1997–98 Colorado Avalanche season

1997–98 Colorado Avalanche
Division	1st Pacific
Conference	2nd Western
1997–98 record	39–26–17
Goals for	231
Goals against	205
Team information
General manager	Pierre Lacroix
Coach	Marc Crawford
Captain	Joe Sakic
Arena	McNichols Sports Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Joe Sakic (27)
Assists	Peter Forsberg (66)
Points	Peter Forsberg (91)
Penalty minutes	Jeff Odgers (213)
Wins	Patrick Roy (31)
Goals against average	Craig Billington (2.32)

The 1997–98 Colorado Avalanche season was the Avalanche's third season.

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division

#	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Colorado Avalanche	82	39	26	17	231	205	95
2	5	Los Angeles Kings	82	38	33	11	227	225	87
3	7	Edmonton Oilers	82	35	37	10	215	224	80
4	8	San Jose Sharks	82	34	38	10	210	216	78
5	10	Calgary Flames	82	26	41	15	217	252	67
6	12	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	82	26	43	13	205	261	65
7	13	Vancouver Canucks	82	25	43	14	224	273	64

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Game log

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 1, 1997	2–2 OT	Dallas Stars (1997–98)	0–0–1
2	W	October 3, 1997	4–1	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	1–0–1
3	W	October 5, 1997	3–0	@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	2–0–1
4	W	October 7, 1997	3–2	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	3–0–1
5	W	October 9, 1997	3–2	San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	4–0–1
6	T	October 11, 1997	3–3 OT	Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	4–0–2
7	W	October 15, 1997	6–2	@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	5–0–2
8	L	October 17, 1997	5–6 OT	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	5–1–2
9	T	October 19, 1997	4–4 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	5–1–3
10	W	October 22, 1997	4–3	Washington Capitals (1997–98)	6–1–3
11	T	October 24, 1997	3–3 OT	Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	6–1–4
12	L	October 25, 1997	1–3	@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)	6–2–4
13	W	October 28, 1997	3–2	Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	7–2–4
14	T	October 30, 1997	2–2 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	7–2–5
15	T	November 1, 1997	3–3 OT	Calgary Flames (1997–98)	7–2–6
16	L	November 5, 1997	2–4	New York Rangers (1997–98)	7–3–6
17	W	November 8, 1997	4–1	St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	8–3–6
18	W	November 11, 1997	2–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	9–3–6
19	W	November 13, 1997	2–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	10–3–6
20	L	November 14, 1997	1–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	10–4–6
21	L	November 16, 1997	1–4	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	10–5–6
22	T	November 18, 1997	6–6 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1997–98)	10–5–7
23	W	November 21, 1997	3–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	11–5–7
24	L	November 23, 1997	1–2 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	11–6–7
25	T	November 26, 1997	3–3 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	11–6–8
26	W	November 28, 1997	3–2	@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)	12–6–8
27	W	November 29, 1997	3–2	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	13–6–8
28	W	December 2, 1997	4–2	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	14–6–8
29	W	December 4, 1997	2–1	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	15–6–8
30	W	December 6, 1997	6–4	Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	16–6–8
31	L	December 8, 1997	2–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	16–7–8
32	T	December 10, 1997	2–2 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	16–7–9
33	L	December 12, 1997	1–3	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	16–8–9
34	W	December 13, 1997	5–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	17–8–9
35	W	December 15, 1997	3–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	18–8–9
36	T	December 17, 1997	2–2 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	18–8–10
37	T	December 19, 1997	3–3 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	18–8–11
38	W	December 23, 1997	5–1	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	19–8–11
39	W	December 27, 1997	5–1	@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	20–8–11
40	T	December 29, 1997	1–1 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	20–8–12
41	W	December 31, 1997	3–1	New York Islanders (1997–98)	21–8–12
42	T	January 2, 1998	2–2 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	21–8–13
43	W	January 3, 1998	5–4 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	22–8–13
44	L	January 6, 1998	1–3	Calgary Flames (1997–98)	22–9–13
45	T	January 8, 1998	4–4 OT	Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	22–9–14
46	T	January 10, 1998	3–3 OT	Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	22–9–15
47	W	January 12, 1998	3–1	Florida Panthers (1997–98)	23–9–15
48	W	January 14, 1998	2–0	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	24–9–15
49	T	January 15, 1998	2–2 OT	San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	24–9–16
50	L	January 21, 1998	2–3	@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)	24–10–16
51	L	January 22, 1998	3–4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	24–11–16
52	L	January 24, 1998	2–3	Dallas Stars (1997–98)	24–12–16
53	W	January 26, 1998	2–1 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	25–12–16
54	W	January 28, 1998	6–1	Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	26–12–16
55	L	January 31, 1998	2–5	@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	26–13–16
56	W	February 2, 1998	2–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	27–13–16
57	W	February 5, 1998	4–2	Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	28–13–16
58	W	February 7, 1998	3–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	29–13–16
59	W	February 25, 1998	4–2	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	30–13–16
60	W	February 26, 1998	3–0	Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	31–13–16
61	L	February 28, 1998	0–4	Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	31–14–16
62	L	March 2, 1998	4–5 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	31–15–16
63	W	March 4, 1998	5–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	32–15–16
64	L	March 5, 1998	2–4	@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	32–16–16
65	W	March 7, 1998	4–2	@ New York Islanders (1997–98)	33–16–16
66	L	March 9, 1998	1–2	Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	33–17–16
67	W	March 11, 1998	3–2	St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	34–17–16
68	L	March 14, 1998	2–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	34–18–16
69	L	March 15, 1998	3–5	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	34–19–16
70	W	March 19, 1998	4–3	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	35–19–16
71	W	March 21, 1998	2–0	@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	36–19–16
72	L	March 26, 1998	0–2	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	36–20–16
73	W	March 28, 1998	5–3	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	37–20–16
74	L	March 30, 1998	1–4	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	37–21–16
75	L	April 1, 1998	0–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	37–22–16
76	L	April 2, 1998	1–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	37–23–16
77	L	April 4, 1998	1–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	37–24–16
78	L	April 6, 1998	1–3	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	37–25–16
79	L	April 11, 1998	3–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	37–26–16
80	T	April 13, 1998	2–2 OT	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	37–26–17
81	W	April 16, 1998	4–1	San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	38–26–17
82	W	April 18, 1998	4–3	Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	39–26–17

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Forsberg, PeterPeter Forsberg C 72 25 66 91 94 6 7 3 7 Kamensky, ValeriValeri Kamensky LW 75 26 40 66 60 -2 8 0 4 Sakic, JoeJoe Sakic C 64 27 36 63 50 0 12 1 2 Lemieux, ClaudeClaude Lemieux RW 78 26 27 53 115 -7 11 1 1 Ozolinsh, SandisSandis Ozolinsh D 66 13 38 51 65 -12 9 0 2 Deadmarsh, AdamAdam Deadmarsh RW 73 22 21 43 125 0 10 0 6 Lacroix, EricEric Lacroix LW 82 16 15 31 84 0 5 0 6 Krupp, UweUwe Krupp D 78 9 22 31 38 21 5 0 2 Corbet, ReneRene Corbet LW 68 16 12 28 133 8 4 0 4 Yelle, StephaneStephane Yelle C 81 7 15 22 48 -10 0 1 0 Kurri, JariJari Kurri RW 70 5 17 22 12 6 2 0 0 Foote, AdamAdam Foote D 77 3 14 17 124 -3 0 0 1 Messier, EricEric Messier LW 62 4 12 16 20 4 0 0 0 Klemm, JonJon Klemm D 67 6 8 14 30 -3 0 0 0 Gusarov, AlexeiAlexei Gusarov D 72 4 10 14 42 9 0 1 1 Odgers, JeffJeff Odgers RW 68 5 8 13 213 5 0 0 0 Donovan, SheanShean Donovan RW 47 5 7 12 48 3 0 0 0 Jones, KeithKeith Jones RW 23 3 7 10 22 -4 1 0 2 Lefebvre, SylvainSylvain Lefebvre D 81 0 10 10 48 2 0 0 0 Marha, JosefJosef Marha C 11 2 5 7 4 0 0 0 0 Miller, AaronAaron Miller D 55 2 2 4 51 0 0 0 0 Ricci, MikeMike Ricci C 6 0 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 Fitzgerald, TomTom Fitzgerald RW 11 2 1 3 22 0 0 1 0 Leroux, FrancoisFrancois Leroux D 50 1 2 3 140 -3 0 0 0 Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy G 65 0 3 3 39 0 0 0 0 Belak, WadeWade Belak D 8 1 1 2 27 -3 0 0 1 Sarault, YvesYves Sarault LW 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 Trepanier, PascalPascal Trepanier D 15 0 1 1 18 -2 0 0 0 Billington, CraigCraig Billington G 23 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Larsen, BradBrad Larsen LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Matte, ChristianChristian Matte RW 5 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 Rychel, WarrenWarren Rychel LW 8 0 0 0 23 -1 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy 3835 65 31 19 13 153 2.39 4 1825 1672 .916 Billington, CraigCraig Billington 1162 23 8 7 4 45 2.32 1 588 543 .923 Team: 4997 82 39 26 17 198 2.38 5 2413 2215 .918

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Forsberg, PeterPeter Forsberg C 7 6 5 11 12 3 2 0 0 Ozolinsh, SandisSandis Ozolinsh D 7 0 7 7 14 -3 0 0 0 Lemieux, ClaudeClaude Lemieux RW 7 3 3 6 8 2 1 0 1 Kamensky, ValeriValeri Kamensky LW 7 2 3 5 18 1 1 0 0 Sakic, JoeJoe Sakic C 6 2 3 5 6 0 0 1 2 Deadmarsh, AdamAdam Deadmarsh RW 7 2 0 2 4 -1 1 0 0 Yelle, StephaneStephane Yelle C 7 1 0 1 12 -3 0 0 0 Fitzgerald, TomTom Fitzgerald RW 7 0 1 1 20 -2 0 0 0 Gusarov, AlexeiAlexei Gusarov D 7 0 1 1 6 1 0 0 0 Krupp, UweUwe Krupp D 7 0 1 1 4 2 0 0 0 Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy G 7 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Billington, CraigCraig Billington G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Corbet, ReneRene Corbet LW 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Foote, AdamAdam Foote D 7 0 0 0 23 -1 0 0 0 Jones, KeithKeith Jones RW 7 0 0 0 13 -1 0 0 0 Klemm, JonJon Klemm D 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Kurri, JariJari Kurri RW 4 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 Lacroix, EricEric Lacroix LW 7 0 0 0 6 -2 0 0 0 Lefebvre, SylvainSylvain Lefebvre D 7 0 0 0 4 -1 0 0 0 Miller, AaronAaron Miller D 7 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 Odgers, JeffJeff Odgers RW 6 0 0 0 25 -1 0 0 0 Rychel, WarrenWarren Rychel LW 6 0 0 0 24 -2 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy 430 7 3 4 18 2.51 0 191 173 .906 Billington, CraigCraig Billington 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 Team: 431 7 3 4 18 2.51 0 191 173 .906

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

See also

• 1997–98 NHL season
• 1997 NHL Entry Draft
• List of Colorado Avalanche seasons
• List of Colorado Avalanche players
• List of Colorado Avalanche draft picks

References

General

• The Internet Hockey Database
• Colorado Avalanche Database
• Official National Hockey League Site