From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
1997–98 Washington Capitals season
NHL hockey team season
NHL hockey team season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| League | NHL |
| Season | 1997–98 |
| year | 1997 |
| Team | Washington Capitals |
| Conference | Eastern |
| ConferenceRank | 4th |
| Division | Atlantic |
| DivisionRank | 3rd |
| Record | 40–30–12 |
| HomeRecord | 23–12–6 |
| RoadRecord | 17–18–6 |
| GoalsFor | 219 |
| GoalsAgainst | 202 |
| GeneralManager | George McPhee |
| Coach | Ron Wilson |
| Captain | Dale Hunter |
| Arena | US Airways Arena (Oct.–Nov.) |
| MCI Center (Dec.–Jun.) | |
| Attendance | 15,275 |
| MinorLeague | Portland Pirates |
| Hampton Roads Admirals | |
| GoalsLeader | Peter Bondra (52) |
| AssistsLeader | Adam Oates (58) |
| PointsLeader | Peter Bondra (78) |
| PIMLeader | Craig Berube (189) |
| PlusMinusLeader | Joe Reekie (+15) |
| WinsLeader | Olaf Kolzig (33) |
| GAALeader | Olaf Kolzig (2.20) |
| ConferenceWin | Yes |
MCI Center (Dec.–Jun.) Hampton Roads Admirals
The 1997–98 Washington Capitals season saw the team reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in club history. Peter Bondra's 52 goals led the team; veterans Dale Hunter, Joe Juneau, and Adam Oates returned to old form; and Olaf Kolzig had a solid .920 save percentage as the Caps got past the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres (the latter on a dramatic overtime win in Game 6 on a goal by Juneau) en route to the team's first Stanley Cup Finals appearance. The Capitals won five overtime games, two against the Bruins and three against Sabres. However, they were no match for the defending cup champs, the Detroit Red Wings, who won in a four-game sweep. It was also the team’s first year at the MCI Center.
Regular season
- Adam Oates, Phil Housley and Dale Hunter, all scored their 1,000th career point, the only time in NHL history that one team had three different players reach that same milestone in a single season.
The Capitals had a very effective penalty kill during the regular season, allowing the fewest power-play goals (39) and finishing with the highest penalty-kill percentage (89.23%).
Season standings
Playoffs
In the playoffs, the Capitals reached the Conference Finals for the first time since 1990, defeating the Buffalo Sabres in six games before reaching the Stanley Cup Finals where they lost to the Detroit Red Wings in four games.
Schedule and results
Regular season
|- |1||October 1, 1997||4–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) ||1–0–0 || |- |2||October 3, 1997||6–2 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) ||2–0–0 || |- |3||October 4, 1997||4–1 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (1997–98) ||3–0–0 || |- |4||October 8, 1997||6–3 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1997–98) ||4–0–0 || |- |5||October 9, 1997||2–5 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) ||4–1–0 || |- |6||October 11, 1997||3–1 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1997–98) ||5–1–0 || |- |7||October 15, 1997||2–0 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) ||6–1–0 || |- |8||October 24, 1997||3–2 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) ||7–1–0 || |- |9||October 22, 1997||3–4 || align="left"| @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) ||7–2–0 || |- |10||October 23, 1997||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) ||7–2–1 || |- |11||October 25, 1997||2–5 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) ||7–3–1 || |- |12||October 29, 1997||3–4 || align="left"| Dallas Stars (1997–98) ||7–4–1 || |- |13||October 31, 1997||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) ||7–4–2 ||
| - |
|---|
| 14 |
| - |
| 15 |
| - |
| 16 |
| - |
| 17 |
| - |
| 18 |
| - |
| 19 |
| - |
| 20 |
| - |
| 21 |
| - |
| 22 |
| - |
| 23 |
| - |
| 24 |
| - |
| 25 |
| - |
| 26 |
| - |
| 27 |
| - |
| - |
| 28 |
| - |
| 29 |
| - |
| 30 |
| - |
| 31 |
| - |
| 32 |
| - |
| 33 |
| - |
| 34 |
| - |
| 35 |
| - |
| 36 |
| - |
| 37 |
| - |
| 38 |
| - |
| 39 |
| - |
| 40 |
| - |
| - |
| 41 |
| - |
| 42 |
| - |
| 43 |
| - |
| 44 |
| - |
| 45 |
| - |
| 46 |
| - |
| 47 |
| - |
| 48 |
| - |
| 49 |
| - |
| 50 |
| - |
| 51 |
| - |
| 52 |
| - |
| 53 |
| - |
| - |
| 54 |
| - |
| 55 |
| - |
| 56 |
| - |
| 57 |
| - |
| 58 |
| - |
| - |
| 59 |
| - |
| 60 |
| - |
| 61 |
| - |
| 62 |
| - |
| 63 |
| - |
| 64 |
| - |
| 65 |
| - |
| 66 |
| - |
| 67 |
| - |
| 68 |
| - |
| 69 |
| - |
| 70 |
| - |
| 71 |
| - |
| 72 |
| - |
| 73 |
| - |
| - |
| 74 |
| - |
| 75 |
| - |
| 76 |
| - |
| 77 |
| - |
| 78 |
| - |
| 79 |
| - |
| 80 |
| - |
| 81 |
| - |
| 82 |
| - |
| - |
| Legend:
Playoffs
|- | 1 || April 22, 1998 || 3–1 || align="left"| Boston Bruins || Capitals lead 1–0 || |- | 2 || April 24, 1998 || 3–4 2OT || align="left"| Boston Bruins || Series tied 1–1 || |- | 3 || April 26, 1998 || 3–2 2OT || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins || Capitals lead 2–1 || |- | 4 || April 28, 1998 || 3–0 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins || Capitals lead 3–1 || |- | 5 || May 1, 1998 || 0–4 || align="left"| Boston Bruins || Capitals lead 3–2 || |- | 6 || May 3, 1998 || 3–2 OT || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins || Capitals win 4–2 ||
| - |
|---|
| 1 |
| - |
| 2 |
| - |
| 3 |
| - |
| 4 |
| - |
| 5 |
| - |
| - |
| 1 |
| - |
| 2 |
| - |
| 3 |
| - |
| 4 |
| - |
| 5 |
| - |
| 6 |
| - |
| - |
| 1 |
| - |
| 2 |
| - |
| 3 |
| - |
| 4 |
| - |
| - |
| 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 Capitals only.*
-
- = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.*
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Playoffs | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | RW | 76 | 52 | 26 | 78 | 14 | 44 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 12 | |||
| 77 | C | 82 | 18 | 58 | 76 | 6 | 36 | 21 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 8 | 8 | |||
| 6 | D | 73 | 15 | 20 | 35 | −11 | 30 | 21 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 16 | |||
| 22 | LW | 80 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 9 | 80 | |||||||||
| 90 | C | 56 | 9 | 22 | 31 | −8 | 26 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 6 | 8 | |||
| 96 | D | 64 | 6 | 25 | 31 | −10 | 24 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −2 | 4 | |||
| 44 | RW | 65 | 17 | 9 | 26 | −2 | 28 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 16 | |||
| 32 | C | 82 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 1 | 103 | 21 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −1 | 30 | |||
| 18 | LW | 28 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 2 | 12 | |||||||||
| 55 | D | 72 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 2 | 66 | 21 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 30 | |||
| 24 | D | 47 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 9 | 39 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 42 | |||
| 17 | LW | 28 | 7 | 10 | 17 | −1 | 38 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −3 | 26 | |||
| 13 | C | 38 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 1 | 14 | 21 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 12 | |||
| 8 | C | 48 | 5 | 11 | 16 | −5 | 18 | |||||||||
| 3 | D | 59 | 1 | 15 | 16 | −5 | 36 | |||||||||
| 27 | LW | 74 | 6 | 9 | 15 | −3 | 189 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | |||
| 10 | LW | 76 | 7 | 7 | 14 | −2 | 41 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||
| 9 | LW | 45 | 2 | 12 | 14 | −3 | 30 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −2 | 6 | |||
| 11 | LW | 20 | 2 | 10 | 12 | −4 | 2 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −2 | 20 | |||
| 29 | D | 68 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 70 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 20 | |||
| 23 | LW | 11 | 6 | 3 | 9 | −3 | 6 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 6 | |||
| 20 | C | 33 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 20 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | |||
| 19 | D | 64 | 1 | 7 | 8 | −11 | 112 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 14 | |||
| 21 | C | 33 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −11 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | |||
| 2 | D | 51 | 4 | 2 | 6 | −3 | 46 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |||
| 28 | D | 9 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 34 | RW | 17 | 4 | 1 | 5 | −5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 36 | LW | 36 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −2 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 28 | C | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||
| 38 | D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 48 | C | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||
| 37 | G | 64 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||||
| 30 | G | 22 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 25 | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 43 | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
| 42 | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||
| 4 | D | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | |||||||||
| 26 | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 14 | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Goaltending
| No. | Player | Regular season | Playoffs | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | Olaf Kolzig | 64 | 33 | 18 | 10 | 1729 | 139 | 2.20 | .920 | 5 | 3788 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 740 | 44 | 1.95 | .941 | 4 | 1351 | ||
| 30 | Bill Ranford | 22 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 555 | 55 | 2.79 | .901 | 0 | 1183 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Awards and records
Awards
| Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in-season) | ||||
| [NHL All-Star Game](1998-national-hockey-league-all-star-game) selection | Peter Bondra | |||
| Olaf Kolzig |
Milestones
| Milestone | Player | Date | Ref | First game | 1,000th point |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan Benda | October 1, 1997 | ||||
| Jan Bulis | |||||
| Ryan Mulhern | October 25, 1997 | ||||
| Dwayne Hay | October 31, 1997 | ||||
| Benoit Gratton | November 12, 1997 | ||||
| Brad Church | December 16, 1997 | ||||
| Adam Oates | October 8, 1997 | ||||
| Phil Housley | November 8, 1997 | ||||
| Dale Hunter | January 9, 1998 |
Draft picks
Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 1997 NHL entry draft, held on June 21, 1997 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Nick Boynton | D | Ottawa 67's (OHL) | |
| 2 | 35 | Jean-Francois Fortin | D | Sherbrooke Faucons (QMJHL) | |
| 4 | 89 | Curtis Cruickshank | G | Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) | |
| 5 | 116 | Kevin Caulfield | RW | Boston College (NCAA) | |
| 6 | 143 | Henrik Petre | D | Djurgårdens IF-jr. (Allsvenskan) | |
| 8 | 200 | Pierre-Luc Therrien | G | Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) | |
| 9 | 226 | Matt Oikawa | RW | St. Lawrence University (NCAA) |
Farm teams
Portland Pirates
References
References
- "1997-98 NHL Summary".
- "Washington Capitals Historical Statistics and All-Time Top Leaders".
- "1997-98 Washington Capitals Schedule".
- "1998 NHL All-Star Game Rosters".
- "1997-98 NHL Debuts".
- (October 9, 1997). "Oates scores 1,000th point in Caps' win".
- (November 9, 1997). "Avalanche buries Blues, 4-1".
- (January 10, 1998). "Battle of Best Ends Up Even".
- "1997 NHL Draft". NHL.
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.
Ask Mako anything about 1997–98 Washington Capitals season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report