# 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 (NHL), 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 1998 Stanley Cup 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," 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."

## Regular season
### Final standings

Northeast Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 2 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 40 | 24 | 18 | 228 | 188 | 98 |
| 2 | 5 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 39 | 30 | 13 | 221 | 194 | 91 |
| 3 | 6 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 36 | 29 | 17 | 211 | 187 | 89 |
| 4 | 7 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 37 | 32 | 13 | 235 | 208 | 87 |
| 5 | 8 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 34 | 33 | 15 | 193 | 200 | 83 |
| 6 | 9 | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 33 | 41 | 8 | 200 | 219 | 74 |
Eastern Conference :
| 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

1997–98 regular season :
October: 3–8–3 (home: 2–2–2; road: 1–6–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
1LOctober 1, 19972–4@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)0–1–017,808Recap
2LOctober 3, 19973–4Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)0–2–018,661Recap
3LOctober 4, 19972–3@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)0–3–018,500Recap
4TOctober 7, 19973–3 OTLos Angeles Kings (1997–98)0–3–16,083Recap
5WOctober 10, 19972–1New Jersey Devils (1997–98)1–3–16,352Recap
6LOctober 11, 19971–4@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)1–4–115,175Recap
7LOctober 13, 19971–3@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)1–5–112,530Recap
8TOctober 15, 19973–3 OTBuffalo Sabres (1997–98)1–5–26,278Recap
9LOctober 18, 19972–4@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)1–6–219,983Recap
10LOctober 20, 19972–4@ New York Rangers (1997–98)1–7–218,200Recap
11WOctober 22, 19974–3St. Louis Blues (1997–98)2–7–28,185Recap
12TOctober 24, 19973–3 OT@ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)2–7–316,061Recap
13WOctober 26, 19973–2@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)3–7–314,834Recap
14LOctober 31, 19972–3 OTBuffalo Sabres (1997–98)3–8–37,555Recap :
November: 7–5–1 (home: 5–3–1; road: 2–2–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
15WNovember 3, 19975–3Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)4–8–37,257Recap
16WNovember 5, 19973–1Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)5–8–310,090Recap
17LNovember 7, 19972–3New York Islanders (1997–98)5–9–37,742Recap
18WNovember 9, 19974–1Ottawa Senators (1997–98)6–9–35,551Recap
19WNovember 12, 19976–4@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)7–9–314,240Recap
20WNovember 13, 19974–2@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)8–9–315,825Recap
21LNovember 16, 19971–4@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)8–10–314,740Recap
22WNovember 19, 19972–1Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)9–10–36,896Recap
23LNovember 21, 19973–4New York Rangers (1997–98)9–11–319,358Recap
24TNovember 23, 19973–3 OTCalgary Flames (1997–98)9–11–45,516Recap
25LNovember 26, 19972–3@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)9–12–413,253Recap
26WNovember 28, 19972–0Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)10–12–48,107Recap
27LNovember 29, 19972–3Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)10–13–411,332Recap :
December: 5–8–1 (home: 5–3–1; road: 0–5–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
28WDecember 1, 19973–1Boston Bruins (1997–98)11–13–45,865Recap
29WDecember 3, 19975–3New York Islanders (1997–98)12–13–45,651Recap
30TDecember 5, 19972–2 OTPhoenix Coyotes (1997–98)12–13–56,793Recap
31LDecember 6, 19971–4@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)12–14–514,805Recap
32LDecember 10, 19972–5Florida Panthers (1997–98)12–15–57,219Recap
33LDecember 12, 19972–3 OT@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)12–16–512,321Recap
34WDecember 16, 19972–1Ottawa Senators (1997–98)13–16–57,317Recap
35LDecember 18, 19972–3@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)13–17–514,437Recap
36LDecember 20, 19971–2Washington Capitals (1997–98)13–18–58,118Recap
37LDecember 23, 19972–4@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)13–19–519,594Recap
38LDecember 26, 19972–5Florida Panthers (1997–98)13–20–58,684Recap
39WDecember 27, 19974–1Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)14–20–58,682Recap
40WDecember 30, 19972–1Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)15–20–58,309Recap
41LDecember 31, 19972–3@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)15–21–515,108Recap :
January: 5–7–1 (home: 1–3–1; road: 4–4–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
42LJanuary 3, 19981–6Dallas Stars (1997–98)15–22–59,266Recap
43WJanuary 5, 19984–1Ottawa Senators (1997–98)16–22–56,055Recap
44LJanuary 6, 19982–4@ New York Rangers (1997–98)16–23–518,200Recap
45TJanuary 8, 19983–3 OTPhiladelphia Flyers (1997–98)16–23–611,908Recap
46WJanuary 10, 19982–1 OT@ New York Islanders (1997–98)17–23–613,679Recap
47LJanuary 12, 19981–4Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)17–24–68,250Recap
48LJanuary 14, 19981–4Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)17–25–610,704Recap
49LJanuary 21, 19981–2@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)17–26–612,627Recap
50WJanuary 22, 19984–2@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)18–26–615,491Recap
51WJanuary 24, 19984–3@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)19–26–621,273Recap
52LJanuary 27, 19980–3@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)19–27–614,703Recap
53WJanuary 28, 19983–2@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)20–27–610,815Recap
54LJanuary 30, 19980–2@ New York Islanders (1997–98)20–28–613,275Recap :
February: 1–2–1 (home: 0–1–1; road: 1–1–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
55LFebruary 1, 19983–6Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)20–29–69,591Recap
56TFebruary 4, 19983–3 OTTampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)20–29–78,304Recap
57WFebruary 7, 19983–1@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)21–29–716,944Recap
58LFebruary 28, 19983–4@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)21–30–719,040Recap :
March: 8–5–1 (home: 2–3–1; road: 6–2–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
59WMarch 2, 19983–1@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)22–30–716,237Recap
60WMarch 5, 19982–1@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)23–30–710,541Recap
61WMarch 6, 19985–4 OT@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)24–30–716,210Recap
62WMarch 8, 19983–1@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)25–30–717,174Recap
63LMarch 12, 19980–2New Jersey Devils (1997–98)25–31–78,811Recap
64LMarch 14, 19981–2San Jose Sharks (1997–98)25–32–712,911Recap
65WMarch 15, 19984–1Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)26–32–77,853Recap
66LMarch 18, 19980–1@ Washington Capitals (1997–98)26–33–712,792Recap
67LMarch 20, 19981–6@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)26–34–716,928Recap
68WMarch 23, 19985–3@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)27–34–714,703Recap
69WMarch 26, 19984–1New York Rangers (1997–98)28–34–715,456Recap
70WMarch 28, 19984–2@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)29–34–719,608Recap
71LMarch 29, 19981–3Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)29–35–713,216Recap
72TMarch 31, 19983–3 OTMontreal Canadiens (1997–98)29–35–88,671Recap :
April: 4–6–0 (home: 1–3–0; road: 3–3–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendanceRecap
73WApril 1, 19984–0@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)30–35–816,338Recap
74WApril 4, 19981–0@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)31–35–821,273Recap
75WApril 6, 19983–0@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)32–35–815,180Recap
76LApril 8, 19981–3@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)32–36–816,644Recap
77WApril 9, 19985–2Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)33–36–88,368Recap
78LApril 11, 19981–5@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)33–37–815,726Recap
79LApril 13, 19982–3Boston Bruins (1997–98)33–38–89,228Recap
80LApril 16, 19981–4Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)33–39–810,515Recap
81LApril 18, 19983–4Washington Capitals (1997–98)33–40–812,641Recap
82LApril 19, 19981–2@ Washington Capitals (1997–98)33–41–818,921Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## 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 Hurricanes only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Hurricanes only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 24 | Sami Kapanen | RW | 81 | 26 | 37 | 63 | 9 | 16 |
| 55 | Keith Primeau | C | 81 | 26 | 37 | 63 | 19 | 110 |
| 10 | Gary Roberts | LW | 61 | 20 | 29 | 49 | 3 | 103 |
| 19 | Nelson Emerson | RW | 81 | 21 | 24 | 45 | −17 | 50 |
| 92 | Jeff O'Neill | RW | 74 | 19 | 20 | 39 | −8 | 67 |
| 18 | Robert Kron | LW | 81 | 16 | 20 | 36 | −8 | 12 |
| 3 | Steve Chiasson | D | 66 | 7 | 27 | 34 | −2 | 65 |
| 23 | Martin Gelinas† | LW | 40 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 1 | 30 |
| 2 | Glen Wesley | D | 82 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 7 | 36 |
| 11 | Kevin Dineen | RW | 54 | 7 | 16 | 23 | −7 | 105 |
| 8 | Geoff Sanderson‡ | LW | 40 | 7 | 10 | 17 | −4 | 14 |
| 28 | Paul Ranheim | LW | 73 | 5 | 9 | 14 | −11 | 28 |
| 21 | Jeff Brown‡ | D | 32 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −1 | 16 |
| 7 | Curtis Leschyshyn | D | 73 | 2 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 45 |
| 6 | Adam Burt | D | 76 | 1 | 11 | 12 | −6 | 106 |
| 27 | Steve Leach | RW | 45 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −19 | 42 |
| 44 | Kent Manderville | C | 77 | 4 | 4 | 8 | −6 | 31 |
| 5 | Kevin Haller | D | 65 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −5 | 94 |
| 32 | Stu Grimson | LW | 82 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 204 |
| 26 | Ray Sheppard† | RW | 10 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| 33 | Bates Battaglia | LW | 33 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −1 | 10 |
| 12 | Steven Rice | RW | 47 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −16 | 38 |
| 22 | Sean Hill† | D | 42 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −2 | 48 |
| 39 | Enrico Ciccone‡ | D | 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 83 |
| 14 | Steven Halko | D | 18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −1 | 10 |
| 4 | Nolan Pratt | D | 23 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 | 44 |
| 1 | Sean Burke‡ | G | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 6 |
| 1 | Kirk McLean†‡ | G | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 0 |
| 17 | Chris Murray‡ | RW | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22 |
| 46 | Mike Rucinski | D | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 29 | Kevin Brown | RW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| 16 | Jeff Daniels | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Mike Fountain | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 2 |
| 39 | Pat Jablonski | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 37 | Trevor Kidd | G | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 2 |
| 34 | Steve Martins | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltending

* † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Hurricanes only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Hurricanes only.
| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 37 | Trevor Kidd | 47 | 21 | 21 | 3 | 1237 | 97 | 2.17 | .922 | 3 | 2685 |
| 1 | Sean Burke‡ | 25 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 655 | 66 | 2.80 | .899 | 1 | 1415 |
| 1 | Kirk McLean†‡ | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 181 | 22 | 3.29 | .878 | 0 | 401 |
| 39 | Pat Jablonski | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 115 | 14 | 3.01 | .878 | 0 | 279 |
| 30 | Mike Fountain | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 68 | 10 | 3.68 | .853 | 0 | 163 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
| League (annual) | Lester Patrick Trophy | Peter Karmanos | |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Steven Halko | October 1, 1997 |
| First game | Bates Battaglia | January 3, 1998 |
| First game | Mike Rucinski | March 29, 1998 |

## Transactions

The Hurricanes were involved in the following transactions during the 1997–98 season.

### Trades

| June 21, 1997 | To San Jose Sharks1st round pick in 1997 - Scott Hannan | To Carolina Hurricanes2nd round pick in 1997 - Brad DeFauw 3rd round pick in 1998 - Erik Cole |
| June 27, 1997 | To St. Louis BluesAlexander Godynyuk 6th round pick in 1998 - Brad Voth | To Carolina HurricanesSteve Leach |
| July 25, 1997 | To Chicago BlackhawksRyan Risidore 5th round pick in 1998 - Morgan Warren | To Carolina HurricanesEnrico Ciccone |
| August 8, 1997 | To New York RangersJason Muzzatti | To Carolina Hurricanes5th round pick in 1998 - Tommy Westlund |
| August 25, 1997 | To Calgary FlamesAndrew Cassels Jean-Sébastien Giguère | To Carolina HurricanesGary Roberts Trevor Kidd |
| November 17, 1997 | To Ottawa SenatorsChris Murray | To Carolina HurricanesSean Hill |
| January 2, 1998 | To Toronto Maple LeafsJeff Brown | To Carolina Hurricanes4th round pick in 1999 - Evgeny Pavlov |
| January 2, 1998 | To Vancouver CanucksSean Burke Enrico Ciccone Geoff Sanderson | To Carolina HurricanesKirk McLean Martin Gelinas |
| March 23, 1998 | To Florida PanthersKirk McLean | To Carolina HurricanesRay Sheppard |

### Free agents

| Player | Former Team |
| Pat Jablonski | Phoenix Coyotes |
| Mike Fountain | Vancouver Canucks |
| Greg Koehler | University of Massachusetts-Lowell (NCAA) |
| Player | New Team |
| Derek King | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Dave Babych | Vancouver Canucks |
| Bob Wren | Anaheim Mighty Ducks |

## Draft picks

Carolina'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 | 22 | Nikos Tselios | United States | Belleville Bulls (OHL) |
| 2 | 28 | Brad DeFauw | United States | University of North Dakota (WCHA) |
| 3 | 80 | Francis Lessard | Canada | Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL) |
| 4 | 88 | Shane Willis | Canada | Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL) |
| 6 | 142 | Kyle Dafoe | Canada | Owen Sound Platers (OHL) |
| 7 | 169 | Andrew Merrick | United States | University of Michigan (CCHA) |
| 8 | 195 | Niklas Nordgren | Sweden | Modo Hockey Jr. (Sweden) |
| 8 | 199 | Randy Fitzgerald | Canada | Detroit Whalers (OHL) |
| 9 | 225 | Kent McDonell | Canada | Guelph Storm (OHL) |

## Farm teams

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