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1996-97 was the Ottawa Senators' best season in team history. The club recorded a total of 77 points (31-36-15), a .470 winning percentage, and set club records for wins, ties and points both at home and on the road in a season. Ottawa also posted its best ever conference placing (7th) and played in its first Stanley Cup playoff series taking the Buffalo Sabres to overtime in the final game of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final series MONTH BY MONTHOn a month by month basis, the Senators were most successful in April with a .714 winning percentage (5-2-0), and recorded their toughest month in December at .375 (4-7-1). They also had winning months in October (3-3-4, .500) and February (6-5-3, .536). FIRST AND SECOND HALF PERFORMANCEAfter the first 41 games, the Senators had 32 points from their 12 wins and 8 ties. This was just 9 points shy of the team record for points in a season, 41, reached by the 1995-96 team. At the mid-way point of the 1996-97 season, the Senators had a winning percentage of .390 - tied for 24th overall with Los Angeles and the New York Islanders, and tied for 12th spot with the Islanders in the Eastern Conference. The second half for the Senators saw them record 45 points, winning 19 times, tying 7 and losing 15 games for a .549 winning percentage. In winning percentage and points, Ottawa jumped from the 24th position in the first half to tied for 7th place overall with Chicago in the final 41 games of the season, and within the Eastern Conference the Senators moved from 12th to 3rd behind New Jersey (.646) and Philadelphia (.597). DIVISIONAL CONFRONTATIONThe Senators recorded winning records against three of the four divisions. Within the Eastern Conference, Ottawa had a .500 winning percentage (12-12-4) against the Northeast, and .518 against the Atlantic teams. Versus the Western Conference teams, Ottawa was most successful against the Central Division, recording a .500 winning percentage, but had a tough time against the Pacific division (.286, 2-8-4). AT HOME AND ON THE ROADThe Senators finished the season with a .488 winning percentage (16-17-8) at home and a .451 winning percentage (15-19-7) on the road. Ottawa started out the season with a 6-game undefeated streak at home (3-0-3), wrapped up the season winning its last four games at home, and went undefeated in their last five (4-0-1). Ottawa's most successful streak on the road (4 undefeated games) came in March with three wins and a tie from March 10 (at Montreal) to 22 (at Boston). SPECIAL TEAMSThe Senators' penalty killing ranked 20th overall for the season with a 81.9% kill rate (48 goals on 256 attempts). Ottawa was 11th overall in power-plays, scoring on 16.7% of their opportunities (56 goals on 336 attempts). Ottawa also scored 9 short-handed goals (tied for 16th) during the 1996-97 season. The Senators won the NHL's Duracell Power-Play Award for the month of December with a 26.7% success rate (12 of 45). TEAM COMPETITIVENESSOttawa was one of the toughest teams in the league when going into the third period with a lead. In the 29 games the Senators took a lead into the final 20 minutes they were undefeated, winning 24 times and tying 5 others. When Ottawa scored first in a game, they won 67.2% of the time (19-8-5), and when they took a lead into the second period, they won 68.0% of the time (15-6-4). OVERTIMEOttawa finished the season with a 0-2-15 overtime record. While the Senators took one point in 15 of the games, they suffered losses to only Anaheim (4-4 on Dec. 30) and the Rangers (4-3 on Mar. 14). NHL WEEKLY AND MONTHLY AWARDSTwo Senator players received NHL honours this season. Goalkeeper Ron Tugnutt was named NHL player of the Week for April 7-13 and Player of Month for April. Defenceman Wade Redden was chosen Rookie of the Month for April. NEW ACQUISITIONSThe Senators made two acquisitions during the 1996-97 season. On November 27, Ottawa acquired defenceman Christer Olsson from St. Louis for the rights to Pavel Demitra. At the trading deadline, March 18, Ottawa obtained forward Mike Prokopec from Chicago for forward Denis Chasse, the rights to junior defenceman Kevin Bolibruck and Ottawa's 6th pick in the 1998 draft. RECORDS BROKENMost wins (31) ... Most ties (15) ... Most points (77) ...Most home wins (16) ...Most home ties (15) ... Most home points (40) ... Most road wins (15) ... Most road ties (7) ... Most road points (37) ... Less shots against, game (14) ... Most goals (Yashin, 35) |
RD. PLAYER OVERALL ------------------------------- 1 PHILLIPS, CHRIS 1 4 NEIMI, ANTTI-JUSSI 81 6 DACKELL, ANDREAS 136 7 HARDY, FRANCOIS 163 8 GOLDMANN, E. 212 9 CIERNIK, IVAN 216 9 SALO, SAMMI 239 |
CLUB GP W L T GF GA PTS PCTG -------------------------------------------------- DALLAS 82 48 26 8 252 198 104 .634 DETROIT 82 38 26 18 253 197 94 .573 PHOENIX 82 38 37 7 240 243 83 .506 ST. LOUIS 82 36 35 11 236 239 83 .506 CHICAGO 82 34 35 13 223 210 81 .494 TORONTO 82 30 44 8 230 273 68 .415 |
CLUB GP W L T GF GA PTS PCTG -------------------------------------------------- COLORADO 82 49 24 9 277 205 107 .652 ANAHEIM 82 36 33 13 245 233 85 .518 EDMONTON 82 36 37 9 252 247 81 .494 VANCOUVER 82 35 40 7 257 273 77 .470 CALGARY 82 32 41 9 214 239 73 .445 LOS ANGELES 82 28 43 11 214 268 67 .409 SAN JOSE 82 27 47 8 211 278 62 .378 |
CLUB GP W L T GF GA PTS PCTG -------------------------------------------------- BUFFALO 82 40 30 12 237 208 92 .561 PITTSBURGH 82 38 36 8 285 280 84 .512 OTTAWA 82 31 36 15 226 234 77 .470 MONTREAL 82 31 36 15 249 276 77 .470 HARTFORD 82 32 39 11 226 256 75 .457 BOSTON 82 26 47 9 234 300 61 .372 |
CLUB GP W L T GF GA PTS PCTG -------------------------------------------------- NEW JERSEY 82 45 23 14 231 182 104 .634 PHILADELPHIA 82 45 24 13 274 217 103 .628 FLORIDA 82 35 28 19 221 201 89 .543 NY RANGERS 82 38 34 10 258 231 86 .524 WASHINGTON 82 33 40 9 214 231 75 .457 NY ISLANDERS 82 29 41 12 240 250 70 .427 TAMPA BAY 82 32 40 10 217 247 74 .451 |
CLUB GP W L T GF GA PTS PCTG -------------------------------------------------- NEW JERSEY 82 45 23 14 231 182 104 .634 PHILADELPHIA 82 45 24 13 274 217 103 .628 BUFFALO 82 40 30 12 237 208 92 .561 FLORIDA 82 35 28 19 221 201 89 .543 NY RANGERS 82 38 34 10 258 231 86 .524 PITTSBURGH 82 38 36 8 285 280 84 .512 OTTAWA 82 31 36 15 226 234 77 .470 MONTREAL 82 31 36 15 249 276 77 .470 HARTFORD 82 32 39 11 226 256 75 .457 WASHINGTON 82 33 40 9 214 231 75 .457 TAMPA BAY 82 32 40 10 217 247 74 .451 NY ISLANDERS 82 29 41 12 240 250 70 .427 BOSTON 82 26 47 9 234 300 61 .372 |
CLUB GP W L T GF GA PTS PCTG -------------------------------------------------- COLORADO 82 49 24 9 277 205 107 .652 DALLAS 82 48 26 8 252 198 104 .634 DETROIT 82 38 26 18 253 197 94 .573 ANAHEIM 82 36 33 13 245 233 85 .518 PHOENIX 82 38 37 7 240 243 83 .506 ST. LOUIS 82 36 35 11 236 239 83 .506 EDMONTON 82 36 37 9 252 247 81 .494 CHICAGO 82 34 35 13 223 210 81 .494 VANCOUVER 82 35 40 7 257 273 77 .470 CALGARY 82 32 41 9 214 239 73 .445 TORONTO 82 30 44 8 230 273 68 .415 LOS ANGELES 82 28 43 11 214 268 67 .409 SAN JOSE 82 27 47 8 211 278 62 .378 |
CLUB GP W L T GF GA PTS PCTG -------------------------------------------------- COLORADO 82 49 24 9 277 205 107 .652 DALLAS 82 48 26 8 252 198 104 .634 NEW JERSEY 82 45 23 14 231 182 104 .634 PHILADELPHIA 82 45 24 13 274 217 103 .628 DETROIT 82 38 26 18 253 197 94 .573 BUFFALO 82 40 30 12 237 208 92 .561 FLORIDA 82 35 28 19 221 201 89 .543 NY RANGERS 82 38 34 10 258 231 86 .524 ANAHEIM 82 36 33 13 245 233 85 .518 PITTSBURGH 82 38 36 8 285 280 84 .512 PHOENIX 82 38 37 7 240 243 83 .506 ST. LOUIS 82 36 35 11 236 239 83 .506 EDMONTON 82 36 37 9 252 247 81 .494 CHICAGO 82 34 35 13 223 210 81 .494 OTTAWA 82 31 36 15 226 234 77 .470 MONTREAL 82 31 36 15 249 276 77 .470 VANCOUVER 82 35 40 7 257 273 77 .470 HARTFORD 82 32 39 11 226 256 75 .457 WASHINGTON 82 33 40 9 214 231 75 .457 TAMPA BAY 82 32 40 10 217 247 74 .451 CALGARY 82 32 41 9 214 239 73 .445 NY ISLANDERS 82 29 41 12 240 250 70 .427 TORONTO 82 30 44 8 230 273 68 .415 LOS ANGELES 82 28 43 11 214 268 67 .409 SAN JOSE 82 27 47 8 211 278 62 .378 BOSTON 82 26 47 9 234 300 61 .372 |
NO PLAYER TEAM GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 ALEXEI YASHIN OTT 82 35 40 75 7- 44 10 0 5 1 291 12.0 11 DANIEL ALFREDSSON OTT 76 24 47 71 5 30 11 1 1 2 247 9.7 91 ALEXANDRE DAIGLE OTT 82 26 25 51 33- 33 4 0 5 2 203 12.8 28 STEVE DUCHENSE OTT 78 19 28 47 9- 38 10 2 3 0 208 9.1 7 RANDY CUNNEYWORTH OTT 76 12 24 36 7- 99 6 0 3 0 115 10.4 10 ANDREAS DACKELL OTT 79 12 19 31 6- 8 2 0 3 0 79 15.2 15 SHAWN MCEACHERN OTT 65 11 20 31 5- 18 0 1 2 0 150 7.3 6 WADE REDDEN OTT 82 6 24 30 1 41 2 0 1 0 102 5.9 16 SERGEI ZHOLTOK OTT 57 12 16 28 2 19 5 0 0 0 96 12.5 17 TOM CHORSKE OTT 68 18 8 26 1- 16 1 1 1 0 116 15.5 22 SHAUN VAN ALLEN OTT 80 11 14 25 8- 35 1 1 2 0 123 8.9 25 BRUCE GARDINER OTT 67 11 10 21 4 49 0 1 2 2 94 11.7 33 JASON YORK OTT 75 4 17 21 8- 67 1 0 0 0 121 3.3 27 JANNE LAUKKANEN OTT 76 3 18 21 14- 76 2 0 0 0 109 2.8 42 DENNY LAMBERT OTT 80 4 16 20 4- 217 0 0 1 0 58 6.9 76 RADEK BONK OTT 53 5 13 18 4- 14 0 1 0 1 82 6.1 2 LANCE PITLICK OTT 66 5 5 10 2 91 0 0 1 0 54 9.3 38 JASON ZENT OTT 22 3 3 6 5 9 0 0 0 0 20 15.0 23 CHRISTER OLSSON OTT 30 2 4 6 4- 10 1 0 0 0 26 7.7 20 DENIS CHASSE OTT 22 1 4 5 3 19 0 0 0 0 12 8.3 3 FRANK MUSIL OTT 57 0 5 5 6 58 0 0 0 0 24 .0 14 DAVE HANNAN OTT 34 2 2 4 1- 8 0 1 1 0 16 12.5 1 DAMIAN RHODES OTT 50 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 29 PHIL VONSTEFENELLI OTT 6 0 1 1 3- 7 0 0 0 0 2 .0 21 DENNIS VIAL OTT 11 0 1 1 0 25 0 0 0 0 4 .0 44 RADIM BICANEK OTT 21 0 1 1 4- 8 0 0 0 0 27 .0 26 PHIL CROWE OTT 26 0 1 1 0 30 0 0 0 0 8 .0 31 RON TUGNUTT OTT 37 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 35 MIKE BALES OTT 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 4 SEAN HILL OTT 5 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 9 .0 94 STAN NECKAR OTT 5 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 3 .0
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