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1997–98 Calgary Flames season

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1997–98 Calgary Flames
Division5th Pacific
Conference11th Western
1997–98 record26–41–15
Home record18–17–6
Road record8–24–9
Goals for217 (14th)
Goals against252 (22nd)
Team information
General managerAl Coates
CoachBrian Sutter
CaptainTodd Simpson
Alternate captainsTheoren Fleury
Andrew Cassels
ArenaCanadian Airlines Saddledome
Average attendance16,940
Minor league affiliate(s)Saint John Flames
Roanoke Express
Team leaders
GoalsTheoren Fleury (27)
Cory Stillman (27)
AssistsTheoren Fleury (51)
PointsTheoren Fleury (78)
Penalty minutesTheoren Fleury (197)
Plus/minusJim Dowd (+10)
Michael Nylander (+10)
WinsRick Tabaracci (13)
Goals against averageRick Tabaracci (2.88)

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. The Flames finished eleven points behind the 8th place San Jose Sharks, missing the playoffs for the second straight season.

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

[edit]

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

Season standings

[edit]
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[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

[edit]
1997–98 regular season[7]
October: 3–8–2 (home: 3–4–1; road: 0–4–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
1 October 1 Detroit 3 – 1 Calgary Tabaracci 17,893 0–1–0 0 Recap
2 October 3 Colorado 4 – 1 Calgary Tabaracci 15,327 0–2–0 0 Recap
3 October 7 Toronto 2 – 1 Calgary Tabaracci 16,831 0–3–0 0 Recap
4 October 9 NY Rangers 1 – 1 Calgary OT Roloson 16,756 0–3–1 1 Recap
5 October 12 Calgary 4 – 4 Detroit OT Tabaracci 19,983 0–3–2 2 Recap
6 October 14 Calgary 4 – 5 Dallas OT Roloson 14,892 0–4–2 2 Recap
7 October 17 Colorado 5 – 6 Calgary OT Tabaracci 16,432 1–4–2 4 Recap
8 October 18 Boston 3 – 0 Calgary Tabaracci 16,673 1–5–2 4 Recap
9 October 22 Calgary 1 – 4 Buffalo Tabaracci 11,222 1–6–2 4 Recap
10 October 23 Calgary 3 – 4 Philadelphia Roloson 19,319 1–7–2 4 Recap
11 October 25 Calgary 3 – 4 Toronto Tabaracci 15,726 1–8–2 4 Recap
12 October 28 Pittsburgh 3 – 6 Calgary Moss 15,645 2–8–2 6 Recap
13 October 30 Phoenix 2 – 4 Calgary Moss 15,761 3–8–2 8 Recap
November: 2–7–5 (home: 1–3–1; road: 1–4–4)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
14 November 1 Calgary 2 – 2 Colorado OT Moss 16,061 3–8–3 9 Recap
15 November 2 Calgary 1 – 3 Phoenix Tabaracci 14,928 3–9–3 9 Recap
16 November 5 Toronto 4 – 3 Calgary Moss 16,322 3–10–3 9 Recap
17 November 7 Anaheim 4 – 3 Calgary OT Moss 16,487 3–11–3 9 Recap
18 November 9 Calgary 3 – 6 Detroit Tabaracci 19,983 3–12–3 9 Recap
19 November 10 Calgary 1 – 1 Chicago OT Roloson 15,753 3–12–4 10 Recap
20 November 13 Carolina 4 – 2 Calgary Roloson 15,113 3–13–4 10 Recap
21 November 15 Calgary 2 – 2 Edmonton OT Tabaracci 17,099 3–13–5 11 Recap
22 November 18 Calgary 1 – 2 New Jersey Tabaracci 15,092 3–14–5 11 Recap
23 November 20 Calgary 2 – 1 Florida Tabaracci 14,703 4–14–5 13 Recap
24 November 22 Calgary 3 – 4 Tampa Bay Tabaracci 15,176 4–15–5 13 Recap
25 November 23 Calgary 3 – 3 Carolina OT Tabracci 5,516 4–15–6 14 Recap
26 November 27 Chicago 2 – 2 Calgary OT Tabaracci 16,641 4–15–7 15 Recap
27 November 29 Anaheim 3 – 4 Calgary OT Tabaracci 18,334 5–15–7 17 Recap
December: 6–8–1 (home: 4–5–0; road: 2–3–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
28 December 1 San Jose 2 – 3 Calgary OT Tabaracci 15,268 6–15–7 19 Recap
29 December 3 Detroit 4 – 3 Calgary Tabaracci 16,310 6–16–7 19 Recap
30 December 5 Calgary 1 – 4 Dallas Roloson 16,688 6–17–7 19 Recap
31 December 6 Calgary 3 – 4 St. Louis OT Tabaracci N/A 6–18–7 19 Recap
32 December 9 Calgary 3 – 1 NY Islanders Tabaracci 9,251 7–18–7 21 Recap
33 December 10 Calgary 4 – 1 NY Rangers Tabaracci 18,200 8–18–7 23 Recap
34 December 12 Colorado 1 – 3 Calgary Tabaracci 17,450 9–18–7 25 Recap
35 December 16 Chicago 3 – 4 Calgary OT Tabaracci 15,462 10–18–7 27 Recap
36 December 18 Dallas 2 – 1 Calgary Tabaracci 15,667 10–19–7 27 Recap
37 December 20 Los Angeles 4 – 1 Calgary Tabaracci 15,873 10–20–7 27 Recap
38 December 22 Calgary 1 – 5 Anaheim Tabaracci 16,975 10–21–7 27 Recap
39 December 23 Calgary 2 – 2 Phoenix OT Roloson 15,424 10–21–8 28 Recap
40 December 27 Philadelphia 2 – 5 Calgary Roloson 18,742 11–21–8 30 Recap
41 December 29 Phoenix 5 – 3 Calgary Roloson 18,742 11–22–8 30 Recap
42 December 31 Montreal 3 – 2 Calgary Tabaracci 18,742 11–23–8 30 Recap
January: 3–6–3 (home: 1–1–2; road: 2–5–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
43 January 3 Calgary 3 – 4 St. Louis Tabaracci N/A 11–24–8 30 Recap
44 January 5 Calgary 1 – 1 Chicago OT Tabaracci 15,941 11–24–9 31 Recap
45 January 6 Calgary 3 – 1 Colorado Roloson 16,061 12–24–9 33 Recap
46 January 9 Florida 3 – 3 Calgary OT Tabaracci 17,010 12–24–10 34 Recap
47 January 10 St. Louis 5 – 1 Calgary Roloson 18,562 12–25–10 34 Recap
48 January 14 Calgary 2 – 5 Edmonton Roloson 17,099 12–26–10 34 Recap
49 January 20 Calgary 3 – 4 Los Angeles Moss 10,367 12–27–10 34 Recap
50 January 21 Calgary 1 – 7 San Jose Roloson 16,553 12–28–10 34 Recap
51 January 24 Vancouver 2 – 5 Calgary Roloson 18,627 13–28–10 36 Recap
52 January 28 Calgary 5 – 2 Anaheim Tabaracci 16,758 14–28–10 38 Recap
53 January 29 Calgary 3 – 5 Los Angeles Tabaracci 9,586 14–29–10 38 Recap
54 January 31 New Jersey 2 – 2 Calgary Roloson 18,719 14–29–11 39 Recap
February: 2–1–1 (home: 2–1–1; road: 0–0–0)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
55 February 3 Los Angeles 6 – 3 Calgary Roloson 15,815 14–30–11 39 Recap
56 February 5 San Jose 2 – 4 Calgary Roloson 15,391 15–30–11 41 Recap
57 February 7 Edmonton 2 – 4 Calgary Roloson 18,719 16–30–11 43 Recap
58 February 27 Vancouver 4 – 4 Calgary OT Roloson 15,586 16–30–12 44 Recap
March: 8–6–1 (home: 6–1–0; road: 2–5–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
59 March 1 Ottawa 1 – 2 Calgary Roloson 17,463 17–30–12 46 Recap
60 March 3 Tampa Bay 1 – 2 Calgary Roloson 15,831 18–30–12 48 Recap
61 March 5 Calgary 6 – 2 Vancouver Roloson 15,613 19–30–12 50 Recap
62 March 7 Calgary 1 – 2 Ottawa Roloson 18,036 19–31–12 50 Recap
63 March 9 Calgary 2 – 5 Washington Tabaracci 12,011 19–32–12 50 Recap
64 March 11 Calgary 1 – 4 Pittsburgh Roloson 14,655 19–33–12 50 Recap
65 March 12 Calgary 5 – 2 Boston Roloson 14,677 20–33–12 52 Recap
66 March 14 Calgary 1 – 2 Toronto Roloson 15,726 20–34–12 52 Recap
67 March 16 Calgary 3 – 3 Montreal OT Roloson 20,504 20–34–13 53 Recap
68 March 20 NY Islanders 1 – 4 Calgary Tabaracci 18,189 21–34–13 55 Recap
69 March 22 St. Louis 3 – 5 Calgary Tabaracci 16,675 22–34–13 57 Recap
70 March 24 Buffalo 2 – 0 Calgary Tabaracci 16,296 22–35–13 57 Recap
71 March 26 Washington 2 – 3 Calgary Tabaracci 15,782 23–35–13 59 Recap
72 March 28 Los Angeles 2 – 5 Calgary Tabaracci 16,998 24–35–13 61 Recap
73 March 30 Calgary 1 – 3 Edmonton Tabaracci 17,099 24–36–13 61 Recap
April: 2–5–2 (home: 1–2–1; road: 1–3–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap
74 April 1 Dallas 1 – 3 Calgary Roloson 17,012 25–36–13 63 Recap
75 April 5 Calgary 3 – 3 Anaheim OT Roloson 17,174 25–36–14 64 Recap
76 April 7 Calgary 0 – 6 San Jose Tabaracci 17,483 25–37–14 64 Recap
77 April 9 Vancouver 6 – 3 Calgary Roloson 16,313 25–38–14 64 Recap
78 April 11 Edmonton 5 – 4 Calgary Roloson 18,719 25–39–14 64 Recap
79 April 13 Calgary 2 – 4 Los Angeles Roloson 12,049 25–40–14 64 Recap
80 April 15 San Jose 3 – 3 Calgary OT Roloson 16,567 25–40–15 65 Recap
81 April 17 Calgary 4 – 2 Vancouver Roloson 16,602 26–40–15 67 Recap
82 April 18 Calgary 1 – 4 San Jose Roloson 17,483 26–41–15 67 Recap
Legend:

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

Player statistics

[edit]

Scoring

[edit]
  • Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; 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 Flames only.
  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
No. Player Pos Regular season
GP G A Pts +/- PIM
14 Theoren Fleury RW 82 27 51 78 0 197
16 Cory Stillman LW 72 27 22 49 −9 40
18 Marty McInnis LW 75 19 25 44 1 34
21 Andrew Cassels C 81 17 27 44 −7 32
13 German Titov C 68 18 22 40 −1 38
92 Michael Nylander C 65 13 23 36 10 35
12 Jarome Iginla RW 70 13 19 32 −10 29
53 Derek Morris D 82 9 20 29 1 88
32 Cale Hulse D 79 5 22 27 1 169
5 Tommy Albelin D 69 2 17 19 9 32
3 James Patrick D 60 6 11 17 −2 26
17 Hnat Domenichelli LW 31 9 7 16 4 6
34 Jim Dowd C 48 6 8 14 10 12
44 Jonas Hoglund‡ LW 50 6 8 14 −9 16
15 Sandy McCarthy‡ RW 52 8 5 13 −18 170
6 Joel Bouchard D 44 5 7 12 0 57
2 Jamie Allison D 43 3 8 11 3 104
8 Valeri Bure† RW 16 5 4 9 0 2
42 Ed Ward LW 64 4 5 9 −1 122
33 Zarley Zalapski‡ D 35 2 7 9 −12 41
7 Chris Dingman LW 70 3 3 6 −11 149
27 Todd Simpson D 53 1 5 6 −10 109
24 Jason Wiemer† LW 12 4 1 5 −1 28
23 Aaron Gavey C 26 2 3 5 −5 24
30 Dwayne Roloson G 39 0 4 4 10
29 Erik Andersson C 12 2 1 3 −4 8
19 Chris O'Sullivan D 12 0 2 2 4 10
11 Eric Landry C 12 1 0 1 −2 4
4 Kevin Dahl D 19 0 1 1 −3 6
20 Todd Hlushko LW 13 0 1 1 0 27
26 Ladislav Kohn RW 4 0 1 1 2 0
31 Rick Tabaracci G 42 0 1 1 14
57 Steve Begin C 5 0 0 0 0 23
43 Travis Brigley LW 5 0 0 0 0 23
39 Eric Charron D 2 0 0 0 0 4
24 Denis Gauthier D 10 0 0 0 −5 16
1 Tyler Moss G 6 0 0 0 0
28 Marty Murray C 2 0 0 0 1 2
8 Mike Peluso‡ LW 23 0 0 0 −6 113
55 Rocky Thompson D 12 0 0 0 0 61
58 Sergei Varlamov LW 1 0 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

[edit]
No. Player Regular season
GP W L T SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI
31 Rick Tabaracci 42 13 22 6 1087 116 2.88 .893 0 2419
30 Dwayne Roloson 39 11 16 8 997 110 2.99 .890 0 2205
1 Tyler Moss 6 2 3 1 186 20 3.27 .892 0 367

Awards and records

[edit]

Awards

[edit]
Type Award/honour Recipient Ref
League
(annual) 		NHL All-Rookie Team Derek Morris (Defence) [8]
League
(in-season) 		NHL All-Star Game selection Theoren Fleury [9]
Team Molson Cup Theoren Fleury [10]
Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award Ed Ward [11]

Milestones

[edit]
Milestone Player Date Ref
First game Steve Begin October 1, 1997 [12]
Chris Dingman
Derek Morris
Denis Gauthier October 9, 1997
Erik Andersson October 17, 1997
Tyler Moss October 28, 1997
Eric Landry November 15, 1997
Rocky Thompson January 28, 1998
Travis Brigley April 11, 1998
Sergei Varlamov April 17, 1998

Transactions

[edit]

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1997–98 season.[13]

Trades

[edit]
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

[edit]
Player Former team
Player New team

Draft picks

[edit]
Main article: List of Calgary Flames draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[14]

Rnd Pick Player Nationality Position Team (league) NHL statistics
GP G A Pts PIM
1 6 Daniel Tkaczuk  Canada C Barrie Colts (OHL) 19 4 7 11 14
2 32 Evan Lindsay  Canada G Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
2 42 John Tripp  Canada RW Oshawa Generals (OHL) 43 2 7 9 35
2 51 Dmitri Kokorev  Russia D Moscow Dynamo (RSL)
3 60 Derek Schultz  Canada C Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
3 70 Erik Andersson  Sweden LW University of Denver (NCAA) 12 2 1 3 8
4 92 Chris St. Croix  United States D Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
4 100 Ryan Ready  Canada LW Belleville Bulls (OHL) 7 0 1 1 0
5 113 Martin Moise  Canada RW Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL)
6 140 Ilya Demidov  Russia D Oshawa Generals (OHL)
7 167 Jeremy Rondeau  Canada LW Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
9 223 Dustin Paul  Canada RW Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)

Farm teams

[edit]

Saint John Flames

[edit]

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.[15] 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.[16]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  • Player stats: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, p. 114.
  • "Calgary Flames 1997-98 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  • "1997-98 Calgary Flames Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  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 Archived 2006-11-26 at the Wayback Machine, July 8, 1999, accessed January 20, 2007.
  4. ^ Miller, Mark (June 14, 1997). "Hitmen finally go up in Flames". Calgary Sun. p. S5.
  5. ^ "Colorado Avalanche at Calgary Flames Box Score — October 17, 1997".
  6. ^ "1997-1998 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  7. ^ "1997-98 Calgary Flames Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  8. ^ "Postseason All-Star Teams". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  9. ^ "1998 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  10. ^ Hanlon, Peter; Kelso, Sean (eds.), 2010–11 Calgary Flames Media Guide, Calgary Flames Hockey Club, p. 143
  11. ^ "JAROME IGINLA SELECTED AS RECIPIENT OF RALPH SCURFIELD HUMANITARIAN AWARD". Calgary Flames. April 9, 2002. Archived from the original on October 21, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  12. ^ "1997-98 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  13. ^ Calgary Flames 1997–2003 transactions, hockeynut.com, accessed January 14, 2007.
  14. ^ Calgary Flames draft history, hockeydb.com, accessed January 12, 2007.
  15. ^ 1997–98 AHL playoffs @ hockeydb.com, accessed January 20, 2007.
  16. ^ Saint John Flames player stats @ hockeydb.com, accessed January 20, 2007.
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