The 1996–97

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

season was the 17th

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. It was another season of decline, as the Flames began the rebuilding process after remaining near the top of the league standings for nearly a decade. Finishing 5th in the Pacific Division, the Flames missed the playoffs for the first time since 1992, and for only the second time since coming to Calgary.Year-by-year results, ''2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide'', pg. 106 As a result of missing the playoffs, the Flames fired head coach Pierre Page following the season, replacing him with

Brian Sutter Brian Louis Allen Sutter (born October 7, 1956) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward and former head coach in the National Hockey League (NHL). Brian is the second oldest of the famous Sutter brothers and the oldest of the six that played in ...

. Page ended his Flames career with a coaching record of 66–78–20. His .463 winning percentage was, at the time, the worst for any coach in Flames history. On November 23, 1996, rugged forward

Sasha Lakovic Sasha Gordon Lakovic (September 7, 1971 – April 25, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for 17 different professional teams during his career. Lakovic also played for four roller hockey teams in the mid-1990s. Lako ...

authored one of the more memorable moments in the history of the

Battle of Alberta The Battle of Alberta is a term applied to the intense rivalry between the Canadian cities of Calgary, the province's most populous city (since 1976), and Edmonton, the capital of the province of Alberta (since 1905). Most often it is used to ...

when he attempted to leap over the glass at

Northlands Coliseum Northlands Coliseum is a now-unused indoor arena located in Edmonton, Alberta, situated on the north side of Northlands. It was used for sports events and concerts, and was home to the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) and N ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

to attack a drunken fan who had reached over the barrier to dump a beer on the head of Flames assistant coach

Guy Lapointe Guy Gerard Lapointe (born March 18, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League. He currently serves as Coordinator of Amateu ...

. Lakovic, who was held back by his teammates from going into the crowd, was suspended two games, while the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

were fined $20,000 for having inadequate security.

Theoren Fleury Theoren Wallace "Theo" Fleury (born June 29, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, author, and motivational speaker. Fleury played for the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks of the ...

was named to the Western Conference team at the 47th National Hockey League All-Star Game, where he recorded an assist.All-Star Selections, ''2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide'', pg. 22 Rookie forward

Jarome Iginla Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla (; born July 1, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. He played over 1500 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Br ...

, acquired the previous season in a trade for

Joe Nieuwendyk Joseph Nieuwendyk ( ; born September 10, 1966) is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He was a second round selection of the Calgary Flames, 27th overall, at the 1985 NHL Entry Draft and played 20 seasons for the Flames, Dallas ...

led all NHL rookies in scoring at 50 points. Despite his success, Iginla failed to win the

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving as ...

, as defenceman

Bryan Berard Bryan Wallace Berard (born March 5, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. Berard was the first overall pick in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators. He is most noted for a debilitating eye injury he received ...

was voted the league's top rookie. Iginla was named to the All-Rookie team, however.

Regular season

The Flames allowed the most shorthanded goals in the league in 1996–97, with 19.

Season standings

Schedule and results

Player statistics

Skaters

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes'' ^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Calgary. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.

Goaltenders

''Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average''
^‡Traded mid-season

Transactions

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1996–97 season.

Trades

Free agents

Draft picks

Calgary's picks at the

1996 NHL Entry Draft The 1996 NHL Entry Draft was the 34th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 22, 1996. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Zdeno Chára, who retired after the 2021–22 season. ...

, held in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

Farm teams

Saint John Flames The Saint John Flames were a Canadian ice hockey team in the American Hockey League from 1993 to 2003 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The Calgary Flames bought and relocated the Utica Devils, to be their AHL affiliate. History The Saint J ...

The Baby Flames finished the 1996–97

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

season in second place in the Canadian Division with a 28–36–13–3 record. They were defeated in three games to two by the

Hamilton Bulldogs The Hamilton Bulldogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that began to play in the 2015–16 OHL season, 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the Bulldogs play their home games at FirstOntario Cent ...

in the first round of the playoffs, however.

Jarrod Skalde Jarrod Skalde (born February 26, 1971) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and player who is a free agent. He was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario. From august 2022, he is the head coach of slovak ice hockey team Vlci Zilina in Tipos Slovenská hokejová ...

led the Flames with 32 goals and 68 points. Darrin Madeley was the starting goaltender, posting an 11–18–11 record with a 3.21 GAA in 46 games.Saint John Flames player stats
@ hockeydb.com, accessed January 20, 2007

References

*Player stats: ''2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide'', pg 115 *Game log:''
1996–97 Calgary Flames game log
usatoday.com, accessed January 21, 2007 *Team standings:

@hockeydb.com *Trades
hockeydb.com
player pages {{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 Calgary Flames Season Calgary Flames seasons Calgary Flames season, 1996-97 Calg