1997–98 New York Islanders season

1997–98 New York Islanders
Division4th Atlantic
Conference10th Eastern
1997–98 record30–41–11
Home record17–20–4
Road record13–21–7
Goals for212
Goals against225
Team information
General managerMike Milbury
CoachRick Bowness (Oct.–Mar.)
Mike Milbury (Mar.–Apr.)
CaptainBryan McCabe (Oct.–Feb.)
Trevor Linden (Feb.–Apr.)
ArenaNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Average attendance12,253
Minor league affiliate(s)Utah Grizzlies
Kentucky Thoroughblades
Louisville RiverFrogs
Team leaders
GoalsZigmund Palffy (45)
AssistsZigmund Palffy (42)
PointsZigmund Palffy (87)
Penalty minutesRich Pilon (297)
Plus/minusMariusz Czerkawski (+11)
WinsTommy Salo (23)
Goals against averageWade Flaherty (1.99)

The 1997–98 New York Islanders season was the 26th season in the franchise's history. The Islanders missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

Off-season

In June 1997, New York Islanders general manager Mike Milbury extended an invitation to Cammi Granato to attend Islanders training camp.[1] Granato eventually declined.

Defenseman Bryan McCabe was named team captain.

Regular season

In February, Bryan McCabe was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Trevor Linden, who's named the Islanders' new captain upon arrival.

The Islanders tied the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins for most short-handed goals allowed with 16.[2]

Final standings

Atlantic Division
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
Eastern Conference[3]
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


Schedule and results

1997–98 regular season[4]
October: 5–5–2 (home: 2–3–0; road: 3–2–2)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
1 T October 3, 1997 2–2 OT @ New York Rangers (1997–98) 0–0–1 Recap
2 W October 4, 1997 3–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 1–0–1 Recap
3 L October 8, 1997 3–6 Washington Capitals (1997–98) 1–1–1 Recap
4 L October 11, 1997 1–3 @ Washington Capitals (1997–98) 1–2–1 Recap
5 T October 13, 1997 2–2 OT @ Florida Panthers (1997–98) 1–2–2 Recap
6 W October 16, 1997 5–2 @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 2–2–2 Recap
7 W October 19, 1997 5–2 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 3–2–2 Recap
8 L October 21, 1997 2–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 3–3–2 Recap
9 L October 25, 1997 2–4 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 3–4–2 Recap
10 L October 27, 1997 1–2 San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 3–5–2 Recap
11 W October 29, 1997 5–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 4–5–2 Recap
12 W October 30, 1997 5–3 New York Rangers (1997–98) 5–5–2 Recap
November: 6–6–2 (home: 3–3–1; road: 3–3–1)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
13 W November 1, 1997 4–2 Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 6–5–2 Recap
14 T November 5, 1997 4–4 OT Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 6–5–3 Recap
15 W November 7, 1997 3–2 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 7–5–3 Recap
16 L November 8, 1997 2–4 Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 7–6–3 Recap
17 L November 10, 1997 1–3 New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 7–7–3 Recap
18 T November 12, 1997 2–2 OT @ Florida Panthers (1997–98) 7–7–4 Recap
19 W November 14, 1997 4–1 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 8–7–4 Recap
20 L November 15, 1997 0–1 Florida Panthers (1997–98) 8–8–4 Recap
21 W November 19, 1997 3–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 9–8–4 Recap
22 L November 20, 1997 1–5 @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 9–9–4 Recap
23 L November 22, 1997 1–6 @ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 9–10–4 Recap
24 W November 26, 1997 4–1 New York Rangers (1997–98) 10–10–4 Recap
25 L November 28, 1997 1–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 10–11–4 Recap
26 W November 29, 1997 4–2 St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 11–11–4 Recap
December: 4–9–1 (home: 3–4–0; road: 1–5–1)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
27 L December 2, 1997 2–4 Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 11–12–4 Recap
28 L December 3, 1997 3–5 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 11–13–4 Recap
29 W December 6, 1997 4–0 Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 12–13–4 Recap
30 L December 9, 1997 1–3 Calgary Flames (1997–98) 12–14–4 Recap
31 L December 11, 1997 3–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 12–15–4 Recap
32 W December 13, 1997 4–1 Florida Panthers (1997–98) 13–15–4 Recap
33 T December 16, 1997 2–2 OT @ Washington Capitals (1997–98) 13–15–5 Recap
34 W December 17, 1997 4–0 Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 14–15–5 Recap
35 W December 20, 1997 4–3 @ Boston Bruins (1997–98) 15–15–5 Recap
36 L December 22, 1997 1–4 Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 15–16–5 Recap
37 L December 26, 1997 3–4 @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 15–17–5 Recap
38 L December 27, 1997 2–6 Florida Panthers (1997–98) 15–18–5 Recap
39 L December 29, 1997 1–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 15–19–5 Recap
40 L December 31, 1997 1–3 @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 15–20–5 Recap
January: 3–8–2 (home: 2–3–1; road: 1–5–1)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
41 L January 2, 1998 1–2 @ Dallas Stars (1997–98) 15–21–5 Recap
42 L January 3, 1998 1–2 @ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 15–22–5 Recap
43 L January 6, 1998 2–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 15–23–5 Recap
44 L January 8, 1998 2–8 Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 15–24–5 Recap
45 L January 10, 1998 1–2 OT Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 15–25–5 Recap
46 T January 12, 1998 1–1 OT Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 15–25–6 Recap
47 W January 14, 1998 7–1 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 16–25–6 Recap
48 L January 20, 1998 2–5 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 16–26–6 Recap
49 T January 22, 1998 3–3 OT @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 16–26–7 Recap
50 L January 24, 1998 2–3 @ Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 16–27–7 Recap
51 L January 26, 1998 1–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 16–28–7 Recap
52 W January 28, 1998 6–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 17–28–7 Recap
53 W January 30, 1998 2–0 Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 18–28–7 Recap
February: 2–2–1 (home: 1–2–1; road: 1–0–0)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
54 T February 1, 1998 2–2 OT Boston Bruins (1997–98) 18–28–8 Recap
55 W February 2, 1998 4–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 19–28–8 Recap
56 W February 4, 1998 4–2 Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 20–28–8 Recap
57 L February 7, 1998 2–3 New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 20–29–8 Recap
58 L February 25, 1998 1–4 Dallas Stars (1997–98) 20–30–8 Recap
March: 4–8–2 (home: 2–4–1; road: 2–4–1)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
59 L March 1, 1998 4–5 Boston Bruins (1997–98) 20–31–8 Recap
60 W March 3, 1998 3–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 21–31–8 Recap
61 W March 6, 1998 4–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 22–31–8 Recap
62 L March 7, 1998 2–4 Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 22–32–8 Recap
63 T March 10, 1998 2–2 OT Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 22–32–9 Recap
64 L March 12, 1998 1–2 Washington Capitals (1997–98) 22–33–9 Recap
65 L March 14, 1998 2–6 Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 22–34–9 Recap
66 T March 18, 1998 4–4 OT @ Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 22–34–10 Recap
67 L March 20, 1998 1–4 @ Calgary Flames (1997–98) 22–35–10 Recap
68 W March 22, 1998 3–1 @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 23–35–10 Recap
69 L March 24, 1998 3–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 23–36–10 Recap
70 W March 26, 1998 4–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 24–36–10 Recap
71 L March 28, 1998 3–4 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 24–37–10 Recap
72 L March 31, 1998 2–5 @ Washington Capitals (1997–98) 24–38–10 Recap
April: 6–3–1 (home: 4–1–0; road: 2–2–1)
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap
73 W April 1, 1998 4–0 Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 25–38–10 Recap
74 W April 4, 1998 3–0 New York Rangers (1997–98) 26–38–10 Recap
75 W April 6, 1998 3–0 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 27–38–10 Recap
76 W April 8, 1998 3–2 New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 28–38–10 Recap
77 L April 9, 1998 1–4 @ Boston Bruins (1997–98) 28–39–10 Recap
78 T April 11, 1998 3–3 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 28–39–11 Recap
79 L April 13, 1998 0–2 Washington Capitals (1997–98) 28–40–11 Recap
80 L April 15, 1998 2–4 @ New York Rangers (1997–98) 28–41–11 Recap
81 W April 16, 1998 4–0 Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 29–41–11 Recap
82 W April 18, 1998 2–1 @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 30–41–11 Recap
Legend:

  Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

  • Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
  • † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Islanders only.
  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Islanders only.
No. Player Pos Regular season
GP G A Pts +/- PIM
16 Zigmund Palffy RW 82 45 42 87 −2 34
21 Robert Reichel C 82 25 40 65 −11 32
34 Bryan Berard D 75 14 32 46 −32 59
20 Bryan Smolinski C 81 13 30 43 −16 34
29 Kenny Jonsson D 81 14 26 40 −2 58
14 Tom Chorske LW 82 12 23 35 7 39
17 Sergei Nemchinov LW 74 10 19 29 3 24
39 Travis Green‡ C 54 14 12 26 −19 66
25 Mariusz Czerkawski RW 68 12 13 25 11 23
13 Claude Lapointe C 78 10 10 20 −9 47
44 Todd Bertuzzi‡ RW 52 7 11 18 −19 58
32 Trevor Linden† RW 25 10 7 17 −1 33
7 Scott Lachance D 63 2 11 13 −11 45
18 Mike Hough LW 74 5 7 12 −4 27
4 Bryan McCabe‡ D 56 3 9 12 9 145
24 Paul Kruse‡ LW 62 6 1 7 −12 138
2 Rich Pilon D 76 0 7 7 1 291
10 Joe Sacco† RW 25 3 3 6 1 10
36 J. J. Daigneault† D 18 0 6 6 1 21
33 Ken Belanger LW 37 3 1 4 1 101
54 Kip Miller† C 9 1 3 4 −2 2
44 Jason Dawe† RW 13 1 2 3 −2 6
6 Doug Houda‡ D 31 1 2 3 −6 47
28 Dennis Vaske D 19 0 3 3 2 12
36 Dane Jackson RW 8 1 1 2 1 4
55 Vladimir Chebaturkin D 2 0 2 2 −1 0
3[a] Zdeno Chara D 25 0 1 1 1 50
30 Wade Flaherty G 16 0 1 1 0
58 John Namestnikov D 6 0 1 1 −1 4
49 Vladimir Orszagh RW 11 0 1 1 −3 2
42 Dan Plante RW 7 0 1 1 −1 6
35 Tommy Salo G 62 0 1 1 31
60 Ray Schultz D 13 0 1 1 3 45
43 Jason Strudwick‡ D 17 0 1 1 1 36
1 Eric Fichaud G 17 0 0 0 0
11 Sean Haggerty LW 5 0 0 0 −3 0
46 Jason Holland‡ D 8 0 0 0 −4 4
12 Mark Janssens†‡ C 12 0 0 0 −3 34
52 Mark Lawrence RW 2 0 0 0 0 2
37 Jeff Libby D 1 0 0 0 0 0
48 Warren Luhning RW 8 0 0 0 −4 0
24 Gino Odjick† RW 13 0 0 0 1 31
8 Steve Webb RW 20 0 0 0 −2 35

Goaltending

No. Player Regular season
GP W L T SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI
35 Tommy Salo 62 23 29 5 1617 152 2.64 .906 4 3461
30 Wade Flaherty 16 4 4 3 309 23 1.99 .926 3 694
1 Eric Fichaud 17 3 8 3 422 40 2.97 .905 0 807

Awards and records

Awards

Type Award/honor Recipient Ref
League
(in-season) 		NHL All-Star Game selection Zigmund Palffy [5]
Team Bob Nystrom Award Rich Pilon [6]

Milestones

Milestone Player Date Ref
First game Warren Luhning October 4, 1997 [7]
Zdeno Chara November 19, 1997
Vladimir Orszagh November 22, 1997
Vladimir Chebaturkin March 24, 1998
Ray Schultz
Jeff Libby March 26, 1998

Transactions

Draft picks

New York's draft picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[8]

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 4 Roberto Luongo  Canada Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
1 5 Eric Brewer  Canada Prince George Cougars (WHL)
2 31 Jeff Zehr  Canada Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
3 59 Jarrett Smith  Canada Prince George Cougars (WHL)
3 79 Robert Schnabel  Czech Republic Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
4 85 Petr Mika  Czech Republic Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
5 115 Adam Edinger  United States Bowling Green State University (CCHA)
6 139 Bobby Leavins  Canada Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
7 166 Kris Knoblauch  Canada Edmonton Ice (WHL)
8 196 Jeremy Symington  Canada Petrolia Jets (WOHL)
9 222 Ryan Clark  United States Lincoln Stars (USHL)

Notes

  1. ^ Chara wore number 53 in his first seven games.

References

  • "New York Islanders 1997-98 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  • "1997-98 New York Islanders Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  1. ^ Michael Farber. "The Ice Queen". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  2. ^ "1997-98 NHL Summary".
  3. ^ "1997–1998 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  4. ^ "1997-98 New York Islanders Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  5. ^ "1998 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "New York Islanders – Awards and Honors". New York Islanders. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  7. ^ "1997-98 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  8. ^ "1997 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.