1997–98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season

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.

1997–98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Division	6th Pacific
Conference	12th Western
1997–98 record	26–43–13
Home record	12–23–6
Road record	14–20–7
Goals for	205
Goals against	261
Team information
General manager	Jack Ferreira
Coach	Pierre Page
Captain	Paul Kariya Teemu Selanne (interim)
Alternate captains	Steve Rucchin Dave Karpa Teemu Selanne
Arena	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
Average attendance	16,908
Minor league affiliate(s)	Cincinnati Mighty Ducks Columbus Chill
Team leaders
Goals	Teemu Selanne (52)
Assists	Steve Rucchin (36)
Points	Teemu Selanne (86)
Penalty minutes	Dave Karpa (217)
Plus/minus	Paul Kariya (+12) Teemu Selanne (+12)
Wins	Guy Hebert (13) Mikhail Shtalenkov (13)
Goals against average	Guy Hebert (2.93)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

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. Kariya's return didn't have the impact the Mighty Ducks had hoped for, going only 7-12-3 overall, but they improved since mid January when Anaheim defeated Florida 8-3, going 3-2-1. Before Kariya's return, Anaheim was 11-15-6.

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

• 1997–98 NHL season

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.