The 1996–97

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

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 ...

was the team's first season in the

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 ...

(NHL) since relocating from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

the season prior. The franchise's 25th season since its founding in 1972, and 18th season in the National Hockey League since 1979.

Off-season

Regular season

The Winnipeg Jets team was sold to Phoenix businessmen Steven Gluckstern and Richard Burke, and in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, the club moved to

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and became the Phoenix Coyotes. In the summer that the move took place, the franchise saw the exit of Jets stars like

Teemu Selanne Teemu is a Finnish male given name. Notable people with the name include: *Teemu Aalto (born 1978), Finnish professional ice hockey player * Teemu Eronen (born 1990), professional ice hockey defenceman *Teemu Hartikainen (born 1990), Finnish profe ...

and

Alexei Zhamnov Alexei Yuryevich "Alex" Zhamnov (russian: Алексей Юрьевич Жамнов; born October 1, 1970) is the current head coach of the Russia men's national ice hockey team and former professional ice hockey centre who played in the Nationa ...

, while the team added established superstar

Jeremy Roenick Jeremy Shaffer Roenick ( ; born January 17, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 8th overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by the Chica ...

from the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

. Roenick teamed up with power wingers

Keith Tkachuk Keith Matthew Tkachuk (; born March 28, 1972) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) in a 18-year career with the Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues and Atlanta Thrashers, ...

and

Rick Tocchet Richard Tocchet (; born April 9, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. Playing as a Winger (ice hockey), right winger, he played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburg ...

to form a dynamic 1–2–3 offensive punch that led the Coyotes through their first years in Arizona. Also impressive were young players like Shane Doan (the last remaining original Jet still active in the NHL),

Oleg Tverdovsky Oleg (russian: Олег), Oleh ( uk, Олег), or Aleh ( be, Алег) is an East Slavic given name. The name is very common in Russia, Ukraine and Belаrus. It derives from the Old Norse ''Helgi'' ( Helge), meaning "holy", "sacred", or "bless ...

and goaltender

Nikolai Khabibulin Nikolai Alexandrovich Khabibulin (; rus, Николай Александрович Хабибулин, p=xəbʲɪˈbulʲɪn, born January 13, 1973) is a Russian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Known by the nickname "The Bulin Wall", h ...

, whom the fans nicknamed the "Bulin Wall." Forward

was renamed captain, replacing

Kris King Kristopher King (born February 18, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leaf ...

Final standings

Schedule and results

Playoffs

In their first year, the Coyotes managed to make the playoffs. However, they lost to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4 games to 3 in round one. Anaheim Wins Series 4–3

Player statistics

Regular season

;Scoring ;Goaltending

Playoffs

;Scoring ;Goaltending Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

Trades

Waivers

Free agents

Joining the Coyotes: Leaving the Coyotes:

Draft picks

Phoenix's draft 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 at the Kiel Center in St. Louis,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

References

Coyotes on Hockey Database
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