1997–98 Vancouver Canucks season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1997–98
Year:	1997
Team:	Vancouver Canucks
Conferencerank:	13th
Divisionrank:	7th
Record:	25–43–14
Homerecord:	15–22–4
Roadrecord:	10–21–10
Goalsfor:	224
Goalsagainst:	273
Generalmanager:	Pat Quinn (16 games)
Coach:	Tom Renney (19 games) Mike Keenan (63 games)
Altcaptain:	Dave Babych (Oct-Mar) Pavel Bure Trevor Linden (Oct-Jan) Bryan McCabe (Mar-Apr) Dana Murzyn (Jan-Apr)
Attendance:	17,120
Goalsleader:	Pavel Bure (51)
Assistsleader:	Pavel Bure (39)
Pointsleader:	Pavel Bure (90)
Pimleader:	Donald Brashear (372)
Plusminusleader:	Peter Zezel (+13)
Winsleader:	Arturs Irbe (14)
Gaaleader:	Arturs Irbe (2.73)

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]

In addition, the team introduced a new logo that would stay in use since its debut, with minor colour alterations.

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

Schedule and results

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

Player statistics

Scoring

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 Canucks only.
= Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canucks only.

	Regular season
	Player
10		RW	82	51	39	90	5	48
11		C	82	22	38	60	−10	58
89		RW	51	18	27	45	−6	36
19		LW	76	14	20	34	5	56
21		D	74	9	21	30	−25	34
2		D	77	7	23	30	3	76
3		D	71	3	24	27	3	79
28		RW	82	10	15	25	−19	62
20		C	76	13	11	24	−4	165
16		RW	42	7	14	21	−13	49
26		C	48	10	9	19	−14	34
8		LW	77	9	9	18	−9	372
22		C	25	5	12	17	13	2
27		LW	22	6	9	15	2	63
4		D	39	2	13	15	−2	14
24		C	59	3	10	13	−8	164
9		LW	27	9	3	12	0	41
23		D	26	1	11	12	10	64
44		D	47	0	9	9	−11	37
23		LW	24	4	4	8	−6	10
5		D	31	5	2	7	−3	42
25		RW	77	3	4	7	−3	134
6		D	35	3	3	6	−4	21
48		LW	30	2	4	6	2	24
29		LW	35	3	2	5	−3	181
14		RW	31	2	1	3	−9	4
36		D	36	1	2	3	−12	106
18		LW	9	0	3	3	−1	4
7		LW	13	1	1	2	−1	4
9		C	5	1	1	2	−2	2
26		C	7	0	2	2	0	0
1		G	16	0	1	1		14
39		D	13	0	1	1	−2	47
7		D	7	0	1	1	2	0
34		D	11	0	1	1	−3	29
22		LW	11	0	0	0	−7	5
31		G	1	0	0	0		0
32		G	41	0	0	0		2
1		G	29	0	0	0		0
30		G	12	0	0	0		4
27		D	5	0	0	0	−2	6

Goaltending

= Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canucks only.
= Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canucks only.

	Regular season
	Player
32		41	14	11	6	982	91	2.73	.907	2	1999
1		29	6	17	4	800	97	3.68	.879	1	1583
30		12	3	6	0	262	26	3.09	.901	0	504
1		16	2	9	4	396	49	3.51	.876	0	838
31		1	0	0	0	34	5	6.05	.853	0	50

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honour	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	NHL All-Rookie Team	Mattias Ohlund (Defence)	^[4]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Pavel Bure	^[5]
Mark Messier	NHL All-Star Game selection		^[5]
Team	Babe Pratt Trophy	Mattias Ohlund	^[6]
	Cyclone Taylor Trophy	Pavel Bure
	Cyrus H. McLean Trophy	Pavel Bure
	Fred J. Hume Award	Brian Noonan	^[7]
	Molson Cup	Pavel Bure	^[8]
	Most Exciting Player Award	Pavel Bure

Milestones

Transactions

Trades

January 2, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Sean Burke Geoff Sanderson Enrico Ciccone	To Carolina Hurricanes Kirk McLean Martin Gelinas
- bgcolor="#eeeeee"	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
- bgcolor="#eeeeee"	February 5, 1998		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
- bgcolor="#eeeeee"	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
- bgcolor="#eeeeee"	March 7, 1998		To Toronto Maple Leafs Lonny Bohonos
March 14, 1998		To Tampa Bay Lightning Enrico Ciccone
- bgcolor="#eeeeee"	March 23, 1998		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.^[10]

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

References

Web site: Vancouver Canucks 1997-98 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com . www.hockeydb.com . July 8, 2023.
Web site: 1997-98 Vancouver Canucks Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts . Hockey-Reference.com . July 8, 2023.

Notes and References

Web site: Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames Box Score — April 9, 1998.
Web site: Vancouver Canucks 1997-98. Jan 26, 2012.
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.
Vancouver Canucks 2016–17 Media Guide, p. 249
Vancouver Canucks 2016–17 Media Guide, p. 250
2015–16 Vancouver Canucks Media Guide, p. 217
Web site: New York Rangers Official Web-site -- Roster . New York Rangers . July 9, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20000522143842/http://www.newyorkrangers.com/team/playerinfo.asp?playerid=23 . May 22, 2000 . 1997-98… Appeared in his 500th career NHL game on Oct. 19 vs. Colorado.
Web site: 1997 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com . www.hockeydb.com . July 9, 2023.