1987–88 Edmonton Oilers season

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)
Team information
General Manager Glen Sather
Coach Glen Sather
Captain Wayne Gretzky
Alternate captains Kevin Lowe
Mark Messier
Arena Northlands Coliseum
Average attendance 17,503 (100%)
Minor league affiliations Nova Scotia Oilers (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals (IHL)
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)
<1986–87 1988–89>

The 1987–88 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' ninth season in the NHL, and they were coming off a Stanley Cup championship against the Philadelphia Flyers the previous season, which was their third 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 (sitting out 16 games with a knee injury), 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 during the season 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 canceled midway through the third period with the score tied at 3 due to a power failure at the Boston Garden) to win their fourth Stanley Cup in 5 years. Grant Fuhr would set an NHL record by winning 16 playoff games, while Wayne Gretzky took home the Conn Smythe Trophy after earning a league high 43 points.

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

[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Schedule and results

1987–88 Game Log

Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1988 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Season stats

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

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

Playoff stats

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

Goaltending

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

Awards and Records

Records

  • 266: A new Oilers record for most penalty minutes in a single season by a defenceman by Steve Smith on ???, 1988.
  • 34: A new Oilers record for most wins in a single season by Grant Fuhr on February 23, 1988.

Milestones

Regular Season
Player Milestone Reached
Kelly Buchberger 1st NHL Game October 9, 1987
Jim Ennis
Glenn Anderson 16th NHL Hat-trick October 11, 1987
Jim Ennis 1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Point
John Miner 1st NHL Game
1st NHL Assist
1st NHL Point
Jari Kurri 400th NHL Assist October 14, 1987
Craig Muni 100th NHL Game
Glenn Anderson 17th NHL Hat-trick October 16, 1987
John Miner 1st NHL Goal
Normand Lacombe 100th NHL Game October 17, 1987
Craig MacTavish 200th NHL PIM
Charlie Huddy 300th NHL PIM October 23, 1987
Wayne Gretzky 300th NHL PIM October 24, 1987
Kevin McClelland 1,000th NHL PIM
Grant Fuhr 30th NHL Assist October 31, 1987
Steve Graves 1st NHL Assist November 1, 1987
Craig MacTavish 200th NHL Point
Daryl Reaugh 1st NHL Win
Ron Shudra 1st NHL Game
Esa Tikkanen 100th NHL Point
Wayne Gretzky 42nd NHL Hat-trick
1,000th NHL Assist
November 4, 1987
Mike Krushelnyski 300th NHL Point November 5, 1987
Ron Shudra 1st NHL Assist
1st NHL Point
November 7, 1987
Craig Muni 100th NHL PIM November 15, 1987
Steve Smith 400th NHL PIM November 25, 1987
Mike Krushelnyski 400th NHL Game November 29, 1987
Mark Messier 800th NHL PIM
Esa Tikkanen 200th NHL PIM December 5, 1987
Wayne Gretzky 43rd NHL Hat-trick
4th Five-Goal NHL Game
December 6, 1987
Craig MacTavish 400th NHL Game December 11, 1987
Marty McSorley 700th NHL PIM
200th NHL Game
December 12, 1987
Mark Messier 600th NHL Game
Mark Messier 400th NHL Assist December 16, 1987
Craig Simpson 2nd NHL Gordie Howe hat trick
Wayne Gretzky 1,600th NHL Point December 22, 1987
Jeff Beukeboom 200th NHL PIM December 30, 1987
Dave Hannan 300th NHL Game
Jari Kurri 800th NHL Point
Kevin McClelland 1,100th NHL PIM
Scott Metcalfe 1st NHL Game January 4, 1988
Grant Fuhr 300th NHL Game January 15, 1988
Mark Messier 700th NHL Point
Kelly Buchberger 1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Point
January 19, 1988
Selmar Odelein 1st NHL Assist
1st NHL Point
Dave Hannan ??? NHL Hat-trick January 25, 1988
Craig Simpson 100th NHL Game January 29, 1988
Steve Smith 500th NHL PIM January 30, 1988
Marty McSorley 800th NHL PIM February 3, 1988
Esa Tikkanen 3rd NHL Hat-trick
Dave Hannan 400th NHL PIM February 12, 1988
Mark Messier 9th NHL Hat-trick February 14, 1988
Kevin Lowe 700th NHL PIM February 17, 1988
Jeff Beukeboom 100th NHL Game February 19, 1988
Steve Dykstra 400th NHL PIM
Charlie Huddy 200th NHL Assist February 21, 1988
Glenn Anderson 18th NHL Hat-trick
2nd Four-Goal NHL Game
2nd NHL Natural Hat-trick
March 4, 1988
Kevin McClelland 1,200th NHL PIM
Jeff Beukeboom 300th NHL PIM March 7, 1988
Kevin McClelland 400th NHL Game
Glenn Anderson 500th NHL PIM March 9, 1988
Geoff Courtnall ??? NHL Hat-trick March 15, 1988
Mark Messier 300th NHL Goal
Craig Simpson 50th Goal in 71 Games
Mike Krushelynski 300th NHL PIM March 18, 1988
Craig MacTavish 100th NHL Goal
Glenn Anderson 700th NHL Point March 22, 1988
Steve Smith 600th NHL PIM March 24, 1988
Keith Acton 400th NHL PIM March 26, 1988
Glenn Anderson 600th NHL Game March 30, 1988
Steve Smith 100th NHL Point
Esa Tikkanen 100th NHL Assist
Esa Tikkanen 300th NHL PIM April 1, 1988
Jari Kurri 600th NHL Game April 3, 1988
Playoffs
Player Milestone Reached
Glenn Anderson 200th NHL PIM
2nd NHL Hat-trick
April 6, 1988
Dave Hannan 1st NHL Game
1st NHL Assist
1st NHL Point
Normand Lacombe 1st NHL Game
Kevin Lowe 100th NHL Game
Craig Simpson 1st NHL Game
1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Assist
1st NHL Point
Glenn Anderson 100th NHL Game April 7, 1988
Jari Kurri
Normand Lacombe 1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Point
April 9, 1988
Marty McSorley 150th NHL PIM
Grant Fuhr 50th NHL Win April 10, 1988
Kevin McClelland 200th NHL PIM
Wayne Gretzky 150th NHL Assist April 12, 1988
Kevin Lowe 100th NHL PIM
Jari Kurri 150th NHL Point April 21, 1988
Esa Tikkanen 50th NHL PIM
Dave Hannan 1st NHL Goal April 25, 1988
Mark Messier 50th NHL Goal
Steve Smith 100th NHL PIM
Wayne Gretzky 50th NHL PIM May 7, 1988
Keith Acton 50th NHL PIM May 9, 1988
Mark Messier 150th NHL Point
Grant Fuhr 10th NHL Assist May 11, 1988
Mike Krushelnyski 50th NHL Point
Randy Gregg 100th NHL Game May 20, 1988
Kevin McClelland 250th NHL PIM
Esa Tikkanen 1st NHL Hat-trick May 22, 1988
Esa Tikkanen 100th NHL PIM
50th NHL Game
May 24, 1988
Wayne Gretzky 250th NHL Point May 26, 1988

Transactions

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

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

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 Wildcats (WCHA)
3 63 Geoff Smith  Canada St. Albert Saints (AJHL)
4 64 Peter Eriksson  Sweden HV71 (Elitserien)
5 105 Shaun Van Allen  Canada Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
6 126 Radek Toupal  Czechoslovakia České Budějovice (Czechoslovak Extraliga)
7 147 Tomas Srsen  Czechoslovakia TJ Zetor Brno (Czechoslovak Extraliga)
8 168 Age Ellingsen  Norway Storhamar Dragons (Norwegian 1. Divisjon)
9 189 Gavin Armstrong  Canada RPI Engineers (ECAC)
10 210 Mike Tinkham  United States Newburyport High School (USHS)
11 231 Jeff Pauletti  Canada Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA)
12 241 Jesper Duus  Denmark Rødovre Mighty Bulls (Danish Eliteserien)
12 252 Igor Vyazmikin  Soviet Union CSKA Moscow (Soviet League)

Roster

1987-88 Edmonton Oilers
Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

Centres

References

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Further reading

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