1996–97 St. Louis Blues season

The highlight of the 1996–97 St. Louis Blues season was, after losing Wayne Gretzky the Blues were in turmoil as an ugly public feud between Brett Hull and coach Mike Keenan developed. This was the last season until early 2009, that a huge Blue note would appear at center ice

1996–97 St. Louis Blues
Division	4th Central
Conference	6th Western
1996–97 record	36–35–11
Home record	17–20–4
Road record	19–15–7
Goals for	236
Goals against	239
Team information
General manager	Mike Keenan
Coach	Mike Keenan Jimmy Roberts (interim) Joel Quenneville
Captain	Vacant
Arena	Kiel Center

Offseason

After losing captain Wayne Gretzky to free-agency, the Blues were in turmoil as an ugly public feud between Brett Hull and Coach Mike Keenan developed, as the Blues got off to a slow start. On December 19 the Keenan era would come to a sudden end as he is fired as GM and Coach. Eventually he would be replaced by assistant coach Jimmy Roberts. Roberts' stint as interim head coach lasted nine games, as the team would hire Colorado Avalanche assistant coach Joel Quenneville to serve as the team's head coach. The change worked with Quenneville behind the bench as the Blues recovered and made the playoffs for the 18th straight season with a 36–35–11 record. However, once again the Blues would make a quick exit in the playoffs as they are beaten by the Detroit Red Wings in 6 games.[1]

Regular season

Final standings

Central Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Dallas Stars	82	48	26	8	252	198	104
2	3	Detroit Red Wings	82	38	26	18	253	197	94
3	5	Phoenix Coyotes	82	38	37	7	240	243	83
4	6	St. Louis Blues	82	36	35	11	236	239	83
5	8	Chicago Blackhawks	82	34	35	13	223	210	81
6	11	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	30	44	8	230	273	68

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[2]

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

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

Playoffs

The Blues lost 4 games to 2 to the Detroit Red Wings in the first round.

1997 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Western Conference Quarter-Final vs. Detroit Red Wings (6) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 April 16 St. Louis 2 – 0 Detroit 1 – 0 2 April 18 St. Louis 1 – 2 Detroit 1 – 1 3 April 20 Detroit 3 – 2 St. Louis 1 – 2 4 April 22 Detroit 0 – 4 St. Louis 2 – 2 5 April 25 St. Louis 2 – 5 Detroit 2 – 3 6 April 27 Detroit 3 – 1 St. Louis 2 – 4

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Brett Hull	RW	77	42	40	82	10	-9	12	2	6
Pierre Turgeon	C	69	25	49	74	12	4	5	0	7
Geoff Courtnall	LW	82	17	40	57	86	3	4	0	2
Joe Murphy	RW	75	20	25	45	69	-1	4	1	2
Jim Campbell	RW	68	23	20	43	68	3	5	0	6
Al MacInnis	D	72	13	30	43	65	2	6	1	1
Stephane Matteau	LW	74	16	20	36	50	11	1	2	2
Chris Pronger	D	79	11	24	35	143	15	4	0	0
Harry York	C	74	14	18	32	24	1	3	1	3
Igor Kravchuk	D	82	4	24	28	35	7	1	0	0
Róbert Petrovický	C	44	7	12	19	10	2	0	0	1
Scott Pellerin	LW	54	8	10	18	35	12	0	2	2
Craig Conroy	C	61	6	11	17	43	0	0	0	1
Peter Zezel	C	35	4	9	13	12	6	0	0	1
Ricard Persson	D	53	4	8	12	45	-2	1	0	0
Craig MacTavish	C	50	2	5	7	33	-12	0	0	0
Brian Noonan	RW	13	2	5	7	0	2	0	0	0
Jamie Rivers	D	15	2	5	7	6	-4	1	0	0
Libor Zabransky	D	34	1	5	6	44	-1	0	0	1
Mike Peluso	LW	44	2	3	5	158	0	0	0	0
Sergio Momesso	LW	31	1	3	4	37	-4	0	0	0
Marc Bergevin	D	82	0	4	4	53	-9	0	0	0
Pavol Demitra	LW	8	3	0	3	2	0	2	0	1
Shayne Corson	LW	11	2	1	3	24	-4	1	0	0
Stephen Leach	RW	17	2	1	3	24	-2	0	0	0
Konstantin Shafranov	RW	5	2	1	3	0	1	0	0	0
Rob Pearson	RW	18	1	2	3	37	-5	0	0	0
Tony Twist	LW	64	1	2	3	121	-8	0	0	0
Murray Baron	D	11	0	2	2	11	-4	0	0	0
Grant Fuhr	G	73	0	2	2	6	0	0	0	0
Trent Yawney	D	39	0	2	2	17	2	0	0	0
Yuri Khmylev	LW	2	1	0	1	2	-1	0	0	0
Gary Leeman	RW	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jamal Mayers	RW	6	0	1	1	2	-3	0	0	0
Christer Olsson	D	5	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
Jon Casey	G	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rory Fitzpatrick	D	2	0	0	0	2	-2	0	0	0
Chris McAlpine	D	15	0	0	0	24	-2	0	0	0
Alexander Vasilevski	RW	3	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Grant Fuhr	4261	73	33	27	11	193	2.72	3	1940	1747	.901
Jon Casey	707	15	3	8	0	40	3.39	0	299	259	.866
Team:	4968	82	36	35	11	233	2.81	3	2239	2006	.896

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Brett Hull	RW	6	2	7	9	2	4	0	0	0
Geoff Courtnall	LW	6	3	1	4	23	0	1	0	2
Pavol Demitra	LW	6	1	3	4	6	3	0	0	0
Al MacInnis	D	6	1	2	3	4	-1	1	0	0
Joe Murphy	RW	6	1	1	2	10	-2	1	0	0
Chris Pronger	D	6	1	1	2	22	0	0	0	0
Pierre Turgeon	C	5	1	1	2	2	0	1	0	0
Marc Bergevin	D	6	1	0	1	8	2	0	0	0
Jim Campbell	RW	4	1	0	1	6	-1	1	0	0
Chris McAlpine	D	4	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
Craig Conroy	C	6	0	0	0	8	-1	0	0	0
Grant Fuhr	G	6	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
Igor Kravchuk	D	2	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Stephen Leach	RW	6	0	0	0	33	-2	0	0	0
Craig MacTavish	C	1	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Stephane Matteau	LW	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sergio Momesso	LW	3	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0
Scott Pellerin	LW	6	0	0	0	6	-1	0	0	0
Mike Peluso	LW	5	0	0	0	25	-1	0	0	0
Ricard Persson	D	6	0	0	0	27	-1	0	0	0
Robert Petrovicky	C	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Tony Twist	LW	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Harry York	C	5	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Grant Fuhr	357	6	2	4	13	2.18	2	183	170	.929
Team:	357	6	2	4	13	2.18	2	183	170	.929

[3]

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;

Roster

	Center Pierre Turgeon Harry York Robert Petrovicky Craig Conroy Peter Zezel Craig MacTavish Pavol Demitra		Right Wing Brett Hull Joe Murphy Jim Campbell Brian Noonan Konstantin Shafronov Steve Leach Rob Pearson Gary Leeman Jamal Mayers Alex Vasilevsky		Left Wing Geoff Courtnall Stephane Matteau Scott Pellerin Sergio Momesso Shayne Corson Tony Twist Yuri Khmylev		Defense Al MacInnis Chris Pronger Igor Kravchuk Ricard Persson Jamie Rivers Libor Zabransky Mike Peluso Marc Bergevin Murray Baron Trent Yawney Christer Olsson Rory Fitzpatrick Chris McAlpine		Goalie Grant Fuhr Jon Casey GM: Larry Pleau Coach: Joel Quenneville

Draft picks

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

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	14	Marty Reasoner	United States	Boston College (Hockey East)
3	67	Gordie Dwyer	Canada	Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL)
4	95	Jon Zukiwsky	Canada	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
4	97	Andrei Petrakov	Russia	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (Russia)
6	159	Stephen Wagner	Canada	Olds Grizzlys (AJHL)
7	169	Daniel Corso	Canada	Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)
7	177	Reed Low	Canada	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
8	196	Andrej Podkonicky	Slovakia	ZTK Zvolen (Slovakia)
8	203	Anthony Hutchins	United States	Lawrence Academy (USHS–MA)
9	229	Konstantin Shafranov	Kazakhstan	Fort Wayne Komets (IHL)

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1996 NHL Entry Draft
• 46th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• NHL All-Rookie Team
• 1996 in sports
• 1997 in sports

References

1. St. Louis Blues (1967-Present)
2. "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
3. "1996-97 St. Louis Blues Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-15.

External links

• Blues on Hockey Database
• Hickok Sports
• The National Hockey League Web Site
• Official website of the St. Louis Blues
• The HockeyNut