1997–98 Calgary Flames season

1997–98 Calgary Flames
Division 5th Pacific
Conference 11th Western
1997–98 record 26–41–15
Home record 18–17–6
Road record 8–24–9
Goals for 217 (14th)
Goals against 252 (22nd)
Team information
General Manager Al Coates
Coach Brian Sutter
Captain Todd Simpson
Alternate captains Theoren Fleury
Unknown
Arena Canadian Airlines Saddledome
Average attendance 16,940
Team leaders
Goals Theoren Fleury (27)
Cory Stillman (27)
Assists Theoren Fleury (51)
Points Theoren Fleury (78)
Penalties in minutes Theoren Fleury (197)
Wins Rick Tabaracci (13)
Goals against average Rick Tabaracci (2.88)
<1996–97 1998–99>

The 1997–98 Calgary Flames season was the 18th National Hockey League season in Calgary. After a disappointing 1996–97 season, the Flames looked to newly hired coach Brian Sutter to return the Flames to the playoffs.

The off-season featured the trade of highly popular forward Gary Roberts shortly before the season began. Roberts missed the entire 1996–97 NHL season due to injury after playing only 35 games in 1995–96. Feeling that playing in the Eastern Conference with its lower travel would help aid him in his comeback, the Flames agreed to trade Roberts. He was dealt, along with starting goaltender Trevor Kidd to the Carolina Hurricanes for Andrew Cassels and Jean-Sebastien Giguere.[1]

The season would serve as a bitter disappointment for the Flames from start to end, as the Flames would struggle to score goals all season long, ultimately finishing with the worst record in Calgary history at 26–41–15, while 67 points was the lowest in franchise history since the expansion Atlanta Flames managed just 65 in 1972–73.

Theoren Fleury was named to the North American team at the 1998 NHL All Star Game, where he recorded two assists playing on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Mark Recchi. Defenceman Derek Morris was named a Rookie All Star.[2]

Fleury also represented Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.[3]

Prior to the start of the season, the Flames purchased the Western Hockey League's Calgary Hitmen for approximately $1.5 million. The struggling franchise was nearly destroyed by the fallout of the Graham James scandal.[4]

Regular season

On Friday, October 17, 1997, the Flames scored three short-handed goals in a 6-5 win over the Colorado Avalanche.[5]

Season standings

Pacific Division
No. GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 Colorado Avalanche 82 39 26 17 231 205 95
2 Los Angeles Kings 82 38 33 11 227 225 87
3 Edmonton Oilers 82 35 37 10 215 224 80
4 San Jose Sharks 82 34 38 10 210 216 78
5 Calgary Flames 82 26 41 15 217 252 67
6 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 82 26 43 13 205 261 65
7 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[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

Schedule and results

1997–98 Game Log

Playoffs

The Flames finished 11th in the Western Conference with just 67 points, eleven points behind the 8th place San Jose Sharks. Calgary missed the playoffs for the second straight season.

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player # GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
Theoren Fleury 14 82 27 51 78 197 - - - - -
Cory Stillman 16 72 27 22 49 40 - - - - -
Marty McInnis 18 75 19 25 44 34 - - - - -
Andrew Cassels 21 81 17 27 44 32 - - - - -
German Titov 13 68 18 22 40 38 - - - - -
Michael Nylander 92 65 13 23 36 35 - - - - -
Jarome Iginla 12 70 13 19 32 29 - - - - -
Derek Morris 53 82 9 20 29 88 - - - - -
Cale Hulse 32 79 5 22 27 169 - - - - -
Tommy Albelin 5 69 2 17 19 32 - - - - -
James Patrick 3 60 6 11 17 26 - - - - -
Hnat Domenichelli 17 31 9 7 16 6 - - - - -
Jim Dowd 34 48 6 8 14 12 - - - - -
Joel Bouchard 6 44 5 7 12 57 - - - - -
Jamie Allison 2 43 3 8 11 104 - - - - -
Valeri Bure 8 16 5 4 9 2 - - - - -
Ed Ward 42 64 4 5 9 122 - - - - -
Chris Dingman 7 70 3 3 6 149 - - - - -
Todd Simpson 27 53 1 5 6 109 - - - - -
Jason Wiemer 24 12 4 1 5 28 - - - - -
Aaron Gavey 23 26 2 3 5 24 - - - - -
Dwayne Roloson 30 39 0 4 4 10 - - - - -
Erik Andersson 29 12 2 1 3 8 - - - - -
Chris O'Sullivan 19 12 0 2 2 10 - - - - -
Eric Landry 11 12 1 0 1 4 - - - - -
Ladislav Kohn 46 4 0 1 1 0 - - - - -
Todd Hlushko 20 13 0 1 1 27 - - - - -
Kevin Dahl 4 19 0 1 1 6 - - - - -
Rick Tabaracci 31 42 0 1 1 14 - - - - -
Sergei Varlamov 58 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
Eric Charron 39 2 0 0 0 4 - - - - -
Marty Murray 28 2 0 0 0 2 - - - - -
Travis Brigley 43 5 0 0 0 23 - - - - -
Steve Begin 57 5 0 0 0 23 - - - - -
Tyler Moss 1 6 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
Denis Gauthier 24 10 0 0 0 16 - - - - -
Rocky Thompson 55 12 0 0 0 61 - - - - -
Mike Peluso 8 23 0 0 0 113 - - - - -
Traded players 16 20 36 227 - - - - -

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Calgary. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player # GP TOI W L T GA SO GAA GP TOI W L GA SO GAA
Rick Tabaracci 31 42 2419 13 22 6 116 0 2.88 - - - - - - -
Dwayne Roloson 30 39 2205 11 16 8 110 0 2.99 - - - - - - -
Tyler Moss 1 6 367 2 3 1 20 0 3.27 - - - - - - -

Transactions

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1997–98 season.[7]

Trades

June 21, 1997 To Calgary Flames
Rick Tabaracci
To Tampa Bay Lightning
4th round pick in 1998
August 25, 1997 To Calgary Flames
Andrew Cassels
Jean-Sebastien Giguere
To Carolina Hurricanes
Gary Roberts
Trevor Kidd
February 1, 1998 To Calgary Flames
Valeri Bure
4th round pick in 1998
To Montreal Canadiens
Zarley Zalapski
Jonas Hoglund
March 24, 1998 To Calgary Flames
Jason Wiemer
To Tampa Bay Lightning
Sandy McCarthy
3rd round pick in 1998
5th round pick in 1998

Free agents

Player Former team
Player New team
This sports-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[8]

Rnd Pick Player Nationality Position Team (league) NHL statistics
GPGAPtsPIM
16Daniel Tkaczuk CanadaCBarrie Colts (OHL)19471114
232 Evan Lindsay CanadaGPrince Albert Raiders (WHL)
242John Tripp CanadaRWOshawa Generals (OHL)4327935
251Dmitry Kokorev RussiaDMoscow Dynamo (RSL)
360Derek Schultz CanadaCSpokane Chiefs (WHL)
370Erik Andersson SwedenLWUniversity of Denver (NCAA)122138
492Chris St. Croix United StatesDKamloops Blazers (WHL)
4100Ryan Ready CanadaLWBelleville Bulls (OHL)70110
5113Martin Moise CanadaRWBeauport Harfangs (QMJHL)
6140Ilja Demidov RussiaDOshawa Generals (OHL)
7167Jeremy Rondeau CanadaLWSwift Current Broncos (WHL)
9223Dustin Paul CanadaRWMoose Jaw Warriors (WHL)

Farm teams

Saint John Flames

The Baby Flames finished the 1997–98 American Hockey League season with a franchise record 43 wins, as their 43–24–13 record led the Flames to the Atlantic Division title, the first division championship in team history. The Flames marched to the Calder Cup finals, defeating the St. John's Maple Leafs 3–1, the Portland Pirates 4–2, and Hartford Wolf Pack 4–1. The Flames fell to the Philadelphia Phantoms 4–2 in the finals, however.[9] Hnat Domenichelli led the Flames with 33 goals, while Ladislav Kohn led the team with 56 points. Tyler Moss played the majority of the games in goal, leading the team with 19 wins in 39 games, while his 2.49 GAA was just behind the 2.46 posted by Jean-Sebastien Giguere in 31 games.[10]

See also

References

  1. Dolezar, Jon A., Say it aint so: Calgary Flames, cnnsi.com, August 8, 2001, Accessed January 13, 2007.
  2. All Star Selections, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, p. 22.
  3. New York Rangers press release, July 8, 1999, accessed January 20, 2007.
  4. Miller, Mark (1997-06-14). "Hitmen finally go up in Flames". Calgary Sun. p. S5.
  5. http://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/199710170CGY.html
  6. "1997-1998 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  7. Calgary Flames 1997–2003 transactions, hockeynut.com, accessed January 14, 2007.
  8. Calgary Flames draft history, hockeydb.com, accessed January 12, 2007.
  9. 1997–98 AHL playoffs @ hockeydb.com, accessed January 20, 2007.
  10. Saint John Flames player stats @ hockeydb.com, accessed January 20, 2007.
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