1996–97 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1996–97 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 88th season. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs despite a sub-.500 season. The Canadiens were eliminated in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals (the first round) by the New Jersey Devils 4 games to 1.

1996–97 Montreal Canadiens
Division	4th Northeast
Conference	8th Eastern
1996–97 record	31–36–15
Home record	17–17–7
Road record	14–19–8
Goals for	249
Goals against	276
Team information
General manager	Rejean Houle
Coach	Mario Tremblay
Captain	Pierre Turgeon (Oct) Vincent Damphousse (Oct-Apr)
Arena	Molson Centre
Average attendance	21,001
Minor league affiliate(s)	Fredericton Canadiens Wheeling Nailers
Team leaders
Goals	Mark Recchi (34)
Assists	Vincent Damphousse (54)
Points	Vincent Damphousse (81)
Penalty minutes	Scott Thornton (128)
Plus/minus	Peter Popovic (+9)
Wins	Jocelyn Thibault (22)
Goals against average	Jocelyn Thibault (2.90)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Offseason

Regular season

On Wednesday, October 16, 1996, the Canadiens scored three short-handed goals in a 4–2 win over the Calgary Flames.^[1]

The Canadiens finished the regular season 26th in both power-play goals allowed (71) and penalty-killing percentage (79.54%).^[2]

Final 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

Eastern Conference^[3]

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

Schedule and results

#	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	Oct 5, 1996	3–3 OT	Ottawa Senators	0–0–1
2	T	Oct 7, 1996	6–6 OT	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	0–0–2
3	W	Oct 9, 1996	6–3	Los Angeles Kings	1–0–2
4	W	Oct 12, 1996	5–2	New York Rangers	2–0–2
5	L	Oct 15, 1996	2–3	@ New Jersey Devils	2–1–2
6	W	Oct 16, 1996	4–2	Calgary Flames	3–1–2
7	L	Oct 19, 1996	3–6	@ Ottawa Senators	3–2–2
8	L	Oct 24, 1996	3–6	@ Buffalo Sabres	3–3–2
9	W	Oct 26, 1996	6–5	Philadelphia Flyers	4–3–2
10	L	Oct 28, 1996	4–5 OT	Phoenix Coyotes	4–4–2
11	L	Oct 30, 1996	3–5	@ Detroit Red Wings	4–5–2
12	L	Nov 2, 1996	3–4 OT	@ San Jose Sharks	4–6–2
13	T	Nov 3, 1996	4–4 OT	@ Phoenix Coyotes	4–6–3
14	W	Nov 6, 1996	6–5	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	5–6–3
15	L	Nov 7, 1996	1–4	@ Los Angeles Kings	5–7–3
16	L	Nov 9, 1996	2–5	@ Colorado Avalanche	5–8–3
17	W	Nov 11, 1996	3–2 OT	Edmonton Oilers	6–8–3
18	L	Nov 13, 1996	3–5	Florida Panthers	6–9–3
19	L	Nov 15, 1996	1–3	@ Washington Capitals	6–10–3
20	W	Nov 16, 1996	6–1	Vancouver Canucks	7–10–3
21	L	Nov 20, 1996	1–3	@ Hartford Whalers	7–11–3
22	W	Nov 21, 1996	6–2	@ Boston Bruins	8–11–3
23	W	Nov 23, 1996	4–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	9–11–3
24	W	Nov 25, 1996	4–2	Tampa Bay Lightning	10–11–3
25	T	Nov 27, 1996	2–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	10–11–4
26	L	Nov 30, 1996	0–2	Washington Capitals	10–12–4
27	L	Dec 1, 1996	2–6	@ New York Rangers	10–13–4
28	L	Dec 4, 1996	3–4	Boston Bruins	10–14–4
29	W	Dec 6, 1996	3–1	@ Chicago Blackhawks	11–14–4
30	W	Dec 7, 1996	3–2	Chicago Blackhawks	12–14–4
31	L	Dec 11, 1996	2–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres	12–15–4
32	T	Dec 14, 1996	3–3 OT	@ New Jersey Devils	12–15–5
33	L	Dec 16, 1996	2–4	Tampa Bay Lightning	12–16–5
34	L	Dec 21, 1996	2–3 OT	New York Rangers	12–17–5
35	L	Dec 23, 1996	0–6	Ottawa Senators	12–18–5
36	T	Dec 26, 1996	3–3 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	12–18–6
37	T	Dec 28, 1996	4–4 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	12–18–7
38	W	Dec 29, 1996	2–1	@ Florida Panthers	13–18–7
39	W	Jan 1, 1997	6–4	@ Dallas Stars	14–18–7
40	T	Jan 2, 1997	2–2 OT	@ St. Louis Blues	14–18–8
41	W	Jan 4, 1997	3–1	New York Islanders	15–18–8
42	W	Jan 6, 1997	5–4	Hartford Whalers	16–18–8
43	L	Jan 9, 1997	4–5	@ Boston Bruins	16–19–8
44	W	Jan 11, 1997	6–3	Boston Bruins	17–19–8
45	L	Jan 13, 1997	1–2	Dallas Stars	17–20–8
46	L	Jan 14, 1997	2–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers	17–21–8
47	W	Jan 20, 1997	4–1	Detroit Red Wings	18–21–8
48	L	Jan 22, 1997	1–6	@ Buffalo Sabres	18–22–8
49	L	Jan 25, 1997	1–8	St. Louis Blues	18–23–8
50	L	Jan 26, 1997	2–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	18–24–8
51	L	Jan 28, 1997	1–5	@ Florida Panthers	18–25–8
52	W	Jan 30, 1997	4–1	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	19–25–8
53	T	Feb 1, 1997	4–4 OT	New Jersey Devils	19–25–9
54	T	Feb 3, 1997	2–2 OT	Florida Panthers	19–25–10
55	L	Feb 5, 1997	3–6	Pittsburgh Penguins	19–26–10
56	L	Feb 6, 1997	5–9	@ Philadelphia Flyers	19–27–10
57	W	Feb 8, 1997	3–2 OT	Hartford Whalers	20–27–10
58	W	Feb 10, 1997	4–2	San Jose Sharks	21–27–10
59	T	Feb 12, 1997	2–2 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres	21–27–11
60	L	Feb 15, 1997	1–4	New Jersey Devils	21–28–11
61	W	Feb 17, 1997	4–1	@ New York Islanders	22–28–11
62	L	Feb 22, 1997	1–5	Toronto Maple Leafs	22–29–11
63	W	Feb 25, 1997	4–2	@ Vancouver Canucks	23–29–11
64	L	Feb 28, 1997	2–3	@ Calgary Flames	23–30–11
65	W	Mar 1, 1997	5–4	@ Edmonton Oilers	24–30–11
66	L	Mar 5, 1997	3–7	Colorado Avalanche	24–31–11
67	L	Mar 7, 1997	0–2	@ Hartford Whalers	24–32–11
68	T	Mar 8, 1997	3–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres	24–32–12
69	T	Mar 10, 1997	2–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	24–32–13
70	W	Mar 13, 1997	3–0	@ Boston Bruins	25–32–13
71	T	Mar 15, 1997	2–2 OT	Ottawa Senators	25–32–14
72	W	Mar 19, 1997	5–4	@ New York Rangers	26–32–14
73	L	Mar 22, 1997	1–3	Washington Capitals	26–33–14
74	W	Mar 24, 1997	3–1	Boston Bruins	27–33–14
75	W	Mar 26, 1997	8–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	28–33–14
76	L	Mar 29, 1997	2–5	@ Ottawa Senators	28–34–14
77	W	Apr 2, 1997	4–1	@ Hartford Whalers	29–34–14
78	L	Apr 5, 1997	1–4	Hartford Whalers	29–35–14
79	W	Apr 7, 1997	2–1	New York Islanders	30–35–14
80	W	Apr 9, 1997	3–1	@ New York Islanders	31–35–14
81	L	Apr 10, 1997	2–3	@ Washington Capitals	31–36–14
82	T	Apr 12, 1997	3–3 OT	Philadelphia Flyers	31–36–15

Playoffs

In the first game of the series against New Jersey, on April 17, 1997, with the Devils up by two goals late in the game, Martin Brodeur fired the puck the length of the ice and into the Canadiens' empty net to ensure a 5-2 victory. It was only the second time in NHL history that a goaltender had scored in the playoffs, and the fifth time overall.^[4]

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. New Jersey Devils

Montreal vs. New Jersey
Date	Away	Home	Scores	OT
April 17	Montreal	New Jersey	5 – 2
April 19	Montreal	New Jersey	4 – 1
April 22	New Jersey	Montreal	6 – 4
April 24	New Jersey	Montreal	4 – 3	3OT
April 26	Montreal	New Jersey	4 – 0
New Jersey wins series 4–1

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Vincent Damphousse	C	82	27	54	81	82	-6	7	2	3
Mark Recchi	RW	82	34	46	80	58	-1	7	2	3
Brian Savage	LW	81	23	37	60	39	-14	5	0	2
Saku Koivu	C	50	17	39	56	38	7	5	0	3
Martin Rucinsky	LW	70	28	27	55	62	1	6	3	3
Stephane Richer	RW	63	22	24	46	32	0	2	0	2
Valeri Bure	RW	64	14	21	35	6	4	4	0	2
Vladimir Malakhov	D	65	10	20	30	43	3	5	0	1
Benoit Brunet	LW	39	10	13	23	14	6	2	0	2
Stephane Quintal	D	71	7	15	22	100	1	1	0	0
Turner Stevenson	RW	65	8	13	21	97	-14	1	0	0
Shayne Corson	LW	47	6	15	21	80	-5	2	0	2
Scott Thornton	LW	73	10	10	20	128	-19	1	1	1
Darcy Tucker	RW	73	7	13	20	110	-5	1	0	3
Marc Bureau	C	43	6	9	15	16	4	1	1	2
David Wilkie	D	61	6	9	15	63	-9	3	0	0
Patrice Brisebois	D	49	2	13	15	24	-7	0	0	1
Peter Popovic	D	78	1	13	14	32	9	0	0	0
Sebastien Bordeleau	C	28	2	9	11	2	-3	0	0	0
Pierre Turgeon	C	9	1	10	11	2	4	0	0	0
Jassen Cullimore	D	49	2	6	8	42	4	0	1	1
Chris Murray	RW	56	4	2	6	114	-8	0	0	0
Murray Baron	D	60	1	5	6	107	-16	0	0	0
Craig Rivet	D	35	0	4	4	54	7	0	0	0
Dave Manson	D	9	1	1	2	23	-1	0	0	0
Eric Houde	C	13	0	2	2	2	1	0	0	0
Rory Fitzpatrick	D	6	0	1	1	6	-2	0	0	0
Donald Brashear	LW	10	0	0	0	38	-2	0	0	0
Brad Brown	D	8	0	0	0	22	-1	0	0	0
Francois Groleau	D	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
Pat Jablonski	G	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
David Ling	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Terry Ryan	LW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pierre Sevigny	LW	13	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0
Jose Theodore	G	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jocelyn Thibault	G	61	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tomas Vokoun	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Jocelyn Thibault	3397	61	22	24	11	164	2.90	1	1815	1651	.910
Jose Theodore	821	16	5	6	2	53	3.87	0	508	455	.896
Pat Jablonski	754	17	4	6	2	50	3.98	0	438	388	.886
Tomas Vokoun	20	1	0	0	0	4	12.00	0	14	10	.714
Team:	4992	82	31	36	15	271	3.26	1	2775	2504	.902

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Mark Recchi	RW	5	4	2	6	2	0	0	0
Benoit Brunet	LW	4	1	3	4	4	0	1	0
Saku Koivu	C	5	1	3	4	10	0	0	0
Patrice Brisebois	D	3	1	1	2	24	0	0	1
Brian Savage	LW	5	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Turner Stevenson	RW	5	1	1	2	2	0	0	0
Shayne Corson	LW	5	1	0	1	4	0	1	0
Scott Thornton	LW	5	1	0	1	2	0	0	0
Valeri Bure	RW	5	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Stephane Quintal	D	5	0	1	1	6	0	0	0
Craig Rivet	D	5	0	1	1	14	0	0	0
Jassen Cullimore	D	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Vincent Damphousse	C	5	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Vladimir Malakhov	D	5	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
Dave Manson	D	5	0	0	0	17	0	0	0
Peter Popovic	D	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Stephane Richer	RW	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Martin Rucinsky	LW	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Jose Theodore	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jocelyn Thibault	G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Darcy Tucker	RW	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
David Wilkie	D	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Jose Theodore	168	2	1	1	7	2.50	0	108	101	.935
Jocelyn Thibault	179	3	0	3	13	4.36	0	101	88	.871
Team:	347	5	1	4	20	3.46	0	209	189	.904

^[5]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team
1	18	Matt Higgins	Centre	Canada	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
2	44	Mathieu Garon	Goalie	Canada	Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)
3	71	Arron Asham	Right Wing	Canada	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
4	92	Kim Staal	Left Wing	Denmark	Malmö IF (Sweden)
4	99	Etienne Drapeau	Centre	Canada	Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL)
5	127	Daniel Archambault	Defence	Canada	Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
6	154	Brett Clark	Defence	Canada	University of Maine (NCAA)
7	181	Timo Vertala	Left Wing	Finland	JYP (Finland)
8	207	Mattia Baldi	Left Wing	Switzerland	Ambri-Piotta (Swiss)
9	233	Michel Tremblay	Left Wing	Canada	Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)

See also

• 1996–97 NHL season

References

• Canadiens on Hockey Database
• Canadiens on NHL Reference

1. "Calgary Flames at Montreal Canadiens Box Score — October 16, 1996".
2. "1996-97 NHL Summary".
3. "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
4. . MartinBrodeur.net. Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2006-12-31.
5. "1996-97 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.