1997–98 Carolina Hurricanes season


The 1997–98 Carolina Hurricanes season was the 26th season in franchise history, their 19th as a member of the National Hockey League, and their first in North Carolina. Formerly the Hartford Whalers, the team would play in Greensboro while a new arena was being constructed in Raleigh. The club finished sub-.500 and failed to qualify for the 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Offseason

In March 1997, Whalers owner Peter Karmanos announced that the team would move elsewhere after the 1996–97 season because of the team's inability to negotiate a satisfactory construction and lease package for a new arena to replace the Hartford Civic Center. In July, Karmanos announced that the Whalers would move to the Research Triangle area of North Carolina and the new Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh, become the Carolina Hurricanes, and change their team colors to red and black. Due to the relatively short time frame for the move, Karmanos himself thought of and decided upon the new name for the club, rather than holding a contest as is sometimes done.
Unfortunately, the ESA would not be complete for two more years. The only arena in the Triangle with an ice plant was Dorton Arena in Raleigh, which only seated 5,100 people—too small even for temporary use. The Hurricanes decided to play home games in Greensboro, ninety minutes away from Raleigh, for their first two seasons after the move. This choice was disastrous for the franchise's attendance and reputation. With a capacity of over 21,000 people for hockey, the Greensboro Coliseum became the highest-capacity arena in the NHL, but Triangle-area fans proved unwilling to make the drive down I-40 to Greensboro, and fans from the Piedmont Triad mostly refused to support a lame-duck team that had displaced the longtime Greensboro/Carolina Monarchs minor-league franchise. Furthermore, only 29 out of 82 games were televised, and radio play-by-play coverage on WPTF was often pre-empted by North Carolina State Wolfpack basketball, leaving these games totally unavailable to those who did not have a ticket. With by far the smallest season-ticket base in the NHL and attendance routinely well below the league average, Sports Illustrated ran a story titled "Natural Disaster," and ESPN anchors mocked the "Green Acres" of empty seats; in a 2006 interview, Karmanos admitted that "as it turns out, was probably a mistake."

Regular season

Final standings

Schedule and results

October

Record for the month 3-8-3
No.RDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendance
1LOctober 1, 19972–4@ Tampa Bay Lightning 0–1–017,808
2LOctober 3, 19973–4Pittsburgh Penguins 0–2–018,661
3LOctober 4, 19972–3@ Ottawa Senators 0–3–018,500
4TOctober 7, 19973–3 OTLos Angeles Kings 0–3–16,083
5WOctober 10, 19972–1New Jersey Devils 1–3–16,352
6LOctober 11, 19971–4@ Pittsburgh Penguins 1–4–115,175
7LOctober 13, 19971–3@ St. Louis Blues 1–5–112,530
8TOctober 15, 19973–3 OTBuffalo Sabres 1–5–26,278
9LOctober 18, 19972–4@ Detroit Red Wings 1–6–219,983
10LOctober 20, 19972–4@ New York Rangers 1–7–218,200
11WOctober 22, 19974–3St. Louis Blues 2–7–28,185
12TOctober 24, 19973–3 OT@ Colorado Avalanche 2–7–316,061
13WOctober 26, 19973–2@ Chicago Blackhawks 3–7–314,834
14LOctober 31, 19972–3 OTBuffalo Sabres 3–8–37,555

November

Record for the month 7-5-1
No.RDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendance
15WNovember 3, 19975–3Vancouver Canucks 4–8–37,257
16WNovember 5, 19973–1Detroit Red Wings 5–8–310,090
17LNovember 7, 19972–3New York Islanders 5–9–37,742
18WNovember 9, 19974–1Ottawa Senators 6–9–35,551
19WNovember 12, 19976–4@ Edmonton Oilers 7–9–314,240
20WNovember 13, 19974–2@ Calgary Flames 8–9–315,825
21LNovember 16, 19971–4@ Vancouver Canucks 8–10–314,740
22WNovember 19, 19972–1Montreal Canadiens 9–10–36,896
23LNovember 21, 19973–4New York Rangers 9–11–319,358
24TNovember 23, 19973–3 OTCalgary Flames 9–11–45,516
25LNovember 26, 19972–3@ Pittsburgh Penguins 9–12–413,253
26WNovember 28, 19972–0Tampa Bay Lightning 10–12–48,107
27LNovember 29, 19972–3Colorado Avalanche 10–13–411,332

December

Record for the month 5-8-1
No.RDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendance
28WDecember 1, 19973–1Boston Bruins 11–13–45,865
29WDecember 3, 19975–3New York Islanders 12–13–45,651
30TDecember 5, 19972–2 OTPhoenix Coyotes 12–13–56,793
31LDecember 6, 19971–4@ Boston Bruins 12–14–514,805
32LDecember 10, 19972–5Florida Panthers 12–15–57,219
33LDecember 12, 19972–3 OT@ Buffalo Sabres 12–16–512,321
34WDecember 16, 19972–1Ottawa Senators 13–16–57,317
35LDecember 18, 19972–3@ Ottawa Senators 13–17–514,437
36LDecember 20, 19971–2Washington Capitals 13–18–58,118
37LDecember 23, 19972–4@ Philadelphia Flyers 13–19–519,594
38LDecember 26, 19972–5Florida Panthers 13–20–58,684
39WDecember 27, 19974–1Buffalo Sabres 14–20–58,682
40WDecember 30, 19972–1Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 15–20–58,309
41LDecember 31, 19972–3@ Pittsburgh Penguins 15–21–515,108

January

Record for the month 5-7-1
No.RDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendance
42LJanuary 3, 19981–6Dallas Stars 15–22–59,266
43WJanuary 5, 19984–1Ottawa Senators 16–22–56,055
44LJanuary 6, 19982–4@ New York Rangers 16–23–518,200
45TJanuary 8, 19983–3 OTPhiladelphia Flyers 16–23–611,908
46WJanuary 10, 19982–1 OT@ New York Islanders 17–23–613,679
47LJanuary 12, 19981–4Pittsburgh Penguins 17–24–68,250
48LJanuary 14, 19981–4Chicago Blackhawks 17–25–610,704
49LJanuary 21, 19981–2@ Buffalo Sabres 17–26–612,627
50WJanuary 22, 19984–2@ Ottawa Senators 18–26–615,491
51WJanuary 24, 19984–3@ Montreal Canadiens 19–26–621,273
52LJanuary 27, 19980–3@ Florida Panthers 19–27–614,703
53WJanuary 28, 19983–2@ Tampa Bay Lightning 20–27–610,815
54LJanuary 30, 19980–2@ New York Islanders 20–28–613,275

February

Record for the month 1-2-1
No.RDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendance
55LFebruary 1, 19983–6Montreal Canadiens 20–29–69,591
56TFebruary 4, 19983–3 OTTampa Bay Lightning 20–29–78,304
57WFebruary 7, 19983–1@ Boston Bruins 21–29–716,944
58LFebruary 28, 19983–4@ New Jersey Devils 21–30–719,040

March

Record for the month 8-5-1
No.RDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendance
59WMarch 2, 19983–1@ San Jose Sharks 22–30–716,237
60WMarch 5, 19982–1@ Los Angeles Kings 23–30–710,541
61WMarch 6, 19985–4 OT@ Phoenix Coyotes 24–30–716,210
62WMarch 8, 19983–1@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 25–30–717,174
63LMarch 12, 19980–2New Jersey Devils 25–31–78,811
64LMarch 14, 19981–2San Jose Sharks 25–32–712,911
65WMarch 15, 19984–1Edmonton Oilers 26–32–77,853
66LMarch 18, 19980–1@ Washington Capitals 26–33–712,792
67LMarch 20, 19981–6@ Dallas Stars 26–34–716,928
68WMarch 23, 19985–3@ Florida Panthers 27–34–714,703
69WMarch 26, 19984–1New York Rangers 28–34–715,456
70WMarch 28, 19984–2@ Philadelphia Flyers 29–34–719,608
71LMarch 29, 19981–3Philadelphia Flyers 29–35–713,216
72TMarch 31, 19983–3 OTMontreal Canadiens 29–35–88,671

April

Record for the month 4-6-0
No.RDateScoreOpponentRecordAttendance
73WApril 1, 19984–0@ New Jersey Devils 30–35–816,338
74WApril 4, 19981–0@ Montreal Canadiens 31–35–821,273
75WApril 6, 19983–0@ Boston Bruins 32–35–815,180
76LApril 8, 19981–3@ Buffalo Sabres 32–36–816,644
77WApril 9, 19985–2Toronto Maple Leafs 33–36–88,368
78LApril 11, 19981–5@ Toronto Maple Leafs 33–37–815,726
79LApril 13, 19982–3Boston Bruins 33–38–89,228
80LApril 16, 19981–4Pittsburgh Penguins 33–39–810,515
81LApril 18, 19983–4Washington Capitals 33–40–812,641
82LApril 19, 19981–2@ Washington Capitals 33–41–818,921

Player statistics

Regular season

;Scoring
PlayerPosGPGAPtsPIM+/-PPGSHGGWG
RW81263763169405
C8126376311019732
LW612029491033402
RW8121244550-17604
RW7419203967-8714
LW8116203612-8402
D667273465-2600
LW40121426301214
D8261925367101
RW5471623105-7001
LW407101714-4200
LW73591428-11012
D323101316-1300
D732101245-2101
D7611112106-6010
RW4545942-19112
C7744831-6000
D6535894-5000
LW823472040001
RW1042622201
LW3324610-1001
RW4724638-16000
D4205548-2000
D14033833000
D1802210-1000
D2302244-2000
G2501160000
G801100000
RW7011222000
D901120000
RW40000-2000
LW200000000
G300020000
G500000000
G4700020000
C300000000

;Goaltending
PlayerMINGPWLTGAGAASOSASVSV%
26854721213972.17312371140.922
1415257115662.801655589.899
4018420223.290181159.878
2795140143.010115101.878
1633030103.6806858.853
Team:494382334182092.54422562047.907

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage;

Awards and records

Carolina's draft picks at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Round#PlayerNationalityCollege/Junior/Club Team
122Nikos TseliosBelleville Bulls
228Brad DeFauwUniversity of North Dakota
380Francis LessardVal-d'Or Foreurs
488Shane WillisLethbridge Hurricanes
6142Kyle DafoeOwen Sound Platers
7169Andrew MerrickUniversity of Michigan
8195Niklas NordgrenModo Hockey Jr.
8199Randy FitzgeraldDetroit Whalers
9225Kent McDonellGuelph Storm

Farm teams

American Hockey League

The Beast of New Haven are the Hurricanes American Hockey League affiliate for the 1998–99 AHL season.

Transactions

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

Trades

Free agents

Roster