The 1996–97 Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

 season was the club's 88th

Montreal Canadiens seasons

This is a list of seasons completed by the Montreal Canadiens professional ice hockey club. This list documents the records and playoff results for all seasons the Canadiens completed in both the National Hockey Association and the National Hockey League .-NHA :Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins,...

 season

Season (sports)

In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an...

. On October 16, the Canadiens scored three short-handed goals in a 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs despite a sub-.500 season. The Canadiens were eliminated in the Eastern Conference

Eastern Conference (NHL)

The Eastern Conference is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the Western Conference....

 quarter-finals (the first round) by the New Jersey Devils

New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 4 games to 1.

Game log

#	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	Oct 5, 1996	3–3 OT	Ottawa Senators	0–0–1
2	T	Oct 7, 1996	6–6 OT	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	0–0–2
3	W	Oct 9, 1996	6–3	Los Angeles Kings	1–0–2
4	W	Oct 12, 1996	5–2	New York Rangers	2–0–2
5	L	Oct 15, 1996	2–3	@ New Jersey Devils	2–1–2
6	W	Oct 16, 1996	4–2	Calgary Flames	3–1–2
7	L	Oct 19, 1996	3–6	@ Ottawa Senators	3–2–2
8	L	Oct 24, 1996	3–6	@ Buffalo Sabres	3–3–2
9	W	Oct 26, 1996	6–5	Philadelphia Flyers	4–3–2
10	L	Oct 28, 1996	4–5 OT	Phoenix Coyotes	4–4–2
11	L	Oct 30, 1996	3–5	@ Detroit Red Wings	4–5–2
12	L	Nov 2, 1996	3–4 OT	@ San Jose Sharks	4–6–2
13	T	Nov 3, 1996	4–4 OT	@ Phoenix Coyotes	4–6–3
14	W	Nov 6, 1996	6–5	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	5–6–3
15	L	Nov 7, 1996	1–4	@ Los Angeles Kings	5–7–3
16	L	Nov 9, 1996	2–5	@ Colorado Avalanche	5–8–3
17	W	Nov 11, 1996	3–2 OT	Edmonton Oilers	6–8–3
18	L	Nov 13, 1996	3–5	Florida Panthers	6–9–3
19	L	Nov 15, 1996	1–3	@ Washington Capitals	6–10–3
20	W	Nov 16, 1996	6–1	Vancouver Canucks	7–10–3
21	L	Nov 20, 1996	1–3	@ Hartford Whalers	7–11–3
22	W	Nov 21, 1996	6–2	@ Boston Bruins	8–11–3
23	W	Nov 23, 1996	4–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	9–11–3
24	W	Nov 25, 1996	4–2	Tampa Bay Lightning	10–11–3
25	T	Nov 27, 1996	2–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	10–11–4
26	L	Nov 30, 1996	0–2	Washington Capitals	10–12–4
27	L	Dec 1, 1996	2–6	@ New York Rangers	10–13–4
28	L	Dec 4, 1996	3–4	Boston Bruins	10–14–4
29	W	Dec 6, 1996	3–1	@ Chicago Blackhawks	11–14–4
30	W	Dec 7, 1996	3–2	Chicago Blackhawks	12–14–4
31	L	Dec 11, 1996	2–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres	12–15–4
32	T	Dec 14, 1996	3–3 OT	@ New Jersey Devils	12–15–5
33	L	Dec 16, 1996	2–4	Tampa Bay Lightning	12–16–5
34	L	Dec 21, 1996	2–3 OT	New York Rangers	12–17–5
35	L	Dec 23, 1996	0–6	Ottawa Senators	12–18–5
36	T	Dec 26, 1996	3–3 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	12–18–6
37	T	Dec 28, 1996	4–4 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	12–18–7
38	W	Dec 29, 1996	2–1	@ Florida Panthers	13–18–7
39	W	Jan 1, 1997	6–4	@ Dallas Stars	14–18–7
40	T	Jan 2, 1997	2–2 OT	@ St. Louis Blues	14–18–8
41	W	Jan 4, 1997	3–1	New York Islanders	15–18–8
42	W	Jan 6, 1997	5–4	Hartford Whalers	16–18–8
43	L	Jan 9, 1997	4–5	@ Boston Bruins	16–19–8
44	W	Jan 11, 1997	6–3	Boston Bruins	17–19–8
45	L	Jan 13, 1997	1–2	Dallas Stars	17–20–8
46	L	Jan 14, 1997	2–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers	17–21–8
47	W	Jan 20, 1997	4–1	Detroit Red Wings	18–21–8
48	L	Jan 22, 1997	1–6	@ Buffalo Sabres	18–22–8
49	L	Jan 25, 1997	1–8	St. Louis Blues	18–23–8
50	L	Jan 26, 1997	2–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	18–24–8
51	L	Jan 28, 1997	1–5	@ Florida Panthers	18–25–8
52	W	Jan 30, 1997	4–1	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	19–25–8
53	T	Feb 1, 1997	4–4 OT	New Jersey Devils	19–25–9
54	T	Feb 3, 1997	2–2 OT	Florida Panthers	19–25–10
55	L	Feb 5, 1997	3–6	Pittsburgh Penguins	19–26–10
56	L	Feb 6, 1997	5–9	@ Philadelphia Flyers	19–27–10
57	W	Feb 8, 1997	3–2 OT	Hartford Whalers	20–27–10
58	W	Feb 10, 1997	4–2	San Jose Sharks	21–27–10
59	T	Feb 12, 1997	2–2 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres	21–27–11
60	L	Feb 15, 1997	1–4	New Jersey Devils	21–28–11
61	W	Feb 17, 1997	4–1	@ New York Islanders	22–28–11
62	L	Feb 22, 1997	1–5	Toronto Maple Leafs	22–29–11
63	W	Feb 25, 1997	4–2	@ Vancouver Canucks	23–29–11
64	L	Feb 28, 1997	2–3	@ Calgary Flames	23–30–11
65	W	Mar 1, 1997	5–4	@ Edmonton Oilers	24–30–11
66	L	Mar 5, 1997	3–7	Colorado Avalanche	24–31–11
67	L	Mar 7, 1997	0–2	@ Hartford Whalers	24–32–11
68	T	Mar 8, 1997	3–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres	24–32–12
69	T	Mar 10, 1997	2–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	24–32–13
70	W	Mar 13, 1997	3–0	@ Boston Bruins	25–32–13
71	T	Mar 15, 1997	2–2 OT	Ottawa Senators	25–32–14
72	W	Mar 19, 1997	5–4	@ New York Rangers	26–32–14
73	L	Mar 22, 1997	1–3	Washington Capitals	26–33–14
74	W	Mar 24, 1997	3–1	Boston Bruins	27–33–14
75	W	Mar 26, 1997	8–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	28–33–14
76	L	Mar 29, 1997	2–5	@ Ottawa Senators	28–34–14
77	W	Apr 2, 1997	4–1	@ Hartford Whalers	29–34–14
78	L	Apr 5, 1997	1–4	Hartford Whalers	29–35–14
79	W	Apr 7, 1997	2–1	New York Islanders	30–35–14
80	W	Apr 9, 1997	3–1	@ New York Islanders	31–35–14
81	L	Apr 10, 1997	2–3	@ Washington Capitals	31–36–14
82	T	Apr 12, 1997	3–3 OT	Philadelphia Flyers	31–36–15

Playoffs

In the first game of the series against New Jersey, on April 17, 1997, with the Devils up by two goals late in the game, Martin Brodeur fired the puck the length of the ice and into the Canadiens' empty net to ensure a 5-2 victory. It was only the second time in NHL history that a goaltender had scored in the playoffs, and the fifth time overall.

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals vs. New Jersey Devils

Montreal vs. New Jersey
Date	Away	Home	Scores	OT
April 17	Montreal	New Jersey	5 – 2
April 19	Montreal	New Jersey	4 – 1
April 22	New Jersey	Montreal	6 – 4
April 24	New Jersey	Montreal	4 – 3	3OT
April 26	Montreal	New Jersey	4 – 0
New Jersey wins series 4–1

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
	C	82	27	54	81	82
7	2	3
	RW	82	34	46	80	58
7	2	3
	LW	81	23	37	60	39
5	0	2
	C	50	17	39	56	38	7	5	0	3
	LW	70	28	27	55	62	1	6	3	3
	RW	63	22	24	46	32	0	2	0	2
	RW	64	14	21	35	6	4	4	0	2
	D	65	10	20	30	43	3	5	0	1
	LW	39	10	13	23	14	6	2	0	2
	D	71	7	15	22	100	1	1	0	0
	RW	65	8	13	21	97
1	0	0
	LW	47	6	15	21	80
2	0	2
	LW	73	10	10	20	128
1	1	1
	RW	73	7	13	20	110
1	0	3
	C	43	6	9	15	16	4	1	1	2
	D	61	6	9	15	63
3	0	0
	D	49	2	13	15	24
0	0	1
	D	78	1	13	14	32	9	0	0	0
	C	28	2	9	11	2
0	0	0
	C	9	1	10	11	2	4	0	0	0
	D	49	2	6	8	42	4	0	1	1
	RW	56	4	2	6	114
0	0	0
	D	60	1	5	6	107
0	0	0
	D	35	0	4	4	54	7	0	0	0
	D	9	1	1	2	23
0	0	0
	C	13	0	2	2	2	1	0	0	0
	D	6	0	1	1	6
0	0	0
	LW	10	0	0	0	38
0	0	0
	D	8	0	0	0	22
0	0	0
	D	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
	G	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	LW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	LW	13	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0
	G	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	G	61	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
	3397	61	22	24	11	164	2.90	1	1815	1651	.910
	821	16	5	6	2	53	3.87	0	508	455	.896
	754	17	4	6	2	50	3.98	0	438	388	.886
	20	1	0	0	0	4	12.00	0	14	10	.714
Team:	4992	82	31	36	15	271	3.26	1	2775	2504	.902

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
	RW	5	4	2	6	2	0	0	0
	LW	4	1	3	4	4	0	1	0
	C	5	1	3	4	10	0	0	0
	D	3	1	1	2	24	0	0	1
	LW	5	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
	RW	5	1	1	2	2	0	0	0
	LW	5	1	0	1	4	0	1	0
	LW	5	1	0	1	2	0	0	0
	RW	5	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
	D	5	0	1	1	6	0	0	0
	D	5	0	1	1	14	0	0	0
	D	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	C	5	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	D	5	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
	D	5	0	0	0	17	0	0	0
	D	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	RW	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	LW	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	RW	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	D	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
	168	2	1	1	7	2.50	0	108	101	.935
	179	3	0	3	13	4.36	0	101	88	.871
Team:	347	5	1	4	20	3.46	0	209	189	.904

Draft picks

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team
1	18	Matt Higgins	Center		Moose Jaw Warriors Moose Jaw Warriors The Moose Jaw Warriors are a major junior ice hockey team of the Western Hockey League which are based out of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The team plays its home games at Mosaic Place. The franchise moved to Moose Jaw from Winnipeg after the 1983–84 season, where they had previously been named the...  (WHL)
2	44	Mathieu Garon Mathieu Garon Mathieu Garon is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Garon is a goaltender for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League . Garon has also played for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Garon was a member...	Goalie		Victoriaville Tigres Victoriaville Tigres The Victoriaville Tigres are a junior ice hockey team that plays in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The team is based out of Victoriaville, Quebec. The team plays its home games at the Colisée Desjardins.-History:...  (QMJHL)
3	71	Arron Asham Arron Asham Arron Asham is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League .-Playing career:...	Right Wing		Red Deer Rebels Red Deer Rebels The Red Deer Rebels are a Western Hockey League junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. They play their home games at the ENMAX Centrium....  (WHL)
4	92	Kim Staal Kim Staal Kim Staal is a Danish professional ice hockey forward, currently with Malmö Redhawks in the Swedish second tier league HockeyAllsvenskan....	Left Wing		Malmo IF (Sweden)
4	99	Etienne Drapeau Etienne Drapeau Étienne Drapeau was is a retired Canadian ice hockey player. He played as a centre and was selected 99th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 4th round of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. Currently he is a musician, writing and composing his own music...	Center		Beauport Harfangs Beauport Harfangs The Beauport Harfangs were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 1990 to 1997. They played their home games at the Aréna Marcel Bédard in the Quebec City suburb of Beauport, Quebec. The team's first coach was Alain Chainey, who was an assistant coach with the...  (QMJHL)
5	127	Daniel Archambault	Defence		Val-d'Or Foreurs Val-d'Or Foreurs The Val-d'Or Foreurs are a junior ice hockey team based in Val-d'Or, in the region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec, Canada. The team was founded for the 1993–94 season of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, a member of the Canadian Hockey League. Former Quebec Nordiques and Trois-Rivières...  (QMJHL)
6	154	Brett Clark	Defenceman		University of Maine University of Maine The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...  (NCAA)
7	181	Timo Vertala	Left Wing		JYP JYP JYP is an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the Synergia-areena.-Team history:JYP was founded in 1977 under the name JyP HT, having been until then the ice hockey section of the sports club Jyväskylän Palloilijat. The current full name of the club is JYP Jyväskylä...  (Finland)
8	207	Mattia Baldi	Left Wing		Ambri-Piotta (Swiss)
9	233	Michel Tremblay	Left Wing		Shawinigan Cataractes Shawinigan Cataractes The Shawinigan Cataractes are a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The team is based out of Shawinigan, Quebec. The Cataractes have been previously known as the Shawinigan Bruins until 1973, and were called the Shawinigan Dynamos from 1973–78.The Cataractes play their... (QMJHL)