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1997–98 Tampa Bay Lightning season
National Hockey League team season
National Hockey League team season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| League | NHL |
| Season | 1997–98 |
| year | 1997 |
| Team | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Record | 17–55–10 |
| HomeRecord | 11–23–7 |
| RoadRecord | 6–32–3 |
| Conference | Eastern |
| ConferenceRank | 13th |
| Division | Atlantic |
| DivisionRank | 7th |
| GoalsFor | 151 |
| GoalsAgainst | 269 |
| GeneralManager | Phil Esposito |
| Coach | Terry Crisp (Oct.) |
| Rick Paterson (Oct.–Nov.) | |
| Jacques Demers (Nov.–Apr.) | |
| Captain | Paul Ysebaert (Oct.) |
| *Vacant* (Oct.–Nov.) | |
| Mikael Renberg (Nov.–Apr.) | |
| AltCaptain | Jamie Huscroft (Oct.–Mar.) |
| Rob Zamuner | |
| Arena | Ice Palace |
| Attendance | 13,866 |
| MinorLeague | Adirondack Red Wings |
| Chesapeake Icebreakers | |
| GoalsLeader | Mikael Renberg (16) |
| Alexander Selivanov (16) | |
| AssistsLeader | Paul Ysebaert (27) |
| PointsLeader | Paul Ysebaert (40) |
| PIMLeader | Louie DeBrusk (166) |
| PlusMinusLeader | Jody Hull (+2) |
| WinsLeader | Mark Fitzpatrick (7) |
| GAALeader | Daren Puppa (2.72) |
Rick Paterson (Oct.–Nov.) Jacques Demers (Nov.–Apr.) Vacant (Oct.–Nov.) Mikael Renberg (Nov.–Apr.) Rob Zamuner Chesapeake Icebreakers Alexander Selivanov (16) The 1997–98 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the Lightning's sixth season of operation. The Lightning missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
Regular season
On October 26, head coach Terry Crisp was fired after a 2–7–2 start and Paul Ysebaert’s tenure as team captain ended. Assistant coach Rick Paterson served as interim head coach until Jacques Demers was hired as the team’s new head coach on November 12. Demers named Mikael Renberg the team’s new captain on November 19.
The Lightning struggled offensively during the regular season, being shut out a league-high 11 times (tied with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) and finishing 26th in goals scored (151), power-play goals scored (33) and power-play percentage (9.35%). The 9.35% power play was the lowest in NHL history in one season by any team until the 2020-21 Anaheim Ducks surpassed it with an 8.94% power play efficiency; the Lightning’s percentage remains the lowest in a full, non-shortened NHL season.
Final standings
Schedule and results
|- |1||October 1, 1997||4–2 || align="left"| Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) ||1–0–0 || |- |2||October 3, 1997||3–4 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (1997–98) ||1–1–0 || |- |3||October 5, 1997||1–1 OT|| align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) ||1–1–1 || |- |4||October 9, 1997||4–1 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) ||2–1–1 || |- |5||October 10, 1997||0–3 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) ||2–2–1 || |- |6||October 15, 1997||1–2 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (1997–98) ||2–3–1 || |- |7||October 17, 1997||1–4 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) ||2–4–1 || |- |8||October 18, 1997||0–5 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) ||2–5–1 || |- |9||October 21, 1997||1–7 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) ||2–6–1 || |- |10||October 23, 1997||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1997–98) ||2–6–2 || |- |11||October 24, 1997||3–4 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1997–98) ||2–7–2 || |- |12||October 26, 1997||1–3 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) ||2–8–2 || |- |13||October 29, 1997||2–5 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1997–98) ||2–9–2 ||
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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 Lightning only.*
-
- = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Lightning only.*
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | C | 82 | 13 | 27 | 40 | −43 | 32 | ||
| 20 | RW | 68 | 16 | 22 | 38 | −37 | 34 | ||
| 29 | RW | 70 | 16 | 19 | 35 | −38 | 85 | ||
| 7 | LW | 77 | 14 | 12 | 26 | −31 | 41 | ||
| 18 | C | 68 | 8 | 14 | 22 | −9 | 62 | ||
| 44 | RW | 26 | 9 | 11 | 20 | −7 | 36 | ||
| 22 | RW | 34 | 11 | 6 | 17 | −14 | 42 | ||
| 24 | C | 67 | 8 | 9 | 17 | −9 | 132 | ||
| 34 | LW | 72 | 6 | 11 | 17 | −4 | 29 | ||
| 44 | D | 37 | 3 | 12 | 15 | −18 | 22 | ||
| 16 | RW | 35 | 6 | 8 | 14 | −8 | 89 | ||
| 14 | D | 78 | 5 | 9 | 14 | −8 | 110 | ||
| 6 | D | 37 | 4 | 6 | 10 | −25 | 26 | ||
| 64 | C | 35 | 2 | 8 | 10 | −11 | 22 | ||
| 4 | D | 74 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −24 | 77 | ||
| 28 | C | 44 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −3 | 19 | ||
| 5 | D | 45 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −5 | 85 | ||
| 33 | D | 60 | 0 | 8 | 8 | −23 | 41 | ||
| 19 | C | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −9 | 6 | ||
| 21 | RW | 28 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 23 | D | 22 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −3 | 43 | ||
| 79 | LW | 30 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 16 | ||
| 6 | D | 29 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −21 | 17 | ||
| 17 | LW | 19 | 5 | 0 | 5 | −2 | 2 | ||
| 10 | RW | 14 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −1 | 71 | ||
| 11 | C | 24 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −9 | 15 | ||
| 5 | D | 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −4 | 22 | ||
| 36 | LW | 54 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −2 | 166 | ||
| 3 | D | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 22 | ||
| 9 | C | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −6 | 7 | ||
| 8 | D | 44 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −4 | 122 | ||
| 62 | LW | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −9 | 58 | ||
| 10 | RW | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 27 | ||
| 27 | D | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 | 12 | ||
| 28 | RW | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 10 | ||
| 21 | RW | 42 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 116 | ||
| 30 | G | 34 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |||
| 2 | D | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −10 | 8 | ||
| 1 | G | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 39 | D | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 45 | ||
| 25 | C | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 16 | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 93 | G | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 32 | G | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 35 | G | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending
-
- = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Lightning only.*
| No. | Player | Regular season | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 34 | 7 | 24 | 1 | 975 | 102 | 3.16 | .895 | 1 | 1938 | ||
| 93 | 26 | 5 | 14 | 6 | 660 | 66 | 2.72 | .900 | 0 | 1456 | ||
| 32 | 16 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 370 | 40 | 2.92 | .892 | 1 | 821 | ||
| 35 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 148 | 17 | 3.28 | .885 | 0 | 311 | ||
| 1 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 210 | 30 | 4.16 | .857 | 0 | 433 |
Awards and records
Records
Tampa Bay set team records for the longest losing streak, 13 games from January 3 to February 2, and the longest winless streak, 16 games from October 10 to November 17 and January 2 to February 5.
Milestones
| Milestone | Player | Date | Ref | First game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zac Bierk | January 3, 1998 | |||
| Mike McBain | January 21, 1998 | |||
| Pavel Kubina | March 14, 1998 | |||
| Corey Spring |
Draft picks
Tampa Bay's draft picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Paul Mara | Sudbury Wolves (OHL) | |
| 2 | 33 | Kyle Kos | Red Deer Rebels (WHL) | |
| 3 | 61 | Matt Elich | Windsor Spitfires (OHL) | |
| 5 | 108 | Mark Thompson | Regina Pats (WHL) | |
| 5 | 109 | Jan Sulc | HC Chemopetrol Jr. (Czech Republic) | |
| 5 | 112 | Karel Betik | Kelowna Rockets (WHL) | |
| 6 | 153 | Andrei Skopintsev | TPS (Finland) | |
| 7 | 168 | Justin Jack | Kelowna Rockets (WHL) | |
| 7 | 170 | Eero Somervuori | Jokerit (Finland) | |
| 7 | 185 | Samuel St. Pierre | Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) | |
| 8 | 198 | Shawn Skolney | Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) | |
| 9 | 224 | Paul Comrie | University of Denver (WCHA) |
References
References
- (October 27, 1997). "Crisp is out as Lightning coach".
- (December 4, 1997). "Ysebaert: No letter, no worry".
- (November 13, 1997). "Demers Takes His Shot".
- (November 20, 1997). "Captain II: Renberg gets another chance".
- "1997-98 NHL Summary".
- "1997-98 Tampa Bay Lightning Schedule".
- "TBL Records: Longest Losing Streaks, Season".
- "TBL Records: Longest Winless Streaks, Season".
- "1997-98 NHL Debuts".
- "1997 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".
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