1997–98 Boston Bruins season
| 1997–98 Boston Bruins | |
|---|---|
| Division | 2nd Northeast |
| Conference | 5th Eastern |
| 1997–98 record | 39–30–13 |
| Home record | 19–16–6 |
| Road record | 20–14–7 |
| Goals for | 221 |
| Goals against | 194 |
| Team information | |
| General manager | Mike O'Connell |
| Coach | Pat Burns |
| Captain | Ray Bourque |
| Alternate captains | Ken Baumgartner Don Sweeney |
| Arena | Fleet Center |
| Average attendance | 15,097 |
| Minor league affiliates | Providence Bruins Charlotte Checkers |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Jason Allison (33) |
| Assists | Jason Allison (50) |
| Points | Jason Allison (83) |
| Penalty minutes | Ken Baumgartner (199) |
| Plus/minus | Jason Allison (+33) |
| Wins | Byron Dafoe (30) |
| Goals against average | Rob Tallas (1.83) |
The 1997–98 Boston Bruins season was the team's 74th season. The season involved drafting Joe Thornton first overall.
Regular season
The Bruins allowed the fewest shorthanded goals (3) and were the most disciplined team during the regular season, being short-handed only 285 times.[1]
Final standings
| 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 |
| 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
Regular season
| 1997–98 regular season[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 7–5–1 (home: 1–3–1; road: 6–2–0)
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November: 4–6–4 (home: 2–3–2; road: 2–3–2)
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December: 6–5–2 (home: 3–2–0; road: 3–3–2)
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January: 6–4–2 (home: 5–1–2; road: 1–3–0)
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February: 1–2–3 (home: 1–2–1; road: 0–0–2)
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March: 9–4–1 (home: 5–3–0; road: 4–1–1)
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April: 6–4–0 (home: 2–2–0; road: 4–2–0)
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Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point) |
Playoffs
| 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (4) Washington Capitals – Capitals win 4–2
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Legend: W Win L Loss |
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 Bruins only.
- ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | |||
| 41 | Jason Allison | C | 81 | 33 | 50 | 83 | 33 | 60 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
| 12 | Dmitri Khristich | RW | 82 | 29 | 37 | 66 | 25 | 42 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 77 | Ray Bourque | D | 82 | 13 | 35 | 48 | 2 | 80 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −2 | 2 |
| 14 | Sergei Samsonov | LW | 81 | 22 | 25 | 47 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | Steve Heinze | RW | 61 | 26 | 20 | 46 | 8 | 54 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 6 |
| 33 | Anson Carter | RW | 78 | 16 | 27 | 43 | 7 | 31 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −3 | 0 |
| 21 | Ted Donato | LW | 79 | 16 | 23 | 39 | 6 | 54 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 2 |
| 26 | Tim Taylor | C | 79 | 20 | 11 | 31 | −16 | 57 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 10 |
| 19 | Rob DiMaio | RW | 79 | 10 | 17 | 27 | −13 | 82 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −3 | 8 |
| 11[a] | P. J. Axelsson | LW | 82 | 8 | 19 | 27 | −14 | 38 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −3 | 0 |
| 18 | Kyle McLaren | D | 66 | 5 | 20 | 25 | 13 | 56 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −3 | 4 |
| 44 | Dave Ellett | D | 82 | 3 | 20 | 23 | 3 | 67 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 6 |
| 42 | Mike Sullivan | C | 77 | 5 | 13 | 18 | −1 | 34 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 32 | Don Sweeney | D | 59 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 20 | Darren Van Impe† | D | 50 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 36 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Grant Ledyard† | D | 22 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 2 |
| 6 | Joe Thornton | C | 55 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −6 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 25[b] | Hal Gill | D | 68 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 47 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 4 |
| 27 | Landon Wilson | RW | 28 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Byron Dafoe | G | 65 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 17 | Shawn Bates | C | 13 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 37 | Mattias Timander | D | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −9 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 29 | Dean Malkoc | D | 40 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −12 | 86 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 22 | Ken Baumgartner | LW | 82 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −14 | 199 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 10 | Cameron Mann | RW | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 30 | Jim Carey | G | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 28 | Dean Chynoweth | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 45 | Robert Lang‡ | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 60 | Kirk Nielsen | RW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 39 | Joel Prpic | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 16 | Randy Robitaille | C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 43 | Jean-Yves Roy | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 35 | Robbie Tallas | G | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Goaltending
| No. | Player | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | ||
| 34 | Byron Dafoe | 65 | 30 | 25 | 9 | 1602 | 138 | 2.24 | .914 | 6 | 3693 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 159 | 14 | 1.99 | .912 | 1 | 422 |
| 35 | Robbie Tallas | 14 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 326 | 24 | 1.83 | .926 | 1 | 788 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 30 | Jim Carey | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 225 | 24 | 2.90 | .893 | 2 | 496 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Awards and records
Awards
| Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| League (annual) |
Calder Memorial Trophy | Sergei Samsonov | [4] |
| Jack Adams Award | Pat Burns | [5] | |
| NHL All-Rookie Team | Sergei Samsonov (Forward) | [6] | |
| League (in-season) |
NHL All-Star Game selection | Ray Bourque[c] | [8] |
| NHL Rookie of the Month | Sergei Samsonov (January) | [9] | |
| Team | Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy | Jason Allison | [10] |
| Seventh Player Award | Jason Allison | [10] | |
| Three Stars Awards | Byron Dafoe (1st) | [11] | |
| Jason Allison (2nd) | |||
| Ray Bourque (3rd) |
Milestones
| Milestone | Player | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| First game | P. J. Axelsson | October 2, 1997 | [12] |
| Shawn Bates | |||
| Sergei Samsonov | |||
| Joe Thornton | October 8, 1997 | ||
| Hal Gill | October 17, 1997 | ||
| Kirk Nielsen | November 1, 1997 | ||
| Cameron Mann | December 18, 1997 | ||
| Joel Prpic | April 9, 1998 | ||
| 1,000th game played | David Ellett | March 1, 1998 | [13] |
Draft picks
Boston's picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[14]
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Joe Thornton | Center | Canada | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) |
| 1 | 8 | Sergei Samsonov | Left wing | Russia | Detroit Vipers (IHL) |
| 2 | 27 | Ben Clymer | Right wing | United States | University of Wisconsin (WCHA) |
| 3 | 54 | Mattias Karlin | Center | Sweden | Modo Hockey (Sweden) |
| 3 | 63 | Lee Goren | Right wing | Canada | University of North Dakota (WCHA) |
| 4 | 81 | Karol Bartanus | Right wing | Slovakia | Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 135 | Denis Timofeyev | Defense | Russia | CSKA Moscow (Russia) |
| 7 | 162 | Joel Trottier | Right wing | Canada | Ottawa 67's (OHL) |
| 7 | 180 | Jim Baxter | Defense | Canada | Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| 8 | 191 | Antti Laaksonen | Left wing | Finland | University of Denver (WCHA) |
| 9 | 218 | Eric Van Acker | Defense | Canada | Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL) |
| 9 | 246 | Jay Henderson | Left wing | Canada | Edmonton Ice (WHL) |
Notes
References
- "Boston Bruins 1997-98 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
- "1997-98 Boston Bruins Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
- ^ "1997-98 NHL Summary".
- ^ "1997–1998 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
- ^ a b "1997-98 Boston Bruins Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
- ^ "Calder Memorial Trophy". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
- ^ "Jack Adams Award". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
- ^ "Postseason All-Star Teams". records.nhl.com. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
- ^ "NHL All-Star Game Starting Lineups by Year (since 1986)". NHL.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "1998 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "NHL Rookies of the Month". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
- ^ a b Boston Bruins 2014–15 Guide & Record Book, p.239
- ^ Boston Bruins 2014–15 Guide & Record Book, p. 239–40
- ^ "1997-98 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ "1982 NHL Entry Draft -- Dave Ellett". www.hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
Played his 1,000th career NHL game for Boston on March 1, 1998, at N.Y. Islanders.
- ^ "1997 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.