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.

1997–98 Calgary Flames
Division	5th Pacific
Conference	11th Western
1997–98 record	26–41–15
Home record	18–17–6
Road record	8–24–9
Goals for	217 (14th)
Goals against	252 (22nd)
Team information
General manager	Al Coates
Coach	Brian Sutter
Captain	Todd Simpson
Alternate captains	Theoren Fleury Andrew Cassels
Arena	Canadian Airlines Saddledome
Average attendance	16,940
Minor league affiliate(s)	Saint John Flames Roanoke Express
Team leaders
Goals	Theoren Fleury (27) Cory Stillman (27)
Assists	Theoren Fleury (51)
Points	Theoren Fleury (78)
Penalty minutes	Theoren Fleury (197)
Plus/minus	Jim Dowd (+10) Michael Nylander (+10)
Wins	Rick Tabaracci (13)
Goals against average	Rick Tabaracci (2.88)

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) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 1 Detroit 3 – 1 Calgary Tabaracci 17,893 0–1–0 0 Recap 2 October 3 Colorado 4 – 1 Calgary Tabaracci 15,327 0–2–0 0 Recap 3 October 7 Toronto 2 – 1 Calgary Tabaracci 16,831 0–3–0 0 Recap 4 October 9 NY Rangers 1 – 1 Calgary OT Roloson 16,756 0–3–1 1 Recap 5 October 12 Calgary 4 – 4 Detroit OT Tabaracci 19,983 0–3–2 2 Recap 6 October 14 Calgary 4 – 5 Dallas OT Roloson 14,892 0–4–2 2 Recap 7 October 17 Colorado 5 – 6 Calgary OT Tabaracci 16,432 1–4–2 4 Recap 8 October 18 Boston 3 – 0 Calgary Tabaracci 16,673 1–5–2 4 Recap 9 October 22 Calgary 1 – 4 Buffalo Tabaracci 11,222 1–6–2 4 Recap 10 October 23 Calgary 3 – 4 Philadelphia Roloson 19,319 1–7–2 4 Recap 11 October 25 Calgary 3 – 4 Toronto Tabaracci 15,726 1–8–2 4 Recap 12 October 28 Pittsburgh 3 – 6 Calgary Moss 15,645 2–8–2 6 Recap 13 October 30 Phoenix 2 – 4 Calgary Moss 15,761 3–8–2 8 Recap
November: 2–7–5 (home: 1–3–1; road: 1–4–4) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 14 November 1 Calgary 2 – 2 Colorado OT Moss 16,061 3–8–3 9 Recap 15 November 2 Calgary 1 – 3 Phoenix Tabaracci 14,928 3–9–3 9 Recap 16 November 5 Toronto 4 – 3 Calgary Moss 16,322 3–10–3 9 Recap 17 November 7 Anaheim 4 – 3 Calgary OT Moss 16,487 3–11–3 9 Recap 18 November 9 Calgary 3 – 6 Detroit Tabaracci 19,983 3–12–3 9 Recap 19 November 10 Calgary 1 – 1 Chicago OT Roloson 15,753 3–12–4 10 Recap 20 November 13 Carolina 4 – 2 Calgary Roloson 15,113 3–13–4 10 Recap 21 November 15 Calgary 2 – 2 Edmonton OT Tabaracci 17,099 3–13–5 11 Recap 22 November 18 Calgary 1 – 2 New Jersey Tabaracci 15,092 3–14–5 11 Recap 23 November 20 Calgary 2 – 1 Florida Tabaracci 14,703 4–14–5 13 Recap 24 November 22 Calgary 3 – 4 Tampa Bay Tabaracci 15,176 4–15–5 13 Recap 25 November 23 Calgary 3 – 3 Carolina OT Tabracci 5,516 4–15–6 14 Recap 26 November 27 Chicago 2 – 2 Calgary OT Tabaracci 16,641 4–15–7 15 Recap 27 November 29 Anaheim 3 – 4 Calgary OT Tabaracci 18,334 5–15–7 17 Recap
December: 6–8–1 (home: 4–5–0; road: 2–3–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 28 December 1 San Jose 2 – 3 Calgary OT Tabaracci 15,268 6–15–7 19 Recap 29 December 3 Detroit 4 – 3 Calgary Tabaracci 16,310 6–16–7 19 Recap 30 December 5 Calgary 1 – 4 Dallas Roloson 16,688 6–17–7 19 Recap 31 December 6 Calgary 3 – 4 St. Louis OT Tabaracci N/A 6–18–7 19 Recap 32 December 9 Calgary 3 – 1 NY Islanders Tabaracci 9,251 7–18–7 21 Recap 33 December 10 Calgary 4 – 1 NY Rangers Tabaracci 18,200 8–18–7 23 Recap 34 December 12 Colorado 1 – 3 Calgary Tabaracci 17,450 9–18–7 25 Recap 35 December 16 Chicago 3 – 4 Calgary OT Tabaracci 15,462 10–18–7 27 Recap 36 December 18 Dallas 2 – 1 Calgary Tabaracci 15,667 10–19–7 27 Recap 37 December 20 Los Angeles 4 – 1 Calgary Tabaracci 15,873 10–20–7 27 Recap 38 December 22 Calgary 1 – 5 Anaheim Tabaracci 16,975 10–21–7 27 Recap 39 December 23 Calgary 2 – 2 Phoenix OT Roloson 15,424 10–21–8 28 Recap 40 December 27 Philadelphia 2 – 5 Calgary Roloson 18,742 11–21–8 30 Recap 41 December 29 Phoenix 5 – 3 Calgary Roloson 18,742 11–22–8 30 Recap 42 December 31 Montreal 3 – 2 Calgary Tabaracci 18,742 11–23–8 30 Recap
January: 3–6–3 (home: 1–1–2; road: 2–5–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 43 January 3 Calgary 3 – 4 St. Louis Tabaracci N/A 11–24–8 30 Recap 44 January 5 Calgary 1 – 1 Chicago OT Tabaracci 15,941 11–24–9 31 Recap 45 January 6 Calgary 3 – 1 Colorado Roloson 16,061 12–24–9 33 Recap 46 January 9 Florida 3 – 3 Calgary OT Tabaracci 17,010 12–24–10 34 Recap 47 January 10 St. Louis 5 – 1 Calgary Roloson 18,562 12–25–10 34 Recap 48 January 14 Calgary 2 – 5 Edmonton Roloson 17,099 12–26–10 34 Recap 49 January 20 Calgary 3 – 4 Los Angeles Moss 10,367 12–27–10 34 Recap 50 January 21 Calgary 1 – 7 San Jose Roloson 16,553 12–28–10 34 Recap 51 January 24 Vancouver 2 – 5 Calgary Roloson 18,627 13–28–10 36 Recap 52 January 28 Calgary 5 – 2 Anaheim Tabaracci 16,758 14–28–10 38 Recap 53 January 29 Calgary 3 – 5 Los Angeles Tabaracci 9,586 14–29–10 38 Recap 54 January 31 New Jersey 2 – 2 Calgary Roloson 18,719 14–29–11 39 Recap
February: 2–1–1 (home: 2–1–1; road: 0–0–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 55 February 3 Los Angeles 6 – 3 Calgary Roloson 15,815 14–30–11 39 Recap 56 February 5 San Jose 2 – 4 Calgary Roloson 15,391 15–30–11 41 Recap 57 February 7 Edmonton 2 – 4 Calgary Roloson 18,719 16–30–11 43 Recap 58 February 27 Vancouver 4 – 4 Calgary OT Roloson 15,586 16–30–12 44 Recap
March: 8–6–1 (home: 6–1–0; road: 2–5–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 59 March 1 Ottawa 1 – 2 Calgary Roloson 17,463 17–30–12 46 Recap 60 March 3 Tampa Bay 1 – 2 Calgary Roloson 15,831 18–30–12 48 Recap 61 March 5 Calgary 6 – 2 Vancouver Roloson 15,613 19–30–12 50 Recap 62 March 7 Calgary 1 – 2 Ottawa Roloson 18,036 19–31–12 50 Recap 63 March 9 Calgary 2 – 5 Washington Tabaracci 12,011 19–32–12 50 Recap 64 March 11 Calgary 1 – 4 Pittsburgh Roloson 14,655 19–33–12 50 Recap 65 March 12 Calgary 5 – 2 Boston Roloson 14,677 20–33–12 52 Recap 66 March 14 Calgary 1 – 2 Toronto Roloson 15,726 20–34–12 52 Recap 67 March 16 Calgary 3 – 3 Montreal OT Roloson 20,504 20–34–13 53 Recap 68 March 20 NY Islanders 1 – 4 Calgary Tabaracci 18,189 21–34–13 55 Recap 69 March 22 St. Louis 3 – 5 Calgary Tabaracci 16,675 22–34–13 57 Recap 70 March 24 Buffalo 2 – 0 Calgary Tabaracci 16,296 22–35–13 57 Recap 71 March 26 Washington 2 – 3 Calgary Tabaracci 15,782 23–35–13 59 Recap 72 March 28 Los Angeles 2 – 5 Calgary Tabaracci 16,998 24–35–13 61 Recap 73 March 30 Calgary 1 – 3 Edmonton Tabaracci 17,099 24–36–13 61 Recap
April: 2–5–2 (home: 1–2–1; road: 1–3–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 74 April 1 Dallas 1 – 3 Calgary Roloson 17,012 25–36–13 63 Recap 75 April 5 Calgary 3 – 3 Anaheim OT Roloson 17,174 25–36–14 64 Recap 76 April 7 Calgary 0 – 6 San Jose Tabaracci 17,483 25–37–14 64 Recap 77 April 9 Vancouver 6 – 3 Calgary Roloson 16,313 25–38–14 64 Recap 78 April 11 Edmonton 5 – 4 Calgary Roloson 18,719 25–39–14 64 Recap 79 April 13 Calgary 2 – 4 Los Angeles Roloson 12,049 25–40–14 64 Recap 80 April 15 San Jose 3 – 3 Calgary OT Roloson 16,567 25–40–15 65 Recap 81 April 17 Calgary 4 – 2 Vancouver Roloson 16,602 26–40–15 67 Recap 82 April 18 Calgary 1 – 4 San Jose Roloson 17,483 26–41–15 67 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 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
			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
		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	Ref
League (annual)	NHL All-Rookie Team	Derek Morris (Defence)
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Theoren Fleury
Team	Molson Cup	Theoren Fleury
	Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award	Ed Ward

Milestones

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

Main article: List of Calgary Flames draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Rnd	Pick	Player	Nationality	Position	Team (league)	NHL statistics
						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.

See also

• 1997–98 NHL season

References

• Player stats: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, p. 114.
• "Calgary Flames 1997-98 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
• "1997-98 Calgary Flames Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 7, 2023.