1996–97 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season

The 1996–97 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season was the fourth season in franchise history. The team qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

1996–97 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Division	2nd Pacific
1996–97 record	36–33–13
Goals for	245
Goals against	233
Team information
General manager	Jack Ferreira
Coach	Ron Wilson
Captain	Paul Kariya
Arena	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
Team leaders
Goals	Teemu Selanne (51)
Assists	Teemu Selanne (58)
Points	Teemu Selanne (109)
Penalty minutes	Warren Rychel (218)
Plus/minus	Paul Kariya (+36)
Wins	Guy Hebert (29)
Goals against average	Guy Hebert (2.67)

Offseason

Forward Paul Kariya was named team captain, following the retirement of defenceman Randy Ladouceur.

The Ducks only made one trade in the summer as the team looked good enough for the future following last season's late run, trading Mike Maneluk to the Ottawa Senators for Kevin Brown on July 1st. Just before the season started Anaheim made another deal with Ottawa, trading Shaun Van Allen and Jason York in exchange for Ted Drury and Marc Moro.

Regular season

The previous season of 1995-96 the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim had just narrowly missed the playoffs after being in the chase for the first time. The team put together a run of 12-4-3 over the final two months of the season to finish even with the Winnipeg Jets at 78 points in the standings, but the Jets earned the final spot thanks to having one more win.

So the Mighty Ducks start to the 96–97 season with a month of October that saw the team go 1-9-2 including an eight-game losing streak was a huge disappointment to say the least. Anaheim was held to two or fewer goals eight times during the stretch, and the two times they exploded for six goals in a game they ended up having to settle for a tie.

With all of four points through the first month, Anaheim was bottom of the Pacific Division and the Western Conference. The division-leading Colorado Avalanche were 11 points clear, and the Los Angeles Kings held the eighth and final playoff spot six point clear of the Mighty Ducks. Over the course of the rest of the season three teams, including Anaheim, would unseat the teams in playoff positioning in the West after the first month.

The combination of Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya was synonymous with the Mighty Ducks of the mid-late 1990s, so lacking one half of that dynamic duo at the start of the season was a major issue. Kariya missed the first 11 games of the campaign with a pulled abdominal muscle, contributing greatly the Anaheim offensive woes.

Selanne lead the team in scoring through the first month with six goals and seven assists in the 12 games, with Kevin Todd in second with four goals and seven assists. Veteran Jari Kurri, signed in the offseason from the Rangers, contributed as well with three goals and four assists, while on the backend Roman Oksiuta chipped in three goals and five assists and Fredrik Olausson had two goals and three assists.

The lack of scoring punch affected the defense as well. For the full season Anaheim averaged 28.4 shots per game while allowing 32.7, yet during the opening month the Mighty Ducks put 26.8 shots on goal per game while allowing 32.5. Anaheim averaged 2.3 goals per game during October, well below their eventual season average of 3.0, while surrendering 4.2 against per game. Goalie Guy Hebert struggled as well, posting a .874 save percentage amidst the lack of support.

Anaheim didn't immediately vault up the standings with Kariya returning to the lineup in November, but the play stabilized and the team wouldn't lose more than three straight (which happened only twice) with Kariya and Selanne reunited. The offense kicked in to gear, with the Mighty Ducks averaging 3.3 goals per game in November and 3.7 goals per game in December.

By the time the All Star break rolled around Anaheim had pulled its season record up to 17-22-5, and Selanne, Kariya, and Hebert were all named to the Western Conference All Star team, giving the Mighty Ducks their first season with multiple All Star Game representatives. Selanne posted 25 goals and 31 assists in all 44 of the Mighty Ducks' games, while Kariya had 16 goals and 28 assists in 31 games. Hebert recovered as well, backstopping Anaheim to a 13-9-3 mark in his 26 starts following October with a .928 SV% and four shutouts during the span.

In the three months that followed the abysmal opening one, the Mighty Ducks didn't immediately vault upwards standings-wise, but they began winning more than they were losing. A 6-5-2 November was built upon with a 6-5-1 December. January saw Anaheim post a 7-5-1 mark before a 6-6-1 February. With two months left in the season the Mighty Ducks sat at 26-30-7, but were primed to make their big run.

After a 3–1 loss at the Great Western Forum to Los Angeles on February 20, Anaheim began its best run of form for the season. The Mighty Ducks picked up points in 12 consecutive games, going 7-0-5 from February 22 to March 19, winning five and tying three against eventual playoff qualifiers during the stretch. Selanne and Kariya again lead the way, Selanne with 11 goals and eight assists while Kariya posted seven goals and 10 assists.

Yet Anaheim also saw significant contributions from Steve Rucchin with two goals and nine assists, Joe Sacco's two goals and six assists, and Ted Drury potting four goals and dishing two assists. The defense chipped in with Dmitri Mironov scoring three goals and adding eight assists, while Darren Van Impe had two goals and five assists. Hebert was lights-out as well, appearing in every game during the streak with a .946 SV%, and had nine games with more than 30 saves and two with more than 40.

The Mighty Ducks closed the season out with another unbeaten streak, going 5-0-2 over the final seven games. From February 22 on Anaheim went a league-best 13-3-7 to help the team sew up its first winning record, first playoff berth, and home ice against the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round. Selanne finished second in the league with 51 goals and second with 109 points, while Kariya earned Lady Byng honors with 99 points in 69 games while taking just three minor penalties.

Final standings

Pacific Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Colorado Avalanche	82	49	24	9	277	205	107
2	4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	82	36	33	13	243	231	85
3	7	Edmonton Oilers	82	36	37	9	252	247	81
4	9	Vancouver Canucks	82	35	40	7	257	273	77
5	10	Calgary Flames	82	32	41	9	214	239	73
6	12	Los Angeles Kings	82	28	43	11	214	268	67
7	13	San Jose Sharks	82	27	47	8	211	278	62

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Western Conference[1]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Colorado Avalanche	PAC	82	49	24	9	277	205	107
2	Dallas Stars	CEN	82	48	26	8	252	198	104
3	Detroit Red Wings	CEN	82	38	26	18	253	197	94
4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PAC	82	36	33	13	245	233	85
5	Phoenix Coyotes	CEN	82	38	37	7	240	243	83
6	St. Louis Blues	CEN	82	36	35	11	236	239	83
7	Edmonton Oilers	PAC	82	36	37	9	252	247	81
8	Chicago Blackhawks	CEN	82	34	35	13	223	210	81
9	Vancouver Canucks	PAC	82	35	40	7	257	273	77
10	Calgary Flames	PAC	82	32	41	9	214	239	73
11	Toronto Maple Leafs	CEN	82	30	44	8	230	273	68
12	Los Angeles Kings	PAC	82	28	43	11	214	268	67
13	San Jose Sharks	PAC	82	27	47	8	211	278	62

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy

Schedule and results

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

[2]

Playoffs

The Mighty Ducks qualified for the playoffs for the first time. Anaheim beat Phoenix 4–3 in the 1st round but was swept in the 2nd round by Detroit 4–0.

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4, Phoenix Coyotes 3

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 16	Phoenix Coyotes	2-4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	1-0
2	April 18	Phoenix Coyotes	2-4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	2-0
3	April 20	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	1-4	Phoenix Coyotes	2-1
4	April 22	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	0-2	Phoenix Coyotes	2-2
5	April 24	Phoenix Coyotes	5-2	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	2-3
6	April 27	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	3-2 OT	Phoenix Coyotes	3-3
7	April 29	Phoenix Coyotes	0-3	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	4-3

Detroit Red Wings 4, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	May 2	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	1-2 OT	Detroit Red Wings	4-4
2	May 4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	2-3 OT	Detroit Red Wings	4-5
3	May 6	Detroit Red Wings	5-3	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	4-6
4	May 8	Detroit Red Wings	3-2 OT	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	4-7

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Teemu Selanne	78	51	58	109	34
Paul Kariya	69	44	55	99	6
Steve Rucchin	79	19	48	67	24
Dmitri Mironov	62	12	34	46	77
Jari Kurri	82	13	22	35	12
Kevin Todd	65	9	21	30	44
Joe Sacco	77	12	17	29	35
Brian Bellows	62	15	13	28	22
Darren Van Impe	74	4	19	23	90
Jean-Francois Jomphe	64	7	14	21	53
Ted Drury	73	9	9	18	54
Bobby Dollas	79	4	14	18	55
Warren Rychel	70	10	7	17	218
Sean Pronger	39	7	7	14	20
Garry Valk	53	7	7	14	53
Roman Oksiuta	28	6	7	13	22
Dave Karpa	69	2	11	13	210
J. J. Daigneault	13	2	9	11	22
Fredrik Olausson	20	2	9	11	8
Ken Baumgartner	67	0	11	11	182
Jason Marshall	73	1	9	10	140
Alex Hicks	18	2	6	8	14
Dan Trebil	29	3	3	6	23
Mike Leclerc	5	1	1	2	0
Richard Park	11	1	1	2	10
Mark Janssens	12	0	2	2	47
Valeri Karpov	9	1	0	1	16
Peter Leboutillier	23	1	0	1	121
Guy Hebert	67	0	1	1	4
Ruslan Salei	30	0	1	1	37
Nikolai Tsulygin	22	0	1	1	8
Shawn Antoski	2	0	0	0	2
Frank Banham	3	0	0	0	0
Barry Nieckar	2	0	0	0	5
Mike O'Neill	1	0	0	0	0
Adrien Plavsic	6	0	0	0	2
Craig Reichert	3	0	0	0	0
Mikhail Shtalenkov	24	0	0	0	4
Jeremy Stevenson	5	0	0	0	14

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
Guy Hebert	3863	67	29	25	12	172	2.67	2133	1961	.919	4
Mikhail Shtalenkov	1079	24	7	8	1	52	2.89	539	487	.904	2
Mike O'Neill	31	1	0	0	0	3	5.81	10	7	.700	0
Team:	4973	82	36	33	13	227	2.74	2682	2455	.915	6

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Paul Kariya	11	7	6	13	4
Dmitri Mironov	11	1	10	11	10
Teemu Selanne	11	7	3	10	4
J. J. Daigneault	11	2	7	9	16
Brian Bellows	11	2	4	6	2
Jari Kurri	11	1	2	3	4
Steve Rucchin	8	1	2	3	10
Joe Sacco	11	2	0	2	2
Dave Karpa	8	1	1	2	20
Sean Pronger	9	0	2	2	4
Warren Rychel	11	0	2	2	19
Darren Van Impe	9	0	2	2	16
Ted Drury	10	1	0	1	4
Ken Baumgartner	11	0	1	1	11
Jason Marshall	7	0	1	1	4
Richard Park	11	0	1	1	2
Dan Trebil	9	0	1	1	6
Bobby Dollas	11	0	0	0	4
Guy Hebert	9	0	0	0	0
Mark Janssens	11	0	0	0	15
Mike Leclerc	1	0	0	0	0
Igor Nikulin	1	0	0	0	0
Mikhail Shtalenkov	4	0	0	0	2
Kevin Todd	4	0	0	0	2

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
Guy Hebert	534	9	4	4		18	2.02	255	237	.929	1
Mikhail Shtalenkov	211	4	0	3		10	2.84	162	152	.938	0
Team:	745	11	4	7		28	2.26	417	389	.933	1

[3]

Awards and records

Awards

• Paul Kariya – Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

Records

• Teemu Selanne – most points in a season (109)
• Paul Kariya – most plus/minus in a season (+36)
• Guy Hebert – most ties in a season (12)
• Guy Hebert – most shots against in a season (2133)

Transactions

July 1, 1996	To Mighty Ducks Kevin Brown	To Ottawa Senators Mike Maneluk
October 1, 1996	To Mighty Ducks Espen Knutsen	To Hartford Whalers Kevin Brown
October 1, 1996	To Mighty Ducks Ted Drury Marc Moro	To Ottawa Senators Shaun Van Allen Jason York
November 18, 1996	To Mighty Ducks Brian Bellows	To Tampa Bay Lightning 6th-round pick in 1997
November 19, 1996	To Mighty Ducks Shawn Antoski Dmitri Mironov	To Pittsburgh Penguins Alex Hicks Fredrik Olausson
February 21, 1997	To Mighty Ducks J. J. Daigneault	To Pittsburgh Penguins Garry Valk
March 18, 1997	To Mighty Ducks Richard Park	To Pittsburgh Penguins Roman Oksiuta
March 18, 1997	To Mighty Ducks Mark Janssens	To Hartford Whalers Bates Battaglia 4th-round pick in 1998

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	9	Ruslan Salei (Defense)	Belarus	Las Vegas Thunder (IHL)
2	35	Matt Cullen (Center)	United States	St. Cloud State University (NCAA)
5	117	Brendan Buckley (Defense)	United States	Boston College (NCAA)
6	149	Blaine Russell (Goalie)	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
7	172	Timo Ahmaoja (Defense)	Finland	JYP (Finland)
8	198	Kevin Kellett (Defense)	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
9	224	Tobias Johansson (Left wing)	Sweden	Malmo IF (Sweden)

Farm teams

Baltimore Bandits

See also

• Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
• Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
• 1996–97 NHL season

Other Anaheim–based teams in 1996–97

• California/Anaheim Angels (Anaheim Stadium)
  • 1996 California Angels season
  • 1997 Anaheim Angels season
• Los Angeles Clippers (Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim)
  • 1996–97 Los Angeles Clippers season*

*Played Occasional Games in Anaheim

References

1. "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
2. "1996–97 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
3. "1996-97 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-27.