1997–98 New Jersey Devils season

New Jersey Devils

Industry	Professional ice hockey
Founded	June 11, 1974 (1974-06-11)
Headquarters	Newark, New Jersey , United States
Products	Ice hockey team, NHL franchise
Website	www.nhl.com/devils

The 1997–98 season for the New Jersey Devils marked the 24th year of the franchise's participation in the NHL and the 16th since their move from Colorado. The team clinched the Atlantic Division championship by finishing with the top record in the Eastern Conference; however, their playoff run ended in the opening round of the 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Ottawa Senators.

Regular season

New Jersey distinguished itself defensively, conceding only 166 goals over 82 games—the fewest allowed by any team in the league. Although they had the lowest number of power play chances (333), they achieved an impressive second place in power play efficiency, converting at a rate of 18.92% (63 goals on 333 attempts).

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

The playoff series kicked off at the Meadowlands with Ottawa edging out New Jersey 2–1 in overtime during Game 1. The Devils responded by winning Game 2, 3–1. Ottawa then secured a pair of victories on home ice: a 2–1 overtime win in Game 3 and a 4–3 triumph in Game 4. Returning home, New Jersey took Game 5 with a 3–1 scoreline, but Ottawa sealed the series by winning Game 6, 3–1, thus prevailing 4–2 overall.

Regular season

|- |1||October 3, 1997||4–3 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning ||1–0–0 || |- |2||October 4, 1997||1–4 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals ||1–1–0 || |- |3||October 8, 1997||4–1 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers ||2–1–0 || |- |4||October 10, 1997||1–2 || align="left"| @ Carolina Hurricanes ||2–2–0 || |- |5||October 11, 1997||3–2 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres ||3–2–0 || |- |6||October 17, 1997||2–4 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators ||3–3–0 || |- |7||October 18, 1997||5–0 || align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning ||4–3–0 || |- |8||October 23, 1997||2–1 OT|| align="left"| Montreal Canadiens ||5–3–0 || |- |9||October 25, 1997||3–4 || align="left"| San Jose Sharks ||5–4–0 || |- |10||October 27, 1997||5–0 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers ||6–4–0 || |- |11||October 30, 1997||8–1 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks ||7–4–0 ||

|- |12||November 1, 1997||3–1 || align="left"| Washington Capitals ||8–4–0 || |- |13||November 4, 1997||0–3 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings ||8–5–0 || |- |14||November 5, 1997||4–2 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers ||9–5–0 || |- |15||November 8, 1997||2–0 || align="left"| Boston Bruins ||10–5–0 || |- |16||November 10, 1997||3–1 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders ||11–5–0 || |- |17||November 12, 1997||3–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers ||12–5–0 || |- |18||November 14, 1997||4–1 || align="left"| Colorado Avalanche ||13–5–0 || |- |19||November 15, 1997||3–2 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres ||14–5–0 || |- |20||November 18, 1997||2–1 || align="left"| Calgary Flames ||15–5–0 || |- |21||November 20, 1997||5–1 || align="left"| New York Islanders ||16–5–0 || |- |22||November 22, 1997||1-2 OT|| align="left"| Florida Panthers ||16-6-0 || |- |23||November 26, 1997||0-2   || align="left"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim  ||16-7-0  || |- | 24 || November 28,     | | 4 – 2 | align=“left” | @ San Jose Sharks ([[     ]] ) || 17 – 7 – 0 ||

Playoffs

1	April 22, 1998	1–2 OT	Ottawa Senators	Senators lead series 1–0
2	April 24, 1998	3–1	Ottawa Senators	Series even at 1–1
3	April 26, 1998	1–2 OT	@ Ottawa Senators	Senators ahead 2–1
4	April 28, 1998	3–4	@ Ottawa Senators	Senators lead series 3–1
5	April 30, 1998	3–1	Ottawa Senators	Senators lead series narrowed to 3–2
6	May 2, 1998	1–3	@ Ottawa Senators	Senators clinch series 4–2

Legend:

Scoring

• Position key: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Acquired mid-season. Statistics include only games played with the Devils.
• Template:Double-dagger = Departed during season. Stats reflect time with Devils only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
16	Bobby Holík	C	82	29	36	65	23	100	5	0	0	0	−4	8
27	Scott Niedermayer	D	81	14	43	57	5	27	6	0	2	2	0	4
93	Doug Gilmour	C	63	13	40	53	10	68	6	5	2	7	4	4
21	Randy McKay	RW	74	24	24	48	30	86	6	0	1	1	−1	0
23	Dave Andreychuk	LW	75	14	34	48	19	26	6	1	0	1	−2	4
26	Patrik Eliáš	LW	74	18	19	37	18	28	4	0	1	1	−2	0
17	align="left"|Petr Sýkora	RW	58	16	20	36	0	22	2	0	0	0	0
14	align="left"|Brian Rolston	LW	76	16	14	30	7	16	6	1	0	1	2	2
10	align="left"|Denis Pederson	C	80	15	13	28	−6	97	6	1	1	2	0	2
4	align="left"|Scott Stevens	D	80	4	22	26	19	80	6	1	0	1	4	8

Goaltending

• † = Joined team through trade, waiver claim, or signing during the season. Stats represent only tenure with Devils.

No.	Player	Regular season										Playoffs
GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
30	Martin Brodeur	70	43	17	8	1569	130	1.89	.917	10	4128	6	2	4	164	12	1.97	.927	0	366
1	Mike Dunham	15	5	5	3	332	29	2.25	.913	1	773	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
31	Richard Shulmistra†	1	0	1	0	30	2	1.94	.933	0	62	—	—
35		Peter Sidorkiewicz		1		0		0		8		1		3.00		.875		0		20		—		—		—		—		—

Honors

Martin Brodeur secured the position of runner-up for the Vezina Trophy, while Patrik Eliáš was nominated as a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy.

Category	Award/Recognition	Recipient
League (annual)	NHL All-Rookie Team	Patrik Eliáš (Forward)
	NHL Second All-Star Team	Martin Brodeur (Goaltender)
		Scott Niedermayer (Defense)
	William M. Jennings Trophy	Martin Brodeur
League (in-season)	1998 National Hockey League All-Star Game	Martin Brodeur
		Bobby Holík
		Jacques Lemaire (coach)
		Scott Niedermayer
		Scott Stevens
Team	Devils' Players' Player	Doug Gilmour
	Hugh Delano Unsung Hero	Denis Pederson
	Most Valuable Devil	Martin Brodeur
	Three-Star Award	Martin Brodeur

Key Achievements

Achievement	Player	Date
Debut game	Brad Bombardir	October 4, 1997
	Sheldon Souray	October 17, 1997
	Brendan Morrison	December 4, 1997
	Richard Shulmistra	January 1, 1998
25th shutout milestone	Martin Brodeur	December 4, 1997
600th assist milestone	Scott Stevens	February 7, 1998

Draft Selections

Below are New Jersey's picks from the 1997 NHL entry draft, conducted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the Civic Arena.

Round #	Overall Pick #	Player Name	Nationality	Position	Previous Team (League)	Remarks
1	24	Jean-François Damphousse	Canada	G	Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)
2	38	Stanislav Gron	Template:Flagcountry	LW	HC Slovan Bratislava (Slovak Extraliga)
3	78	'\'\'\'No third-round selection\'\'\'
4	104	Lucas Nehrling	Canada	D	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
5	131	Jiří Bicek	Template:Flagcountry	LW	HC Košice (Slovakia)
6	159	Sascha Goc	Germany	D	Schwenninger Wild Wings (DEL)
7	188	Mathieu Benoit	Canada	RW	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
8	215	Scott Clemmensen	United States	G	"Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)"
"9"	"241"	"Jan Srdínko"	(CZE)	"D"	.

Media Coverage

The 1997–98 campaign was notable for being the inaugural season with television broadcasts on Fox Sports Net New York.

See also

• 1997–98 NHL season