1997–98 NHL season

1997–98 NHL season
LeagueNational Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationOctober 1, 1997 – June 16, 1998
Number of games82
Number of teams26
TV partner(s)CBC, TSN, SRC (Canada)
ESPN, Fox (United States)
Draft
Top draft pickJoe Thornton
Picked byBoston Bruins
Regular season
Presidents' TrophyDallas Stars
Season MVPDominik Hasek (Sabres)
Top scorerJaromir Jagr (Penguins)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVPSteve Yzerman (Red Wings)
Stanley Cup
ChampionsDetroit Red Wings
  Runners-upWashington Capitals
NHL seasons

The 1997–98 NHL season was the 81st regular season of the National Hockey League. For the first time, there was a break in the regular season to allow NHL players join their respective national hockey teams competing at the Winter Olympics. The Hartford Whalers relocated to North Carolina, becoming the Carolina Hurricanes. The Stanley Cup champions were the Detroit Red Wings, who swept the Washington Capitals in four games.

League business

Approval of four expansion teams

On June 25, 1997, the National Hockey League approved of four expansion franchises for Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus, and Saint Paul expanding the league to 30 teams by 2000. These franchises became the Nashville Predators in 1998, the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999, and the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild in 2000.

To accommodate the incoming expansion teams, 1997–98 became 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, with the Toronto Maple Leafs moving from the Western to Eastern Conference, among others.

Franchise relocation

The Hartford Whalers relocated to North Carolina, becoming the Carolina Hurricanes. They would remain in the Northeast Division until realignment the following season. It would be another 14 years before another NHL team would relocate.

Entry draft

The 1997 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 21. Joe Thornton was selected first overall by the Boston Bruins.

Rule changes

Due to the retirement of Craig MacTavish after the 1996–97 season, all NHL players were now required to wear helmets. MacTavish was the last helmetless player remaining in the league to be grandfathered in to 1979–80 rules requiring incoming players to wear helmets.

Arena changes

Regular season

First international regular season games

The Vancouver Canucks and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim opened the season with a two-game series at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan, on October 3 and 4, 1997, the first time the NHL played regular games outside of North America.

Olympics and new All-Star Game format

This was the first time that the NHL took a break during the regular season to allow NHL players join their respective national hockey teams competing at the Winter Olympics. The league's break lasted 17 days from February 8 to 24 while NHL players participated at the men's hockey event at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

As a preview for the NHL's first Olympic participation, a new format was introduced at the 1998 All-Star Game at General Motors Place in Vancouver, the home to the Vancouver Canucks, on January 18. The league had the all-star teams consist of a team of North Americans playing against a team of players from the rest of the world.

Highlights

The all-time record for most shutouts in a season, set at 127 just a year earlier,[1] was broken again as 160 shutouts were recorded, 13 of which were earned by Dominik Hasek,[2] who set a League record with 11 teams shut-out. He zeroed the New York Rangers three times, and Los Angeles, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, Boston, Calgary, Washington, Montreal, Ottawa, Pittsburgh and Edmonton once each. Only two teams, the St. Louis Blues and the Detroit Red Wings, averaged more than three goals scored per game.[3] In addition, only one player, Jaromir Jagr, reached the 100-point plateau during the regular season.[4]

Jari Kurri reached 600 goals in his career, finishing with 601.

For the first time since 1968–69 season, the Chicago Blackhawks missed the playoffs.

Final standings

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 1 New Jersey Devils 82 48 23 11 225 166 107
2 3 Philadelphia Flyers 82 42 29 11 242 193 95
3 4 Washington Capitals 82 40 30 12 219 202 92
4 10 New York Islanders 82 30 41 11 212 225 71
5 11 New York Rangers 82 25 39 18 197 231 68
6 12 Florida Panthers 82 24 43 15 203 256 63
7 13 Tampa Bay Lightning 82 17 55 10 151 269 44
Northeast Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 2 Pittsburgh Penguins 82 40 24 18 228 188 98
2 5 Boston Bruins 82 39 30 13 221 194 91
3 6 Buffalo Sabres 82 36 29 17 211 187 89
4 7 Montreal Canadiens 82 37 32 13 235 208 87
5 8 Ottawa Senators 82 34 33 15 193 200 83
6 9 Carolina Hurricanes 82 33 41 8 200 219 74
Eastern Conference[5]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 New Jersey Devils ATL 82 48 23 11 225 166 107
2 Pittsburgh Penguins NE 82 40 24 18 228 188 98
3 Philadelphia Flyers ATL 82 42 29 11 242 193 95
4 Washington Capitals ATL 82 40 30 12 219 202 92
5 Boston Bruins NE 82 39 30 13 221 194 91
6 Buffalo Sabres NE 82 36 29 17 211 187 89
7 Montreal Canadiens NE 82 37 32 13 235 208 87
8 Ottawa Senators NE 82 34 33 15 193 200 83
9 Carolina Hurricanes NE 82 33 41 8 200 219 74
10 New York Islanders ATL 82 30 41 11 212 225 71
11 New York Rangers ATL 82 25 39 18 197 231 68
12 Florida Panthers ATL 82 24 43 15 203 256 63
13 Tampa Bay Lightning ATL 82 17 55 10 151 269 44

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs


Western Conference
Central Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 1 Dallas Stars 82 49 22 11 242 167 109
2 3 Detroit Red Wings 82 44 23 15 250 196 103
3 4 St. Louis Blues 82 45 29 8 256 204 98
4 6 Phoenix Coyotes 82 35 35 12 224 227 82
5 9 Chicago Blackhawks 82 30 39 13 192 199 73
6 10 Toronto Maple Leafs 82 30 43 9 194 237 69
Pacific Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 2 Colorado Avalanche 82 39 26 17 231 205 95
2 5 Los Angeles Kings 82 38 33 11 227 225 87
3 7 Edmonton Oilers 82 35 37 10 215 224 80
4 8 San Jose Sharks 82 34 38 10 210 216 78
5 11 Calgary Flames 82 26 41 15 217 252 67
6 12 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 82 26 43 13 205 261 65
7 13 Vancouver Canucks 82 25 43 14 224 273 64
Western Conference[6]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 p – Dallas Stars CEN 82 49 22 11 242 167 109
2 x – Colorado Avalanche PAC 82 39 26 17 231 205 95
3 Detroit Red Wings CEN 82 44 23 15 250 196 103
4 St. Louis Blues CEN 82 45 29 8 256 204 98
5 Los Angeles Kings PAC 82 38 33 11 227 225 87
6 Phoenix Coyotes CEN 82 35 35 12 224 227 82
7 Edmonton Oilers PAC 82 35 37 10 215 224 80
8 San Jose Sharks PAC 82 34 38 10 210 216 78
9 Chicago Blackhawks CEN 82 30 39 13 192 199 73
10 Toronto Maple Leafs CEN 82 30 43 9 194 237 69
11 Calgary Flames PAC 82 26 41 15 217 252 67
12 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim PAC 82 26 43 13 205 261 65
13 Vancouver Canucks PAC 82 25 43 14 224 273 64

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

bold – Qualified for playoffs; x – Won Division; p – Won Presidents' Trophy


Playoffs

Main article: 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs

Bracket

The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the two division winners seeded 1–2 based on regular season records, and the six remaining teams seeded 3–8. In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home-ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Conference quarterfinals Conference semifinals Conference finals Stanley Cup Finals
            
1 New Jersey 2
8 Ottawa 4
4 Washington 4
8 Ottawa 1
2 Pittsburgh 2
7 Montreal 4
4 Washington 4
Eastern Conference
6 Buffalo 2
3 Philadelphia 1
6 Buffalo 4
6 Buffalo 4
7 Montreal 0
4 Washington 4
5 Boston 2
E4 Washington 0
W3 Detroit 4
1 Dallas 4
8 San Jose 2
1 Dallas 4
7 Edmonton 1
2 Colorado 3
7 Edmonton 4
1 Dallas 2
Western Conference
3 Detroit 4
3 Detroit 4
6 Phoenix 2
3 Detroit 4
4 St. Louis 2
4 St. Louis 4
5 Los Angeles 0

Awards

The NHL Awards took place in Toronto, Ontario

Presidents' Trophy: Dallas Stars
Prince of Wales Trophy:
(Eastern Conference playoff champion)		 Washington Capitals
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:
(Western Conference playoff champion)		 Detroit Red Wings
Art Ross Trophy: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Jamie McLennan, St. Louis Blues
Calder Memorial Trophy: Sergei Samsonov, Boston Bruins
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Jere Lehtinen, Dallas Stars
Hart Memorial Trophy: Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
Conn Smythe Trophy: Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings
Jack Adams Award: Pat Burns, Boston Bruins
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Rob Blake, Los Angeles Kings
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Kelly Chase, St. Louis Blues
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Ron Francis, Pittsburgh Penguins
Lester B. Pearson Award: Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
NHL Foundation Player Award: Kelly Chase, St. Louis Blues
NHL Plus-Minus Award: Chris Pronger, St. Louis Blues
Vezina Trophy: Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres
William M. Jennings Trophy: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils

All-Star teams

First Team   Position   Second Team
Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres G Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings D Chris Pronger, St. Louis Blues
Rob Blake, Los Angeles Kings D Scott Niedermayer, New Jersey Devils
Peter Forsberg, Colorado Avalanche C Wayne Gretzky, New York Rangers
Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins RW Teemu Selanne, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
John LeClair, Philadelphia Flyers LW Keith Tkachuk, Phoenix Coyotes

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Regular season Playoffs
Player Team GP G A PTS
Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh 77 35 67 102
Peter Forsberg Colorado 72 25 66 91
Pavel Bure Vancouver 82 51 39 90
Wayne Gretzky NY Rangers 82 23 67 90
John LeClair Philadelphia 82 51 36 87
Zigmund Palffy NY Islanders 82 45 42 87
Ron Francis Pittsburgh 81 25 62 87
Teemu Selanne Anaheim 73 52 34 86
Jason Allison Boston 81 33 50 83
Jozef Stumpel Los Angeles 77 21 58 79

Source: NHL.[7]

Player Team GP G A Pts
Steve Yzerman Detroit 22 6 18 24
Sergei Fedorov Detroit 22 10 10 20
Tomas Holmstrom Detroit 22 7 12 19
Nicklas Lidstrom Detroit 22 6 13 19
Joe Juneau Washington 21 7 10 17
Adam Oates Washington 21 6 11 17
Martin Lapointe Detroit 21 9 6 15
Larry Murphy Detroit 22 3 12 15
Vyacheslav Kozlov Detroit 22 6 8 14
Mike Modano Dallas 17 4 10 14

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

Leading goaltenders

Regular season

Player Team GP MIN GA SO GAA SV%
Ed Belfour Dallas 65 3581 112 9 1.88 .916
Martin Brodeur New Jersey 70 4128 130 10 1.89 .917
Tom Barrasso Pittsburgh 63 3542 122 7 2.07 .922
Dominik Hasek Buffalo 72 4220 147 13 2.09 .932
Ron Hextall Philadelphia 46 2688 97 4 2.17 .911
Trevor Kidd Carolina 47 2685 97 3 2.17 .922
Jamie McLennan St. Louis 30 1658 60 2 2.17 .903
Jeff Hackett Chicago 58 3441 126 8 2.20 .917
Olaf Kolzig Washington 64 3788 139 5 2.20 .920
Chris Osgood Detroit 64 3807 140 6 2.21 .913

[4]

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

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):

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):

Broadcasting

Canada

This was the tenth and final season that the league's Canadian national broadcast rights were split between TSN and Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. During the regular season, Saturday night games aired on CBC, while TSN primarily had Monday and Thursday night games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series.

The league then signed a new deal with the fledgling CTV Sportsnet, replacing TSN as the national cable television partner.

United States

This was the fourth season of the league's five-year U.S. national broadcast rights deals with Fox and ESPN. Both ESPN and ESPN2 aired weeknight games throughout the regular season. Fox had the All-Star Game, and the network's weekly regional telecasts then expanded from six to 11 weekend afternoons between January and April. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected games, while Fox had Sunday regional telecasts. Each U.S. team's regional broadcaster produced local coverage of first and second round games (except for those games on Fox). Fox's Sunday telecasts continued into the Conference Finals, while ESPN had the rest of the third round games. The Stanley Cup Finals were also split between Fox and ESPN.

The controversial "FoxTrax" puck system was last used this season. In August 1998, the NHL signed a five-year, $600 million rights agreement with ABC Sports/ESPN, and thus Fox elected not to use the system in the subsequent "lame duck" season.

See also

References

  • Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
  • Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
  • Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
  • Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
Notes
  1. ^ "1996-97 NHL Goalie Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com.
  2. ^ "1997-98 NHL Goalie Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com.
  3. ^ "1997-98 NHL Summary". Hockey-Reference.com.
  4. ^ a b "1997-98 NHL Leaders". Hockey-Reference.com.
  5. ^ "1997–1998 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  6. ^ "1997-1998 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  7. ^ Dinger 2011, p. 154.