1996–97 Ottawa Senators season

	1996–97 Ottawa Senators
Division	3rd Northeast Division
Conference	7th Eastern Conference
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	Unknown; Unknown
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)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 Ottawa Senators season was a season of great improvement by the club, as the team finished out of last place in the 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.

Regular season[]

Ottawa would get 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 would get better, finishing with a .500 record in their remaining 57 games, and would earn 45 points in the last 41 games of the regular season. The Sens would go 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 would lead the club offensively, while Ron Tugnutt and Damian Rhodes would provide very solid goaltending for the team throughout the season.

Final standings[]

Northeast Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Buffalo Sabres	82	40	30	12	237	208	92
Pittsburgh Penguins	82	38	36	8	285	280	84
Ottawa Senators	82	31	36	15	226	234	77
Montreal Canadiens	82	31	36	15	249	276	77
Hartford Whalers	82	32	39	11	226	256	75
Boston Bruins	82	26	47	9	234	300	61

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game log[]

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

^[1]

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, ending a very memorable season for the team.

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

Buffalo wins series 4–3

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 17	Ottawa	0 – 1	Buffalo	0 – 1
2	April 19	Ottawa	3 – 1	Buffalo	1 – 1
3	April 21	Buffalo	3 – 2	Ottawa	1 – 2
4	April 23	Buffalo	0 – 1	Ottawa	2 – 2
5	April 25	Ottawa	4 – 1	Buffalo	3 – 2
6	April 27	Buffalo	3 – 0	Ottawa	3 – 3
7	April 29	Ottawa	2 – 3	Buffalo	3 – 4

Player stats[]

Regular season[]

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Yashin, AlexeiAlexei Yashin	C	82	35	40	75	44	-7	10	0	5
Alfredsson, DanielDaniel Alfredsson	RW	76	24	47	71	30	5	11	1	1
Daigle, AlexandreAlexandre Daigle	C	82	26	25	51	33	-33	4	0	5
Duchesne, SteveSteve Duchesne	D	78	19	28	47	38	-9	10	2	3
Cunneyworth, RandyRandy Cunneyworth	LW	76	12	24	36	99	-7	6	0	3
Dackell, AndreasAndreas Dackell	RW	79	12	19	31	8	-6	2	0	3
McEachern, ShawnShawn McEachern	RW	65	11	20	31	18	-5	0	1	2
Redden, WadeWade Redden	D	82	6	24	30	41	1	2	0	1
Zholtok, SergeiSergei Zholtok	C	57	12	16	28	19	2	5	0	0
Chorske, TomTom Chorske	LW	68	18	8	26	16	-1	1	1	1
Van Allen, ShaunShaun Van Allen	C	80	11	14	25	35	-8	1	1	2
Gardiner, BruceBruce Gardiner	RW	67	11	10	21	49	4	0	1	2
York, JasonJason York	D	75	4	17	21	67	-8	1	0	0
Laukkanen, JanneJanne Laukkanen	D	76	3	18	21	76	-14	2	0	0
Lambert, DennyDenny Lambert	LW	80	4	16	20	217	-4	0	0	1
Bonk, RadekRadek Bonk	C	53	5	13	18	14	-4	0	1	0
Pitlick, LanceLance Pitlick	D	66	5	5	10	91	2	0	0	1
Zent, JasonJason Zent	LW	22	3	3	6	9	5	0	0	0
Olsson, ChristerChrister Olsson	D	25	2	3	5	10	-5	1	0	0
Chasse, DenisDenis Chasse	RW	22	1	4	5	19	3	0	0	0
Musil, FrantisekFrantisek Musil	D	57	0	5	5	58	6	0	0	0
Hannan, DaveDave Hannan	C	34	2	2	4	8	-1	0	1	1
Rhodes, DamianDamian Rhodes	G	50	0	2	2	2	0	0	0	0
Bicanek, RadimRadim Bicanek	D	21	0	1	1	8	-4	0	0	0
Crowe, PhilPhil Crowe	LW	26	0	1	1	30	0	0	0	0
Tugnutt, RonRon Tugnutt	G	37	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Vial, DennisDennis Vial	D/LW	11	0	1	1	25	0	0	0	0
Von Stefenelli, PhilPhil Von Stefenelli	D	6	0	1	1	7	-3	0	0	0
Bales, MikeMike Bales	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hill, SeanSean Hill	D	5	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	0
Neckar, StanStan Neckar	D	5	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Tugnutt, RonRon Tugnutt	1991	37	17	15	1	93	2.80	3	882	789	.895
Rhodes, DamianDamian Rhodes	2934	50	14	20	14	133	2.72	1	1213	1080	.890
Bales, MikeMike 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	GWG
Alfredsson, DanielDaniel Alfredsson	RW	7	5	2	7	6	-1	3	2
Yashin, AlexeiAlexei Yashin	C	7	1	5	6	2	-2	1	0
Duchesne, SteveSteve Duchesne	D	7	1	4	5	0	-3	1	1
Redden, WadeWade Redden	D	7	1	3	4	2	-4	0	0
McEachern, ShawnShawn McEachern	RW	7	2	0	2	8	-1	1	0
Cunneyworth, RandyRandy Cunneyworth	LW	7	1	1	2	10	-3	0	0
Zholtok, SergeiSergei Zholtok	C	7	1	1	2	0	0	1	0
Dackell, AndreasAndreas Dackell	RW	7	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Bonk, RadekRadek Bonk	C	7	0	1	1	4	-1	0	0
Chorske, TomTom Chorske	LW	5	0	1	1	2	-1	0	0
Gardiner, BruceBruce Gardiner	RW	7	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Lambert, DennyDenny Lambert	LW	6	0	1	1	9	0	0	0
Laukkanen, JanneJanne Laukkanen	D	7	0	1	1	6	-1	0	0
Van Allen, ShaunShaun Van Allen	C	7	0	1	1	4	-3	0	0
Bicanek, RadimRadim Bicanek	D	7	0	0	0	8	0	0	0
Crowe, PhilPhil Crowe	LW	3	0	0	0	16	0	0	0
Daigle, AlexandreAlexandre Daigle	C	7	0	0	0	2	-5	0	0
Pitlick, LanceLance Pitlick	D	7	0	0	0	4	-1	0	0
Tugnutt, RonRon Tugnutt	G	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
York, JasonJason York	D	7	0	0	0	4	-3	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Tugnutt, RonRon Tugnutt	425	7	3	4	14	1.98	1	169	155	.917
Team:	425	7	3	4	14	1.98	1	169	155	.917

^[2]

Note: Pos = Position; 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;

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: (2008) Ottawa Senators 2008–09 Media Guide. Ottawa Senators, 188.

Roster[]

1996-97 Ottawa Senators

Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

Centres

GM: Pierre Gauthier
Coach: Jacques Martin

Sources:

(2008) 2008–09 Ottawa Senators Media Guide. Ottawa Senators, 184–186.
NHL.com - Player Search. NHL. Retrieved on 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 Helsinki (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	Mannheim Eagles (DEL)
9	216	Ivan Ciernik	Slovakia	MHC Plastika Nitra (Slovakia)
9	239	Sami Salo	Finland	HC TPS Turku (SM-liiga)

Farm teams[]

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

↑ 1996–97 Ottawa Senators Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-17.
↑ 1996-97 Ottawa Senators Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-17.

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1996–97 Ottawa Senators season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).

[1] 1996–97 Ottawa Senators Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-17.

[2] 1996-97 Ottawa Senators Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-17.

[1]

[2]

Ottawa Senators
Founded in 1992 - Based in Ottawa, Ontario
Franchise	Team - General managers - Head coaches - Players - Captains - Draft picks - - Expansion draft - Seasons - Current season
History	History - Records - Award winners - Retired numbers - Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s): Michael Andlauer - President: Cyril Leeder - General manager: Steve Staios - Head coach: Travis Green - Team captain : Brady Tkachuk
Arenas	Ottawa Civic Centre - Canadian Tire Centre
Rivalries	Battle of Ontario
Affiliates	AHL: Belleville Senators - ECHL: Allen Americans
Media	TV: TSN5 (English) RDS (French), RDS2 (French) - Radio: TSN 1200 (English) CJFO 94,5 (French)
Culture and lore	Spartacat - Lyndon Slewidge - Flyers–Senators brawl - 2014 Heritage Classic - NHL 100 Classic - Bell Sensplex - Ottawa Senators (original) - History of the Ottawa Senators (1992-) - Bring Back the Senators
Category - Commons

v t e Ottawa Senators seasons
1990s	1990–91 . 1991–92 . 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 • 2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08 • 2008–09 • 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 • 2011–12 • 2012–13 • 2013–14 • 2014–15 • 2015–16 • 2016–17 • 2017–18 • 2018–19 • 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 • 2021–22 • 2022–23 • 2023–24 • 2024–25

1996–97 NHL season by team
Northeast Division	Boston • Buffalo • Hartford • Montreal • Ottawa • Pittsburgh
Atlantic Division	Florida • New Jersey • NY Islanders • NY Rangers • Philadelphia • Tampa Bay • Washington
Central Division	Chicago • Dallas • Detroit • Phoenix • St. Louis • Toronto
Pacific Division	Anaheim • Calgary • Colorado • Edmonton • L.A. • San Jose • Vancouver
See also	1996 NHL Entry Draft • Stanley Cup Playoffs • Stanley Cup Finals

1996–97 Ottawa Senators season

Contents

Regular season[]

Final standings[]

Game log[]

Playoffs[]

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

Player stats[]

Regular season[]

Playoffs[]

Awards and records[]

Transactions[]

Trades[]

Waivers[]

Free agents[]

Roster[]

Draft picks[]

Farm teams[]

See also[]

References[]