OHL 1997/98

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Master:	Guelph Storm
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The 1997/98 OHL season was the 18th season of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The Guelph Storm won the Hamilton Spectator Trophy as the best points team of the regular season . The play-offs began on March 14, 1998 and ended with the first win of the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the Guelph Storm on April 29, 1998, which prevailed in the final against the Ottawa 67’s .

Changes

With the beginning of the 1997/98 season, the Ontario Hockey League introduced overtime into the regular season. If it was tied after regular playing time, overtime followed, in which a winner could be determined by means of sudden death who received two points (as for a normal win) - the loser after overtime (OTL) received one point. If it was still a draw after overtime, both teams received a point; a shootout did not take place, this was only introduced in the 2005/06 season .

The Toronto St. Michael's Majors were reactivated at the beginning of the 1997/98 season and incorporated into the East Division . As a result, the North Bay Centennials and the Sudbury Wolves moved from the East to the Central Division and the Erie Otters moved from this Central Division to the West Division , so that now all three divisions were occupied by six teams.

In addition, the Detroit Whalers were relocated and henceforth traded as Plymouth Whalers .

Regular season

Closing tables

Abbreviations: GP = games, W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, OTL = defeat after overtime , GF = goals scored, GA = goals conceded, Pts = points
Explanations:     = play-off qualification,     = Hamilton-Spectator- Trophy winner

East Division

East Division	GP	W.	L.	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
Ottawa 67's	66	40	16	9	1	286	172	90
Belleville Bulls	66	41	19th	3	3	315	239	88
Kingston Frontenacs	66	35	26th	4th	1	330	275	75
Oshawa Generals	66	26th	29	8th	3	214	247	63
Peterborough Petes	68	20th	35	10	1	212	273	51
Toronto St. Michael's Majors	66	15th	41	9	1	154	265	40

Central Division

Central Division	GP	W.	L.	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
Guelph Storm	66	42	17th	6th	1	263	189	91
Barrie Colts	66	38	22nd	5	1	236	215	82
Kitchener Rangers	66	27	25th	10	4th	224	239	68
Sudbury Wolves	66	25th	27	7th	7th	257	268	64
Owen Sound Platers	66	27	31	5	3	270	312	62
North Bay Centennials	66	15th	41	6th	4th	213	291	40

West Division

West Division	GP	W.	L.	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
London Knights	66	40	21st	5	0	301	268	85
Plymouth Whalers	66	37	19th	7th	3	279	223	84
Sarnia Sting	66	32	18th	13	3	253	227	80
Erie Otters	66	33	25th	5	3	261	252	74
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	66	20th	36	7th	3	232	296	50
Windsor Spitfires	66	19th	39	5	3	261	340	46

Best scorer

Abbreviations: GP = games, G = goals, A = assists , Pts = points, PIM = penalty minutes; Bold: Season best

player	team	GP	G	A.	Pts	PIM
Peter Sarno	Windsor Spitfires	63	33	88	121	18th
Jeremy Adduono	Sudbury Wolves	66	37	69	106	40
David Legwand	Plymouth Whalers	59	54	51	105	56
Maxim Spiridonov	London Knights	66	54	44	98	52
Colin Chaulk	Kingston Frontenacs	60	34	62	96	118
Jay Legault	London Knights	61	39	56	95	87
Robert Mailloux	Kingston Frontenacs	65	55	40	95	53
Jeff Martin	Windsor Spitfires	65	40	54	94	48
Mark Cadotte	Plymouth Whalers London Knights	67	39	55	94	76
Chris Allen	Kingston Frontenacs	66	38	56	94	91
Jon Sim	Sarnia Sting	59	44	50	94	94
Justin Papineau	Belleville Bulls	66	41	53	94	34

Best goalkeeper

Abbreviations: GP = games, TOI = ice age (in minutes), W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, OTL = overtime / shootout defeats, GA = goals conceded, SO = shutouts , Sv% = shots saved (in% ), GAA = counter goal

player	team	GP	TOI	W.	L.	T	OTL	GA	SO	Sv%	ATM
Craig Hillier	Ottawa 67's	46	2587	27	12	0	4th	108	5	91.3	2.50
Seamus Kotyk	Ottawa 67's	31	1423	13	4th	1	5	63	3	90.6	2.66
Chris Madden	Guelph Storm	51	2906	33	11	0	3	132	4th	91.7	2.73

Mike Gorman achieved the highest catch quota with 92.4%.

Only goalkeepers who have played at least 919 minutes of play are recorded.

Play-offs

Play-off tree

Round of 16

Quarter finals

Semifinals

OHL championship

C1

Guelph Storm

set

C1

Guelph Storm

4th

C5

Sudbury Wolves

0

C2

Barrie Colts

2

C5

Sudbury Wolves

4th

C1

Guelph Storm

4th

W2

Plymouth Whalers

0

E2

Belleville Bulls

4th

E5

Peterborough Petes

0

E2

Belleville Bulls

2

W2

Plymouth Whalers

4th

W2

Plymouth Whalers

4th

W3

Sarnia Sting

1

C1

Guelph Storm

4th

E1

Ottawa 67's

1

E1

Ottawa 67's

set

E1

Ottawa 67's

4th

C4

Owen Sound Platers

1

C3

Kitchener Rangers

2

C4

Owen Sound Platers

4th

E1

Ottawa 67's

4th

W1

London Knights

0

W1

London Knights

4th

W4

Erie Otters

3

W1

London Knights

4th

E3

Kingston Frontenacs

1

E3

Kingston Frontenacs

4th

E4

Oshawa Generals

3

J. Ross Robertson Cup Final

(C1) Guelph Storm - (E1) Ottawa 67's

Apr 22, 1998 7:30 p.m. (local time)

Guelph Storm Matthew Lahey (5:03) Manny Malhotra (10:05) Kent McDonell (11:33) Matthew Lahey (37:01) Mike Vellinga (48:26)

5: 2 (3: 0, 1: 0, 1: 2) Match report as of: 1: 0

Ottawa 67’s Matt Zultek (46:28) Matt Zultek (52:00)

Guelph Memorial Gardens , Guelph , Ontario Spectators: 3,604

Apr. 24, 1998 7:30 p.m.

Ottawa 67’s Justin Davis (13:58) Matt Zultek (28:44)

2: 3 (1: 2, 1: 0, 0: 1) Match report as of: 0: 2

Guelph Storm Brian Willsie (5:40) Kent McDonell (7:13) Manny Malhotra (56:54)

TD Place Arena , Ottawa , Ontario Spectators: 5,383

Apr 25, 1998 7:30 p.m.

Ottawa 67’s Ben Gustavson (3:12) Joe Talbot (15:20) Troy Stonier (20:45) Stephen Lafleur (28:37) Ben Gustavson (29:08) Matt Zultek (42:33) Mark Bell (47:35 ) Joe Talbot (56:20)

8: 1 (2: 0, 3: 0, 3: 1) Match report as of: 1: 2

Guelph Storm Éric Beaudoin (55:44)

TD Place Arena, Ottawa, Ontario Spectators: 4,763

Apr 27, 1998 7:00 p.m.

Guelph Storm Kent McDonell (49:43) Brian Willsie (57:50)

2: 1 (0: 1, 0: 0, 2: 0) Match report as of: 3: 1

Ottawa 67’s Lance Galbraith (3:01)

Guelph Memorial Gardens, Guelph, Ontario Spectators: 3,999

Apr 29, 1998 7:30 p.m.

Guelph Storm Manny Malhotra (11:43) Jason Jackman (38:46) Éric Beaudoin (41:37) Brian Willsie (57:04)

4: 3 (1: 1, 1: 0, 2: 2) Match report as of: 4: 1

Ottawa 67’s Dan Tessier (17:24) Ben Gustavson (45:08) Joe Talbot (54:15)

Guelph Memorial Gardens, Guelph, Ontario Spectators: 3,999

J. Ross Robertson Cup winner

J. Ross Robertson Cup winner Guelph Storm

Goalkeepers: Daniel Jacques , Chris Madden , Christopher Thompson Defenders: Rick Bertran , Chris Hajt , Mike Vellinga , Joey Bartley , Ian Forbes , John Zubyck , Kevin Mitchell , Darryl McArthur , Mike Dombkiewicz Attackers: Andrew Long , Nick Bootland , Jason Jackman , Manny Malhotra , Brian Willsie , Kent McDonell , Brian McGrattan , Éric Beaudoin , Matt Lahey , Dusty Jamieson , Bohuslav Šubr , Lindsay Plunkett , Ryan Davis , Bob Crummer , Joe Gerbe , Denis Iwanow , Mike Christian , Jeff Curran Head Coach: George Burnett   General Manager: Alan Millar

Best scorer

Abbreviations: GP = games, G = goals, A = assists , Pts = points, PIM = penalty minutes; Bold: Season best

player	team	GP	G	A.	Pts	PIM
Daniel Cleary	Belleville Bulls	10	6th	17th	23	10
Harold Druken	Plymouth Whalers	15th	9	11	20th	4th
David Legwand	Plymouth Whalers	15th	8th	12	20th	24
Mark Cadotte	London Knights	16	12	7th	19th	15th
Dan Tessier	Ottawa 67's	14th	7th	12	19th	12
Mike Oliveira	Kingston Frontenacs	12	6th	13	19th	8th
Jan Bulis	Kingston Frontenacs	12	8th	10	18th	12
Matt Zultek	Ottawa 67's	14th	6th	12	18th	20th
Troy Stonier	Ottawa 67's	14th	7th	10	17th	8th
Paul Mara	Plymouth Whalers	15th	3	14th	17th	30th

Best goalkeeper

Abbreviations: GP = games, TOI = ice age (in minutes), W = wins, L = defeats, OTL = overtime / shootout defeats , GA = goals conceded, SO = shutouts , Sv% = shots saved (in%), GAA = Conceded goal

player	team	GP	TOI	W.	L.	OTL	GA	SO	Sv%	ATM
Chris Madden	Guelph Storm	13	749	12	1	0	23	0	93.9	1.84
Steve Valiquette	Erie Otters	7th	468	3	2	2	15th	1	94.4	1.92
Seamus Kotyk	Ottawa 67's	4th	392	3	3	0	15th	0	92.5	2.29

Shawn Gallant scored the most shutouts with 2.

Only goalkeepers who have played at least 105 minutes of play are recorded.

Awards

All-star teams

First all-star team
Attack:	Rob Mailloux - David Legwand - Brian Willsie
Defense:	Chris Allen - Sean Blanchard
Goal:	Bujar Amidovski
Trainer:	Gary Agnew

Second all-star team
Attack:	Colin Pepperall - Jon Sim - Maxim Spiridonov
Defense:	Chris Hajt - Richard Jackman
Goal:	Robert Ash
Trainer:	George Burnett

Third all-star team
Attack:	Jeremy Adduono - Peter Sarno - Matthew Bradley
Defense:	Jeff Brown - Brian Campbell
Goal:	Ty Garner
Trainer:	Lou Crawford

All rookie teams

First all rookie team
Attack:	Ryan Jardine - David Legwand - Jonathan Cheechoo
Defense:	Kevin Mitchell - Martin Škoula
Goal:	Brian Finley

Second all rookie team
Attack:	Taylor Pyatt - Mike Zigomanis - Jeff Heerema
Defense:	John Erskine - Jon Zion
Goal:	Mike Gorman

Awarded trophies

Award		team
J. Ross Robertson Cup		Guelph Storm
Hamilton Spectator Trophy		Guelph Storm
Emms Trophy		Guelph Storm
Leyden Trophy		Ottawa 67's
Bumbacco Trophy		London Knights
Award	player	team
Red Tilson Trophy	David Legwand	Plymouth Whalers
Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy	Peter Sarno	Windsor Spitfires
Matt Leyden Trophy	Gary Agnew	London Knights
Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy	Maxim Spiridonov	London Knights
Max Kaminsky Trophy	Chris Allen	Kingston Frontenacs
OHL Goaltender of the Year	Bujar Amidovski	Toronto St. Michael's Majors
Jack Ferguson Award	Jay Harrison	Brampton Battalion
Dave Pinkney Trophy	Craig Hillier Seamus Kotyk	Ottawa 67's
OHL Executive of the Year	Paul McIntosh	London Knights
Emms Family Award	David Legwand	Plymouth Whalers
FW "Dinty" Moore Trophy	Seamus Kotyk	Ottawa 67's
OHL Humanitarian of the Year	Jason Metcalfe	London Knights
William Hanley Trophy	Matthew Bradley	Kingston Frontenacs
Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy	Bujar Amidovski	Toronto St. Michael's Majors
Bobby Smith Trophy	Manny Malhotra	Guelph Storm

See also

• 1997/98 season of the Québec Major Junior Hockey League
• 1997/98 season of the Western Hockey League
• Memorial Cup 1998

Web links

• OHL 1997/98 at hockeydb.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ guelphstorm.com: historical roster 1997/98 (English, accessed April 2, 2015)
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Aaron Bell: 2014–2015 OHL Media Information Guide . Ontario Hockey League, p. 146. (English, freely available online as a PDF file ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link accordingly Instructions and then remove this note. , 4674 kB) 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Aaron Bell: 2014–2015 OHL Media Information Guide . Ontario Hockey League, p. 151. (English, freely available online as a PDF file ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link accordingly Instructions and then remove this note. , 4674 kB)