# 1997–98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season

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. Kariya's return didn't have the impact the Mighty Ducks had hoped for, going only 7-12-3 overall, but they improved since mid January when Anaheim defeated Florida 8-3, going 3-2-1. Before Kariya's return, Anaheim was 11-15-6.
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

1997–98 regular season :
October: 5–4–4 (home: 2–3–2; road: 3–1–2)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
1LOctober 3, 19972–3@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)0–1–0Recap
2WOctober 4, 19973–2Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)1–1–0Recap
3TOctober 10, 19971–1 OTOttawa Senators (1997–98)1–1–1Recap
4LOctober 13, 19970–3Boston Bruins (1997–98)1–2–1Recap
5TOctober 15, 19972–2 OTPhiladelphia Flyers (1997–98)1–2–2Recap
6WOctober 17, 19972–1Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)2–2–2Recap
7LOctober 19, 19972–5New York Islanders (1997–98)2–3–2Recap
8WOctober 21, 19974–3@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)3–3–2Recap
9LOctober 22, 19971–4Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)3–4–2Recap
10WOctober 25, 19974–2@ New York Islanders (1997–98)4–4–2Recap
11TOctober 26, 19973–3 OT@ New York Rangers (1997–98)4–4–3Recap
12TOctober 28, 19972–2 OT@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)4–4–4Recap
13WOctober 30, 19973–0@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)5–4–4Recap :
November: 6–8–1 (home: 2–4–1; road: 4–4–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
14LNovember 2, 19973–4@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)5–5–4Recap
15WNovember 5, 19975–2Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)6–5–4Recap
16WNovember 7, 19974–3 OT@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)7–5–4Recap
17WNovember 8, 19973–2@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)8–5–4Recap
18LNovember 10, 19974–6San Jose Sharks (1997–98)8–6–4Recap
19LNovember 12, 19973–4 OTMontreal Canadiens (1997–98)8–7–4Recap
20TNovember 14, 19973–3 OTVancouver Canucks (1997–98)8–7–5Recap
21LNovember 16, 19970–4Dallas Stars (1997–98)8–8–5Recap
22LNovember 18, 19972–4@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)8–9–5Recap
23LNovember 19, 19970–4Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)8–10–5Recap
24WNovember 22, 19972–0@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)9–10–5Recap
25LNovember 24, 19970–5@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)9–11–5Recap
26WNovember 26, 19972–0New Jersey Devils (1997–98)10–11–5Recap
27WNovember 28, 19973–1@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)11–11–5Recap
28LNovember 29, 19972–3 OT@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)11–12–5Recap :
December: 2–8–2 (home: 2–4–0; road: 0–4–2)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
29TDecember 2, 19973–3 OT@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)11–12–6Recap
30LDecember 3, 19970–4@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)11–13–6Recap
31LDecember 6, 19972–5@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)11–14–6Recap
32LDecember 10, 19970–3Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)11–15–6Recap
33WDecember 12, 19976–4Washington Capitals (1997–98)12–15–6Recap
34LDecember 17, 19972–6Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)12–16–6Recap
35LDecember 19, 19972–6Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)12–17–6Recap
36LDecember 21, 19972–4San Jose Sharks (1997–98)12–18–6Recap
37WDecember 22, 19975–1Calgary Flames (1997–98)13–18–6Recap
38TDecember 27, 19975–5 OT@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)13–18–7Recap
39LDecember 28, 19970–2@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)13–19–7Recap
40LDecember 30, 19971–2@ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)13–20–7Recap :
January: 4–7–2 (home: 2–4–1; road: 2–3–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
41LJanuary 1, 19982–3@ Washington Capitals (1997–98)13–21–7Recap
42WJanuary 3, 19984–1@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)14–21–7Recap
43TJanuary 4, 19983–3 OT@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)14–21–8Recap
44LJanuary 7, 19982–3Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)14–22–8Recap
45LJanuary 9, 19981–5Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)14–23–8Recap
46WJanuary 11, 19982–1 OTDallas Stars (1997–98)15–23–8Recap
47LJanuary 12, 19982–3 OT@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)15–24–8Recap
48LJanuary 14, 19980–2Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)15–25–8Recap
49WJanuary 21, 19988–3Florida Panthers (1997–98)16–25–8Recap
50WJanuary 22, 19984–3@ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)17–25–8Recap
51TJanuary 24, 19983–3 OTLos Angeles Kings (1997–98)17–25–9Recap
52LJanuary 27, 19982–4@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)17–26–9Recap
53LJanuary 28, 19982–5Calgary Flames (1997–98)17–27–9Recap :
February: 3–2–0 (home: 2–1–0; road: 1–1–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
54WFebruary 1, 19984–3 OTChicago Blackhawks (1997–98)18–27–9Recap
55WFebruary 4, 19983–2New York Rangers (1997–98)19–27–9Recap
56LFebruary 7, 19982–5Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)19–28–9Recap
57LFebruary 25, 19982–5@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)19–29–9Recap
58WFebruary 27, 19984–0@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)20–29–9Recap :
March: 4–9–2 (home: 1–5–0; road: 3–4–2)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
59LMarch 1, 19982–6St. Louis Blues (1997–98)20–30–9Recap
60LMarch 4, 19980–2Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)20–31–9Recap
61LMarch 6, 19980–3San Jose Sharks (1997–98)20–32–9Recap
62LMarch 8, 19981–3Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)20–33–9Recap
63LMarch 9, 19983–4 OT@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)20–34–9Recap
64LMarch 11, 19981–3Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)20–35–9Recap
65LMarch 13, 19983–6@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)20–36–9Recap
66WMarch 15, 19985–3Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)21–36–9Recap
67LMarch 18, 19980–3@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)21–37–9Recap
68TMarch 19, 19983–3 OT@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)21–37–10Recap
69WMarch 21, 19985–4@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)22–37–10Recap
70WMarch 22, 19985–2@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)23–37–10Recap
71WMarch 25, 19983–2@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)24–37–10Recap
72TMarch 26, 19983–3 OT@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)24–37–11Recap
73LMarch 28, 19983–5@ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)24–38–11Recap :
April: 2–5–2 (home: 1–2–2; road: 1–3–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
74LApril 1, 19981–5Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)24–39–11Recap
75LApril 3, 19983–6@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)24–40–11Recap
76TApril 5, 19983–3 OTCalgary Flames (1997–98)24–40–12Recap
77WApril 8, 19984–2Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)25–40–12Recap
78LApril 9, 19982–5@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)25–41–12Recap
79TApril 13, 19982–2 OTColorado Avalanche (1997–98)25–41–13Recap
80LApril 15, 19983–5@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)25–42–13Recap
81WApril 18, 19984–1@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)26–42–13Recap
82LApril 19, 19983–5St. Louis Blues (1997–98)26–43–13Recap :
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 Mighty Ducks only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Mighty Ducks only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 8 | Teemu Selanne | RW | 73 | 52 | 34 | 86 | 12 | 30 |
| 20 | Steve Rucchin | C | 72 | 17 | 36 | 53 | 8 | 13 |
| 15 | Dmitri Mironov‡ | D | 66 | 6 | 30 | 36 | −7 | 115 |
| 48 | Scott Young | RW | 73 | 13 | 20 | 33 | −13 | 22 |
| 9 | Paul Kariya | LW | 22 | 17 | 14 | 31 | 12 | 23 |
| 45 | Matt Cullen | C | 61 | 6 | 21 | 27 | −4 | 23 |
| 10 | Sean Pronger‡ | LW | 62 | 5 | 15 | 20 | −9 | 30 |
| 14 | Joe Sacco‡ | LW | 55 | 8 | 11 | 19 | −1 | 24 |
| 17 | Tomas Sandstrom | LW | 77 | 9 | 8 | 17 | −25 | 64 |
| 36 | J. J. Daigneault‡ | D | 53 | 2 | 15 | 17 | −10 | 28 |
| 13 | Ted Drury | LW | 73 | 6 | 10 | 16 | −10 | 82 |
| 39 | Travis Green† | C | 22 | 5 | 11 | 16 | −10 | 16 |
| 24 | Ruslan Salei | D | 66 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 7 | 70 |
| 33 | Dave Karpa | D | 78 | 1 | 11 | 12 | −3 | 217 |
| 29 | Frank Banham | RW | 21 | 9 | 2 | 11 | −6 | 12 |
| 10 | Josef Marha† | LW | 12 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 0 |
| 16 | Warren Rychel‡ | LW | 63 | 5 | 6 | 11 | −10 | 198 |
| 12 | Kevin Todd | C | 27 | 4 | 7 | 11 | −5 | 12 |
| 18 | Mark Janssens‡ | C | 55 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −22 | 116 |
| 19 | Jeff Nielsen | RW | 32 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −1 | 16 |
| 23 | Jason Marshall | D | 72 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −8 | 189 |
| 40 | Jeremy Stevenson | LW | 45 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −4 | 101 |
| 7 | Pavel Trnka | D | 48 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −4 | 40 |
| 5 | Drew Bannister† | D | 27 | 0 | 6 | 6 | −2 | 47 |
| 38 | Mike Crowley | D | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| 46 | Jean-Francois Jomphe | C | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 22 | Brent Severyn | LW | 37 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −3 | 133 |
| 29 | Darren Van Impe‡ | D | 19 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −10 | 4 |
| 21 | Espen Knutsen | C | 19 | 3 | 0 | 3 | −10 | 6 |
| 6 | Doug Houda† | D | 24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −5 | 52 |
| 52 | Peter Leboutillier | RW | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −3 | 55 |
| 32 | Richard Park | C | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −3 | 8 |
| 4 | Jamie Pushor† | D | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| 11 | Shawn Antoski | LW | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| 2 | Bobby Dollas‡ | D | 22 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −12 | 27 |
| 31 | Guy Hebert | G | 46 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 4 |
| 35 | Mikhail Shtalenkov | G | 40 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 0 |
| 34 | Dan Trebil | D | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −8 | 2 |
| 44 | Antti Aalto | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| 67 | Tom Askey | G | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 27 | Mike Leclerc | LW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −6 | 6 |
| 37 | Marc Moro | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Barry Nieckar | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 36 | Tony Tuzzolino† | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 |
| 50 | Bob Wren | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltending

| 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 |
| 31 | Guy Hebert | 46 | 13 | 24 | 6 | 1339 | 130 | 2.93 | .903 | 3 | 2660 |
| 35 | Mikhail Shtalenkov | 40 | 13 | 18 | 5 | 1031 | 110 | 3.22 | .893 | 1 | 2049 |
| 67 | Tom Askey | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 113 | 12 | 2.64 | .894 | 0 | 273 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (annual) | NHL Second All-Star Team | Teemu Selanne (Right Wing) |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Dmitri Mironov |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Teemu Selanne |

### 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.

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Espen Knutsen | October 3, 1997 |
| First game | Matt Cullen | October 28, 1997 |
| First game | Pavel Trnka | November 5, 1997 |
| First game | Antti Aalto | December 6, 1997 |
| First game | Marc Moro | December 12, 1997 |
| First game | Mike Crowley | December 28, 1997 |
| First game | Bob Wren | January 14, 1998 |
| First game | Tony Tuzzolino | February 25, 1998 |
| First game | Tom Askey | March 13, 1998 |

## Transactions

Traded Darren VanImpe to the Boston Bruins in 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