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CaptainCrunch · 06-16-2024, 06:40 PM

1997-98

Ever since Ulf Sterner crossed the Atlantic to play briefly with the Rangers in the 1960's, the NHL has had a taste of distinct European flavors, however, we can argue that it wasn't until 1997-98 that the NHL became a true global league, especially when the league shut down for 2 weeks in February to allow players to participate in the Winter Olympic games.

The international dominance of the NHL reached record heights in 1998. Seven of the leagues 11 scorers were European trained. Jaromir Jagr won his second scoring title with 102 points, while Teemu Selanne, Pavel Bure and Peter Bondra all hit the 50 point plateau. In a year where every team was playing the neutral zone trap, and offense was decidedly down, the most exciting players in the NHL came from Europe.

Still the story of the NHL was dominated by defence, more defence and goaltending, and Dominik Hasek. The dwindling goals total was a topic of concern for the whole season, with an average of only 5.3 goals scored per game, the lowest total in 42 years.

Jagr was the only player to break the 100 point barrier, while the leading scorers for 18 of the leagues 26 teams failed to average a point a game.

In the reality the league had always lived on its strengths, in the 80's the weakness of the player pool beyond top pairing defensemen and top 3 forwards, and goaltenders led to an orgy of scoring. In the 1990's the league's strength was in net and shut down blueliners and forwards., and a visible reduction in offensive offence was the result. The NHL had entered the dead puck era.

As far as goaltending goes, no one could match "The Dominator", Dominik Hasek. The on ice antics of the Sabre's elastic acrobat from the Czech Republic has been well documented, but he put together back to back earth shattering seasons. In 1997-98, Hasek recorded 13 shutouts, the most by any goaltender since Tony Esposito put up 15 shutouts in 1969-70.

At the end of the season, Hasek was awarded with his second consecutive Hart Trophy, making him the only goalie to to accomplish this feat. Perhaps Hasek's greatest Triumph was his outstanding display during the 1998 Winter Olympics , Hasek put up a wall that couldn't be broken and led the underdog Czech team to an upset gold medal over the Russians.

Hasek hoped to top the season off with a Stanley Cup, however there was one obstacle, the surprising Washington Capitals, who were more then Buffalo could handle and dumped the Sabres in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Three of the Capitals 4 wins over the Sabres took place in Overtime. The Capitals then went on to face the Red Wings in the finals, and the Wings had little trouble sweeping aside the Caps to win their second straight Cup.

Trivia

Just days after winning the 1997 Cup, Detroit Defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov is critically injured in a limo crash.
Mark Messier leaves the Rangers as a free agent to join the Vancouver Canucks.
NHL Draft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_NHL_Entry_Draft
On Oct 3, the NHL begins in unique fashion. Anaheim and Vancouver play a two game series in Nagano, Japan as a lead in to the Winter Olympics.
On Oct 26, Wayne Gretzky records in 1,851st career assist,giving him more helpers then any other NHL'er in history has total points.
On Nov 8th Washington's Phil Housley becomes the fifth defenseman to join the 1,000 point club.
On Dec 14th, Phoenix winger Mike Gartner becomes the 5th player in NHL history to score 700 goals.
Jari Kurri (Colorado) and Dino Ciccarelli (Florida) become the 8th and 9th players in NHL history to score 600 points.
On Dec 27th, Florida goalie Jon Vanbiesbrouck becomes only the 2nd US born goalie to record 300 wins, joining Tom Barrasso.
After a lengthy holdout, Paul Kariya returns to Anaheim, and is named the January player of the month, only to be knocked out for the season on Feb 1st with a concussion.
The NHL suspends play for 2 weeks in February so its stars can play in the Olympics.
In upsets in the Olympics, Canada and Team USA are shut out of the medals.
Buffalo goalie Dominik Hasek leads the Czech Republic to Olympic Gold with a win over Russia.
The U.S woman's hockey team defeats Canada to win the Gold Medal.
The Carolina Hurricanes tender a multi-million dollar contract offer sheet to free agent holdout Sergei Fedorov, sparking the Red Wings to ink their Russian superstar to a new deal.
With a gaa of 1.89 Devil's goaltender Martin Brodeur wins his second straight William's Jennings Trophy.
Six NHL'ers put up their 1,000's point, Adam Oates, Phil Housley, and Dale Hunter of the caps, Pat Lafontaine of the Rangers, Luc Robataille of the Kings, and Al MacInnis of the Blues.
Mark Messier of Vancouver, and Ron Francis of Pittsburgh notch their 1000's assist.
Penguins Jaromir Jagr grabs his second scoring title and is the only 100 point scorer in the NHL with 35 goals and 102 points.
With Joe Nieuwendyk leading all Canadians born scorers with 39 goals, the Stars finish first in the NHL with a 49-22-11 record.
Following a 0-7 start,Chicago gets 31 goals from both Tony Amonte and Eric Daze, but they miss the playoffs for the first time in 29 years.
Colorado's Peter Forsberg finishes second in scoring with 91 points, and Patrick Roy wins 31 games as the Avalanche win the Pacific Division with a 39-26-17 record.
The Oilers acquire Billy Guerin from New Jersey and take third in the Pacific.
A late season surge cannot catapult the offensively starved Flames to the playoffs.
Even a tremendous season from Pavel Bure with 51 goals and 90 points cannot keep the trade torn Canucks from finishing last in the Pacific.
The Devils take the Eastern Conference with 107 points.
John LeClair becomes the first U.S. born player to notch 3 straight 50 goal seasons, as the Flyers finish 2nd in the Eastern Conference.
Wasting a brilliant 90 point season by Wayne Gretzky, the Rangers fall to 5th in the Eastern Division.
Tampa Bay finishes last overall in the NHL with 17 wins.
Playing the neutral zone trap, the Penguins take top spot in the North East Division with 40 wins.
Buffalo unites behind Dominik Hasek and take third in the Northeast.
The Carolina Hurricanes are the only team in the Northeast to not make thei playoffs in the first year in Carolina.
In the Eastern Conference quarterfinals major upsets see Ottawa stun New Jersey in 6, Buffalo tears Philly apart in 5, Montreal takes out Pittsburgh in 6, and Washinton takes out the Bruins in 6.
In the Western Quarterfinals, Edmonton upsets the Avs in 7, Dallas takes San Jose in 6, Detroit douses the Coyotes in 6, and Chicago sweeps the Kings.
In the Eastern semis, the Caps knock off the Senators in 5, and the Sabres sweep Montreal.
The Western Conference semis see Detroit slamming St Louis in 6, and Detroit avenges its 1997 playoff loss to Edmonton in 5 games.
In the Stanley Cup semifinals, Washington knocks out the Sabres in 6, and the Red Wings shut down Dallas in 6.
Detroit takes the first two games over Washington in the Cup finals.
Detroit takes game three 2-1.
Detroit takes game 4 4-1 for their second straight finals sweep.
Red Wings Captain Steve Yzerman leads all playoff scorers with 24 points, he wins the Conn Smythe.
Buffalo's Dominik Hasek is the first goalie to win the Vezina, the Pearson and the Hart Trophy for two years in a row.
Rob Blake of the King's wins the Norris.
Ron Francis of Pittsburgh wins his second Lady Byng.
Boston Rookie Sergei Samsonov wins the Calder.
Dallas Star Jere Lehtinen grabs the Selke Trophy.
Two years after a life threatening illness Blue's goalie Jamie McLennan wins the Masterton.
Boston coach Pat Burns takes his third Jack Adams.

First game

Matt Cullen, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Joe Thornton, Boston Bruins
Sergei Samsonov, Boston Bruins
Derek Morris, Calgary Flames
Olli Jokinen, Los Angeles Kings
Sheldon Souray, New Jersey Devils
Zdeno Chara, New York Islanders
Marc Savard, New York Rangers
Chris Phillips, Ottawa Senators
Marian Hossa, Ottawa Senators
Daniel Briere, Phoenix Coyotes
Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
Mattias Ohlund, Vancouver Canucks

Final Game

Brent Sutter, Chicago Blackhawks
Jari Kurri, Colorado Avalanche
Slava Fetisov, Detroit Red Wings
Kevin Lowe, Edmonton Oilers
Andy Moog, Montreal Canadiens
Pat LaFontaine, New York Rangers
Joel Otto, Philadelphia Flyers
Mike Gartner, Phoenix Coyotes
Al Iafrate, San Jose Sharks
Kelly Hrudey, San Jose Sharks
Jeff Brown, Washington Capitals
Brian Bradley, Tampa Bay Lightning
Norm Maciver, Phoenix Coyotes

06-16-2024, 06:40 PM	#217
CaptainCrunch Norm! Join Date: Jun 2002 Exp:	1997-98 Ever since Ulf Sterner crossed the Atlantic to play briefly with the Rangers in the 1960's, the NHL has had a taste of distinct European flavors, however, we can argue that it wasn't until 1997-98 that the NHL became a true global league, especially when the league shut down for 2 weeks in February to allow players to participate in the Winter Olympic games. The international dominance of the NHL reached record heights in 1998. Seven of the leagues 11 scorers were European trained. Jaromir Jagr won his second scoring title with 102 points, while Teemu Selanne, Pavel Bure and Peter Bondra all hit the 50 point plateau. In a year where every team was playing the neutral zone trap, and offense was decidedly down, the most exciting players in the NHL came from Europe. Still the story of the NHL was dominated by defence, more defence and goaltending, and Dominik Hasek. The dwindling goals total was a topic of concern for the whole season, with an average of only 5.3 goals scored per game, the lowest total in 42 years. Jagr was the only player to break the 100 point barrier, while the leading scorers for 18 of the leagues 26 teams failed to average a point a game. In the reality the league had always lived on its strengths, in the 80's the weakness of the player pool beyond top pairing defensemen and top 3 forwards, and goaltenders led to an orgy of scoring. In the 1990's the league's strength was in net and shut down blueliners and forwards., and a visible reduction in offensive offence was the result. The NHL had entered the dead puck era. As far as goaltending goes, no one could match "The Dominator", Dominik Hasek. The on ice antics of the Sabre's elastic acrobat from the Czech Republic has been well documented, but he put together back to back earth shattering seasons. In 1997-98, Hasek recorded 13 shutouts, the most by any goaltender since Tony Esposito put up 15 shutouts in 1969-70. At the end of the season, Hasek was awarded with his second consecutive Hart Trophy, making him the only goalie to to accomplish this feat. Perhaps Hasek's greatest Triumph was his outstanding display during the 1998 Winter Olympics , Hasek put up a wall that couldn't be broken and led the underdog Czech team to an upset gold medal over the Russians. Hasek hoped to top the season off with a Stanley Cup, however there was one obstacle, the surprising Washington Capitals, who were more then Buffalo could handle and dumped the Sabres in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Three of the Capitals 4 wins over the Sabres took place in Overtime. The Capitals then went on to face the Red Wings in the finals, and the Wings had little trouble sweeping aside the Caps to win their second straight Cup. Trivia Just days after winning the 1997 Cup, Detroit Defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov is critically injured in a limo crash. Mark Messier leaves the Rangers as a free agent to join the Vancouver Canucks. NHL Draft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_NHL_Entry_Draft On Oct 3, the NHL begins in unique fashion. Anaheim and Vancouver play a two game series in Nagano, Japan as a lead in to the Winter Olympics. On Oct 26, Wayne Gretzky records in 1,851st career assist,giving him more helpers then any other NHL'er in history has total points. On Nov 8th Washington's Phil Housley becomes the fifth defenseman to join the 1,000 point club. On Dec 14th, Phoenix winger Mike Gartner becomes the 5th player in NHL history to score 700 goals. Jari Kurri (Colorado) and Dino Ciccarelli (Florida) become the 8th and 9th players in NHL history to score 600 points. On Dec 27th, Florida goalie Jon Vanbiesbrouck becomes only the 2nd US born goalie to record 300 wins, joining Tom Barrasso. After a lengthy holdout, Paul Kariya returns to Anaheim, and is named the January player of the month, only to be knocked out for the season on Feb 1st with a concussion. The NHL suspends play for 2 weeks in February so its stars can play in the Olympics. In upsets in the Olympics, Canada and Team USA are shut out of the medals. Buffalo goalie Dominik Hasek leads the Czech Republic to Olympic Gold with a win over Russia. The U.S woman's hockey team defeats Canada to win the Gold Medal. The Carolina Hurricanes tender a multi-million dollar contract offer sheet to free agent holdout Sergei Fedorov, sparking the Red Wings to ink their Russian superstar to a new deal. With a gaa of 1.89 Devil's goaltender Martin Brodeur wins his second straight William's Jennings Trophy. Six NHL'ers put up their 1,000's point, Adam Oates, Phil Housley, and Dale Hunter of the caps, Pat Lafontaine of the Rangers, Luc Robataille of the Kings, and Al MacInnis of the Blues. Mark Messier of Vancouver, and Ron Francis of Pittsburgh notch their 1000's assist. Penguins Jaromir Jagr grabs his second scoring title and is the only 100 point scorer in the NHL with 35 goals and 102 points. With Joe Nieuwendyk leading all Canadians born scorers with 39 goals, the Stars finish first in the NHL with a 49-22-11 record. Following a 0-7 start,Chicago gets 31 goals from both Tony Amonte and Eric Daze, but they miss the playoffs for the first time in 29 years. Colorado's Peter Forsberg finishes second in scoring with 91 points, and Patrick Roy wins 31 games as the Avalanche win the Pacific Division with a 39-26-17 record. The Oilers acquire Billy Guerin from New Jersey and take third in the Pacific. A late season surge cannot catapult the offensively starved Flames to the playoffs. Even a tremendous season from Pavel Bure with 51 goals and 90 points cannot keep the trade torn Canucks from finishing last in the Pacific. The Devils take the Eastern Conference with 107 points. John LeClair becomes the first U.S. born player to notch 3 straight 50 goal seasons, as the Flyers finish 2nd in the Eastern Conference. Wasting a brilliant 90 point season by Wayne Gretzky, the Rangers fall to 5th in the Eastern Division. Tampa Bay finishes last overall in the NHL with 17 wins. Playing the neutral zone trap, the Penguins take top spot in the North East Division with 40 wins. Buffalo unites behind Dominik Hasek and take third in the Northeast. The Carolina Hurricanes are the only team in the Northeast to not make thei playoffs in the first year in Carolina. In the Eastern Conference quarterfinals major upsets see Ottawa stun New Jersey in 6, Buffalo tears Philly apart in 5, Montreal takes out Pittsburgh in 6, and Washinton takes out the Bruins in 6. In the Western Quarterfinals, Edmonton upsets the Avs in 7, Dallas takes San Jose in 6, Detroit douses the Coyotes in 6, and Chicago sweeps the Kings. In the Eastern semis, the Caps knock off the Senators in 5, and the Sabres sweep Montreal. The Western Conference semis see Detroit slamming St Louis in 6, and Detroit avenges its 1997 playoff loss to Edmonton in 5 games. In the Stanley Cup semifinals, Washington knocks out the Sabres in 6, and the Red Wings shut down Dallas in 6. Detroit takes the first two games over Washington in the Cup finals. Detroit takes game three 2-1. Detroit takes game 4 4-1 for their second straight finals sweep. Red Wings Captain Steve Yzerman leads all playoff scorers with 24 points, he wins the Conn Smythe. Buffalo's Dominik Hasek is the first goalie to win the Vezina, the Pearson and the Hart Trophy for two years in a row. Rob Blake of the King's wins the Norris. Ron Francis of Pittsburgh wins his second Lady Byng. Boston Rookie Sergei Samsonov wins the Calder. Dallas Star Jere Lehtinen grabs the Selke Trophy. Two years after a life threatening illness Blue's goalie Jamie McLennan wins the Masterton. Boston coach Pat Burns takes his third Jack Adams. First game Matt Cullen, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Joe Thornton, Boston Bruins Sergei Samsonov, Boston Bruins Derek Morris, Calgary Flames Olli Jokinen, Los Angeles Kings Sheldon Souray, New Jersey Devils Zdeno Chara, New York Islanders Marc Savard, New York Rangers Chris Phillips, Ottawa Senators Marian Hossa, Ottawa Senators Daniel Briere, Phoenix Coyotes Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks Mattias Ohlund, Vancouver Canucks Final Game Brent Sutter, Chicago Blackhawks Jari Kurri, Colorado Avalanche Slava Fetisov, Detroit Red Wings Kevin Lowe, Edmonton Oilers Andy Moog, Montreal Canadiens Pat LaFontaine, New York Rangers Joel Otto, Philadelphia Flyers Mike Gartner, Phoenix Coyotes Al Iafrate, San Jose Sharks Kelly Hrudey, San Jose Sharks Jeff Brown, Washington Capitals Brian Bradley, Tampa Bay Lightning Norm Maciver, Phoenix Coyotes YouTube Video YouTube Video YouTube Video YouTube Video YouTube Video __________________ My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!