1996–97 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1996–97 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	2nd Northeast
Conference	6th Eastern
1996–97 record	38–36–8
Home record	25–11–5
Road record	13–25–3
Goals for	285
Goals against	280
Team information
General Manager	Craig Patrick
Coach	Eddie Johnston Craig Patrick
Captain	Mario Lemieux
Alternate captains	Ron Francis Jaromir Jagr
Arena	Civic Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Mario Lemieux (50)
Assists	Mario Lemieux (72)
Points	Mario Lemieux (122)
Penalties in minutes	Dave Roche (155)
Wins	Patrick Lalime (21)
Goals against average	Patrick Lalime (2.94)
<1995–96	1997–98>

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 led 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 led 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.
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

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

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

Playoffs

1997 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Round 1: 1–4 (Home: 1–1 ; Road: 0–3) # April Visitor Score Home Record 1 17 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–5 Philadelphia Flyers 0–1 2 19 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–3 Philadelphia Flyers 0–2 3 21 Philadelphia Flyers 5–3 Pittsburgh Penguins 0–3 4 23 Philadelphia Flyers 1–4 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–3 5 26 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–6 Philadelphia Flyers 1–4
Legend:           = Win           = Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Mario Lemieux	76	50	72	122	27	65
Jaromir Jagr	63	47	48	95	22	40
Ron Francis	81	27	63	90	7	20
Petr Nedved	74	33	38	71	–2	66
Kevin Hatcher	80	15	39	54	11	103
Stu Barnes†	62	17	22	39	–20	16
Jason Woolley†	57	6	30	36	3	28
Fredrik Olausson†	51	7	20	27	21	24
Tomas Sandstrom‡	40	9	15	24	4	33
Glen Murray‡	66	11	11	22	–19	24
Joe Mullen	54	7	15	22	0	4
Alex Hicks†	55	5	15	20	–6	76
Joe Dziedzic	59	9	9	18	–4	63
Darius Kasparaitis†	57	2	16	18	24	84
J. J. Daigneault‡	53	3	14	17	–5	36
Greg Johnson†	32	7	9	16	–13	14
Eddie Olczyk†	12	4	7	11	8	6
Dave Roche	61	5	5	10	–13	155
Ian Moran	36	4	5	9	–11	22
Andreas Johansson†	27	2	7	9	–6	20
Garry Valk†	17	3	4	7	–6	25
Chris Tamer	45	2	4	6	–25	131
Dmitri Mironov‡	15	1	5	6	–4	24
Alek Stojanov	35	1	4	5	3	79
Craig Muni	64	0	4	4	–6	36
Tyler Wright	45	2	2	4	–7	70
Jeffrey Christian	11	2	2	4	–3	13
Petr Klima†‡	9	1	3	4	–4	4
Josef Beranek	8	3	1	4	–1	4
Francois Leroux	59	0	3	3	–3	81
Dan Quinn	16	0	3	3	–6	10
Neil Wilkinson	23	0	0	0	–12	36
Shawn Antoski‡	13	0	0	0	0	49
Roman Oksiuta†	7	0	0	0	–4	4
Ed Patterson	6	0	0	0	0	8
Stefan Bergqvist	5	0	0	0	–1	7
Richard Park‡	1	0	0	0	–1	0
Domenic Pittis	1	0	0	0	–1	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Jaromir Jagr	5	4	4	8	–4	4
Mario Lemieux	5	3	3	6	–4	4
Ron Francis	5	1	2	3	–7	2
Petr Nedved	5	1	2	3	–2	12
Jason Woolley	5	0	3	3	–1	0
Ian Moran	5	1	2	3	1	4
Kevin Hatcher	5	1	1	2	–5	4
Stu Barnes	5	0	1	1	0	0
Alex Hicks	5	0	1	1	–1	2
Joe Dziedzic	5	0	1	1	–1	4
Greg Johnson	5	1	0	1	–1	2
Eddie Olczyk	5	1	0	1	–2	12
Fredrik Olausson	4	0	1	1	–1	0
Darius Kasparaitis	5	0	0	0	–4	6
Josef Beranek	5	0	0	0	–4	2
Neil Wilkinson	5	0	0	0	–2	4
Chris Tamer	4	0	0	0	–1	4
Craig Muni	3	0	0	0	0	0
Francois Leroux	3	0	0	0	0	0
Joe Mullen	1	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Patrick Lalime	39	2057:35	21	12	2	101	2.95	1166	0.913	3	0	0	0
Ken Wregget	46	2514:23	17	17	6	136	3.25	1383	0.902	2	0	1	6
Tom Barrasso	5	269:37	0	5	0	26	5.79	186	0.860	0	0	0	0
Philippe De Rouville	2	111:08	0	2	0	6	3.24	66	0.909	0	0	0	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Ken Wregget	5	297:28	1	4	0	18	3.63	211	0.915	0	0	0	2

^†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.

Awards and records

Awards

Player	Award
Stu Barnes	Unsung Hero Award
Joe Dziedzic	Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award
Jaromir Jagr	NHL Second All-Star Team
Patrick Lalime	Michel Briere Memorial Rookie of the Year Award NHL All-Rookie Team
Mario Lemieux	Leading Point Scorer Award Booster Club Award Most Valuable Player Award Art Ross Memorial Trophy NHL First All-Star Team
Joe Mullen	Pittsburgh Penguins Masterton Nominee Bob Johnson Memorial Award Player's Player Award
Chris Tamer	Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award
Ken Wregget	Disaster Specialists "Baz" Bastien Memorial "Good Guy" Award

Transactions

The Penguins have been involved in the following transactions during the 1996–97 season:

Trades

October 25, 1996	To Los Angeles Kings 1997 conditional pick (not exercised)	To Pittsburgh Penguins Petr Klima
November 17, 1996	To New York Islanders Bryan Smolinski	To Pittsburgh Penguins Andreas Johansson Darius Kasparaitis
November 19, 1996	To Florida Panthers Chris Wells	To Pittsburgh Penguins Stu Barnes Jason Woolley
November 19, 1996	To Anaheim Ducks Shawn Antoski Dmitri Mironov	To Pittsburgh Penguins Alex Hicks Fredrik Olausson
January 27, 1997	To Detroit Red Wings Tomas Sandstrom	To Pittsburgh Penguins Greg Johnson
February 21, 1997	To Anaheim Ducks Jean-Jacques Daigneault	To Pittsburgh Penguins Garry Valk
March 18, 1997	To Anaheim Ducks Richard Park	To Pittsburgh Penguins Roman Oksiuta
March 18, 1997	To Los Angeles Kings Glen Murray	To Pittsburgh Penguins Ed Olczyk
March 18, 1997	To Vancouver Canucks future considerations (1998 5th round pick)	To Pittsburgh Penguins Josef Beranek

Free agents acquired

Player	Former team	Date
Kevin Todd	Los Angeles Kings	July 10, 1996
Dan Quinn	Philadelphia Flyers	July 31, 1996
Shawn Antoski	Philadelphia Flyers	July 31, 1996
Joe Mullen	Boston Bruins	September 5, 1996
Craig Muni	Winnipeg Jets	October 2, 1996

Free agents lost

Player	New team	Date
Kevin Miller	Chicago Blackhawks	July 18, 1996
Dave McLlwain	New York Islanders	July 29, 1996
Greg Hawgood	San Jose Sharks	September 7, 1996
Petr Klima	Edmonton Oilers	February 26, 1997

Lost via waivers

Date	Player	New team
September 30, 1996	Chris Joseph	Vancouver Canucks
September 30, 1996	Corey Foster	New York Islanders
October 4, 1996	Kevin Todd	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

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

Personnel

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	NHL Draft	Birthplace
14		Stu Barnes	C	R	26	1989	Spruce Grove, Alberta
35		Tom Barrasso	G	R	32	1983	Boston, Massachusetts
15		Josef Beranek	LW	L	27	1989	Litvinov, Czech Republic
3		Stefan Bergqvist	D	L	22	1993	Leksand, Sweden
72		Jeffrey Christian	LW	L	26	1988	Burlington, Ontario
30		Philippe De Rouville	G	L	22	1992	Victoriaville, Quebec
16		Joe Dziedzic	LW	L	25	1990	Minneapolis, Minnesota
10		Ron Francis	C	L	34	1981	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
4		Kevin Hatcher	D	R	30	1984	Detroit, Michigan
33		Alex Hicks	LW	L	27	Undrafted	Calgary, Alberta
68		Jaromir Jagr	RW	L	25	1990	Kladno, Czech Republic
38		Andreas Johansson	LW	L	24	1991	Hofors, Sweden
9		Greg Johnson	C	L	26	1989	Thunder Bay, Ontario
11		Darius Kasparaitis	D	L	24	1992	Elektrenai, Lithuania
40		Patrick Lalime	G	L	22	1993	St. Bonaventure, Quebec
66		Mario Lemieux	C	R	31	1984	Montreal, Quebec
18		Francois Leroux	D	L	27	1988	Ste-Adele, Quebec
24		Ian Moran	D	R	24	1990	Cleveland, Ohio
7		Joe Mullen	RW	R	40	Undrafted	New York City, New York
28		Craig Muni	D	L	34	1980	Toronto, Ontario
93		Petr Nedved	C	L	25	1990	Liberec, Czech Republic
20		Roman Oksiuta	RW	L	26	1989	Murmansk, Russia
23		Fredrik Olausson	D	R	30	1985	Dadesjo, Sweden
27		Eddie Olczyk	RW	L	30	1984	Chicago, Illinois
44		Ed Patterson	RW	R	24	1991	Delta, British Columbia
23		Domenic Pittis	C	L	22	1993	Calgary, Alberta
9		Dan Quinn	C	L	32	1983	Ottawa, Ontario
51		Dave Roche	LW	L	21	1993	Lindsay, Ontario
25		Alek Stojanov	RW	L	24	1991	Windsor, Ontario
2		Chris Tamer	D	L	26	1990	Dearborn, Michigan
8		Garry Valk	LW	L	29	1987	Edmonton, Alberta
6		Neil Wilkinson	D	R	29	1986	Selkirk, Manitoba
22		Jason Woolley	D	L	27	1989	Toronto, Ontario
31		Ken Wregget	G	L	33	1982	Brandon, Manitoba
29		Tyler Wright	C	R	24	1991	Kamsac, Saskatchewan

Draft picks

See also: List of Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks

Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	23	Craig Hillier	Goaltender	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
2	28	Pavel Skrbek	Defense	Czech Republic	HC Kladno (Czech)
3	72	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	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

• ^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