1997–98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season

1997–98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Division	6th Pacific
Conference	Western
1997–98 record	26–43–13
Goals for	205
Goals against	261
Team information
General manager	Jack Ferreira
Coach	Pierre Page
Captain	Paul Kariya Teemu Selanne (interim)
Arena	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim

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.

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 Pierre Page.

During the summer only a few changes were made, since the team underwent changes before the trading deadline in March. The Ducks signed 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.

Regular season

The Mighty Ducks and Vancouver Canucks made 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 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 3-10-2 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 hit 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 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 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 and speed from Sacco, 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 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.

The Mighty Ducks were shut out a league high 11 times, tied with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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

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

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

Playoffs

The Mighty Ducks did not make the playoffs.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Teemu Selanne	73	52	34	86	30
Steve Rucchin	72	17	36	53	13
Dmitri Mironov	66	6	30	36	115
Scott Young	73	13	20	33	22
Paul Kariya	22	17	14	31	23
Matt Cullen	61	6	21	27	23
Sean Pronger	62	5	15	20	30
Joe Sacco	55	8	11	19	24
Tomas Sandstrom	77	9	8	17	64
J. J. Daigneault	53	2	15	17	28
Ted Drury	73	6	10	16	82
Travis Green	22	5	11	16	16
Ruslan Salei	66	5	10	15	70
Dave Karpa	78	1	11	12	217
Frank Banham	21	9	2	11	12
Josef Marha	12	7	4	11	0
Warren Rychel	63	5	6	11	198
Kevin Todd	27	4	7	11	12
Mark Janssens	55	4	5	9	116
Jeff Nielsen	32	4	5	9	16
Jason Marshall	72	3	6	9	189
Jeremy Stevenson	45	3	5	8	101
Pavel Trnka	48	3	4	7	40
Drew Bannister	27	0	6	6	47
Mike Crowley	8	2	2	4	8
Jean-Francois Jomphe	9	1	3	4	8
Brent Severyn	37	1	3	4	133
Darren Van Impe	19	1	3	4	4
Espen Knutsen	19	3	0	3	6
Doug Houda	24	1	2	3	52
Peter Leboutillier	12	1	1	2	55
Richard Park	15	0	2	2	8
Jamie Pushor	10	0	2	2	10
Shawn Antoski	9	1	0	1	18
Bobby Dollas	22	0	1	1	27
Guy Hebert	46	0	1	1	4
Mikhail Shtalenkov	40	0	1	1	0
Dan Trebil	21	0	1	1	2
Antti Aalto	3	0	0	0	0
Tom Askey	7	0	0	0	0
Mike Leclerc	7	0	0	0	6
Marc Moro	1	0	0	0	0
Barry Nieckar	1	0	0	0	2
Tony Tuzzolino	1	0	0	0	2
Bob Wren	3	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
Guy Hebert	2660	46	13	24	6	130	2.93	1339	1209	.903	3
Mikhail Shtalenkov	2049	40	13	18	5	110	3.22	1031	921	.893	1
Tom Askey	273	7	0	1	2	12	2.64	113	101	.894	0
Team:	4982	82	26	43	13	252	3.03	2483	2231	.899	4

Transactions

Traded Darren VanImpe to the Boston Bruins on 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.

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

• Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
• Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
• 1997–98 NHL season

Other Anaheim–based teams in 1997–98

• Anaheim Angels (Anaheim Stadium/Edison Field)
  • 1997 Anaheim Angels season
  • 1998 Anaheim Angels season
• Los Angeles Clippers (Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim)
  • 1997–98 Los Angeles Clippers season*

*Played Occasional Games in Anaheim