1997-98 WHL SEASON

The '1997-98 WHL season' was the 32nd season for the Western Hockey League. Eighteen teams completed a 72 game season. The Portland Winter Hawks won the President's Cup before going on to win the Memorial Cup.

Contents

Regular season

Final standings

Scoring leaders

Goaltending Leaders

WHL Playoffs

Conference Quarterfinals

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Conference semifinals

Conference finals

WHL Championship

All-Star Game

WHL awards

See also

References

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

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; TOI = Total Ice Time; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties ; GA = Goals Against; SO = Total Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average''

Player	Team	GP	TOI	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

WHL Playoffs

Conference Quarterfinals

★ 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

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 'Brndon 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

{| cellspacing="10"
|-
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
! bgcolor="#DDDDDD" colspan="4" | Portland vs. Brandon
|-
! Date !! Away !! Home
|-
| April 25 || align="right" | Brandon 3 || '7 Portland'
|-
| April 26 || align="right" | Brandon 1 || '5 Portland'
|-
| April 29 || align="right" | 'Portland 7' || 2 Brandon
|-
| May 1 || align="right" | 'Portland 4' || 3 Brandon
|- align="center"
| colspan="4" | '''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.

WHL awards

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"
|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
|-
|Humanitarian of the Year - Jesse Wallin, Red Deer Rebels
|-
|WHL Plus-Minus Award: Andrew Ference, Portland Winter Hawks
|-
|Playoff Most Valuable Player - airBC Trophy: Brent Belecki, Portland Winter Hawks
|}

See also

★ 1998 Memorial Cup

★ 1998 NHL Entry Draft

★ 1997 in sports

★ 1998 in sports

References

★ whl.ca

★ 2005-06 WHL Guide