1996–97 Pittsburgh Penguins season

The 1996–97 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the team's 30th in the National Hockey League. This was the final season for Mario Lemieux before his first retirement.

Regular season

The 1996–97 season featured Mario Lemieux in his final season before his first retirement. Lemieux won his sixth (and final) Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer, with 122 points. The Penguins had an up-and-down season en route to a sixth-place finish in the Eastern Conference. A 2–9–0 start was followed by a hot middle-of-the-season stretch, highlighted by the play of rookie phenom goaltender Patrick Lalime. A shoulder injury to Tom Barrasso ended his season after five unmemorable games and lead to the promotion of Lalime from the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League (IHL). Lalime debuted in relief of Ken Wregget in a loss to the New York Rangers on November 16. His first win came in relief of Wregget on December 6, and the next day, on December 7, he was given the start against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, beating the Mighty Dcuks and setting him well on his way to setting the NHL record for consecutive games unbeaten to begin a career for an NHL goaltender, going 14–0–2 (16 games). However, the Penguins cooled down after that, as the team did not win a road game after February 5, which lead to a coaching change on March 4. Eddie Johnston was relieved of his duties as head coach after losing eight of his last nine games and was replaced on an interim basis by General Manager Craig Patrick. Patrick went 7–10–3 down the stretch, enough to get the Penguins into the playoffs as the sixth seed at 38–36–8. The Penguins finished the season first in scoring, with 285 goals for.^[1]
In the Eastern Conference Quarter-finals, the Penguins took-on the third-seeded Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers dismantled the Penguins in five games en route to an Eastern Conference championship of their own. The Pens' lone win in the series was in Game 4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, in which Lemieux scored on a breakaway against Flyers goaltender Garth Snow in the closing minutes for his final goal before his first retirement.

Final standings

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

Playoffs

Player statistics

Skaters

Goaltenders

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Penguins. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Team only.
     – Denotes league leader.

Awards and records

Awards

Transactions

The Penguins have been involved in the following transactions during the 1996–97 season:^[7]

Trades

Other Player Date Details Craig Patrick June 27, 1996 5-year extension (VP & GM) Eddie Johnston June 27, 1996 Extension (Head Coach) Craig Patrick March 3, 1997 Hired as Head Coach (in addition to GM) Eddie Johnston March 3, 1997 Reassigned to Assistant GM Craig Patrick April 26, 1997 Replaced as Head Coach (remained as GM) Mario Lemieux April 26, 1997 Retired Kevin Constantine June 12, 1997 Hired as Head Coach Draft picks See also: List of Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.[8] Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League) 1 23 Craig Hillier Goaltender  Canada Ottawa 67's (OHL) 2 28[a] Pavel Skrbek Defense  Czech Republic HC Kladno (Czech) 3 72[b] Boyd Kane Left Wing  Canada Regina Pats (WHL) 3 77 Borys Protsenko Right Wing  Ukraine Calgary Hitmen (WHL) 4 105 Michal Rozsival Defense  Czech Republic Dukla Jihlava (Czech) 6 150[c] Peter Bergman Center  Canada Kamloops Blazers (WHL) 7 186 Eric Meloche Right Wing  Canada Cornwall Colts (COJHL) 9 238 Timo Seikkula Center  Finland Junkkarit (Finland) Draft notes[9] a The New Jersey Devils' second-round pick (from San Jose Sharks) went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a result of a June 22, 1996 trade that sent two second-round picks to the Devils in exchange for this pick. The Pittsburgh Penguins' second-round pick (from Toronto Maple Leafs) went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a June 22, 1996 trade that sent a second-round pick to the Penguins in exchange for a second-round pick and this pick. The Pittsburgh Penguins' second-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a June 22, 1996 trade that sent a second-round pick to the Penguins in exchange for a second-round pick and this pick. b The Boston Bruins' third-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a result of an August 1, 1995 trade that sent Kevin Stevens and Shawn McEachern to the Bruins in exchange for Glen Murray, Bryan Smolinski and this pick. The Pittsburgh Penguins' fifth-round pick went to the San Jose Sharks as the result of a March 20, 1996 trade that sent Kevin Miller to the Penguins in exchange for this pick. c Compensatory pick received from NHL as compensation for free agent Joe Mullen. The Pittsburgh Penguins' sixth-round pick went to the St Louis Blues as the result of a March 20, 1996 trade that sent J. J. Daigneault to the Penguins in exchange for this pick. The Pittsburgh Penguins' seventh-round pick (from NHL as compensation for free agent Kjell Samuelsson) went to the Edmonton Oilers as the result of a June 22, 1996 trade that sent Tyler Wright to the Penguins in exchange for this pick. The Pittsburgh Penguins' eighth-round pick went to the Ottawa Senators as the result of a March 1, 1996 trade that sent Dave McLlwain to the Penguins in exchange for this pick. Farm teams The Johnstown Chiefs of the East Coast Hockey League finished last in the North Division with a 24–39–7 record. The IHL's Cleveland Lumberjacks finished second in the Central Division with a record of 40–32–10. They defeated the Indianapolis Ice in the first round 3–1, then defeated the Orlando Solar Bears in the second round 4–1 before losing to the eventual Turner Cup champion Detroit Vipers, 4–1. See also 1996–97 NHL season 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs 1996 NHL Entry Draft References Penguins on Hockey Database ↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1997.html ↑ "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.  ↑ "1996–1997 – Regular Season – Pittsburgh Penguins – All Skaters – Summary – Points – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.  ↑ "1996–1997 – Playoffs – Pittsburgh Penguins – All Skaters – Summary – Points – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.  ↑ "1996–1997 – Regular Season – Pittsburgh Penguins – Goalie – Summary – Wins – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.  ↑ "1996–1997 – Playoffs – Pittsburgh Penguins – Goalie – Summary – Wins – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.  ↑ "Hockey Transactions Search Results". ProSportsTransactions. Retrieved September 10, 2012.  ↑ "NHL Entry Draft Year by Year Results". NHL.com. Retrieved July 14, 2012.  ↑ "1996 NHL Entry Draft Pending Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved July 14, 2012.  Pittsburgh Penguins Founded in 1967 Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Franchise Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Affiliates Current season History 1967 Expansion Expansion Draft Team MVPs Michel Brière Award winners Owners Records Personnel Owners Ronald Burkle Mario Lemieux General manager Jim Rutherford Head coach Mike Johnston Team captain Sidney Crosby Current roster Arenas Main facilities Civic Arena Consol Energy Center Training facilities Brantford Civic Centre Rostraver Ice Garden Island Sports Center IceoPlex at Southpointe Rivalries Flyers–Penguins rivalry Affiliates AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins ECHL Wheeling Nailers General managers Riley Kelly Riley Button Blair Bastien Johnston Esposito Patrick Shero Rutherford Head coaches Sullivan Kelly Schinkel Boileau Schinkel Wilson Johnston Angotti Berry Creamer Ubriaco Patrick Johnson Bowman Johnston Patrick Constantine Brooks Hlinka Kehoe Olczyk Therrien Bylsma Johnston Media Networks TV Root Sports Pittsburgh Radio WXDX WBGG Broadcasters TV Paul Steigerwald Bob Errey Radio Mike Lange Phil Bourque Culture and lore 2008 NHL Winter Classic 2011 NHL Winter Classic 2014 NHL Stadium Series Penguins–Islanders brawl Bob Gessner Iceburgh Jeff Jimerson Vince Lascheid Penguin Pete Penguins lore Sudden Death Black and Yellow YinzCam Pittsburgh Penguins seasons 1960s 1960–61 . 1961–62 . 1962–63 . 1963–64 . 1964–65 . 1965–66 . 1966–67 . 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970s 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980s 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990s 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000s 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010s 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship 1996–97 NHL season Northeast Division Boston Buffalo Hartford Montreal Ottawa Pittsburgh Atlantic Division Florida New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Tampa Bay Washington Central Division Chicago Dallas Detroit Phoenix St. Louis Toronto Pacific Division Anaheim Calgary Colorado Edmonton Los Angeles San Jose Vancouver See also Draft Red Wings–Avalanche brawl Legion of Doom Stanley Cup Playoffs Stanley Cup Finals