| 1997–98New Jersey Devils | |
|---|---|
Atlantic Division champions | |
| Division | 1stAtlantic |
| Conference | 1stEastern |
| 1997–98 record | 48–23–11 |
| Home record | 29–10–2 |
| Road record | 19–13–9 |
| Goals for | 225 |
| Goals against | 166 |
| Team information | |
| General manager | Lou Lamoriello |
| Coach | Jacques Lemaire |
| Captain | Scott Stevens |
| Alternate captains | Doug Gilmour Scott Niedermeyer |
| Arena | Continental Airlines Arena |
| Average attendance | 17,296 |
| Minor league affiliates | Albany River Rats Raleigh IceCaps |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Bobby Holík (29) |
| Assists | Scott Niedermeyer (43) |
| Points | Bobby Holik (65) |
| Penalty minutes | Krzysztof Oliwa (295) |
| Plus/minus | Randy McKay (+30) |
| Wins | Martin Brodeur (43) |
| Goals against average | Martin Brodeur (1.89) |
The1997–98 New Jersey Devils season was the24th season for theNational Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 11, 1974, and 16th season since the franchise relocated fromColorado prior to the1982–83 NHL season.[1] The Devils won theAtlantic Division title with the best record in the Eastern Conference, but were eliminated in the first round of the1998 Stanley Cup playoffs by theOttawa Senators.
The Devils once again led the NHL in defense, allowing a League-low 166 goals in the 82-game regular season. Although the Devils had the fewest power play opportunities in the League, with just 333, they finished second in power play percentage, with 18.92% (63 for 333).[2]
| No. | CR | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 – Atlantic,NE – Northeast
bold – Qualified for playoffs
The first two games were played at the Meadowlands. In Game 1, Ottawa won 2–1 in overtime, but in Game 2, the Devils were victorious by a score of 3–1. Games 3 and 4 were played in Ottawa. The Senators won Game 3, 2–1, in overtime and Game 4, 4–3. Game 5 was back in New Jersey, where the Devils won 3–1. Game 6 went back to Ottawa, where the Senators won 3–1 and the series 4–2.
| 1997–98 regular season[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 7–4–0 (home: 5–1–0; road: 2–3–0)
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November: 10–4–0 (home: 5–2–0; road: 5–2–0)
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December: 8–3–2 (home: 5–2–0; road: 3–1–2)
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January: 6–5–4 (home: 5–2–0; road: 1–3–4)
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February: 6–0–0 (home: 2–0–0; road: 4–0–0)
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March: 8–3–3 (home: 5–0–1; road: 3–3–2)
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April: 3–4–2 (home: 2–3–1; road: 1–1–1)
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Legend:W Win (2 points)L Loss (0 points)T Tie (1 point) |
| 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (8) Ottawa Senators – Senators win 4–2
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Legend:W WinL Loss |
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | |||
| 16 | Bobby Holik | C | 82 | 29 | 36 | 65 | 23 | 100 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 8 |
| 27 | Scott Niedermayer | D | 81 | 14 | 43 | 57 | 5 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 93 | Doug Gilmour | C | 63 | 13 | 40 | 53 | 10 | 68 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| 21 | Randy McKay | RW | 74 | 24 | 24 | 48 | 30 | 86 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| 23 | Dave Andreychuk | LW | 75 | 14 | 34 | 48 | 19 | 26 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 4 |
| 26 | Patrik Elias | LW | 74 | 18 | 19 | 37 | 18 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 0 |
| 17 | Petr Sykora | RW | 58 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 0 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Brian Rolston | LW | 76 | 16 | 14 | 30 | 7 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Denis Pederson | C | 80 | 15 | 13 | 28 | −6 | 97 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Scott Stevens | D | 80 | 4 | 22 | 26 | 19 | 80 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 32 | Steve Thomas | LW | 55 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 4 | 32 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 24 | Lyle Odelein | D | 79 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 11 | 171 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 21 |
| 19 | Bob Carpenter | C | 66 | 9 | 9 | 18 | −4 | 22 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Jason Arnott† | C | 35 | 5 | 10 | 15 | −8 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | John MacLean‡ | RW | 26 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −6 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Doug Bodger† | D | 49 | 5 | 5 | 10 | −1 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 | 0 |
| 12 | Bill Guerin‡ | RW | 19 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | Sheldon Souray | D | 60 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 18 | 85 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 | Valeri Zelepukin‡ | LW | 35 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9 | Brendan Morrison | C | 11 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| 28 | Kevin Dean | D | 50 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| 6 | Brad Bombardir | D | 43 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 18 | Sergei Brylin | LW | 18 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 29 | Krzysztof Oliwa | LW | 73 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 295 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| 20 | Jay Pandolfo | LW | 23 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Martin Brodeur | G | 70 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 22 | Scott Daniels | LW | 26 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 102 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Peter Zezel‡ | C | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | Ken Daneyko | D | 37 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 57 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 1 | Mike Dunham | G | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 7 | Vlastimil Kroupa | D | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | Sasha Lakovic | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 35 | Richard Shulmistra† | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 31 | Peter Sidorkiewicz | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 33 | Reid Simpson‡ | LW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Ken Sutton‡ | D | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| No. | Player | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | ||
| 30 | Martin Brodeur | 70 | 43 | 17 | 8 | 1569 | 130 | 1.89 | .917 | 10 | 4128 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 164 | 12 | 1.97 | .927 | 0 | 366 |
| 1 | Mike Dunham | 15 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 332 | 29 | 2.25 | .913 | 1 | 773 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 31 | Richard Shulmistra† | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 1.94 | .933 | 0 | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 35 | Peter Sidorkiewicz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 3.00 | .875 | 0 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Martin Brodeur was a runner-up for theVezina Trophy andPatrik Elias was a finalist for theCalder Memorial Trophy.
| Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| League (annual) | NHL All-Rookie Team | Patrik Elias(Forward) | [5] |
| NHL Second All-Star Team | Martin Brodeur(Goaltender) | [5] | |
| Scott Niedermayer(Defense) | |||
| William M. Jennings Trophy | Martin Brodeur | [6] | |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Martin Brodeur | [7] |
| Bobby Holik | |||
| Jacques Lemaire(coach) | |||
| Scott Niedermayer | |||
| Scott Stevens | |||
| Team | Devils' Players' Player | Doug Gilmour | [8] |
| Hugh Delano Unsung Hero | Denis Pederson | [8] | |
| Most Valuable Devil | Martin Brodeur | [8] | |
| Three-Star Award | Martin Brodeur | [8] |
| Milestone | Player | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| First game | Brad Bombardir | October 4, 1997 | [9] |
| Sheldon Souray | October 17, 1997 | ||
| Brendan Morrison | December 4, 1997 | ||
| Richard Shulmistra | January 1, 1998 | ||
| 25th shutout | Martin Brodeur | December 4, 1997 | [10] |
| 600th assist | Scott Stevens | February 7, 1998 | [11] |
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New Jersey's picks at the1997 NHL entry draft, held inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania, at theCivic Arena.[12]
| Rd # | Pick # | Player | Nat | Pos | Team (league) | Notes |
| 1 | 24 | Jean-Francois Damphousse |  Canada | G | Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) | |
| 2 | 38 | Stanislav Gron |  Slovakia | LW | Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) | [a] |
| 3 | 78 | No third-round pick | [b] | |||
| 4 | 104 | Lucas Nehrling | Canada | D | Sarnia Sting (OHL) | |
| 5 | 131 | Jiri Bicek | Slovakia | LW | HC Košice (Slovakia) | |
| 6 | 159 | Sascha Goc |  Germany | D | Schwenninger Wild Wings (Germany) | |
| 7 | 188 | Mathieu Benoit | Canada | RW | Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL) | |
| 8 | 215 | Scott Clemmensen |  United States | G | Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) | |
| 9 | 241 | Jan Srdinko |  Czech Republic | D | ? (Czech Republic) | |
This was the first season of television broadcast coverage on Fox Sports Net New York.
Brodeur improved his NHL-leading goals-against average to 1.67 with his 25th career shutout.
SCOTT STEVENS, the Devils' captain, was honored by the National Hockey League before the game for registering his 600th assist earlier in the month.
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