1998–99 Nashville Predators season
The 1998–99 Nashville Predators season was the team's inaugural season. The team accumulated 28 wins and 47 losses, with seven games ending in ties for a total of 63 points, finishing in fourth place in the Central Division and 12th in the Western Conference. The team failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
1998–99 Nashville Predators | |
---|---|
Division | 4th Central |
Conference | 12th Western |
1998–99 record | 28–47–7 |
Home record | 15–22–4 |
Road record | 13–25–3 |
Goals for | 190 |
Goals against | 261 |
Team information | |
General manager | David Poile |
Coach | Barry Trotz |
Captain | Tom Fitzgerald |
Arena | Nashville Arena |
Average attendance | 16,194 |
Minor league affiliate(s) | Milwaukee Admirals Hampton Roads Admirals |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Sergei Krivokrasov (25) |
Assists | Cliff Ronning (35) |
Points | Cliff Ronning (53) |
Penalty minutes | Patrick Cote (242) |
Plus/minus | Rob Valicevic (+4) |
Wins | Mike Dunham (16) |
Goals against average | Tomas Vokoun (2.95) |
Off-season
editIn the expansion draft, the Predators chose five goaltenders, including Mike Dunham and Tomas Vokoun, who would become their starting goaltenders, and Mike Richter, who was a free agent and chose not to sign with the Predators. In the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, the Predators chose David Legwand, a center, as their first-ever draft pick, second overall.
Regular season
editThe Predators struggled on the power-play during the regular season, finishing 27th overall in the NHL in power-play goals scored (40). They also had the lowest penalty-kill percentage in the league, at 78.99%.[1]
Season standings
editR | CR | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PIM | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 43 | 32 | 7 | 245 | 202 | 1202 | 93 |
2 | 5 | St. Louis Blues | 82 | 37 | 32 | 13 | 237 | 209 | 1308 | 87 |
3 | 10 | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 29 | 41 | 12 | 202 | 248 | 1807 | 70 |
4 | 12 | Nashville Predators | 82 | 28 | 47 | 7 | 190 | 261 | 1420 | 63 |
R | Div | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | p – Dallas Stars | PAC | 82 | 51 | 19 | 12 | 236 | 168 | 114 |
2 | y – Colorado Avalanche | NW | 82 | 44 | 28 | 10 | 239 | 205 | 98 |
3 | y – Detroit Red Wings | CEN | 82 | 43 | 32 | 7 | 245 | 202 | 93 |
4 | Phoenix Coyotes | PAC | 82 | 39 | 31 | 12 | 205 | 197 | 90 |
5 | St. Louis Blues | CEN | 82 | 37 | 32 | 13 | 237 | 209 | 87 |
6 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | PAC | 82 | 35 | 34 | 13 | 215 | 206 | 83 |
7 | San Jose Sharks | PAC | 82 | 31 | 33 | 18 | 196 | 191 | 80 |
8 | Edmonton Oilers | NW | 82 | 33 | 37 | 12 | 230 | 226 | 78 |
9 | Calgary Flames | NW | 82 | 30 | 40 | 12 | 211 | 234 | 72 |
10 | Chicago Blackhawks | CEN | 82 | 29 | 41 | 12 | 202 | 248 | 70 |
11 | Los Angeles Kings | PAC | 82 | 32 | 45 | 5 | 189 | 222 | 69 |
12 | Nashville Predators | CEN | 82 | 28 | 47 | 7 | 190 | 261 | 63 |
13 | Vancouver Canucks | NW | 82 | 23 | 47 | 12 | 192 | 258 | 58 |
Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific, NW – Northwest
bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy; y – Won division
Schedule and results
edit1998–99 regular season[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 3–5–1 (home: 3–2–0; road: 0–3–1)
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November: 6–7–0 (home: 3–2–0; road: 3–5–0)
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December: 4–6–2 (home: 3–3–2; road: 1–3–0)
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January: 5–9–1 (home: 3–5–1; road: 2–4–0)
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February: 3–6–2 (home: 0–4–1; road: 3–2–1)
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March: 5–8–1 (home: 2–3–0; road: 3–5–1)
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April: 2–6–0 (home: 1–3–0; road: 1–3–0)
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Legend:
Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
Player statistics
editScoring
edit- 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 Predators only.
- ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Predators only.
No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | |||
7 | Cliff Ronning† | C | 72 | 18 | 35 | 53 | −6 | 40 |
22 | Greg Johnson | C | 68 | 16 | 34 | 50 | −8 | 24 |
25 | Sergei Krivokrasov | RW | 70 | 25 | 23 | 48 | −5 | 42 |
71 | Sebastien Bordeleau | C | 72 | 16 | 24 | 40 | −14 | 26 |
24 | Scott Walker | RW | 71 | 15 | 25 | 40 | 0 | 103 |
21 | Tom Fitzgerald | RW | 80 | 13 | 19 | 32 | −18 | 48 |
19 | Andrew Brunette | LW | 77 | 11 | 20 | 31 | −10 | 26 |
10 | Patric Kjellberg | RW | 71 | 11 | 20 | 31 | −13 | 24 |
20 | Jamie Heward | D | 63 | 6 | 12 | 18 | −24 | 44 |
43 | Vitali Yachmenev | LW | 55 | 7 | 10 | 17 | −10 | 10 |
15 | Drake Berehowsky | D | 74 | 2 | 15 | 17 | −9 | 140 |
28 | Denny Lambert | LW | 76 | 5 | 11 | 16 | −3 | 218 |
42 | Joel Bouchard | D | 64 | 4 | 11 | 15 | −10 | 60 |
23 | Blair Atcheynum‡ | RW | 53 | 8 | 6 | 14 | −10 | 16 |
27 | John Slaney | D | 46 | 2 | 12 | 14 | −12 | 14 |
6 | Bob Boughner | D | 79 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −6 | 137 |
44 | Kimmo Timonen | D | 50 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 30 |
5 | Jan Vopat | D | 55 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 28 |
16 | Ville Peltonen | LW | 14 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 2 |
9 | Darren Turcotte | C | 40 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −11 | 16 |
12 | Rob Valicevic | RW | 19 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
18 | Mark Mowers | C | 30 | 0 | 6 | 6 | −4 | 4 |
36 | J. J. Daigneault‡ | D | 35 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −4 | 38 |
32 | Jeff Daniels | LW | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 |
7[a] | Jeff Nelson | C | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −1 | 2 |
17 | Patrick Cote | LW | 70 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −7 | 242 |
4 | Jay More | D | 18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 18 |
8 | Doug Friedman | LW | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
40 | Karlis Skrastins | D | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
29 | Tomas Vokoun | G | 37 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
7[b] | Greg de Vries‡ | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 4 |
1 | Mike Dunham | G | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
35 | Eric Fichaud | G | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
47 | Matt Henderson | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
2 | Dan Keczmer† | D | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 12 |
11 | David Legwand | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
30 | Chris Mason | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
12 | Brad Smyth | RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 6 |
50 | Petr Sykora | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
2 | Rob Zettler | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 |
Goaltending
editNo. | Player | Regular season | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | ||
1 | Mike Dunham | 44 | 16 | 23 | 3 | 1387 | 127 | 3.08 | .908 | 1 | 2472 |
29 | Tomas Vokoun | 37 | 12 | 18 | 4 | 1041 | 96 | 2.95 | .908 | 1 | 1954 |
35 | Eric Fichaud | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 229 | 24 | 3.22 | .895 | 0 | 447 |
30 | Chris Mason | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 6 | 5.22 | .864 | 0 | 69 |
Awards and records
editAwards
editType | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
League (in-season) |
NHL All-Star Game selection | Sergei Krivokrasov | [5] |
Transactions
editThis section will cover signings from May 4, 1998, until the end of the 1998–99 season.
Free agent signings
editNashville signed the following free agents between June and September 1998: Jayson More (June 4), Tom Fitzgerald (July 6), David Gosselin (July 9), Jeff Staples (July 16), Brad Smyth (July 16), Jamie Heward (Aug. 6), Andrew Brunette (Sept. 2), Vitali Yachmenev (Sept. 2), Sebastien Bordeleau (Sept. 3) and Sergei Krivokrasov (Sept. 11).
All season trades
editDraft picks
editExpansion draft
editThese results are numbered 1–26 for aesthetic purposes, but the players were not necessarily chosen in this order. As the Predators were the only team participating in the draft, the order is inconsequential.
Entry draft
editNashville's draft picks at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft held at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York.[6]
Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | David Legwand | Center | United States | Plymouth Whalers (OHL) |
3 | 60 | Denis Arkhipov | Center | Russia | Ak Bars Kazan (Russia) |
3 | 85 | Geoff Koch | Left Wing | United States | University of Michigan (Big Ten) |
4 | 88 | Kent Sauer | Defense | United States | North Iowa Huskies (USHL) |
5 | 138 | Martin Beauchesne | Defense | Canada | Sherbrooke Faucons (QMJHL) |
6 | 147 | Craig Brunel | Right Wing | United States | Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) |
8 | 202 | Martin Bartek | Left Wing | Slovakia | Sherbrooke Faucons (QMJHL) |
9 | 230 | Karlis Skrastins | Defense | Latvia | TPS (SM-liiga) |
Notes
editReferences
edit- "Nashville Predators 1998-99 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
- "1998-99 Nashville Predators Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
- Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
- Podnieks, Andrew (2000). The NHL All-Star Game: 50 years of the great tradition. Toronto: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-200058-X.
- ^ "1998-99 NHL Summary".
- ^ Dinger 2011, p. 155.
- ^ "1998-1999 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
- ^ "1998-99 Nashville Predators Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
- ^ "1999 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "1998 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved June 28, 2023.