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1997–98 San Jose Sharks season

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Field	Value
League	NHL
Season	1997–98
year	1997
Team	San Jose Sharks
Record	34–38–10
HomeRecord	17–19–5
RoadRecord	17–19–5
Conference	Western
ConferenceRank	8th
Division	Pacific
DivisionRank	4th
GoalsFor	210
GoalsAgainst	216
GeneralManager	Dean Lombardi
Coach	Darryl Sutter
Captain	Todd Gill (Oct.–Mar.)
Vacant (Mar.–Apr.)
Arena	San Jose Arena
Attendance	17,111
MinorLeague	Kentucky Thoroughblades
Louisville RiverFrogs
GoalsLeader	Jeff Friesen (31)
AssistsLeader	Jeff Friesen (32)
PointsLeader	Jeff Friesen (63)
PIMLeader	Owen Nolan (144)
PlusMinusLeader	Bill Houlder (+13)
WinsLeader	Mike Vernon (30)
GAALeader	Mike Vernon (2.46)

Vacant (Mar.–Apr.) Louisville RiverFrogs The 1997–98 San Jose Sharks season was the Sharks' seventh season of operation in the National Hockey League (NHL). Following their second last-place finish in as many years, the Sharks unceremoniously fired first-year head coach Al Sims; he was replaced by Darryl Sutter, who had previously coached the Chicago Blackhawks. At the time of his hiring, Sutter was the first head coach in franchise history to have previously coached another NHL team.

The Sharks' coaching switch was accompanied by a handful of player acquisitions and debuts. Of these, the addition of five-time NHL All-Star goaltender Mike Vernon proved most important. On August 18, 1997, the Sharks acquired Vernon from the Detroit Red Wings for a pair of second-round picks; at the time of the trade, Vernon was only two months removed from backstopping the Red Wings to victory in the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals. Additionally, the Sharks drafted highly-touted forward Patrick Marleau with the second overall pick in the 1997 NHL entry draft. Despite a lackluster rookie season, Marleau would enjoy considerable success with the Sharks over the following two decades. Lastly, 1996 first-found pick Marco Sturm was added to the roster early in the season. Sturm and Marleau, in particular, supplemented a burgeoning collection of young forwards that already included mainstays Jeff Friesen and Owen Nolan.

In Sutter's first season at the helm, the Sharks' play improved substantially. While they once again failed to post a winning record, the team managed to clinch the Western Conference's eighth (and final) playoff berth. In the first round of the 1998 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Sharks faced the top-seeded Dallas Stars. The Sharks quickly dropped their first two games in Dallas; upon returning to San Jose, however, the Sharks rallied to tie the series at two games apiece. An upset was not to be, however, as the Stars responded with a pair of one-goal victories to win the series in six games. Despite a quick exit from the playoffs, the 1997-98 season would prove to be a turning point for the franchise. After finishing with the Western Conference's worst record in four of their first six seasons of play, the Sharks would miss the postseason just twice between 1998 and 2019.

Regular season

Captain Todd Gill was traded to the St. Louis Blues, in March.

Final standings

Playoffs

In a Conference Quarterfinals series, the Sharks met the #1 seeded and Presidents' Trophy-winning Dallas Stars. The Sharks were eliminated by the Stars in six games.

Schedule and results

Regular season

|- |1||October 1, 1997||3–5 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) ||0–1–0 || |- |2||October 4, 1997||3–2 || align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) ||1–1–0 || |- |3||October 7, 1997||0–1 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1997–98) ||1–2–0 || |- |4||October 9, 1997||2–3 || align="left"| @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) ||1–3–0 || |- |5||October 11, 1997||5–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1997–98) ||2–3–0 || |- |6||October 13, 1997||2–3 OT|| align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) ||2–4–0 || |- |7||October 16, 1997||2–5 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1997–98) ||2–5–0 || |- |8||October 19, 1997||3–5 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) ||2–6–0 || |- |9||October 22, 1997||2–5 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) ||2–7–0 || |- |10||October 25, 1997||4–3 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) ||3–7–0 || |- |11||October 27, 1997||2–1 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1997–98) ||4–7–0 || |- |12||October 29, 1997||3–4 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) ||4–8–0 || |- |13||October 31, 1997||3–5 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) ||4–9–0 ||

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| Legend:

Playoffs

|- | 1 || April 22, 1998 || 1–4 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars || Stars lead 1–0 || |- | 2 || April 24, 1998 || 2–5 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars || Stars lead 2–0 || |- | 3 || April 26, 1998 || 4–1 || align="left"| Dallas Stars || Stars lead 2–1 || |- | 4 || April 28, 1998 || 1–0 OT|| align="left"| Dallas Stars || Series tied 2–2 || |- | 5 || April 30, 1998 || 2–3 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars || Stars lead 3–2 || |- | 6 || May 2, 1998 || 2–3 OT|| align="left"| Dallas Stars || Stars win 4–2 ||

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| Legend:

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 Sharks only.*
- = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sharks only.*

No.	Pos	Regular season	Playoffs	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts
39	LW	79	31	32	63	8	40	6	0	1	1	−1	2
11	RW	75	14	27	41	−2	144	6	2	2	4	−1	26
15	RW	51	13	19	32	0	28	6	2	3	5	1	4
14	C	74	13	19	32	5	14	5	0	1	1	−1	0
2	D	82	7	25	32	13	48	6	1	2	3	0	2
19	LW	74	10	20	30	−2	40	2	0	0	0	−2	0
37	LW	73	15	14	29	4	60	4	0	1	1	1	0
22	LW	67	12	17	29	4	25	6	1	1	2	−2	0
9	C	60	6	22	28	−4	26	6	0	5	5	−2	8
21	RW	59	16	9	25	3	70	1	0	0	0	0	0
10	D	79	5	20	25	−11	65	6	0	0	0	2	4
18	C	59	9	14	23	−4	30	6	1	3	4	0	6
23	D	64	8	13	21	−13	31
40	D	81	3	12	15	−4	59	6	1	0	1	−3	6
20	D	56	6	7	13	8	66	6	1	0	1	−2	14
28	LW	42	6	6	12	2	50	6	0	0	0	−1	8
33	D	56	2	10	12	10	140
3	D	28	4	6	10	0	32
8	C	22	4	6	10	−2	14
17	RW	10	5	4	9	1	14	6	1	1	2	−1	20
43	D	21	2	7	9	−1	28	6	1	0	1	−4	10
12	C	57	2	7	9	−2	22	6	1	0	1	−1	14
26	LW	50	4	4	8	0	51	6	0	0	0	0	18
25	C	18	5	2	7	−2	2
42	RW	20	3	3	6	3	22
27	LW	19	2	3	5	−5	6
7	D	11	1	2	3	−4	2
27	D	12	0	3	3	2	43	6	0	0	0	1	10
17	C	7	1	1	2	−2	0
62	LW	40	1	1	2	−4	112
29	G	62	0	2	2		24	6	0	0	0		0
24	LW	9	0	1	1	1	30
34	LW	5	0	0	0	−1	2
32	G	28	0	0	0		2	1	0	0	0		0
30	G	1	0	0	0		0
5	D	8	0	0	0	−4	15
16	C	8	0	0	0	−3	40

Goaltending

- = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sharks only.*

No.	Player	Regular season	Playoffs	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%
29	Mike Vernon	62	30	22	8	1401	146	2.46	.896	5	3564	6	2	4	138	14	2.41	.899	1	348
32	Kelly Hrudey	28	4	16	2	600	62	2.73	.897	1	1360	1	0	0	6	1	3.00	.833	0	20
30	Jason Muzzatti	1	0	0	0	13	2	4.49	.846	0	27	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref	League
(in-season)	Team
NHL Rookie of the Month	Marco Sturm (November)
Sharks Player of the Year	Mike Vernon
Sharks Rookie of the Year	Patrick Marleau
Marco Sturm
Andrei Zyuzin

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref	First game	1,000th game played
Patrick Marleau	October 1, 1997
Alexander Korolyuk	October 4, 1997
Marco Sturm
Andrei Zyuzin	October 7, 1997
Murray Craven	March 30, 1998

Draft picks

San Jose's picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Round	#	Player	Position	College/Junior/Club team
1	2	Patrick Marleau	Center	Seattle Thunderbirds
1	23	Scott Hannan	Defense	Kelowna Rockets
4	82	Adam Colagiacomo	Right wing	Oshawa Generals
5	107	Adam Spylo	Right wing	Erie Otters
7	163	Joe Dusbabek	Right wing	Notre Dame
8	192	Cam Severson	Left wing	Prince Albert Raiders
9	219	Mark Smith	Center	Lethbridge Hurricanes

Notes

References

"1997-98 San Jose Sharks Schedule".
"NHL Rookies of the Month".
2014–15 San Jose Sharks Media Guide, p.255–58
"1997-98 NHL Debuts".
(March 31, 1998). "Sharks Take a Shot Where It Hurts / Injury to Hrudey leads to Blues' rout".
"1997 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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