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
1997–98 record	33–41–8
Goals for	200
Goals against	219
Team information
General manager	Jim Rutherford
Coach	Paul Maurice
Captain	Kevin Dineen
Arena	Greensboro Coliseum
Average attendance	9,086[1]

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.		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	40	24	18	228	188	98
2	Boston Bruins	82	39	30	13	221	194	91
3	Buffalo Sabres	82	36	29	17	211	187	89
4	Montreal Canadiens	82	37	32	13	235	208	87
5	Ottawa Senators	82	34	33	15	193	200	83
6	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

October

Record for the month 3-8-3 (Home 2-2-2 Away 1-6-1)

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance
1	L	October 1, 1997	2–4	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	0–1–0	17,808
2	L	October 3, 1997	3–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	0–2–0	18,661
3	L	October 4, 1997	2–3	@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	0–3–0	18,500
4	T	October 7, 1997	3–3 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	0–3–1	6,083
5	W	October 10, 1997	2–1	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	1–3–1	6,352
6	L	October 11, 1997	1–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	1–4–1	15,175
7	L	October 13, 1997	1–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	1–5–1	12,530
8	T	October 15, 1997	3–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	1–5–2	6,278
9	L	October 18, 1997	2–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	1–6–2	19,983
10	L	October 20, 1997	2–4	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	1–7–2	18,200
11	W	October 22, 1997	4–3	St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	2–7–2	8,185
12	T	October 24, 1997	3–3 OT	@ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	2–7–3	16,061
13	W	October 26, 1997	3–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	3–7–3	14,834
14	L	October 31, 1997	2–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	3–8–3	7,555

November

Record for the month 7-5-1 (Home 5-3-1 Away 2-2-0)

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance
15	W	November 3, 1997	5–3	Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	4–8–3	7,257
16	W	November 5, 1997	3–1	Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	5–8–3	10,090
17	L	November 7, 1997	2–3	New York Islanders (1997–98)	5–9–3	7,742
18	W	November 9, 1997	4–1	Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	6–9–3	5,551
19	W	November 12, 1997	6–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	7–9–3	14,240
20	W	November 13, 1997	4–2	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	8–9–3	15,825
21	L	November 16, 1997	1–4	@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	8–10–3	14,740
22	W	November 19, 1997	2–1	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	9–10–3	6,896
23	L	November 21, 1997	3–4	New York Rangers (1997–98)	9–11–3	19,358
24	T	November 23, 1997	3–3 OT	Calgary Flames (1997–98)	9–11–4	5,516
25	L	November 26, 1997	2–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	9–12–4	13,253
26	W	November 28, 1997	2–0	Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	10–12–4	8,107
27	L	November 29, 1997	2–3	Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	10–13–4	11,332

December

Record for the month 5-8-1 (Home 5-3-1 Away 0-5-0)

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance
28	W	December 1, 1997	3–1	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	11–13–4	5,865
29	W	December 3, 1997	5–3	New York Islanders (1997–98)	12–13–4	5,651
30	T	December 5, 1997	2–2 OT	Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	12–13–5	6,793
31	L	December 6, 1997	1–4	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	12–14–5	14,805
32	L	December 10, 1997	2–5	Florida Panthers (1997–98)	12–15–5	7,219
33	L	December 12, 1997	2–3 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	12–16–5	12,321
34	W	December 16, 1997	2–1	Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	13–16–5	7,317
35	L	December 18, 1997	2–3	@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	13–17–5	14,437
36	L	December 20, 1997	1–2	Washington Capitals (1997–98)	13–18–5	8,118
37	L	December 23, 1997	2–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	13–19–5	19,594
38	L	December 26, 1997	2–5	Florida Panthers (1997–98)	13–20–5	8,684
39	W	December 27, 1997	4–1	Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	14–20–5	8,682
40	W	December 30, 1997	2–1	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	15–20–5	8,309
41	L	December 31, 1997	2–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	15–21–5	15,108

January

Record for the month 5-7-1 (Home 1-3-1 Away 4-4-0)

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance
42	L	January 3, 1998	1–6	Dallas Stars (1997–98)	15–22–5	9,266
43	W	January 5, 1998	4–1	Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	16–22–5	6,055
44	L	January 6, 1998	2–4	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	16–23–5	18,200
45	T	January 8, 1998	3–3 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	16–23–6	11,908
46	W	January 10, 1998	2–1 OT	@ New York Islanders (1997–98)	17–23–6	13,679
47	L	January 12, 1998	1–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	17–24–6	8,250
48	L	January 14, 1998	1–4	Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	17–25–6	10,704
49	L	January 21, 1998	1–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	17–26–6	12,627
50	W	January 22, 1998	4–2	@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	18–26–6	15,491
51	W	January 24, 1998	4–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	19–26–6	21,273
52	L	January 27, 1998	0–3	@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)	19–27–6	14,703
53	W	January 28, 1998	3–2	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	20–27–6	10,815
54	L	January 30, 1998	0–2	@ New York Islanders (1997–98)	20–28–6	13,275

February

Record for the month 1-2-1 (Home 0-1-1 Away 1-1-0)

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance
55	L	February 1, 1998	3–6	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	20–29–6	9,591
56	T	February 4, 1998	3–3 OT	Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	20–29–7	8,304
57	W	February 7, 1998	3–1	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	21–29–7	16,944
58	L	February 28, 1998	3–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	21–30–7	19,040

March

Record for the month 8-5-1 (Home 2-3-1 Away 6-2-0)

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance
59	W	March 2, 1998	3–1	@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	22–30–7	16,237
60	W	March 5, 1998	2–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	23–30–7	10,541
61	W	March 6, 1998	5–4 OT	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	24–30–7	16,210
62	W	March 8, 1998	3–1	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	25–30–7	17,174
63	L	March 12, 1998	0–2	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	25–31–7	8,811
64	L	March 14, 1998	1–2	San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	25–32–7	12,911
65	W	March 15, 1998	4–1	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	26–32–7	7,853
66	L	March 18, 1998	0–1	@ Washington Capitals (1997–98)	26–33–7	12,792
67	L	March 20, 1998	1–6	@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)	26–34–7	16,928
68	W	March 23, 1998	5–3	@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)	27–34–7	14,703
69	W	March 26, 1998	4–1	New York Rangers (1997–98)	28–34–7	15,456
70	W	March 28, 1998	4–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	29–34–7	19,608
71	L	March 29, 1998	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	29–35–7	13,216
72	T	March 31, 1998	3–3 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	29–35–8	8,671

April

Record for the month 4-6-0 (Home 1-3-0 Away 3-3-0)

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance
73	W	April 1, 1998	4–0	@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	30–35–8	16,338
74	W	April 4, 1998	1–0	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	31–35–8	21,273
75	W	April 6, 1998	3–0	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	32–35–8	15,180
76	L	April 8, 1998	1–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	32–36–8	16,644
77	W	April 9, 1998	5–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	33–36–8	8,368
78	L	April 11, 1998	1–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	33–37–8	15,726
79	L	April 13, 1998	2–3	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	33–38–8	9,228
80	L	April 16, 1998	1–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	33–39–8	10,515
81	L	April 18, 1998	3–4	Washington Capitals (1997–98)	33–40–8	12,641
82	L	April 19, 1998	1–2	@ Washington Capitals (1997–98)	33–41–8	18,921

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Sami Kapanen	RW	81	26	37	63	16	9	4	0	5
Keith Primeau	C	81	26	37	63	110	19	7	3	2
Gary Roberts	LW	61	20	29	49	103	3	4	0	2
Nelson Emerson	RW	81	21	24	45	50	-17	6	0	4
Jeff O'Neill	RW	74	19	20	39	67	-8	7	1	4
Robert Kron	LW	81	16	20	36	12	-8	4	0	2
Steve Chiasson	D	66	7	27	34	65	-2	6	0	0
Martin Gelinas	LW	40	12	14	26	30	1	2	1	4
Glen Wesley	D	82	6	19	25	36	7	1	0	1
Kevin Dineen	RW	54	7	16	23	105	-7	0	0	1
Geoff Sanderson	LW	40	7	10	17	14	-4	2	0	0
Paul Ranheim	LW	73	5	9	14	28	-11	0	1	2
Jeff Brown	D	32	3	10	13	16	-1	3	0	0
Curtis Leschyshyn	D	73	2	10	12	45	-2	1	0	1
Adam Burt	D	76	1	11	12	106	-6	0	1	0
Stephen Leach	RW	45	4	5	9	42	-19	1	1	2
Kent Manderville	C	77	4	4	8	31	-6	0	0	0
Kevin Haller	D	65	3	5	8	94	-5	0	0	0
Stu Grimson	LW	82	3	4	7	204	0	0	0	1
Ray Sheppard	RW	10	4	2	6	2	2	2	0	1
Bates Battaglia	LW	33	2	4	6	10	-1	0	0	1
Steven Rice	RW	47	2	4	6	38	-16	0	0	0
Sean Hill	D	42	0	5	5	48	-2	0	0	0
Enrico Ciccone	D	14	0	3	3	83	3	0	0	0
Steven Halko	D	18	0	2	2	10	-1	0	0	0
Nolan Pratt	D	23	0	2	2	44	-2	0	0	0
Sean Burke	G	25	0	1	1	6	0	0	0	0
Kirk McLean	G	8	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Murray	RW	7	0	1	1	22	2	0	0	0
Mike Rucinski	D	9	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Kevin Brown	RW	4	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Jeff Daniels	LW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Fountain	G	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Pat Jablonski	G	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Trevor Kidd	G	47	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Steve Martins	C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Trevor Kidd	2685	47	21	21	3	97	2.17	3	1237	1140	.922
Sean Burke	1415	25	7	11	5	66	2.80	1	655	589	.899
Kirk McLean	401	8	4	2	0	22	3.29	0	181	159	.878
Pat Jablonski	279	5	1	4	0	14	3.01	0	115	101	.878
Mike Fountain	163	3	0	3	0	10	3.68	0	68	58	.853
Team:	4943	82	33	41	8	209	2.54	4	2256	2047	.907

[5]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
      MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage;

Awards and records

• Peter Karmanos, Lester Patrick Trophy[6]

Draft picks

Carolina's draft picks at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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

American Hockey League

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

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 Stephen 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 Hartford Whalers 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

Roster

1997-98 Carolina Hurricanes
Goaltenders 1 – Kirk McLean  30 – Mike Fountain  33 – Sean Burke  37 – Trevor Kidd  39 – Pat Jablonski		Defensemen 2 – Glen Wesley  3 – Steve Chiasson  4 – Nolan Pratt  5 – Kevin Haller  6 – Adam Burt  7 – Curtis Leschyshyn  14 – Steven Halko  22 – Sean Hill  27 – Jeff Brown  39 – Enrico Ciccone  46 – Mike Rucinski		Wingers 3 – Jeff Daniels  8 – Geoff Sanderson  10 – Gary Roberts  11 – Kevin Dineen  - C 12 – Steven Rice  17 – Chris Murray  19 – Nelson Emerson  23 – Martin Gelinas  24 – Sami Kapanen  26 – Ray Sheppard  27 – Stephen Leach  28 – Paul Ranheim  29 – Kevin Brown  32 – Stu Grimson		Centers 18 – Robert Kron  32 – Bates Battaglia  34 – Steve Martins  44 – Kent Manderville  55 – Keith Primeau  92 – Jeff O'Neill  Coach: Paul Maurice GM: Jim Rutherford

References

1. "NHL Average Attendance since 1989-90". Andrew's Dallas Stars Page. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
2. Callaghan, Gerry. "Natural Disaster." Sports Illustrated, October 27, 1997; Web article retrieved November 19, 2008.
3. Burnside, Scott. "Karmanos: Hard-nosed owner, die-hard hockey fan." ESPN.com, June 6, 2008; Web article retrieved February 14, 2009.
4. "1997–1998 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
5. "1997-98 Carolina Hurricanes Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
6. Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009-10, p.426, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55468-621-6

External links

• "1997–98 Carolina Hurricanes Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-06.