1987–88 Detroit Red Wings season explained

League:NHL
Season:1987–88
Year:1987
Team:Detroit Red Wings
Record:41–28–11
Homerecord:24–10–6
Roadrecord:17–18–5
Conferencerank:3rd
Divisionrank:1st
Goalsfor:322
Goalsagainst:269
Divisionwin:Yes

The 1987–88 Detroit Red Wings season was the Red Wings' 56th season, the franchise's 62nd.

Coached by Jacques Demers, the team compiled a record of 41–28–11 for 93 points, to finish first place in the Norris Division at the end of the regular season for the first time since 1965. Luckily for them, the division was weak that year; they were the only team in their division to have a winning record that season.[1] [2] In the playoffs, they won their Norris Division Semifinal series 4–2 over the Toronto Maple Leafs, and they followed that with a 5-game win over the St. Louis Blues in the Norris Division Final. In the Campbell Conference Final, the Red Wings ran out of magic as they lost in five games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers.

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

No.RDateScoreOpponentRecord
1LOctober 8, 19871–5 @ Calgary Flames (1987–88) 0–1–0
2WOctober 9, 19874–1 @ Edmonton Oilers (1987–88) 1–1–0
3WOctober 12, 19873–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1987–88) 2–1–0
4WOctober 16, 19873–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88) 3–1–0
5LOctober 17, 19874–7 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88) 3–2–0
6LOctober 21, 19871–5 Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 3–3–0
7WOctober 23, 19875–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–88) 4–3–0
8WOctober 28, 19875–1 @ Winnipeg Jets (1987–88) 5–3–0
9LOctober 30, 19874–5 Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 5–4–0
10TOctober 31, 19873–3 OT@ St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 5–4–1
11TNovember 3, 19872–2 OTMinnesota North Stars (1987–88) 5–4–2
12LNovember 4, 19874–7 @ Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 5–5–2
13WNovember 6, 19873–1 Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 6–5–2
14LNovember 7, 19873–4 OT@ New York Islanders (1987–88) 6–6–2
15LNovember 11, 19873–6 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 6–7–2
16WNovember 14, 19876–4 @ New Jersey Devils (1987–88) 7–7–2
17WNovember 17, 19871–0 @ Washington Capitals (1987–88) 8–7–2
18LNovember 19, 19871–4 Vancouver Canucks (1987–88) 8–8–2
19LNovember 22, 19870–1 Boston Bruins (1987–88) 8–9–2
20WNovember 25, 198710–8 Winnipeg Jets (1987–88) 9–9–2
21WNovember 27, 19876–0 St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 10–9–2
22WNovember 28, 19873–2 OT@ Boston Bruins (1987–88) 11–9–2
23WDecember 2, 19877–4 Edmonton Oilers (1987–88) 12–9–2
24WDecember 4, 198712–0 Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 13–9–2
25LDecember 7, 19874–5 OT@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88) 13–10–2
26TDecember 9, 19874–4 OTSt. Louis Blues (1987–88) 13–10–3
27TDecember 11, 19873–3 OTPhiladelphia Flyers (1987–88) 13–10–4
28LDecember 12, 19873–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 13–11–4
29LDecember 14, 19873–4 @ New York Rangers (1987–88) 13–12–4
30WDecember 16, 19876–1 Washington Capitals (1987–88) 14–12–4
31WDecember 18, 19878–3 Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 15–12–4
32LDecember 20, 19872–4 @ Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 15–13–4
33LDecember 23, 19872–5 Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 15–14–4
34LDecember 26, 19873–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–88) 15–15–4
35LDecember 27, 19874–5 @ Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 15–16–4
36WDecember 30, 19873–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 16–16–4
37WDecember 31, 19877–2 St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 17–16–4
38TJanuary 3, 19884–4 OT@ Winnipeg Jets (1987–88) 17–16–5
39WJanuary 6, 19884–2 St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 18–16–5
40WJanuary 8, 19885–3 Los Angeles Kings (1987–88) 19–16–5
41WJanuary 10, 19887–5 Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–88) 20–16–5
42WJanuary 13, 19887–4 @ New York Rangers (1987–88) 21–16–5
43WJanuary 15, 19882–1 Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 22–16–5
44LJanuary 16, 19882–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 22–17–5
45WJanuary 18, 19884–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88) 23–17–5
46WJanuary 21, 19883–2 OT@ New Jersey Devils (1987–88) 24–17–5
47TJanuary 23, 19884–4 OTCalgary Flames (1987–88) 24–17–6
48LJanuary 24, 19881–2 OT@ Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 24–18–6
49LJanuary 26, 19884–6 Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 24–19–6
50TJanuary 29, 19883–3 OTToronto Maple Leafs (1987–88) 24–19–7
51TJanuary 30, 19885–5 OT@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88) 24–19–8
52WFebruary 3, 19886–4 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 25–19–8
53WFebruary 5, 19885–1 Calgary Flames (1987–88) 26–19–8
54WFebruary 6, 19885–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 27–19–8
55WFebruary 12, 19884–3 New Jersey Devils (1987–88) 28–19–8
56LFebruary 13, 19883–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 28–20–8
57WFebruary 15, 19886–1 @ Los Angeles Kings (1987–88) 29–20–8
58WFebruary 17, 19884–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 30–20–8
59WFebruary 20, 19886–1 Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 31–20–8
60LFebruary 21, 19883–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88) 31–21–8
61LFebruary 23, 19886–11 Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88) 31–22–8
62LFebruary 26, 19882–3 Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 31–23–8
63LFebruary 27, 19884–5 @ Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 31–24–8
64WMarch 1, 19884–0 Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 32–24–8
65WMarch 3, 19886–3 Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 33–24–8
66TMarch 5, 19884–4 OT@ St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 33–24–9
67WMarch 6, 19884–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 34–24–9
68WMarch 8, 19882–0 Boston Bruins (1987–88) 35–24–9
69WMarch 10, 19885–2 Vancouver Canucks (1987–88) 36–24–9
70WMarch 12, 19884–3 @ New York Islanders (1987–88) 37–24–9
71WMarch 13, 19885–1 New York Islanders (1987–88) 38–24–9
72WMarch 16, 19882–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 39–24–9
73LMarch 19, 19884–7 @ Los Angeles Kings (1987–88) 39–25–9
74LMarch 22, 19884–6 Edmonton Oilers (1987–88) 39–26–9
75LMarch 24, 19882–3 Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 39–27–9
76TMarch 26, 19884–4 OTNew York Rangers (1987–88) 39–27–10
77WMarch 27, 19885–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 40–27–10
78TMarch 29, 19882–2 OT@ Washington Capitals (1987–88) 40–27–11
79WApril 1, 19887–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88) 41–27–11
80LApril 2, 19883–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88) 41–28–11

Playoffs

The Red Wings won the Norris Division title, their first division title since the 1964–65 season. They went up against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Norris Division semifinals, and won the series in six games. They next faced the St. Louis Blues in the Norris Division Final and won in five games. The Red Wings then faced the Edmonton Oilers in the Campbell Conference Final for the second year in a row. Just like the year before, the Oilers beat the Red Wings in five games on their way to their fourth Stanley Cup championship in five years.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM+/-PPGSHGGWG
C 64 50 52 102 44301066
LW 73 34 39 73 242241003
W 78 37 25 62 464655
LW 74 29 33 62 398161505
C 78 13 44 57 1012020
C 63 14 40 54 2016303
LW 73 26 27 53 5010723
LW/C 78 17 23 40 977533
RW 51 14 26 40 5820310
D 63 7 33 40 4511401
D 56 10 25 35 4213200
D 51 9 22 31 1314302
D 70 5 21 26 1306301
RW 62 12 13 25 945011
RW 50 10 9 19 37-4102
D 48 6 13 19 3824000
C 57 6 11 17 424001
D 62 3 14 17 9624002
RW 63 7 7 14 263-11001
RW 36 3 11 14 552000
D 29 2 9 11 5715000
D 55 2 8 10 819000
D 31 1 4 5 673000
D 7 0 3 3 213000
LW 6 2 0 2 52001
D 11 1 1 2 100000
LW 10 1 1 2 843001
RW 13 0 2 2 40000
LW 3 1 0 1 21000
C 7 0 1 1 2-1000
LW 2 0 1 1 2-1000
LW 9 0 1 1 8-2000
G 47 0 1 1 300000
G 33 0 1 1 360000
G 3 0 0 0 20000
D 6 0 0 0 18-3000
G 6 0 0 0 20000
Goaltending
Player MIN GPWLTGAGAA SO SA SV SV%
2623 47 22 17 5 141 3.23 412921151.891
1854 33 17 9 5 96 3.11 1923827.896
294 6 2 2 0 16 3.27 0148132.892
97 3 0 0 1 9 5.57 05647.839
Team: 4868 80 41 28 11 262 3.23 524192157.892

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIMPPGSHGGWG
LW 16 8 13 21 51501
C 16 8 12 20 6401
C 16 4 15 19 2100
W 12 10 8 18 10214
LW 16 6 9 15 55101
LW 16 7 5 12 10210
RW 16 5 7 12 22200
D 16 2 6 8 40200
RW 16 6 1 7 62010
D 11 1 5 6 6100
D 16 0 6 6 55000
C 16 4 1 5 12000
D 8 1 4 5 18000
LW/C 9 3 1 4 14001
D 9 2 2 4 31100
C 3 1 3 4 6000
D 10 0 4 4 8000
D 15 0 3 3 22000
D 4 0 3 3 4000
RW 13 1 0 1 26001
RW 10 0 1 1 13000
RW 8 0 1 1 6000
D 4 0 1 1 15000
G 10 0 1 1 0000
G 8 0 0 0 0000
LW 2 0 0 0 0000
D 10 0 0 0 40000
G 1 0 0 0 0000
Goaltending
Player MIN GPWLGAGAA SO SA SV SV%
531 10 5 4 32 3.62 1236204.864
431 8 4 3 22 3.06 1171149.871
10 1 0 0 1 6.00 076.857
Team: 972 16 9 7 55 3.40 2414359.867
[3]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus-minus PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals;
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Draft picks

Detroit's draft picks at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft held at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

RoundPlayerNationalityCollege/Junior/Club team (League)
111Yves RacineLongueuil Chevaliers (QMJHL)
232Gord KruppkePrince Albert Raiders (WHL)
241Bob WilkieSwift Current Broncos (WHL)
352Dennis HollandPortland Winter Hawks (WHL)
474Mark ReimerSaskatoon Blades (WHL)
595Radomir BrazdaLTC Pardubice (Czechoslovakia)
6116Sean CliffordOhio State University (CCHA)
7137Mike GoberLaval Titan (QMJHL)
8158Kevin ScottVernon Lakers (BCJHL)
9179Mikko HaapakoskiKarpat (Finland)
10200Darin BanisterUniversity of Illinois at Chicago (CCHA)
11221Craig QuinlanHill-Murray School (USHS-MN)
12242Tomas JanssonSödertälje SK (Sweden)
S213Mike LaMoineUniversity of North Dakota (WCHA)

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NHL Roundup – UPI Archives . 2024-01-29 . UPI .
  2. Web site: Hafner . Dan . 1988-03-17 . NHL Roundup : Lemieux Leads Penguins to 5-2 Win Over Toronto . 2024-08-08 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  3. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-02 . 1987-88 Detroit Red Wings Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.