1997–98 Carolina Hurricanes season

The 1997–98 Carolina Hurricanes season was the 26th season in franchise history, their 19th as a member of the National Hockey League (NHL), and their first in North Carolina. Formerly the Hartford Whalers, the team would play in Greensboro while a new arena was being constructed in Raleigh. The club finished sub-.500 and failed to qualify for the 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs.

1997–98 Carolina Hurricanes
Division	6th Northeast
Conference	9th Eastern
1997–98 record	33–41–8
Home record	16–18–7
Road record	17–23–1
Goals for	200
Goals against	219
Team information
General manager	Jim Rutherford
Coach	Paul Maurice
Captain	Kevin Dineen
Alternate captains	Keith Primeau Unknown
Arena	Greensboro Coliseum
Average attendance	9,086[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)	Beast of New Haven Richmond Renegades
Team leaders
Goals	Sami Kapanen (26) Keith Primeau (26)
Assists	Sami Kapanen (37) Keith Primeau (37)
Points	Sami Kapanen (63) Keith Primeau (63)
Penalty minutes	Stu Grimson (204)
Plus/minus	Keith Primeau (+19)
Wins	Trevor Kidd (21)
Goals against average	Trevor Kidd (2.17)
← 1996–97 (Hartford) 1998–99 →

Offseason

In March 1997, Whalers owner Peter Karmanos announced that the team would move elsewhere after the 1996–97 season because of the team's inability to negotiate a satisfactory construction and lease package for a new arena to replace the Hartford Civic Center. In July, Karmanos announced that the Whalers would move to the Research Triangle area of North Carolina and the new Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh, become the Carolina Hurricanes, and change their team colors to red and black. Due to the relatively short time frame for the move, Karmanos himself thought of and decided upon the new name for the club, rather than holding a contest as is sometimes done.

Unfortunately, the ESA would not be complete for two more years. The only arena in the Triangle with an ice plant was Dorton Arena in Raleigh, which only seated 5,100 people—too small even for temporary use. The Hurricanes decided to play home games in Greensboro, ninety minutes away from Raleigh, for their first two seasons after the move. This choice was disastrous for the franchise's attendance and reputation. With a capacity of over 21,000 people for hockey, the Greensboro Coliseum became the highest-capacity arena in the NHL, but Triangle-area fans proved unwilling to make the drive down I-40 to Greensboro, and fans from the Piedmont Triad mostly refused to support a lame-duck team that had displaced the longtime Greensboro/Carolina Monarchs minor-league franchise. Furthermore, only 29 out of 82 games were televised, and radio play-by-play coverage on WPTF was often pre-empted by North Carolina State Wolfpack basketball (for whose broadcasts WPTF was the flagship station), leaving these games totally unavailable to those who did not have a ticket. With by far the smallest season-ticket base in the NHL and attendance routinely well below the league average, Sports Illustrated ran a story titled "Natural Disaster,"^[2] and ESPN anchors mocked the "Green Acres" of empty seats; in a 2006 interview, Karmanos admitted that "as it turns out, [Greensboro] was probably a mistake."^[3]

Regular season

Final standings

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^[4]

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

Schedule and results

1997–98 regular season[5]
October: 3–8–3 (home: 2–2–2; road: 1–6–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap 1 L October 1, 1997 2–4 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 0–1–0 17,808 Recap 2 L October 3, 1997 3–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 0–2–0 18,661 Recap 3 L October 4, 1997 2–3 @ Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 0–3–0 18,500 Recap 4 T October 7, 1997 3–3 OT Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 0–3–1 6,083 Recap 5 W October 10, 1997 2–1 New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 1–3–1 6,352 Recap 6 L October 11, 1997 1–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 1–4–1 15,175 Recap 7 L October 13, 1997 1–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 1–5–1 12,530 Recap 8 T October 15, 1997 3–3 OT Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 1–5–2 6,278 Recap 9 L October 18, 1997 2–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 1–6–2 19,983 Recap 10 L October 20, 1997 2–4 @ New York Rangers (1997–98) 1–7–2 18,200 Recap 11 W October 22, 1997 4–3 St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 2–7–2 8,185 Recap 12 T October 24, 1997 3–3 OT @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 2–7–3 16,061 Recap 13 W October 26, 1997 3–2 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 3–7–3 14,834 Recap 14 L October 31, 1997 2–3 OT Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 3–8–3 7,555 Recap
November: 7–5–1 (home: 5–3–1; road: 2–2–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap 15 W November 3, 1997 5–3 Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 4–8–3 7,257 Recap 16 W November 5, 1997 3–1 Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 5–8–3 10,090 Recap 17 L November 7, 1997 2–3 New York Islanders (1997–98) 5–9–3 7,742 Recap 18 W November 9, 1997 4–1 Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 6–9–3 5,551 Recap 19 W November 12, 1997 6–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 7–9–3 14,240 Recap 20 W November 13, 1997 4–2 @ Calgary Flames (1997–98) 8–9–3 15,825 Recap 21 L November 16, 1997 1–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 8–10–3 14,740 Recap 22 W November 19, 1997 2–1 Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 9–10–3 6,896 Recap 23 L November 21, 1997 3–4 New York Rangers (1997–98) 9–11–3 19,358 Recap 24 T November 23, 1997 3–3 OT Calgary Flames (1997–98) 9–11–4 5,516 Recap 25 L November 26, 1997 2–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 9–12–4 13,253 Recap 26 W November 28, 1997 2–0 Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 10–12–4 8,107 Recap 27 L November 29, 1997 2–3 Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 10–13–4 11,332 Recap
December: 5–8–1 (home: 5–3–1; road: 0–5–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap 28 W December 1, 1997 3–1 Boston Bruins (1997–98) 11–13–4 5,865 Recap 29 W December 3, 1997 5–3 New York Islanders (1997–98) 12–13–4 5,651 Recap 30 T December 5, 1997 2–2 OT Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 12–13–5 6,793 Recap 31 L December 6, 1997 1–4 @ Boston Bruins (1997–98) 12–14–5 14,805 Recap 32 L December 10, 1997 2–5 Florida Panthers (1997–98) 12–15–5 7,219 Recap 33 L December 12, 1997 2–3 OT @ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 12–16–5 12,321 Recap 34 W December 16, 1997 2–1 Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 13–16–5 7,317 Recap 35 L December 18, 1997 2–3 @ Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 13–17–5 14,437 Recap 36 L December 20, 1997 1–2 Washington Capitals (1997–98) 13–18–5 8,118 Recap 37 L December 23, 1997 2–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 13–19–5 19,594 Recap 38 L December 26, 1997 2–5 Florida Panthers (1997–98) 13–20–5 8,684 Recap 39 W December 27, 1997 4–1 Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 14–20–5 8,682 Recap 40 W December 30, 1997 2–1 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 15–20–5 8,309 Recap 41 L December 31, 1997 2–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 15–21–5 15,108 Recap
January: 5–7–1 (home: 1–3–1; road: 4–4–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap 42 L January 3, 1998 1–6 Dallas Stars (1997–98) 15–22–5 9,266 Recap 43 W January 5, 1998 4–1 Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 16–22–5 6,055 Recap 44 L January 6, 1998 2–4 @ New York Rangers (1997–98) 16–23–5 18,200 Recap 45 T January 8, 1998 3–3 OT Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 16–23–6 11,908 Recap 46 W January 10, 1998 2–1 OT @ New York Islanders (1997–98) 17–23–6 13,679 Recap 47 L January 12, 1998 1–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 17–24–6 8,250 Recap 48 L January 14, 1998 1–4 Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 17–25–6 10,704 Recap 49 L January 21, 1998 1–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 17–26–6 12,627 Recap 50 W January 22, 1998 4–2 @ Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 18–26–6 15,491 Recap 51 W January 24, 1998 4–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 19–26–6 21,273 Recap 52 L January 27, 1998 0–3 @ Florida Panthers (1997–98) 19–27–6 14,703 Recap 53 W January 28, 1998 3–2 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 20–27–6 10,815 Recap 54 L January 30, 1998 0–2 @ New York Islanders (1997–98) 20–28–6 13,275 Recap
February: 1–2–1 (home: 0–1–1; road: 1–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap 55 L February 1, 1998 3–6 Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 20–29–6 9,591 Recap 56 T February 4, 1998 3–3 OT Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 20–29–7 8,304 Recap 57 W February 7, 1998 3–1 @ Boston Bruins (1997–98) 21–29–7 16,944 Recap 58 L February 28, 1998 3–4 @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 21–30–7 19,040 Recap
March: 8–5–1 (home: 2–3–1; road: 6–2–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap 59 W March 2, 1998 3–1 @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 22–30–7 16,237 Recap 60 W March 5, 1998 2–1 @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 23–30–7 10,541 Recap 61 W March 6, 1998 5–4 OT @ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 24–30–7 16,210 Recap 62 W March 8, 1998 3–1 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 25–30–7 17,174 Recap 63 L March 12, 1998 0–2 New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 25–31–7 8,811 Recap 64 L March 14, 1998 1–2 San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 25–32–7 12,911 Recap 65 W March 15, 1998 4–1 Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 26–32–7 7,853 Recap 66 L March 18, 1998 0–1 @ Washington Capitals (1997–98) 26–33–7 12,792 Recap 67 L March 20, 1998 1–6 @ Dallas Stars (1997–98) 26–34–7 16,928 Recap 68 W March 23, 1998 5–3 @ Florida Panthers (1997–98) 27–34–7 14,703 Recap 69 W March 26, 1998 4–1 New York Rangers (1997–98) 28–34–7 15,456 Recap 70 W March 28, 1998 4–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 29–34–7 19,608 Recap 71 L March 29, 1998 1–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 29–35–7 13,216 Recap 72 T March 31, 1998 3–3 OT Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 29–35–8 8,671 Recap
April: 4–6–0 (home: 1–3–0; road: 3–3–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Attendance Recap 73 W April 1, 1998 4–0 @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 30–35–8 16,338 Recap 74 W April 4, 1998 1–0 @ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 31–35–8 21,273 Recap 75 W April 6, 1998 3–0 @ Boston Bruins (1997–98) 32–35–8 15,180 Recap 76 L April 8, 1998 1–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 32–36–8 16,644 Recap 77 W April 9, 1998 5–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 33–36–8 8,368 Recap 78 L April 11, 1998 1–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 33–37–8 15,726 Recap 79 L April 13, 1998 2–3 Boston Bruins (1997–98) 33–38–8 9,228 Recap 80 L April 16, 1998 1–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 33–39–8 10,515 Recap 81 L April 18, 1998 3–4 Washington Capitals (1997–98) 33–40–8 12,641 Recap 82 L April 19, 1998 1–2 @ Washington Capitals (1997–98) 33–41–8 18,921 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 Hurricanes only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Hurricanes only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
24	Sami Kapanen	RW	81	26	37	63	9	16
55	Keith Primeau	C	81	26	37	63	19	110
10	Gary Roberts	LW	61	20	29	49	3	103
19	Nelson Emerson	RW	81	21	24	45	−17	50
92	Jeff O'Neill	RW	74	19	20	39	−8	67
18	Robert Kron	LW	81	16	20	36	−8	12
3	Steve Chiasson	D	66	7	27	34	−2	65
23	Martin Gelinas†	LW	40	12	14	26	1	30
2	Glen Wesley	D	82	6	19	25	7	36
11	Kevin Dineen	RW	54	7	16	23	−7	105
8	Geoff Sanderson‡	LW	40	7	10	17	−4	14
28	Paul Ranheim	LW	73	5	9	14	−11	28
21	Jeff Brown‡	D	32	3	10	13	−1	16
7	Curtis Leschyshyn	D	73	2	10	12	−2	45
6	Adam Burt	D	76	1	11	12	−6	106
27	Steve Leach	RW	45	4	5	9	−19	42
44	Kent Manderville	C	77	4	4	8	−6	31
5	Kevin Haller	D	65	3	5	8	−5	94
32	Stu Grimson	LW	82	3	4	7	0	204
26	Ray Sheppard†	RW	10	4	2	6	2	2
33	Bates Battaglia	LW	33	2	4	6	−1	10
12	Steven Rice	RW	47	2	4	6	−16	38
22	Sean Hill†	D	42	0	5	5	−2	48
39	Enrico Ciccone‡	D	14	0	3	3	3	83
14	Steven Halko	D	18	0	2	2	−1	10
4	Nolan Pratt	D	23	0	2	2	−2	44
1	Sean Burke‡	G	25	0	1	1		6
1	Kirk McLean†‡	G	8	0	1	1		0
17	Chris Murray‡	RW	7	0	1	1	2	22
46	Mike Rucinski	D	9	0	1	1	0	2
29	Kevin Brown	RW	4	0	0	0	−2	0
16	Jeff Daniels	LW	2	0	0	0	0	0
30	Mike Fountain	G	3	0	0	0		2
39[a]	Pat Jablonski	G	5	0	0	0		0
37	Trevor Kidd	G	47	0	0	0		2
34	Steve Martins	C	3	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Hurricanes only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Hurricanes only.

No.	Player	Regular season
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
37	Trevor Kidd	47	21	21	3	1237	97	2.17	.922	3	2685
1	Sean Burke‡	25	7	11	5	655	66	2.80	.899	1	1415
1	Kirk McLean†‡	8	4	2	0	181	22	3.29	.878	0	401
39[a]	Pat Jablonski	5	1	4	0	115	14	3.01	.878	0	279
30	Mike Fountain	3	0	3	0	68	10	3.68	.853	0	163

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Lester Patrick Trophy	Peter Karmanos	[6]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Steven Halko	October 1, 1997	[7]
	Bates Battaglia	January 3, 1998
	Mike Rucinski	March 29, 1998

Transactions

The Hurricanes were involved in the following transactions during the 1997–98 season.

Trades

June 21, 1997	To San Jose Sharks 1st round pick in 1997 - Scott Hannan	To Carolina Hurricanes 2nd round pick in 1997 - Brad DeFauw 3rd round pick in 1998 - Erik Cole
June 27, 1997	To St. Louis Blues Alexander Godynyuk 6th round pick in 1998 - Brad Voth	To Carolina Hurricanes Steve Leach
July 25, 1997	To Chicago Blackhawks Ryan Risidore 5th round pick in 1998 - Morgan Warren	To Carolina Hurricanes Enrico Ciccone
August 8, 1997	To New York Rangers Jason Muzzatti	To Carolina Hurricanes 5th round pick in 1998 - Tommy Westlund
August 25, 1997	To Calgary Flames Andrew Cassels Jean-Sébastien Giguère	To Carolina Hurricanes Gary Roberts Trevor Kidd
November 17, 1997	To Ottawa Senators Chris Murray	To Carolina Hurricanes Sean Hill
January 2, 1998	To Toronto Maple Leafs Jeff Brown	To Carolina Hurricanes 4th round pick in 1999 - Evgeny Pavlov
January 2, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Sean Burke Enrico Ciccone Geoff Sanderson	To Carolina Hurricanes Kirk McLean Martin Gelinas
March 23, 1998	To Florida Panthers Kirk McLean	To Carolina Hurricanes Ray Sheppard

Free agents

Player Former Team Pat Jablonski Phoenix Coyotes Mike Fountain Vancouver Canucks Greg Koehler University of Massachusetts-Lowell (NCAA)

Player New Team Derek King Toronto Maple Leafs Dave Babych Vancouver Canucks Bob Wren Anaheim Mighty Ducks

Draft picks

Carolina's draft picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[8]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	22	Nikos Tselios	United States	Belleville Bulls (OHL)
2	28	Brad DeFauw	United States	University of North Dakota (WCHA)
3	80	Francis Lessard	Canada	Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
4	88	Shane Willis	Canada	Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
6	142	Kyle Dafoe	Canada	Owen Sound Platers (OHL)
7	169	Andrew Merrick	United States	University of Michigan (CCHA)
8	195	Niklas Nordgren	Sweden	Modo Hockey Jr. (Sweden)
8	199	Randy Fitzgerald	Canada	Detroit Whalers (OHL)
9	225	Kent McDonell	Canada	Guelph Storm (OHL)

Farm teams

The Beast of New Haven were the Hurricanes American Hockey League affiliate for the 1998–99 AHL season.

Notes

1. Jablonski wore number 35 in his first four games.