1997–98 QMJHL season

1997-98 QMJHL season
LeagueQuebec Major Junior Hockey League
SportHockey
DurationRegular season
Sept. 18, 1997 – Mar. 15, 1998
Playoffs
March 20 – May 1, 1997
Teams15
Draft
Top draft pickYanick Lehoux
Picked byBaie-Comeau Drakkar
Regular season
Jean Rougeau TrophyQuebec Remparts (5)
Season MVPRamzi Abid (Chicoutimi Saguenéens)
Top scorerRamzi Abid (Chicoutimi Saguenéens)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVPJean-Pierre Dumont (Foreurs)
Finals championsVal-d'Or Foreurs (1)
  Runners-upRimouski Océanic
1997-98 CHL season
LeagueCanadian Hockey League
SportHockey
DurationOHL
Sept. 1997 – Mar. 1998
QMJHL
Sept. 18, 1997 – Mar. 15, 1998
WHL
Sept. 1996 – Mar. 1997
Teams60
Season MVPSerhiy Varlamov (Swift Current Broncos) (WHL)
Top scorerRamzi Abid (Chicoutimi Saguenéens) (QMJHL)
Memorial Cup
Finals championsPortland Winter Hawks (WHL) (2nd title)
  Runners-upGuelph Storm (OHL)

The 1997–98 QMJHL season was the 29th season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Quebec Remparts name was revived after twelve years when the Beauport Harfangs changed identities. The QMJHL continued to grow in eastern markets, with an expansion team in Baie-Comeau and the relocating of the Granby Prédateurs to Cape Breton.

The league inaugurated the Philips Plaque, awarded to the player with the best faceoff percentage. The Ford Cups were renamed the Telus Cups, one each for the offensive and defensive players of the year.

Fifteen teams played 70 games each in the schedule. The Quebec Remparts finished first overall in the regular season winning their first Jean Rougeau Trophy, since the original name was revived. The Val-d'Or Foreurs won their first President's Cup, defeating the Rimouski Océanic in the finals.

Team changes

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; Pts = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

Dilio Division GP W L T Pts GF GA
Quebec Remparts 70 46 18 6 98 285 204
Rimouski Océanic 70 40 27 3 83 296 257
Chicoutimi Saguenéens 70 36 33 1 73 272 285
Moncton Wildcats 70 29 32 9 67 240 229
Halifax Mooseheads 70 24 41 5 53 263 316
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 70 19 46 5 43 211 295
Baie-Comeau Drakkar 70 18 47 5 41 215 332
Lebel Division GP W L T Pts GF GA
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 70 43 23 4 90 338 245
Victoriaville Tigres 70 40 23 7 87 274 209
Shawinigan Cataractes 70 40 24 6 86 262 217
Val-d'Or Foreurs 70 37 26 7 81 263 228
Laval Titan Collège Français 70 37 28 5 79 276 220
Hull Olympiques 70 32 37 1 65 270 268
Sherbrooke Faucons 70 26 41 3 55 220 273
Drummondville Voltigeurs 70 23 44 3 49 221 328

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Ramzi Abid Chicoutimi Saguenéens 68 50 85 135 266
Pierre Dagenais Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 60 66 67 133 50
Mike Ribeiro Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 67 40 85 125 55
Mathieu Benoit Chicoutimi Saguenéens 59 56 61 117 32
Vincent Lecavalier Rimouski Océanic 58 44 71 115 117
Brad Richards Rimouski Océanic 68 33 82 115 44
Sebastien Roger Moncton Wildcats 70 53 61 114 64
David Gosselin Chicoutimi Saguenéens 69 46 64 110 139
Derrick Walser Rimouski Océanic 70 41 69 110 135
David Thibeault Victoriaville Tigres 70 46 56 102 95

Playoffs

Jean-Pierre Dumont was the leading scorer of the playoffs with 46 points (31 goals, 15 assists).

Division quarterfinals
  • Quebec Remparts defeated Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 4 games to 0.
  • Rimouski Océanic defeated Halifax Mooseheads 4 games to 1.
  • Moncton Wildcats defeated Chicoutimi Saguenéens 4 games to 2.
  • Hull Olympiques defeated Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 4 games to 2.
  • Laval Titan Collège Français defeated Victoriaville Tigres 4 games to 2.
  • Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated Shawinigan Cataractes 4 games to 2.
Division semifinals - Round-robin

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

Dilio Division GP W L T Pts GF GA
Rimouski Océanic 4 3 1 0 6 24 14
Quebec Remparts 4 2 2 0 4 16 20
Moncton Wildcats 4 1 3 0 2 11 17
Lebel Division GP W L T Pts GF GA
Val-d'Or Foreurs 4 2 2 0 4 19 17
Laval Titan Collège Français 5 3 2 0 6 16 15
Hull Olympiques 5 2 3 0 4 18 21

Laval Titan Collège Français defeated Hull Olympiques in a one-game playoff to determine 2nd place in the round-robin standings.

Division finals
  • Rimouski Océanic defeated Quebec Remparts 4 games to 2.
  • Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated Laval Titan Collège Français 4 games to 1.
Presidents Cup Finals
  • Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated Rimouski Océanic 4 games to 0.

Division Quarterfinals

Lebel Division

(L1) Rouyn-Noranda Huskies vs. (L6) Hull Olympiques

March 20 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 3 – 2 OT Hull Olympiques Aréna Dave Keon
March 22 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 6 – 5 Hull Olympiques Aréna Dave Keon
March 24 Hull Olympiques 6 – 5 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies Centre Robert Guertin
March 25 Hull Olympiques 6 – 4 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies Centre Robert Guertin
March 27 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 3 – 4 Hull Olympiques Aréna Dave Keon
March 29 Hull Olympiques 4 – 2 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies Centre Robert Guertin
Hull wins series 4 – 2

(L2) Victoriaville Tigres vs. (L5) Laval Titan Collège Français

March 20 Victoriaville Tigres 3 – 4 OT Laval Titan Collège Français Colisée des Bois-Francs
March 22 Laval Titan Collège Français 4 – 2 Victoriaville Tigres Centre Sportif
March 24 Victoriaville Tigres 6 – 3 Laval Titan Collège Français Colisée des Bois-Francs
March 25 Laval Titan Collège Français 9 – 0 Victoriaville Tigres Centre Sportif
March 27 Victoriaville Tigres 6 – 2 Laval Titan Collège Français Colisée des Bois-Francs
March 29 Laval Titan Collège Français 5 – 3 Victoriaville Tigres Centre Sportif
Laval wins series 4 – 2

(L3) Shawinigan Cataractes vs. (L4) Val-d'Or Foreurs

March 20 Shawinigan Cataractes 5 – 3 Val-d'Or Foreurs Aréna Jacques Plante  
7:31 - François Méthot (1) First period Christian Daigle (1) - pp - 11:08
Jean-Pierre Dumont (1) - 15:28
0:29 - pp - Michel Tremblay (1) Second period No scoring
1:37 - Alexandre Tremblay (1)
2:34 - Pascal Dupuis (1)
19:09 - en - Jean-Philippe Paré (1)
Third period Jean-Pierre Dumont (2) - pp - 18:47
Mathieu Chouinard (41 saves / 44 shots) Goalie stats Roberto Luongo (29 saves / 33 shots)
March 22 Shawinigan Cataractes 3 – 1 Val-d'Or Foreurs Aréna Jacques Plante  
8:38 - Sylvain Rodier (1) First period No scoring
12:45 - Pascal Dupuis (2) Second period No scoring
0:27 - Pavel Smirnov (1) Third period Dominic Chiasson (1) - pp - 4:05
Mathieu Chouinard (41 saves / 42 shots) Goalie stats Roberto Luongo (41 saves / 44 shots)
March 24 Val-d'Or Foreurs 4 – 1 Shawinigan Cataractes Palais des Sports  
No scoring First period No scoring
17:02 - Jean-Pierre Dumont (3) Second period No scoring
0:37 - Didier Tremblay (1)
12:23 - Benoît Dusablon (1)
18:37 - Francis Lessard (1)
Third period Jean-Philippe Paré (2) - pp - 4:32
Roberto Luongo (38 saves / 39 shots) Goalie stats Mathieu Chouinard (35 saves / 39 shots)
March 25 Val-d'Or Foreurs 6 – 1 Shawinigan Cataractes Palais des Sports  
12:44 - pp - Jean-Pierre Dumont (4)
17:48 - pp - Jean-Pierre Dumont (5)
First period Jean-Philippe Paré (3) - pp - 10:03
16:49 - pp - Mathieu Létourneau (1)
18:12 - Christian Daigle (2)
Second period No scoring
0:47 - pp - Christian Drolet (1)
8:59 - Dominic Chiasson (2)
Third period No scoring
Roberto Luongo (40 saves / 41 shots) Goalie stats Mathieu Chouinard (34 saves / 40 shots)
March 27 Shawinigan Cataractes 0 – 6 Val-d'Or Foreurs Aréna Jacques Plante  
No scoring First period Dominic Chiasson (3) - 0:29
No scoring Second period Jean-Pierre Dumont (6) - pp - 1:11
Christian Drolet (2) - sh - 16:24
No scoring Third period Jean-Pierre Dumont (7) - 1:50
Dominic Chiasson (4) - 5:50
Jean-Pierre Dumont (8) - 6:45
Mathieu Chouinard (36 saves / 41 shots)
Charles Beauparlant (0 saves / 1 shot)
Goalie stats Roberto Luongo (33 saves / 33 shots)
March 29 Val-d'Or Foreurs 7 – 1 Shawinigan Cataractes Palais des Sports  
12:50 - Didier Tremblay (2)
15:56 - pp - Dominic Chiasson (5)
16:57 - pp - Christian Drolet (3)
First period No scoring
8:54 - pp - Christian Daigle (3) Second period No scoring
3:26 - Jean-Pierre Dumont (9)
9:42 - pp - Jean-Pierre Dumont (10)
17:00 - Christian Drolet (4)
Third period 18:44 - Benoît Côté (1)
Roberto Luongo (33 saves / 34 shots) Goalie stats Mathieu Chouinard (20 saves / 25 shots)
Charles Beauparlant (2 saves / 4 shot)
Val-d'Or wins series 4 – 2

Dilio Division

(D1) Quebec Remparts vs. (D6) Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

March 20 Quebec Remparts 5 – 1 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles PEPS
March 22 Quebec Remparts 8 – 2 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles PEPS
March 24 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 1 – 2 Quebec Remparts Centre 200
March 25 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 2 – 5 Quebec Remparts Centre 200
Quebec wins series 4 – 0

(D2) Rimouski Océanic vs. (D5) Halifax Mooseheads

March 20 Rimouski Océanic 6 – 0 Halifax Mooseheads Colisée de Rimouski  
6:03 - pp - Francis Bélanger (1)
17:01 - Vincent Lecavalier (1)
19:07 - pp - François Drainville (1)
First period No scoring
13:04 - pp - Francis Bélanger (2) Second period No scoring
2:03 - Brad Richards (1)
11:11 - Francis Bélanger (3)
Third period No scoring
Jean-Marc Pelletier (30 saves / 31 shots) Goalie stats Joey MacDonald (11 saves / 14 shots)
Martin Bilodeau (22 saves / 25 shots)
March 22 Rimouski Océanic 6 – 2 Halifax Mooseheads Colisée de Rimouski  
11:32 - pp - Yannick Tremblay (1)
16:15 - pp - Yannick Tremblay (2)
First period Alex Tanguay (1) - pp - 8:11
Alex Tanguay (2) - pp - 13:08
4:57 - pp - Jonathan Beaulieu (1)
6:04 - Vincent Lecavalier (2)
11:26 - Alexandre Jacques (1)
16:01 - Vincent Lecavalier (3)
Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Jean-Marc Pelletier (25 saves / 27 shots) Goalie stats Martin Bilodeau (38 saves / 44 shots)
March 24 Halifax Mooseheads 3 – 12 Rimouski Océanic Halifax Metro Centre  
15:47 - Jason Troini (1) First period Alexandre Jacques (2) - pp - 4:23
No scoring Second period Alexandre Jacques (3) - pp - 5:39
Dave Malenfant (1) - 6:23
Derrick Walser (1) - pp - 11:30
François Drainville (2) - 12:41
3:00 - Alexandre Couture (1)
5:32 - pp - Alex Tanguay (3)
Third period François Drainville (3) - 1:25
Éric Drouin (1) - 2:28
Yannick Tremblay (3) - 7:43
Yannick Tremblay (4) - 9:18
Jimmy Grondin (1) - 10:20
Jonathan St-Louis (1) - 16:20
David Bilodeau (1) - 17:28
Martin Bilodeau (33 saves / 45 shots) Goalie stats Jean-Marc Pelletier (19 saves / 22 shots)
March 25 Halifax Mooseheads 8 – 7 Rimouski Océanic Halifax Metro Centre  
12:19 - Alex Tanguay (4) First period Vincent Lecavalier (4) - pp - 4:36
7:21 - Brandon Reid (1)
9:28 - Alexandre Couture (2)
10:35 - Alex Tanguay (5)
18:10 - pp - Jason Troini (2)
Second period Vincent Lecavalier (5) - 5:35
Dave Malenfant (2) - 6:56
Vincent Lecavalier (6) - 14:58
Francis Bélanger (4) - 17:15
8:47 - Ryan Power (1)
9:48 - Mauro Di Paolo (1)
19:14 - Alex Tanguay (6)
Third period Derrick Walser (2) - 13:59
Alexandre Jacques (4) - 18:54
Joey MacDonald (40 saves / 47 shots) Goalie stats Philippe Sauvé (22 saves / 30 shots)
March 27 Rimouski Océanic 5 – 4 Halifax Mooseheads Colisée de Rimouski  
5:07 - Alexandre Jacques (5) First period Jason Troini (3) - pp - 12:19
15:13 - Jonathan Beaulieu (2)
18:31 - Brad Richards (2)
Second period Alexandre Mathieu (1) - 10:27
8:37 - David St-Onge (1)
19:59 - Alexandre Jacques (6)
Third period Alex Tanguay (7) - 0:21
Alexandre Couture (3) - pp - 18:51
Jean-Marc Pelletier (21 saves / 25 shots) Goalie stats Joey MacDonald (42 saves / 47 shots)
Rimouski wins series 4 – 1

(L3) Chicoutimi Saguenéens vs. (L4) Moncton Wildcats

March 20 Chicoutimi Saguenéens 1 – 4 Moncton Wildcats Centre Georges-Vézina
March 21 Chicoutimi Saguenéens 1 – 5 Moncton Wildcats Centre Georges-Vézina
March 23 Moncton Wildcats 2 – 3 Chicoutimi Saguenéens Moncton Coliseum
March 24 Moncton Wildcats 7 – 2 Chicoutimi Saguenéens Moncton Coliseum
March 27 Chicoutimi Saguenéens 4 – 2 Moncton Wildcats Centre Georges-Vézina
March 30 Moncton Wildcats 6 – 2 Chicoutimi Saguenéens Moncton Coliseum
Moncton wins series 4 – 2

Division Semifinals

April 1

Lebel Division

Val-d'Or Foreurs 7 – 4 Hull Olympiques Palais des Sports  
10:02 - Jean-Pierre Dumont (11)
15:17 - Jean-Pierre Dumont (12)
16:54 - pp - Didier Tremblay (3)
First period No scoring
15:13 - Karol Bartanus (1) Second period Ryan Lauzon (5) - 3:50
Ryan Lauzon (6) - pp - 10:36
5:59 - Jean-Pierre Dumont (13)
10:28 - pp - Karol Bartanus (2)
19:59 - en - Karol Bartanus (3)
Third period Marty Johnston (6) - pp - 17:41
Francis Nault (2) - 19:11
Roberto Luongo (29 saves / 33 shots) Goalie stats Philippe Bergeron (6 saves / 9 shots)
Frédéric Malette (26 saves / 29 shots)

Dilio Division

Quebec Remparts 3 – 4 Moncton Wildcats PEPS

April 2

Hull Olympiques 3 – 2 OT Laval Titan Collège Français Centre Robert Guertin

April 3

Lebel Division

Moncton Wildcats 2 – 4 Rimouski Océanic Moncton Coliseum  
Yannick Thériault (3) - 19:24 First period No scoring
Alexei Tezikov (3) - pp - 9:46 Second period 0:47 - Alexandre Jacques (7)
7:06 - Alexandre Jacques (8)
No scoring Third period 10:19 - Derrick Walser (3)
19:29 - en - Derrick Walser (4)
Jean-François Damphousse (31 saves / 34 shots) Goalie stats Jean-Marc Pelletier

Dilio Division

Laval Titan Collège Français 3 – 6 Val-d'Or Foreurs Centre Sportif  
Martin Fillion (4) - 5:59
Gregor Baumgartner (3) - sh - 6:58
First period 0:49 - Jean-Pierre Dumont (14)
2:19 - Dominic Chiasson (6)
3:58 - Christian Daigle (4)
8:01 - pp - Christian Daigle (5)
Dominic Perna (8) - 10:20 Second period 7:03 - Lee Cousineau (1)
No scoring Third period 10:08 - Christian Daigle (6)
Maxime Gingras (0 saves / 2 shots)
Jonathan Charron (23 saves / 27 shots)
Goalie stats Roberto Luongo (34 saves / 37 shots)

April 4

Moncton Wildcats 2 – 4 Quebec Remparts Moncton Coliseum

April 5

Laval Titan Collège Français 4 – 3 Hull Olympiques Centre Sportif


April 6

Lebel Division

Hull Olympiques 6 – 5 Val-d'Or Foreurs Centre Robert Guertin

Dilio Division

Rimouski Océanic 8 – 2 Quebec Remparts Colisée de Rimouski

April 7

Lebel Division

Val-d'Or Foreurs 1 – 4 Laval Titan Collège Français Palais des Sports

Dilio Division

Rimouski Océanic 6 – 3 Moncton Wildcats Colisée de Rimouski

April 8

Laval Titan Collège Français 3 – 2 Hull Olympiques Centre Sportif

All-star teams

First team
Second team
Rookie team

Trophies and awards

Team
Player
Executive

See also

References