The 1997–98 NHL season was the 81st

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

. The

Stanley Cup champions The Stanley Cup is a trophy awarded annually to the playoff champion club of the National Hockey League (NHL) ice hockey league. It was donated by the Governor General of Canada Lord Stanley of Preston in 1892, and is the oldest professional spo ...

were the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and are ...

, who swept the Washington Capitals in four games.

League business

On June 25, 1997, the National Hockey League approved of four expansion franchises for Nashville,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

, and Saint Paul expanding the league to 30 teams by 2000. These franchises became the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

in 1998, the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999, and the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

and Minnesota Wild in 2000. This was the first season for the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conferenc ...

, who were previously known as the Hartford Whalers. The Hurricanes played their home games at the

Greensboro Coliseum Complex The Greensboro Coliseum Complex, commonly referred to as Greensboro Coliseum (the first and biggest building on the site), is an entertainment and sports complex located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Opened in 1959, the complex holds eight venu ...

, a temporary home while awaiting the construction of their permanent home arena in

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

. They would remain in the Northeast Division until realignment the following season. It would be another 14 years before another NHL team would relocate. This was the first season for

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, alon ...

coach Lindy Ruff, who until the 2012–13 season was the longest-tenured NHL coach. The controversial "

FoxTrax FoxTrax, also referred to as the glowing puck, is an augmented reality system that was used by Fox Sports' telecasts of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1996 to 1998. The system was intended to help television viewers visually follow a hockey ...

" puck system was last used this season as well. In August 1998, the NHL signed a five-year, $600 million rights agreement with ABC Sports/

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. FOX elected not to use the system in the subsequent "lame duck" season. This was the last season the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

were a member of the Western Conference. This was the last season of the four-division quasi-geographic alignment inherited from the traditional Adams/Patrick/Norris/Smythe set. The league would change the following season to a six-division, more purely geographic alignment. For the first time since 1968–69 season, the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Divisio ...

missed the playoffs. Due to the retirement of Craig MacTavish after the 1996-97 season, this was the first season in the League's history in which there were no helmetless players.

Regular season

The all-time record for most shutouts in a season, set at 127 just a year earlier, was broken again as 160 shutouts were recorded, 13 of which were earned by Dominik Hasek, who set a League record with 11 teams shut-out. He zeroed the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...

three times, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, Anaheim, Tampa Bay,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Calgary,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

once each. Only two teams, the St. Louis Blues and the

, averaged more than three goals scored per game. In addition, only one player, Jaromir Jagr, reached the 100-point plateau during the regular season.

Highlights

Jari Kurri Jari Pekka Kurri (; born May 18, 1960) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger and a five-time Stanley Cup champion. In 2001, he became the first Finnish player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2017 Kurri was named ...

reached 600 goals in his career, finishing with 601. The

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce ...

and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim opened the season with a two-game series in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, the first time the NHL played regular games outside of North America.

Final standings

;Eastern Conference ;Western Conference

Playoffs

Bracket

Awards

The NHL Awards took place in Toronto, Ontario

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: ''GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points''

Leading goaltenders

Regular season

Coaches

Eastern Conference

*Boston Bruins: Pat Burns *Buffalo Sabres: Lindy Ruff *Carolina Hurricanes:

Paul Maurice Paul Maurice (born January 30, 1967) is a Canadian former ice hockey player and coach. He is the head coach of the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). At age 43, Maurice became the youngest coach in NHL history to coach 1,000 g ...

*Florida Panthers: Bryan Murray *Montreal Canadiens: Alain Vigneault *New Jersey Devils: Jacques Lemaire *New York Islanders: Rick Bowness *New York Rangers: Colin Campbell *Ottawa Senators: Jacques Martin *Philadelphia Flyers:

Wayne Cashman Wayne Cashman (born June 24, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played seventeen seasons for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) and helped them win the Stanley Cup twice, and was the last ac ...

and Roger Neilson *Pittsburgh Penguins: Kevin Constantine *Tampa Bay Lightning: Terry Crisp *Washington Capitals: Ron Wilson

Western Conference

*Mighty Ducks of Anaheim:

Pierre Page Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

*Calgary Flames: Brian Sutter *Chicago Blackhawks: Craig Hartsburg *Colorado Avalanche: Marc Crawford *Dallas Stars: Ken Hitchcock *Detroit Red Wings: Scotty Bowman *Edmonton Oilers: Ron Low *Los Angeles Kings: Larry Robinson *Phoenix Coyotes:

Jim Schoenfeld James Grant Schoenfeld (born September 4, 1952) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He most recently was the assistant general manager with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as an inte ...

*San Jose Sharks: Darryl Sutter *St. Louis Blues: Joel Quenneville *Toronto Maple Leafs: Mike Murphy *Vancouver Canucks: Mike Keenan

Milestones

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1997–98 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): *

Matt Cullen Matthew David Cullen (born November 2, 1976) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with eight teams between 1997 and 2019 with. Cullen won the Stanley Cup three times du ...

, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim * Joe Thornton, Boston Bruins * Sergei Samsonov, Boston Bruins * Derek Morris, Calgary Flames *

Olli Jokinen Olli Veli Pekka Jokinen (born December 5, 1978) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings third overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, with whom he made his NHL debut. He has also played for th ...

, Los Angeles Kings * Sheldon Souray, New Jersey Devils * Zdeno Chara, New York Islanders * Marc Savard, New York Rangers * Chris Phillips, Ottawa Senators *

Marian Hossa Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensla ...

, Ottawa Senators *

Daniel Briere Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength ...

, Phoenix Coyotes * Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks * Mattias Ohlund, Vancouver Canucks

Last games

The following is a list of players of note who played their last game in the NHL in 1997–98 (listed with their last team): * Brent Sutter, Chicago Blackhawks *

, Colorado Avalanche * Slava Fetisov, Detroit Red Wings * Kevin Lowe, Edmonton Oilers *

Andy Moog Donald Andrew Moog (; born February 18, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Moog played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens, and also for the ...

, Montreal Canadiens * Pat LaFontaine, New York Rangers *

Joel Otto Joel Stuart Otto (born October 29, 1961) is an American former professional ice hockey center in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers. An undrafted player, Otto signed with the Flames as a free agent i ...

, Philadelphia Flyers * Mike Gartner, Phoenix Coyotes *

Al Iafrate Albert Anthony Iafrate ( ; born March 21, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the National Hockey League between 1984 and 1998. He is perhaps most famous for his extremely hard slapshot. He set a record fo ...

, San Jose Sharks * Kelly Hrudey, San Jose Sharks * Jeff Brown, Washington Capitals * Brian Bradley, Tampa Bay Lightning *

Norm Maciver Norman Steven Maciver (born September 1, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He is currently an associate general manager for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). As a player, he playe ...

, Phoenix Coyotes

Trading deadline

* Trading Deadline: March 24, 1998 NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 , Habs Inside/Out
*March 24, 1998: D

Dave Babych David Michael Babych (born May 23, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently an assistant director of player personnel with the Vancouver Canucks. ...

traded from Vancouver to Philadelphia for Philadelphia's third round pick in 1998 Entry Draft. Vancouver also returns the conditional pick previously acquired from Philadelphia in the

Mike Sillinger Michael John Sillinger (born June 29, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 17 seasons. Sillinger played for twelve different teams and was traded nine times during his NHL c ...

trade dated Feb. 5, 1998. *March 24, 1998: D

Dmitri Mironov Dmitri Olegovich Mironov (; born December 25, 1965) is a Russian former professional ice hockey defenseman. He was drafted in the eighth round, 160th overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. He was part of the 1 ...

traded from Anaheim to Detroit for D

Jamie Pushor James Michael Pushor (born February 11, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is currently Director of Player Personnel with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Pushor was drafted 32nd overall in t ...

and Detroit's fourth round pick in 1998 Entry Draft. *March 24, 1998: G Kirk McLean traded from Carolina to Florida for RW

Ray Sheppard Raymond Garfield Sheppard (born May 27, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1987 to 2000. Sheppard was born in Pembroke, Ontario, but grew up in Petawawa, Ontario. P ...

. *March 24, 1998: D Jeff Brown traded from Toronto to Washington for D Sylvain Cote. *March 24, 1998: RW Jason Dawe traded from Buffalo to NY Islanders for D Jason Holland and LW Paul Kruse. *March 24, 1998: D

Dan McGillis Daniel Stewart McGillis (born July 1, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, Boston Bruins, and New Jer ...

and Edmonton's second round pick in 1998 Entry Draft traded from Edmonton to Philadelphia for D Janne Niinimaa. *March 24, 1998: C

Mark Janssens Mark Francis Janssens (born May 19, 1968) is a Canadian retired ice hockey forward. Janssens started his National Hockey League career with the New York Rangers in 1989. He also played for the Minnesota North Stars, Hartford Whalers, Migh ...

traded from NY Islanders to Phoenix for Phoenix's ninth round pick in 1998 Entry Draft. *March 24, 1998: LW

Warren Rychel Warren Stanley Rychel (born May 12, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played eight seasons in the National Hockey League. He was hired as the head coach of the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League in 2019. Pl ...

and a conditional pick in 1999 Entry Draft traded from Anaheim to Colorado for C

Josef Marha Josef Marha (born 2 June 1976) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player. Playing career Marha played in the National Hockey League for the Colorado Avalanche, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Chicago Blackhawks, playing 159 regular season ...

. *March 24, 1998: C

Sean Pronger Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

traded from Anaheim to Pittsburgh for the rights to G Patrick Lalime. *March 24, 1998: D

Todd Gill Todd Gill (born November 9, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1985 and 2003. He played the majority of his career for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and also played for ...

traded from San Jose to St. Louis for RW Joe Murphy. *March 24, 1998: RW

Andrei Nazarov Andrei Viktorovich Nazarov (russian: Андрей Викторович Назаров; born May 22, 1974) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player and head coach of HC Sochi of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has formerly manag ...

and future considerations traded from San Jose to Tampa Bay for D Bryan Marchment, D David Shaw and a conditional exchange of first round picks in 1998 Entry Draft. *March 24, 1998: C Mike Eastwood traded from NY Rangers to St. Louis for C Harry York. *March 24, 1998: RW Mike Kennedy traded from Toronto to Dallas for Dallas' eighth round pick in 1998 Entry Draft. *March 24, 1998: RW Sandy McCarthy, Calgary's third round pick in 1998 Entry Draft and a fifth round pick in 1998 Entry Draft traded from Calgary to Tampa Bay for LW

Jason Wiemer Jason Earl Wiemer (born April 14, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He played for 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Wiemer was drafted 12th overall in the 1991 WHL Bantam Draft by the Port ...

. *March 24, 1998: RW Todd Harvey, LW Bob Errey and a fourth round pick in 1998 Entry Draft traded from Dallas to NY Rangers for C Brian Skrudland, RW Mike Keane and a conditional pick in either the 1998 or 1999 Entry Draft. *March 24, 1998: RW Tom Fitzgerald traded from Florida to Colorado for the rights to LW Mark Parrish and Anaheim's third round pick in 1998 Entry Draft (previously acquired). *March 24, 1998: D

Rich Brennan Richard John Brennan (born November 26, 1972) is an American retired professional ice hockey defenceman. He played briefly in the NHL with a number of teams including the Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Ki ...

traded from San Jose to NY Rangers for G Jason Muzzatti. *March 24, 1998: D Ryan Risidore traded from Chicago to NY Rangers for RW Ryan Vandenbussche. *March 24, 1998: D

Jamie Macoun Jamie Neil Macoun (born August 17, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played over 1,000 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) during a 17-year career. An undrafted player, Macoun played three seasons of college h ...

traded from Toronto to Detroit for Tampa Bay's fourth round pick in 1998 Entry Draft (previously acquired)

References

* * * * ;Notes

External links

Hockey DatabaseNHL.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1997-98 NHL season 1 1

League business

Regular season

Highlights

Final standings

Playoffs

Bracket

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Leading goaltenders

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Milestones

Debuts

Last games

Trading deadline

See also

References

External links