1996–97 Buffalo Sabres season

1996–97 Buffalo Sabres
Northeast Division Champions
Division 1st Northeast
Conference 2nd Eastern
1996–97 record 40–30–12
Home record 24–11–6
Road record 16–19–6
Goals for 237
Goals against 208
Team information
General Manager John Muckler
Coach Ted Nolan
Captain Pat LaFontaine
Arena Marine Midland Arena
Team leaders
Goals Donald Audette (28)
Assists Garry Galley (34)
Points Derek Plante (53)
Penalties in minutes Rob Ray (286)
Plus/minus Mike Peca (+26)
Wins Dominik Hasek (37)
Goals against average Dominik Hasek (2.27)
<1995–96 1997–98>

The 1996–97 Buffalo Sabres season was the Sabres' 28th season in the National Hockey League. The Sabres allowed the fewest shorthanded goals (4) and scored the most shorthanded goals (16) in the league.

Contents

Offseason

NHL Draft

Regular season

Season standings

Northeast Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 2 Buffalo Sabres 82 40 30 12 237 208 92
2 6 Pittsburgh Penguins 82 38 36 8 285 280 84
3 7 Ottawa Senators 82 31 36 15 226 234 77
4 8 Montreal Canadiens 82 31 36 15 249 276 77
5 10 Hartford Whalers 82 32 39 11 226 256 75
6 13 Boston Bruins 82 26 47 9 234 300 61

Game log

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

Playoffs

The Sabres defeated the Ottawa Senators in the first round, but lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round.

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Plante, DerekDerek Plante C 82 27 26 53 24 14 5 0 6
Holzinger, BrianBrian Holzinger C 81 22 29 51 54 9 2 2 6
Audette, DonaldDonald Audette RW 73 28 22 50 48 -6 8 0 5
Peca, MichaelMichael Peca C 79 20 29 49 80 26 5 6 4
Dawe, JasonJason Dawe RW 81 22 26 48 32 14 4 1 3
Ward, DixonDixon Ward RW 79 13 32 45 36 17 1 2 4
Barnaby, MatthewMatthew Barnaby RW 68 19 24 43 249 16 2 0 1
Galley, GarryGarry Galley D 71 4 34 38 102 10 1 1 1
Grosek, MichalMichal Grosek LW 82 15 21 36 71 25 1 0 2
Zhitnik, AlexeiAlexei Zhitnik D 80 7 28 35 95 10 3 1 0
Burridge, RandyRandy Burridge LW 55 10 21 31 20 17 1 3 0
Smehlik, RichardRichard Smehlik D 62 11 19 30 43 19 2 0 1
Shannon, DarrylDarryl Shannon D 82 4 19 23 112 23 1 0 1
Wilson, MikeMike Wilson D 77 2 9 11 51 13 0 0 1
Satan, MiroslavMiroslav Satan LW 12 8 2 10 4 1 2 0 1
Ray, RobRob Ray RW 82 7 3 10 286 3 0 0 1
McKee, JayJay McKee D 43 1 9 10 35 3 0 0 0
LaFontaine, PatPat LaFontaine C 13 2 6 8 4 -8 1 0 0
Moore, BarrieBarrie Moore LW 31 2 6 8 18 1 1 0 0
Boughner, BobBob Boughner D 77 1 7 8 225 12 0 0 0
Brown, CurtisCurtis Brown C/LW 28 4 3 7 18 4 0 0 1
May, BradBrad May LW 42 3 4 7 106 -8 1 0 1
Primeau, WayneWayne Primeau C 45 2 4 6 64 -2 1 0 0
Semenov, AnatoliAnatoli Semenov C/LW 25 2 4 6 2 -3 1 0 1
Ronan, EdEd Ronan RW 18 1 4 5 11 4 0 0 0
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek G 67 0 3 3 30 0 0 0 0
Huddy, CharlieCharlie Huddy D 1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Ndur, RumunRumun Ndur D 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0
Shields, SteveSteve Shields G 13 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
Trefilov, AndreiAndrei Trefilov G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Varada, VaclavVaclav Varada RW 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek 4037 67 37 20 10 153 2.27 5 2177 2024 .930
Shields, SteveSteve Shields 789 13 3 8 2 39 2.97 0 447 408 .913
Trefilov, AndreiAndrei Trefilov 159 3 0 2 0 10 3.77 0 98 88 .898
Team: 4985 82 40 30 12 202 2.43 5 2722 2520 .926

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Plante, DerekDerek Plante C 12 4 6 10 4 4 1 0 2
Audette, DonaldDonald Audette RW 11 4 5 9 6 -3 3 0 0
Holzinger, BrianBrian Holzinger C 12 2 5 7 8 -3 0 1 0
Burridge, RandyRandy Burridge LW 12 5 1 6 2 -5 3 0 0
Grosek, MichalMichal Grosek LW 12 3 3 6 8 3 0 0 0
Galley, GarryGarry Galley D 12 0 6 6 14 2 0 0 0
Shannon, DarrylDarryl Shannon D 12 2 3 5 8 -1 1 0 0
Ward, DixonDixon Ward RW 12 2 3 5 6 2 0 0 1
Barnaby, MatthewMatthew Barnaby RW 8 0 4 4 36 2 0 0 0
Dawe, JasonJason Dawe RW 11 2 1 3 6 -2 0 0 0
May, BradBrad May LW 10 1 1 2 32 -2 0 0 0
Peca, MichaelMichael Peca C 10 0 2 2 8 -3 0 0 0
Smehlik, RichardRichard Smehlik D 12 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 0
Ronan, EdEd Ronan RW 6 1 0 1 6 -1 0 0 1
Zhitnik, AlexeiAlexei Zhitnik D 12 1 0 1 16 -9 0 0 0
Boughner, BobBob Boughner D 11 0 1 1 9 0 0 0 0
Ray, RobRob Ray RW 12 0 1 1 28 -3 0 0 0
Wilson, MikeMike Wilson D 10 0 1 1 2 3 0 0 0
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek G 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
McKee, JayJay McKee D 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Primeau, WayneWayne Primeau C 9 0 0 0 6 -2 0 0 0
Satan, MiroslavMiroslav Satan LW 7 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Shields, SteveSteve Shields G 10 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0
Trefilov, AndreiAndrei Trefilov G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Shields, SteveSteve Shields 570 10 4 6 26 2.74 1 334 308 .922
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek 153 3 1 1 5 1.96 0 68 63 .926
Trefilov, AndreiAndrei Trefilov 5 1 0 0 0 0.00 0 4 4 1.000
Team: 728 12 5 7 31 2.55 1 406 375 .924

[1]

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

NHL All-Star Game

References

  1. ^ "1996-97 Buffalo Sabres Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/BUF/1997.html. Retrieved 2009-06-12. 
  2. ^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 237, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 978-0-920445-98-3
  3. ^ a b Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009-10, p.426, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55468-621-6
Sabres
Culture/lore
Arenas
Affiliates
Owners
Other
1970s
1980s
1990s
1990–91 • 1991–92 • 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–00
2000s
2010s
Northeast Division
Boston • Buffalo • Hartford • Montreal • Ottawa • Pittsburgh
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Pacific Division
See also