1997–98 QMJHL season

The 1997–98 QMJHL season was the 29th season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Québec Remparts name is revived after twelve years when the Beauport Harfangs change indentities. The QMJHL continues to grow in eastern markets with an expansion team in Baie-Comeau, Quebec and the relocating of the Granby Prédateurs relocated to Cape Breton.

The league inaugurates the Philips Plaque, awarded to the player with the best faceoff percentage. The Ford Cups are renamed the Telus Cups, one each for the offensive and defensive players of the year.

Fifteen teams played 70 games each in the schedule. The Québec Remparts finished first overall in the regular season winning their first Jean Rougeau Trophy, since the original name was revived. The Val-d'Or Foreurs won their first President's Cup, defeating the Rimouski Océanic in the finals.

Team changes[]

The Baie-Comeau Drakkar joined the league as an expansion franchise.
The Beauport Harfangs relocated from the nearby suburbs, to Quebec City, becoming the second incarnation of the Québec Remparts.
The Granby Prédateurs relocated to Sydney, Nova Scotia, becoming the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, and switched to the Dilio Division.
The Shawinigan Cataractes switched to the Lebel Division.
The Victoriaville Tigres switched to the Lebel Division.

Final standings[]

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

Dilio Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Québec Remparts	70	46	18	6	98	285	204
Rimouski Océanic	70	40	27	3	83	296	257
Chicoutimi Saguenéens	70	36	33	1	73	272	285
Moncton Wildcats	70	29	32	9	67	240	229
Halifax Mooseheads	70	24	41	5	53	263	316
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles	70	19	46	5	43	211	295
Baie-Comeau Drakkar	70	18	47	5	41	215	332

Lebel Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies	70	43	23	4	90	338	245
Victoriaville Tigres	70	40	23	7	87	274	209
Shawinigan Cataractes	70	40	24	6	86	262	217
Val-d'Or Foreurs	70	37	26	7	81	263	228
Laval Titan Collège Français	70	37	28	5	79	276	220
Hull Olympiques	70	32	37	1	65	270	268
Sherbrooke Faucons	70	26	41	3	55	220	273
Drummondville Voltigeurs	70	23	44	3	49	221	328

complete list of standings.

Scoring leaders[]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Ramzi Abid	Chicoutimi Saguenéens	68	50	85	135	266
Pierre Dagenais	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies	60	66	67	133	50
Mike Ribeiro	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies	67	40	85	125	55
Mathieu Benoit	Chicoutimi Saguenéens	59	56	61	117	32
Vincent Lecavalier	Rimouski Océanic	58	44	71	115	117
Brad Richards	Rimouski Océanic	68	33	82	115	44
Sebastien Roger	Moncton Wildcats	70	53	61	114	64
David Gosselin	Chicoutimi Saguenéens	69	46	64	110	139
Derrick Walser	Rimouski Océanic	70	41	69	110	135
David Thibeault	Victoriaville Tigres	70	46	56	102	95

complete scoring statistics

Playoffs[]

Jean-Pierre Dumont was the leading scorer of the playoffs with 46 points (31 goals, 15 assists).

Division quarterfinals

Québec Remparts defeated Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 4 games to 0.
Rimouski Océanic defeated Halifax Mooseheads 4 games to 1.
Moncton Wildcats defeated Chicoutimi Saguenéens 4 games to 2.
Hull Olympiques defeated Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 4 games to 2.
Laval Titan Collège Français defeated Victoriaville Tigres 4 games to 2.
Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated Shawinigan Cataractes 4 games to 2.

Division semifinals - Round-robin

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

Dilio Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Rimouski Océanic	4	3	1	0	6	24	14
Québec Remparts	4	2	2	0	4	16	20
Moncton Wildcats	4	1	3	0	2	11	17
Lebel Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Val-d'Or Foreurs	4	2	2	0	4	19	17
Laval Titan Collège Français ^‡	5	3	2	0	6	16	15
Hull Olympiques ^‡	5	2	3	0	4	18	21

^‡ Laval Titan Collège Français defeated Hull Olympiques in a one-game playoff to determine 2nd place in the round-robin standings.

Division finals

Rimouski Océanic defeated Québec Remparts 4 games to 2.
Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated Laval Titan Collège Français 4 games to 1.

League finals

Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated Rimouski Océanic 4 games to 0.

All-star teams[]

First team

Goalkeeper - Mathieu Garon, Victoriaville Tigres
Left defence - Derrick Walser, Rimouski Océanic
Right defence - Remi Royer, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Left winger - Ramzi Abid, Chicoutimi Saguenéens
Centreman - Vincent Lecavalier, Rimouski Océanic
Right winger - Mathieu Benoit, Chicoutimi Saguenéens
Coach - Guy Chouinard, Québec Remparts

Second team

Goalkeeper - Patrick Couture, Québec Remparts
Left defence - Alexei Tezikov, Moncton Wildcats
Right defence - Jonathan Girard, Laval Titan Collège Français
Left winger - Pierre Dagenais, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Centreman - Mike Ribeiro, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Right winger - Sebastien Roger, Moncton Wildcats
Coach - Claude Julien, Hull Olympiques

Rookie team

Goalkeeper - Jean-Marc Pelletier, Rimouski Océanic
Left defence - Alexei Tezikov, Moncton Wildcats
Right defence - Mathieu Biron, Shawinigan Cataractes
Left winger - Brad Richards, Rimouski Océanic
Centreman - Mike Ribeiro, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Right winger - Michael Ryder, Hull Olympiques
Coach - Christian Larue, Chicoutimi Saguenéens
List of First/Second/Rookie team all-stars.

Trophies and awards[]

Team

President's Cup - Playoff Champions, Val d'Or Foreurs
Jean Rougeau Trophy - Regular Season Champions, Québec Remparts
Robert Lebel Trophy - Team with best GAA, Québec Remparts

Player

Michel Brière Memorial Trophy - Most Valuable Player, Ramzi Abid, Chicoutimi Saguenéens
Jean Béliveau Trophy - Top Scorer, Ramzi Abid, Chicoutimi Saguenéens
Guy Lafleur Trophy - Playoff MVP, Jean-Pierre Dumont, Val-d'Or Foreurs
Telus Cup – Offensive - Offensive Player of the Year, Pierre Dagenais, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Telus Cup – Defensive - Defensive Player of the Year, Mathieu Garon, Victoriaville Tigres
AutoPro Plaque - Best plus/minus total, David Thibeault, Victoriaville Tigres
Philips Plaque - Best faceoff percentage, Eric Demers, Victoriaville Tigres
Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy - Best GAA, Mathieu Garon, Victoriaville Tigres
Emile Bouchard Trophy - Defenceman of the Year, Derrick Walser, Rimouski Océanic
Mike Bossy Trophy - Best Pro Prospect, Vincent Lecavalier, Rimouski Oceanic
RDS Cup - Rookie of the Year, Mike Ribeiro, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Michel Bergeron Trophy - Offensive Rookie of the Year, Mike Ribeiro, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Raymond Lagacé Trophy - Defensive Rookie of the Year, Alexei Tezikov, Moncton Wildcats
Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy - Most sportsmanlike player, Simon Laliberte, Moncton Wildcats
QMJHL Humanitarian of the Year - Humanitarian of the Year, David Thibeault, Victoriaville Tigres
Marcel Robert Trophy - Best Scholastic Player, Michel Tremblay, Shawinigan Cataractes
Paul Dumont Trophy - Personality of the Year, Mike Ribeiro, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies

Executive

Ron Lapointe Trophy - Coach of the Year, Guy Chouinard, Québec Remparts
John Horman Trophy - Executive of the Year, Lionel Brochu, Val D'Or Foreurs
St-Clair Group Plaque - Marketing Director of the Year, Jeff Rose, Moncton Wildcats

References[]

Preceded by 1996–97 QMJHL season	QMJHL seasons	Succeeded by 1998–99 QMJHL season

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