1997–98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season

1997–98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Division6th Pacific
Conference12th Western
1997–98 record26–43–13
Home record12–23–6
Road record14–20–7
Goals for205
Goals against261
Team information
General managerJack Ferreira
CoachPierre Page
CaptainPaul Kariya
Teemu Selanne (interim)
Alternate captainsSteve Rucchin
Dave Karpa
Teemu Selanne
ArenaArrowhead Pond of Anaheim
Average attendance16,908
Minor league affiliate(s)Cincinnati Mighty Ducks
Columbus Chill
Team leaders
GoalsTeemu Selanne (52)
AssistsSteve Rucchin (36)
PointsTeemu Selanne (86)
Penalty minutesDave Karpa (217)
Plus/minusPaul Kariya (+12)
Teemu Selanne (+12)
WinsGuy Hebert (13)
Mikhail Shtalenkov (13)
Goals against averageGuy Hebert (2.93)

The 1997–98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season was the fifth season in franchise history. The Ducks finished sixth in the Pacific and missed the playoffs.

Off-season

Even though improving and making the Playoffs into the second round getting swept by the Detroit Red Wings, the Mighty Ducks fired Head Coach Ron Wilson on May 20, 1997 replacing him with former Flames Head Coach Pierre Page.[1][2] Former Coyotes Head Coach Don Hay was hired as an assistant coach.

During the summer only a few changes were made, since the team underwent changes before the trading deadline in March. The Mighty Ducks signed veteran Tomas Sandstrom on August 2 and acquired Scott Young from the Colorado Avalanche for a 1998 3rd round draft pick on September 17, 1997. Brent Severyn joined the Ducks as a free agent from Colorado.

Ruslan Salei earned a regular roster spot on the team. Rookies Matt Cullen, Jeremy Stevenson, Jeff Nielsen and Pavel Trnka also joined the Mighty Ducks.

The Mighty Duck unveiled two alternate jerseys for their 5th anniversary season: one mainly white, the other mainly green.

Regular season

The Mighty Ducks and Vancouver Canucks made NHL history, being the first teams ever to play a regular season game outside the USA or Canada, facing each other back to back in Tokyo splitting the series.

The season would prove to be a roller coaster ride : many players dressed for the team through the first twenty games as the lines looked different almost every night. On November 24, 1997, Shawn Antowski was involved in a serious car accident which left him with a compressed skull fracture. They also started the season without Paul Kariya due to a contract dispute, but played well without him as the Ducks were 11-12-6 until December 2, 1997, but by then the team was on a downturn since November 10 going 3-10-2 until Kariya returned on December 12, 1997. That night had everybody excited as the Ducks came back from being down 3–0 and Kariya scored two goals and an assist helping the Ducks to win after going winless in their last 6 games for the second time.

Despite his great performance the Mighty Ducks continued to struggle going 4-10-2 by January 14, 1998. Having a week off, the Mighty Ducks looked to bounce back starting a nice run with a 8–3 win against the Florida Panthers going 4-2-1 in their next seven games. On February 1, 1998 hopes of a turnaround in the second half of the season were shattered as Kariya was cross-checked in the head by Gary Suter resulting in Kariya missing the remainder of the season, playing only 22 games. In hopes of adding some more scoring due to Kariya's injury the Ducks acquired Travis Green along with Doug Houda and Tony Tuzzolino in exchange for J.J. Daigeneault, Joe Sacco and Mark Janssens on February 6, 1998. The team lost seven games in a row in early March but made a push for the post season in late March being undefeated in five games after the team came together following the infamous game against Dallas on March 13, but without their captain and losing Guy Hebert on March 8 due to a severe shoulder injury the team went 7-15-4 after the Olympic break thus missing the Play Offs.

Mikhail Shtalenkov played very well replacing Hebert, appearing in 18 of the last 21 games of the season. It was the first time he was the Mighty Ducks' number one for a longer stretch since playing three games in last year's Play Offs. The Ducks allowed too many goals that season and scored 40 less than last year. The drastic decrease in goals was a result of Kariya's absence, players like Sandstrom, Young, Rycchel, Pronger and Drury scoring less as well as the trade with the Islanders: it saw them losing reliable bottom six scoring from all players, the speed from Sacco, the gritty play of Janssens and the experience of Daigeneault on Defense who was important to their Powerplay. Though Travis Green played quite well for the Ducks, the deal was very lopsided and had many wondered at the time as the deal did not pay off at all. Late season acquisition Josef Marha had Anaheim hoping for next season as he had the most impact after the trading deadline. Several prospects also dressed for the Mighty Ducks showing a lot of scoring talent such as Cullen, Nielsen and especially late season call-up Banham but none them made an impact that was needed. Their Defense got some young blood as well with Salei and Trnka fulfilling management expectations.

The Mighty Ducks were shut out a league high 11 times, tied with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning.[3]

Final standings

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

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Western Conference[4]
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


Schedule and results

1997–98 regular season[5]
October: 5–4–4 (home: 2–3–2; road: 3–1–2)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
1 L October 3, 1997 2–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 0–1–0 Recap
2 W October 4, 1997 3–2 Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 1–1–0 Recap
3 T October 10, 1997 1–1 OT Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 1–1–1 Recap
4 L October 13, 1997 0–3 Boston Bruins (1997–98) 1–2–1 Recap
5 T October 15, 1997 2–2 OT Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 1–2–2 Recap
6 W October 17, 1997 2–1 Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 2–2–2 Recap
7 L October 19, 1997 2–5 New York Islanders (1997–98) 2–3–2 Recap
8 W October 21, 1997 4–3 @ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 3–3–2 Recap
9 L October 22, 1997 1–4 Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 3–4–2 Recap
10 W October 25, 1997 4–2 @ New York Islanders (1997–98) 4–4–2 Recap
11 T October 26, 1997 3–3 OT @ New York Rangers (1997–98) 4–4–3 Recap
12 T October 28, 1997 2–2 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 4–4–4 Recap
13 W October 30, 1997 3–0 @ Boston Bruins (1997–98) 5–4–4 Recap
November: 6–8–1 (home: 2–4–1; road: 4–4–0)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
14 L November 2, 1997 3–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 5–5–4 Recap
15 W November 5, 1997 5–2 Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 6–5–4 Recap
16 W November 7, 1997 4–3 OT @ Calgary Flames (1997–98) 7–5–4 Recap
17 W November 8, 1997 3–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 8–5–4 Recap
18 L November 10, 1997 4–6 San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 8–6–4 Recap
19 L November 12, 1997 3–4 OT Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 8–7–4 Recap
20 T November 14, 1997 3–3 OT Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 8–7–5 Recap
21 L November 16, 1997 0–4 Dallas Stars (1997–98) 8–8–5 Recap
22 L November 18, 1997 2–4 @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 8–9–5 Recap
23 L November 19, 1997 0–4 Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 8–10–5 Recap
24 W November 22, 1997 2–0 @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 9–10–5 Recap
25 L November 24, 1997 0–5 @ Dallas Stars (1997–98) 9–11–5 Recap
26 W November 26, 1997 2–0 New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 10–11–5 Recap
27 W November 28, 1997 3–1 @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 11–11–5 Recap
28 L November 29, 1997 2–3 OT @ Calgary Flames (1997–98) 11–12–5 Recap
December: 2–8–2 (home: 2–4–0; road: 0–4–2)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
29 T December 2, 1997 3–3 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 11–12–6 Recap
30 L December 3, 1997 0–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 11–13–6 Recap
31 L December 6, 1997 2–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 11–14–6 Recap
32 L December 10, 1997 0–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 11–15–6 Recap
33 W December 12, 1997 6–4 Washington Capitals (1997–98) 12–15–6 Recap
34 L December 17, 1997 2–6 Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 12–16–6 Recap
35 L December 19, 1997 2–6 Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 12–17–6 Recap
36 L December 21, 1997 2–4 San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 12–18–6 Recap
37 W December 22, 1997 5–1 Calgary Flames (1997–98) 13–18–6 Recap
38 T December 27, 1997 5–5 OT @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 13–18–7 Recap
39 L December 28, 1997 0–2 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 13–19–7 Recap
40 L December 30, 1997 1–2 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 13–20–7 Recap
January: 4–7–2 (home: 2–4–1; road: 2–3–1)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
41 L January 1, 1998 2–3 @ Washington Capitals (1997–98) 13–21–7 Recap
42 W January 3, 1998 4–1 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 14–21–7 Recap
43 T January 4, 1998 3–3 OT @ Florida Panthers (1997–98) 14–21–8 Recap
44 L January 7, 1998 2–3 Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 14–22–8 Recap
45 L January 9, 1998 1–5 Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 14–23–8 Recap
46 W January 11, 1998 2–1 OT Dallas Stars (1997–98) 15–23–8 Recap
47 L January 12, 1998 2–3 OT @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 15–24–8 Recap
48 L January 14, 1998 0–2 Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 15–25–8 Recap
49 W January 21, 1998 8–3 Florida Panthers (1997–98) 16–25–8 Recap
50 W January 22, 1998 4–3 @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 17–25–8 Recap
51 T January 24, 1998 3–3 OT Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 17–25–9 Recap
52 L January 27, 1998 2–4 @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 17–26–9 Recap
53 L January 28, 1998 2–5 Calgary Flames (1997–98) 17–27–9 Recap
February: 3–2–0 (home: 2–1–0; road: 1–1–0)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
54 W February 1, 1998 4–3 OT Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 18–27–9 Recap
55 W February 4, 1998 3–2 New York Rangers (1997–98) 19–27–9 Recap
56 L February 7, 1998 2–5 Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 19–28–9 Recap
57 L February 25, 1998 2–5 @ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 19–29–9 Recap
58 W February 27, 1998 4–0 @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 20–29–9 Recap
March: 4–9–2 (home: 1–5–0; road: 3–4–2)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
59 L March 1, 1998 2–6 St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 20–30–9 Recap
60 L March 4, 1998 0–2 Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 20–31–9 Recap
61 L March 6, 1998 0–3 San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 20–32–9 Recap
62 L March 8, 1998 1–3 Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 20–33–9 Recap
63 L March 9, 1998 3–4 OT @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 20–34–9 Recap
64 L March 11, 1998 1–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 20–35–9 Recap
65 L March 13, 1998 3–6 @ Dallas Stars (1997–98) 20–36–9 Recap
66 W March 15, 1998 5–3 Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 21–36–9 Recap
67 L March 18, 1998 0–3 @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 21–37–9 Recap
68 T March 19, 1998 3–3 OT @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 21–37–10 Recap
69 W March 21, 1998 5–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 22–37–10 Recap
70 W March 22, 1998 5–2 @ Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 23–37–10 Recap
71 W March 25, 1998 3–2 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 24–37–10 Recap
72 T March 26, 1998 3–3 OT @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 24–37–11 Recap
73 L March 28, 1998 3–5 @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 24–38–11 Recap
April: 2–5–2 (home: 1–2–2; road: 1–3–0)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
74 L April 1, 1998 1–5 Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 24–39–11 Recap
75 L April 3, 1998 3–6 @ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 24–40–11 Recap
76 T April 5, 1998 3–3 OT Calgary Flames (1997–98) 24–40–12 Recap
77 W April 8, 1998 4–2 Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 25–40–12 Recap
78 L April 9, 1998 2–5 @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 25–41–12 Recap
79 T April 13, 1998 2–2 OT Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 25–41–13 Recap
80 L April 15, 1998 3–5 @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 25–42–13 Recap
81 W April 18, 1998 4–1 @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 26–42–13 Recap
82 L April 19, 1998 3–5 St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 26–43–13 Recap
Legend:

  Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

  • Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
  • † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Mighty Ducks only.
  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Mighty Ducks only.
No. Player Pos Regular season
GP G A Pts +/- PIM
8 Teemu Selanne RW 73 52 34 86 12 30
20 Steve Rucchin C 72 17 36 53 8 13
15 Dmitri Mironov‡ D 66 6 30 36 −7 115
48 Scott Young RW 73 13 20 33 −13 22
9 Paul Kariya LW 22 17 14 31 12 23
45 Matt Cullen C 61 6 21 27 −4 23
10[a] Sean Pronger‡ LW 62 5 15 20 −9 30
14 Joe Sacco‡ LW 55 8 11 19 −1 24
17 Tomas Sandstrom LW 77 9 8 17 −25 64
36 J. J. Daigneault‡ D 53 2 15 17 −10 28
13 Ted Drury LW 73 6 10 16 −10 82
39 Travis Green† C 22 5 11 16 −10 16
24 Ruslan Salei D 66 5 10 15 7 70
33 Dave Karpa D 78 1 11 12 −3 217
29 Frank Banham RW 21 9 2 11 −6 12
10 Josef Marha† LW 12 7 4 11 4 0
16 Warren Rychel‡ LW 63 5 6 11 −10 198
12 Kevin Todd C 27 4 7 11 −5 12
18 Mark Janssens‡ C 55 4 5 9 −22 116
19 Jeff Nielsen RW 32 4 5 9 −1 16
23 Jason Marshall D 72 3 6 9 −8 189
40 Jeremy Stevenson LW 45 3 5 8 −4 101
7 Pavel Trnka D 48 3 4 7 −4 40
5 Drew Bannister† D 27 0 6 6 −2 47
38 Mike Crowley D 8 2 2 4 0 8
46 Jean-Francois Jomphe C 9 1 3 4 1 8
22 Brent Severyn LW 37 1 3 4 −3 133
29 Darren Van Impe‡ D 19 1 3 4 −10 4
21[b] Espen Knutsen C 19 3 0 3 −10 6
6 Doug Houda† D 24 1 2 3 −5 52
52 Peter Leboutillier RW 12 1 1 2 −3 55
32 Richard Park C 15 0 2 2 −3 8
4 Jamie Pushor† D 10 0 2 2 1 10
11 Shawn Antoski LW 9 1 0 1 1 18
2 Bobby Dollas‡ D 22 0 1 1 −12 27
31 Guy Hebert G 46 0 1 1 4
35 Mikhail Shtalenkov G 40 0 1 1 0
34 Dan Trebil D 21 0 1 1 −8 2
44 Antti Aalto C 3 0 0 0 −1 0
67 Tom Askey G 7 0 0 0 0
27 Mike Leclerc LW 7 0 0 0 −6 6
37 Marc Moro D 1 0 0 0 0 0
42 Barry Nieckar LW 1 0 0 0 0 2
36 Tony Tuzzolino† RW 1 0 0 0 −2 2
50 Bob Wren LW 3 0 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

No. Player Regular season
GP W L T SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI
31 Guy Hebert 46 13 24 6 1339 130 2.93 .903 3 2660
35 Mikhail Shtalenkov 40 13 18 5 1031 110 3.22 .893 1 2049
67 Tom Askey 7 0 1 2 113 12 2.64 .894 0 273

Awards and records

Awards

Type Award/honor Recipient Ref
League
(annual) 		NHL Second All-Star Team Teemu Selanne (Right Wing) [6]
League
(in-season) 		NHL All-Star Game selection Dmitri Mironov [7]
Teemu Selanne[c]

Records

Teemu Selanne set the franchise record for most goals in one season with 52 goals. The former record was held by Teemu Selanne and it was set the previous year.

Milestones

Milestone Player Date Ref
First game Espen Knutsen October 3, 1997 [9]
Matt Cullen October 28, 1997
Pavel Trnka November 5, 1997
Antti Aalto December 6, 1997
Marc Moro December 12, 1997
Mike Crowley December 28, 1997
Bob Wren January 14, 1998
Tony Tuzzolino February 25, 1998
Tom Askey March 13, 1998

Transactions

Traded Darren VanImpe to the Boston Bruins in November 1997.

Traded Bobby Dollas to the Edmonton Oilers for Drew Bannister on January 9, 1998.

Traded J.J. Daigneault, Joe Sacco and Mark Janssens to the New York Islanders for Travis Green Doug Houda and Tony Tuzzolino on February 6, 1998.

Acquired Jamie Pushor from the Detroit Red Wings for Dimitri Mironov on March 24, 1998.

Traded Sean Pronger to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Patrick Lalime on March 24, 1998.

Traded Warren Rychel to the Colorado Avelanche in exchange for Josef Marha on March 24, 1998.

Draft picks

Anaheim's draft picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[10]

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 18 Michael Holmqvist  Sweden Djurgardens IF (Sweden)
2 45 Maxim Balmochnykh  Russia Lada Togliatti (Russia)
3 72 Jay Legault  Canada London Knights (OHL)
5 125 Luc Vaillancourt  Canada Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL)
7 178 Tony Mohagen  Canada Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
7 181 Mat Snesrud  United States North Iowa Huskies (USHL)
8 209 Rene Stussi  Switzerland HC Thurgau (Switzerland)
9 235 Tommi Degerman  Finland Boston University (Hockey East)

Farm teams

Cincinnati Mighty Ducks

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Pronger wore number 54 in his first two games.
  2. ^ Knutsen wore number 47 in his first nine games.
  3. ^ Selanne was voted to the starting lineup.[8]

References

  • "Anaheim Mighty Ducks 1997-98 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  • "1997-98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  1. ^ "Ducks' Wilson Is Dismissed". The New York Times. May 21, 1997. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  2. ^ Teaford, Elliott (August 10, 1997). "No Pierre Pressure : Page, Ferreira in Business Again". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  3. ^ "1997-98 NHL Summary".
  4. ^ "1997-1998 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  5. ^ "1997-98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  6. ^ "Postseason All-Star Teams". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  7. ^ "1998 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  8. ^ "NHL All-Star Game Starting Lineups by Year (since 1986)". NHL.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  9. ^ "1997-98 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  10. ^ "1997 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.