# 1997–98 Calgary Flames season

The 1997–98 Calgary Flames season was the 18th National Hockey League season in Calgary. After a disappointing 1996–97 season, the Flames looked to newly hired coach Brian Sutter to return the Flames to the playoffs.
The off-season featured the trade of highly popular forward Gary Roberts shortly before the season began. Roberts missed the entire 1996–97 NHL season due to injury after playing only 35 games in 1995–96. Feeling that playing in the Eastern Conference with its lower travel would help aid him in his comeback, the Flames agreed to trade Roberts. He was dealt, along with starting goaltender Trevor Kidd to the Carolina Hurricanes for Andrew Cassels and Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
The season would serve as a bitter disappointment for the Flames from start to end, as the Flames would struggle to score goals all season long, ultimately finishing with the worst record in Calgary history at 26–41–15, while 67 points was the lowest in franchise history since the expansion Atlanta Flames managed just 65 in 1972–73. The Flames finished eleven points behind the 8th place San Jose Sharks, missing the playoffs for the second straight season.
Theoren Fleury was named to the North American team at the 1998 NHL All Star Game, where he recorded two assists playing on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Mark Recchi. Defenceman Derek Morris was named a Rookie All Star.
Fleury also represented Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
Prior to the start of the season, the Flames purchased the Western Hockey League's Calgary Hitmen for approximately $1.5 million. The struggling franchise was nearly destroyed by the fallout of the Graham James scandal.

## Regular season

On Friday, October 17, 1997, the Flames scored three short-handed goals in a 6-5 win over the Colorado Avalanche.

### Season 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: 3–8–2 (home: 3–4–1; road: 0–4–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
1October 1Detroit3 – 1CalgaryTabaracci17,8930–1–00Recap
2October 3Colorado4 – 1CalgaryTabaracci15,3270–2–00Recap
3October 7Toronto2 – 1CalgaryTabaracci16,8310–3–00Recap
4October 9NY Rangers1 – 1CalgaryOTRoloson16,7560–3–11Recap
5October 12Calgary4 – 4DetroitOTTabaracci19,9830–3–22Recap
6October 14Calgary4 – 5DallasOTRoloson14,8920–4–22Recap
7October 17Colorado5 – 6CalgaryOTTabaracci16,4321–4–24Recap
8October 18Boston3 – 0CalgaryTabaracci16,6731–5–24Recap
9October 22Calgary1 – 4BuffaloTabaracci11,2221–6–24Recap
10October 23Calgary3 – 4PhiladelphiaRoloson19,3191–7–24Recap
11October 25Calgary3 – 4TorontoTabaracci15,7261–8–24Recap
12October 28Pittsburgh3 – 6CalgaryMoss15,6452–8–26Recap
13October 30Phoenix2 – 4CalgaryMoss15,7613–8–28Recap :
November: 2–7–5 (home: 1–3–1; road: 1–4–4)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
14November 1Calgary2 – 2ColoradoOTMoss16,0613–8–39Recap
15November 2Calgary1 – 3PhoenixTabaracci14,9283–9–39Recap
16November 5Toronto4 – 3CalgaryMoss16,3223–10–39Recap
17November 7Anaheim4 – 3CalgaryOTMoss16,4873–11–39Recap
18November 9Calgary3 – 6DetroitTabaracci19,9833–12–39Recap
19November 10Calgary1 – 1ChicagoOTRoloson15,7533–12–410Recap
20November 13Carolina4 – 2CalgaryRoloson15,1133–13–410Recap
21November 15Calgary2 – 2EdmontonOTTabaracci17,0993–13–511Recap
22November 18Calgary1 – 2New JerseyTabaracci15,0923–14–511Recap
23November 20Calgary2 – 1FloridaTabaracci14,7034–14–513Recap
24November 22Calgary3 – 4Tampa BayTabaracci15,1764–15–513Recap
25November 23Calgary3 – 3CarolinaOTTabracci5,5164–15–614Recap
26November 27Chicago2 – 2CalgaryOTTabaracci16,6414–15–715Recap
27November 29Anaheim3 – 4CalgaryOTTabaracci18,3345–15–717Recap :
December: 6–8–1 (home: 4–5–0; road: 2–3–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
28December 1San Jose2 – 3CalgaryOTTabaracci15,2686–15–719Recap
29December 3Detroit4 – 3CalgaryTabaracci16,3106–16–719Recap
30December 5Calgary1 – 4DallasRoloson16,6886–17–719Recap
31December 6Calgary3 – 4St. LouisOTTabaracciN/A6–18–719Recap
32December 9Calgary3 – 1NY IslandersTabaracci9,2517–18–721Recap
33December 10Calgary4 – 1NY RangersTabaracci18,2008–18–723Recap
34December 12Colorado1 – 3CalgaryTabaracci17,4509–18–725Recap
35December 16Chicago3 – 4CalgaryOTTabaracci15,46210–18–727Recap
36December 18Dallas2 – 1CalgaryTabaracci15,66710–19–727Recap
37December 20Los Angeles4 – 1CalgaryTabaracci15,87310–20–727Recap
38December 22Calgary1 – 5AnaheimTabaracci16,97510–21–727Recap
39December 23Calgary2 – 2PhoenixOTRoloson15,42410–21–828Recap
40December 27Philadelphia2 – 5CalgaryRoloson18,74211–21–830Recap
41December 29Phoenix5 – 3CalgaryRoloson18,74211–22–830Recap
42December 31Montreal3 – 2CalgaryTabaracci18,74211–23–830Recap :
January: 3–6–3 (home: 1–1–2; road: 2–5–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
43January 3Calgary3 – 4St. LouisTabaracciN/A11–24–830Recap
44January 5Calgary1 – 1ChicagoOTTabaracci15,94111–24–931Recap
45January 6Calgary3 – 1ColoradoRoloson16,06112–24–933Recap
46January 9Florida3 – 3CalgaryOTTabaracci17,01012–24–1034Recap
47January 10St. Louis5 – 1CalgaryRoloson18,56212–25–1034Recap
48January 14Calgary2 – 5EdmontonRoloson17,09912–26–1034Recap
49January 20Calgary3 – 4Los AngelesMoss10,36712–27–1034Recap
50January 21Calgary1 – 7San JoseRoloson16,55312–28–1034Recap
51January 24Vancouver2 – 5CalgaryRoloson18,62713–28–1036Recap
52January 28Calgary5 – 2AnaheimTabaracci16,75814–28–1038Recap
53January 29Calgary3 – 5Los AngelesTabaracci9,58614–29–1038Recap
54January 31New Jersey2 – 2CalgaryRoloson18,71914–29–1139Recap :
February: 2–1–1 (home: 2–1–1; road: 0–0–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
55February 3Los Angeles6 – 3CalgaryRoloson15,81514–30–1139Recap
56February 5San Jose2 – 4CalgaryRoloson15,39115–30–1141Recap
57February 7Edmonton2 – 4CalgaryRoloson18,71916–30–1143Recap
58February 27Vancouver4 – 4CalgaryOTRoloson15,58616–30–1244Recap :
March: 8–6–1 (home: 6–1–0; road: 2–5–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
59March 1Ottawa1 – 2CalgaryRoloson17,46317–30–1246Recap
60March 3Tampa Bay1 – 2CalgaryRoloson15,83118–30–1248Recap
61March 5Calgary6 – 2VancouverRoloson15,61319–30–1250Recap
62March 7Calgary1 – 2OttawaRoloson18,03619–31–1250Recap
63March 9Calgary2 – 5WashingtonTabaracci12,01119–32–1250Recap
64March 11Calgary1 – 4PittsburghRoloson14,65519–33–1250Recap
65March 12Calgary5 – 2BostonRoloson14,67720–33–1252Recap
66March 14Calgary1 – 2TorontoRoloson15,72620–34–1252Recap
67March 16Calgary3 – 3MontrealOTRoloson20,50420–34–1353Recap
68March 20NY Islanders1 – 4CalgaryTabaracci18,18921–34–1355Recap
69March 22St. Louis3 – 5CalgaryTabaracci16,67522–34–1357Recap
70March 24Buffalo2 – 0CalgaryTabaracci16,29622–35–1357Recap
71March 26Washington2 – 3CalgaryTabaracci15,78223–35–1359Recap
72March 28Los Angeles2 – 5CalgaryTabaracci16,99824–35–1361Recap
73March 30Calgary1 – 3EdmontonTabaracci17,09924–36–1361Recap :
April: 2–5–2 (home: 1–2–1; road: 1–3–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
74April 1Dallas1 – 3CalgaryRoloson17,01225–36–1363Recap
75April 5Calgary3 – 3AnaheimOTRoloson17,17425–36–1464Recap
76April 7Calgary0 – 6San JoseTabaracci17,48325–37–1464Recap
77April 9Vancouver6 – 3CalgaryRoloson16,31325–38–1464Recap
78April 11Edmonton5 – 4CalgaryRoloson18,71925–39–1464Recap
79April 13Calgary2 – 4Los AngelesRoloson12,04925–40–1464Recap
80April 15San Jose3 – 3CalgaryOTRoloson16,56725–40–1565Recap
81April 17Calgary4 – 2VancouverRoloson16,60226–40–1567Recap
82April 18Calgary1 – 4San JoseRoloson17,48326–41–1567Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## 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 Flames only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 14 | Theoren Fleury | RW | 82 | 27 | 51 | 78 | 0 | 197 |
| 16 | Cory Stillman | LW | 72 | 27 | 22 | 49 | −9 | 40 |
| 18 | Marty McInnis | LW | 75 | 19 | 25 | 44 | 1 | 34 |
| 21 | Andrew Cassels | C | 81 | 17 | 27 | 44 | −7 | 32 |
| 13 | German Titov | C | 68 | 18 | 22 | 40 | −1 | 38 |
| 92 | Michael Nylander | C | 65 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 10 | 35 |
| 12 | Jarome Iginla | RW | 70 | 13 | 19 | 32 | −10 | 29 |
| 53 | Derek Morris | D | 82 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 1 | 88 |
| 32 | Cale Hulse | D | 79 | 5 | 22 | 27 | 1 | 169 |
| 5 | Tommy Albelin | D | 69 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 9 | 32 |
| 3 | James Patrick | D | 60 | 6 | 11 | 17 | −2 | 26 |
| 17 | Hnat Domenichelli | LW | 31 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 4 | 6 |
| 34 | Jim Dowd | C | 48 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 10 | 12 |
| 44 | Jonas Hoglund‡ | LW | 50 | 6 | 8 | 14 | −9 | 16 |
| 15 | Sandy McCarthy‡ | RW | 52 | 8 | 5 | 13 | −18 | 170 |
| 6 | Joel Bouchard | D | 44 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 57 |
| 2 | Jamie Allison | D | 43 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 104 |
| 8 | Valeri Bure† | RW | 16 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| 42 | Ed Ward | LW | 64 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −1 | 122 |
| 33 | Zarley Zalapski‡ | D | 35 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −12 | 41 |
| 7 | Chris Dingman | LW | 70 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −11 | 149 |
| 27 | Todd Simpson | D | 53 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −10 | 109 |
| 24 | Jason Wiemer† | LW | 12 | 4 | 1 | 5 | −1 | 28 |
| 23 | Aaron Gavey | C | 26 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −5 | 24 |
| 30 | Dwayne Roloson | G | 39 | 0 | 4 | 4 | | 10 |
| 29 | Erik Andersson | C | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −4 | 8 |
| 19 | Chris O'Sullivan | D | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| 11 | Eric Landry | C | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 4 |
| 4 | Kevin Dahl | D | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 6 |
| 20 | Todd Hlushko | LW | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 27 |
| 26 | Ladislav Kohn | RW | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | Rick Tabaracci | G | 42 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 14 |
| 57 | Steve Begin | C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| 43 | Travis Brigley | LW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| 39 | Eric Charron | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 24 | Denis Gauthier | D | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 | 16 |
| 1 | Tyler Moss | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 28 | Marty Murray | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Mike Peluso‡ | LW | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −6 | 113 |
| 55 | Rocky Thompson | D | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61 |
| 58 | Sergei Varlamov | LW | 1 | 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 | Rick Tabaracci | 42 | 13 | 22 | 6 | 1087 | 116 | 2.88 | .893 | 0 | 2419 |
| 30 | Dwayne Roloson | 39 | 11 | 16 | 8 | 997 | 110 | 2.99 | .890 | 0 | 2205 |
| 1 | Tyler Moss | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 186 | 20 | 3.27 | .892 | 0 | 367 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honour | Recipient |
| League (annual) | NHL All-Rookie Team | Derek Morris (Defence) |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Theoren Fleury |
| Team | Molson Cup | Theoren Fleury |
| Team | Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award | Ed Ward |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Steve Begin | October 1, 1997 |
| First game | Chris Dingman | October 1, 1997 |
| First game | Derek Morris | October 1, 1997 |
| First game | Denis Gauthier | October 9, 1997 |
| First game | Erik Andersson | October 17, 1997 |
| First game | Tyler Moss | October 28, 1997 |
| First game | Eric Landry | November 15, 1997 |
| First game | Rocky Thompson | January 28, 1998 |
| First game | Travis Brigley | April 11, 1998 |
| First game | Sergei Varlamov | April 17, 1998 |

## Transactions

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

### Trades

| June 21, 1997 | To Calgary Flames Rick Tabaracci | To Tampa Bay Lightning 4th round pick in 1998 |
| August 25, 1997 | To Calgary Flames Andrew Cassels Jean-Sebastien Giguere | To Carolina Hurricanes Gary Roberts Trevor Kidd |
| February 1, 1998 | To Calgary Flames Valeri Bure 4th round pick in 1998 | To Montreal Canadiens Zarley Zalapski Jonas Hoglund |
| March 24, 1998 | To Calgary Flames Jason Wiemer | To Tampa Bay Lightning Sandy McCarthy 3rd round pick in 1998 5th round pick in 1998 |

### Free agents

| Player | Former team |
| Player | New team |

## Draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
| Rnd | Pick | Player | Nationality | Position | Team (league) | NHL statistics | NHL statistics | NHL statistics | NHL statistics | NHL statistics |
| Rnd | Pick | Player | Nationality | Position | Team (league) | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1 | 6 | Daniel Tkaczuk | Canada | C | Barrie Colts (OHL) | 19 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 14 |
| 2 | 32 | Evan Lindsay | Canada | G | Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) | | | | | |
| 2 | 42 | John Tripp | Canada | RW | Oshawa Generals (OHL) | 43 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 35 |
| 2 | 51 | Dmitri Kokorev | Russia | D | Moscow Dynamo (RSL) | | | | | |
| 3 | 60 | Derek Schultz | Canada | C | Spokane Chiefs (WHL) | | | | | |
| 3 | 70 | Erik Andersson | Sweden | LW | University of Denver (NCAA) | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 4 | 92 | Chris St. Croix | United States | D | Kamloops Blazers (WHL) | | | | | |
| 4 | 100 | Ryan Ready | Canada | LW | Belleville Bulls (OHL) | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | 113 | Martin Moise | Canada | RW | Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL) | | | | | |
| 6 | 140 | Ilya Demidov | Russia | D | Oshawa Generals (OHL) | | | | | |
| 7 | 167 | Jeremy Rondeau | Canada | LW | Swift Current Broncos (WHL) | | | | | |
| 9 | 223 | Dustin Paul | Canada | RW | Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL) | | | | | |

## Farm teams
### Saint John Flames

The Baby Flames finished the 1997–98 American Hockey League season with a franchise record 43 wins, as their 43–24–13 record led the Flames to the Atlantic Division title, the first division championship in team history. The Flames marched to the Calder Cup finals, defeating the St. John's Maple Leafs 3–1, the Portland Pirates 4–2, and Hartford Wolf Pack 4–1. The Flames fell to the Philadelphia Phantoms 4–2 in the finals, however. Hnat Domenichelli led the Flames with 33 goals, while Ladislav Kohn led the team with 56 points. Tyler Moss played the majority of the games in goal, leading the team with 19 wins in 39 games, while his 2.49 GAA was just behind the 2.46 posted by Jean-Sebastien Giguere in 31 games.