olaf Kolzig	1645	29	8	15	4	71	2.59	2	758	687	.906
Bill Ranford	1009	18	8	7	2	46	2.74	0	412	366	.888
Team:	4947	82	33	40	9	222	2.69	3	2154	1932	.897

[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;

Draft picks

Washington'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	4	Alexander Volchkov	Russia	Barrie Colts (OHL)
1	17	Jaroslav Svejkovsky	Czech Republic	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
2	43	Jan Bulis	Czech Republic	Barrie Colts (OHL)
3	58	Sergei Zimakov	Russia	Krylya Sovetov (Russia)
3	74	David Weninger	Canada	Michigan Technological University (WCHA)
3	78	Shawn McNeil	Canada	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
4	85	Justin Davis	Canada	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
5	126	Matt Lahey	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
6	153	A. J. Van Bruggen	United States	Northern Michigan University (WCHA)
7	180	Michael Anderson	United States	University of Minnesota (WCHA)
8	206	Oleg Orekhovsky	Russia	Dynamo Moscow (Russia)
9	232	Chad Cavanagh	Canada	London Knights (OHL)

See also

• 1996–97 NHL season

References

1. "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
2. "1996-97 Washington Capitals Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-01.

External links

• "1996–97 Washington Capitals Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-07.