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 The Dearborn Heights Nationals relocated and became the St. Louis Sting.
Regular season
The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:
Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched regular season title Standings Team xy – Springfield Jr. Blues 463510171230144 x – Detroit Compuware Ambassadors 463310369217148 x – Soo Indians 462818056169159 x – Danville Wings 462616456221165 x – Detroit Freeze 462123244184186 x – Gaylord Grizzlies 461626436165206 x – Cleveland Jr. Barons 461727236171224 x – St. Louis Sting 46838016123248
Statistics Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games.
Player Team 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
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
References
NAHL reference
External links Official website of the North American Hockey League