1996-97 Buffalo Sabres Statistics
National Hockey League (NHL)
Team Record: 40-30-12 - 92 points
Finishing 1st in the NHL's Northeast Division
Postseason: 5-7
Lost NHL conference semi-finals
Conference Quarter-Finals - Defeated Ottawa Senators 4-3
Conference Semi-Finals - Lost to Philadelphia Flyers 4-1
Coach: Ted Nolan (40-30-12)
Location: Buffalo, New York
1996-97 Buffalo Sabres RosterTeam Record: 40-30-12 - 92 points
Finishing 1st in the NHL's Northeast Division
Postseason: 5-7
Lost NHL conference semi-finals
Conference Quarter-Finals - Defeated Ottawa Senators 4-3
Conference Semi-Finals - Lost to Philadelphia Flyers 4-1
Coach: Ted Nolan (40-30-12)
Location: Buffalo, New York
1996-97 Buffalo Sabres Results
The Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League ended the 1996-97 season with a record of 40 wins and 30 losses and 12 ties for 92 points, finishing first in the NHL's Northeast Division. The team compiled a postseason mark of 5-7.
The Sabres netted 237 goals and conceded 208. Donald Audette scored 28 goals for Buffalo, while Garry Galley contributed 34 assists. Dominik Hasek earned 37 wins for the squad and a team-best 2.27 goals against average, leading qualifying goaltenders.
Ted Nolan coached the team. The 1996-97 Buffalo Sabres lost in the NHL conference semi-finals.
Click on column headings to sort.
Scoring:
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | PPA | SHG | SHA | GWG | GTG | SOG | SG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derek Plante | C | 82 | 27 | 26 | 53 | 24 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 191 | 14.1 |
| Brian Holzinger | C | 81 | 22 | 29 | 51 | 54 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 142 | 15.5 |
| Donald Audette | R | 73 | 28 | 22 | 50 | 48 | -6 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 182 | 15.4 |
| Michael Peca | C | 79 | 20 | 29 | 49 | 80 | 26 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 137 | 14.6 |
| Jason Dawe | R | 81 | 22 | 26 | 48 | 32 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 136 | 16.2 |
| Dixon Ward | R | 79 | 13 | 32 | 45 | 36 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 93 | 14.0 |
| Matthew Barnaby | R | 68 | 19 | 24 | 43 | 249 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 121 | 15.7 |
| Garry Galley | D | 71 | 4 | 34 | 38 | 102 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 84 | 4.8 |
| Michal Grosek | R | 82 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 71 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 117 | 12.8 |
| Alexei Zhitnik | D | 80 | 7 | 28 | 35 | 95 | 10 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 170 | 4.1 |
| Randy Burridge | L | 55 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 20 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 85 | 11.8 |
| Richard Smehlik | D | 62 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 43 | 19 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100 | 11.0 |
| Darryl Shannon | D | 82 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 112 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 94 | 4.3 |
| Mike Wilson | D | 77 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 51 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 57 | 3.5 |
| Miroslav Satan | L | 12 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 27.6 |
| Rob Ray | R | 82 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 286 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 15.6 |
| Jay McKee | D | 43 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 3.4 |
| Pat LaFontaine | C | 13 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 | -8 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 5.3 |
| Barrie Moore | L | 31 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 4.8 |
| Bob Boughner | D | 77 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 225 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 2.9 |
| Curtis Brown | C | 28 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 12.9 |
| Brad May | L | 42 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 106 | -8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 75 | 4.0 |
| Anatoli Semenov | C | 25 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | -3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 9.5 |
| Wayne Primeau | C | 45 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 64 | -2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 8.0 |
| Ed Ronan | R | 18 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10.0 |
| Dominik Hasek | G | 67 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Steve Shields | G | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rumun Ndur | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Andrei Trefilov | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Vaclav Varada | R | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Charlie Huddy | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 1559 | 237 | 394 | 631 | 1828 | 214 | 43 | 81 | 16 | 13 | 40 | 4 | 2090 | 11.3 |
Goaltenders:
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | T/OL | ENG | SHO | GA | GAA | Shts | SVS | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dominik Hasek | 67 | 4037 | 37 | 20 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 153 | 2.27 | 2177 | 2024 | .930 |
| Steve Shields | 13 | 789 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 2.97 | 447 | 408 | .913 |
| Andrei Trefilov | 3 | 159 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3.77 | 98 | 88 | .898 |
| Totals | 83 | 4985 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 202 | 2.43 | 2924 | 2722 | .931 |
Postseason - Scoring:
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | PPA | SHG | SHA | GWG | GTG | SOG | SG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derek Plante | C | 12 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 15.4 | |
| Brian Holzinger | C | 12 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 | -3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 10.0 | |
| Donald Audette | R | 11 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 6 | -3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 12.1 | |
| Michael Peca | C | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | -3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0.0 | |
| Jason Dawe | R | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 10.5 | |
| Dixon Ward | R | 12 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 8.7 | |
| Matthew Barnaby | R | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.0 | |
| Garry Galley | D | 12 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0.0 | |
| Michal Grosek | R | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 16.7 | |
| Alexei Zhitnik | D | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 6.3 | |
| Randy Burridge | L | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | -5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 19.2 | |
| Richard Smehlik | D | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0.0 | |
| Darryl Shannon | D | 12 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 25.0 | |
| Mike Wilson | D | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.0 | |
| Miroslav Satan | L | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.0 | |
| Rob Ray | R | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 28 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.0 | |
| Jay McKee | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | |
| Bob Boughner | D | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | |
| Brad May | L | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 32 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14.3 | |
| Wayne Primeau | C | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.0 | |
| Ed Ronan | R | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 16.7 | |
| Dominik Hasek | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Steve Shields | G | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Andrei Trefilov | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Totals | 230 | 27 | 45 | 72 | 220 | -19 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 296 | 9.1 |
Postseason - Goaltenders:
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | T | ENG | SHO | GA | GAA | Shts | SVS | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dominik Hasek | 3 | 153 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1.96 | 68 | 63 | .926 |
| Steve Shields | 10 | 570 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 2.74 | 334 | 308 | .922 |
| Andrei Trefilov | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 1.000 |
| Totals | 14 | 728 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 2.55 | 437 | 406 | .929 |
