1997–98 Vancouver Canucks season

1997–98 Vancouver Canucks
Division	7th Pacific
Conference	13th Western
1997–98 record	25–43–14
Home record	15–22–4
Road record	10–21–10
Goals for	224
Goals against	273
Team information
General manager	Pat Quinn (Oct.–Nov.)
Coach	Tom Renney (Oct.–Nov.) Mike Keenan (Nov.–Apr.)
Captain	Mark Messier
Alternate captains	Dave Babych (Oct.–Mar.) Pavel Bure Trevor Linden (Oct.–Jan.) Bryan McCabe (Mar.–Apr.) Dana Murzyn (Jan.–Apr.)
Arena	General Motors Place
Average attendance	17,120
Minor league affiliate(s)	Syracuse Crunch
Team leaders
Goals	Pavel Bure (51)
Assists	Pavel Bure (39)
Points	Pavel Bure (90)
Penalty minutes	Donald Brashear (372)
Plus/minus	Peter Zezel (+13)
Wins	Arturs Irbe (14)
Goals against average	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.

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.

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.

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

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: 2–4–2; road: 1–4–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1[a] W October 3, 1997 3–2 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 1–0–0 Recap 2[a] L October 4, 1997 2–3 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 1–1–0 Recap 3 T October 9, 1997 2–2 OT Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 1–1–1 Recap 4 L October 11, 1997 3–6 New York Rangers (1997–98) 1–2–1 Recap 5 W October 13, 1997 3–0 Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 2–2–1 Recap 6 L October 17, 1997 0–2 Boston Bruins (1997–98) 2–3–1 Recap 7 T October 19, 1997 4–4 OT Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 2–3–2 Recap 8 W October 21, 1997 5–1 @ Dallas Stars (1997–98) 3–3–2 Recap 9 L October 23, 1997 1–4 @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 3–4–2 Recap 10 L October 25, 1997 2–3 OT Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 3–5–2 Recap 11 L October 26, 1997 1–5 Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 3–6–2 Recap 12 L October 29, 1997 0–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 3–7–2 Recap 13 L October 30, 1997 1–8 @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 3–8–2 Recap Notes: a At Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan
November: 6–6–1 (home: 2–2–0; road: 4–4–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 14 L November 1, 1997 6–7 OT @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 3–9–2 Recap 15 L November 3, 1997 3–5 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 3–10–2 Recap 16 L November 4, 1997 1–2 @ Washington Capitals (1997–98) 3–11–2 Recap 17 L November 8, 1997 2–3 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 3–12–2 Recap 18 L November 11, 1997 2–8 @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 3–13–2 Recap 19 W November 12, 1997 5–2 @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 4–13–2 Recap 20 T November 14, 1997 3–3 OT @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 4–13–3 Recap 21 W November 16, 1997 4–1 Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 5–13–3 Recap 22 W November 20, 1997 4–2 Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 6–13–3 Recap 23 L November 22, 1997 4–5 OT Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 6–14–3 Recap 24 W November 25, 1997 4–2 @ New York Rangers (1997–98) 7–14–3 Recap 25 W November 28, 1997 5–2 @ Boston Bruins (1997–98) 8–14–3 Recap 26 W November 29, 1997 4–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 9–14–3 Recap
December: 2–9–3 (home: 1–5–1; road: 1–4–2) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 27 T December 1, 1997 3–3 OT Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 9–14–4 Recap 28 L December 4, 1997 2–3 San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 9–15–4 Recap 29 L December 6, 1997 4–6 @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 9–16–4 Recap 30 L December 8, 1997 1–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 9–17–4 Recap 31 L December 9, 1997 5–7 @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 9–18–4 Recap 32 L December 13, 1997 2–5 Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 9–19–4 Recap 33 W December 15, 1997 7–0 Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 10–19–4 Recap 34 W December 17, 1997 5–1 @ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 11–19–4 Recap 35 T December 18, 1997 0–0 OT @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 11–19–5 Recap 36 L December 20, 1997 0–5 Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 11–20–5 Recap 37 L December 23, 1997 1–3 Dallas Stars (1997–98) 11–21–5 Recap 38 T December 27, 1997 3–3 OT @ Dallas Stars (1997–98) 11–21–6 Recap 39 L December 29, 1997 2–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 11–22–6 Recap 40 L December 31, 1997 0–8 Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 11–23–6 Recap
January: 3–9–2 (home: 2–3–1; road: 1–6–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 41 L January 3, 1998 2–4 Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 11–24–6 Recap 42 W January 5, 1998 3–2 Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 12–24–6 Recap 43 L January 7, 1998 2–3 St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 12–25–6 Recap 44 T January 8, 1998 4–4 OT @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 12–25–7 Recap 45 T January 10, 1998 2–2 OT Florida Panthers (1997–98) 12–25–8 Recap 46 L January 12, 1998 2–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 12–26–8 Recap 47 L January 14, 1998 0–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 12–27–8 Recap 48 L January 15, 1998 2–6 @ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 12–28–8 Recap 49 L January 21, 1998 1–6 Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 12–29–8 Recap 50 L January 24, 1998 2–5 @ Calgary Flames (1997–98) 12–30–8 Recap 51 L January 26, 1998 2–4 @ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 12–31–8 Recap 52 L January 28, 1998 1–6 @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 12–32–8 Recap 53 W January 30, 1998 3–1 New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 13–32–8 Recap 54 W January 31, 1998 6–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 14–32–8 Recap
February: 4–1–1 (home: 4–1–0; road: 0–0–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 55 L February 2, 1998 1–2 Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 14–33–8 Recap 56 W February 6, 1998 5–4 Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 15–33–8 Recap 57 W February 7, 1998 6–3 San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 16–33–8 Recap 58 W February 25, 1998 5–2 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 17–33–8 Recap 59 T February 27, 1998 4–4 OT @ Calgary Flames (1997–98) 17–33–9 Recap 60 W February 28, 1998 6–4 Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 18–33–9 Recap
March: 4–6–4 (home: 2–4–0; road: 2–2–4) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 61 T March 2, 1998 2–2 OT @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 18–33–10 Recap 62 L March 5, 1998 2–6 Calgary Flames (1997–98) 18–34–10 Recap 63 W March 7, 1998 5–2 Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 19–34–10 Recap 64 L March 9, 1998 0–4 St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 19–35–10 Recap 65 T March 11, 1998 2–2 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 19–35–11 Recap 66 L March 12, 1998 2–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 19–36–11 Recap 67 W March 14, 1998 6–2 @ New York Islanders (1997–98) 20–36–11 Recap 68 W March 17, 1998 4–2 @ Florida Panthers (1997–98) 21–36–11 Recap 69 L March 18, 1998 2–4 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 21–37–11 Recap 70 T March 20, 1998 1–1 OT @ Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 21–37–12 Recap 71 T March 21, 1998 1–1 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 21–37–13 Recap 72 W March 24, 1998 4–3 New York Islanders (1997–98) 22–37–13 Recap 73 L March 26, 1998 2–5 Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 22–38–13 Recap 74 L March 28, 1998 2–3 Washington Capitals (1997–98) 22–39–13 Recap
April: 3–4–1 (home: 2–3–0; road: 1–1–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 75 W April 1, 1998 4–2 Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 23–39–13 Recap 76 W April 4, 1998 5–3 Dallas Stars (1997–98) 24–39–13 Recap 77 L April 6, 1998 2–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 24–40–13 Recap 78 W April 9, 1998 6–3 @ Calgary Flames (1997–98) 25–40–13 Recap 79 T April 11, 1998 1–1 OT @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 25–40–14 Recap 80 L April 15, 1998 0–2 Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 25–41–14 Recap 81 L April 17, 1998 2–4 Calgary Flames (1997–98) 25–42–14 Recap 82 L April 19, 1998 1–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 25–43–14 Recap
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 Canucks only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canucks only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
10	Pavel Bure	RW	82	51	39	90	5	48
11	Mark Messier	C	82	22	38	60	−10	58
89	Alexander Mogilny	RW	51	18	27	45	−6	36
19	Markus Naslund	LW	76	14	20	34	5	56
21	Jyrki Lumme	D	74	9	21	30	−25	34
2	Mattias Ohlund	D	77	7	23	30	3	76
3	Bret Hedican	D	71	3	24	27	3	79
28	Brian Noonan	RW	82	10	15	25	−19	62
20	Dave Scatchard	C	76	13	11	24	−4	165
16	Trevor Linden‡	RW	42	7	14	21	−13	49
26	Mike Sillinger‡	C	48	10	9	19	−14	34
8	Donald Brashear	LW	77	9	9	18	−9	372
22	Peter Zezel†	C	25	5	12	17	13	2
27	Todd Bertuzzi†	LW	22	6	9	15	2	63
4	Grant Ledyard‡	D	39	2	13	15	−2	14
24	Scott Walker	C	59	3	10	13	−8	164
9	Brad May†	LW	27	9	3	12	0	41
23	Bryan McCabe†	D	26	1	11	12	10	64
44	Dave Babych‡	D	47	0	9	9	−11	37
23	Martin Gelinas‡	LW	24	4	4	8	−6	10
5	Dana Murzyn	D	31	5	2	7	−3	42
25	Steve Staios	RW	77	3	4	7	−3	134
6	Adrian Aucoin	D	35	3	3	6	−4	21
48	Bert Robertsson	LW	30	2	4	6	2	24
29	Gino Odjick‡	LW	35	3	2	5	−3	181
14	Lonny Bohonos‡	RW	31	2	1	3	−9	4
36	Chris McAllister	D	36	1	2	3	−12	106
18	Geoff Sanderson†‡	LW	9	0	3	3	−1	4
7	David Roberts	LW	13	1	1	2	−1	4
9	Lubomir Vaic	C	5	1	1	2	−2	2
26	Brandon Convery†	C	7	0	2	2	0	0
1	Sean Burke†‡	G	16	0	1	1		14
39	Enrico Ciccone†‡	D	13	0	1	1	−2	47
7	Jamie Huscroft†	D	7	0	1	1	2	0
34	Jason Strudwick†	D	11	0	1	1	−3	29
22	Larry Courville	LW	11	0	0	0	−7	5
31	Corey Hirsch	G	1	0	0	0		0
32	Arturs Irbe	G	41	0	0	0		2
1	Kirk McLean‡	G	29	0	0	0		0
30	Garth Snow†	G	12	0	0	0		4
27	Mark Wotton	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.

No.	Player	Regular season
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
32	Arturs Irbe	41	14	11	6	982	91	2.73	.907	2	1999
1	Kirk McLean‡	29	6	17	4	800	97	3.68	.879	1	1583
30	Garth Snow†	12	3	6	0	262	26	3.09	.901	0	504
1	Sean Burke†‡	16	2	9	4	396	49	3.51	.876	0	838
31	Corey Hirsch	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)
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Pavel Bure
		Mark Messier
Team	Babe Pratt Trophy	Mattias Ohlund
	Cyclone Taylor Trophy	Pavel Bure
	Cyrus H. McLean Trophy	Pavel Bure
	Fred J. Hume Award	Brian Noonan
	Molson Cup	Pavel Bure
	Most Exciting Player Award	Pavel Bure

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Mattias Ohlund	October 3, 1997
	Dave Scatchard
	Lubomir Vaic	October 30, 1997
	Chris McAllister	November 1, 1997
	Bert Robertsson	November 8, 1997
500th game played	Kirk McLean	October 19, 1997

Transactions

Trades

January 2, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Sean Burke Geoff Sanderson Enrico Ciccone	To Carolina Hurricanes Kirk McLean Martin Gelinas
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
February 5, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Peter Zezel	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
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
March 7, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Brandon Convery	To Toronto Maple Leafs Lonny Bohonos
March 14, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Jamie Huscroft	To Tampa Bay Lightning Enrico Ciccone
March 23, 1998	To Vancouver Canucks Jason Strudwick	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.

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

References

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