1996–97 New York Rangers season

1996–97 New York Rangers
1996–97 New York Rangers
Division	4th Atlantic
Conference	5th Eastern
1996–97 record	38–34–10
Home record	21–14–6
Road record	17–20–4
Goals for	258
Goals against	231
Team information
General manager	Neil Smith
Coach	Colin Campbell
Captain	Mark Messier
Alternate captains	Brian Leetch; Adam Graves
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Average attendance	18,200 (100%)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Binghamton Rangers; Charlotte Checkers
Team leaders
Goals	Mark Messier (36)
Assists	Wayne Gretzky (72)
Points	Wayne Gretzky (97)
Penalty minutes	Darren Langdon (195)
Plus/minus	Brian Leetch (+31)
Wins	Mike Richter (33)
Goals against average	Glenn Healy (2.61)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 71st season. The highlight of the season was that it was Wayne Gretzky's first season in New York.

The Rangers qualified for the playoffs as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, and advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were defeated by the Philadelphia Flyers. This marked the last playoff appearance for the Rangers until the 2005–06 season.

Regular season

The Rangers had the fewest power-play opportunities during the regular season (287), but the best power-play percentage (21.95%).^[1]

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^[2]
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

Playoffs

Schedule and results

Regular season

1996–97 regular season^[3]

October: 5–6–3 (home: 4–3–1; road: 1–3–2)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
1	October 5, 1996	@ Boston Bruins	4–4 OT	0–0–1	Recap
2	October 6, 1996	Florida Panthers	5–2	0–1–1	Recap
3	October 8, 1996	@ Florida Panthers	1–1 OT	0–1–2	Recap
4	October 10, 1996	Dallas Stars	2–1	0–2–2	Recap
5	October 12, 1996	@ Montreal Canadiens	5–2	0–3–2	Recap
6	October 14, 1996	Calgary Flames	5–4	1–3–2	Recap
7	October 16, 1996	Pittsburgh Penguins	8–1	2–3–2	Recap
8	October 18, 1996	St. Louis Blues	2–1	3–3–2	Recap
9	October 20, 1996	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	5–2	3–4–2	Recap
10	October 23, 1996	Washington Capitals	3–2	3–5–2	Recap
11	October 25, 1996	@ Florida Panthers	6–4	3–6–2	Recap
12	October 27, 1996	Buffalo Sabres	6–4	4–6–2	Recap
13	October 29, 1996	Florida Panthers	1–1 OT	4–6–3	Recap
14	October 30, 1996	@ New Jersey Devils	6–1	5–6–3	Recap

November: 4–7–1 (home: 0–3–0; road: 4–4–1)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
15	November 2, 1996	@ Boston Bruins	5–2	6–6–3	Recap
16	November 4, 1996	Tampa Bay Lightning	5–3	6–7–3	Recap
17	November 6, 1996	@ New York Islanders	1–1 OT	6–7–4	Recap
18	November 9, 1996	@ Washington Capitals	3–2	6–8–4	Recap
19	November 11, 1996	Vancouver Canucks	3–2	6–9–4	Recap
20	November 13, 1996	Philadelphia Flyers	2–1	6–10–4	Recap
21	November 16, 1996	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	8–3	7–10–4	Recap
22	November 18, 1996	@ Calgary Flames	5–3	7–11–4	Recap
23	November 21, 1996	@ Edmonton Oilers	3–2	7–12–4	Recap
24	November 23, 1996	@ Vancouver Canucks	5–3	7–13–4	Recap
25	November 26, 1996	@ Phoenix Coyotes	3–1	8–13–4	Recap
26	November 27, 1996	@ Colorado Avalanche	5–2	9–13–4	Recap

December: 11–3–1 (home: 7–1–1; road: 4–2–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
27	December 1, 1996	Montreal Canadiens	6–2	10–13–4	Recap
28	December 4, 1996	Philadelphia Flyers	1–1 OT	10–13–5	Recap
29	December 6, 1996	Toronto Maple Leafs	6–5	11–13–5	Recap
30	December 7, 1996	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	4–0	12–13–5	Recap
31	December 9, 1996	Phoenix Coyotes	5–2	13–13–5	Recap
32	December 11, 1996	New York Islanders	5–3	13–14–5	Recap
33	December 13, 1996	@ Buffalo Sabres	3–0	14–14–5	Recap
34	December 16, 1996	Hartford Whalers	5–2	15–14–5	Recap
35	December 18, 1996	Los Angeles Kings	4–0	16–14–5	Recap
36	December 21, 1996	@ Montreal Canadiens	3–2 OT	17–14–5	Recap
37	December 22, 1996	Florida Panthers	7–3	18–14–5	Recap
38	December 26, 1996	@ Ottawa Senators	5–2	18–15–5	Recap
39	December 27, 1996	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	3–2	19–15–5	Recap
40	December 30, 1996	@ Dallas Stars	3–2	20–15–5	Recap
41	December 31, 1996	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	4–2	20–16–5	Recap

January: 5–4–2 (home: 3–3–2; road: 2–1–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
42	January 2, 1997	New York Islanders	4–3	21–16–5	Recap
43	January 4, 1997	Ottawa Senators	6–4	22–16–5	Recap
44	January 6, 1997	Colorado Avalanche	2–2 OT	22–16–6	Recap
45	January 8, 1997	Tampa Bay Lightning	4–3	22–17–6	Recap
46	January 9, 1997	@ Washington Capitals	2–0	22–18–6	Recap
47	January 12, 1997	New Jersey Devils	3–0	23–18–6	Recap
48	January 13, 1997	New York Islanders	4–2	23–19–6	Recap
49	January 21, 1997	Edmonton Oilers	4–4 OT	23–19–7	Recap
50	January 22, 1997	@ Washington Capitals	5–3	24–19–7	Recap
51	January 25, 1997	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	7–4	25–19–7	Recap
52	January 27, 1997	Chicago Blackhawks	2–1	25–20–7	Recap

February: 3–6–2 (home: 1–1–1; road: 2–5–1)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
53	February 1, 1997	@ Philadelphia Flyers	4–2	26–20–7	Recap
54	February 2, 1997	Boston Bruins	3–2	26–21–7	Recap
55	February 5, 1997	Hartford Whalers	5–2	27–21–7	Recap
56	February 8, 1997	@ New York Islanders	5–2	28–21–7	Recap
57	February 9, 1997	@ Florida Panthers	4–3	28–22–7	Recap
58	February 13, 1997	@ St. Louis Blues	4–1	28–23–7	Recap
59	February 15, 1997	@ Chicago Blackhawks	2–0	28–24–7	Recap
60	February 17, 1997	New Jersey Devils	2–2 OT	28–24–8	Recap
61	February 19, 1997	@ New Jersey Devils	1–1 OT	28–24–9	Recap
62	February 21, 1997	@ Hartford Whalers	7–2	28–25–9	Recap
63	February 23, 1997	@ Philadelphia Flyers	2–1	28–26–9	Recap

March: 7–6–0 (home: 4–2–0; road: 3–4–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
64	March 1, 1997	@ Detroit Red Wings	3–0	28–27–9	Recap
65	March 3, 1997	San Jose Sharks	5–4 OT	29–27–9	Recap
66	March 6, 1997	@ Los Angeles Kings	6–2	30–27–9	Recap
67	March 7, 1997	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	5–2	30–28–9	Recap
68	March 9, 1997	@ San Jose Sharks	2–1	31–28–9	Recap
69	March 12, 1997	Washington Capitals	3–2	32–28–9	Recap
70	March 14, 1997	@ Ottawa Senators	4–3 OT	33–28–9	Recap
71	March 17, 1997	Ottawa Senators	4–3	33–29–9	Recap
72	March 19, 1997	Montreal Canadiens	5–4	33–30–9	Recap
73	March 21, 1997	Detroit Red Wings	3–1	34–30–9	Recap
74	March 24, 1997	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–0	35–30–9	Recap
75	March 27, 1997	@ New Jersey Devils	4–0	35–31–9	Recap
76	March 29, 1997	@ Hartford Whalers	2–1	35–32–9	Recap

April: 3–2–1 (home: 2–1–1; road: 1–1–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Recap
77	April 1, 1997	Buffalo Sabres	1–1 OT	35–32–10	Recap
78	April 3, 1997	Boston Bruins	5–4	36–32–10	Recap
79	April 4, 1997	@ Buffalo Sabres	5–1	36–33–10	Recap
80	April 7, 1997	Philadelphia Flyers	3–2	37–33–10	Recap
81	April 10, 1997	@ Philadelphia Flyers	6–3	38–33–10	Recap
82	April 11, 1997	Tampa Bay Lightning	4–2	38–34–10	Recap

Legend:

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

Playoffs

1997 Stanley Cup playoffs^[3]

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (4) Florida Panthers – Rangers win 4–1

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Series	Recap
1	April 17, 1997	@ Florida Panthers	3–0	Panthers lead 1–0	Recap
2	April 20, 1997	@ Florida Panthers	3–0	Series tied 1–1	Recap
3	April 22, 1997	Florida Panthers	4–3 OT	Rangers lead 2–1	Recap
4	April 23, 1997	Florida Panthers	3–2	Rangers lead 3–1	Recap
5	April 25, 1997	@ Florida Panthers	3–2 OT	Rangers win 4–1	Recap

Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (1) New Jersey Devils – Rangers win 4–1

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Series	Recap
1	May 2, 1997	@ New Jersey Devils	2–0	Devils lead 1–0	Recap
2	May 4, 1997	@ New Jersey Devils	2–0	Series tied 1–1	Recap
3	May 6, 1997	New Jersey Devils	3–2	Rangers lead 2–1	Recap
4	May 8, 1997	New Jersey Devils	3–0	Rangers lead 3–1	Recap
5	May 11, 1997	@ New Jersey Devils	2–1 OT	Rangers win 4–1	Recap

Eastern Conference Finals vs. (3) Philadelphia Flyers – Flyers win 4–1

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Series	Recap
1	May 16, 1997	@ Philadelphia Flyers	3–1	Flyers lead 1–0	Recap
2	May 18, 1997	@ Philadelphia Flyers	5–4	Series tied 1–1	Recap
3	May 20, 1997	Philadelphia Flyers	6–3	Flyers lead 2–1	Recap
4	May 23, 1997	Philadelphia Flyers	3–2	Flyers lead 3–1	Recap
5	May 25, 1997	@ Philadelphia Flyers	4–2	Flyers win 4–1	Recap

Legend:

Win Loss

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 Rangers only.
‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
No.	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
99	Wayne Gretzky	C	82	25	72	97	12	28	15	10	10	20	5	2
11	Mark Messier	C	71	36	48	84	12	88	15	3	9	12	2	6
2	Brian Leetch	D	82	20	58	78	31	40	15	2	8	10	5	6
9	Adam Graves	LW	82	33	28	61	10	66	15	2	1	3	1	12
24	Niklas Sundstrom	RW	82	24	28	52	23	20	9	0	5	5	3	2
20	Luc Robitaille	LW	69	24	24	48	16	48	15	4	7	11	7	4
25	Alexander Karpovtsev	D	77	9	29	38	1	59	13	1	3	4	2	20
27	Alexei Kovalev	RW	45	13	22	35	11	42	—	—	—	—	—	—
33	Bruce Driver	D	79	5	25	30	8	48	15	0	1	1	−3	2
8^[a]	Patrick Flatley	RW	68	10	12	22	6	26	11	0	0	0	2	14
13	Sergei Nemchinov‡	C	63	6	13	19	5	12	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	Ulf Samuelsson	D	73	6	11	17	3	138	15	0	2	2	1	30
28	Brian Noonan†‡	RW	44	6	9	15	−7	28	—	—	—	—	—	—
18	Bill Berg	LW	67	8	6	14	2	37	3	0	0	0	−1	2
16	Daniel Goneau	LW	41	10	3	13	−5	10	—	—	—	—	—	—
23	Jeff Beukeboom	D	80	3	9	12	22	167	15	0	1	1	5	34
39	Vladimir Vorobiev	RW	16	5	5	10	4	6	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Darren Langdon	LW	60	3	6	9	−1	195	10	0	0	0	−1	2
32	Mike Eastwood†	C	27	1	7	8	2	10	15	1	2	3	0	22
6	Doug Lidster	D	48	3	4	7	10	24	15	1	5	6	−2	8
21	Russ Courtnall†	RW	14	2	5	7	−3	2	15	3	4	7	1	0
26	David Oliver†	RW	14	2	1	3	3	4	3	0	0	0	0	0
10	Esa Tikkanen†	C	14	1	2	3	0	6	15	9	3	12	2	26
19	Christian Dube	C	27	1	1	2	−4	4	3	0	0	0	−2	0
14	Chris Ferraro	RW	12	1	1	2	1	6	—	—	—	—	—	—
37	Ryan VandenBussche	RW	11	1	0	1	−2	30	—	—	—	—	—	—
29	Eric Cairns	D	40	0	1	1	−7	147	3	0	0	0	0	0
22	Shane Churla	RW	45	0	1	1	−10	106	15	0	0	0	−3	20
21	Jayson More‡	D	14	0	1	1	0	25	—	—	—	—	—	—
38^[b]	Sylvain Blouin	D	6	0	0	0	−1	18	—	—	—	—	—	—
28	Dallas Eakins†	D	3	0	0	0	−1	6	4	0	0	0	−1	4
17	Peter Ferraro	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
30	Glenn Healy	G	23	0	0	0		4	—	—	—	—	—	—
32	Sergio Momesso‡	LW	9	0	0	0	−2	11	—	—	—	—	—	—
36	Jeff Nielsen	RW	2	0	0	0	−1	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
35	Mike Richter	G	61	0	0	0		4	15	0	1	1		0
12	Ken Gernander	C	—	—	—	—	—	—	9	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season										Playoffs
No.	Player	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
35	Mike Richter	61	33	22	6	1945	161	2.69	.917	4	3598	15	9	6	488	33	2.11	.932	3	939
30	Glenn Healy	23	5	12	4	632	59	2.61	.907	1	1357	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	James Norris Memorial Trophy	Brian Leetch	^[4]
	NHL First All-Star Team	Brian Leetch (Defense)	^[5]
	NHL Second All-Star Team	Wayne Gretzky (Center)	^[5]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Wayne Gretzky^[c]	^[7]
		Brian Leetch^[c]
		Mark Messier
Team	Ceil Saidel Memorial Award	Adam Graves	^[8]
	"Crumb Bum" Award	Mike Richter	^[8]
	Frank Boucher Trophy	Mark Messier	^[8]
	Good Guy Award	Wayne Gretzky	^[8]
	Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award	Eric Cairns	^[8]
	Players' Player Award	Darren Langdon	^[8]
	Rangers MVP	Brian Leetch	^[8]
	Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award	Brian Leetch	^[8]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Daniel Goneau	October 5, 1996	^[9]
	Eric Cairns	October 8, 1996
	Christian Dube	October 8, 1996
	Sylvain Blouin	November 18, 1996
	Ryan VandenBussche	December 13, 1996
	Vladimir Vorobiev	January 12, 1997
	Jeff Nielsen	February 19, 1997

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1996 NHL entry draft in St. Louis, Missouri at the Kiel Center.^[10]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	22	Jeff Brown	D	Canada	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
2	48	Daniel Goneau	LW	Canada	Granby Predateurs (QMJHL)
3	76	Dmitri Subbotin	LW	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russia)
5	131	Colin Pepperall	LW	Canada	Niagara Falls Thunder (OHL)
6	158	Ola Sandberg	D	Sweden	Djurgårdens IF (SEL)
7	185	Jeff Dessner	D	United States	Taft School (Connecticut)
8	211	Ryan McKie	D	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
9	237	Ronnie Sundin	D	Sweden	Frölunda HC (SEL)

Notes

^ Flatley wore number 26 on February 5.
^ Blouin wore number 32 in his first five games.
^ ^a ^b Gretzky and Leetch were voted to the starting lineup.^[6]

References

"New York Rangers 1996-97 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
"1996-97 New York Rangers Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 21, 2023.

^ "1996-97 NHL Summary".
^ "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
^ ^a ^b "1996-97 New York Rangers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
^ "James Norris Memorial Trophy". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Postseason All-Star Teams". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ "NHL All-Star Game Starting Lineups by Year (since 1986)". NHL.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
^ "1997 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h 2014–15 New York Rangers Media Guide. New York Rangers. 2014. pp. 349–352.
^ "1996-97 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
^ "1996 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.

[4] Flatley wore number 26 on February 5.

[5] Blouin wore number 32 in his first five games.

[fn1-9] Gretzky and Leetch were voted to the starting lineup.^[6]

[1] "1996-97 NHL Summary".

[2] "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.

[Gamelog-3] "1996-97 New York Rangers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 21, 2023.

[6] "James Norris Memorial Trophy". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.

[ASteams-7] "Postseason All-Star Teams". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[8] "NHL All-Star Game Starting Lineups by Year (since 1986)". NHL.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2024.

[10] "1997 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.

[Teamawards-11] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h 2014–15 New York Rangers Media Guide. New York Rangers. 2014. pp. 349–352.

[12] "1996-97 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 7, 2024.

[13] "1996 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[a]

[b]

[4]

[5]

[c]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[6]