1987-88
OFFSEASON
As expected Bernie Parent and Bobby Clarke get the call from the Hockey Hall of Fame.
After 21 seasons, legendary New York Rangers defenseman Brad Park announces his retirement. The 39 year old appeared in 65 games last season and scored 14 goals to get him over the 500 mark. His 502 career are the most ever scored by a defenseman and puts him 18th in NHL history. He is 6th all-time in career points with 1659 in 1487 games. Park won 5 Stanley Cups, 2 Conn Smythe Trophy's and 5 Norris Trophys in a carer that also saw him be named to the first all-star team 9 times.
33 year old New York Islanders winger Clark Gillies also retired after 956 NHL games. Gillies had 407 goals and 950 points in his career. He was named to the first all-star team in 1981-82. The final retirement of note was 41 year old Serge Savard who played 1450 games with Montreal and Minnesota and had 1337 caeer points. Savard won the Norris Trophy in 1973-74 and 4 Stanley Cups - 3 with Montreal and 1 with the North Stars.
The biggest trade of the off-season saw Minnesota ship 29 year old centre Bobby Smith to Vancouver for 23 year old winger Kevin Dineen. Smith had 88 points last year and won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1985. Dineen started with Hartford but played the last 3 seasons with the Canucks, scoring 26 goals and 62 points last season.
Notable new players this season include Joe Sakic to Quebec, Brendan Shanahan with New Jersey, Pierre Turgeon in Buffalo, Ed Belfour to Chicago and Theo Fleury to Calgary.
REGULAR SEASON
The team with the biggest step forward this year was the Chicago Blackhawks, who ended Minnesota's 3 year reign as Norris Division regular season champs. For Chicago it was the first division title in a decade. 37 year old goaltender Gilles Meloche (32-17-2, 3.11) had a strong season and the Hawks got breakout years offensively from Troy Murray (39-62-101) and Tony Tanti (30-40-76). Veterans Steve Larmer (39-49-88), Denis Savard (35-51-86) and Doug Wilson (14-69-83) provided a steadying influence.
Edmonton remained the class of the Smythe Division led by a record-breaking 181 point season from Wayne Gretzky. Just 27 years old and after missing all of one season and 50 games of another, Gretzky still has 1187 career points and it will be just a matter of time before he passes Stan Mikita's 2,129 and become number one all-time.
Mario Lemieux only stayed healthy enough to play 66 games this season but his 65 goals and 137 points helped carry the Pittsburgh Penguins to first place overall in the regular season. 26 year old goaltender Jon Casey (51-12-6, 2.17) had a spectacular season in the Penguins net.
Speaking of goaltending, Patrick Roy (36-18-12, 2.85) had an outstanding season for Montreal and is developing nicely under the tutelage of his backup Vladislav Tretiak. The Canadiens finished with the best record in the Adams Division for the fifth straight season. At 36 years of age, Guy Lafleur keeps on producing. The Flower had 37 goals and 90 points and is up to 772 career goals and 1898 points.
MILESTONES
Dino Ciccarelli of Minnesota earned his 900th career point
Brian Sutter of St Louis earned his 900th career point
Ron Greschner of Edmonton earned his 750th career assist
Ray Bourque of Boston earned his 500th assist
Neal Broten of Minnesota earned his 500th assist
Paul Coffey of Edmonton earned his 500th assist
Jari Kurri of Edmonton earned his 500th assist
Paul Reinhart of Pittsburgh earned his 500th assist
Dale Hawerchuk of Winnipeg scored his 300th goal
Wilf Paiement of New Jersey scored his 300th goal
Mark Messier of Edmonton scored his 300th goal
Peter Statsny of Quebec scored his 300th goal
1250 GAMES
Guy Lafleur Montreal
Craig Ramsay Boston
1000 GAMES
Don Lever Los Angeles
Denis Potvin NY Islanders
Dave Maloney Vancouver
Paul Coffey broke his own record for defensemen with a 28 game point streak. It was one longer than the mark Coffey established in 1983-84. During that run Wayne Gretzky had a 26 game streak of his own. Later in the season Dale Hawerchuk of Winnipeg would have a 29 game streak and his teammate Andrew McBain would have a 28 game point streak. The NHL record is a 44 game streak set by Maurice Richard in 1943-44.
Dale Hawerchuk of Winnipeg broke Wayne Gretzky's record for consecutive games with at least one goal. Hawerchuk scored in 14 straight games snapping the previous mark of 11 established by Gretzky in 1985-86. Hawerchuk had 23 goals during that 14 game streak and finished the season with 76, which was 7 shy of the record 83 scored by Jean Ratelle in 1980-81.
Mario Lemieux had a 7 point game (4G 3A) in Pittsburgh's 9-0 win over the New York Rangers on December 2nd.
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ADAMS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Montreal Canadiens 80 42 25 13 97
Boston Bruins 80 35 39 6 76
Quebec Nordiques 80 32 42 6 70
Hartford Whalers 80 31 43 6 68
Buffalo Sabres 80 28 42 10 66
PATRICK DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 59 14 7 125
New York Islanders 80 37 35 8 82
New York Rangers 80 30 46 4 64
New Jersey Devils 80 24 43 13 61
Washington Capitals 80 23 49 8 54
Philadelphia Flyers 80 21 54 5 47
NORRIS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Chicago Black Hawks 80 47 30 3 97
Minnesota North Stars 80 44 27 9 97
Detroit Red Wings 80 37 33 10 84
St Louis Blues 80 30 39 11 71
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 22 51 7 51
SMYTHE DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Edmonton Oilers 80 57 18 5 119
Winnipeg Jets 80 47 28 5 99
Calgary Flames 80 44 29 7 95
Los Angeles Kings 80 39 34 7 85
Vancouver Canucks 80 34 42 4 72
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Wayne Gretzky EDM 80 54 127 181
Dale Hawerchuk WPG 80 76 86 162
Mark Messier EDM 80 60 78 138
Mario Lemieux PIT 66 65 72 137
Steve Yzerman DET 80 69 66 135
Luc Robitaille LA 80 49 77 126
Dino Ciccarelli MIN 75 49 76 125
Brian Bellows MIN 73 55 64 119
Brett Hull CGY 80 53 58 111
Kevin Stevens PIT 80 39 72 111
Andrew McBain WPG 78 42 68 110
Pat LaFontaine NYI 66 44 65 109
Bryan Trottier NYI 80 42 63 105
Bernie Nicholls LA 75 50 54 104
Mike Gartner WSH 80 50 52 102
Dave Taylor LA 80 38 64 102
Troy Murray CHI 80 39 62 101
Al MacInnis CGY 80 29 72 101
Neal Broten MIN 80 32 68 100
Paul Coffey EDM 74 31 68 99
Patrik Sundstrom VAN 80 29 70 99
Dave Babych WPG 80 18 80 98
Pat Verbeek VAN 80 50 46 96
Doug Gilmour STL 64 41 54 95
Murray Craven DET 80 36 59 95
PLAYOFFS
Mario Lemieux once again put on a show in the playoffs. He had a 7 point game in the Penguins opening round sweep of New Jersey and after sweeping the Rangers in the quarterfinals, Magnificent Mario had 24 points in 8 games.
Wayne Gretzky also had 24 points but his playoff came to an end in the quarterfinals as the Oilers were shocked by Calgary, falling in 4 straight games to the Flames. In their defense, the Oilers were a beat up team as Jari Kurri, Kevin Lowe, Jeff Beukeboom and Marty McSorley all missed the entire series and Mark Messier was injured in Game Two.
The Flames had injuries of their own as forwards Kent Nilsson and Hakaan Loob were both sidelined. However, Brett Hull, with 7 goals and 16 points in 10 playoff games, along with Al MacInnis (5-11-16) and Gary Roberts (3-12-15) picked up the slack offensively.
The Flames will face Detroit in the semi-finals as the Wings, led by 18 points in 11 games from captain Steve Yzerman, beat Minnesota in 5 games and then eliminated Chicago in 6. The other semi-finalist will be the Montreal Canadiens, who eliminated Boston in the quarterfinals for the second straight season.
SEMI-FINALS
Without Nilsson and Loob, the Calgary Flames were no match for Detroit and the Red Wings won in 4 straight games. Petr Klima had 3 points for Detroit in a 3-2 win in the series opener. Game Two was 4-3 in Detroit's favour despite two goals from the Flames Brett Hull. Steve Yzerman had 4 goals and 2 assists as the Red Wings won Game Three 8-5 and Yzerman got the series winning goal late in the third period to give Detroit a 2-1 win in Game Four.
The Penguins beat Montreal 2-1 in their series opener as Lemieux assisted on both Penguins goals. The Habs evened the series with a 5-3 win in Game Two led by a 3 point night from Guy Carbonneau but Lemieux answered with 3 goals and an assist in Game Three as the Pens prevailed 4-2. Lemieux had 4 more points in a 5-2 win in Game Four and the Penguins would win the series with a 6-4 victory in Game Five.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
The Penguins return to the finals for the second straight season, after coming up short against Edmonton a year ago. The Red Wings have won 3 Stanley Cups in their history, in 1948, 1959 and 1964 but have not been to the finals since losing to Chicago in 1970.
The Penguins open the series at home but they are without Mario Lemieux. Lemieux, who has 21 goals and 36 points in 12 playoff games, is sidelined from an upper body injury suffered in practice. Pittsburgh wins Game One 4-3 as defenseman Jim Johnson scores twice while Craig Simpson and Phil Bourque add singles. Murray Craven, Joe Murphy and Brent Peterson get the Detroit goals. Yzerman is held to one assist giving him 29 points in 16 playoff games so far.
Still no Lemieux for Game Two which is won 3-2 by the Penguins thanks to an overtime goal from Claude Loiselle. The Penguins got first period goals from Ray Ferraro and Paul Reinhart but Murray Craven and Adam Oates answered for Detroit in the second period. After a scoreless third, Loiselle got the game winner from John Ogrodnick just over 4 minutes into the overtime.
Game Three is all Detroit as the line of Adam Oates-Petr Klima-Murray Craven combine for 4 goals and 8 points to lead the Red Wings to a 7-3 victory on home ice and a 2 games to one series lead. Ogrodnick, Marcel Dionne and Gerrard Gallant also score for the Wings while the Pens, still minus Lemieux, get goals from Bob Errey, Kevin Stevens and Ray Ferraro.
Mario Lemieux returns for Game Four and has a goal and an assist but it is not enough as the Penguins fall 4-3 and trail in the series 3 games to one. Thanks to goals from Reinhart, Lemieux and Ferraro the Pens entered the third period with a 3-2 lead but Murray Craven tied the game for Detroit at 9:32 and Paul Boutilier got the game winner at 17:08. Detroit did lose veteran Marcel Dionne (1-5-6 in 17 playoff games) for the series with a knee injury.
The Detroit Red Wings score three unanswered goals in the third period of Game Five to rally to a 4-2 victory and earn their first Stanley Cup title in 24 years. Adam Oates and Steve Yzerman each had a goal and an assist for the Wings in the victory with Gerrard Gallant and Reed Larson getting the other Detroit goals. Troy Loney and Paul Reinhart replied for Pittsburgh.
Mario Lemieux was held to just 1 assist in the game but was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for leading the playoffs with 22 goals and 17 assists in just 14 games. Penguin fans have to wonder if the outcome would have been different had Lemieux not missed the first 3 games of the finals.
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Wayne Gretzky Edmonton (80GP 54-127-181)
VEZINA TROPHY: Jon Casey Pittsburgh (51-12-6, 2.17)
NORRIS TROPHY: Al MacInnis Calgary (80GP 29-72-101)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Wayne Gretzky Edmonton (80GP 54-127-181)
CALDER TROPHY: Craig Janney Boston (80GP 29-49-78)
The game does not select the all-star team but I will start naming first and second team all-stars
Code:
POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM
G Jon Casey Pittsburgh Grant Fuhr Edmonton
D Al MacInnis Calgary Dave Babych Winnipeg
D Paul Coffey Edmonton Doug Wilson Chicago
C Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Dale Hawerchuk Winnipeg
LW Mark Messier Edmonton Luc Robitaille Los Angeles
RW Dino Ciccarelli Minnesota Brett Hull Calgary