1997–98 ECHL season
The 1997–98 ECHL season was the tenth season of the ECHL. Before the start of the season, the league saw the Knoxville Cherokees move to Florence, SC and welcomed expansion teams in New Orleans, LA and Upper Marlboro, MD. The Louisiana IceGators finished the regular season first overall and the Hampton Roads Admirals won their record setting third overall ECHL championship (1st Kelly Cup), defeating the Pensacola Ice Pilots 4 games to 2.
League realignment
With the league expanding to 25 teams, the Board of Governors decided to divide the league into two conference (Northern and Southern), with two divisions each. With the realignment the Board of Governors also created two new trophies, one each for the playoff champion of each conference.[1]
Northern Conference
Northeast Division
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Northwest Division
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Southern Conference
Regular season
Final standings
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; Green shade = Clinched playoff spot; Blue shade = Clinched division; (z) = Clinched home-ice advantage
Northern Conference
| Northeast Division | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roanoke Express | 70 | 42 | 21 | 7 | 91 | 235 | 208 |
| Wheeling Nailers | 70 | 37 | 24 | 9 | 83 | 255 | 255 |
| Chesapeake Icebreakers | 70 | 34 | 28 | 8 | 76 | 252 | 239 |
| Hampton Roads Admirals | 70 | 32 | 28 | 10 | 74 | 222 | 225 |
| Richmond Renegades | 70 | 30 | 33 | 7 | 67 | 218 | 277 |
| Johnstown Chiefs | 70 | 23 | 41 | 6 | 52 | 219 | 297 |
| Northwest Division | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peoria Rivermen | 70 | 44 | 19 | 7 | 95 | 296 | 213 |
| Toledo Storm | 70 | 41 | 21 | 8 | 90 | 251 | 210 |
| Dayton Bombers | 70 | 36 | 26 | 8 | 80 | 255 | 256 |
| Huntington Blizzard | 70 | 34 | 29 | 7 | 75 | 230 | 259 |
| Columbus Chill | 70 | 33 | 30 | 7 | 73 | 221 | 220 |
| Louisville RiverFrogs | 70 | 32 | 31 | 7 | 71 | 228 | 257 |
Southern Conference
| Southeast Division | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina Stingrays | 70 | 41 | 23 | 6 | 88 | 246 | 218 |
| Charlotte Checkers | 70 | 35 | 24 | 11 | 81 | 251 | 237 |
| Pee Dee Pride | 70 | 34 | 25 | 11 | 79 | 214 | 215 |
| Jacksonville Lizard Kings | 70 | 35 | 29 | 6 | 76 | 243 | 239 |
| Raleigh Icecaps | 70 | 32 | 33 | 5 | 69 | 236 | 254 |
| Tallahassee Tiger Sharks | 70 | 24 | 44 | 2 | 50 | 210 | 320 |
| Southwest Division | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana IceGators | 70 | 43 | 17 | 10 | 96 | 298 | 232 |
| Birmingham Bulls | 70 | 39 | 23 | 8 | 86 | 293 | 257 |
| Pensacola Ice Pilots | 70 | 36 | 24 | 10 | 82 | 276 | 262 |
| New Orleans Brass | 70 | 36 | 24 | 10 | 82 | 278 | 263 |
| Mobile Mysticks | 70 | 35 | 27 | 8 | 78 | 236 | 233 |
| Mississippi Sea Wolves | 70 | 34 | 27 | 9 | 77 | 225 | 224 |
| Baton Rouge Kingfish | 70 | 33 | 27 | 10 | 76 | 220 | 238 |
Kelly Cup playoffs
Bracket
| Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 5) | Conference Semifinals (Best of 5) | Conference Finals (Best of 7) | Kelly Cup Finals (Best of 7) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Peoria | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Hampton Roads | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Toledo | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Wheeling | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Wheeling | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Dayton | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Wheeling | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Northern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Hampton Roads | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Toledo | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Chesapeake | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Roanoke | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Hampton Roads | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Roanoke | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Huntington | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Hampton Roads | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Pensacola | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Louisiana | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Mobile | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Louisiana | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Pee Dee | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Pensacola | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | New Orleans | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Louisiana | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Southern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Pensacola | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Birmingham | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Charlotte | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Pensacola | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Charlotte | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | South Carolina | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Pee Dee | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
Quarterfinals
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Semifinals
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Finals
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Quarterfinals
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Semifinals
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Finals
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Kelly Cup finals
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ECHL awards
| Patrick J. Kelly Cup: | Hampton Roads Admirals |
| Henry Brabham Cup: | Louisiana IceGators |
| Northern Conference Champion: | Hampton Roads Admirals |
| Southern Conference Champion: | Pensacola Ice Pilots |
| John Brophy Award: | Chris Nilan (Chesapeake) |
| ECHL Most Valuable Player: | Jamey Hicks (Birmingham) |
| Kelly Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player: | Sebastien Charpentier (Hampton Roads) |
| ECHL Goaltender of the Year: | Nick Vitucci (Toledo) |
| ECHL Rookie of the Year: | Sean Venedam (Toledo) |
| Defenseman of the Year: | Chris Valicevic (Louisiana) |
| Leading Scorer: | Jamey Hicks (Birmingham) |
| Sportsmanship Award: | Cal Ingraham (Tallahassee) |
References
- ECHL Trophies and Awards Archived 2008-02-15 at the Wayback Machine
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