1997–98 Phoenix Coyotes season

The 1997–98 Phoenix Coyotes season was the Coyotes' second season in Phoenix, the franchise's 19th season in the NHL, its second season in Phoenix, and its 26th season overall. The Coyotes made the 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs, losing in the first round to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.

1997–98 Phoenix Coyotes
Division	4th Central
Conference	7th Western
1997–98 record	35–35–12
Home record	19–16–6
Road record	16–19–6
Goals for	224
Goals against	227
Team information
General manager	Bobby Smith
Coach	Jim Schoenfeld
Captain	Keith Tkachuk
Arena	America West Arena
Average attendance	15,404
Minor league affiliate(s)	Springfield Falcons Mississippi Sea Wolves
Team leaders
Goals	Keith Tkachuk (40)
Assists	Cliff Ronning (44)
Points	Keith Tkachuk (66)
Penalty minutes	Rick Tocchet (157)
Plus/minus	Teppo Numminen (+25)
Wins	Nikolai Khabibulin (30)
Goals against average	Jimmy Waite (2.12)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

This was the team's final season of its original tenure in the Central Division, which it had joined while still based in Winnipeg, before being realigned into the Pacific Division the following season. The Coyotes would return to the Central in 2021.

Off-season

Regular season

Final 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^[1]

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

The series began in Detroit. In Game 1, Detroit won 6–3, but in Game 2, the Coyotes came back and won 7–4. The series then shifted to Phoenix, where the Coyotes were victorious in Game 3, 3–2. However, the Coyotes' 2–1 series lead was short lived, as Detroit won 4–2 in Game 4. For Game 5 back in Detroit, the Red Wings won 3–1. In Game 6, the series went back to Phoenix, where Detroit won the game 5–2 and the series 4–2.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1997–98 regular season[2]
October: 5–5–2 (home: 4–2–1; road: 1–3–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 October 1, 1997 6–2 Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 1–0–0 W 2 October 3, 1997 2–7 @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 1–1–0 L 3 October 5, 1997 2–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 2–1–0 W 4 October 8, 1997 2–3 OT Boston Bruins (1997–98) 2–2–0 L 5 October 11, 1997 3–3 OT @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 2–2–1 T 6 October 13, 1997 2–1 Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 3–2–1 W 7 October 19, 1997 5–3 San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 4–2–1 W 8 October 21, 1997 3–4 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 4–3–1 L 9 October 23, 1997 3–3 OT Washington Capitals (1997–98) 4–3–2 T 10 October 26, 1997 6–1 Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 5–3–2 W 11 October 29, 1997 2–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 5–4–2 L 12 October 30, 1997 2–4 @ Calgary Flames (1997–98) 5–5–2 L
November: 7–6–0 (home: 5–2–0; road: 2–4–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 13 November 2, 1997 3–1 Calgary Flames (1997–98) 6–5–2 W 14 November 5, 1997 2–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 6–6–2 L 15 November 6, 1997 1–4 @ Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 6–7–2 L 16 November 8, 1997 3–0 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 7–7–2 W 17 November 11, 1997 5–2 Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 8–7–2 W 18 November 13, 1997 2–5 Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 8–8–2 L 19 November 15, 1997 3–2 @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 9–8–2 W 20 November 17, 1997 6–3 Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 10–8–2 W 21 November 20, 1997 2–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 10–9–2 L 22 November 22, 1997 2–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 11–9–2 W 23 November 25, 1997 3–2 St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 12–9–2 W 24 November 27, 1997 1–4 Dallas Stars (1997–98) 12–10–2 L 25 November 29, 1997 2–5 @ Dallas Stars (1997–98) 12–11–2 L
December: 5–5–5 (home: 0–2–3; road: 5–3–2) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 26 December 1, 1997 3–2 @ Florida Panthers (1997–98) 13–11–2 W 27 December 3, 1997 1–2 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 13–12–2 L 28 December 5, 1997 2–2 OT @ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 13–12–3 T 29 December 6, 1997 0–4 @ New York Islanders (1997–98) 13–13–3 L 30 December 8, 1997 1–3 @ New York Rangers (1997–98) 13–14–3 L 31 December 10, 1997 3–3 OT @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 13–14–4 T 32 December 12, 1997 2–2 OT Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 13–14–5 T 33 December 14, 1997 3–3 OT Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 13–14–6 T 34 December 17, 1997 1–5 Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 13–15–6 L 35 December 19, 1997 6–2 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 14–15–6 W 36 December 20, 1997 2–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 14–16–6 L 37 December 23, 1997 2–2 OT Calgary Flames (1997–98) 14–16–7 T 38 December 26, 1997 4–0 @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 15–16–7 W 39 December 27, 1997 4–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 16–16–7 W 40 December 29, 1997 5–3 @ Calgary Flames (1997–98) 17–16–7 W
January: 7–4–3 (home: 4–1–1; road: 3–3–2) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 41 January 1, 1998 4–0 Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 18–16–7 W 42 January 3, 1998 2–1 New York Islanders (1997–98) 19–16–7 W 43 January 6, 1998 0–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 19–17–7 L 44 January 8, 1998 2–5 @ Boston Bruins (1997–98) 19–18–7 L 45 January 9, 1998 4–2 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 20–18–7 W 46 January 11, 1998 4–4 OT Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 20–18–8 T 47 January 14, 1998 3–2 Florida Panthers (1997–98) 21–18–8 W 48 January 20, 1998 2–6 @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 21–19–8 L 49 January 21, 1998 6–1 @ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 22–19–8 W 50 January 24, 1998 2–5 Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 22–20–8 L 51 January 26, 1998 4–2 Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 23–20–8 W 52 January 28, 1998 4–4 OT @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 23–20–9 T 53 January 30, 1998 3–3 OT @ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 23–20–10 T 54 January 31, 1998 5–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 24–20–10 W
February: 0–5–1 (home: 0–3–1; road: 0–2–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 55 February 3, 1998 2–4 Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 24–21–10 L 56 February 5, 1998 2–6 Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 24–22–10 L 57 February 7, 1998 1–1 OT New York Rangers (1997–98) 24–22–11 T 58 February 25, 1998 2–4 Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 24–23–11 L 59 February 26, 1998 0–3 @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 24–24–11 L 60 February 28, 1998 0–4 @ Dallas Stars (1997–98) 24–25–11 L
March: 4–7–1 (home: 3–5–0; road: 1–2–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 61 March 2, 1998 1–3 Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 24–26–11 L 62 March 6, 1998 4–5 OT Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 24–27–11 L 63 March 8, 1998 1–1 OT @ Dallas Stars (1997–98) 24–27–12 T 64 March 10, 1998 3–4 Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 24–28–12 L 65 March 12, 1998 5–4 Dallas Stars (1997–98) 25–28–12 W 66 March 14, 1998 2–0 @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 26–28–12 W 67 March 16, 1998 1–2 @ Washington Capitals (1997–98) 26–29–12 L 68 March 19, 1998 3–4 Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 26–30–12 L 69 March 21, 1998 2–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 26–31–12 L 70 March 22, 1998 3–1 San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 27–31–12 W 71 March 24, 1998 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 28–31–12 W 72 March 28, 1998 0–3 New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 28–32–12 L
April: 7–3–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 4–2–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 73 April 1, 1998 5–1 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 29–32–12 W 74 April 3, 1998 6–3 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 30–32–12 W 75 April 5, 1998 2–3 @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 30–33–12 L 76 April 7, 1998 2–1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 31–33–12 W 77 April 9, 1998 1–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 31–34–12 L 78 April 11, 1998 4–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 32–34–12 W 79 April 12, 1998 2–1 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 33–34–12 W 80 April 14, 1998 2–1 Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 34–34–12 W 81 April 16, 1998 3–2 Dallas Stars (1997–98) 35–34–12 W 82 April 18, 1998 4–5 St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 35–35–12 L
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1998 Stanley Cup playoffs[2]
Western Conference Quarterfinals vs. (3) Detroit Red Wings – Red Wings win 4–2 Game Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 April 22, 1998 3–6 @ Detroit Red Wings Red Wings lead 1–0 L 2 April 24, 1998 7–4 @ Detroit Red Wings Series tied 1–1 W 3 April 26, 1998 3–2 Detroit Red Wings Coyotes lead 2–1 W 4 April 28, 1998 2–4 Detroit Red Wings Series tied 2–2 L 5 April 30, 1998 1–3 @ Detroit Red Wings Red Wings lead 3–2 L 6 May 3, 1998 2–5 Detroit Red Wings Red Wings win 4–2 L
Legend: W Win L 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 Coyotes only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Coyotes only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
7	Keith Tkachuk	LW	69	40	26	66	9	147	6	3	3	6	−1	10
97	Jeremy Roenick	C	79	24	32	56	5	103	6	5	3	8	−1	4
77	Cliff Ronning	C	80	11	44	55	5	36	6	1	3	4	−1	4
15	Craig Janney	C	68	10	43	53	5	12	6	0	3	3	−2	0
27	Teppo Numminen	D	82	11	40	51	25	30	1	0	0	0	0	0
92	Rick Tocchet	RW	68	26	19	45	1	157	6	6	2	8	0	25
11	Dallas Drake	RW	60	11	29	40	17	71	4	0	1	1	−4	2
22	Mike Gartner	RW	60	12	15	27	−4	24	5	1	0	1	−2	18
21	Bob Corkum	C	76	12	9	21	−7	28	6	1	0	1	−3	4
10	Oleg Tverdovsky	D	46	7	12	19	1	12	6	0	7	7	−2	0
4	Gerald Diduck	D	78	8	10	18	14	118	6	0	2	2	−4	20
16	Brad Isbister	LW	66	9	8	17	4	102	5	0	0	0	−1	2
26	John Slaney	D	55	3	14	17	−3	24	—	—	—	—	—	—
34	Darrin Shannon	LW	58	2	12	14	4	26	5	0	1	1	−1	4
36	Juha Ylonen	C	55	1	11	12	−3	10	—	—	—	—	—	—
19	Shane Doan	RW	33	5	6	11	−3	35	6	1	0	1	−2	6
5	Deron Quint	D	32	4	7	11	−6	16	—	—	—	—	—	—
6	Jay More‡	D	41	5	5	10	0	53	—	—	—	—	—	—
14	Mike Stapleton	C	64	5	5	10	−4	36	6	0	0	0	0	2
44	Norm Maciver	D	41	2	6	8	−11	38	6	0	1	1	0	2
33	Jim McKenzie	LW	64	3	4	7	−7	146	1	0	0	0	0	0
3	Keith Carney†	D	20	1	6	7	5	18	6	0	0	0	−3	4
24	Michel Petit†	D	32	4	2	6	−4	77	5	0	0	0	−1	8
32	Jocelyn Lemieux	RW	30	3	3	6	0	27	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	Murray Baron	D	45	1	5	6	−10	106	6	0	2	2	2	6
8	Jim Johnson	D	16	2	1	3	0	18	—	—	—	—	—	—
18	Mark Janssens†	C	7	1	2	3	4	4	1	0	0	0	0	2
35	Nikolai Khabibulin	G	70	0	2	2		22	4	0	1	1		0
54	Daniel Briere	C	5	1	0	1	1	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
55	Jason Doig	D	4	0	1	1	−4	12	—	—	—	—	—	—
48	Sean Gagnon	D	5	0	1	1	1	14	—	—	—	—	—	—
18	Chad Kilger‡	LW	10	0	1	1	−2	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
72	Jeff Christian	LW	1	0	0	0	−1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
20	Jim Cummins†	RW	20	0	0	0	−7	47	3	0	0	0	0	4
31	Scott Langkow	G	3	0	0	0		0	—	—	—	—	—	—
29	Scott Levins	RW	2	0	0	0	−1	5	—	—	—	—	—	—
39	Brad Tiley	D	1	0	0	0	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
28	Jimmy Waite	G	17	0	0	0		2	4	0	0	0		0

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
35	Nikolai Khabibulin	70	30	28	10	1835	184	2.74	.900	4	4026	4	2	1	106	13	4.21	.877	0	185
28	Jimmy Waite	17	5	6	1	322	28	2.12	.913	1	793	4	0	3	97	11	3.85	.887	0	171
31	Scott Langkow	3	0	1	1	60	10	4.39	.833	0	137	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	NHL Second All-Star Team	Keith Tkachuk (Left wing)	[3]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Nikolai Khabibulin	[4]
		Keith Tkachuk
Team	Hardest Working Player Award	Dallas Drake	[5]
	Leading Scorer Award	Keith Tkachuk	[5]
	Man of the Year Award	Jim McKenzie	[5]
	Team MVP Award	Keith Tkachuk	[5]
	Three-Star Award	Keith Tkachuk	[5]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Brad Isbister	October 1, 1997	[6]
	Sean Gagnon	November 8, 1997
	Brad Tiley	December 5, 1997
	Daniel Briere	March 19, 1998

Transactions

Trades

March 4, 1998	To Chicago Blackhawks Chad Kilger Jay More	To Phoenix Coyotes Keith Carney Jim Cummins
March 24, 1998	To New York Islanders 9th round pick in 1998 (Jason Doyle)	To Phoenix Coyotes Mark Janssens
June 11, 1998	To Tampa Bay Lightning Craig Janney	To Phoenix Coyotes Louie DeBrusk 5th round pick in 1998 (Jay Leach)
June 18, 1998	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Jim McKenzie	To Phoenix Coyotes Jean-Francois Jomphe
June 27, 1998	To San Jose Sharks 5th round pick in 1999 (Marc-Andre Thinel)	To Phoenix Coyotes 5th round pick in 1998 (Josh Blackburn)

Waivers

September 28, 1997

From Chicago Blackhawks Jimmy Waite

Free agents

Player	Former team
Ted Crowley	Boston Bruins
Rick Tocchet	Washington Capitals
Darin Kimble	New Jersey Devils
Jeff Christian	Pittsburgh Penguins
Martin Simard	Colorado Avalanche
John Slaney	Los Angeles Kings
Brad Tiley	Los Angeles Kings
Radoslav Suchy	Undrafted Free Agent
Michel Petit	Philadelphia Flyers

Player	New team
Kris King	Toronto Maple Leafs
Jeff Finley	New York Rangers
Pat Jablonski	Carolina Hurricanes
Brent Thompson	New York Rangers
Kevin Dahl	Calgary Flames
Igor Korolev	Toronto Maple Leafs

Draft picks

Phoenix's draft picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[7]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	43	Juha Gustafsson	Finland	Kiekko-Espoo (Finland)
4	96	Scott McCallum	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
5	123	Curtis Suter	Canada	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
6	151	Robert Francz	Germany	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
8	207	Aleksandrs Andrejevs	Latvia	Weyburn Red Wings (SJHL)
9	233	Wyatt Smith	United States	University of Minnesota (WCHA)

See also

• 1997–98 NHL season