1997–98 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1997–98 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	1st Northeast
1997–98 record	40–24–18
Goals for	228
Goals against	188
Team information
General manager	Craig Patrick
Coach	Kevin Constantine
Captain	Ron Francis
Alternate captains	Kevin Hatcher Jaromir Jagr
Arena	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Jaromir Jagr (35)
Assists	Jaromir Jagr (67)
Points	Jaromir Jagr (102)
Penalty minutes	Chris Tamer (181)
Wins	Tom Barrasso (31)
Goals against average	Peter Skudra (1.83)

The 1997-98 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the team's 31st in the National Hockey League. It was their first season under head coach Kevin Constantine and first after the first retirement of Mario Lemieux.

Regular season

Final standings

Northeast Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Pittsburgh Penguins	82	40	24	18	228	188	98
Boston Bruins	82	39	30	13	221	194	91
Buffalo Sabres	82	36	29	17	211	187	89
Montreal Canadiens	82	37	32	13	235	208	87
Ottawa Senators	82	34	33	15	193	200	83
Carolina Hurricanes	82	33	41	8	200	219	74

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game log

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

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Jagr, JaromirJaromir Jagr	RW	77	35	67	102	64	17	7	0	8
Francis, RonRon Francis	C	81	25	62	87	20	12	7	0	5
Barnes, StuStu Barnes	C	78	30	35	65	30	15	15	1	5
Hatcher, KevinKevin Hatcher	D	74	19	29	48	66	-3	13	1	3
Straka, MartinMartin Straka	C	75	19	23	42	28	-1	4	3	4
Brown, RobRob Brown	RW	82	15	25	40	59	-1	4	0	4
Olausson, FredrikFredrik Olausson	D	76	6	27	33	42	13	2	0	1
Morozov, AlekseyAleksey Morozov	RW	76	13	13	26	8	-4	2	0	3
Olczyk, EdEd Olczyk	C	56	11	11	22	35	-9	5	1	1
Lang, RobertRobert Lang	C	51	9	13	22	14	6	1	1	2
Hicks, AlexAlex Hicks	LW	58	7	13	20	54	4	0	0	1
Werenka, BradBrad Werenka	D	71	3	15	18	46	15	2	0	0
Slegr, JiriJiri Slegr	D	73	5	12	17	109	10	1	1	0
Johansson, AndreasAndreas Johansson	C	50	5	10	15	20	4	0	1	0
Kasparaitis, DariusDarius Kasparaitis	D	81	4	8	12	127	3	0	2	0
Dome, RobertRobert Dome	RW	30	5	2	7	12	-1	1	0	0
Ferraro, ChrisChris Ferraro	C	46	3	4	7	43	-2	0	0	0
Ferraro, PeterPeter Ferraro	LW	29	3	4	7	12	-2	0	0	0
Wright, TylerTyler Wright	C	82	3	4	7	112	-3	1	0	0
Moran, IanIan Moran	D	37	1	6	7	19	0	0	0	1
Tamer, ChrisChris Tamer	D	79	0	7	7	181	4	0	0	0
Wilkinson, NeilNeil Wilkinson	D	34	2	4	6	24	0	1	0	0
Valk, GarryGarry Valk	RW	39	2	1	3	33	-3	0	0	0
Gronman, TuomasTuomas Gronman	D	22	1	2	3	25	3	1	0	1
Barrasso, TomTom Barrasso	G	63	0	2	2	14	0	0	0	0
Johnson, GregGreg Johnson	C	5	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	0
Pronger, SeanSean Pronger	C	5	1	0	1	2	-1	0	0	1
Skudra, PeterPeter Skudra	G	17	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Butenschon, SvenSven Butenschon	D	8	0	0	0	6	-1	0	0	0
Wregget, KenKen Wregget	G	15	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Barrasso, TomTom Barrasso	3542	63	31	14	13	122	2.07	7	1556	1434	.922
Skudra, PeterPeter Skudra	851	17	6	4	3	26	1.83	0	341	315	.924
Wregget, KenKen Wregget	611	15	3	6	2	28	2.75	0	293	265	.904
Team:	5004	82	40	24	18	176	2.11	7	2190	2014	.920

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Jagr, JaromirJaromir Jagr	RW	6	4	5	9	2	1	0	0
Barnes, StuStu Barnes	C	6	3	3	6	2	0	0	1
Francis, RonRon Francis	C	6	1	5	6	2	0	0	0
Slegr, JiriJiri Slegr	D	6	0	4	4	2	0	0	0
Lang, RobertRobert Lang	C	6	0	3	3	2	0	0	0
Olausson, FredrikFredrik Olausson	D	6	0	3	3	2	0	0	0
Olczyk, EdEd Olczyk	C	6	2	0	2	4	1	1	1
Straka, MartinMartin Straka	C	6	2	0	2	2	0	1	0
Brown, RobRob Brown	RW	6	1	0	1	4	1	0	0
Hatcher, KevinKevin Hatcher	D	6	1	0	1	12	1	0	0
Werenka, BradBrad Werenka	D	6	1	0	1	8	0	1	0
Morozov, AlekseyAleksey Morozov	RW	6	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Tamer, ChrisChris Tamer	D	6	0	1	1	4	0	0	0
Wright, TylerTyler Wright	C	6	0	1	1	4	0	0	0
Barrasso, TomTom Barrasso	G	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Gronman, TuomasTuomas Gronman	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hicks, AlexAlex Hicks	LW	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Johansson, AndreasAndreas Johansson	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kasparaitis, DariusDarius Kasparaitis	D	5	0	0	0	8	0	0	0
Moran, IanIan Moran	D	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Pronger, SeanSean Pronger	C	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Barrasso, TomTom Barrasso	376	6	2	4	17	2.71	0	171	154	.901
Team:	376	6	2	4	17	2.71	0	171	154	.901

Note: 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;

Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1997-98 season:

Trades

October 22, 1997	To Pittsburgh Penguins Tuomas Gronman	To Chicago Blackhawks Greg Johnson
October 25, 1997	To Pittsburgh Penguins Robert Lang	To Boston Bruins Claimed off waivers
January 9, 1998	To New York Rangers Peter Ferraro	To Pittsburgh Penguins Claimed off waivers
March 24, 1998	To Pittsburgh Penguins Sean Pronger	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Rights to Patrick Lalime

Draft picks

The Penguins drafted the following players at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh:

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team
1	17	Robert Dome (RW)	Czech Republic	Las Vegas Thunder (IHL)
2	44	Brian Gaffaney (C)	United States	North Iowa Huskies (USHL)
3	71	Josef Melichar (D)	Czech Republic	HC Ceske Budejovice (Czech Extraliga)
4	97	Alexandre Mathieu (C)	Canada	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
5	124	Harlan Pratt (D)	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (QMJHL)
6	152	Petr Havelka (LW)	Czech Republic	HC Sparta Praha (Czech Extraliga)
7	179	Mark Moore (D)	Canada	Harvard University (NCAA)
8	208	Andrew Ference (D)	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
9	234	Erik Lind (D)	United States	Avon Old Farms (US boarding school)

Farm teams

The Johnstown Chiefs of the East Coast Hockey League finished last overall in the Northern Conference with a record of 23-41-6.

The AHL's Syracuse Crunch finished in third place in the Empire State Division with a record of 35-32-11-2 record. They were eliminated by the Hamilton Bulldogs in the first round of the playoffs.

See also

• 1997–98 NHL season

References

• 1997–98 Pittsburgh Penguins Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.