1996–97 Calgary Flames season

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]

1996–97 Calgary Flames
Division	5th Pacific
Conference	10th Western
1996–97 record	32–41–9
Home record	21–18–2
Road record	11–23–7
Goals for	214 (23rd)
Goals against	239 (12th)
Team information
General manager	Al Coates
Coach	Pierre Page
Captain	Theoren Fleury
Arena	Canadian Airlines Saddledome
Average attendance	17,089
Minor league affiliate(s)	Saint John Flames Roanoke Express
Team leaders
Goals	Theoren Fleury (29)
Assists	Theoren Fleury (38)
Points	Theoren Fleury (67)
Penalty minutes	Todd Simpson (208)
Plus/minus	Yves Racine (+4)
Wins	Trevor Kidd (21)
Goals against average	Trevor Kidd (2.84)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

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

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

Season standings

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

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

Player statistics

Scoring

• 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

• ‡ = 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

Awards

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

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

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

Trades

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

Player Former team

Player New team

Draft picks

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

Saint John Flames

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

• 1996–97 NHL season

Notes

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