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, 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 playoffs.

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
1	L	October 1, 1997	2–4	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	0–1–0
2	L	October 3, 1997	3–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	0–2–0
3	L	October 4, 1997	2–3	@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	0–3–0
4	T	October 7, 1997	3–3 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	0–3–1
5	W	October 10, 1997	2–1	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	1–3–1
6	L	October 11, 1997	1–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	1–4–1
7	L	October 13, 1997	1–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	1–5–1
8	T	October 15, 1997	3–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	1–5–2
9	L	October 18, 1997	2–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	1–6–2
10	L	October 20, 1997	2–4	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	1–7–2
11	W	October 22, 1997	4–3	St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	2–7–2
12	T	October 24, 1997	3–3 OT	@ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	2–7–3
13	W	October 26, 1997	3–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	3–7–3
14	L	October 31, 1997	2–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	3–8–3

November

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

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

December

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

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

January

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

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

February

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

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

March

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

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

April

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

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

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Kapanen, SamiSami Kapanen	RW	81	26	37	63	16	9	4	0	5
Primeau, KeithKeith Primeau	C	81	26	37	63	110	19	7	3	2
Roberts, GaryGary Roberts	LW	61	20	29	49	103	3	4	0	2
Emerson, NelsonNelson Emerson	RW	81	21	24	45	50	-17	6	0	4
O'Neill, JeffJeff O'Neill	RW	74	19	20	39	67	-8	7	1	4
Kron, RobertRobert Kron	LW	81	16	20	36	12	-8	4	0	2
Chiasson, SteveSteve Chiasson	D	66	7	27	34	65	-2	6	0	0
Gelinas, MartinMartin Gelinas	LW	40	12	14	26	30	1	2	1	4
Wesley, GlenGlen Wesley	D	82	6	19	25	36	7	1	0	1
Dineen, KevinKevin Dineen	RW	54	7	16	23	105	-7	0	0	1
Sanderson, GeoffGeoff Sanderson	LW	40	7	10	17	14	-4	2	0	0
Ranheim, PaulPaul Ranheim	LW	73	5	9	14	28	-11	0	1	2
Brown, JeffJeff Brown	D	32	3	10	13	16	-1	3	0	0
Leschyshyn, CurtisCurtis Leschyshyn	D	73	2	10	12	45	-2	1	0	1
Burt, AdamAdam Burt	D	76	1	11	12	106	-6	0	1	0
Leach, StephenStephen Leach	RW	45	4	5	9	42	-19	1	1	2
Manderville, KentKent Manderville	C	77	4	4	8	31	-6	0	0	0
Haller, KevinKevin Haller	D	65	3	5	8	94	-5	0	0	0
Grimson, StuStu Grimson	LW	82	3	4	7	204	0	0	0	1
Sheppard, RayRay Sheppard	RW	10	4	2	6	2	2	2	0	1
Battaglia, BatesBates Battaglia	LW	33	2	4	6	10	-1	0	0	1
Rice, StevenSteven Rice	RW	47	2	4	6	38	-16	0	0	0
Hill, SeanSean Hill	D	42	0	5	5	48	-2	0	0	0
Ciccone, EnricoEnrico Ciccone	D	14	0	3	3	83	3	0	0	0
Halko, StevenSteven Halko	D	18	0	2	2	10	-1	0	0	0
Pratt, NolanNolan Pratt	D	23	0	2	2	44	-2	0	0	0
Burke, SeanSean Burke	G	25	0	1	1	6	0	0	0	0
McLean, KirkKirk McLean	G	8	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Murray, ChrisChris Murray	RW	7	0	1	1	22	2	0	0	0
Rucinski, MikeMike Rucinski	D	9	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Brown, KevinKevin Brown	RW	4	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Daniels, JeffJeff Daniels	LW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fountain, MikeMike Fountain	G	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Jablonski, PatPat Jablonski	G	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kidd, TrevorTrevor Kidd	G	47	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Martins, SteveSteve Martins	C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Kidd, TrevorTrevor Kidd	2685	47	21	21	3	97	2.17	3	1237	1140	.922
Burke, SeanSean Burke	1415	25	7	11	5	66	2.80	1	655	589	.899
McLean, KirkKirk McLean	401	8	4	2	0	22	3.29	0	181	159	.878
Jablonski, PatPat Jablonski	279	5	1	4	0	14	3.01	0	115	101	.878
Fountain, MikeMike 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]

Farm teams

American Hockey League

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

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

↑ "NHL Average Attendance since 1989-90". Andrew's Dallas Stars Page. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
↑ Callaghan, Gerry. "Natural Disaster." Sports Illustrated, October 27, 1997; Web article retrieved November 19, 2008.
↑ Burnside, Scott. "Karmanos: Hard-nosed owner, die-hard hockey fan." ESPN.com, June 6, 2008; Web article retrieved February 14, 2009.
↑ "1997–1998 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
↑ "1997-98 Carolina Hurricanes Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
↑ 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.

Carolina Hurricanes

Formerly the New England/Hartford Whalers Founded in 1997 Based in Raleigh, North Carolina

Franchise	Team General Managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season

History	History Records Award winners

Personnel	Owners Peter Karmanos, Jr. General manager Ron Francis Head coach Bill Peters Team captain Vacant Current roster

Arena	Greensboro Coliseum PNC Arena

Affiliates	AHL Charlotte Checkers ECHL Florida Everblades

General Managers	Rutherford Francis

Stanley Cup Finals	2002 2006

Head Coaches	Maurice Laviolette Maurice Muller Peters

Retired Numbers	2 10 17

Lore	Miracle at Molson 0.2 Seconds

Carolina Hurricanes seasons

Pre-1997	Hartford Whalers

1990s	1997–98 1998–99 1999–00

2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

1997–98 NHL season

Northeast Division	Boston Buffalo Carolina Montreal Ottawa Pittsburgh

Atlantic Division	Florida New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Tampa Bay Washington

Central Division	Chicago Dallas Detroit Phoenix St. Louis Toronto

Pacific Division	Anaheim Calgary Colorado Edmonton Los Angeles San Jose Vancouver

See also	Draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup Playoffs Stanley Cup Finals

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