1987–88 Montreal Canadiens season

1987–88 Montreal Canadiens
Adams Division Champions
Division	1st Adams
Conference	1st Wales
1987–88 record	45-22-13
Goals for	298
Goals against	238
Team information
General Manager	Serge Savard
Coach	Jean Perron
Captain	Bob Gainey
Alternate captains	Mats Naslund Larry Robinson
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Stephane Richer (50)
Assists	Bobby Smith (66)
Points	Bobby Smith (93)
Penalties in minutes	Chris Nilan (209)
Plus/minus	Petr Svoboda (+46)
Wins	Patrick Roy (23)
Goals against average	Brian Hayward (2.86)
<1986–87 1988–89>

The 1987–88 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 79th season. The club qualified for the playoffs, defeated the Hartford Whalers in the first round, but were eliminated in the Adams Division finals versus the Boston Bruins four games to one.

Offseason

• Canadiens General Manager Serge Savard was part of the four man committee that would select players and coaches for Team Canada at the 1987 Canada Cup.^[1] Canadiens head coach Jean Perron would be selected as one of the assistant coaches for Team Canada.^[2]

Regular season

Defensively, the Canadiens were the best team in the league, finishing the regular season with just 238 goals against. They also allowed the fewest power-play goals, with just 64^[3]

Final standings

Adams Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	80	45	22	13	298	238	103
Boston Bruins	80	44	30	6	300	251	94
Buffalo Sabres	80	37	32	11	283	305	85
Hartford Whalers	80	35	38	7	249	267	77
Quebec Nordiques	80	32	43	5	271	306	69

^[4]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

#	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	Oct 8, 1987	2–2 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers	0–0–1
2	W	Oct 10, 1987	6–3	Buffalo Sabres	1–0–1
3	L	Oct 12, 1987	2–5	Quebec Nordiques	1–1–1
4	L	Oct 16, 1987	3–4	@ New Jersey Devils	1–2–1
5	W	Oct 17, 1987	3–2	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–2–1
6	W	Oct 19, 1987	5–1	Minnesota North Stars	3–2–1
7	W	Oct 21, 1987	10–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	4–2–1
8	L	Oct 23, 1987	3–5	@ Buffalo Sabres	4–3–1
9	W	Oct 24, 1987	3–2	@ Washington Capitals	5–3–1
10	L	Oct 26, 1987	3–5	Calgary Flames	5–4–1
11	W	Oct 28, 1987	3–1	Edmonton Oilers	6–4–1
12	W	Oct 30, 1987	5–4	@ Detroit Red Wings	7–4–1
13	T	Oct 31, 1987	3–3 OT	Boston Bruins	7–4–2
14	W	Nov 2, 1987	6–4	St. Louis Blues	8–4–2
15	T	Nov 4, 1987	4–4 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks	8–4–3
16	W	Nov 7, 1987	5–4	Philadelphia Flyers	9–4–3
17	W	Nov 9, 1987	3–1	Toronto Maple Leafs	10–4–3
18	T	Nov 11, 1987	0–0 OT	@ Hartford Whalers	10–4–4
19	L	Nov 12, 1987	2–3	@ Boston Bruins	10–5–4
20	W	Nov 14, 1987	3–0	Chicago Blackhawks	11–5–4
21	T	Nov 16, 1987	3–3 OT	Hartford Whalers	11–5–5
22	W	Nov 18, 1987	5–2	New York Islanders	12–5–5
23	W	Nov 21, 1987	2–1	New Jersey Devils	13–5–5
24	L	Nov 23, 1987	3–4 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques	13–6–5
25	W	Nov 25, 1987	6–5	@ Hartford Whalers	14–6–5
26	L	Nov 27, 1987	2–4	@ Minnesota North Stars	14–7–5
27	W	Nov 28, 1987	7–3	@ Winnipeg Jets	15–7–5
28	W	Nov 30, 1987	6–4	Boston Bruins	16–7–5
29	T	Dec 2, 1987	3–3 OT	Vancouver Canucks	16–7–6
30	W	Dec 5, 1987	6–4	Los Angeles Kings	17–7–6
31	W	Dec 8, 1987	3–2	@ New York Islanders	18–7–6
32	T	Dec 9, 1987	2–2 OT	@ New York Rangers	18–7–7
33	W	Dec 12, 1987	5–3	Detroit Red Wings	19–7–7
34	W	Dec 16, 1987	5–4	Quebec Nordiques	20–7–7
35	T	Dec 18, 1987	2–2 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres	20–7–8
36	L	Dec 19, 1987	1–2	Buffalo Sabres	20–8–8
37	T	Dec 23, 1987	2–2 OT	Washington Capitals	20–8–9
38	W	Dec 26, 1987	4–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	21–8–9
39	L	Dec 28, 1987	3–9	@ Calgary Flames	21–9–9
40	W	Dec 29, 1987	4–1	@ Vancouver Canucks	22–9–9
41	L	Jan 2, 1988	2–5	@ Los Angeles Kings	22–10–9
42	L	Jan 6, 1988	5–6	Buffalo Sabres	22–11–9
43	T	Jan 9, 1988	3–3 OT	Philadelphia Flyers	22–11–10
44	W	Jan 13, 1988	5–4	Boston Bruins	23–11–10
45	L	Jan 14, 1988	2–3	@ Boston Bruins	23–12–10
46	W	Jan 16, 1988	4–3	New York Rangers	24–12–10
47	W	Jan 18, 1988	6–4	Edmonton Oilers	25–12–10
48	L	Jan 21, 1988	1–4	St. Louis Blues	25–13–10
49	L	Jan 23, 1988	3–4 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins	25–14–10
50	W	Jan 24, 1988	5–3	@ Quebec Nordiques	26–14–10
51	W	Jan 27, 1988	4–1	@ Buffalo Sabres	27–14–10
52	L	Jan 29, 1988	3–4	@ Washington Capitals	27–15–10
53	W	Jan 30, 1988	6–2	@ New York Islanders	28–15–10
54	W	Feb 1, 1988	5–4	Hartford Whalers	29–15–10
55	W	Feb 3, 1988	5–2	@ Hartford Whalers	30–15–10
56	L	Feb 4, 1988	3–7	@ Boston Bruins	30–16–10
57	L	Feb 6, 1988	4–5	Detroit Red Wings	30–17–10
58	L	Feb 11, 1988	2–4	@ New Jersey Devils	30–18–10
59	L	Feb 13, 1988	1–4	Hartford Whalers	30–19–10
60	L	Feb 15, 1988	1–3	@ New York Rangers	30–20–10
61	W	Feb 17, 1988	3–2	Boston Bruins	31–20–10
62	W	Feb 20, 1988	5–3	Quebec Nordiques	32–20–10
63	W	Feb 23, 1988	3–1	@ Quebec Nordiques	33–20–10
64	W	Feb 24, 1988	5–4	Vancouver Canucks	34–20–10
65	W	Feb 27, 1988	6–0	Winnipeg Jets	35–20–10
66	W	Feb 29, 1988	2–1	@ Quebec Nordiques	36–20–10
67	W	Mar 3, 1988	4–2	@ St. Louis Blues	37–20–10
68	W	Mar 5, 1988	7–6 OT	@ Los Angeles Kings	38–20–10
69	W	Mar 9, 1988	4–1	@ Edmonton Oilers	39–20–10
70	W	Mar 12, 1988	5–0	Hartford Whalers	40–20–10
71	T	Mar 14, 1988	2–2 OT	@ Minnesota North Stars	40–20–11
72	W	Mar 16, 1988	4–1	@ Winnipeg Jets	41–20–11
73	W	Mar 19, 1988	3–0	Chicago Blackhawks	42–20–11
74	T	Mar 21, 1988	3–3 OT	Calgary Flames	42–20–12
75	W	Mar 23, 1988	4–1	Quebec Nordiques	43–20–12
76	L	Mar 25, 1988	2–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	43–21–12
77	L	Mar 27, 1988	2–4	@ Hartford Whalers	43–22–12
78	W	Mar 31, 1988	3–1	@ Boston Bruins	44–22–12
79	W	Apr 2, 1988	9–4	Buffalo Sabres	45–22–12
80	T	Apr 3, 1988	4–4 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres	45–22–13

• April 3: Stephane Richer becomes the sixth player in Montreal history to score 50 goals in a season with two in the season finale against Buffalo.^[5]

Playoffs

Adams Division semi-finals

Hartford Whalers vs. Montreal Canadiens

The Habs almost squandered a 3–0 series lead. The deep Habs roster was the best team in the Wales Conference during the season, consisting of six 20–goal scorers and another six with between 10 and 20 goals. Their best assets were goaltenders Patrick Roy and backup Brian Hayward who won 23 and 22 games respectively. The Ron Francis-led Whalers went 2–4–2 against the Canadiens during the season, twice losing by just one goal.

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 6	Hartford	3	Montreal	4
April 7	Hartford	3	Montreal	7
April 9	Montreal	4	Hartford	3
April 10	Montreal	5	Hartford	7
April 12	Hartford	5	Montreal	3
April 14	Montreal	4	Hartford	2

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–2

Adams Division finals

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

The Wales Conference's two best teams, and the NHL's two best defensive teams, met in this series with equal rest time. The Habs had beaten Boston in the Adams Division Semi-Finals four years in a row, sweeping the Bruins in three of the past four seasons, and beating them 3–2 in a best-of-five the other year. This time, the Bruins' defence would wear down Montreal, as Ken Linseman, Ray Bourque and Cam Neely provided the offence to finally conquer the Canadiens. It was the first Bruins' playoff series win over the Habs in 44 seasons.

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 18	Boston	1	Montreal	5
April 20	Boston	4	Montreal	3
April 22	Montreal	1	Boston	3
April 24	Montreal	0	Boston	2
April 26	Boston	4	Montreal	1

Boston wins best-of-seven series 4–1

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Smith, BobbyBobby Smith	C	78	27	66	93	78	13	8	0	4
Naslund, MatsMats Naslund	LW	78	24	59	83	14	17	4	0	2
Richer, StephaneStephane Richer	RW	72	50	28	78	72	12	16	0	11
Lemieux, ClaudeClaude Lemieux	RW	78	31	30	61	137	16	6	0	3
Chelios, ChrisChris Chelios	D	71	20	41	61	172	14	10	1	5
McPhee, MikeMike McPhee	LW	77	23	20	43	53	19	0	2	4
Robinson, LarryLarry Robinson	D	53	6	34	40	30	26	2	0	1
Corson, ShayneShayne Corson	LW	71	12	27	39	152	22	2	0	2
Carbonneau, GuyGuy Carbonneau	C	80	17	21	38	61	14	0	3	1
Walter, RyanRyan Walter	C/LW	61	13	23	36	39	12	6	0	3
Skrudland, BrianBrian Skrudland	C	79	12	24	36	112	14	0	1	3
Svoboda, PetrPetr Svoboda	D	69	7	22	29	149	46	2	0	1
Dahlin, KjellKjell Dahlin	RW	48	13	12	25	6	5	2	0	2
Gainey, BobBob Gainey	LW	78	11	11	22	14	8	0	0	1
Momesso, SergioSergio Momesso	LW	53	7	14	21	101	9	1	0	0
Ludwig, CraigCraig Ludwig	D	74	4	10	14	69	17	0	0	0
Green, RickRick Green	D	59	2	11	13	33	21	1	0	0
Nilan, ChrisChris Nilan	RW	50	7	5	12	209	-2	0	0	1
Thibaudeau, GillesGilles Thibaudeau	C	17	5	6	11	0	6	2	0	1
Lalor, MikeMike Lalor	D	66	1	10	11	113	4	0	0	0
Kordic, JohnJohn Kordic	RW	60	2	6	8	159	0	0	0	0
Trader, LarryLarry Trader	D	30	2	4	6	19	2	1	0	0
Boisvert, SergeSerge Boisvert	RW	5	1	1	2	2	0	0	0	0
Charbonneau, JoseJose Charbonneau	RW	16	0	2	2	6	1	0	0	0
Hayward, BrianBrian Hayward	G	39	0	2	2	24	0	0	0	0
Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	G	45	0	2	2	14	0	0	0	0
Ganchar, PerryPerry Ganchar	RW	1	1	0	1	0	-1	0	0	0
Gingras, GastonGaston Gingras	D	2	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	0
Sandelin, ScottScott Sandelin	D	8	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Riendeau, VincentVincent Riendeau	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Schneider, MathieuMathieu Schneider	D	4	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	2586	45	23	12	9	125	2.90	3	1248	1123	.900
Hayward, BrianBrian Hayward	2247	39	22	10	4	107	2.86	2	1032	925	.896
Riendeau, VincentVincent Riendeau	36	1	0	0	0	5	8.33	0	22	17	.773
Team:	4869	80	45	22	13	237	2.92	5	2302	2065	.897

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Richer, StephaneStephane Richer	RW	8	7	5	12	6	1	0	2
McPhee, MikeMike McPhee	LW	11	4	3	7	8	0	1	0
Smith, BobbyBobby Smith	C	11	3	4	7	8	1	0	0
Naslund, MatsMats Naslund	LW	6	0	7	7	2	0	0	0
Thibaudeau, GillesGilles Thibaudeau	C	8	3	3	6	2	1	0	0
Dahlin, KjellKjell Dahlin	RW	11	2	4	6	2	0	0	0
Walter, RyanRyan Walter	C/LW	11	2	4	6	6	2	0	1
Skrudland, BrianBrian Skrudland	C	11	1	5	6	24	0	0	0
Lemieux, ClaudeClaude Lemieux	RW	11	3	2	5	20	0	0	2
Robinson, LarryLarry Robinson	D	11	1	4	5	4	0	0	0
Svoboda, PetrPetr Svoboda	D	10	0	5	5	12	0	0	0
Chelios, ChrisChris Chelios	D	11	3	1	4	29	1	0	0
Kordic, JohnJohn Kordic	RW	7	2	2	4	26	0	0	0
Carbonneau, GuyGuy Carbonneau	C	11	0	4	4	2	0	0	0
Ludwig, CraigCraig Ludwig	D	11	1	1	2	6	0	0	0
Green, RickRick Green	D	11	0	2	2	2	0	0	0
Momesso, SergioSergio Momesso	LW	6	0	2	2	16	0	0	0
Corson, ShayneShayne Corson	LW	3	1	0	1	12	0	0	0
Boisvert, SergeSerge Boisvert	RW	3	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Gainey, BobBob Gainey	LW	6	0	1	1	6	0	0	0
Charbonneau, JoseJose Charbonneau	RW	8	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Fletcher, StevenSteven Fletcher	LW/D	1	0	0	0	5	0	0	0
Hayward, BrianBrian Hayward	G	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lalor, MikeMike Lalor	D	11	0	0	0	11	0	0	0
Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	G	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	430	8	3	4	24	3.35	0	218	194	.890
Hayward, BrianBrian Hayward	230	4	2	2	9	2.35	0	85	76	.894
Team:	660	11	5	6	33	3.00	0	303	270	.891

^[6]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

• Frank J. Selke Trophy: || Guy Carbonneau
• Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: || Mats Naslund
• William M. Jennings Trophy: || Patrick Roy/Brian Hayward
• Patrick Roy, goaltender, NHL Second Team All-Star

Draft picks

See also

• 1987–88 NHL season

References

• Canadiens on Hockey Database
• Canadiens on NHL Reference

1. ↑ Gretzky to Lemieux: The Story of the 1987 Canada Cup, p.8, Ed Willies, McLelland and Stewart, Toronto, Canada, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7710-8942-8
2. ↑ Gretzky to Lemieux: The Story of the 1987 Canada Cup, p.4, Ed Willies, McLelland and Stewart, Toronto, Canada, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7710-8942-8
3. ↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1988.html
4. ↑ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225. 
5. ↑ Richer Pots No. 50. Our History - The Historical Website of the Montreal Canadiens. Retrieved 2013-June-19. Archived 2013-06-22.
6. ↑ "1987-88 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28. 

Montreal Canadiens seasons 1900s 1900–01 . 1901–02 . 1902–03 . 1903–04 . 1904–05 . 1905–06 . 1906–07 . 1907–08 . 1908–09 . 1909–10 1910s 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920s 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930s 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940s 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950s 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960s 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970s 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980s 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990s 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000s 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010s 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

Montreal Canadiens Founded in 1909 Based in Montreal, Quebec Franchise Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season History History Original Six Centennial Records Awards Personnel Owners Molson family (Geoff Molson, chairman) General manager Marc Bergevin Head coach Michel Therrien Team captain Vacant Current roster Arenas Jubilee Arena Montreal Arena Mount Royal Arena Montreal Forum Bell Centre Bell Sports Complex (practice) Rivalries Boston Bruins Quebec Nordiques Toronto Maple Leafs Affiliates AHL Hamilton Bulldogs St. John's IceCaps (beginning in 2015-16) ECHL Wheeling Nailers General managers Laviolette & Cattarinich Kennedy Dandurand E. Savard Hart Dugal Gorman Selke Pollock Grundman S. Savard Houle A. Savard Gainey Gauthier Bergevin Head coaches Laviolette Cattarinich Kennedy Dandurand Hart Lalonde Mantha Dugal Siebert Lepine Irvin Blake Ruel MacNeil Bowman Geoffrion Berry Lemaire Perron Burns Demers Tremblay Vigneault Therrien Julien Gainey Carbonneau Martin Cunneyworth Therrien Media TV City TV (English) Sportsnet East (English) Réseau des sports (French) Radio English TSN Radio 990 French 98,5 FM Culture and lore Youppi The Punch Line Richard Riot 1938 European tour Good Friday Massacre

1987–88 NHL season Patrick New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh Washington Adams Boston Buffalo Hartford Montreal Quebec Norris Chicago Detroit Minnesota St. Louis Toronto Smythe Calgary Edmonton Los Angeles Vancouver Winnipeg See also Entry Draft Supplemental Draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals