1997–98 Detroit Red Wings season

1997–98 Detroit Red Wings
Stanley Cup champions
Western Conference champions
Division	2nd Central
Conference	3rd Western
1997–98 record	44–23–15
Home record	25–8–8
Road record	19–15–7
Goals for	250
Goals against	196
Team information
General manager	Ken Holland
Coach	Scotty Bowman
Captain	Steve Yzerman
Alternate captains	Nicklas Lidstrom Brendan Shanahan
Arena	Joe Louis Arena
Average attendance	19,983 (100%) Total: 819,303
Minor league affiliate(s)	Adirondack Red Wings (AHL) Toledo Storm (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Brendan Shanahan (28)
Assists	Steve Yzerman (45)
Points	Steve Yzerman (69)
Penalty minutes	Darren McCarty (157)
Plus/minus	Larry Murphy (35)
Wins	Chris Osgood (33)
Goals against average	Chris Osgood (2.21)

The 1997–98 Detroit Red Wings season was the 72nd National Hockey League season in Detroit, Michigan. The highlight of the Red Wings' season was winning the Stanley Cup for a second season in a row.

Regular season

Sergei Fedorov's holdout

After a lengthy holdout to start the 1997–98 season, Sergei Fedorov, a restricted free-agent, signed an offer sheet with the Carolina Hurricanes worth up to $38 million (with bonuses). The Red Wings matched the offer on February 26, 1998, ending Fedorov's holdout. The offer broke down as: $14 million for signing, $2 million for 21 regular season games and $12 million for the team reaching conference finals. $28 million for 43 total games in 1997–98 is the largest single season amount paid to an NHL athlete. Fedorov helped the Red Wings win their second consecutive Stanley Cup that year.

Season standings

Central Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Dallas Stars	82	49	22	11	242	167	109
2	3	Detroit Red Wings	82	44	23	15	250	196	103
3	4	St. Louis Blues	82	45	29	8	256	204	98
4	6	Phoenix Coyotes	82	35	35	12	224	227	82
5	9	Chicago Blackhawks	82	30	39	13	192	199	73
6	10	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	30	43	9	194	237	69

Western Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Dallas Stars	CEN	82	49	22	11	242	167	109
2	x – Colorado Avalanche	PAC	82	39	26	17	231	205	95
3	Detroit Red Wings	CEN	82	44	23	15	250	196	103
4	St. Louis Blues	CEN	82	45	29	8	256	204	98
5	Los Angeles Kings	PAC	82	38	33	11	227	225	87
6	Phoenix Coyotes	CEN	82	35	35	12	224	227	82
7	Edmonton Oilers	PAC	82	35	37	10	215	224	80
8	San Jose Sharks	PAC	82	34	38	10	210	216	78
9	Chicago Blackhawks	CEN	82	30	39	13	192	199	73
10	Toronto Maple Leafs	CEN	82	30	43	9	194	237	69
11	Calgary Flames	PAC	82	26	41	15	217	252	67
12	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PAC	82	26	43	13	205	261	65
13	Vancouver Canucks	PAC	82	25	43	14	224	273	64

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

bold – Qualified for playoffs; x – Won Division; p – Won Presidents' Trophy

Playoffs

Stanley Cup Finals

The 1998 Stanley Cup Finals were played in the 105th year of the Stanley Cup. The series was played between the Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings and the Eastern Conference champion Washington Capitals. The Red Wings were led by captain Steve Yzerman, Head Coach Scotty Bowman and goaltender Chris Osgood. The Capitals were led by captain Dale Hunter, head coach Ron Wilson and goaltender Olaf Kolzig. The Red Wings swept the Capitals to capture their second consecutive Stanley Cup. During the presentation of the Stanley Cup, Vladimir Konstantinov was wheeled onto the ice in his wheelchair and captain Steve Yzerman gave him the cup while his teammates surrounded him.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1997–98 regular season
October: 10–2–2 (home: 4–2–2; road: 6–0–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Record Points Recap 1 October 1 Detroit 3–1 Calgary Osgood 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 3 Detroit 8–2 Edmonton Osgood 2–0–0 4 Recap 3 October 8 Dallas 1–3 Detroit Osgood 3–0–0 6 Recap 4 October 10 Tampa Bay 0–3 Detroit Osgood 4–0–0 8 Recap 5 October 12 Calgary 4–4 Detroit OT Osgood 4–0–1 9 Recap 6 October 14 Detroit 3–2 Toronto Osgood 5–0–1 11 Recap 7 October 15 Toronto 4–3 Detroit Osgood 5–1–1 11 Recap 8 October 18 Carolina 2–4 Detroit Osgood 6–1–1 13 Recap 9 October 20 St. Louis 3–3 Detroit OT Osgood 6–1–2 14 Recap 10 October 22 Detroit 4–1 Anaheim Osgood 7–1–2 16 Recap 11 October 23 Detroit 4–1 Los Angeles Hodson 8–1–2 18 Recap 12 October 26 Detroit 5–1 Vancouver Osgood 9–1–2 20 Recap 13 October 29 San Jose 3–4 Detroit Osgood 10–1–2 22 Recap 14 October 31 Los Angeles 5–1 Detroit Hodson 10–2–2 22 Recap
November: 7–4–2 (home: 5–2–1; road: 2–2–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Record Points Recap 15 November 2 Anaheim 3–4 Detroit Osgood 11–2–2 24 Recap 16 November 5 Detroit 1–3 Carolina Osgood 11–3–2 24 Recap 17 November 7 Pittsburgh 1–1 Detroit OT Osgood 11–3–3 25 Recap 18 November 9 Calgary 3–6 Detroit Osgood 12–3–3 27 Recap 19 November 11 Colorado 2–0 Detroit Osgood 12–4–3 27 Recap 20 November 13 Detroit 4–2 Ottawa Hodson 13–4–3 29 Recap 21 November 15 Detroit 2–5 St. Louis Osgood 13–5–3 29 Recap 22 November 16 Detroit 3–3 Chicago OT Hodson 13–5–4 30 Recap 23 November 19 NY Islanders 3–2 Detroit Osgood 13–6–4 30 Recap 24 November 21 Dallas 2–4 Detroit Osgood 14–6–4 32 Recap 25 November 22 Detroit 5–2 Montreal Osgood 15–6–4 34 Recap 26 November 26 Ottawa 1–4 Detroit Hodson 16–6–4 36 Recap 27 November 28 Montreal 0–2 Detroit Osgood 17–6–4 38 Recap
December: 8–3–4 (home: 4–1–1; road: 4–2–3) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Record Points Recap 28 December 1 Detroit 3–3 Vancouver OT Osgood 17–6–5 39 Recap 29 December 3 Detroit 4–3 Calgary Osgood 18–6–5 41 Recap 30 December 5 Detroit 1–3 Edmonton Osgood 18–7–5 41 Recap 31 December 9 Vancouver 5–7 Detroit Hodson 19–7–5 43 Recap 32 December 12 Edmonton 3–2 Detroit Osgood 19–8–5 43 Recap 33 December 14 Detroit 3–3 Phoenix OT Osgood 19–8–6 44 Recap 34 December 16 Detroit 1–5 San Jose Hodson 19–9–6 44 Recap 35 December 17 Detroit 2–2 Colorado OT Osgood 19–9–7 45 Recap 36 December 19 New Jersey 4–5 Detroit Osgood 20–9–7 47 Recap 37 December 22 Detroit 4–2 Boston Osgood 21–9–7 49 Recap 38 December 23 Detroit 3–1 Buffalo Osgood 22–9–7 51 Recap 39 December 26 Toronto 1–4 Detroit Osgood 23–9–7 53 Recap 40 December 27 Detroit 8–1 Toronto Osgood 24–9–7 55 Recap 41 December 29 Dallas 2–2 Detroit OT Osgood 24–9–8 56 Recap 42 December 31 St. Louis 2–5 Detroit Osgood 25–9–8 58 Recap
January: 4–5–3 (home: 4–2–1; road: 0–3–2) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Record Points Recap 43 January 2 San Jose 4–1 Detroit Osgood 25–10–8 58 Recap 44 January 4 Detroit 1–3 Chicago Osgood 25–11–8 58 Recap 45 January 6 Phoenix 0–2 Detroit Hodson 26–11–8 60 Recap 46 January 9 Detroit 3–3 Dallas OT Osgood 26–11–9 61 Recap 47 January 11 Washington 0–2 Detroit Osgood 27–11–9 63 Recap 48 January 12 Detroit 1–1 NY Islanders OT Hodson 27–11–10 64 Recap 49 January 14 Vancouver 0–4 Detroit Osgood 28–11–10 66 Recap 50 January 20 Detroit 1–3 New Jersrey Osgood 28–12–10 66 Recap 51 January 21 Toronto 3–0 Detroit Osgood 28–13–10 66 Recap 52 January 24 Philadelphia 0–1 Detroit Osgood 29–13–10 68 Recap 53 January 28 Phoenix 4–4 Detroit OT Osgood 29–13–11 69 Recap 54 January 31 Detroit 2–4 Pittsburgh Osgood 29–14–11 69 Recap
February: 3–1–2 (home: 1–0–1; road: 2–1–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Record Points Recap 55 February 1 Detroit 4–2 Washington Hodson 30–14–11 71 Recap 56 February 3 Detroit 1–1 Florida OT Osgood 30–14–12 72 Recap 57 February 5 Detroit 5–4 Tampa Bay Osgood 31–14–12 74 Recap 58 February 7 Detroit 1–4 St. Louis Osgood 31–15–12 74 Recap 59 February 25 Los Angeles 1–1 Detroit OT Osgood 31–15–13 75 Recap 60 February 27 Florida 1–3 Detroit Osgood 32–15–13 77 Recap
March: 7–5–2 (home: 3–1–2; road: 4–4–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Record Points Recap 61 March 2 Detroit 3–1 Phoenix Osgood 33–15–13 79 Recap 62 March 4 Detroit 2–0 Anaheim Hodson 34–15–13 81 Recap 63 March 5 Detroit 4–5 San Jose Osgood 34–16–13 81 Recap 64 March 7 Detroit 1–2 Los Angeles Osgood 34–17–13 81 Recap 65 March 10 Boston 6–3 Detroit Osgood 34–18–13 81 Recap 66 March 12 Chicago 0–3 Detroit Osgood 35–18–13 83 Recap 67 March 14 Detroit 1–6 Philadelphia Osgood 35–19–13 83 Recap 68 March 17 Edmonton 3–4 Detroit Maracle 36–19–13 85 Recap 69 March 18 Detroit 5–2 Toronto Maracle 37–19–13 87 Recap 70 March 21 Detroit 4–3 NY Rangers Hodson 38–19–13 89 Recap 71 March 23 Chicago 5–5 Detroit OT Maracle 38–19–14 90 Recap 72 March 26 Anaheim 3–3 Detroit OT Hodson 38–19–15 91 Recap 73 March 28 Detroit 2–3 St. Louis Osgood 38–20–15 91 Recap 74 March 29 Buffalo 2–4 Detroit Osgood 39–20–15 93 Recap
April: 5–3–0 (home: 4–0–0; road: 1–3–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Record Points Recap 75 April 1 Colorado 0–2 Detroit Osgood 40–20–15 95 Recap 76 April 4 Detroit 3–2 Chicago Osgood 41–20–15 97 Recap 77 April 7 St. Louis 3–5 Detroit Osgood 42–20–15 99 Recap 78 April 9 Phoenix 1–5 Detroit Osgood 43–20–15 101 Recap 79 April 11 NY Rangers 2–5 Detroit Osgood 44–20–15 103 Recap 80 April 14 Detroit 1–2 Phoenix Osgood 44–21–15 103 Recap 81 April 15 Detroit 1–3 Dallas Osgood 44–22–15 103 Recap 82 April 18 Detroit 3–4 Colorado Hodson 44–23–15 103 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1998 Stanley Cup playoffs
Western Conference Quarterfinals vs. (6) Phoenix Coyotes: Detroit won 4–2 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 April 22 Phoenix 3–6 Detroit Osgood 1–0 Recap 2 April 24 Phoenix 7–4 Detroit Osgood 1–1 Recap 3 April 26 Detroit 2–3 Phoenix Osgood 1–2 Recap 4 April 28 Detroit 4–2 Phoenix Osgood 2–2 Recap 5 April 30 Phoenix 1–3 Detroit Osgood 3–2 Recap 6 May 3 Detroit 5–2 Phoenix Osgood 4–2 Recap
Western Conference Semifinals vs. (4) St. Louis Blues: Detroit won 4–2 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 May 8 St. Louis 4–2 Detroit Osgood 0–1 Recap 2 May 10 St. Louis 1–6 Detroit Osgood 1–1 Recap 3 May 12 Detroit 3–2 St. Louis 2OT Osgood 2–1 Recap 4 May 14 Detroit 5–2 St. Louis Osgood 3–1 Recap 5 May 17 St. Louis 3–1 Detroit Osgood 3–2 Recap 6 May 19 Detroit 6–1 St. Louis Osgood 4–2 Recap
Western Conference Finals vs. (1) Dallas Stars: Detroit won 4–2 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 May 24 Detroit 2–0 Dallas Osgood 1–0 Recap 2 May 26 Detroit 1–3 Dallas Osgood 1–1 Recap 3 May 29 Dallas 3–5 Detroit Osgood 2–1 Recap 4 May 31 Dallas 2–3 Detroit Osgood 3–1 Recap 5 June 3 Detroit 2–3 Dallas OT Osgood 3–2 Recap 6 June 5 Dallas 0–2 Detroit Osgood 4–2 Recap
Stanley Cup Finals vs. (E4) Washington Capitals: Detroit won 4–0 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 June 9 Washington 1–2 Detroit Osgood 1–0 Recap 2 June 11 Washington 4–5 Detroit OT Osgood 2–0 Recap 3 June 13 Detroit 2–1 Washington Osgood 3–0 Recap 4 June 16 Detroit 4–1 Washington Osgood 4–0 Recap
Legend:   Win   Loss

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 Red Wings only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Red Wings only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
19	Steve Yzerman	C	75	24	45	69	3	46	22	6	18	24	10	22
5	Nicklas Lidstrom	D	80	17	42	59	22	18	22	6	13	19	12	8
14	Brendan Shanahan	LW	75	28	29	57	6	154	20	5	4	9	5	22
13	Vyacheslav Kozlov	LW	80	25	27	52	14	46	22	6	8	14	4	10
55	Larry Murphy	D	82	11	41	52	35	37	22	3	12	15	12	2
8	Igor Larionov	C	69	8	39	47	14	40	22	3	10	13	5	12
17	Doug Brown	C	80	19	23	42	17	12	9	4	2	6	−1	0
25	Darren McCarty	RW	71	15	22	37	0	157	22	3	8	11	9	34
20	Martin Lapointe	RW	79	15	19	34	0	106	21	9	6	15	6	20
41	Brent Gilchrist	LW	61	13	14	27	4	40	15	2	1	3	2	12
18	Kirk Maltby	LW	65	14	9	23	11	89	22	3	1	4	2	30
33	Kris Draper	C	64	13	10	23	5	45	19	1	3	4	4	12
96	Tomas Holmstrom	LW	57	5	17	22	6	44	22	7	12	19	9	16
44	Anders Eriksson	D	66	7	14	21	21	32	18	0	5	5	7	16
91	Sergei Fedorov	RW	21	6	11	17	10	25	22	10	10	20	0	12
11	Mathieu Dandenault	RW	68	5	12	17	5	43	3	1	0	1	−2	0
2	Viacheslav Fetisov	D	58	2	12	14	4	72	21	0	3	3	4	10
22	Mike Knuble	RW	53	7	6	13	2	16	3	0	1	1	0	0
3	Bob Rouse	D	71	1	11	12	−9	57	22	0	3	3	2	16
26	Joey Kocur	RW	63	6	5	11	7	92	18	4	0	4	−3	30
27	Aaron Ward	D	52	5	5	10	−1	47	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Dmitri Mironov†	D	11	2	5	7	0	4	7	0	3	3	1	14
4	Jamie Pushor‡	D	54	2	5	7	2	71	—	—	—	—	—	—
28	Yan Golubovsky	D	12	0	2	2	1	6	—	—	—	—	—	—
31	Kevin Hodson	G	21	0	0	0		2	1	0	0	0		0
21	Darryl Laplante	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
34	Jamie Macoun†	D	7	0	0	0	0	0	22	2	2	4	3	18
34	Norm Maracle	G	4	0	0	0		0	—	—	—	—	—	—
30	Chris Osgood	G	64	0	0	0		31	22	0	0	1		12

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season											Playoffs
		GP	GS	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	GS	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
30	Chris Osgood	64	64	33	20	11	1,605	140	2.21	.913	6	3,806:39	22	22	16	6	588	48	2.12	.918	2	1,361:04
31	Kevin Hodson	21	16	9	3	3	444	44	2.67	.901	2	987:49	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	—	0	0:16
34	Norm Maracle	4	2	2	0	1	63	6	2.02	.905	0	178:15	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Nicklas Lidstrom was a runner-up for the James Norris Memorial Trophy.

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Conn Smythe Trophy	Steve Yzerman
	NHL First All-Star Team	Nicklas Lidstrom (Defense)
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Viacheslav Fetisov
		Igor Larionov
		Nicklas Lidstrom
		Brendan Shanahan

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Yan Golubovsky	December 12, 1997
	Darryl Laplante	January 6, 1998
	Norm Maracle	March 14, 1998

Transactions

The Red Wings have been involved in the following transactions during the 1997-98 season.

Trades

Date	Details
August 18, 1997 (1997-08-18)	To San Jose Sharks Mike Vernon 1999 5th-round pick (#149 overall)	To Detroit Red Wings 1998 2nd-round pick (#41 overall) 1999 2nd-round pick (#47 overall)
March 24, 1998 (1998-03-24)	To Toronto Maple Leafs 1998 TB 4th-round pick (#87 overall)	To Detroit Red Wings Jamie Macoun
March 24, 1998 (1998-03-24)	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Jamie Pushor 1998 4th-round pick (#112 overall)	To Detroit Red Wings Dmitri Mironov

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term
July 2, 1997 (1997-07-02)	Martin Lapointe	4-year
July 26, 1997 (1997-07-26)	Bob Rouse	1-year
August 1, 1997 (1997-08-01)	Igor Larionov	3-year
August 15, 1997 (1997-08-15)	Joey Kocur	1-year
September 3, 1997 (1997-09-03)	Jon Coleman	2-year
September 8, 1997 (1997-09-08)	Viacheslav Fetisov	1-year
September 18, 1997 (1997-09-18)	Vyacheslav Kozlov	3-year
January 7, 1998 (1998-01-07)	Doug Brown	3-year
February 26, 1998 (1998-02-26)	Sergei Fedorov	6-year (matched Hurricanes offer sheet)
March 13, 1998 (1998-03-13)	Larry Murphy	2-year extension through 1999-2000 with 1-year option for 2000-01
March 20, 1998 (1998-03-20)	Aren Miller	3-year
June 1, 1998 (1998-06-01)	Jesse Wallin	3-year

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term
July 8, 1997 (1997-07-08)	Brent Gilchrist	from Dallas Stars	3-year
August 1, 1997 (1997-08-01)	Tomas Sandstrom	to Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	2-year
August 20, 1997 (1997-08-20)	Mark Major	to Washington Capitals

Waivers

Date	Player	Team
September 28, 1997 (1997-09-28)	Tim Taylor	to Boston Bruins in waiver draft

Draft picks

Below are the Detroit Red Wings' selections at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 21, 1997 at Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team
2	49	Yuri Butsayev	LW	Russia	Lada Togliatti (Russia)
3	76	Petr Sykora	C	Czech Republic	HC Pardubice (Czech Republic)
4	102	Quintin Laing	LW	Canada	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
5	129	John Wikstrom	D	Sweden	Lulea HF (Sweden)
6	157	B. J. Young	RW	United States	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
7	186	Mike Laceby	C	Canada	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
8	213	Steve Wilejto	C	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
9	239	Greg Willers	D	Canada	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)

Notes

• The Red Wings first-round pick went to the Carolina Hurricanes (formerly the Hartford Whalers) as the result of a trade on October 9, 1996 that sent Brendan Shanahan and Brian Glynn to Detroit in exchange for Paul Coffey, Keith Primeau and this pick (22nd overall).

References

• "Detroit Red Wings 1997-98 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
• "1997-98 Detroit Red Wings Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved July 5, 2023.