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1996–97 Calgary Flames season

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1996–97 Calgary Flames
Division5th Pacific
Conference10th Western
1996–97 record32–41–9
Home record21–18–2
Road record11–23–7
Goals for214 (23rd)
Goals against239 (12th)
Team information
General managerAl Coates
CoachPierre Page
CaptainTheoren Fleury
ArenaCanadian Airlines Saddledome
Average attendance17,089
Minor league affiliate(s)Saint John Flames
Roanoke Express
Team leaders
GoalsTheoren Fleury (29)
AssistsTheoren Fleury (38)
PointsTheoren Fleury (67)
Penalty minutesTodd Simpson (208)
Plus/minusYves Racine (+4)
WinsTrevor Kidd (21)
Goals against averageTrevor Kidd (2.84)

The 1996–97 Calgary Flames season was the 17th National Hockey League season in Calgary. It was another season of decline, as the Flames began the rebuilding process after remaining near the top of the league standings for nearly a decade. Finishing 5th in the Pacific Division, the Flames missed the playoffs for the first time since 1992, and for only the second time since coming to Calgary.[1]

As a result of missing the playoffs, the Flames fired head coach Pierre Page following the season, replacing him with Brian Sutter. Page ended his Flames career with a coaching record of 66–78–20. His .463 winning percentage was, at the time, the worst for any coach in Flames history.[2]

On November 23, 1996, rugged forward Sasha Lakovic authored one of the more memorable moments in the history of the Battle of Alberta when he attempted to leap over the glass at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton to attack a drunken fan who had reached over the barrier to dump a beer on the head of Flames assistant coach Guy Lapointe. Lakovic, who was held back by his teammates from going into the crowd, was suspended two games, while the Edmonton Oilers were fined $20,000 for having inadequate security.[3]

Theoren Fleury was named to the Western Conference team at the 47th National Hockey League All-Star Game, where he recorded an assist.[4]

Rookie forward Jarome Iginla, acquired the previous season in a trade for Joe Nieuwendyk led all NHL rookies in scoring at 50 points.[5] Despite his success, Iginla failed to win the Calder Memorial Trophy, as defenceman Bryan Berard was voted the league's top rookie. Iginla was named to the All-Rookie team, however.[4]

Regular season

[edit]

The Flames allowed the most shorthanded goals in the league in 1996–97, with 19.[6]

Season standings

[edit]
Pacific Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 1 Colorado Avalanche 82 49 24 9 277 205 107
2 4 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 82 36 33 13 243 231 85
3 7 Edmonton Oilers 82 36 37 9 252 247 81
4 9 Vancouver Canucks 82 35 40 7 257 273 77
5 10 Calgary Flames 82 32 41 9 214 239 73
6 12 Los Angeles Kings 82 28 43 11 214 268 67
7 13 San Jose Sharks 82 27 47 8 211 278 62

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Western Conference[7]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 p – Colorado Avalanche PAC 82 49 24 9 277 205 107
2 Dallas Stars CEN 82 48 26 8 252 198 104
3 Detroit Red Wings CEN 82 38 26 18 253 197 94
4 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim PAC 82 36 33 13 245 233 85
5 Phoenix Coyotes CEN 82 38 37 7 240 243 83
6 St. Louis Blues CEN 82 36 35 11 236 239 83
7 Edmonton Oilers PAC 82 36 37 9 252 247 81
8 Chicago Blackhawks CEN 82 34 35 13 223 210 81
9 Vancouver Canucks PAC 82 35 40 7 257 273 77
10 Calgary Flames PAC 82 32 41 9 214 239 73
11 Toronto Maple Leafs CEN 82 30 44 8 230 273 68
12 Los Angeles Kings PAC 82 28 43 11 214 268 67
13 San Jose Sharks PAC 82 27 47 8 211 278 62

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy


Schedule and results

[edit]
1996–97 regular season[8]
October: 7–5–1 (home: 4–1–0; road: 3–4–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
1 October 5 Calgary 1 – 3 Vancouver Kidd 17,501 0–1–0 0 Recap
2 October 6 Buffalo 0 – 3 Calgary Tabaracci 17,311 1–1–0 2 Recap
3 October 9 St. Louis 3 – 1 Calgary Tabaracci 15,011 1–2–0 2 Recap
4 October 11 Calgary 2 – 1 Detroit Kidd 19,983 2–2–0 4 Recap
5 October 13 Calgary 1 – 0 Philadelphia Kidd N/A 3–2–0 6 Recap
6 October 14 Calgary 4 – 5 NY Rangers Kidd 18,200 3–3–0 6 Recap
7 October 16 Calgary 2 – 4 Montreal Tabaracci 20,597 3–4–0 6 Recap
8 October 20 Edmonton 3 – 6 Calgary Kidd 16,295 4–4–0 8 Recap
9 October 22 Colorado 1 – 5 Calgary Kidd 15,644 5–4–0 10 Recap
10 October 24 Pittsburgh 5 – 7 Calgary Kidd 15,856 6–4–0 12 Recap
11 October 26 Calgary 0 – 0 Los Angeles OT Kidd 12,787 6–4–1 13 Recap
12 October 27 Calgary 4 – 1 Anaheim Tabaracci 16,592 7–4–1 15 Recap
13 October 30 Calgary 1 – 3 San Jose Kidd 17,442 7–5–1 15 Recap
November: 3–9–1 (home: 2–5–0; road: 1–4–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
14 November 1 Phoenix 3 – 2 Calgary OT Tabaracci 16,246 7–6–1 15 Recap
15 November 2 Calgary 3 – 4 Vancouver Kidd 17,546 7–7–1 15 Recap
16 November 9 St. Louis 3 – 2 Calgary Tabaracci 16,786 7–8–1 15 Recap
17 November 13 Calgary 3 – 3 Dallas OT Roloson 16,149 7–8–2 16 Recap
18 November 14 Calgary 2 – 1 Chicago OT Kidd 17,359 8–8–2 18 Recap
19 November 16 Calgary 0 – 2 St. Louis Kidd 16,834 8–9–2 18 Recap
20 November 18 NY Rangers 3 – 5 Calgary Kidd 18,173 9–9–2 20 Recap
21 November 20 Dallas 3 – 1 Calgary Kidd 15,173 9–10–2 20 Recap
22 November 22 Chicago 5 – 2 Calgary Kidd 16,613 9–11–2 20 Recap
23 November 23 Calgary 2 – 3 Edmonton Roloson 16,829 9–12–2 20 Recap
24 November 26 Edmonton 10 – 1 Calgary Kidd 17,146 9–13–2 20 Recap
25 November 28 Los Angeles 0 – 2 Calgary Roloson 15,367 10–13–2 22 Recap
26 November 30 Calgary 1 – 3 Phoenix Roloson 15,988 10–14–2 22 Recap
December: 3–7–3 (home: 1–3–2; road: 2–4–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
27 December 3 Calgary 1 – 3 NY Islanders Kidd 8,716 10–15–2 22 Recap
28 December 5 Calgary 1 – 2 New Jersey Roloson 13,539 10–16–2 22 Recap
29 December 7 Calgary 1 – 1 Boston OT Kidd 15,055 10–16–3 23 Recap
30 December 10 Ottawa 5 – 5 Calgary OT Roloson 16,103 10–16–4 24 Recap
31 December 12 Calgary 5 – 1 Los Angeles Roloson 9,620 11–16–4 26 Recap
32 December 14 Colorado 1 – 4 Calgary Roloson N/A 12–16–4 28 Recap
33 December 16 New Jersey 5 – 0 Calgary Roloson 15,186 12–17–4 28 Recap
34 December 18 Detroit 3 – 3 Calgary OT Kidd 16,237 12–17–5 29 Recap
35 December 20 Calgary 0 – 7 Anaheim Kidd 17,084 12–18–5 29 Recap
36 December 22 Calgary 7 – 2 Phoenix Roloson 15,537 13–18–5 31 Recap
37 December 23 Calgary 3 – 4 Colorado Roloson 16,061 13–19–5 31 Recap
38 December 29 Philadelphia 4 – 2 Calgary Kidd 18,882 13–20–5 31 Recap
39 December 31 San Jose 5 – 1 Calgary Roloson 18,882 13–21–5 31 Recap
January: 5–5–1 (home: 4–2–0; road: 1–3–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
40 January 2 Calgary 2 – 3 Colorado Kidd 16,061 13–22–5 31 Recap
41 January 4 Calgary 4 – 3 San Jose Kidd 17,442 14–22–5 33 Recap
42 January 7 Toronto 3 – 4 Calgary OT Kidd 17,345 15–22–5 35 Recap
43 January 9 Hartford 2 – 3 Calgary Roloson 17,121 16–22–5 37 Recap
44 January 11 Florida 4 – 1 Calgary Roloson 17,273 16–23–5 37 Recap
45 January 15 Anaheim 1 – 2 Calgary Kidd 16,207 17–23–5 39 Recap
46 January 21 Calgary 2 – 4 Pittsburgh Kidd 16,764 17–24–5 39 Recap
47 January 22 Calgary 3 – 5 Toronto Roloson 15,685 17–25–5 39 Recap
48 January 24 Calgary 2 – 2 Ottawa OT Kidd 13,306 17–25–6 40 Recap
49 January 28 NY Islanders 3 – 4 Calgary Kidd 16,072 18–25–6 42 Recap
50 January 30 San Jose 6 – 3 Calgary Kidd 16,117 18–26–6 42 Recap
February: 8–5–1 (home: 7–2–0; road: 1–3–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
51 February 1 Vancouver 0 – 3 Calgary Kidd 18,661 19–26–6 44 Recap
52 February 3 Los Angeles 3 – 2 Calgary Kidd 16,328 19–27–6 44 Recap
53 February 5 Calgary 2 – 5 Edmonton Kidd 16,770 19–28–6 44 Recap
54 February 7 Washington 2 – 5 Calgary Kidd 16,686 20–28–6 46 Recap
55 February 9 Anaheim 1 – 6 Calgary Kidd 16,219 21–28–6 48 Recap
56 February 11 Boston 1 – 5 Calgary Kidd 18,332 22–28–6 50 Recap
57 February 13 Edmonton 2 – 3 Calgary OT Kidd 18,882 23–28–6 52 Recap
58 February 15 Toronto 0 – 3 Calgary Kidd 18,882 24–28–6 54 Recap
59 February 18 Calgary 5 – 5 Buffalo OT Roloson 15,867 24–28–7 55 Recap
60 February 19 Calgary 0 – 4 Detroit Kidd 19,983 24–29–7 55 Recap
61 February 21 Calgary 2 – 4 Dallas Kidd 16,924 24–30–7 55 Recap
62 February 23 Calgary 5 – 3 St. Louis Roloson 19,154 25–30–7 57 Recap
63 February 26 Phoenix 5 – 2 Calgary Kidd 16,651 25–31–7 57 Recap
64 February 28 Montreal 2 – 3 Calgary Roloson 18,882 26–31–7 59 Recap
March: 6–5–1 (home: 3–2–0; road: 3–3–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
65 March 1 Dallas 1 – 4 Calgary Roloson 17,787 27–31–7 61 Recap
66 March 4 Calgary 1 – 2 Washington Roloson 10,003 27–32–7 61 Recap
67 March 5 Calgary 0 – 2 Hartford Kidd 12,140 27–33–7 61 Recap
68 March 7 Calgary 3 – 1 Florida Roloson 14,703 28–33–7 63 Recap
69 March 9 Calgary 1 – 2 Tampa Bay OT Roloson 15,636 28–34–7 63 Recap
70 March 12 Calgary 3 – 2 Colorado Kidd 16,061 29–34–7 65 Recap
71 March 15 Calgary 5 – 2 Los Angeles Kidd 15,135 30–34–7 67 Recap
72 March 16 Calgary 2 – 2 Anaheim OT Kidd 17,174 30–34–8 68 Recap
73 March 19 San Jose 2 – 4 Calgary Kidd 16,610 31–34–8 70 Recap
74 March 21 Tampa Bay 4 – 3 Calgary OT Kidd 17,278 31–35–8 70 Recap
75 March 25 Anaheim 2 – 3 Calgary Kidd 17,118 32–35–8 72 Recap
76 March 29 Vancouver 5 – 2 Calgary Kidd 18,882 32–36–8 72 Recap
April: 0–5–1 (home: 0–3–0; road: 0–2–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
77 April 2 Colorado 5 – 1 Calgary Roloson 18,882 32–37–8 72 Recap
78 April 4 Calgary 3 – 3 Vancouver OT Kidd 18,422 32–37–9 73 Recap
79 April 6 Chicago 2 – 1 Calgary Kidd 18,397 32–38–9 73 Recap
80 April 7 Detroit 3 – 2 Calgary OT Roloson 17,841 32–39–9 73 Recap
81 April 11 Calgary 3 – 7 Chicago Roloson 22,475 32–40–9 73 Recap
82 April 12 Calgary 1 – 4 Toronto Roloson 15,726 32–41–9 73 Recap
Legend:

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

Player statistics

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Scoring

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  • Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; 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 Flames only.
  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
No. Player Pos Regular season
GP G A Pts +/- PIM
14 Theoren Fleury RW 81 29 38 67 −12 104
51 Dave Gagner C 82 27 33 60 2 48
13 German Titov LW 79 22 30 52 −12 36
12[a] Jarome Iginla RW 82 21 29 50 −4 37
26 Robert Reichel‡ C 70 16 27 43 −2 22
44 Jonas Hoglund LW 68 19 16 35 −4 12
34 Corey Millen C 61 11 15 26 −19 32
16 Cory Stillman LW 58 6 20 26 −6 14
20 Todd Hlushko LW 58 7 11 18 −2 49
22 Ronnie Stern RW 79 7 10 17 −4 157
23 Aaron Gavey† C 41 7 9 16 −11 34
21 Steve Chiasson‡ D 47 5 11 16 −11 32
36[b] Yves Racine† D 46 1 15 16 4 24
5 Tommy Albelin D 72 4 11 15 −8 14
27 Todd Simpson D 82 1 13 14 −14 208
42 Ed Ward LW 40 5 8 13 −3 49
32 Mike Sullivan RW 67 5 6 11 −11 10
19 Chris O'Sullivan D 27 2 8 10 0 2
6 Joel Bouchard D 76 4 5 9 −23 49
15 Sandy McCarthy RW 33 3 5 8 −8 113
18 Marty McInnis† C 10 3 4 7 −1 2
29 Cale Hulse D 63 1 6 7 −2 91
3 James Patrick D 19 3 1 4 2 6
4 Glen Featherstone† D 13 1 3 4 −1 19
7 Jamie Huscroft‡ D 39 0 4 4 2 117
17 Hnat Domenichelli† LW 10 1 2 3 1 2
41 Dale McTavish C 9 1 2 3 −4 2
12 Paul Kruse‡ LW 14 2 0 2 −4 30
37 Trevor Kidd G 55 0 2 2 16
8 Sami Helenius D 3 0 1 1 1 0
38 Sasha Lakovic† LW 19 0 1 1 −1 54
2 Jamie Allison D 20 0 0 0 −4 35
45 Marko Jantunen C 3 0 0 0 −1 0
28 Marty Murray C 2 0 0 0 0 4
30 Dwayne Roloson G 31 0 0 0 2
35 Paxton Schulte LW 1 0 0 0 1 2
31 Rick Tabaracci‡ G 7 0 0 0 0
33 Zarley Zalapski D 2 0 0 0 −1 0

Goaltending

[edit]
  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
No. Player Regular season
GP W L T SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI
37 Trevor Kidd 55 21 23 6 1416 141 2.84 .900 4 2979
30 Dwayne Roloson 31 9 14 3 760 78 2.89 .897 1 1618
31 Rick Tabaracci‡ 7 2 4 0 155 14 2.33 .910 1 361

Awards and records

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Awards

[edit]
Type Award/honour Recipient Ref
League
(annual) 		NHL All-Rookie Team Jarome Iginla (Forward) [9]
League
(in-season) 		NHL All-Star Game selection Theoren Fleury [10]
Team Molson Cup Trevor Kidd [11]
Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award Mike Sullivan [12]

Milestones

[edit]
Milestone Player Date Ref
First game Jonas Hoglund October 5, 1996 [13]
Chris O'Sullivan
Marko Jantunen October 9, 1996
Sasha Lakovic October 11, 1996
Dwayne Roloson November 13, 1996
Sami Helenius December 14, 1996
Dale McTavish December 31, 1996

Transactions

[edit]

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1996–97 season.

Trades

[edit]
November 19, 1996 To Calgary Flames
Aaron Gavey 		To Tampa Bay Lightning
Rick Tabaracci
March 5, 1997 To Calgary Flames
Hnat Domenichelli
Glen Featherstone
2nd round pick in 1997
3rd round pick in 1998 		To Hartford Whalers
Steve Chiasson
Conditional pick in 1997
March 18, 1997 To Calgary Flames
Marty McInnis
Tyrone Garner
6th round pick in 1997 		To New York Islanders
Robert Reichel

Free agents

[edit]
Player Former team
Player New team

Draft picks

[edit]
Main article: List of Calgary Flames draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 1996 NHL entry draft, held in St. Louis, Missouri.[14]

Rnd Pick Player Nationality Position Team (league) NHL statistics
GP G A Pts PIM
1 13 Derek Morris  Canada D Regina Pats (WHL) 1107 92 332 424 1004
2 39 Travis Brigley  Canada LW Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL) 55 3 6 9 16
2 40 Steve Begin  Canada C Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMHJL) 524 56 52 108 561
3 73 Dmitri Vlasenkov  Russia LW Torpedo Yaroslavl (RSL)
4 89 Toni Lydman  Finland D Tappara (SM-liiga) 847 36 206 242 551
4 94 Christian Lefebvre  Canada D Granby Prédateurs (QMJHL)
5 122 Josef Straka  Czech Republic C HC Litvínov (Czech)
8 202 Ryan Wade  Canada F Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
9 228 Ronald Petrovicky  Slovakia RW Prince George Cougars (WHL) 342 41 51 92 429

Farm teams

[edit]

Saint John Flames

[edit]

The Baby Flames finished the 1996–97 American Hockey League season in second place in the Canadian Division with a 28–36–13–3 record. They were defeated in three games to two by the Hamilton Bulldogs in the first round of the playoffs, however.[15] Jarrod Skalde led the Flames with 32 goals and 68 points. Darrin Madeley was the starting goaltender, posting an 11–18–11 record with a 3.21 GAA in 46 games.[16]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Iginla wore number 24 through December 31.
  2. ^ Racine wore number 4 in his first game.

References

[edit]
  • Player stats: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, p. 115.
  • "Calgary Flames 1996-97 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  • "1996-97 Calgary Flames Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  1. ^ Year-by-year results, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg. 106
  2. ^ Head Coaches, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg. 103
  3. ^ Francis, Eric, The Uncivil War, Calgary Sun, September 19, 2003, accessed January 26, 2007
  4. ^ a b All-Star Selections, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg. 22
  5. ^ 1996–97 season, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg. 115
  6. ^ "1996-97 NHL Summary".
  7. ^ "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  8. ^ "1996-97 Calgary Flames Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  9. ^ "Postseason All-Star Teams". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  10. ^ "1997 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  11. ^ Hanlon, Peter; Kelso, Sean (eds.), 2010–11 Calgary Flames Media Guide, Calgary Flames Hockey Club, p. 143
  12. ^ "JAROME IGINLA SELECTED AS RECIPIENT OF RALPH SCURFIELD HUMANITARIAN AWARD". Calgary Flames. April 9, 2002. Archived from the original on October 21, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  13. ^ "1996-97 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  14. ^ Calgary Flames draft history, hockeydb.com, accessed January 12, 2007
  15. ^ 1997–98 AHL playoffs @ hockeydb.com, accessed January 26, 2007
  16. ^ Saint John Flames player stats @ hockeydb.com, accessed January 20, 2007
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