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)
<1995–96	1997–98 >

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.

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

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

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

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;

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

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)

Roster

1996-97 Hartford Whalers
Goaltenders 1 – Sean Burke  29 – Jason Muzzatti  47 – Jean-Sebastien Giguere		Defensemen 3 – Steve Chiasson  4 – Gerald Diduck  5 – Alexander Godynyuk  6 – Adam Burt  7 – Brian Glynn  7 – Curtis Leschyshyn  14 – Kevin Haller  20 – Glen Wesley  23 – Marek Malík  25 – Jason McBain  27 – Jeff Brown  36 – Glen Featherstone  41 – Nolan Pratt  77 – Paul Coffey		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.

References

• Whalers on Hockey Database