1996–97 Vancouver Canucks season

The 1996–97 Vancouver Canucks season was the team's 27th in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Canucks finished fourth in the division, and ninth in the conference, and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1990.

1996–97 Vancouver Canucks
Division	4th Pacific
Conference	9th Western
1996–97 record	35–40–7
Home record	20–17–4
Road record	15–23–3
Goals for	257
Goals against	273
Team information
General manager	Pat Quinn
Coach	Tom Renney
Captain	Trevor Linden
Arena	General Motors Place
Average attendance	17,320
Minor league affiliate(s)	Syracuse Crunch
Team leaders
Goals	Martin Gelinas (35)
Assists	Alexander Mogilny (42)
Points	Alexander Mogilny (73)
Penalty minutes	Gino Odjick (371)
Plus/minus	David Roberts (+11)
Wins	Kirk McLean (21)
Goals against average	Kirk McLean (3.21)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Off-season

Regular season

Final 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^[1]

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

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
89	Alexander Mogilny	LW	76	31	42	73	9	18
23	Martin Gelinas	LW	74	35	33	68	6	42
96	Pavel Bure	RW	63	23	32	55	−14	40
17	Mike Ridley	C	75	20	32	52	0	42
19	Markus Naslund	LW	78	21	20	41	−15	30
16	Trevor Linden	C	49	9	31	40	5	27
26	Mike Sillinger	C	78	17	20	37	−3	25
21	Jyrki Lumme	D	66	11	24	35	8	32
9	Russ Courtnall‡	RW	47	9	19	28	4	24
10	Esa Tikkanen‡	C	62	12	15	27	−9	66
7	David Roberts	LW	58	10	17	27	11	51
44	Dave Babych	D	78	5	22	27	−2	38
14	Lonny Bohonos	RW	36	11	11	22	−3	10
6	Adrian Aucoin	D	70	5	16	21	0	63
3	Bret Hedican	D	67	4	15	19	−3	51
24	Scott Walker	RW	64	3	15	18	2	132
32	Chris Joseph	D	63	3	13	16	−21	62
8[a]	Donald Brashear†	LW	59	8	5	13	−6	207
29	Gino Odjick	RW	70	5	8	13	−5	371
28	Brian Noonan†	RW	16	4	8	12	2	6
27	Leif Rohlin	D	40	2	8	10	4	8
4	Mark Wotton	D	36	3	6	9	8	19
5	Dana Murzyn	D	61	1	7	8	7	118
25	Steve Staios†	D	9	0	6	6	2	20
13	Sergei Nemchinov†	C	6	2	3	5	4	4
20	Alexander Semak	C	18	2	1	3	−2	2
18	Troy Crowder	RW	30	1	2	3	−6	52
22	Larry Courville	LW	19	0	2	2	−4	11
1	Kirk McLean	G	44	0	2	2		2
31	Corey Hirsch	G	39	0	1	1		6
34	Jassen Cullimore‡	D	3	0	0	0	−2	2
30	Mike Fountain	G	6	0	0	0		0
2	Frantisek Kucera‡	D	2	0	0	0	0	0
2	Evgeny Namestnikov	D	2	0	0	0	−1	4

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
1	Kirk McLean	44	21	18	3	1247	138	3.21	.889	0	2581
31	Corey Hirsch	39	12	20	4	1090	116	3.27	.894	2	2127
30	Mike Fountain	6	2	2	0	135	14	3.43	.896	1	245

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honour	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	King Clancy Memorial Trophy	Trevor Linden	[3]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Pavel Bure	[4]
Team	Babe Pratt Trophy	Jyrki Lumme	[5]
	Cyclone Taylor Trophy	Martin Gelinas	[5]
	Cyrus H. McLean Trophy	Alexander Mogilny	[5]
	Fred J. Hume Award	Mike Sillinger	[6]
	Molson Cup	Martin Gelinas	[7]
	Most Exciting Player Award	Martin Gelinas	[6]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Mike Fountain	November 14, 1996	[8]

Transactions

Draft picks

Vancouver's draft picks at the 1996 NHL entry draft held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri.^[9]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	12	Josh Holden	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)
3	75	Zenith Komarniski	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
4	93	Jonas Soling	Sweden	Huddinge IK (Sweden)
5	121	Tyler Prosofsky	Canada	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
6	147	Nolan McDonald	Canada	University of Vermont (Hockey East)
7	175	Clint Cabana	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
8	201	Jeff Scissons	Canada	Vernon Vipers (BCJHL)
9	227	Lubomir Vaic	Slovakia	HC Kosice (Slovakia)

See also

• 1996–97 NHL season

Notes

1. Brashear wore number 28 in his first game.