1997–98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1997–98
Year:	1997
Team:	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Record:	26–43–13
Homerecord:	12–23–6
Roadrecord:	14–20–7
Conferencerank:	12th
Divisionrank:	6th
Goalsfor:	205
Goalsagainst:	261
Captain:	Paul Kariya Teemu Selanne (interim)
Altcaptain:	Steve Rucchin Dave Karpa Teemu Selanne
Attendance:	16,908
Goalsleader:	Teemu Selanne (52)
Assistsleader:	Steve Rucchin (36)
Pointsleader:	Teemu Selanne (86)
Pimleader:	Dave Karpa (217)
Plusminusleader:	Paul Kariya (+12) Teemu Selanne (+12)
Winsleader:	Guy Hebert (13) Mikhail Shtalenkov (13)
Gaaleader:	Guy Hebert (2.93)

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 former Flames Head Coach Pierre Page. Former Coyotes Head Coach Don Hay was hired as an assistant coach.

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

The Mighty Duck unveiled two alternate jerseys for their 5th anniversary season: one mainly white, the other mainly green.

Regular season

The Mighty Ducks and Vancouver Canucks made NHL 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 since November 10 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 4-10-2 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 cross-checked 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 and Tony Tuzzolino 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 Mighty 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, the speed from Sacco, the 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 especially 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.^[1]

Final standings

Schedule and results

|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|1||L||October 3, 1997||2–3 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) ||0–1–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2||W||October 4, 1997||3–2 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) ||1–1–0 || |- align="center" |3||T||October 10, 1997||1–1 OT|| align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1997–98) ||1–1–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|4||L||October 13, 1997||0–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1997–98) ||1–2–1 || |- align="center" |5||T||October 15, 1997||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) ||1–2–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |6||W||October 17, 1997||2–1 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) ||2–2–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|7||L||October 19, 1997||2–5 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1997–98) ||2–3–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |8||W||October 21, 1997||4–3 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) ||3–3–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|9||L||October 22, 1997||1–4 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) ||3–4–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |10||W||October 25, 1997||4–2 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1997–98) ||4–4–2 || |- align="center" |11||T||October 26, 1997||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1997–98) ||4–4–3 || |- align="center" |12||T||October 28, 1997||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) ||4–4–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |13||W||October 30, 1997||3–0 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1997–98) ||5–4–4 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|14||L||November 2, 1997||3–4 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) ||5–5–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |15||W||November 5, 1997||5–2 || align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) ||6–5–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |16||W||November 7, 1997||4–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1997–98) ||7–5–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |17||W||November 8, 1997||3–2 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) ||8–5–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|18||L||November 10, 1997||4–6 || align="left"| San Jose Sharks (1997–98) ||8–6–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|19||L||November 12, 1997||3–4 OT|| align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) ||8–7–4 || |- align="center" |20||T||November 14, 1997||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) ||8–7–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|21||L||November 16, 1997||0–4 || align="left"| Dallas Stars (1997–98) ||8–8–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|22||L||November 18, 1997||2–4 || align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) ||8–9–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|23||L||November 19, 1997||0–4 || align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) ||8–10–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |24||W||November 22, 1997||2–0 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) ||9–10–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|25||L||November 24, 1997||0–5 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars (1997–98) ||9–11–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |26||W||November 26, 1997||2–0 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (1997–98) ||10–11–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |27||W||November 28, 1997||3–1 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) ||11–11–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|28||L||November 29, 1997||2–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1997–98) ||11–12–5 || |-|- align="center" |29||T||December 2, 1997||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) ||11–12–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|30||L||December 3, 1997||0–4 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) ||11–13–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|31||L||December 6, 1997||2–5 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) ||11–14–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|32||L||December 10, 1997||0–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) ||11–15–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |33||W||December 12, 1997||6–4 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1997–98) ||12–15–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|34||L||December 17, 1997||2–6 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) ||12–16–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|35||L||December 19, 1997||2–6 || align="left"| Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) ||12–17–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|36||L||December 21, 1997||2–4 || align="left"| San Jose Sharks (1997–98) ||12–18–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |37||W||December 22, 1997||5–1 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1997–98) ||13–18–6 || |- align="center" |38||T||December 27, 1997||5–5 OT|| align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) ||13–18–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|39||L||December 28, 1997||0–2 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) ||13–19–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|40||L||December 30, 1997||1–2 || align="left"| @ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) ||13–20–7 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|41||L||January 1, 1998||2–3 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1997–98) ||13–21–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |42||W||January 3, 1998||4–1 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) ||14–21–7 || |- align="center" |43||T||January 4, 1998||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (1997–98) ||14–21–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|44||L||January 7, 1998||2–3 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) ||14–22–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|45||L||January 9, 1998||1–5 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) ||14–23–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |46||W||January 11, 1998||2–1 OT|| align="left"| Dallas Stars (1997–98) ||15–23–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|47||L||January 12, 1998||2–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) ||15–24–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|48||L||January 14, 1998||0–2 || align="left"| Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) ||15–25–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |49||W||January 21, 1998||8–3 || align="left"| Florida Panthers (1997–98) ||16–25–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |50||W||January 22, 1998||4–3 || align="left"| @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) ||17–25–8 || |- align="center" |51||T||January 24, 1998||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) ||17–25–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|52||L||January 27, 1998||2–4 || align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) ||17–26–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|53||L||January 28, 1998||2–5 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1997–98) ||17–27–9 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |54||W||February 1, 1998||4–3 OT|| align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) ||18–27–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |55||W||February 4, 1998||3–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1997–98) ||19–27–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|56||L||February 7, 1998||2–5 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) ||19–28–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|57||L||February 25, 1998||2–5 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) ||19–29–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |58||W||February 27, 1998||4–0 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) ||20–29–9 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|59||L||March 1, 1998||2–6 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1997–98) ||20–30–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|60||L||March 4, 1998||0–2 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) ||20–31–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|61||L||March 6, 1998||0–3 || align="left"| San Jose Sharks (1997–98) ||20–32–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|62||L||March 8, 1998||1–3 || align="left"| Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) ||20–33–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|63||L||March 9, 1998||3–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) ||20–34–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|64||L||March 11, 1998||1–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) ||20–35–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|65||L||March 13, 1998||3–6 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars (1997–98) ||20–36–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |66||W||March 15, 1998||5–3 || align="left"| Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) ||21–36–9 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|67||L||March 18, 1998||0–3 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) ||21–37–9 || |- align="center" |68||T||March 19, 1998||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) ||21–37–10 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |69||W||March 21, 1998||5–4 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) ||22–37–10 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |70||W||March 22, 1998||5–2 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (1997–98) ||23–37–10 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |71||W||March 25, 1998||3–2 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) ||24–37–10 || |- align="center" |72||T||March 26, 1998||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) ||24–37–11 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|73||L||March 28, 1998||3–5 || align="left"| @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) ||24–38–11 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|74||L||April 1, 1998||1–5 || align="left"| Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) ||24–39–11 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|75||L||April 3, 1998||3–6 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) ||24–40–11 || |- align="center" |76||T||April 5, 1998||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Calgary Flames (1997–98) ||24–40–12 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |77||W||April 8, 1998||4–2 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) ||25–40–12 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|78||L||April 9, 1998||2–5 || align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) ||25–41–12 || |- align="center" |79||T||April 13, 1998||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) ||25–41–13 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|80||L||April 15, 1998||3–5 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) ||25–42–13 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |81||W||April 18, 1998||4–1 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) ||26–42–13 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|82||L||April 19, 1998||3–5 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1997–98) ||26–43–13 || |-|-| Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring

Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; 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 Mighty Ducks only.
= Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Mighty Ducks only.

	Regular season
	Player
8		RW	73	52	34	86	12	30
20		C	72	17	36	53	8	13
15		D	66	6	30	36	−7	115
48		RW	73	13	20	33	−13	22
9		LW	22	17	14	31	12	23
45		C	61	6	21	27	−4	23
10		LW	62	5	15	20	−9	30
14		LW	55	8	11	19	−1	24
17		LW	77	9	8	17	−25	64
36		D	53	2	15	17	−10	28
13		LW	73	6	10	16	−10	82
39		C	22	5	11	16	−10	16
24		D	66	5	10	15	7	70
33		D	78	1	11	12	−3	217
29		RW	21	9	2	11	−6	12
10		LW	12	7	4	11	4	0
16		LW	63	5	6	11	−10	198
12		C	27	4	7	11	−5	12
18		C	55	4	5	9	−22	116
19		RW	32	4	5	9	−1	16
23		D	72	3	6	9	−8	189
40		LW	45	3	5	8	−4	101
7		D	48	3	4	7	−4	40
5		D	27	0	6	6	−2	47
38		D	8	2	2	4	0	8
46		C	9	1	3	4	1	8
22		LW	37	1	3	4	−3	133
29		D	19	1	3	4	−10	4
21		C	19	3	0	3	−10	6
6		D	24	1	2	3	−5	52
52		RW	12	1	1	2	−3	55
32		C	15	0	2	2	−3	8
4		D	10	0	2	2	1	10
11		LW	9	1	0	1	1	18
2		D	22	0	1	1	−12	27
31		G	46	0	1	1		4
35		G	40	0	1	1		0
34		D	21	0	1	1	−8	2
44		C	3	0	0	0	−1	0
67		G	7	0	0	0		0
27		LW	7	0	0	0	−6	6
37		D	1	0	0	0	0	0
42		LW	1	0	0	0	0	2
36		RW	1	0	0	0	−2	2
50		LW	3	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

	Regular season
	Player
31		46	13	24	6	1339	130	2.93	.903	3	2660
35		40	13	18	5	1031	110	3.22	.893	1	2049
67		7	0	1	2	113	12	2.64	.894	0	273

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	NHL Second All-Star Team	Teemu Selanne (Right Wing)	^[2]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Dmitri Mironov	^[3]
Teemu Selanne	NHL All-Star Game selection		^[3]

Records

Teemu Selanne set the franchise record for most goals in one season with 52 goals. The former record was held by Teemu Selanne and it was set the previous year.

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.^[4]

Round		Player	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	18	Michael Holmqvist	Djurgardens IF (Sweden)
2	45	Maxim Balmochnykh	Lada Togliatti (Russia)
3	72	Jay Legault	London Knights (OHL)
5	125	Luc Vaillancourt	Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL)
7	178	Tony Mohagen	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
7	181	Mat Snesrud	North Iowa Huskies (USHL)
8	209	Rene Stussi	HC Thurgau (Switzerland)
9	235	Tommi Degerman	Boston University (Hockey East)

Farm teams

Cincinnati Mighty Ducks

References

Web site: Anaheim Mighty Ducks 1997-98 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com . www.hockeydb.com . July 6, 2023.
Web site: 1997-98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts . Hockey-Reference.com . July 6, 2023.

Notes and References

Web site: 1997-98 NHL Summary.
Web site: Postseason All-Star Teams . records.nhl.com . July 9, 2023.
Web site: NHL All-Star Game Historical Summaries - 1998 . NHL.com . July 9, 2023.
Web site: 1997 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com . www.hockeydb.com . July 9, 2023.