1996–97 NAHL season
| 1996–97 NAHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | North American Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | Regular season September 1996 – April 1997 Post-season April 11 – April 27, 1997 |
| Number of games | 46 |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Springfield Jr. Blues |
| Top scorer | Ryan Fultz (Cleveland Jr. Barons) |
| Robertson Cup Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | Springfield Jr. Blues |
The 1996–97 NAHL season was the 13th season of the North American Hockey League. The Springfield Jr. Blues won the regular season championship and the Robertson Cup.
Member changes
[edit]- The Dearborn Heights Nationals relocated and became the St. Louis Sting.
Regular season
[edit]The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:[1]
Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched regular season title
Standings
[edit]| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xy – Springfield Jr. Blues | 46 | 35 | 10 | 1 | 71 | 230 | 144 |
| x – Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | 46 | 33 | 10 | 3 | 69 | 217 | 148 |
| x – Soo Indians | 46 | 28 | 18 | 0 | 56 | 169 | 159 |
| x – Danville Wings | 46 | 26 | 16 | 4 | 56 | 221 | 165 |
| x – Detroit Freeze | 46 | 21 | 23 | 2 | 44 | 184 | 186 |
| x – Gaylord Grizzlies | 46 | 16 | 26 | 4 | 36 | 165 | 206 |
| x – Cleveland Jr. Barons | 46 | 17 | 27 | 2 | 36 | 171 | 224 |
| x – St. Louis Sting | 46 | 8 | 38 | 0 | 16 | 123 | 248 |
Statistics
[edit]Scoring leaders
[edit]The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games. [2]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Fultz | Springfield Jr. Blues | 46 | 42 | 31 | 73 | 22 |
| Jason Deskins | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | 43 | 37 | 34 | 71 | 73 |
| Max Mnatsakanov | Detroit Freeze | 44 | 27 | 40 | 67 | 131 |
| Frank Nardella | Springfield Jr. Blues | 44 | 20 | 45 | 65 | 98 |
| Ryan Zoller | Springfield Jr. Blues | 45 | 27 | 37 | 64 | 159 |
| David Legwand | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | 44 | 21 | 41 | 62 | 58 |
| Bobby Weston | Detroit Freeze | 41 | 23 | 38 | 61 | 124 |
| Tim Hearon | Gaylord Grizzlies | 46 | 20 | 35 | 55 | 30 |
| Rob Gubala | Danville Wings | 45 | 30 | 24 | 54 | 40 |
| Yevgeni Dubravin | Springfield Jr. Blues | 46 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 30 |
Robertson Cup playoffs
[edit]| Quarterfinal (Best-of-3) | Semifinal (Best-of-3) | Championship (Best-of-3) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 6 | 6 | - | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | St. Louis Sting | 2 | 3 | - | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 5 | 3* | - | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Danville Wings | 2 | 2 | - | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | 6 | 5 | - | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Cleveland Jr. Barons | 3 | 3 | - | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 3 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Soo Indians | 5 | 4* | - | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Gaylord Grizzlies | 2 | 3 | - | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | 4 | 4 | - | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Soo Indians | 2 | 2 | - | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Danville Wings | 4 | 5 | 6* | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Detroit Freeze | 5 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
References
[edit]- ^ "NAHL Standings". North American Hockey League. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
- ^ "NAHL Stats". North American Hockey League. Retrieved May 26, 2025.