1987–88 Philadelphia Flyers | |
---|---|
Division | 3rd Patrick |
Conference | 4th Wales |
1987–88 record | 38–33–9 |
Home record | 20–14–6 |
Road record | 18–19–3 |
Goals for | 292 (12th) |
Goals against | 292 (9th) |
Team information | |
President | Jay Snider |
General manager | Bobby Clarke |
Coach | Mike Keenan |
Captain | Dave Poulin |
Alternate captains |
Mark Howe Brad Marsh |
Arena | Spectrum |
Average attendance | 17,405 [1] |
Minor league affiliate(s) |
Hershey Bears Flint Spirits |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Rick Tocchet (31) |
Assists | Brian Propp (49) |
Points | Murray Craven and Brian Propp (70) |
Penalty minutes | Rick Tocchet (299) |
Plus/minus | Kjell Samuelsson (+28) |
Wins | Ron Hextall (30) |
Goals against average | Ron Hextall (3.51) |
The 1987–88 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' 21st season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Washington Capitals in seven games.
The season was one of many ups and downs. With Ron Hextall lost to an eight-game suspension to start the year after slashing Kent Nilsson in the Stanley Cup Finals, Tim Kerr lost indefinitely with a shoulder problem, and Brad McCrimmon traded to Calgary over a salary dispute, the club limped to a 3–6–2 record in October. Additionally, Dave Brown served a 15-game suspension for cross-checking New York Ranger Tomas Sandstrom in the face on October 26.
The free-fall continued until late November. After blowing a 4–1 lead into a 6–4 loss to the Islanders at home on November 21, the Flyers were at 6–13–3 and last in the division. However, just as quickly, the club rebounded with a 14-game unbeaten streak (12–0–2) from November 25 to December 26 – despite losing out to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Paul Coffey sweepstakes. The run was highlighted by Hextall becoming the first goaltender to shoot the puck into the opposing team's net on December 8, a game-winning two-man short tally by Murray Craven in Winnipeg on December 13, and a post-Christmas comeback win against the Capitals.
A 6–0–1 run through late February and early March saw Rick Tocchet post three hat tricks in a span of four games (Detroit, at Los Angeles, at Vancouver). On February 23, the club set a still-standing franchise road record with 11 goals in an amazing 11–6 win in Detroit, including a team-record 7 third-period tallies.
After a 7–3 win over the Canucks March 1, the Flyers finished the year in free-fall due to almost daily injuries, going 4–11–2, ending up the lower seed in a second-place tie with Washington. Kerr returned to the lineup finally on March 10, but was unable to find his range before the playoffs began.
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Islanders | 80 | 39 | 31 | 10 | 308 | 267 | 88 |
Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 38 | 33 | 9 | 292 | 292 | 85 |
Washington Capitals | 80 | 38 | 33 | 9 | 281 | 249 | 85 |
New Jersey Devils | 80 | 38 | 36 | 6 | 295 | 296 | 82 |
New York Rangers | 80 | 36 | 34 | 10 | 300 | 283 | 82 |
Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 36 | 35 | 9 | 319 | 316 | 81 |
[2]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.
Patrick Division record vs. opponents
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Vs. Wales Conference
Vs. Campbell Conference
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In their first round playoff series with the Washington Capitals, the Flyers blew a 3–1 series lead as Washington forced a Game 7. They then blew a 3–0 lead in Game 7 as Washington won 5-4, in overtime.
Afterwards, general manager Bobby Clarke fired head coach Mike Keenan citing a lack of enthusiasm from the club to continue playing for him. [4]
1987–88 regular season [5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 3–6–2, 8 points (home: 1–4–1; road: 2–2–1)
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November: 5–7–1, 11 points (home: 4–3–1; road: 1–4–0)
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December: 10–2–2, 22 points (home: 5–0–1; road: 5–2–1)
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January: 8–5–1, 17 points (home: 4–4–0; road: 4–1–1)
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February: 7–2–1, 15 points (home: 3–1–1; road: 4–1–0)
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March: 4–11–1, 9 points (home: 3–3–1; road: 1–8–0)
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Legend:
Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
1988 Stanley Cup playoffs [5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Patrick Division Semifinals vs. Washington Capitals - Capitals win 4–3
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Legend:
Win Loss |
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
32 | Murray Craven | LW | 72 | 30 | 46 | 76 | 25 | 58 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 4 |
26 | Brian Propp | LW | 74 | 27 | 49 | 76 | 8 | 76 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
22 | Rick Tocchet | RW | 65 | 31 | 33 | 64 | 3 | 299 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 55 |
2 | Mark Howe | D | 75 | 19 | 43 | 62 | 23 | 62 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 4 |
25 | Peter Zezel | C | 69 | 22 | 35 | 57 | 7 | 42 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 |
19 | Scott Mellanby | RW | 75 | 25 | 26 | 51 | −7 | 185 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −6 | 16 |
20 | Dave Poulin | C | 68 | 19 | 32 | 51 | 17 | 32 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 4 |
23 | Ilkka Sinisalo | RW | 68 | 25 | 17 | 42 | 2 | 30 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
9 | Pelle Eklund | C | 71 | 10 | 32 | 42 | −6 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
3 | Doug Crossman | D | 76 | 9 | 29 | 38 | −1 | 43 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −9 | 8 |
14 | Ron Sutter | C | 69 | 8 | 25 | 33 | −9 | 146 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −7 | 26 |
28 | Kjell Samuelsson | D | 74 | 6 | 24 | 30 | 28 | 184 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 23 |
24 | Derrick Smith | LW | 76 | 16 | 8 | 24 | −20 | 104 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −7 | 6 |
5 | Kerry Huffman | D | 52 | 6 | 17 | 23 | −11 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
21 | Dave Brown | RW | 47 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 10 | 114 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −4 | 27 |
44 [a] | Willie Huber† | D | 10 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −2 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 2 |
8 | Brad Marsh | D | 70 | 3 | 9 | 12 | −13 | 57 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −8 | 8 |
18 | Lindsay Carson‡ | C | 36 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −4 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
7 | Brian Dobbin | RW | 21 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −1 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
27 | Ron Hextall | G | 62 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 104 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 30 | ||
6 [b] | Greg Smyth | D | 48 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −2 | 192 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 38 |
10 | Magnus Roupe | LW | 33 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −6 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
17 [c] | Craig Berube | LW | 27 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 108 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
12 | Tim Kerr | RW | 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −2 | 4 |
18 | Paul Lawless†‡ | LW | 8 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
15 | J. J. Daigneault | D | 28 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −8 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
42 | Don Nachbaur | C | 20 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 61 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
34 [d] | Bill Root† | D | 24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
36 | Gordie Roberts†‡ | D | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
36 | Al Hill | LW | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
11 | Glen Seabrooke | LW | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
29 | Nick Fotiu | LW | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −9 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
33 | Mark Laforest | G | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||
30 | Wendell Young | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
39 | David Fenyves | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
37 | Mitch Lamoureux | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
40 [e] | Jeff Chychrun | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
41 | John Stevens | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
44 | Mike Stothers‡ | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
45 | Mark Freer | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
39 | Mike Murray | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||||
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No. | Player | GP | GS | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | GS | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
27 | Ron Hextall | 62 | 61 | 30 | 22 | 7 | 1816 | 208 | 3.51 | .885 | 0 | 3,557:07 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 196 | 30 | 4.75 | .847 | 0 | 379:02 |
33 | Mark Laforest | 21 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 476 | 60 | 3.72 | .874 | 1 | 968:35 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 1.25 | .917 | 0 | 48:04 |
30 | Wendell Young | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 148 | 20 | 3.76 | .865 | 0 | 319:19 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
League (annual) |
Lester Patrick Trophy | Keith Allen | [6] |
League (in-season) |
NHL All-Star Game selection | Ron Hextall [f] | [8] |
Mark Howe | |||
Mike Keenan (Coach) | |||
Dave Poulin | |||
Kjell Samuelsson | |||
NHL Player of the Week | Ron Hextall (December 14) | [9] | |
Mark Howe (December 28) | [10] | ||
Ron Hextall (January 18) | [11] | ||
Rick Tocchet (February 28) | [12] | ||
Rick Tocchet (March 10) | [13] | ||
Team | Barry Ashbee Trophy | Mark Howe | [14] |
Bobby Clarke Trophy | Ron Hextall | [14] | |
Class Guy Award | Rick Tocchet | [14] |
Among the team records set during the 1987–88 season was the nine consecutive wins by goaltender Ron Hextall from December 8 to December 26, tying a team record. [15] On February 23, the Flyers scored the fastest five goals in team history, taking five minutes and twenty-nine seconds to do so. [16] On February 27, Rick Tocchet scored four goals to tie the team record. [17] The eight-game road losing streak from March 3 to March 29 is tied for the longest in team history. [18] On March 19, Don Nachbaur took a team record eight penalties. [19] Mark Howe set a single season high for powerplay goals scored by a defenseman (8, later tied). [20] The 208 goals allowed by Hextall is a single season high for a Flyers goaltender. [21] The team’s three road ties is tied for the fewest in franchise history. [22] The 31 goals allowed during their division semifinal series against the Washington Capitals is the most allowed during any playoff series the Flyers have played. [23]
The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from June 1, 1987, the day after the deciding game of the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 26, 1988, the day of the deciding game of the 1988 Stanley Cup Finals. [24]
Date | Details | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|
June 13, 1987 | To Philadelphia Flyers Mark Laforest |
To
Detroit Red Wings 2nd-round pick in 1987 |
[25] |
June 13, 1987 | To Philadelphia Flyers 5th-round pick in 1989 |
To
Vancouver Canucks Vancouver's 5th-round pick in 1987 |
[26] |
July 21, 1987 | To Philadelphia Flyers Future considerations |
To
New York Rangers Jeff Brubaker |
[27] |
August 26, 1987 | To Philadelphia Flyers 1st-round pick in 1989 3rd-round pick in 1988 |
To
Calgary Flames Brad McCrimmon |
[28] |
August 31, 1987 | To Philadelphia Flyers Wendell Young 3rd-round pick in 1990 |
To Vancouver Canucks Darren Jensen Daryl Stanley |
[29] |
December 4, 1987 | To Philadelphia Flyers 5th-round pick in 1989 |
To
Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Stothers |
[30] [31] |
January 22, 1988 | To Philadelphia Flyers Paul Lawless |
To
Hartford Whalers Lindsay Carson |
[32] |
February 9, 1988 | To Philadelphia Flyers Gordie Roberts |
To
Minnesota North Stars 4th-round pick in 1988 or 1989 [g] |
[33] |
March 1, 1988 | To Philadelphia Flyers Willie Huber |
To Vancouver Canucks Paul Lawless Vancouver's 5th-round pick in 1989 |
[34] |
March 8, 1988 | To Philadelphia Flyers 4th or 5th-round pick in 1989 [h] |
To
St. Louis Blues Gordie Roberts |
[35] |
Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
July 21, 1987 | Don Biggs | Edmonton Oilers | Free agency | [27] | |
August 19, 1987 | Mark Lofthouse | Los Angeles Kings | Free agency | [37] | |
October 5, 1987 | David Fenyves | Buffalo Sabres | Waiver draft | [38] [39] | |
October 30, 1987 | Nick Fotiu | Calgary Flames | 1-year | Free agency | [40] |
November 26, 1987 | Bill Root | St. Louis Blues | Waivers | [41] | |
April 20, 1988 | Michael Boyce | Merrimack College ( NCAA) | Free agency | [42] |
Date | Player | New team | Via | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 1987 | Glenn Resch | Retirement | [25] [43] | |
October 3, 1987 | Steve Martinson | Detroit Red Wings | Free agency | [44] |
October 5, 1987 | Ed Hospodar | Buffalo Sabres | Waiver draft | [38] [39] |
Tim Tookey | Los Angeles Kings | Waiver draft | [38] [39] | |
N/A | Jere Gillis | Brunico SG ( Serie A) | Free agency | [45] |
Date | Player | Term | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
November 12, 1987 | Shaun Sabol | [46] | |
November 17, 1987 | Ron Hextall | multi-year | [47] |
Philadelphia's picks at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, on June 13, 1987. [48] The Flyers traded their second-round pick, 41st overall, to the Detroit Red Wings for Mark Laforest on June 13, 1987. [49]
Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team (league) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 20 | Darren Rumble | Defense | ![]() |
Kitchener Rangers ( OHL) | |
2 | 30 | Jeff Harding | Right wing | ![]() |
St. Michael's Buzzers (Toronto) | [i] |
3 | 62 | Martin Hostak | Right wing | ![]() |
Sparta Praha (Czech) | |
4 | 83 | Tomaz Eriksson | Left wing | ![]() |
Djurgardens IF ( Elitserien) | |
5 | 104 | Bill Gall | Defense | ![]() |
New Hampton School (N.H.) | |
6 | 125 | Tony Link | Defense | ![]() |
Dimond High School (Alaska) | |
7 | 146 | Marc Strapon | Defense | ![]() |
Hayward High School ( Wisconsin) | |
8 | 167 | Darryl Ingham | Right wing | ![]() |
University of Manitoba ( CIAU) | |
9 | 188 | Bruce MacDonald | Right wing | ![]() |
Loomis Chaffee School (Conn.) | |
10 | 209 | Steve Morrow | Defense | ![]() |
Westminster School (Conn.) | |
11 | 230 | Darius Rusnak | Center | ![]() |
Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) | |
12 | 251 | Dale Roehl | Goaltender | ![]() |
Minnetonka High School ( Minn.) |
Philadelphia's picks at the 1987 NHL Supplemental Draft. [50] [51]
Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team (league) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 21 | David Whyte | Left wing | ![]() |
Boston College ( HE) |
The Flyers were affiliated with the Hershey Bears of the AHL [52] and the Flint Spirits of the IHL. [53] Led by the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award winner as coach of the year ( John Paddock), the Eddie Shore Award winner as top defenseman ( Dave Fenyves), and the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as top goaltender ( Wendell Young), Hershey finished first in their division and swept their way through the playoffs with a 12–0 record to a Calder Cup championship. Young was given the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP. [54] In their only season as a Flyers affiliate, Flint finished fourth in the playoffs and lost in the finals to the Salt Lake Golden Eagles in six games.