The 1997-98 NHL season was the 81st regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-six teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Detroit Red Wings, who swept the Washington Capitals in four games.

The highlight of the 1997-98 St. Louis Blues season would mark an end of an era as Brett Hull is not resigned following the season.

Summary

The NHL continued to tilt more toward the south, as the Hartford Whalers moved to Greensboro, North Carolina, and became known as the Carolina Hurricanes.

The season was interrupted to allow NHL players to take part in the Winter Olympics for the first time. Fans expected Canada and the United States to meet for the gold medal, since they boasted teams made up entirely of NHL stars. But the U. S. was knocked out early and Canada finished fourth. The Czech Republic won the Olympic championship, beating Russia 1-0, thanks largely to Dominik Hasek's great goaltending. Hasek, who had won the nickname "the Dominator," also had a great NHL season, recording 13 shutouts and winning the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP for the second straight year. He was the first goalie to win the award more than once. Jaromir Jagr should certainly not be overlooked. He was a teammate of Hasek's on the Czech gold medal team and he led the NHL in scoring with 102 points. It was the first time that only one player had scored more than 100 points since 1969-70.

The Dallas Stars had the league's best record with 107 points to lead the Central Division, 4 points ahead of the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit, Red Wings. New Jersey was next with 107 points to top the Atlantic Division. Jagr's Pittsburgh Penguins led the Northeast Division with 98 points, while Colorado was first in the Pacific Division with 95 points.

The Western Conference playoffs pretty much followed the script, with Detroit and Dallas meeting in the final, where the Red Wings prevailed in six games. But the Eastern Conference was full of upsets. In the first round, Hasek's Buffalo Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers, Montreal beat Pittsburgh, and Ottawa beat New Jersey. The Sabres then swept Montreal in the semi-finals, while the Washington Capitals eliminated Ottawa in six games. The Capitals and Sabres fought through a six-game conference championship series, with Washington winning three games in overtime to take the title

The Red Wings then swept the Capitals in the Stanley Cup finals, though it wasn't quite that easy. The first three games were all decided by one goal and one of them went to overtime, but Detroit then took a 4-1 win in the fourth and final game. The Red Wing captain, Steve Yzerman, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs. He led all post-season scorers with 24 points in 22 games. ^[1]

Offseason

In his first full season as Coach Joel Quenneville decided to employ a defensive formula. The move worked wonders as even Brett Hull brought into the new system as the Blues finished in 3rd place with a solid 45-29-8 record. In the playoffs the Blues would dominate the Los Angeles Kings sweeping them in 4 straight. However, in the 2nd round the Blues would be upended by the Detroit Red Wings in 6 games. The season would mark an end of an era as Brett Hull is not resigned following the season as he sign a free agent deal with the Dallas Stars.^[2]

NHL Draft

The 1997 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 21 June 1997. The first round of the draft began at noon and was televised live on ESPN-2, TSN, and RDS. The Penguins were expecting that many hockey fans will be flocking to the Igloo that weekend to witness the draft. General admission tickets for the event (which were free) were no longer available, but the gates would be open after the first round to allow the public into the arena. The NHL Draft produces both hits and misses as far as prospects are concerned. Until recently the Montréal Canadiens had not enjoyed much success over the last 7 draft years. Some players who were drafted did not develop as hoped, while others were lost for purely financial reasons. ^[3]

Season Standings

**Eastern Conference**
**Northeast Division**
Team	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Pittsburgh Penguins	40	24	18	228	188	98
Boston Bruins	39	30	13	221	194	91
Buffalo Sabres	36	29	17	211	187	89
Montreal Canadiens	37	32	13	235	208	87
Ottawa Senators	34	33	15	193	200	83
Carolina Hurricanes	33	41	08	200	219	74

**Eastern Conference**
**Atlantic Division**
Team	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
New Jersey Devils	48	23	11	225	166	107
Philadelphia Flyers	42	29	11	242	193	95
Washington Capitals	40	30	12	219	202	92
New York Islanders	30	41	11	212	225	71
New York Rangers	25	39	18	197	231	68
Florida Panthers	24	43	45	203	256	63
Tampa Bay Lightning	17	55	10	151	269	44

**Western Conference**
**Central Division**
Team	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Dallas Stars	49	22	11	242	167	109
Detroit Red Wings	44	23	15	250	196	103
St. Louis Blues	45	29	08	256	204	98
Phoenix Coyotes	35	35	12	224	227	82
Chicago Blackhawks	30	39	13	192	199	73
Toronto Maple Leafs	30	43	09	194	237	69

**Western Conference**
**Pacific Division**
Team	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Colorado Avalanche	39	26	17	231	205	95
Los Angeles Kings	38	33	11	227	225	87
Edmonton Oilers	35	37	10	215	224	80
San Jose Sharks	34	38	10	210	216	78
Calgary Flames	26	41	15	217	252	67
Anaheim Mighty Ducks	26	43	13	205	261	65
Vancouver Canucks	25	43	14	224	279	64