This was the 1996-97 Colonial Hockey League season.
| East Division | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flint Generals | 74 | 55 | 18 | 1 | 371 | 232 | 111 |
| Brantford Smoke | 74 | 42 | 25 | 7 | 321 | 286 | 91 |
| Port Huron Border Cats | 74 | 38 | 31 | 5 | 280 | 288 | 81 |
| Utica Blizzard | 74 | 22 | 42 | 10 | 278 | 385 | 54 |
| Saginaw Lumber Kings | 74 | 21 | 48 | 5 | 263 | 399 | 47 |
| West Division | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quad City Mallards | 74 | 51 | 20 | 3 | 384 | 245 | 105 |
| Madison Monsters | 74 | 46 | 21 | 7 | 315 | 259 | 99 |
| Thunder Bay Thunder Cats | 74 | 43 | 23 | 8 | 333 | 266 | 94 |
| Muskegon Fury | 74 | 39 | 29 | 6 | 268 | 257 | 84 |
| Dayton Ice Bandits | 74 | 13 | 53 | 8 | 216 | 412 | 34 |
| Colonial Cup-Quarterfinals | Colonial Cup-Semifinals | Colonial Cup-Final | |||||||||||
| E1 | Flint Generals | 3 | |||||||||||
| E4 | Utica Blizzard | 0 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Flint Generals | 4 | |||||||||||
| E2 | Brantford Smoke | 1 | |||||||||||
| E2 | Brantford Smoke | 3 | |||||||||||
| E3 | Port Huron Border Cats | 2 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Flint Generals | 2 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Quad City Mallards | 4 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Quad City Mallards | 3 | |||||||||||
| W4 | Muskegon Fury | 0 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Quad City Mallards | 4 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Thunder Bay Thunder Cats | 2 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Madison Monsters | 2 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Thunder Bay Thunder Cats | 3 | |||||||||||
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