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1996–97 New York Islanders season

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NHL hockey team season

1996–97 New York Islanders
Division7th Atlantic
Conference12th Eastern
1996–97 record29–41–12
Home record19–18–4
Road record10–23–8
Goals for240
Goals against250
Team information
General managerMike Milbury
CoachMike Milbury (Oct.–Jan.)
Rick Bowness (Jan.–Apr.)
CaptainVacant
ArenaNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Average attendance12,494
Minor league affiliate(s)Utah Grizzlies
Team leaders
GoalsZigmund Palffy (48)
AssistsZigmund Palffy (42)
PointsZigmund Palffy (90)
Penalty minutesRich Pilon (179)
Plus/minusZigmund Palffy (+21)
WinsTommy Salo (20)
Goals against averageTommy Salo (2.82)
← 1995–961997–98 →

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

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

1996–97 regular season
October: 1–5–4 (home: 1–3–1; road: 0–2–3)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
1 L October 4, 1996 0–1 @ Los Angeles Kings (1996–97) 0–1–0 Recap
2 T October 5, 1996 2–2 OT @ San Jose Sharks (1996–97) 0–1–1 Recap
3 T October 9, 1996 3–3 OT @ Ottawa Senators (1996–97) 0–1–2 Recap
4 W October 12, 1996 5–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 1–1–2 Recap
5 L October 17, 1996 1–3 Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 1–2–2 Recap
6 L October 19, 1996 2–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1996–97) 1–3–2 Recap
7 L October 22, 1996 3–6 Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 1–4–2 Recap
8 T October 26, 1996 2–2 OT San Jose Sharks (1996–97) 1–4–3 Recap
9 T October 30, 1996 2–2 OT @ Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 1–4–4 Recap
10 L October 31, 1996 3–5 Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97) 1–5–4 Recap
November: 5–5–4 (home: 3–3–1; road: 2–2–3)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
11 W November 2, 1996 6–1 Washington Capitals (1996–97) 2–5–4 Recap
12 W November 4, 1996 4–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 3–5–4 Recap
13 T November 6, 1996 1–1 OT New York Rangers (1996–97) 3–5–5 Recap
14 L November 9, 1996 0–4 @ New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 3–6–5 Recap
15 L November 11, 1996 2–6 Colorado Avalanche (1996–97) 3–7–5 Recap
16 W November 13, 1996 5–4 OT Vancouver Canucks (1996–97) 4–7–5 Recap
17 T November 15, 1996 3–3 OT @ Florida Panthers (1996–97) 4–7–6 Recap
18 L November 16, 1996 1–4 Ottawa Senators (1996–97) 4–8–6 Recap
19 T November 20, 1996 2–2 OT @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97) 4–8–7 Recap
20 L November 22, 1996 2–3 @ Colorado Avalanche (1996–97) 4–9–7 Recap
21 T November 23, 1996 3–3 OT @ Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97) 4–9–8 Recap
22 W November 27, 1996 4–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 5–9–8 Recap
23 W November 29, 1996 2–0 @ Washington Capitals (1996–97) 6–9–8 Recap
24 L November 30, 1996 2–3 Buffalo Sabres (1996–97) 6–10–8 Recap
December: 6–7–0 (home: 5–3–0; road: 1–4–0)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
25 W December 3, 1996 3–1 Calgary Flames (1996–97) 7–10–8 Recap
26 L December 5, 1996 2–4 @ Florida Panthers (1996–97) 7–11–8 Recap
27 W December 7, 1996 2–0 Washington Capitals (1996–97) 8–11–8 Recap
28 W December 10, 1996 8–2 Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97) 9–11–8 Recap
29 W December 11, 1996 5–3 @ New York Rangers (1996–97) 10–11–8 Recap
30 L December 14, 1996 1–4 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 10–12–8 Recap
31 W December 17, 1996 4–3 Los Angeles Kings (1996–97) 11–12–8 Recap
32 L December 19, 1996 0–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 11–13–8 Recap
33 L December 21, 1996 2–3 Dallas Stars (1996–97) 11–14–8 Recap
34 L December 23, 1996 3–4 OT Florida Panthers (1996–97) 11–15–8 Recap
35 W December 26, 1996 4–1 New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 12–15–8 Recap
36 L December 28, 1996 1–7 Detroit Red Wings (1996–97) 12–16–8 Recap
37 L December 30, 1996 0–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97) 12–17–8 Recap
January: 4–9–1 (home: 2–3–0; road: 2–6–1)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
38 L January 2, 1997 3–4 @ New York Rangers (1996–97) 12–18–8 Recap
39 L January 4, 1997 1–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 12–19–8 Recap
40 L January 7, 1997 3–5 Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 12–20–8 Recap
41 L January 10, 1997 2–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 12–21–8 Recap
42 T January 11, 1997 4–4 OT @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 12–21–9 Recap
43 W January 13, 1997 4–2 @ New York Rangers (1996–97) 13–21–9 Recap
44 L January 15, 1997 1–2 Buffalo Sabres (1996–97) 13–22–9 Recap
45 L January 20, 1997 4–6 St. Louis Blues (1996–97) 13–23–9 Recap
46 W January 22, 1997 8–1 Edmonton Oilers (1996–97) 14–23–9 Recap
47 W January 24, 1997 5–2 @ Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 15–23–9 Recap
48 W January 25, 1997 3–2 Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97) 16–23–9 Recap
49 L January 28, 1997 3–4 @ Calgary Flames (1996–97) 16–24–9 Recap
50 L January 30, 1997 1–2 OT @ Vancouver Canucks (1996–97) 16–25–9 Recap
51 L January 31, 1997 0–1 @ Edmonton Oilers (1996–97) 16–26–9 Recap
February: 4–6–1 (home: 3–3–1; road: 1–3–0)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
52 W February 4, 1997 4–3 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97) 17–26–9 Recap
53 L February 5, 1997 1–4 @ New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 17–27–9 Recap
54 L February 8, 1997 2–5 New York Rangers (1996–97) 17–28–9 Recap
55 T February 11, 1997 5–5 OT Ottawa Senators (1996–97) 17–28–10 Recap
56 W February 12, 1997 5–1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 18–28–10 Recap
57 W February 15, 1997 1–0 OT Florida Panthers (1996–97) 19–28–10 Recap
58 L February 17, 1997 1–4 Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 19–29–10 Recap
59 L February 21, 1997 2–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1996–97) 19–30–10 Recap
60 W February 23, 1997 4–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 20–30–10 Recap
61 L February 26, 1997 3–5 New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 20–31–10 Recap
62 L February 28, 1997 1–4 @ Ottawa Senators (1996–97) 20–32–10 Recap
March: 8–4–1 (home: 4–1–1; road: 4–3–0)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
63 W March 2, 1997 2–0 @ Washington Capitals (1996–97) 21–32–10 Recap
64 L March 4, 1997 3–6 Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 21–33–10 Recap
65 W March 6, 1997 5–2 Boston Bruins (1996–97) 22–33–10 Recap
66 W March 8, 1997 5–1 New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 23–33–10 Recap
67 L March 11, 1997 2–3 @ Florida Panthers (1996–97) 23–34–10 Recap
68 W March 13, 1997 3–0 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 24–34–10 Recap
69 L March 15, 1997 2–5 @ Boston Bruins (1996–97) 24–35–10 Recap
70 L March 16, 1997 4–5 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97) 24–36–10 Recap
71 W March 19, 1997 7–4 Florida Panthers (1996–97) 25–36–10 Recap
72 T March 22, 1997 3–3 OT Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 25–36–11 Recap
73 W March 26, 1997 3–2 OT @ Buffalo Sabres (1996–97) 26–36–11 Recap
74 W March 27, 1997 6–3 @ Boston Bruins (1996–97) 27–36–11 Recap
75 W March 29, 1997 8–2 Boston Bruins (1996–97) 28–36–11 Recap
April: 1–5–1 (home: 1–2–0; road: 0–3–1)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
76 L April 2, 1997 4–5 @ Dallas Stars (1996–97) 28–37–11 Recap
77 T April 3, 1997 5–5 OT @ St. Louis Blues (1996–97) 28–37–12 Recap
78 L April 5, 1997 2–3 Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 28–38–12 Recap
79 L April 7, 1997 1–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 28–39–12 Recap
80 L April 9, 1997 1–3 Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 28–40–12 Recap
81 W April 11, 1997 6–4 Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 29–40–12 Recap
82 L April 12, 1997 2–6 @ Washington Capitals (1996–97) 29–41–12 Recap
Legend:

  Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

  • Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
  • † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Islanders only.
  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Islanders only.
No. Player Pos Regular season
GP G A Pts +/- PIM
16 Zigmund Palffy RW 80 48 42 90 21 43
39 Travis Green C 79 23 41 64 −5 38
15 Bryan Smolinski† C 64 28 28 56 9 25
27 Derek King‡ LW 70 23 30 53 −6 20
34 Bryan Berard D 82 8 40 48 1 86
32 Niklas Andersson LW 74 12 31 43 4 57
18 Marty McInnis‡ RW 70 20 22 42 −7 20
4 Bryan McCabe D 82 8 20 28 −2 165
44 Todd Bertuzzi RW 64 10 13 23 −3 68
3 Kenny Jonsson D 81 3 18 21 10 24
21 Robert Reichel† C 12 5 14 19 7 4
13 Claude Lapointe C 73 13 5 18 −12 49
7 Scott Lachance D 81 3 11 14 −7 47
14 Derek Armstrong C 50 6 7 13 −8 33
42 Dan Plante RW 67 4 9 13 −6 75
11 Randy Wood LW 65 6 5 11 −7 61
20 Brent Hughes LW 51 7 3 10 −4 57
6 Doug Houda† D 70 2 8 10 1 99
24 Paul Kruse† LW 48 4 2 6 −5 111
2 Rich Pilon D 52 1 4 5 4 179
62 Steve Webb† RW 41 1 4 5 −10 144
11 Darius Kasparaitis‡ D 18 0 5 5 −7 16
38 Andreas Johansson‡ C 15 2 2 4 −6 0
28 Dennis Vaske D 17 0 4 4 3 12
10 Dave McLlwain C 4 1 1 2 −2 0
33 Ken Belanger LW 18 0 2 2 −1 102
46 Jason Holland D 4 1 0 1 1 0
12 Mick Vukota RW 17 1 0 1 −2 71
35 Tommy Salo G 58 0 1 1 4
24 Dave Archibald† C 7 0 0 0 −4 4
36 Jarrett Deuling LW 1 0 0 0 0 0
8 Mike Donnelly LW 3 0 0 0 0 2
28 Jim Dowd C 3 0 0 0 −1 0
1 Eric Fichaud G 34 0 0 0 2
10 Corey Foster D 7 0 0 0 −2 2
30 Tommy Soderstrom G 1 0 0 0 0
25 Chris Taylor C 1 0 0 0 0 0
21 Nick Vachon† C 1 0 0 0 −1 0
42 Andrei Vasilyev LW 3 0 0 0 −3 2

Goaltending

No. Player Regular season
GP W L T SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI
35 Tommy Salo 58 20 27 8 1576 151 2.82 .904 5 3208
1 Eric Fichaud 34 9 14 4 897 91 3.10 .899 0 1759
30 Tommy Soderstrom 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0 1

Awards and records

Awards

Type Award/honor Recipient Ref
League
(annual) 		Calder Memorial Trophy Bryan Berard
NHL All-Rookie Team Bryan Berard (Defense)
League
(in-season) 		NHL All-Star Game selection Scott Lachance
Zigmund Palffy
Team Bob Nystrom Award Claude Lapointe

Milestones

Milestone Player Date Ref
First game Bryan Berard October 4, 1996
Nicholas Vachon December 17, 1996
Jason Holland December 30, 1996
Steve Webb January 7, 1997

Transactions

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2010)

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)

Notes

  1. Lapointe wore number 48 on October 31.
  2. Plante wore number 21 through December 5.
  3. Wood wore number 10 through November 16.
  4. Pilon wore number 47 in his first two games.
  5. Vaske wore number 37 in his first five games.
  6. Foster wore number 6 in his first five games.
  7. Palffy did not play and was replaced by Lachance.

References

  1. "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  2. "1996-97 New York Islanders Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  3. "Calder Memorial Trophy". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  4. "Postseason All-Star Teams". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  5. "1997 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  6. "SPORTS BRIEFS". Deseret News. January 16, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2023. New York Islanders defenseman Scott Lachance also was added to the Eastern Conference team as a replacement for injured teammate Zigmund Palffy.
  7. "New York Islanders – Awards and Honors". New York Islanders. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  8. "1996-97 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  9. "1996 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
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