1987–88 Calgary Flames season – Wikipedia

NHL team season

The 1987–88 Calgary Flames season was the eighth National Hockey League season in Calgary and the 16th season in the NHL for the Flames franchise. The Flames finished atop the Smythe Division standings for the first time in team history, en route to winning their first ever Presidents’ Trophy as the top club in the NHL.^[1]

The Flames spent almost the entire month of February playing away games as the 1988 Winter Olympics were being held in Calgary at that time.

In the playoffs, the Flames easily defeated the Los Angeles Kings four games to one, setting a franchise record that still stands by scoring 30 goals in a five-game series.^[2] The Flames season was ended by their provincial archrivals, again as the Edmonton Oilers swept Calgary out of the Smythe Division Finals en route to their fourth Stanley Cup in five years.

The Flames set numerous franchise records this season, including most wins (48), most home wins (26), most road wins (22), and most points (105), all of which that were tied or broken in 1988–89. The Flames 397 goals remains a franchise record,^[3] and one of the highest totals in league history. The Flames also finished first in scoring during the regular season.^[4] Furthermore, the Flames led the league in short-handed goals scored (23) and power-play percentage (28.46%).^[5]

Freshman sniper Joe Nieuwendyk became the second rookie in NHL history to score 50 goals, as his 51 fell just two shy of Mike Bossy’s record of 53 set in 1977–78. Nieuwendyk captured the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie-of-the-Year for his effort.^[6]

Lanny McDonald became the first player to win the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, awarded to players who best exemplify leadership qualities and make notable humanitarian contributions to their community.^[7] In addition, Brad McCrimmon won the Emery Edge Award for leading the league in Plus/Minus at +48.^[8]

The Flames sent five players to the 1988 All-Star Game: Al MacInnis, Gary Suter, Brad McCrimmon, Joe Nieuwendyk and Mike Vernon. Nieuwendyk was also named to the NHL All-Rookie team.^[9]

Regular season[edit]

Season standings[edit]

^[10]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[edit]

1987–88 Game log October: 5–5–1 (home: 1–3–0; road: 4–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 1 October 8 Detroit 1 – 5 Calgary 1–0–0 2 2 October 10 Winnipeg 5 – 1 Calgary 1–1–0 2 3 October 12 Calgary 2 – 3 Winnipeg 1–2–0 2 4 October 14 Calgary 5 – 4 Edmonton 2–2–0 4 5 October 16 Edmonton 5 – 2 Calgary 2–3–0 4 6 October 18 Boston 6 – 5 Calgary OT 2–4–0 4 7 October 20 Calgary 4 – 5 NY Islanders 2–5–0 4 8 October 21 Calgary 5 – 4 NY Rangers 3–5–0 6 9 October 24 Calgary 7 – 5 Quebec 4–5–0 8 10 October 26 Calgary 5 – 3 Montreal 5–5–0 10 11 October 30 Calgary 3 – 3 Vancouver OT 5–5–1 11
November: 9–3–2 (home: 6–2–2; road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 12 November 3 NY Rangers 3 – 5 Calgary 6–5–1 13 13 November 5 Edmonton 4 – 4 Calgary OT 6–5–2 14 14 November 8 Buffalo 6 – 3 Calgary 6–6–2 14 15 November 10 Calgary 3 – 4 Winnipeg 6–7–2 14 16 November 11 Calgary 4 – 3 Minnesota 7–7–2 16 17 November 13 Los Angeles 7 – 10 Calgary 8–7–2 18 18 November 15 Vancouver 4 – 8 Calgary 9–7–2 20 19 November 17 Boston 6 – 3 Calgary 9–8–2 20 20 November 19 Quebec 1 – 9 Calgary 10–8–2 22 21 November 21 Pittsburgh 4 – 4 Calgary OT 10–8–3 23 22 November 23 New Jersey 2 – 9 Calgary 11–8–3 25 23 November 25 Calgary 4 – 2 Vancouver 12–8–3 27 24 November 28 Calgary 8 – 4 Los Angeles 13–8–3 29 25 November 30 Chicago 0 – 4 Calgary 14–8–3 31
December: 9–3–1 (home: 5–2–1; road: 4–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 26 December 3 Toronto 3 – 5 Calgary 15–8–3 33 27 December 5 Minnesota 4 – 4 Calgary OT 15–8–4 34 28 December 8 Calgary 5 – 4 Washington 16–8–4 36 29 December 9 Calgary 2 – 5 Pittsburgh 16–9–4 36 30 December 11 Calgary 5 – 1 New Jersey 17–9–4 38 31 December 13 Calgary 7 – 1 Buffalo 18–9–4 40 32 December 16 Winnipeg 4 – 5 Calgary 19–9–4 42 33 December 19 Calgary 4 – 1 Los Angeles 20–9–4 44 34 December 20 Los Angeles 6 – 3 Calgary 20–10–4 44 35 December 22 Hartford 5 – 6 Calgary OT 21–10–4 46 36 December 26 Edmonton 5 – 4 Calgary 21–11–4 46 37 December 28 Montreal 3 – 9 Calgary 22–11–4 48 38 December 31 Philadelphia 4 – 5 Calgary 23–11–4 50
January: 9–3–2 (home: 6–1–0; road: 3–2–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 39 January 2 Calgary 3 – 5 St. Louis 23–12–4 50 40 January 3 Calgary 5 – 3 Chicago 24–12–4 52 41 January 6 Winnipeg 1 – 6 Calgary 25–12–4 54 42 January 8 NY Islanders 4 – 7 Calgary 26–12–4 56 43 January 10 Washington 2 – 8 Calgary 27–12–4 58 44 January 13 Calgary 3 – 5 Edmonton 27–13–4 58 45 January 15 Calgary 4 – 4 Vancouver OT 27–13–5 59 46 January 19 Vancouver 5 – 7 Calgary 28–13–5 61 47 January 21 Los Angeles 5 – 4 Calgary OT 28–14–5 61 48 January 23 Calgary 4 – 4 Detroit OT 28–14–6 62 49 January 25 Calgary 11 – 3 Toronto 29–14–6 64 50 January 27 Hartford 1 – 5 Calgary 30–14–6 66 51 January 29 Calgary 5 – 4 Edmonton 31–14–6 68 52 January 30 Vancouver 3 – 4 Calgary 32–14–6 70
February: 5–6–1 (home: 0–1–0; road: 5–5–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 53 February 1 New Jersey 5 – 4 Calgary 32–15–6 70 54 February 3 Calgary 0 – 9 Winnipeg 32–16–6 70 55 February 5 Calgary 1 – 5 Detroit 32–17–6 70 56 February 7 Calgary 5 – 2 Los Angeles 33–17–6 72 57 February 12 Calgary 3 – 2 Philadelphia 34–17–6 74 58 February 14 Calgary 4 – 5 Washington OT 34–18–6 74 59 February 16 Calgary 3 – 9 NY Islanders 34–19–6 74 60 February 17 Calgary 3 – 5 NY Rangers 34–20–6 74 61 February 20 Calgary 6 – 3 St. Louis 35–20–6 76 62 February 21 Calgary 3 – 3 Chicago OT 35–20–7 77 63 February 26 Calgary 5 – 3 Vancouver 36–20–7 79 64 February 28 Calgary 3 – 2 Edmonton 37–20–7 81
March: 10–2–2 (home: 7–1–0; road: 3–1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 65 March 3 Philadelphia 3 – 6 Calgary 38–20–7 83 66 March 5 Edmonton 4 – 7 Calgary 39–20–7 85 67 March 7 Pittsburgh 5 – 4 Calgary 39–21–7 85 68 March 9 Calgary 6 – 6 Winnipeg OT 39–21–8 86 69 March 10 Winnipeg 3 – 5 Calgary 40–21–8 88 70 March 12 Buffalo 4 – 10 Calgary 41–21–8 90 71 March 15 Calgary 8 – 6 Hartford 42–21–8 92 72 March 17 Calgary 7 – 5 Boston 43–21–8 94 73 March 19 Calgary 5 – 4 Quebec OT 44–21–8 96 74 March 21 Calgary 3 – 3 Montreal OT 44–21–9 97 75 March 24 Toronto 1 – 7 Calgary 45–21–9 99 76 March 26 Vancouver 1 – 6 Calgary 46–21–9 101 77 March 28 St. Louis 2 – 7 Calgary 47–21–9 103 78 March 30 Calgary 7 – 9 Los Angeles 47–22–9 103
April: 1–1–0 (home: 1–1–0; road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Pts 79 April 1 Los Angeles 6 – 3 Calgary 47–23–9 103 80 April 3 Minnesota 1 – 4 Calgary 48–23–9 105

Playoffs[edit]

1988 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Smythe Division Semi-final vs. Los Angeles – Flames win 4–1 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 April 6 Los Angeles 2 – 9 Calgary Calgary leads 1–0 2 April 7 Los Angeles 4 – 6 Calgary Calgary leads 2–0 3 April 9 Calgary 2 – 5 Los Angeles Calgary leads 2–1 4 April 10 Calgary 7 – 3 Los Angeles Calgary leads 3–1 5 April 12 Los Angeles 4 – 6 Calgary Calgary wins 4–1
Smythe Division Final vs. Edmonton – Oilers win 4–0 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 April 19 Edmonton 3 – 1 Calgary Edmonton leads 1–0 2 April 21 Edmonton 5 – 4 Calgary OT Edmonton leads 2–0 3 April 23 Calgary 2 – 4 Edmonton Edmonton leads 3–0 4 April 25 Calgary 4 – 6 Edmonton Edmonton wins 4–0

Player statistics[edit]

Skaters[edit]

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

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Calgary. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.

^‡Traded mid-season.

Goaltenders[edit]

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

			Regular season									Playoffs
Player	#		GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA		GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Mike Vernon	30		64	3565	39	16	7	210	1	3.53		9	515	4	4	34	0	3.96
Rick Wamsley†	31		2	73	1	0	0	5	0	4.11		1	33	0	1	2	0	3.64
Doug Dadswell	36		25	1221	8	7	2	89	0	4.37		–	–	–	–	–	–	–

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Calgary. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.

Transactions[edit]

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1988–89 season.

Trades[edit]

Free agents[edit]

Draft picks[edit]

Calgary’s picks at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, held in Detroit, Michigan.^[11]

See also[edit]

References[edit]