The 1996–97 OHL season was the 17th season of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

. The

Niagara Falls Thunder The Niagara Falls Thunder were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League from 1988 to 1996. The team was based in Niagara Falls, Ontario. History Niagara Falls became home to its third OHL franchise in 1988 upon the relocation of the H ...

move to Erie becoming the Erie Otters. Seventeen teams each played 66 games. The

Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...

won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the

Ottawa 67's The Ottawa 67's are a major junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that plays in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Established during Canada's centennial year of 1967 and named in honour of this, the 67's currently play thei ...

Relocation

Niagara Falls Thunder to Erie Otters

The

relocated to Erie, and renamed their club to the Erie Otters, becoming the second team in the

to be based in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the first OHL team in the state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The Thunder played in Niagara Falls from 1988-96, reaching the post-season in seven of their eight seasons. Niagara Falls went to the J. Ross Robertson Cup one time in their eight seasons, in their first season in 1988-89, where they lost to the

Peterborough Petes The Peterborough Petes are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The team has played at the Peterborough Memorial Centre in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, since 1956, and is the oldest continuously operating team in the league. ...

in the final round. The Otters new home arena was the Erie Civic Center. The club would remain in the Central Division.

New Arena

Detroit Whalers

After splitting the 1995-96 season between the

Palace of Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly known as the Palace, was a multi-purpose arena located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Opened in 1988, it was the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shock of the ...

and Oak Park Ice Arena, the Detroit Whalers moved into their new home, the Compuware Sports Arena, based in

Plymouth, Michigan Plymouth is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western suburb of Detroit, Plymouth is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and northeast of Ann Arbor. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 9,370. ...

Regular season

Final standings

''Note: DIV = Division; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = earned first round bye''

East Division

Central Division

West Division

Scoring leaders

Playoffs

The 67's waived their right to a first-round bye, having lost in the second round the previous season after accepting a first-round bye.

Division quarter-finals

East Division

=(1) Ottawa 67's vs. (5) Belleville Bulls

=(3) Peterborough Petes vs. (4) Kingston Frontenacs

Central Division

=(2) Guelph Storm vs. (5) Erie Otters

=(3) Barrie Colts vs. (4) Owen Sound Platers

West Division

=(1) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. (4) Detroit Whalers

=(2) Sarnia Sting vs. (3) Windsor Spitfires

OHL quarter-finals

(E1) Ottawa 67's vs. (C3) Barrie Colts

(W1) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. (C2) Guelph Storm

(C1) Kitchener Rangers vs. (W2) Sarnia Sting

(E2) Oshawa Generals vs. (E3) Peterborough Petes

OHL semi-finals

(E1) Ottawa 67's vs. (C2) Guelph Storm

(C1) Kitchener Rangers vs. (E2) Oshawa Generals

J. Ross Robertson Cup

(E1) Ottawa 67's vs. (E2) Oshawa Generals

All-Star teams

First team

Alyn McCauley Alyn Daniel McCauley (born May 29, 1977) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for ten years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks, and the Los Angeles Kings. Prior to his NHL ...

, Centre,

Daniel Cleary Daniel Michael Cleary (born December 18, 1978) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, Phoenix Coyotes and Detroit Red Wings. He currently ...

, Left Wing,

Belleville Bulls The Belleville Bulls were a junior ice hockey team, founded in 1981 and based in Belleville, Ontario. The team played in the Eastern Division of the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team relocated to Hamilton, Ontario, ...

* Cameron Mann, Right Wing,

* Sean Blanchard, Defence,

* Andy Delmore, Defence, Sarnia Sting * Zac Bierk, Goaltender,

* Brian Kilrea, Coach,

Second team

Joe Thornton Joseph Eric Thornton (born July 2, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre. He played for the Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). H ...

, Centre, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds * Dave Duerden, Left Wing,

* Alexandre Volchkov, Right Wing,

Barrie Colts The Barrie Colts are a junior ice hockey team in Ontario Hockey League (OHL), based in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. The Colts play home games at the Sadlon Arena. The Colts joined the OHL in 1995, and previously competed at lower levels of junio ...

* D.J. Smith, Defence,

Windsor Spitfires The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975� ...

* Marty Wilford, Defence,

Kory Cooper Kory may refer to: *Kory (given name) *Kaye Kory (born 1947), American politician *Pierre Kory, American critical care physician *KORY-CD, television channel in Eugene, Oregon, U.S. See also

*Korey, given name and surname *Korie, given name an ...

, Goaltender,

* Bill Stewart, Coach,

Third team

* Jan Bulis, Centre,

* Dwayne Hay, Left Wing,

Guelph Storm The Guelph Storm are a major junior ice hockey team based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. They have played in the OHL since the 1991–92 season. The team plays home games at the Sleeman Centre. History The franchise started as the Toronto Marl ...

* Joel Trottier, Right Wing,

* Nick Boynton, Defence,

* Chris Hajt, Defence,

Robert Esche Robert L. Esche (born January 22, 1978) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who is the current president of the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Utica City FC of the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) ...

, Goaltender, Detroit Whalers * Peter DeBoer, Coach, Detroit Whalers

Awards

1997 OHL Priority Selection

On June 7, 1997, the OHL conducted the 1997 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church and Wellesley, Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was originally constructed in 1931 as an indoor arena to host ice hoc ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The expansion team Toronto St. Michael's Majors, who were set to begin play during the 1997-98 season, held the first overall pick in the draft, and selected Charlie Stephens from the Leamington Flyers. Stephens was awarded the

Jack Ferguson Award The Jack Ferguson Award is awarded each year to the top draft pick in the Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the W ...

, awarded to the top pick in the draft. Below are the players who were selected in the first round of the 1997 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection.

References

HockeyDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 OHL season Ontario Hockey League seasons OHL