The 1987–88 NHL season was the 71st season of the National Hockey League. It was an 80-game season with the top four teams in each division advancing to the Stanley Cup playoffs. This season would see the Edmonton Oilers win their fourth Stanley Cup in five years by sweeping the Boston Bruins 4–0[1] in the Stanley Cup Finals. In the process of their Cup win, Edmonton lost only two games, a record for the "16 wins" playoff format.
The NHL introduced a new trophy, the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which was to be awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution in his community.
This was Wayne Gretzky's final season with the Edmonton Oilers and, as injuries held him out of 20% of the season, this would be the only season of the decade in which he was not the winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy and the first season since 1979–80 that he did not hold or share the league lead in points. Mario Lemieux would capture his first Hart Trophy and lead the league in scoring.
On December 8, Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers became the first goalie to directly score a goal, shooting the puck into an empty net after their opponent had pulled their goalie for a sixth attacker.
On December 19, the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins combined to score two goals in two seconds. The Bruins were trailing 6-4 in the third period when Ken Linseman scored with 10 seconds remaining, followed by Blues center Doug Gilmour scoring off the resulting faceoff into an empty net.[2]
The New Jersey Devils qualified for the playoffs for the first time, since their move from Denver in 1982.
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.
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The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). In the division semifinals, the fourth seeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. The two winning teams from each division's semifinals then met in the division finals. The two division winners of each conference then played in the conference finals. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes, PPG = Powerplay Goals, SHG = Shorthanded Goals, GWG = Game Winning Goals
Source: NHL.[4]
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage
Source: Quanthockey.com[5]
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1987–88:
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1987–88:
In Canada, the cable network TSN began airing a schedule of Monday and Thursday night regular season games. The Molson-sponsored Hockey Night in Canada on CBC continued to air Saturday night regular season games. This was the last season of the Carling O'Keefe-sponsored telecasts on Canwest/Global, with Global airing selected regular season games between January and March. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs were split between CBC and Global, with the later branding its postseason broadcasts as Stanley Cup '88. Carling O'Keefe's rights expired at the end of the season,[6] and 1989 merger between Molson and Carling O'Keefe eventually put an end to the competition.
This was the third and final season of the league's U.S. national broadcast rights deal with ESPN, airing up to 33 regular season games each season as well as the All-Star Game and the playoffs.[7][8] SportsChannel America then signed a three-year contract to take over the rights from ESPN.[9]