1997–98 Colorado Avalanche season

The 1997–98 Colorado Avalanche season was the Avalanche's third season.

1997–98 Colorado Avalanche
Pacific Division champions
Division	1st Pacific
Conference	2nd Western
1997–98 record	39–26–17
Goals for	231
Goals against	205
Team information
General manager	Pierre Lacroix
Coach	Marc Crawford
Captain	Joe Sakic
Alternate captains	Claude Lemieux Adam Foote
Arena	McNichols Sports Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Joe Sakic (27)
Assists	Peter Forsberg (66)
Points	Peter Forsberg (91)
Penalty minutes	Jeff Odgers (213)
Wins	Patrick Roy (31)
Goals against average	Craig Billington (2.32)

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division

No.		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Colorado Avalanche	82	39	26	17	231	205	95
2	Los Angeles Kings	82	38	33	11	227	225	87
3	Edmonton Oilers	82	35	37	10	215	224	80
4	San Jose Sharks	82	34	38	10	210	216	78
5	Calgary Flames	82	26	41	15	217	252	67
6	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	82	26	43	13	205	261	65
7	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[1]

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

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 1, 1997	2–2 OT	Dallas Stars (1997–98)	0–0–1
2	W	October 3, 1997	4–1	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	1–0–1
3	W	October 5, 1997	3–0	@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	2–0–1
4	W	October 7, 1997	3–2	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	3–0–1
5	W	October 9, 1997	3–2	San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	4–0–1
6	T	October 11, 1997	3–3 OT	Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	4–0–2
7	W	October 15, 1997	6–2	@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	5–0–2
8	L	October 17, 1997	5–6 OT	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	5–1–2
9	T	October 19, 1997	4–4 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	5–1–3
10	W	October 22, 1997	4–3	Washington Capitals (1997–98)	6–1–3
11	T	October 24, 1997	3–3 OT	Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	6–1–4
12	L	October 25, 1997	1–3	@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)	6–2–4
13	W	October 28, 1997	3–2	Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	7–2–4
14	T	October 30, 1997	2–2 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	7–2–5
15	T	November 1, 1997	3–3 OT	Calgary Flames (1997–98)	7–2–6
16	L	November 5, 1997	2–4	New York Rangers (1997–98)	7–3–6
17	W	November 8, 1997	4–1	St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	8–3–6
18	W	November 11, 1997	2–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	9–3–6
19	W	November 13, 1997	2–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	10–3–6
20	L	November 14, 1997	1–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	10–4–6
21	L	November 16, 1997	1–4	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	10–5–6
22	T	November 18, 1997	6–6 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1997–98)	10–5–7
23	W	November 21, 1997	3–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	11–5–7
24	L	November 23, 1997	1–2 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	11–6–7
25	T	November 26, 1997	3–3 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	11–6–8
26	W	November 28, 1997	3–2	@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)	12–6–8
27	W	November 29, 1997	3–2	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	13–6–8
28	W	December 2, 1997	4–2	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	14–6–8
29	W	December 4, 1997	2–1	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	15–6–8
30	W	December 6, 1997	6–4	Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	16–6–8
31	L	December 8, 1997	2–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	16–7–8
32	T	December 10, 1997	2–2 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	16–7–9
33	L	December 12, 1997	1–3	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	16–8–9
34	W	December 13, 1997	5–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	17–8–9
35	W	December 15, 1997	3–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	18–8–9
36	T	December 17, 1997	2–2 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	18–8–10
37	T	December 19, 1997	3–3 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	18–8–11
38	W	December 23, 1997	5–1	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	19–8–11
39	W	December 27, 1997	5–1	@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	20–8–11
40	T	December 29, 1997	1–1 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	20–8–12
41	W	December 31, 1997	3–1	New York Islanders (1997–98)	21–8–12
42	T	January 2, 1998	2–2 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	21–8–13
43	W	January 3, 1998	5–4 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	22–8–13
44	L	January 6, 1998	1–3	Calgary Flames (1997–98)	22–9–13
45	T	January 8, 1998	4–4 OT	Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	22–9–14
46	T	January 10, 1998	3–3 OT	Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	22–9–15
47	W	January 12, 1998	3–1	Florida Panthers (1997–98)	23–9–15
48	W	January 14, 1998	2–0	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	24–9–15
49	T	January 15, 1998	2–2 OT	San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	24–9–16
50	L	January 21, 1998	2–3	@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)	24–10–16
51	L	January 22, 1998	3–4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	24–11–16
52	L	January 24, 1998	2–3	Dallas Stars (1997–98)	24–12–16
53	W	January 26, 1998	2–1 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	25–12–16
54	W	January 28, 1998	6–1	Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	26–12–16
55	L	January 31, 1998	2–5	@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	26–13–16
56	W	February 2, 1998	2–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	27–13–16
57	W	February 5, 1998	4–2	Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	28–13–16
58	W	February 7, 1998	3–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	29–13–16
59	W	February 25, 1998	4–2	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	30–13–16
60	W	February 26, 1998	3–0	Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	31–13–16
61	L	February 28, 1998	0–4	Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	31–14–16
62	L	March 2, 1998	4–5 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	31–15–16
63	W	March 4, 1998	5–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	32–15–16
64	L	March 5, 1998	2–4	@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	32–16–16
65	W	March 7, 1998	4–2	@ New York Islanders (1997–98)	33–16–16
66	L	March 9, 1998	1–2	Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	33–17–16
67	W	March 11, 1998	3–2	St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	34–17–16
68	L	March 14, 1998	2–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	34–18–16
69	L	March 15, 1998	3–5	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	34–19–16
70	W	March 19, 1998	4–3	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	35–19–16
71	W	March 21, 1998	2–0	@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	36–19–16
72	L	March 26, 1998	0–2	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	36–20–16
73	W	March 28, 1998	5–3	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	37–20–16
74	L	March 30, 1998	1–4	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	37–21–16
75	L	April 1, 1998	0–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	37–22–16
76	L	April 2, 1998	1–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	37–23–16
77	L	April 4, 1998	1–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	37–24–16
78	L	April 6, 1998	1–3	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	37–25–16
79	L	April 11, 1998	3–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	37–26–16
80	T	April 13, 1998	2–2 OT	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	37–26–17
81	W	April 16, 1998	4–1	San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	38–26–17
82	W	April 18, 1998	4–3	Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	39–26–17

Playoffs

Western Conference Quarter-finals

Colorado vs. Edmonton
Date	Away	Home
April 22	Edmonton 3	2 Colorado
April 24	Edmonton 2	5 Colorado
April 26	Colorado 5	4 Edmonton	OT
April 28	Colorado 3	1 Edmonton
April 30	Edmonton 3	1 Colorado
May 2	Colorado 0	2 Edmonton
May 4	Edmonton 4	0 Colorado
Edmonton wins series 4–3

Roster

1997–98 Colorado Avalanche roster

Forwards 9 – Ricci • 10 – Marha • 10 – Rychel • 11 – Jones • 12 – Donovan • 13 – Kamensky • 14 – Fitzgerald • 14 – Matte • 15 – Sarault • 16 – Odgers • 17 – Kurri • 18 – Deadmarsh • 19 – Sakic • 20 – Corbet • 21 – Forsberg • 22 – Lemieux • 26 – Yelle • 27 – Leroux • 28 – Lacroix • 40 – Larsen  Defensemen 2 – Lefebvre • 3 – Miller • 4 – Krupp • 5 – Gusarov • 6 – Belak • 7 – Trepanier • 8 – Ozolinsh • 24 – Klemm • 29 – Messier • 52 – Foote  Goalies 1 – Billington • 33 – Roy  Coach: Marc Crawford

[2]

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Peter Forsberg C 72 25 66 91 94 6 7 3 7 Valeri Kamensky LW 75 26 40 66 60 -2 8 0 4 Joe Sakic C 64 27 36 63 50 0 12 1 2 Claude Lemieux RW 78 26 27 53 115 -7 11 1 1 Sandis Ozolinsh D 66 13 38 51 65 -12 9 0 2 Adam Deadmarsh RW 73 22 21 43 125 0 10 0 6 Eric Lacroix LW 82 16 15 31 84 0 5 0 6 Uwe Krupp D 78 9 22 31 38 21 5 0 2 Rene Corbet LW 68 16 12 28 133 8 4 0 4 Stephane Yelle C 81 7 15 22 48 -10 0 1 0 Jari Kurri RW 70 5 17 22 12 6 2 0 0 Adam Foote D 77 3 14 17 124 -3 0 0 1 Eric Messier LW 62 4 12 16 20 4 0 0 0 Jon Klemm D 67 6 8 14 30 -3 0 0 0 Alexei Gusarov D 72 4 10 14 42 9 0 1 1 Jeff Odgers RW 68 5 8 13 213 5 0 0 0 Shean Donovan RW 47 5 7 12 48 3 0 0 0 Keith Jones RW 23 3 7 10 22 -4 1 0 2 Sylvain Lefebvre D 81 0 10 10 48 2 0 0 0 Josef Marha C 11 2 5 7 4 0 0 0 0 Aaron Miller D 55 2 2 4 51 0 0 0 0 Mike Ricci C 6 0 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 Tom Fitzgerald RW 11 2 1 3 22 0 0 1 0 Francois Leroux D 50 1 2 3 140 -3 0 0 0 Patrick Roy G 65 0 3 3 39 0 0 0 0 Wade Belak D 8 1 1 2 27 -3 0 0 1 Yves Sarault LW 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 Pascal Trepanier D 15 0 1 1 18 -2 0 0 0 Craig Billington G 23 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Brad Larsen LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Christian Matte RW 5 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 Warren Rychel LW 8 0 0 0 23 -1 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Patrick Roy 3835 65 31 19 13 153 2.39 4 1825 1672 .916 Craig Billington 1162 23 8 7 4 45 2.32 1 588 543 .923 Team: 4997 82 39 26 17 198 2.38 5 2413 2215 .918

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Peter Forsberg C 7 6 5 11 12 3 2 0 0 Sandis Ozolinsh D 7 0 7 7 14 -3 0 0 0 Claude Lemieux RW 7 3 3 6 8 2 1 0 1 Valeri Kamensky LW 7 2 3 5 18 1 1 0 0 Joe Sakic C 6 2 3 5 6 0 0 1 2 Adam Deadmarsh RW 7 2 0 2 4 -1 1 0 0 Stephane Yelle C 7 1 0 1 12 -3 0 0 0 Tom Fitzgerald RW 7 0 1 1 20 -2 0 0 0 Alexei Gusarov D 7 0 1 1 6 1 0 0 0 Uwe Krupp D 7 0 1 1 4 2 0 0 0 Patrick Roy G 7 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Craig Billington G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rene Corbet LW 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Adam Foote D 7 0 0 0 23 -1 0 0 0 Keith Jones RW 7 0 0 0 13 -1 0 0 0 Jon Klemm D 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Jari Kurri RW 4 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 Eric Lacroix LW 7 0 0 0 6 -2 0 0 0 Sylvain Lefebvre D 7 0 0 0 4 -1 0 0 0 Aaron Miller D 7 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 Jeff Odgers RW 6 0 0 0 25 -1 0 0 0 Warren Rychel LW 6 0 0 0 24 -2 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Patrick Roy 430 7 3 4 18 2.51 0 191 173 .906 Craig Billington 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 Team: 431 7 3 4 18 2.51 0 191 173 .906

[3]

Note: Pos = Position; 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

Transactions

Draft picks

Colorado's draft picks at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	26	Kevin Grimes	Canada	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
2	53	Graham Belak	Canada	Edmonton Ice (WHL)
3	55	Rick Berry	Canada	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
3	78	Ville Nieminen	Finland	Tappara (Finland)
4	87	Brad Larsen	Canada	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
5	133	Aaron Miskovich	United States	Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)
6	161	David Aebischer	Switzerland	HC Fribourg-Gotteron (Switzerland)
8	217	Doug Schmidt	United States	Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL)
9	243	Kyle Kidney	United States	Salisbury School (USHS-CT)
9	245	Steve Lafleur	Canada	Belleville Bulls (OHL)

See also

• 1997–98 NHL season
• 1997 NHL Entry Draft
• List of Colorado Avalanche seasons
• List of Colorado Avalanche players
• List of Colorado Avalanche draft picks

References

1. "1997-1998 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
2. Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-May-10.
3. "1997-98 Colorado Avalanche Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-07-10.

General

• The Internet Hockey Database
• Colorado Avalanche Database
• Official National Hockey League Site