1987–88 Minnesota North Stars season

1987–88 Minnesota North Stars
Division	5th Norris
Conference	10th Campbell
1987–88 record	19–48–13
Goals for	242
Goals against	349
Team information
General Manager	Lou Nanne (Oct-Jan) Jack Ferreira (Jan-Apr)
Coach	Herb Brooks
Captain	Craig Hartsburg
Arena	Met Center
Team leaders
Goals	Dino Ciccarelli (41)
Assists	Dino Ciccarelli (45)
Points	Dino Ciccarelli (86)
Penalties in minutes	Basil McRae (382)
Plus/minus	Scott Bjugstad (+2) Pat Micheletti (+2)
Wins	Don Beaupre (10)
Goals against average	Jon Casey (3.71)
<1986–87 1988–89>

The 1987–88 Minnesota North Stars season was the North Stars' 21st season. It saw the North Stars finish fifth in the Norris Division with a record of 19 wins, 48 losses, and 13 ties for 51 points—the worst record in the league. They failed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second consecutive season. Despite finishing with the third-lowest winning percentage (at .319) and second-fewest wins in franchise history, they were actually still in contention for a playoff spot going into the last game of the season due to playing in an extremely weak Norris Division; the division champion Detroit Red Wings were the only team with a winning record. The Stars lost to the Calgary Flames on the season's final day and finished last in scoring (242 goals for) and penalty-killing percentage (75.23%).^[1] Earlier, the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were tied with the Stars for the fourth spot in the Norris as the day began, beat the Red Wings. This not only kept the Stars out of the playoffs, but assured them of the worst record in the league.

The leading scorer for the North Stars in 1987–88 was Dino Ciccarelli. However, he became involved in controversy when, on January 6, 1988, he struck Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Luke Richardson with his stick in a game at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Ciccarelli was arrested and charged with assault; he was eventually fined $1000 and sentenced to one day in jail.

Offseason

NHL Draft

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	6	Dave Archibald (RW)	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)

Regular season

Final standings

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Detroit Red Wings	80	41	28	11	322	269	93
St. Louis Blues	80	34	38	8	278	294	76
Chicago Blackhawks	80	30	41	9	284	328	69
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	21	49	10	273	345	52
Minnesota North Stars	80	19	48	13	242	349	51

^[2]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

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 8, 1987	2–2 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1987–88)	0–0–1
2	L	October 10, 1987	4–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88)	0–1–1
3	L	October 12, 1987	2–4	@ New York Rangers (1987–88)	0–2–1
4	W	October 14, 1987	4–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88)	1–2–1
5	L	October 17, 1987	2–5	Winnipeg Jets (1987–88)	1–3–1
6	L	October 19, 1987	1–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1987–88)	1–4–1
7	W	October 22, 1987	5–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1987–88)	2–4–1
8	W	October 24, 1987	7–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88)	3–4–1
9	W	October 27, 1987	5–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1987–88)	4–4–1
10	L	October 29, 1987	2–3	St. Louis Blues (1987–88)	4–5–1
11	T	October 31, 1987	3–3 OT	Washington Capitals (1987–88)	4–5–2
12	T	November 3, 1987	2–2 OT	@ Detroit Red Wings (1987–88)	4–5–3
13	W	November 4, 1987	7–4	Detroit Red Wings (1987–88)	5–5–3
14	L	November 7, 1987	1–4	Vancouver Canucks (1987–88)	5–6–3
15	L	November 8, 1987	5–8	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88)	5–7–3
16	L	November 11, 1987	3–4	Calgary Flames (1987–88)	5–8–3
17	W	November 13, 1987	5–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1987–88)	6–8–3
18	L	November 14, 1987	1–4	@ Washington Capitals (1987–88)	6–9–3
19	L	November 18, 1987	2–5	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88)	6–10–3
20	W	November 19, 1987	4–3	New York Rangers (1987–88)	7–10–3
21	L	November 21, 1987	5–7	Boston Bruins (1987–88)	7–11–3
22	L	November 25, 1987	3–4 OT	St. Louis Blues (1987–88)	7–12–3
23	W	November 27, 1987	4–2	Montreal Canadiens (1987–88)	8–12–3
24	W	November 28, 1987	6–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1987–88)	9–12–3
25	W	December 1, 1987	3–2 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88)	10–12–3
26	T	December 5, 1987	4–4 OT	@ Calgary Flames (1987–88)	10–12–4
27	L	December 6, 1987	4–10	@ Edmonton Oilers (1987–88)	10–13–4
28	W	December 8, 1987	3–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1987–88)	11–13–4
29	L	December 10, 1987	4–5	St. Louis Blues (1987–88)	11–14–4
30	L	December 12, 1987	0–5	Quebec Nordiques (1987–88)	11–15–4
31	L	December 16, 1987	2–4	Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88)	11–16–4
32	L	December 18, 1987	3–8	@ Detroit Red Wings (1987–88)	11–17–4
33	L	December 19, 1987	1–3	New Jersey Devils (1987–88)	11–18–4
34	T	December 21, 1987	0–0 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88)	11–18–5
35	L	December 23, 1987	3–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88)	11–19–5
36	L	December 26, 1987	4–5 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1987–88)	11–20–5
37	W	December 27, 1987	5–4	Detroit Red Wings (1987–88)	12–20–5
38	W	December 30, 1987	6–4	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88)	13–20–5
39	L	December 31, 1987	1–4	Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88)	13–21–5
40	L	January 2, 1988	3–5	New York Rangers (1987–88)	13–22–5
41	T	January 5, 1988	3–3 OT	@ New York Islanders (1987–88)	13–22–6
42	T	January 6, 1988	5–5 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88)	13–22–7
43	L	January 9, 1988	3–4	New Jersey Devils (1987–88)	13–23–7
44	L	January 11, 1988	4–5	Los Angeles Kings (1987–88)	13–24–7
45	T	January 13, 1988	3–3 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88)	13–24–8
46	L	January 15, 1988	1–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1987–88)	13–25–8
47	W	January 16, 1988	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1987–88)	14–25–8
48	L	January 19, 1988	3–6	Hartford Whalers (1987–88)	14–26–8
49	L	January 21, 1988	1–6	@ Boston Bruins (1987–88)	14–27–8
50	L	January 23, 1988	0–5	@ Hartford Whalers (1987–88)	14–28–8
51	W	January 24, 1988	5–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88)	15–28–8
52	W	January 27, 1988	2–1	New York Islanders (1987–88)	16–28–8
53	L	January 28, 1988	1–9	@ St. Louis Blues (1987–88)	16–29–8
54	L	January 30, 1988	0–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1987–88)	16–30–8
55	L	February 3, 1988	0–2	St. Louis Blues (1987–88)	16–31–8
56	L	February 4, 1988	0–1	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–88)	16–32–8
57	T	February 6, 1988	8–8 OT	Winnipeg Jets (1987–88)	16–32–9
58	L	February 13, 1988	3–7	Quebec Nordiques (1987–88)	16–33–9
59	L	February 17, 1988	4–5	Los Angeles Kings (1987–88)	16–34–9
60	L	February 20, 1988	0–3	Washington Capitals (1987–88)	16–35–9
61	W	February 22, 1988	4–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88)	17–35–9
62	L	February 24, 1988	2–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88)	17–36–9
63	L	February 27, 1988	4–7	@ Boston Bruins (1987–88)	17–37–9
64	L	February 28, 1988	6–8	@ New Jersey Devils (1987–88)	17–38–9
65	L	March 1, 1988	3–8	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–88)	17–39–9
66	L	March 3, 1988	3–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1987–88)	17–40–9
67	L	March 5, 1988	2–4	Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88)	17–41–9
68	L	March 9, 1988	2–6	Buffalo Sabres (1987–88)	17–42–9
69	W	March 12, 1988	6–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–88)	18–42–9
70	T	March 14, 1988	2–2 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1987–88)	18–42–10
71	L	March 16, 1988	1–2	Detroit Red Wings (1987–88)	18–43–10
72	T	March 17, 1988	2–2 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1987–88)	18–43–11
73	T	March 20, 1988	5–5 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1987–88)	18–43–12
74	L	March 21, 1988	1–5	New York Islanders (1987–88)	18–44–12
75	W	March 23, 1988	5–4	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88)	19–44–12
76	L	March 26, 1988	1–8	@ Hartford Whalers (1987–88)	19–45–12
77	T	March 28, 1988	7–7 OT	Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88)	19–45–13
78	L	March 30, 1988	3–6	@ Edmonton Oilers (1987–88)	19–46–13
79	L	April 1, 1988	1–6	@ Vancouver Canucks (1987–88)	19–47–13
80	L	April 3, 1988	1–4	@ Calgary Flames (1987–88)	19–48–13

Player statistics

Forwards

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Dino Ciccarelli	67	41	45	86	79
Brian Bellows	77	40	41	81	81
Brian MacLellan	75	16	32	48	74
Brian Lawton	74	17	24	41	71
Neal Broten	54	9	30	39	32
Dave Archibald	78	13	20	33	26
Bob Brooke	77	5	20	25	108
Scott Bjugstad	33	10	12	22	15
Dave Gagner	51	8	11	19	55

Defencemen

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

Player	GP	W	L	T	SO	GAA
Don Beaupre	43	10	22	3	0	4.22
Kari Takko	37	8	19	6	1	4.47
Jon Casey	14	1	7	4	0	3.71

Playoffs

• The North Stars failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Roster

1987–1988 Minnesota North Stars Roster
Goaltenders 1 – Kari Takko  30 – Jon Casey  33 – Don Beaupre		Defencemen 2 – Curt Giles  2 – Ron Wilson  3 – Bob Rouse  4 – Craig Hartsburg  - C 5 – Shawn Chambers  6 – Frank Musil  10/25 – Gordie Roberts  18 – Al Tuer  21 – Moe Mantha  22 – John Barrett  22 – Tom Hirsch  26 – Ken Duggan  28 – Gord Dineen  28 – Pat Price  29 – Jay Caufield  32 – Emanuel Viveiros  34 – Mike Berger  36 – Chris Pryor		Wingers 8 – Terry Ruskowski  10/31 – Larry DePalma  10/31 – George Servinis  13 – Bob Brooke  14 – Scott Bjugstad  15 – Dave Gagner  17 – Basil McRae  18 – Curt Fraser  18 – Paul Houck  20 – Dino Ciccarelli  21 – Dirk Graham  23 – Brian Bellows  24 – Richard Zemlak  25 – Mitch Messier  27 – Brian MacLellan  29 – Warren Babe  31 – Wally Schreiber  44 – Steve Payne		Centers 7 – Neal Broten  9 – Dennis Maruk  10 – Marc Habscheid  10 – Stephane Roy  11 – Brian Lawton  12 – Keith Acton  16 – Rick Boh  16 – Bill Terry  26 – Pat Micheletti  31 – Kirk Tomlinson  37 – Dave Archibald  GM: Lou Nanne (Oct–Jan) GM: Jack Ferreira (Jan–Apr) Coach: Herb Brooks

References

• North Stars on Hockey Database

1. http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1988.html
2. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.