October 3, 1997: The 1st NHL Game In Japan

October 3, 1997: For the 1st time, a National Hockey League regular-season game is played in a country other than Canada or the United States: Japan. Appropriately, and perhaps to save time on travel, the opponents are Pacific Coast teams: The Vancouver Canucks and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

The game is played at the Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo, built for the 1964 Olympics. It consists of the First Gymnasium, which held the swimming and diving events for those Games; and the Second Gymnasium, which held the basketball events.

In 1976, after the regular season, the NHL sent 2 of its worst teams to play 4 exhibition games at the Second Gymnasium, and 2 before that at the Makomanai Ice Arena, built in Sapporo for the 1972 Winter Olympics. On April 14, the Washington Capitals beat the Kansas City Scouts, 5-2. On April 15, the Caps won, 6-2. Moving on to Tokyo, the Caps won 6-2 on April 17, and the Scouts won 4-2 on April 18.

The 1997 regular season games were also held at the Second Gymnasium, whose hockey setup allowed for 10,500 seats, and the game was sold out. It was a good warmup for the country and its hockey fans: Japan held the Winter Olympics 4 months later, in Nagano, and got the 1st-ever Olympic hockey tournament with NHL players.

Scott Walker of the Canucks opened the scoring, about midway through the 1st period. About midway through the 2nd, Scott Young of the Ducks tied it. But the Canucks quickly got goals by 2 of the all-time legends of hockey, Mark Messier and Pavel Bure. Shawn Antoski scored for Anaheim late in the 2nd period, making it 3-2 to Vancouver, but that score held up through the final horn.

The teams played at Yoyogi again the following night, October 4, and, this time, the Ducks won, although the score was 3-2 again. Another 2-game series was played at Yoyogi early the next season. On October 9, 1998, the San Jose Sharks and the Calgary Flames played to a 3-3 tie. On October 10, the Flames won, 5-3. Two seasons later, in the Tokyo suburb of Saitama, 2 games were played at the Saitama Super Arena. On October 6, the Nashville Predators beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1. On October 7, the Penguins won, also by 3-1.

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October 3, 1997 was a Friday. There were 8 other games played in the NHL.

* The New York Rangers and the New York Islanders, arch-rivals, played to a tie, 2-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the CoreStates Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-2 at the US Airways Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. They moved into what's now named the Capital One Arena on December 5.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3 at the Greensboro Coliseum (now the First Horizon Coliseum) in Greensboro, North Carolina. This was the Hurricanes' 1st regular-season home game, and 2nd regular-season game overall, after moving from being the Hartford Whalers. They played 2 seasons in Greensboro before moving to what's now named the Lenovo Center in Raleigh.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 7-2 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames, 4-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Edmonton Oilers, 8-2 at the Edmonton Coliseum (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known).

Major League Baseball's Playoffs were underway, with both National League Division Series being clinched in 3-game sweeps. The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. John Smoltz outpitched Shane Reynolds. And the Florida Marlins beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-2 at 3Com Park (as Candlestick Park was then known) in San Francisco.

Both American League Division Series were in travel days. The Cleveland Indians would beat the New York Yankees in 5 games, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners in 4.

The NBA season started 4 weeks later. The NFL was in midweek. There was 1 game in college football: Brigham Young University beat Utah State, 42-35 at Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah. BYU were then ranked Number 24, and their stadium is now named for their coach at the time: LaVell Edwards Stadium.