1996–97 Hartford Whalers season

1996–97 Hartford Whalers
Division	5th Northeast
1996–97 record	32–39–11
Home record	23–15–3
Road record	9–24–8
Goals for	226
Goals against	256
Team information
General Manager	Jim Rutherford
Coach	Paul Maurice
Captain	Brendan Shanahan (Oct) ; Kevin Dineen (Oct–Apr)
Team leaders
Goals	Geoff Sanderson (36)
Assists	Andrew Cassels (44)
Points	Geoff Sanderson (67)
Penalties in minutes	Stu Grimson (218)
Plus/minus	Sami Kapanen (+6)
Wins	Sean Burke (22)
Goals against average	Sean Burke (2.69)

The 1996–97 Hartford Whalers season was the 25th season of the franchise and the 18th and final season in Hartford. The Whalers would move to Greensboro, North Carolina, the next season to become the Carolina Hurricanes.

Key dates prior to the start of the season:

The 1996 NHL Entry Draft

Regular season

On April 13, 1997, the Whalers played their last game in Hartford, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2–1. Fittingly, team captain Kevin Dineen scored the final goal in Whaler history.

The final words from Sports channel New England with Play by play voice John Fourslund at the end of the game were was follows

"It's Over Folks, it's been a great ride, The Whalers will go out, Winners".

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^[1]
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

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

^[2]

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Geoff Sanderson	LW	82	36	31	67	29	-9	12	1	4
Andrew Cassels	C	81	22	44	66	46	-16	8	0	2
Keith Primeau	C	75	26	25	51	161	-3	6	3	2
Kevin Dineen	RW	78	19	29	48	141	-6	8	0	5
Nelson Emerson	RW	66	9	29	38	34	-21	2	1	2
Steven Rice	RW	78	21	14	35	59	-11	5	0	2
Glen Wesley	D	68	6	26	32	40	0	3	1	0
Jeff O'Neill	RW	72	14	16	30	40	-24	2	1	2
Sami Kapanen	RW	45	13	12	25	2	6	3	0	2
Robert Kron	LW	68	10	12	22	10	-18	2	0	4
Paul Ranheim	LW	67	10	11	21	18	-13	0	3	1
Curtis Leschyshyn	D	64	4	13	17	30	-19	1	1	1
Steve Chiasson	D	18	3	11	14	7	-10	3	0	0
Adam Burt	D	71	2	11	13	79	-13	0	0	0
Kent Manderville	C	44	6	5	11	18	3	0	0	1
Gerald Diduck	D	56	1	10	11	40	-9	0	0	1
Paul Coffey	D	20	3	5	8	18	0	1	0	1
Kevin Haller	D	35	2	6	8	48	-11	0	0	0
Glen Featherstone	D	41	2	5	7	87	0	0	0	0
Andrei Nikolishin	C	12	2	5	7	2	-2	0	0	0
Alexander Godynyuk	D	55	1	6	7	41	-10	0	0	1
Derek King	LW	12	3	3	6	2	0	1	0	0
Mark Janssens	C	54	2	4	6	90	-10	0	0	0
Marek Malik	D	47	1	5	6	50	5	0	0	1
Stu Grimson	LW	75	2	2	4	218	-7	0	0	0
Kevin Brown	RW	11	0	4	4	6	-6	0	0	0
Hnat Domenichelli	LW	13	2	1	3	7	-4	1	0	0
Kelly Chase	RW	28	1	2	3	122	2	0	0	0
Chris Murray	RW	8	1	1	2	10	1	0	0	0
Sean Burke	G	51	0	2	2	14	0	0	0	0
Jeff Daniels	LW	10	0	2	2	0	2	0	0	0
Nolan Pratt	D	9	0	2	2	6	0	0	0	0
Brian Glynn	D	1	1	0	1	2	2	0	0	0
Brendan Shanahan	LW	2	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	0
Steve Martins	C	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jason Muzzatti	G	31	0	1	1	18	0	0	0	0
Jeff Brown	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jean-Sebastien Giguere	G	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jason McBain	D	6	0	0	0	0	-4	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Sean Burke	2985	51	22	22	6	134	2.69	4	1560	1426	.914
Jason Muzzatti	1591	31	9	13	5	91	3.43	0	815	724	.888
Jean-Sebastien Giguere	394	8	1	4	0	24	3.65	0	201	177	.881
Team:	4970	82	32	39	11	249	3.01	4	2576	2327	.903

^[3]

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;

Awards and records

Transactions

The Whalers were involved in the following transactions during the 1996–97 season.

Trades

October 1, 1996 - Espen Knutsen traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Kevin Brown.
October 9, 1996 - Brendan Shanahan and Brian Glynn traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Paul Coffey, Keith Primeau, and Detroit's 1997 1st round draft pick (Nikos Tselios).
November 9, 1996 - Andrei Nikolishin traded to the Washington Capitals for Curtis Leschyshyn.
December 15, 1996 - Paul Coffey and Hartford's 1997 3rd round draft pick (Kris Mallette) traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Kevin Haller, Philadelphia's 1997 1st round draft pick (later traded to San Jose - San Jose selected Scott Hannan), and Hartford's 1997 7th round draft pick (previously acquired, Carolina selected Andrew Merrick).
March 5, 1997 - Hnat Domenichelli, Glen Featherstone, New Jersey's 1997 2nd round draft pick (previously acquired, Calgary selected Dimitri Kokorev), and Vancouver's 1998 3rd round draft pick (previously acquired, Calgary selected Paul Manning) traded to the Calgary Flames for Steve Chiasson and Colorado's 1997 3rd round draft pick (previously acquired, Carolina selected Francis Lessard).
March 18, 1997 - Mark Janssens traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Bates Battaglia and Anaheim's 1998 4th round draft pick (Josef Vasicek).
March 18, 1997 - Gerald Diduck traded to the Phoenix Coyotes for Chris Murray.
March 18, 1997 - Hartford's 1997 5th round draft pick (Adam Edinger) traded to the New York Islanders for Derek King.
March 18, 1997 - Kelly Chase traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Toronto's 1998 8th round draft pick (Jaroslav Svoboda).

Free agents acquired/lost

Player	Former team

Player	New team

Draft picks

Hartford's picks at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
2	34	Trevor Wasyluk	Left Wing	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
3	61	Andrei Petrunin	Right Wing	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russia)
4	88	Craig MacDonald	Center	Canada	Harvard University (ECAC)
4	104	Steve Wasylko	Center	Canada	Detroit Whalers (OHL)
5	116	Mark McMahon	Defense	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
6	143	Aaron Baker	Goaltender	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
7	171	Greg Kuznik	Defense	Canada	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
8	197	Kevin Marsh	Left Wing	Canada	Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
9	223	Craig Adams	Right Wing	Canada	Harvard University (ECAC)
9	231	Askhat Rakhmatullin	Left Wing	Russia	Salavat Yulayev Ufa (Russia)

Farm teams

Roster

1996-97 Hartford Whalers

Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

8 – Geoff Sanderson
10 – Andrei Nikolishin
11 – Kevin Dineen - C
12 – Steven Rice
16 – Nelson Emerson
17 – Hnat Domenichelli
17 – Chris Murray
24 – Sami Kapanen
27 – Derek King
28 – Paul Ranheim
32 – Stu Grimson
37 – Jeff Daniels
39 – Kelly Chase
46 – Kevin Brown
94 – Brendan Shanahan - C

Centers

18 – Robert Kron
21 – Andrew Cassels
22 – Mark Janssens
26 – Steve Martins
44 – Kent Manderville
55 – Keith Primeau
92 – Jeff O'Neill
Coach: Paul Maurice
GM: Jim Rutherford

Departure from Hartford

In 1994, Compuware founder Peter Karmanos purchased the Whalers. Karmanos pledged to keep the Whalers in Hartford for four years. Frustrated with lackluster attendance and corporate support, he announced in 1996 that if the Whalers were unable to sell at least 11,000 season tickets for the 1996–97 season, he would likely move the team. Furthermore, ownership only made season tickets available in full-season (41-game) packages, eliminating the popular five- and ten-game "mini plans," in a strategy largely designed to spur purchases from wealthier corporations and individuals. Sales were underwhelming at the beginning of the campaign, and at the end of the 1995–96 season it was still unknown whether the Whalers would stay in Connecticut or move. However, thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign, and the creative efforts of many fans (who pooled together resources to purchase some of the full-season packages collectively) the Whalers announced that they would stay in Connecticut for the 1996–97 season.

In early 1996, negotiations between the Whalers and Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland to build a new $147.5 million arena seemed to be going well. However, negotiations fell apart when Rowland and the State refused Karmanos' demand to reimburse the Whalers for up to $45 million in losses during the three years the new arena was to be built. As a result, the team announced on March 26, 1997, that they would leave Hartford, one of the few times that a team announced it would leave its current city without having already selected a new city. Many suspected that Governor John G. Rowland did not want to keep the Whalers, as he harbored hopes of instead landing an NFL franchise. Ideally, Rowland wanted to use the state's resources to build a new stadium to lure the New England Patriots to Connecticut and did not have serious intentions of building an NHL arena for the Whalers.^[4] ^[5] ^[6]

References

Whalers on Hockey Database

↑ "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
↑ "1996–97 Hartford Whalers Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
↑ "1996-97 Hartford Whalers Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
↑ How's It Goin', Pete? Part 4
↑ "The Recorder". Archived from the original on 2007-05-15. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
↑ The Patriots Nix Hartford, Stay in Foxboro - Background Archived 2007-10-13 at the Wayback Machine.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.

[2] "1996–97 Hartford Whalers Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-21.

[3] "1996-97 Hartford Whalers Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-02.

[4] How's It Goin', Pete? Part 4

[5] "The Recorder". Archived from the original on 2007-05-15. Retrieved 2008-01-14.

[6] The Patriots Nix Hartford, Stay in Foxboro - Background Archived 2007-10-13 at the Wayback Machine.

Hartford Whalers seasons
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 Carolina

Hartford Whalers
Founded in 1972 Based in Hartford, Connecticut Relocated as the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players WHA players NHL players Captains Draft picks (Expansion draft) Seasons
History	NHL–WHA merger Records Award winners Retired numbers
Arenas	Boston Arena Boston Garden Big E Coliseum Springfield Civic Center Hartford Civic Center
Media	Broadcasters
Culture and lore	Brass Bonanza

Carolina Hurricanes
Formerly the New England/Hartford Whalers Founded in 1972 Based in Raleigh, North Carolina
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks (Expansion draft) Seasons Current season
History	Records Award winners Retired numbers
Personnel	Owners Thomas Dundon (majority) Peter Karmanos Jr. (minority) General manager Don Waddell Head coach Rod Brind'Amour Team captain Justin Williams Current roster
Arenas	Greensboro Coliseum PNC Arena
Affiliates	AHL Charlotte Checkers ECHL Florida Everblades
Media	Fox Sports South ESPN The Fan (99.9 FM) The Buzz (620 AM)
Culture and lore	Miracle at Molson 0.2 Seconds

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