1997β98 Washington Capitals | |
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Eastern Conference champions | |
Division | 3rd Atlantic |
Conference | 4th Eastern |
1997β98 record | 40β30β12 |
Home record | 23β12β6 |
Road record | 17β18β6 |
Goals for | 219 |
Goals against | 202 |
Team information | |
General manager | George McPhee |
Coach | Ron Wilson |
Captain | Dale Hunter |
Arena |
US Airways Arena (until Nov. 26, 1997) MCI Center (from Dec. 5, 1997 onward) |
Average attendance | 15,275 |
Minor league affiliate(s) |
Portland Pirates Hampton Roads Admirals |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Peter Bondra (52) |
Assists | Adam Oates (58) |
Points | Peter Bondra (78) |
Penalty minutes | Craig Berube (189) |
Plus/minus | Joe Reekie (+15) |
Wins | Olaf Kolzig (33) |
Goals against average | Olaf Kolzig (2.20) |
The 1997β98 Washington Capitals season saw the team reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in club history. Peter Bondra's 52 goals led the team; veterans Dale Hunter, Joe Juneau, and Adam Oates returned to old form; and Olaf Kolzig had a solid .920 save percentage as the Caps got past the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres (the latter on a dramatic overtime win in Game 6 on a goal by Juneau) en route to the team's first Stanley Cup Finals appearance. The Capitals won five overtime games, two against the Bruins and three against Sabres. However, they were no match for the defending cup champs, the Detroit Red Wings, who won in a four-game sweep. It was also the teamβs first year at the MCI Center.
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The Capitals had a very effective penalty kill during the regular season, allowing the fewest power-play goals (39) and finishing with the highest penalty-kill percentage (89.23%). [1]
No. | CR | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
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1 | 1 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 48 | 23 | 11 | 225 | 166 | 107 |
2 | 3 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 42 | 29 | 11 | 242 | 193 | 95 |
3 | 4 | Washington Capitals | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 219 | 202 | 92 |
4 | 10 | New York Islanders | 82 | 30 | 41 | 11 | 212 | 225 | 71 |
5 | 11 | New York Rangers | 82 | 25 | 39 | 18 | 197 | 231 | 68 |
6 | 12 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 24 | 43 | 15 | 203 | 256 | 63 |
7 | 13 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 17 | 55 | 10 | 151 | 269 | 44 |
R | Div | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
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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 β Atlantic, NE β Northeast
bold β Qualified for playoffs
1997β98 regular season [3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 7β4β2 (home: 3β1β1; road: 4β3β1)
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November: 6β6β2 (home: 2β2β1; road: 4β4β1)
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December: 4β5β4 (home: 2β3β2; road: 2β2β2)
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January: 9β2β2 (home: 6β1β1; road: 3β1β1)
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February: 0β4β1 (home: 0β3β0; road: 0β1β1)
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March: 8β7β0 (home: 6β2β0; road: 2β5β0)
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April: 6β2β1 (home: 4β0β1; road: 2β2β0)
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Legend:
Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
In the Playoffs, the Capitals reached the Conference Finals for the first time since 1990, defeating the Buffalo Sabres in six games before reaching the Stanley Cup Final where they lost to the Detroit Red Wings in four games. [4]
1998 Stanley Cup playoffs [3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (5) Boston Bruins β Capitals win 4β2
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Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (8) Ottawa Senators β Capitals win 4β1
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Eastern Conference Finals vs. (6) Buffalo Sabres β Capitals win 4β2
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Stanley Cup Finals vs. (W3) Detroit Red Wings β Red Wings win 4β0
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Legend:
Win Loss |
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
12 | Peter Bondra | RW | 76 | 52 | 26 | 78 | 14 | 44 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 12 |
77 | Adam Oates | C | 82 | 18 | 58 | 76 | 6 | 36 | 21 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 8 | 8 |
6 | Calle Johansson | D | 73 | 15 | 20 | 35 | β11 | 30 | 21 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 16 |
22 | Steve Konowalchuk | LW | 80 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 9 | 80 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
90 | Joe Juneau | C | 56 | 9 | 22 | 31 | β8 | 26 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 6 | 8 |
96 | Phil Housley | D | 64 | 6 | 25 | 31 | β10 | 24 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 4 | β2 | 4 |
44 | Richard Zednik | RW | 65 | 17 | 9 | 26 | β2 | 28 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 16 |
32 | Dale Hunter | C | 82 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 1 | 103 | 21 | 0 | 4 | 4 | β1 | 30 |
18 | Andrew Brunette | LW | 28 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 2 | 12 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
55 | Sergei Gonchar | D | 72 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 2 | 66 | 21 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 30 |
24 | Mark Tinordi | D | 47 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 9 | 39 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 42 |
17 | Chris Simon | LW | 28 | 7 | 10 | 17 | β1 | 38 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | β3 | 26 |
13 | Andrei Nikolishin | C | 38 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 1 | 14 | 21 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 12 |
8 | Jan Bulis | C | 48 | 5 | 11 | 16 | β5 | 18 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
3 | Sylvain Coteβ‘ | D | 59 | 1 | 15 | 16 | β5 | 36 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
27 | Craig Berube | LW | 74 | 6 | 9 | 15 | β3 | 189 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 |
10 | Kelly Miller | LW | 76 | 7 | 7 | 14 | β2 | 41 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
9 | Todd Krygier | LW | 45 | 2 | 12 | 14 | β3 | 30 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 | β2 | 6 |
11 | Esa Tikkanenβ | LW | 20 | 2 | 10 | 12 | β4 | 2 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 6 | β2 | 20 |
29 | Joe Reekie | D | 68 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 70 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 20 |
23 | Brian Bellowsβ | LW | 11 | 6 | 3 | 9 | β3 | 6 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 6 |
20 | Michal Pivonka | C | 33 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 20 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
19 | Brendan Witt | D | 64 | 1 | 7 | 8 | β11 | 112 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | β1 | 14 |
21 | Jeff Tomsβ | C | 33 | 3 | 4 | 7 | β11 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β1 | 0 |
2 | Ken Klee | D | 51 | 4 | 2 | 6 | β3 | 46 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
28 | Jeff Brownβ | D | 9 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
34 | Jaroslav Svejkovsky | RW | 17 | 4 | 1 | 5 | β5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
36 | Mike Eagles | LW | 36 | 1 | 3 | 4 | β2 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
28 | Jan Benda | C | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
38 | Nolan Baumgartner | D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
48 | Benoit Gratton | C | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
37 | Olaf Kolzig | G | 64 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
30 | Bill Ranford | G | 22 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | β | β | β | β | β | β | |
25 | Brad Church | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
43 | David Harlock | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
42 | Dwayne Hayβ‘ | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
4 | Stewart Malgunas | D | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
26 | Ryan Mulhern | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
14 | Pat Peake | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
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No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
37 | Olaf Kolzig | 64 | 33 | 18 | 10 | 1729 | 139 | 2.20 | .920 | 5 | 3788 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 740 | 44 | 1.95 | .941 | 4 | 1351 |
30 | Bill Ranford | 22 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 555 | 55 | 2.79 | .901 | 0 | 1183 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
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League (in-season) |
NHL All-Star Game selection | Peter Bondra | [5] |
Olaf Kolzig |
Milestone | Player | Date | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
1,000th point | Adam Oates | October 8, 1997 | [6] |
Phil Housley | November 8, 1997 | [7] | |
Dale Hunter | January 9, 1998 | [8] |
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Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 21, 1997 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [9]
Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9 | Nick Boynton | D | ![]() |
Ottawa 67's (OHL) |
2 | 35 | Jean-Francois Fortin | D | ![]() |
Sherbrooke Faucons (QMJHL) |
4 | 89 | Curtis Cruickshank | G | ![]() |
Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) |
5 | 116 | Kevin Caulfield | RW | ![]() |
Boston College (NCAA) |
6 | 143 | Henrik Petre | D | ![]() |
DjurgΓ₯rdens IF-jr. (Allsvenskan) |
8 | 200 | Pierre-Luc Therrien | G | ![]() |
Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) |
9 | 226 | Matt Oikawa | RW | ![]() |
St. Lawrence University (NCAA) |
At Landover, Md., Phil Housley became the second American-born player in NHL history to score 1,000 points, tallying an assist as the Washington Capitals beat the Edmonton Oilers.
Washington 4, Philadelphia 1--The Capitals' Dale Hunter assisted on the three second-period goals, giving the 18-year veteran 682 assists to go with 318 goals for 1,000 points, as Washington won at home.