1996-97 Season
Phoenix changes name to Arizona
Seattle added
Toronto added
| WESTERN DIVISION | W | L | EASTERN DIVISION | W | L | |
| Arizona Desert Rats* | 19 | 6 | Orlando Orbit* | 19 | 6 | |
| Oakland Thrashers* | 14 | 11 | Toronto Highlanders* | 16 | 9 | |
| Carson City Crazy Cats* | 13 | 12 | Quebec Kittyhawks* | 14 | 11 | |
| Wichita Ice Bastards* | 12 | 13 | New York Enforcers* | 13 | 12 | |
| Tonopah Tumbleweeds | 12 | 13 | Detroit Wildcats | 12 | 13 | |
| Seattle Mist | 6 | 19 | Boston Stranglers | 0 | 25 |
All-Star Game at New York - EAST 54, West 46
Playoffs:
| WEST First round: | Wichita 58, ARIZONA 56 |
| CARSON CITY 59, Oakland 22 | |
| EAST First Round: | ORLANDO 54, NewYork 54 - Orlando wins shootout |
| TORONTO 56, Quebec 37 | |
| WEST Final | CARSON CITY 60, Wichita 48 |
| EAST Final | Toronto 60, ORLANDO 44 |
| FINAL | TORONTO 61, Carson City 48 |
Scoring Leaders:
| SKATERS | GOALIES | |||||
| M.Lemieux (Tor) | 150 | Brodeur (Tor) | 240 | |||
| Selanne (Orl) | 142 | P.Roy (CC) | 224 | |||
| LeClair (Orl) | 135 | Hasek (Ton) | 219 | |||
| Jagr (CC) | 132 | Cu.Joseph (Orl) | 175 | |||
| Shanahan (AZ) | 130 | Vanbiesbrouck (Oak) | 173 | |||
| B.Hull (Wic) | 121 | M.Richter (Wic) | 171 |
|||
| Kariya (CC) | 120 | |||||
| Tkachuk (NY) | 120 | |||||
| M.Messier (NY) | 117 | |||||
| Gretzky (Oak) | 113 |