1996–97 Phoenix Coyotes season

1996–97 Phoenix Coyotes
Division	3rd Central
Conference	5th Western
1996–97 record	38–37–7
Home record	15–19–7
Road record	23–18–0
Goals for	240
Goals against	243
Team information
Captain	Keith Tkachuk
Team leaders
Goals	Keith Tkachuk (52)
Assists	Oleg Tverdovsky (45)
Points	Keith Tkachuk (86)
Penalty minutes	Keith Tkachuk (228)

The 1996–97 season was the Coyotes' first in Phoenix.

Offseason

NHL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team
1	24	Danny Brière (C)	Canada	Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)

Regular season

Phoenix's first logo (1996–2003).

The Winnipeg Jets team was sold to Phoenix businessmen Steven Gluckstern and Richard Burke, and in 1996, the club moved to Arizona and became the Phoenix Coyotes.

In the summer that the move took place, the franchise saw the exit of Jets stars like Teemu Selanne and Alexei Zhamnov, while the team added established superstar Jeremy Roenick from the Chicago Blackhawks. Roenick teamed up with power wingers Keith Tkachuk and Rick Tocchet to form a dynamic 1–2–3 offensive punch that led the Coyotes through their first years in Arizona. Also impressive were young players like Shane Doan (the last remaining original Jet), Oleg Tverdovsky, and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, whom the fans nicknamed the "Bulin Wall."

Final standings

Central Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Dallas Stars	82	48	26	8	252	198	104
2	3	Detroit Red Wings	82	38	26	18	253	197	94
3	5	Phoenix Coyotes	82	38	37	7	240	243	83
4	6	St. Louis Blues	82	36	35	11	236	239	83
5	8	Chicago Blackhawks	82	34	35	13	223	210	81
6	11	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	30	44	8	230	273	68

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.

Game log

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

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Tkachuk, KeithKeith Tkachuk	LW	81	52	34	86	228	-1	9	2	7
Roenick, JeremyJeremy Roenick	C	72	29	40	69	115	-7	10	3	7
Gartner, MikeMike Gartner	RW	82	32	31	63	38	-11	13	1	7
Tverdovsky, OlegOleg Tverdovsky	D	82	10	45	55	30	-5	3	1	2
Janney, CraigCraig Janney	C	77	15	38	53	26	-1	5	0	1
Ronning, CliffCliff Ronning	C	69	19	32	51	26	-9	8	0	2
Drake, DallasDallas Drake	RW	63	17	19	36	52	-11	5	1	1
Numminen, TeppoTeppo Numminen	D	82	2	25	27	28	-3	0	0	0
Shannon, DarrinDarrin Shannon	LW	82	11	13	24	41	4	1	0	2
Corkum, BobBob Corkum	C	80	9	11	20	40	-7	0	1	3
Manson, DaveDave Manson	D	66	3	17	20	164	-25	2	0	0
Stapleton, MikeMike Stapleton	C	55	4	11	15	36	-4	2	0	1
King, KrisKris King	LW	81	3	11	14	185	-7	0	0	0
Quint, DeronDeron Quint	D	27	3	11	14	4	-4	1	0	0
Maciver, NormNorm Maciver	D	32	4	9	13	24	-11	1	0	1
Doan, ShaneShane Doan	RW	63	4	8	12	49	-3	0	0	0
Finley, JeffJeff Finley	D	65	3	7	10	40	-8	1	0	1
Johnson, JimJim Johnson	D	55	3	7	10	74	5	0	0	0
Korolev, IgorIgor Korolev	C	41	3	7	10	28	-5	2	0	0
McKenzie, JimJim McKenzie	LW	65	5	3	8	200	-5	0	0	1
Kilger, ChadChad Kilger	LW	24	4	3	7	13	-5	1	0	0
More, JayJay More	D	23	1	6	7	37	10	0	0	1
McCrimmon, BradBrad McCrimmon	D	37	1	5	6	18	2	0	0	0
Eastwood, MikeMike Eastwood	C	33	1	3	4	4	-3	0	0	0
Diduck, GeraldGerald Diduck	D	11	1	2	3	23	2	1	0	0
Khabibulin, NikolaiNikolai Khabibulin	G	72	0	3	3	16	0	0	0	0
Lemieux, JocelynJocelyn Lemieux	RW	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Wakaluk, DarcyDarcy Wakaluk	G	16	0	1	1	4	0	0	0	0
Baron, MurrayMurray Baron	D	8	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
Dahl, KevinKevin Dahl	D	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Duffus, ParrisParris Duffus	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Eakins, DallasDallas Eakins	D	4	0	0	0	10	-3	0	0	0
Hansen, TavisTavis Hansen	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hudson, MikeMike Hudson	C/LW	7	0	0	0	2	-4	0	0	0
Jablonski, PatPat Jablonski	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Simon, JasonJason Simon	LW	1	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Thompson, BrentBrent Thompson	D	1	0	0	0	7	-1	0	0	0
Ylonen, JuhaJuha Ylonen	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Khabibulin, NikolaiNikolai Khabibulin	4091	72	30	33	6	193	2.83	7	2094	1901	.908
Wakaluk, DarcyDarcy Wakaluk	782	16	8	3	1	39	2.99	1	386	347	.899
Duffus, ParrisParris Duffus	29	1	0	0	0	1	2.07	0	8	7	.875
Jablonski, PatPat Jablonski	59	2	0	1	0	2	2.03	0	24	22	.917
Team:	4961	82	38	37	7	235	2.84	8	2512	2277	.906

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Ronning, CliffCliff Ronning	C	7	0	7	7	12	0	0	0
Tkachuk, KeithKeith Tkachuk	LW	7	6	0	6	7	2	0	0
Numminen, TeppoTeppo Numminen	D	7	3	3	6	0	1	0	1
Roenick, JeremyJeremy Roenick	C	6	2	4	6	4	0	0	0
Shannon, DarrinDarrin Shannon	LW	7	3	1	4	4	0	0	1
Corkum, BobBob Corkum	C	7	2	2	4	4	0	0	1
Gartner, MikeMike Gartner	RW	7	1	2	3	4	0	0	0
Janney, CraigCraig Janney	C	7	0	3	3	4	0	0	0
Quint, DeronDeron Quint	D	7	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
Drake, DallasDallas Drake	RW	7	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Tverdovsky, OlegOleg Tverdovsky	D	7	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Baron, MurrayMurray Baron	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Diduck, GeraldGerald Diduck	D	7	0	0	0	10	0	0	0
Doan, ShaneShane Doan	RW	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Finley, JeffJeff Finley	D	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Johnson, JimJim Johnson	D	6	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Khabibulin, NikolaiNikolai Khabibulin	G	7	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
King, KrisKris King	LW	7	0	0	0	17	0	0	0
Korolev, IgorIgor Korolev	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lemieux, JocelynJocelyn Lemieux	RW	2	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
McKenzie, JimJim McKenzie	LW	7	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
More, JayJay More	D	7	0	0	0	7	0	0	0
Stapleton, MikeMike Stapleton	C	7	0	0	0	14	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Khabibulin, NikolaiNikolai Khabibulin	426	7	3	4	15	2.11	1	222	207	.932
Team:	426	7	3	4	15	2.11	1	222	207	.932

Note: 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;

Playoffs

Phoenix vs. Anaheim
Date	Away	Home
April 16	Phoenix 2	4 Anaheim
April 18	Phoenix 2	4 Anaheim
April 20	Anaheim 1	4 Phoenix
April 22	Anaheim 0	2 Phoenix
April 24	Phoenix 5	2 Anaheim
April 27	Anaheim 3	2 Phoenix	OT
April 29	Phoenix 0	3 Anaheim
Anaheim wins series 4–3

Transactions

Trades

June 22, 1996	To Toronto Maple Leafs 4th round pick in 1996 - Vladimir Antipov	To Phoenix Coyotes Mike Gartner
July 1, 1996	To Calgary Flames 3rd round pick in 1997 - Erik Andersson	To Phoenix Coyotes Compensation for head coach Don Hay
August 16, 1996	To Chicago Blackhawks Alexei Zhamnov Craig Mills 1st round pick in 1997 - Ty Jones	To Phoenix Coyotes Jeremy Roenick
February 6, 1997	To New York Rangers Mike Eastwood Dallas Eakins	To Phoenix Coyotes Jay More
March 18, 1997	To Montreal Canadiens Dave Manson Steve Cheredaryk	To Phoenix Coyotes Murray Baron Pat Jablonski Chris Murray

Waivers

September 30, 1996

From Philadelphia Flyers Bob Corkum

Free agents

Player Former Team Cliff Ronning Vancouver Canucks Brad McCrimmon Hartford Whalers Jim Johnson Dallas Stars Darcy Wakaluk Dallas Stars Reggie Savage Colorado Avalanche Kevin Dahl Calgary Flames Scott Levins Ottawa Senators Mike Hudson St. Louis Blues Jocelyn Lemieux Calgary Flames Player New Team Dominic Roussel Philadelphia Flyers Ed Olczyk Los Angeles Kings Craig Martin Florida Panthers Iain Fraser San Jose Sharks Denis Chasse Ottawa Senators References Coyotes on Hockey Database