1987–88 Edmonton Oilers season

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1987–88 Edmonton Oilers
Stanley Cup Champions
Campbell Conference Champions
Division	2nd Smythe
Conference	2nd Campbell
1987–88 record	44–25–11
Home record	28–8–4
Road record	16–17–7
Goals for	363 (2nd)
Goals against	288 (8th)
General Manager	Glen Sather
Coach	Glen Sather
Captain	Wayne Gretzky
Alternate captains	Kevin Lowe Mark Messier
Arena	Northlands Coliseum
Team leaders
Goals	Craig Simpson Jari Kurri (43)
Assists	Wayne Gretzky (109)
Points	Wayne Gretzky (149)
Penalties in minutes	Steve Smith (286)
Plus/Minus	Steve Smith (+40)
Wins	Grant Fuhr (40)
Goals against average	Grant Fuhr (3.43)

The 1987–88 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers 9th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a Stanley Cup championship against the Philadelphia Flyers the previous season, which was their 3rd Stanley Cup in the past 4 seasons. This was the first time since 1980–81 that the Oilers did not win the division, break the 100 point barrier, or lead the NHL in goals.

Wayne Gretzky would lead the team with 149 points, his lowest point total since his rookie season in 1979–80, and the first time since then that he failed to lead the NHL in scoring. Jari Kurri and Craig Simpson, who the Oilers acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins during the season, would lead the team in goals with 43, and Mark Messier would set a career high with 111 points. With Paul Coffey being traded before the season began to the Penguins, Steve Smith would step up and lead Oilers defense with 55 points, and have a team record 286 penalty minutes.

In goal, Grant Fuhr would appear in 75 of the 80 Oilers games, winning a career high 40 games and getting 4 shutouts, while posting a 3.43 GAA and becoming the first Oilers goalie to win the Vezina Trophy.

In the playoffs, the Oilers would start off by defeating the Winnipeg Jets in 5 games, and face their Battle of Alberta rivals, the Calgary Flames in the Smythe Division finals. The Flames ended the Oilers streak of 6 straight division titles by finishing 6 points ahead of Edmonton during the season, however the Oilers would quickly sweep Calgary to advance to the Campbell Conference finals, against the Detroit Red Wings. Edmonton would have no problems getting past Detroit, winning the series in 5 games, and face the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Oilers would continue to dominate, sweeping Boston despite having to play 5 games (game 4 was cancelled midway through the 3rd period with the score tied at 3 due to a power failure at the Boston Garden) to win their 4th Stanley Cup in 5 years. Grant Fuhr would set an NHL record by winning 16 playoff games, while Wayne Gretzky took him the Conn Smythe Trophy after earning a league high 43 points.

Contents 1 Season standings 2 Game log 3 Playoffs 3.1 Edmonton Oilers 4, Winnipeg Jets 1 3.2 Edmonton Oilers 4, Calgary Flames 0 3.3 Edmonton Oilers 4, Detroit Red Wings 1 3.4 Edmonton Oilers 4, Boston Bruins 0 4 Season stats 4.1 Scoring leaders 4.2 Goaltending 5 Playoff stats 5.1 Scoring leaders 5.2 Goaltending 6 Transactions 6.1 Trades 6.2 Free agents 6.3 Draft picks 7 References

[edit] Season standings

Smythe Division	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Calgary Flames	80	48	23	9	397	305	105
Edmonton Oilers	80	44	25	11	363	288	99
Winnipeg Jets	80	33	36	11	292	310	77
Los Angeles Kings	80	30	42	8	318	359	68
Vancouver Canucks	80	25	46	9	272	320	59

[edit] Game log

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	October 9	Detroit Red Wings	4–1	Edmonton Oilers	0–1–0	0
2	October 11	Edmonton Oilers	9–2	Los Angeles Kings	1–1–0	2
3	October 14	Calgary Flames	5–4	Edmonton Oilers	1–2–0	2
4	October 16	Edmonton Oilers	5–2	Calgary Flames	2–2–0	4
5	October 17	Boston Bruins	3–4	Edmonton Oilers	3–2–0	6
6	October 21	Los Angeles Kings	2–6	Edmonton Oilers	4–2–0	8
7	October 23	Edmonton Oilers	5–4	Vancouver Canucks	5–2–0	10
8	October 24	Vancouver Canucks	5–9	Edmonton Oilers	6–2–0	12
9	October 27	Edmonton Oilers	0–5	Quebec Nordiques	6–3–0	12
10	October 28	Edmonton Oilers	1–3	Montreal Canadiens	6–4–0	12
11	October 31	Edmonton Oilers	5–6	New Jersey Devils	6–5–0	12
12	November 1	Edmonton Oilers	7–6	New York Rangers	7–5–0	14
13	November 4	New York Rangers	2–7	Edmonton Oilers	8–5–0	16
14	November 5	Edmonton Oilers	4–4	Calgary Flames	8–5–1	17
15	November 7	Buffalo Sabres	0–5	Edmonton Oilers	9–5–1	19
16	November 10	Edmonton Oilers	4–4	Los Angeles Kings	9–5–2	20
17	November 14	Edmonton Oilers	6–5	St. Louis Blues	10–5–2	22
18	November 15	Edmonton Oilers	4–5	Chicago Blackhawks	10–6–2	22
19	November 18	Quebec Nordiques	1–4	Edmonton Oilers	11–6–2	24
20	November 20	Pittsburgh Penguins	1–4	Edmonton Oilers	12–6–2	26
21	November 22	Edmonton Oilers	3–4	Winnipeg Jets	12–7–2	26
22	November 25	New Jersey Devils	8–7	Edmonton Oilers	12–8–2	26
23	November 27	Chicago Blackhawks	3–4	Edmonton Oilers	13–8–2	28
24	November 29	Edmonton Oilers	5–2	Buffalo Sabres	14–8–2	30
25	December 1	Edmonton Oilers	2–4	Washington Capitals	14–9–2	30
26	December 2	Edmonton Oilers	4–7	Detroit Red Wings	14–10–2	30
27	December 5	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–5	Edmonton Oilers	15–10–2	32
28	December 6	Minnesota North Stars	4–10	Edmonton Oilers	16–10–2	34
29	December 9	Winnipeg Jets	0–2	Edmonton Oilers	17–10–2	36
30	December 11	Vancouver Canucks	1–2	Edmonton Oilers	18–10–2	38
31	December 12	Edmonton Oilers	6–3	Vancouver Canucks	19–10–2	40
32	December 16	Edmonton Oilers	5–7	Los Angeles Kings	19–11–2	40
33	December 18	Winnipeg Jets	5–5	Edmonton Oilers	19–11–3	41
34	December 19	Hartford Whalers	4–3	Edmonton Oilers	19–12–3	41
35	December 22	Los Angeles Kings	2–5	Edmonton Oilers	20–12–3	43
36	December 26	Edmonton Oilers	5–4	Calgary Flames	21–12–3	45
37	December 28	Vancouver Canucks	3–7	Edmonton Oilers	22–12–3	47
38	December 30	Philadelphia Flyers	0–6	Edmonton Oilers	23–12–3	49
39	January 2	Edmonton Oilers	0–2	Washington Capitals	23–13–3	49
40	January 4	Edmonton Oilers	2–2	Boston Bruins	23–13–4	50
41	January 6	Edmonton Oilers	5–1	Hartford Whalers	24–13–4	52
42	January 8	Edmonton Oilers	4–4	Winnipeg Jets	24–13–5	53
43	January 9	New York Islanders	1–5	Edmonton Oilers	25–13–5	55
44	January 11	Washington Capitals	2–3	Edmonton Oilers	26–13–5	57
45	January 13	Calgary Flames	3–5	Edmonton Oilers	27–13–5	59
46	January 15	Winnipeg Jets	4–4	Edmonton Oilers	27–13–6	60
47	January 18	Edmonton Oilers	4–6	Montreal Canadiens	27–14–6	60
48	January 19	Edmonton Oilers	4–4	Quebec Nordiques	27–14–7	61
49	January 21	Edmonton Oilers	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers	27–15–7	61
50	January 23	Edmonton Oilers	2–3	New York Islanders	27–16–7	61
51	January 25	Edmonton Oilers	6–4	Pittsburgh Penguins	28–16–7	63
52	January 29	Calgary Flames	5–4	Edmonton Oilers	28–17–7	63
53	January 30	Hartford Whalers	2–5	Edmonton Oilers	29–17–7	65
54	February 3	New Jersey Devils	5–8	Edmonton Oilers	30–17–7	67
55	February 6	Edmonton Oilers	2–7	Los Angeles Kings	30–18–7	67
56	February 11	Edmonton Oilers	7–2	Vancouver Canucks	31–18–7	69
57	February 12	Boston Bruins	7–4	Edmonton Oilers	31–19–7	69
58	February 14	Vancouver Canucks	6–7	Edmonton Oilers	32–19–7	71
59	February 17	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–4	Edmonton Oilers	32–19–8	72
60	February 19	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–7	Edmonton Oilers	33–19–8	74
61	February 21	Edmonton Oilers	4–3	Winnipeg Jets	34–19–8	76
62	February 23	Edmonton Oilers	6–4	St. Louis Blues	35–19–8	78
63	February 24	Edmonton Oilers	4–6	Chicago Blackhawks	35–20–8	78
64	February 28	Calgary Flames	3–2	Edmonton Oilers	35–21–8	78
65	March 1	Los Angeles Kings	3–5	Edmonton Oilers	36–21–8	80
66	March 4	Philadelphia Flyers	4–7	Edmonton Oilers	37–21–8	82
67	March 5	Edmonton Oilers	4–7	Calgary Flames	37–22–8	82
68	March 7	Edmonton Oilers	6–0	Winnipeg Jets	38–22–8	84
69	March 9	Montreal Canadiens	4–1	Edmonton Oilers	38–23–8	84
70	March 12	Edmonton Oilers	4–4	Vancouver Canucks	38–23–9	85
71	March 15	Buffalo Sabres	4–6	Edmonton Oilers	39–23–9	87
72	March 18	Winnipeg Jets	1–4	Edmonton Oilers	40–23–9	89
73	March 20	Edmonton Oilers	5–5	Minnesota North Stars	40–23–10	90
74	March 22	Edmonton Oilers	6–4	Detroit Red Wings	41–23–10	92
75	March 24	Edmonton Oilers	1–6	New York Rangers	41–24–10	92
76	March 26	Edmonton Oilers	4–5	New York Islanders	41–25–10	92
77	March 28	Edmonton Oilers	6–4	Toronto Maple Leafs	42–25–10	94
78	March 30	Minnesota North Stars	3–6	Edmonton Oilers	43–25–10	96
79	April 1	St. Louis Blues	2–5	Edmonton Oilers	44–25–10	98
80	April 3	Los Angeles Kings	5–5	Edmonton Oilers	44–25–11	99

[edit] Playoffs

[edit] Edmonton Oilers 4, Winnipeg Jets 1

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 6	Winnipeg Jets	4–7	Edmonton Oilers	1–0
2	April 7	Winnipeg Jets	2–3	Edmonton Oilers	2–0
3	April 9	Edmonton Oilers	4–6	Winnipeg Jets	2–1
4	April 10	Edmonton Oilers	5–3	Winnipeg Jets	3–1
5	April 12	Winnipeg Jets	2–6	Edmonton Oilers	4–1

[edit] Edmonton Oilers 4, Calgary Flames 0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 19	Edmonton Oilers	3–1	Calgary Flames	1–0
2	April 21	Edmonton Oilers	5–4	Calgary Flames	2–0
3	April 23	Calgary Flames	2–4	Edmonton Oilers	3–0
4	April 25	Calgary Flames	4–6	Edmonton Oilers	4–0

[edit] Edmonton Oilers 4, Detroit Red Wings 1

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	May 3	Detroit Red Wings	1–4	Edmonton Oilers	1–0
2	May 5	Detroit Red Wings	3–5	Edmonton Oilers	2–0
3	May 7	Edmonton Oilers	5–2	Detroit Red Wings	2–1
4	May 9	Edmonton Oilers	4–3	Detroit Red Wings	3–1
5	May 11	Detroit Red Wings	4–8	Edmonton Oilers	4–1

[edit] Edmonton Oilers 4, Boston Bruins 0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	May 18	Boston Bruins	1–2	Edmonton Oilers	1–0
2	May 20	Boston Bruins	2–4	Edmonton Oilers	2–0
3	May 22	Edmonton Oilers	6–3	Boston Bruins	3–0
4	May 24	Edmonton Oilers	3–3	Boston Bruins	3–0–1
5	May 26	Boston Bruins	3–6	Edmonton Oilers	4–0–1

[edit] Season stats

[edit] Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Wayne Gretzky	64	40	109	149	24
Mark Messier	77	37	74	111	103
Jari Kurri	80	43	53	96	30
Glenn Anderson	80	38	50	88	58
Esa Tikkanen	80	23	51	74	153

[edit] Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	Save %	GAA
Bill Ranford	6	325	3	0	2	16	0	.899	2.95
Grant Fuhr	75	4304	40	24	9	246	4	.881	3.43
Daryl Reaugh	6	176	1	1	0	14	0	.877	4.77
Warren Skorodenski	3	61	0	0	0	7	0	.720	6.89

[edit] Playoff stats

[edit] Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Wayne Gretzky	19	12	31	43	16
Mark Messier	19	11	23	34	29
Jari Kurri	19	14	17	31	12
Esa Tikkanen	19	10	17	27	72
Glenn Anderson	19	9	16	25	49

[edit] Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	Save %	GAA
Grant Fuhr	19	1136	16	2	55	0	.883	2.90

[edit] Transactions

[edit] Trades

October 19, 1987	To Montreal Canadiens Cash	To Edmonton Oilers Dave Donnelly
November 24, 1987	To Pittsburgh Penguins Paul Coffey Dave Hunter Wayne Van Dorp	To Edmonton Oilers Moe Mantha Dave Hannan Craig Simpson Chris Joseph
January 22, 1988	To Minnesota North Stars Moe Mantha	To Edmonton Oilers Keith Acton
February 11, 1988	To Buffalo Sabres Scott Metcalfe 9th round pick in 1989 - Donald Audette	To Edmonton Oilers Steve Dykstra 7th round pick in 1989 - Davis Payne
March 8, 1988	To Boston Bruins Andy Moog Moe Lemay	To Edmonton Oilers Bill Ranford Geoff Courtnall Alan May 2nd round pick in 1988 - Petro Koivunen

[edit] Free agents

Player Former Team F Gary Emmons New York Rangers G Warren Skorodenski Chicago Blackhawks

Player New Team F Murray Eaves Detroit Red Wings F Don Biggs Philadelphia Flyers D Jim Playfair Chicago Blackhawks

[edit] Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	21	Peter Soberlak	Canada	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
2	42	Brad Werenka	Canada	Northern Michigan University (NCAA
3	63	Geoff Smith	Canada	St. Albert Saints (AJHL)
4	64	Peter Eriksson	Sweden	HV71 Jonkoping (SEL)
5	105	Shaun Van Allen	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
6	126	Radek Toupal	Czechoslovakia	HC Ceske Budejovice (Czech.)
7	147	Tomas Srsen	Czechoslovakia	Brno ZKL (Czech.)
8	168	Age Ellingsen	Norway	Storhamar (Norway)
9	189	Gavin Armstrong	Canada	R.P.I. (NCAA)
10	210	Mike Tinkham	United States	Newburyport High School (USHS)
11	231	Jeff Pauletti	Canada	University of Minnesota (NCAA)
12	241	Jesper Duus	Denmark	Rødovre (Denmark)
12	252	Igor Vyazmikin	Soviet Union	HC CSKA Moscow (Russia)

[edit] References

• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

v • d • e Edmonton Oilers Franchise • Players: NHL · WHA • Coaches • General managers • Seasons • Heritage Classic • Records • Draft picks • Battle of Alberta • Blue Mile • Edmonton Gardens • Rexall Place • Edmonton Oil Kings • Springfield Falcons • Stockton Thunder

v • d • e Edmonton Oilers seasons World Hockey Association 1972–73 • 1973–74 • 1974–75 • 1975–76 • 1976–77 • 1977–78 • 1978–79 National Hockey League 1979–80 • 1980–81 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84 • 1984–85 • 1985–86 • 1986–87 • 1987–88 • 1988–89 • 1989–90 • 1990–91 • 1991–92 • 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–00 • 2000–01 • 2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08 • 2008–09 Bold indicates Stanley Cup victory

v • d • e 1987–88 NHL season by team Patrick New Jersey • NY Islanders • NY Rangers • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • Washington Adams Boston • Buffalo • Hartford • Montreal • Québec Norris Chicago • Detroit • Minnesota • St. Louis • Toronto Smythe Calgary • Edmonton • Los Angeles • Winnipeg • Vancouver See also 1987 NHL Entry Draft • All-Star Game • 1988 Stanley Cup Finals • Transactions