1996–97 San Jose Sharks season

1996–97 San Jose Sharks
1996–97 San Jose Sharks
Division	7th Pacific
Conference	13th Western
1996–97 record	27–47–8
Home record	14–23–4
Road record	13–24–4
Goals for	211
Goals against	278
Team information
General manager	Dean Lombardi
Coach	Al Sims
Captain	Todd Gill
Alternate captains	Tony Granato; Owen Nolan
Arena	San Jose Arena
Average attendance	17,420
Minor league affiliate(s)	Kentucky Thoroughblades; Louisville RiverFrogs
Team leaders
Goals	Owen Nolan (31)
Assists	Jeff Friesen (34)
Points	Owen Nolan (63)
Penalty minutes	Andrei Nazarov (222)
Plus/minus	Tim Hunter (0); Michal Sykora (0)
Wins	Kelly Hrudey (16)
Goals against average	Chris Terreri (2.75)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 San Jose Sharks season was the Sharks' sixth season of operation in the National Hockey League. The Sharks again failed to make the playoffs, finishing 13th in the Western Conference.

Offseason

Defenseman Todd Gill was named team captain, following the departure of Jeff Odgers.

Regular season

On October 18, the Sharks scored three short-handed goals in a 4–1 win over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.^[1]

The Sharks finished the regular season last in scoring (211 goals for) and had the most power-play opportunities against (409).^[2]

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^[3]
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

1996–97 regular season^[4]

October: 5–5–3 (home: 1–1–2; road: 4–4–1)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
1	T	October 5, 1996	2–2 OT	New York Islanders (1996–97)	0–0–1	Recap
2	W	October 6, 1996	7–6 OT	@ Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)	1–0–1	Recap
3	L	October 8, 1996	0–6	@ Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)	1–1–1	Recap
4	L	October 10, 1996	1–4	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97)	1–2–1	Recap
5	L	October 12, 1996	3–5	Boston Bruins (1996–97)	1–3–1	Recap
6	T	October 16, 1996	3–3 OT	Florida Panthers (1996–97)	1–3–2	Recap
7	W	October 18, 1996	4–1	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)	2–3–2	Recap
8	W	October 20, 1996	3–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1996–97)	3–3–2	Recap
9	L	October 22, 1996	3–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97)	3–4–2	Recap
10	L	October 24, 1996	1–3	@ New Jersey Devils (1996–97)	3–5–2	Recap
11	T	October 26, 1996	2–2 OT	@ New York Islanders (1996–97)	3–5–3	Recap
12	W	October 27, 1996	6–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)	4–5–3	Recap
13	W	October 30, 1996	3–1	Calgary Flames (1996–97)	5–5–3	Recap

November: 3–8–1 (home: 3–5–0; road: 0–3–1)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
14	L	November 1, 1996	3–4	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)	5–6–3	Recap
15	W	November 2, 1996	4–3 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1996–97)	6–6–3	Recap
16	L	November 6, 1996	1–4	Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)	6–7–3	Recap
17	W	November 8, 1996	3–1	Dallas Stars (1996–97)	7–7–3	Recap
18	L	November 12, 1996	3–4	Hartford Whalers (1996–97)	7–8–3	Recap
19	L	November 15, 1996	1–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)	7–9–3	Recap
20	T	November 16, 1996	2–2 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97)	7–9–4	Recap
21	L	November 18, 1996	2–4	@ Boston Bruins (1996–97)	7–10–4	Recap
22	L	November 21, 1996	1–6	Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)	7–11–4	Recap
23	L	November 23, 1996	0–3	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)	7–12–4	Recap
24	W	November 27, 1996	3–2	Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)	8–12–4	Recap
25	L	November 29, 1996	2–4	Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)	8–13–4	Recap

December: 6–6–0 (home: 2–3–0; road: 4–3–0)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
26	W	December 1, 1996	4–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1996–97)	9–13–4	Recap
27	W	December 4, 1996	2–1	@ Dallas Stars (1996–97)	10–13–4	Recap
28	L	December 7, 1996	3–4	Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97)	10–14–4	Recap
29	W	December 11, 1996	3–2	Washington Capitals (1996–97)	11–14–4	Recap
30	L	December 13, 1996	0–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97)	11–15–4	Recap
31	L	December 17, 1996	3–6	Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97)	11–16–4	Recap
32	L	December 20, 1996	2–3	@ Washington Capitals (1996–97)	11–17–4	Recap
33	L	December 21, 1996	1–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97)	11–18–4	Recap
34	W	December 23, 1996	2–1	@ Dallas Stars (1996–97)	12–18–4	Recap
35	W	December 26, 1996	6–1	Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)	13–18–4	Recap
36	L	December 28, 1996	3–5	@ Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)	13–19–4	Recap
37	W	December 31, 1996	5–1	@ Calgary Flames (1996–97)	14–19–4	Recap

January: 4–7–1 (home: 2–4–1; road: 2–3–0)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
38	L	January 2, 1997	1–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97)	14–20–4	Recap
39	L	January 4, 1997	3–4	Calgary Flames (1996–97)	14–21–4	Recap
40	T	January 7, 1997	1–1 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1996–97)	14–21–5	Recap
41	L	January 9, 1997	3–4	St. Louis Blues (1996–97)	14–22–5	Recap
42	W	January 11, 1997	2–1	@ Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)	15–22–5	Recap
43	W	January 13, 1997	5–4	Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97)	16–22–5	Recap
44	L	January 20, 1997	1–6	@ Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)	16–23–5	Recap
45	W	January 22, 1997	7–2	Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)	17–23–5	Recap
46	L	January 24, 1997	1–3	New Jersey Devils (1996–97)	17–24–5	Recap
47	L	January 27, 1997	2–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)	17–25–5	Recap
48	L	January 29, 1997	1–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)	17–26–5	Recap
49	W	January 30, 1997	6–3	@ Calgary Flames (1996–97)	18–26–5	Recap

February: 4–7–2 (home: 3–2–0; road: 1–5–2)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
50	W	February 1, 1997	2–1	Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)	19–26–5	Recap
51	L	February 3, 1997	2–4	Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)	19–27–5	Recap
52	W	February 5, 1997	3–2	Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)	20–27–5	Recap
53	T	February 8, 1997	3–3 OT	@ Ottawa Senators (1996–97)	20–27–6	Recap
54	L	February 10, 1997	2–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1996–97)	20–28–6	Recap
55	L	February 12, 1997	1–7	@ Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)	20–29–6	Recap
56	L	February 13, 1997	3–7	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97)	20–30–6	Recap
57	L	February 16, 1997	2–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1996–97)	20–31–6	Recap
58	W	February 18, 1997	3–1	Dallas Stars (1996–97)	21–31–6	Recap
59	L	February 20, 1997	1–6	Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)	21–32–6	Recap
60	L	February 23, 1997	3–4	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97)	21–33–6	Recap
61	T	February 25, 1997	2–2 OT	@ Florida Panthers (1996–97)	21–33–7	Recap
62	W	February 28, 1997	3–2	@ Hartford Whalers (1996–97)	22–33–7	Recap

March: 3–10–0 (home: 2–6–0; road: 1–4–0)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
63	L	March 1, 1997	2–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97)	22–34–7	Recap
64	L	March 3, 1997	4–5 OT	@ New York Rangers (1996–97)	22–35–7	Recap
65	W	March 6, 1997	2–0	Ottawa Senators (1996–97)	23–35–7	Recap
66	L	March 9, 1997	1–2	New York Rangers (1996–97)	23–36–7	Recap
67	L	March 11, 1997	3–4	St. Louis Blues (1996–97)	23–37–7	Recap
68	L	March 14, 1997	1–4	Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97)	23–38–7	Recap
69	L	March 15, 1997	4–7	Detroit Red Wings (1996–97)	23–39–7	Recap
70	L	March 19, 1997	2–4	@ Calgary Flames (1996–97)	23–40–7	Recap
71	W	March 20, 1997	2–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)	24–40–7	Recap
72	L	March 22, 1997	1–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)	24–41–7	Recap
73	L	March 24, 1997	1–5	Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)	24–42–7	Recap
74	L	March 26, 1997	1–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97)	24–43–7	Recap
75	W	March 28, 1997	4–3	Edmonton Oilers (1996–97)	25–43–7	Recap

April: 2–4–1 (home: 1–2–1; road: 1–2–0)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
76	L	April 1, 1997	1–7	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97)	25–44–7	Recap
77	T	April 2, 1997	5–5 OT	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)	25–44–8	Recap
78	W	April 4, 1997	7–6 OT	Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)	26–44–8	Recap
79	L	April 7, 1997	2–3	Vancouver Canucks (1996–97)	26–45–8	Recap
80	W	April 9, 1997	4–1	@ Colorado Avalanche (1996–97)	27–45–8	Recap
81	L	April 11, 1997	3–4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97)	27–46–8	Recap
82	L	April 12, 1997	1–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1996–97)	27–47–8	Recap

Legend:

Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
† = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sharks only.
‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sharks only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
No.	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
11	Owen Nolan	RW	72	31	32	63	−19	155
39	Jeff Friesen	LW	82	28	34	62	−8	75
9	Bernie Nicholls	C	65	12	33	45	−21	63
25	Viktor Kozlov	C	78	16	25	41	−16	40
21	Tony Granato	RW	76	25	15	40	−7	159
8	Darren Turcotte	C	65	16	21	37	−8	16
62	Andrei Nazarov	LW	60	12	15	27	−4	222
17	Steve Guolla	C	43	13	8	21	−10	14
23	Todd Gill	D	79	0	21	21	−20	101
22	Ulf Dahlen‡	LW	43	8	11	19	−11	8
4	Greg Hawgood	D	63	6	12	18	−22	69
10	Marcus Ragnarsson	D	69	3	14	17	−18	63
33	Marty McSorley	D	57	4	12	16	−6	186
3	Doug Bodger	D	81	1	15	16	−14	64
42	Shean Donovan	RW	73	9	6	15	−18	42
43	Al Iafrate	D	38	6	9	15	−10	91
12	Ron Sutter†	C	78	5	7	12	−8	65
22^[a]	Bob Errey†	LW	30	3	6	9	−2	20
44	Vlastimil Kroupa	D	35	2	6	8	−17	12
40	Mike Rathje	D	31	0	8	8	−1	21
38	Michal Sykora‡	D	35	2	5	7	0	59
16	Dody Wood	C	44	3	2	5	−3	193
7	Ville Peltonen	LW	28	2	3	5	−8	0
18	Chris Tancill	C	25	4	0	4	−5	8
19	Tim Hunter	RW	46	0	4	4	0	135
36	Todd Ewen	RW	51	0	2	2	−5	162
14	Ray Whitney	LW	12	0	2	2	−6	4
5	Jason Widmer	D	2	0	1	1	1	0
15	Alexei Yegorov	RW	2	0	1	1	1	0
20^[b]	Ed Belfour†	G	13	0	0	0		8
91	Jan Caloun	RW	2	0	0	0	−2	0
31	Wade Flaherty	G	7	0	0	0		0
28	Iain Fraser	C	2	0	0	0	−1	2
32	Kelly Hrudey	G	48	0	0	0		0
26	Chris Lipuma‡†	D	8	0	0	0	−2	22
30	Chris Terreri‡	G	22	0	0	0		0

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season
No.	Player	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
32	Kelly Hrudey	48	16	24	5	1263	140	3.19	.889	0	2631
30	Chris Terreri	22	6	10	3	553	55	2.75	.901	0	1200
20^[b]	Ed Belfour	13	3	9	0	371	43	3.41	.884	1	757
31	Wade Flaherty	7	2	4	0	202	31	5.18	.847	0	359

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy	Tony Granato	^[5]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Tony Granato^[c]	^[7]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Owen Nolan	^[7]
Team	Sharks Player of the Year	Jeff Friesen	^[8]
Team	Sharks Rookie of the Year	Steve Guolla	^[8]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
1,000th game played	Bernie Nicholls	October 20, 1996	^[9]
First game	Steve Guolla	January 7, 1997	^[10]

Transactions

Draft picks

San Jose's picks at the 1996 NHL entry draft held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri.^[11]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team
1	2	Andrei Zyuzin	Defense	Russia	Salavat Yulajev
1	21	Marco Sturm	Right Wing	Germany	Landshut EV
3	55	Terry Friesen	Goalie	Canada	Swift Current Broncos
4	102	Matt Bradley	Right Wing	Canada	Kingston Frontenacs
6	137	Michel Larocque	Goalie	Germany	Boston University
7	164	Jake Deadmarsh	Defense	Canada	Kamloops Blazers
8	191	Cory Cyrenne	Center	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings
9	217	David Thibeault	Left Wing	Canada	Drummondville Voltigeurs

Notes

^ Errey wore number 14 in his first two games.
^ ^a ^b Belfour wore number 30 in his first game.
^ Granato was selected by the commissioner.^[6]

References

"San Jose Sharks 1996-97 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
"1996-97 San Jose Sharks Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

^ "San Jose Sharks at Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Box Score — October 18, 1996".
^ "1996-97 NHL Summary".
^ "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
^ "1996-97 San Jose Sharks Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ "Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
^ "All-Star Game Rosters | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. January 18, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
^ "1997 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
^ ^a ^b 2014–15 San Jose Sharks Media Guide, p.255–58
^ "Players who reached the 1,000th-game mark as San Jose Sharks". East Bay Times. October 20, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
^ "1996-97 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
^ "1996 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.

[5] Errey wore number 14 in his first two games.

[fn1-6] Belfour wore number 30 in his first game.

[9] Granato was selected by the commissioner.^[6]

[1] "San Jose Sharks at Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Box Score — October 18, 1996".

[2] "1996-97 NHL Summary".

[3] "1996-1997 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.

[4] "1996-97 San Jose Sharks Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[7] "Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.

[8] "All-Star Game Rosters | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. January 18, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2023.

[10] "1997 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.

[Teamawards-11] 2014–15 San Jose Sharks Media Guide, p.255–58

[12] "Players who reached the 1,000th-game mark as San Jose Sharks". East Bay Times. October 20, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2023.

[13] "1996-97 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 7, 2024.

[14] "1996 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.

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