1997–98 WHL season

The 1997–98 WHL season was the 32nd season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The season featured eighteen teams and a 72-game season. The Portland Winter Hawks won both the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as regular season champions and the President's Cup as playoff champions before going on to win the 1998 Memorial Cup, which was hosted by the Spokane Chiefs.

1997–98 WHL season
League	Western Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Number of teams	18
Regular season
Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy	Portland Winter Hawks (2)
Season MVP	Sergei Varlamov (Swift Current Broncos)
Top scorer	Sergei Varlamov (Swift Current Broncos)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP	Brent Belecki (Winter Hawks)
Finals champions	Portland Winter Hawks (2)
Runners-up	Brandon Wheat Kings

1997–98 CHL season
League	Canadian Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Number of teams	51
OHL
QMJHL
WHL
Memorial Cup
Finals champions	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL) (2nd title)
Runners-up	Guelph Storm (OHL)

Regular season

Final standings

East Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
x Regina Pats	72	46	21	5	97	334	250
x Swift Current Broncos	72	44	19	9	97	276	220
x Brandon Wheat Kings	72	45	21	6	96	322	235
x Saskatoon Blades	72	25	39	8	58	263	327
x Moose Jaw Warriors	72	23	39	10	56	235	281
Prince Albert Raiders	72	20	47	5	45	222	288

Central Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
x Calgary Hitmen	72	40	28	4	84	265	232
x Lethbridge Hurricanes	72	32	29	11	75	261	237
x Red Deer Rebels	72	27	40	5	59	281	323
Edmonton Ice	72	17	49	6	40	242	328
Medicine Hat Tigers	72	16	50	6	38	188	340

West Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
x Portland Winter Hawks	72	53	14	5	111	342	203
x Spokane Chiefs	72	45	23	4	94	288	235
x Prince George Cougars	72	43	24	5	91	311	236
x Kamloops Blazers	72	37	32	3	77	234	253
x Kelowna Rockets	72	33	35	4	70	313	290
x Seattle Thunderbirds	72	31	35	6	68	286	278
Tri-City Americans	72	17	49	6	40	264	371

Map of WHL, 1996–97 to 1997–98

190km
118miles

Wheat Kings

Pats

Warriors

Raiders

Blades

Broncos

Tigers

Hurricanes

Ice

Rebels

Hitmen

Chiefs

Americans

Rockets

Blazers

Thunderbirds

Winterhawks

Cougars

   

   East Division

   Central Division

   West Division

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Sergei Varlamov	Swift Current Broncos	72	66	53	119	132
Cory Cyrenne	Brandon Wheat Kings	72	47	71	118	28
Ronald Petrovicky	Regina Pats	71	64	49	113	178
Shane Willis	Lethbridge Hurricanes	64	58	54	112	73
Quinn Hancock	Prince George Cougars	69	54	58	112	31
Shawn McNeil	Red Deer Rebels	72	47	62	109	69
Mark Smith	Lethbridge Hurricanes	70	42	67	109	206
Todd Robinson	Portland Winter Hawks	71	35	74	109	55
Jason Deleurme	Kelowna Rockets	72	51	52	103	47
Brad Moran	Calgary Hitmen	72	53	49	102	64

Goaltending leaders

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties ; GA = Goals against; SO = Total shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player	Team	GP	Min	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Brent Belecki	Portland Winter Hawks	51	3052	35	10	5	131	2	.918	2.58
Terry Friesen	Swift Current Broncos	44	2640	26	10	7	124	1	.907	2.82
Scott Myers	Prince George Cougars	48	2823	29	13	4	139	2	.900	2.95
Alexandre Fomitchev	Calgary Hitmen	60	3383	32	23	1	168	1	.898	2.98
Ryan Hoople	Lethbridge/Regina	58	3266	34	18	4	164	4	.899	3.01

1998 WHL Playoffs

• Top eight teams in the Eastern Conference (East and Central divisions) qualified for playoffs
• Top six teams in the Western Conference (division) qualified for the playoffs

First round

Division Semi-Finals

Division Finals

WHL Championship

C1

Calgary

4

E4

Saskatoon

2

C1

Calgary

4

E2

Swift Current

3

E2

Swift Current

4

C3

Red Deer

1

C1

Calgary

1

E3

Brandon

4

E1

Regina

4

E5

Moose Jaw

0

E1

Regina

1

E3

Brandon

4

E3

Brandon

4

C2

Lethbridge

0

E3

Brandon

0

W1

Portland

4

W1

Portland

4

W6

Seattle

1

W1

Portland

bye

W1

Portland

4

W2

Spokane

3

W2

Spokane

4

W5

Kelowna

3

W2

Spokane

3

W3

Prince George

1

W3

Prince George

4

W4

Kamloops

3

Conference quarterfinals

Eastern Conference

Regina vs. Moose Jaw Date Away Home March 19 Moose Jaw 0 7 Regina March 20 Moose Jaw 1 2 Regina March 22 Regina 4 3 Moose Jaw 2OT March 23 Regina 6 5 Moose Jaw 2OT Regina wins series 4–0	Brandon vs. Lethbridge Date Away Home March 18 Lethbridge 3 5 Brandon March 20 Lethbridge 3 6 Brandon March 22 Brandon 7 3 Lethbridge March 23 Brandon 4 1 Lethbridge Brandon wins series 4–0
Calgary vs. Saskatoon Date Away Home March 17 Calgary 3 0 Saskatoon March 19 Saskatoon 4 1 Calgary March 22 Saskatoon 1 3 Calgary March 24 Calgary 1 6 Saskatoon March 25 Saskatoon 2 3 Calgary March 27 Calgary 3 2 Saskatoon Calgary wins series 4–2	Swift Current vs. Red Deer Date Away Home March 19 Red Deer 0 3 Swift Current March 20 Red Deer 3 4 Swift Current OT March 22 Swift Current 3 4 Red Deer March 23 Swift Current 3 2 Red Deer March 29 Red Deer 2 5 Swift Current Swift Current wins series 4–1

Western Conference

Spokane vs. Kelowna Date Away Home March 21 Spokane 4 6 Kelowna March 24 Kelowna 3 4 Spokane OT March 25 Spokane 2 5 Kelowna April 27 Kelowna 2 6 Spokane March 29 Kelowna 6 3 Spokane March 31 Spokane 2 0 Kelowna April 1 Kelowna 1 5 Spokane Spokane wins series 4–3	Prince George vs. Kamloops Date Away Home March 20 Kamloops 2 1 Prince George March 21 Kamloops 0 6 Prince George March 24 Prince George 3 5 Kamloops March 25 Prince George 1 2 Kamloops March 27 Kamloops 1 4 Prince George March 29 Prince George 4 3 Kamloops March 31 Kamloops 1 2 Prince George Prince George wins series 4–3
Portland vs. Seattle Date Away Home March 20 Seattle 3 7 Portland March 21 Portland 1 3 Seattle March 22 Seattle 1 5 Portland March 26 Portland 5 2 Seattle March 27 Seattle 2 3 Portland Portland wins series 4–1

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference
Calgary vs. Swift Current Date Away Home March 30 Swift Current 2 5 Calgary April 1 Calgary 2 3 Swift Current 2OT April 2 Calgary 1 5 Swift Current April 4 Swift Current 5 2 Calgary April 6 Swift Current 2 3 Calgary April 7 Calgary 4 1 Swift Current April 8 Swift Current 0 1 Calgary Calgary wins series 4–3	Regina vs. Brandon Date Away Home March 30 Brandon 4 2 Regina March 31 Brandon 2 5 Regina April 2 Regina 1 6 Brandon April 4 Regina 3 5 Brandon April 6 Brandon 7 3 Regina Brandon wins series 4–1

Western Conference
Spokane vs. Prince George Date Away Home April 3 Prince George 3 0 Spokane April 5 Prince George 1 4 Spokane April 7 Spokane 4 2 Prince George April 8 Spokane 5 2 Prince George Spokane wins series 3–1	Portland earns bye

Conference finals

Eastern Conference	Western Conference
Calgary vs. Brandon Date Away Home April 11 Brandon 5 4 Calgary April 12 Brandon 5 4 Calgary April 14 Calgary 3 2 Brandon OT April 15 Calgary 1 4 Brandon April 17 Brandon 4 1 Calgary Brandon wins series 4–1	Portland vs. Spokane Date Away Home April 11 Spokane 6 3 Portland April 13 Spokane 0 2 Portland April 15 Portland 4 1 Spokane April 16 Portland 3 5 Spokane April 18 Spokane 2 9 Portland April 21 Portland 2 5 Spokane April 22 Spokane 2 3 Portland Portland wins series 4–3

WHL Championship

Portland vs. Brandon
Date	Away	Home
April 25	Brandon 3	7 Portland
April 26	Brandon 1	5 Portland
April 29	Portland 7	2 Brandon
May 1	Portland 4	3 Brandon
Portland wins series 4–0

All-Star Game

On January 21, the Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference 7–6 at Regina, Saskatchewan before a crowd of 6,050.^{[citation needed]} The match was refereed by future National Hockey League official Mike Hasenfratz.^[1]

WHL awards

Player of the Year - Four Broncos Memorial Trophy: Sergei Varlamov, Swift Current Broncos

Scholastic Player of the Year - Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy: Kyle Rossiter, Spokane Chiefs

Top Scorer - Bob Clarke Trophy: Sergei Varlamov, Swift Current Broncos

Most Sportsmanlike Player - Brad Hornung Trophy: Cory Cyrenne, Brandon Wheat Kings

Top Defenseman - Bill Hunter Trophy: Michal Rozsival, Swift Current Broncos

Rookie of the Year - Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy: Marian Hossa, Portland Winter Hawks

Top Goaltender - Del Wilson Trophy: Brent Belecki, Portland Winter Hawks

Coach of the Year - Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy: Dean Clark, Calgary Hitmen

Executive of the Year - Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy: Ken Hodge, Portland Winter Hawks

Regular season champions - Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy: Portland Winter Hawks

Top Official - Allen Paradice Memorial Trophy: Brad Meier

Marketing/Public Relations Award - St. Clair Group Trophy: Dane MacKinnon, Prince George Cougars

WHL Humanitarian of the Year: Jesse Wallin, Red Deer Rebels

WHL Plus-Minus Award: Andrew Ference, Portland Winter Hawks

WHL Playoff Most Valuable Player: Brent Belecki, Portland Winter Hawks

All-Star Teams

Eastern Conference
	First Team		Second Team
Goal	Terry Friesen	Swift Current Broncos	Evan Lindsay	Prince Albert Raiders
Defense	Michal Rozsíval	Swift Current Broncos	Johnathan Aitken	Brandon Wheat Kings
	Burke Henry	Brandon Wheat Kings	Brad Stuart	Regina Pats
Forward	Sergei Varlamov	Swift Current Broncos	Josh Holden	Regina Pats
	Shane Willis	Lethbridge Hurricanes	Ronald Petrovicky	Regina Pats
	Cory Cyrenne	Brandon Wheat Kings	Mark Smith	Lethbridge Hurricanes
Western Conference
	First Team		Second Team
Goal	Brent Belecki	Portland Winter Hawks	Randy Petruk	Kamloops Blazers
Defense	Joel Kwiatkowski	Prince George Cougars	Eric Brewer	Prince George Cougars
	Andrew Ference	Portland Winter Hawks	Cory Sarich	Seattle Thunderbirds
Forward	Quinn Hancock	Prince George Cougars	Jason Deleurme	Kelowna Rockets
	Marián Hossa	Portland Winter Hawks	Greg Leeb	Spokane Chiefs
	Mark Parrish	Seattle Thunderbirds	Brett McLean	Kelowna Rockets
	-	-	Todd Robinson	Portland Winter Hawks
	-	-	Trent Whitfield	Spokane Chiefs

See also

• 1998 Memorial Cup
• 1998 NHL Entry Draft
• 1997 in sports
• 1998 in sports