1997–98 Vancouver Canucks season

The 1997–98 Vancouver Canucks season was the team's 28th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). After missing the playoffs the season before, the team responded by signing Mark Messier to a three-year contract. The signing of Messier did little to improve the team, however, as they finished even worse than the year before, costing Head Coach Tom Renney and General Manager Pat Quinn their jobs. For the first time in NHL history, regular season games were played outside of North America, with the Canucks playing the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in Tokyo, Japan, to open up the regular season. Pavel Bure became the last Canuck to score 50 or more goals in a season. On April 9, 1998, the Canucks scored three short-handed goals in a 6–3 road win over the Calgary Flames.[1]

1997–98 Vancouver Canucks
Division	7th Pacific
Conference	13th Western
1997–98 record	25–43–14
Home record	15–22–4
Road record	10–21–10
Goals for	224
Goals against	273
Team information
General manager	Pat Quinn (16 games)
Coach	Tom Renney (19 games) Mike Keenan (63 games)
Captain	Mark Messier
Alternate captains	Dave Babych (Oct-Mar) Pavel Bure Trevor Linden (Oct-Jan) Bryan McCabe (Mar-Apr) Dana Murzyn (Jan-Apr)
Arena	General Motors Place
Average attendance	17,120
Team leaders
Goals	Pavel Bure (51)
Assists	Pavel Bure (39)
Points	Pavel Bure (90)
Penalty minutes	Donald Brashear (372)
Wins	Arturs Irbe (14)
Goals against average	Arturs Irbe (2.73)

In addition, the team introduced a new logo that would stay in use for over a decade.

The team was the last in NHL history to record over 2,000 penalty minutes, with 2,148.[2]

Off-season

Forward Trevor Linden resigned the team captaincy, in favour of new arrival Mark Messier.

Regular season

The Canucks finished the regular season with the most power-play opportunities against, with 432. Although the Canucks allowed the most goals in the League, with 273, they scored the most short-handed goals, with 19.[3]

All-Star Game

The 48th National Hockey League All-Star Game took place at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, home to the Vancouver Canucks, on January 18, 1998.

The International Showdown

The 48th game was held in the very same year as the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, providing the NHL to show its players from all over the world. To this extent, the NHL had the All-Star teams consist of a team of North Americans playing against a team of stars from the rest of the world. The format change also helped to intensify the game, as national pride would also become a factor. These provisions only applied to the players — coaches would still be selected based on which teams were the best from each conference at the time of the break.

Final 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[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

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 3, 1997	3–2	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim* (1997–98)	1–0–0
2	L	October 4, 1997	2–3	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim* (1997–98)	1–1–0
3	T	October 9, 1997	2–2 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	1–1–1
4	L	October 11, 1997	3–6	New York Rangers (1997–98)	1–2–1
5	W	October 13, 1997	3–0	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	2–2–1
6	L	October 17, 1997	0–2	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	2–3–1
7	T	October 19, 1997	4–4 OT	Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	2–3–2
8	W	October 21, 1997	5–1	@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)	3–3–2
9	L	October 23, 1997	1–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	3–4–2
10	L	October 25, 1997	2–3 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	3–5–2
11	L	October 26, 1997	1–5	Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	3–6–2
12	L	October 29, 1997	0–3	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	3–7–2
13	L	October 30, 1997	1–8	@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	3–8–2
14	L	November 1, 1997	6–7 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	3–9–2
15	L	November 3, 1997	3–5	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	3–10–2
16	L	November 4, 1997	1–2	@ Washington Capitals (1997–98)	3–11–2
17	L	November 8, 1997	2–3	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	3–12–2
18	L	November 11, 1997	2–8	@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	3–13–2
19	W	November 12, 1997	5–2	@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	4–13–2
20	T	November 14, 1997	3–3 OT	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	4–13–3
21	W	November 16, 1997	4–1	Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	5–13–3
22	W	November 20, 1997	4–2	Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	6–13–3
23	L	November 22, 1997	4–5 OT	Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	6–14–3
24	W	November 25, 1997	4–2	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	7–14–3
25	W	November 28, 1997	5–2	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	8–14–3
26	W	November 29, 1997	4–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	9–14–3
27	T	December 1, 1997	3–3 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	9–14–4
28	L	December 4, 1997	2–3	San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	9–15–4
29	L	December 6, 1997	4–6	@ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	9–16–4
30	L	December 8, 1997	1–5	@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	9–17–4
31	L	December 9, 1997	5–7	@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	9–18–4
32	L	December 13, 1997	2–5	Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	9–19–4
33	W	December 15, 1997	7–0	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	10–19–4
34	W	December 17, 1997	5–1	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	11–19–4
35	T	December 18, 1997	0–0 OT	@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	11–19–5
36	L	December 20, 1997	0–5	Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	11–20–5
37	L	December 23, 1997	1–3	Dallas Stars (1997–98)	11–21–5
38	T	December 27, 1997	3–3 OT	@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)	11–21–6
39	L	December 29, 1997	2–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	11–22–6
40	L	December 31, 1997	0–8	Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	11–23–6
41	L	January 3, 1998	2–4	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	11–24–6
42	W	January 5, 1998	3–2	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	12–24–6
43	L	January 7, 1998	2–3	St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	12–25–6
44	T	January 8, 1998	4–4 OT	@ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	12–25–7
45	T	January 10, 1998	2–2 OT	Florida Panthers (1997–98)	12–25–8
46	L	January 12, 1998	2–3	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	12–26–8
47	L	January 14, 1998	0–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	12–27–8
48	L	January 15, 1998	2–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	12–28–8
49	L	January 21, 1998	1–6	Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	12–29–8
50	L	January 24, 1998	2–5	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	12–30–8
51	L	January 26, 1998	2–4	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	12–31–8
52	L	January 28, 1998	1–6	@ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	12–32–8
53	W	January 30, 1998	3–1	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	13–32–8
54	W	January 31, 1998	6–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	14–32–8
55	L	February 2, 1998	1–2	Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	14–33–8
56	W	February 6, 1998	5–4	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	15–33–8
57	W	February 7, 1998	6–3	San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	16–33–8
58	W	February 25, 1998	5–2	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	17–33–8
59	T	February 27, 1998	4–4 OT	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	17–33–9
60	W	February 28, 1998	6–4	Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	18–33–9
61	T	March 2, 1998	2–2 OT	@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	18–33–10
62	L	March 5, 1998	2–6	Calgary Flames (1997–98)	18–34–10
63	W	March 7, 1998	5–2	Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	19–34–10
64	L	March 9, 1998	0–4	St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	19–35–10
65	T	March 11, 1998	2–2 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	19–35–11
66	L	March 12, 1998	2–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	19–36–11
67	W	March 14, 1998	6–2	@ New York Islanders (1997–98)	20–36–11
68	W	March 17, 1998	4–2	@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)	21–36–11
69	L	March 18, 1998	2–4	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	21–37–11
70	T	March 20, 1998	1–1 OT	@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	21–37–12
71	T	March 21, 1998	1–1 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	21–37–13
72	W	March 24, 1998	4–3	New York Islanders (1997–98)	22–37–13
73	L	March 26, 1998	2–5	Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	22–38–13
74	L	March 28, 1998	2–3	Washington Capitals (1997–98)	22–39–13
75	W	April 1, 1998	4–2	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	23–39–13
76	W	April 4, 1998	5–3	Dallas Stars (1997–98)	24–39–13
77	L	April 6, 1998	2–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	24–40–13
78	W	April 9, 1998	6–3	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	25–40–13
79	T	April 11, 1998	1–1 OT	@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	25–40–14
80	L	April 15, 1998	0–2	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	25–41–14
81	L	April 17, 1998	2–4	Calgary Flames (1997–98)	25–42–14
82	L	April 19, 1998	1–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	25–43–14

* At Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan

Player statistics

Forwards

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

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Pavel Bure	82	51	39	90	48
Mark Messier	82	22	38	60	58
Alexander Mogilny	51	18	27	45	36
Markus Naslund	76	14	20	34	56
Brian Noonan	82	10	15	25	62
Dave Scatchard	76	13	11	24	165
Donald Brashear	77	9	9	18	372
Steve Staios	77	3	4	7	134

Defencemen

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

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Jyrki Lumme	74	9	21	30	34
Mattias Ohlund	77	7	23	30	76
Bret Hedican	71	3	24	27	79
Grant Ledyard	39	2	13	15	14
Bryan McCabe	26	1	11	12	64
Dave Babych	47	0	9	9	37
Dana Murzyn	31	5	2	7	42
Bert Robertsson	30	2	4	6	24
Adrian Aucoin	35	3	3	6	21
Chris McAllister	36	1	2	3	106
Jamie Huscroft	7	0	1	1	0
Enrico Ciccone	13	0	1	1	47
Mark Wotton	5	0	0	0	6

Goaltending

Note: GP= Games played; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

Player	GP	W	L	T	SO	GAA
Arturs Irbe	41	14	11	6	2	2.73
Garth Snow	13	3	6	0	0	3.10
Sean Burke	16	2	9	4	0	3.51
Kirk McLean	29	6	17	4	1	3.68
Corey Hirsch	1	-	-	-	-	6.00

Transactions

Trades

January 2, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Sean Burke Geoff Sanderson Enrico Ciccone	To Carolina Hurricanes Kirk McLean Martin Gelinas
February 4, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks conditional 5th round pick in 1998 (Garrett Prosofsky)	To Philadelphia Flyers Mike Sillinger
February 4, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Brad May 3rd round pick in 1999	To Buffalo Sabres Geoff Sanderson
February 5, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Peter Zezel	To New Jersey Devils 5th round pick in 1998 (Anton But)
February 6, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Bryan McCabe Todd Bertuzzi 3rd round pick in 1999 (Jarkko Ruutu)	To New York Islanders Trevor Linden
March 3, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks 8th round pick in 1998 (Graig Mischler)	To Boston Bruins Grant Ledyard
March 4, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Garth Snow	To Philadelphia Flyers Sean Burke
March 7, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Brandon Convery	To Toronto Maple Leafs Lonny Bohonos
March 14, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Jamie Huscroft	To Tampa Bay Lightning Enrico Ciccone
March 23, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Jason Strudwick	To New York Islanders Gino Odjick
March 24, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks 3rd round pick in 1999 (Justin Morrison)	To Philadelphia Flyers Dave Babych 6th round pick in 1998 (Antero Niittymaki)

Draft picks

Vancouver's picks at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team
1	10	Brad Ference (D)	Canada	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
2	34	Ryan Bonni (D)	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
2	36	Harold Druken (D)	Canada	Detroit Whalers (OHL)
3	64	Kyle Freadrich (LW)	Canada	Prince George Cougars (WHL)
4	90	Chris Stanley (C)	Canada	Belleville Bulls (OHL)
5	114	David Darguzas (C)	Canada	Edmonton Ice (WHL)
5	117	Matt Cockell (G)	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
6	144	Matt Cooke (LW)	Canada	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
6	148	Larry Shapley (D)	Canada	Welland Jr. Canadians (Golden Horseshoe Junior B Hockey League)
7	171	Rod Leroux (D)	Canada	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
8	201	Denis Martynyuk (LW)	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russian Pro Hockey League)
9	227	Peter Brady (G)	Canada	Powell River Paper Kings (BCJHL)

References

• Canucks on Hockey Database

1. https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/199804090CGY.html
2. "Vancouver Canucks 1997-98". Retrieved Jan 26, 2012.
3. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1998.html
4. "1997-1998 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.