1988–89 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 1988–89 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' 22nd season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers lost in the Wales Conference Finals to the Montreal Canadiens in six games.

Regular season

With Mike Keenan's firing, the reins were handed off to Paul Holmgren,^[2] who presided over a club in flux with young players promoted to larger roles. The defense underwent a major overhaul, as Brad Marsh was let go to Toronto, and Doug Crossman was dealt to Los Angeles for Jay Wells. Gord Murphy and Jeff Chychrun cracked the lineup on the back line as well.

Tim Kerr was fully healed from his shoulder surgeries and subsequent infections, while Rick Tocchet, Scott Mellanby, Murray Craven, Pelle Eklund and Peter Zezel were counted on to carry the offense. After a promising 5–1–0 start, a 4–15–1 slide cost Zezel his job, shipped off to St. Louis for Mike Bullard after Thanksgiving.

Following the deal, the Flyers went 13–2–1 to climb back over .500 and into solid playoff footing. However, youth and inconsistency constantly derailed much progress to the top of the standings, and the team never went higher than three games above even. Mark Laforest was replaced in March as backup by Maple Leafs castoff Ken Wregget with the team reeling.

On the last day of the season, they fell 6–5 in overtime to the Penguins and into fourth place, as Mario Lemieux scored into an empty net. If the Flyers had won using the extra attacker, they would have leapt over the Rangers into third place in the Patrick Division. Despite their mediocre record, their positive goal differential was a positive indicator that the team still had some life left.

The Flyers finished the regular season with the league's best power-play percentage, at 26.70% (98 for 367).^[3]

Season standings

^[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.

Playoffs

Facing the first-place Washington Capitals in the first round, the Flyers pulled off the upset in six games. Ron Hextall managed to score another empty-net goal in the waning moments of Game 5, becoming the first NHL goalie to score a goal in the playoffs. The Flyers then came back from a 3 games to 2 deficit to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games to make the Wales Conference Finals before bowing out to the Montreal Canadiens in six games. This would be the Flyers last playoff appearance until 1995.

Schedule and results

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Skaters

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
• = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
• = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.

				Regular season						Playoffs
No.	Player	Age	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
12	Kerr, TimTim Kerr	29	RW	69	48	40	88	−4	73	19	14	11	25	1	27
22	Tocchet, RickRick Tocchet	24	RW	66	45	36	81	−1	183	16	6	6	12	0	69
26	Propp, BrianBrian Propp	29	LW	77	32	46	78	16	37	18	14	9	23	8	14
9	Eklund, PellePelle Eklund	25	LW	79	18	51	69	5	23	19	3	8	11	−4	2
19	Mellanby, ScottScott Mellanby	22	RW	76	21	29	50	−13	183	19	4	5	9	2	28
10	Bullard, MikeMike Bullard	27	C	54	23	26	49	1	60	19	3	9	12	0	32
14	Sutter, RonRon Sutter	25	C	55	26	22	48	25	80	19	1	9	10	5	51
29	Carkner, TerryTerry Carkner	22	D	78	11	32	43	−6	149	19	1	5	6	−1	28
2	Howe, MarkMark Howe	33	D	52	9	29	38	7	45	19	0	15	15	14	10
32	Craven, MurrayMurray Craven	24	LW	51	9	28	37	4	52	1	0	0	0	−1	0
20	Poulin, DaveDave Poulin	30	C	69	18	17	35	4	49	19	6	5	11	5	16
3	Murphy, GordGord Murphy	21	D	75	4	31	35	−3	68	19	2	7	9	0	13
24	Smith, DerrickDerrick Smith	24	LW	74	16	14	30	−4	43	19	5	2	7	3	12
7	Wells, JayJay Wells	29	D	67	2	19	21	−3	184	18	0	2	2	−1	51
25	Zezel, PeterPeter Zezel	23	C	26	4	13	17	−13	15	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
28	Samuelsson, KjellKjell Samuelsson	30	D	68	3	14	17	13	140	19	1	3	4	13	24
25	Acton, KeithKeith Acton	30	C	25	3	10	13	1	64	16	2	3	5	0	18
15	Sulliman, DougDoug Sulliman	29	RW	52	6	6	12	−8	8	4	0	0	0	0	0
8	Mantha, MoeMoe Mantha	28	D	30	3	8	11	−5	33	1	0	0	0	0	0
5	Huffman, KerryKerry Huffman	21	D	29	0	11	11	0	31	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
27	Hextall, RonRon Hextall	24	G	64	0	8	8	-98 !N/A	113	15	1	0	1	-98 !N/A	28
23	Sinisalo, IlkkaIlkka Sinisalo	30	RW	13	1	6	7	6	2	8	1	1	2	−1	0
6	Chychrun, JeffJeff Chychrun	22	D	80	1	4	5	11	245	19	0	2	2	−3	65
33	Laforest, MarkMark Laforest	26	G	17	0	4	4	-98 !N/A	4	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
21	Brown, DaveDave Brown	26	RW	53	1	1	2	−8	199	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
17	Berube, CraigCraig Berube	23	LW	53	1	1	2	−15	199	16	0	0	0	0	56
10	Roupe, MagnusMagnus Roupe	25	LW	7	1	1	2	1	10	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
21	Secord, AlAl Secord	30	RW	20	1	0	1	−7	38	14	0	4	4	2	31
42	Nachbaur, DonDon Nachbaur	30	C	15	1	0	1	−1	37	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
18	Dobbin, BrianBrian Dobbin	22	RW	14	0	1	1	−6	8	2	0	0	0	0	17
37	Freer, MarkMark Freer	20	C	5	0	1	1	0	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
11	Seabrooke, GlenGlen Seabrooke	21	C	3	0	1	1	−1	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
39	Fenyves, DavidDavid Fenyves	28	D	1	0	1	1	0	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
34	Harding, JeffJeff Harding	19	RW	6	0	0	0	1	29	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
35	Wregget, KenKen Wregget	24	G	3	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0	5	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	16
49	D'Amour, MarcMarc D'Amour	27	G	1	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—

Goaltenders

• = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
• = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.

			Regular season									Playoffs
No.	Player	Age	GP	W	L	T	SO	GA	SV%	GAA	MIN	GP	W	L	SO	GA	SV%	GAA	MIN
27	Hextall, RonRon Hextall	24	64	30	28	6	0	202	.891	3.23	3756	15	8	7	0	49	.890	3.32	886
33	Laforest, MarkMark Laforest	26	17	5	7	2	0	64	.871	4.12	933	2	1	0	0	1	.917	1.25	48
35	Wregget, KenKen Wregget	24	3	1	1	0	0	13	.822	6.00	130	5	2	2	0	10	.928	2.24	268
49	D'Amour, MarcMarc D'Amour	27	1	0	0	0	0	0	1.000	0.00	19	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—

Awards and records

Awards

Records

•    NHL record
•    Tied for NHL record

Individual

Franchise player records set during the 1988–89 season

Record	Type	Total	Player	Date(s)	Opponent	Ref
Powerplay goals scored	Game	3[lower-alpha 1]	Brian Propp	10/13/1988	Minnesota North Stars	[9]
Games with a goal	Streak	9	Rick Tocchet	3/1/1989 – 3/19/1989	—	[9]
Penalties in minutes by a goaltender	Season	113	Ron Hextall	—	—	[10]
Assists by a goaltender	Season	8	Ron Hextall	—	—	[10]
Points by a goaltender	Season	8	Ron Hextall	—	—	[10]
Goals scored	Series	10	Tim Kerr	—	Pittsburgh Penguins	[11]
Points	Series	15	Tim Kerr	—	Pittsburgh Penguins	[11]
Powerplay goals scored	Series	5	Tim Kerr	—	Pittsburgh Penguins	[11]
Powerplay goals scored, playoffs	Season	8	Tim Kerr	—	—	[12]
Assists by a defenseman, playoffs	Season	15	Mark Howe	—	—	[13]
Goals scored by a goaltender, playoffs	Season	1	Ron Hextall	—	—	[14]

Team

Franchise team records set during the 1988–89 season

Record	Type	Total	Date(s)	Opponent	Player(s)	Refs
Powerplay goals scored	Game	6[lower-alpha 2]	10/13/1988	Minnesota North Stars	—	[15]
Fastest two goals	Game	0:07[lower-alpha 3]	12/27/1988	Washington Capitals	Moe Mantha Jr.	[16]
					Ron Sutter
Fastest opening goal	Game	0:08	3/7/1989	Edmonton Oilers	Tim Kerr	[16]
Fastest goal from start of period	Game	0:08[lower-alpha 4]	3/7/1989	Edmonton Oilers	Tim Kerr	[16]
Powerplay goals scored	Season	98	—	—	—	[17]
Fewest shutouts	Season	0[lower-alpha 5]	—	—	—	[18]
Fastest goal from start of period, playoffs	Game	0:06	4/25/1989	Pittsburgh Penguins	Pelle Eklund	[19][20]
Most goals against, playoffs	Period	6[lower-alpha 6]	4/25/1989	Pittsburgh Penguins	—	[11]
Most goals against, playoffs	Game	10[lower-alpha 7]	4/25/1989	Pittsburgh Penguins	—	[21]
Shorthanded goals scored, playoffs	Season	8	—	—	—	[22]

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 27, 1988, the day after the deciding game of the 1988 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 25, 1989, the day of the deciding game of the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals.^[23]

Trades

Signings

Free agency

The following players were signed by the Flyers via free agency.

Re-signed

The following players were re-signed by the Flyers.

Draft picks

The Flyers signed the following of their draft picks.

NHL Waiver Draft

The 1988 NHL Waiver Draft was held on October 3, 1988.^[42][43] Each NHL team placed 18 skaters and 2 goaltenders on a protected list from which the other teams could not select.^[42] First-year professional players were exempt.^[42]

The Flyers left the following players unprotected:^[44] Don Biggs, Marc D'Amour, Warren Harper, Willie Huber, Chris Jensen, Mark Lofthouse, Gord Paddock, and Mike Stothers.

Departures

The following players left the team via free agency, release, or retirement. Players who were under contract and left the team during the season are marked with an asterisk (*).

Draft picks

NHL Entry Draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, on June 11, 1988.^[49]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1988 and their NHL career regular season statistics

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	W	L	T	GAA	Notes
1	14	Boivin, ClaudeClaude Boivin	Left Wing	Canada	Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)	132	12	19	31	364	& —	& —	& —	& —
2	35	Murray, PatPat Murray	Left Wing	Canada	Michigan State Spartans (CCHA)	25	3	1	4	15	& —	& —	& —	& —
3	56	Fisher, CraigCraig Fisher	Left Wing	Canada	Oshawa Legionaires (MetJHL)	12	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	2	& —	& —	& —	& —
3	63	Roussel, DominicDominic Roussel	Goaltender	Canada	Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)	205	0.1 !0	4	4	33	77	70	23	3.12	[lower-alpha 8]
4	77	LaGrand, ScottScott LaGrand	Goaltender	United States	Hotchkiss School (Conn.)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
5	98	O'Brien, EdwardEdward O'Brien	Left Wing	United States	Cushing Academy (Massachusetts)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
6	119	Frantti, GordGord Frantti	Defense	United States	Calumet High School (Mich.)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
7	140	Cooke, JamieJamie Cooke	Right Wing	Canada	Bramalea Blues (MetJHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
8	161	Salle, JohannJohann Salle	Defense	Sweden	Malmö IF (Elitserien)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
9	182	Arthur, BrianBrian Arthur	Defense	Canada	Etobicoke Capitals (CJBHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
10	203	Dandreta, JeffJeff Dandreta	Right Wing	United States	Cushing Academy (Massachusetts)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
11	224	Billey, ScottScott Billey	Right Wing	United States	Madison Capitols (USHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
12	245	Kadlec, DragomirDragomir Kadlec	Defense	Czech Republic	Dukla Jihlava (TCH)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —

NHL Supplemental Draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1988 NHL Supplemental Draft.^[51][52]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1988 Supplemental Draft and their NHL career regular season statistics

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	W	L	T	GAA
2	19	Paul Connell	Goaltender	United States	Bowling Green Falcons (CCHA)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Hershey Bears of the AHL.^[53][54]

Notes

References

General

• hockeyDB.com: Roster and player statistics · Results and Schedule
• hockey-reference.com: Roster and Statistics · Schedule and Results
• Flyers History: Season Overview · Game Scores & Results · Playoff Results

Specific