1987–88 Philadelphia Flyers season

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
General Manager Bob Clarke
Coach Mike Keenan
Captain Dave Poulin
Alternate captains Mark Howe
Brad Marsh
Arena Spectrum
Average attendance 17,405[1]
Minor league affiliations Hershey Bears (AHL)[2]
Flint Spirits (IHL)[3]
Team leaders
Goals Rick Tocchet (31)
Assists Brian Propp (49)
Points Murray Craven (70)
Brian Propp (70)
Penalties in minutes Rick Tocchet (299)
Plus/minus Kjell Samuelsson (+28)
Wins Ron Hextall (30)
Goals against average Ron Hextall (3.51)
<1986–87 1988–89>

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.

Regular season

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.

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.

Season standings

Patrick Division
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

[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

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 Bob Clarke fired head coach Mike Keenan citing a lack of enthusiasm from the club to continue playing for him.[5]

Schedule and results

Regular season

1987–88 regular season

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1988 Stanley Cup playoffs

Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season Playoffs
No. Player Age Pos GP G A Pts +/- PIM GP G A Pts +/- PIM
32 Craven, MurrayMurray Craven 23 LW 72 30 46 76 25 58 7 2 5 7 1 4
26 Propp, BrianBrian Propp 28 LW 74 27 49 76 8 76 7 4 2 6 2 8
22 Tocchet, RickRick Tocchet 23 RW 65 31 33 64 3 299 5 1 4 5 −1 55
2 Howe, MarkMark Howe 32 D 75 19 43 62 23 62 7 3 6 9 7 4
25 Zezel, PeterPeter Zezel 22 C 69 22 35 57 7 42 7 3 2 5 0 7
19 Mellanby, ScottScott Mellanby 21 RW 75 25 26 51 −7 185 7 0 1 1 −6 16
20 Poulin, DaveDave Poulin 29 C 68 19 32 51 17 32 7 2 6 8 5 4
23 Sinisalo, IlkkaIlkka Sinisalo 29 RW 68 25 17 42 2 30 7 4 2 6 4 0
9 Eklund, PellePelle Eklund 24 C 71 10 32 42 −6 12 7 0 3 3 4 0
3 Crossman, DougDoug Crossman 27 D 76 9 29 38 −1 43 7 1 1 2 −9 8
14 Sutter, RonRon Sutter 24 C 69 8 25 33 −9 146 7 0 1 1 −7 26
28 Samuelsson, KjellKjell Samuelsson 29 D 74 6 24 30 28 184 7 2 5 7 8 23
24 Smith, DerrickDerrick Smith 23 LW 76 16 8 24 −20 104 7 0 0 0 −7 6
5 Huffman, KerryKerry Huffman 20 D 52 6 17 23 −11 34 2 0 0 0 0 0
21 Brown, DaveDave Brown 25 RW 47 12 5 17 10 114 7 1 0 1 −4 27
44, 47 Huber, WillieWillie Huberdagger 30 D 10 4 9 13 −2 16 5 0 0 0 −3 2
8 Marsh, BradBrad Marsh 29 D 70 3 9 12 −13 57 7 1 0 1 −8 8
18 Carson, LindsayLindsay Carsondouble-dagger 27 C 36 2 7 9 −4 37
7 Dobbin, BrianBrian Dobbin 21 RW 21 3 5 8 −1 6
27 Hextall, RonRon Hextall 23 G 62 1 6 7 N/A 104 7 0 2 2 N/A 30
6, 40 Smyth, GregGreg Smyth 21 D 48 1 6 7 −2 192 5 0 0 0 1 38
10 Roupe, MagnusMagnus Roupe 24 LW 33 2 4 6 −6 32
17, 34 Berube, CraigCraig Berube 22 LW 27 3 2 5 1 108
12 Kerr, TimTim Kerr 28 RW 8 3 2 5 0 12 6 1 3 4 −2 4
18 Lawless, PaulPaul Lawlessdaggerdouble-dagger 23 LW 8 0 5 5 0 0
15 Daigneault, J. J.J. J. Daigneault 22 D 28 2 2 4 −8 12
42 Nachbaur, DonDon Nachbaur 29 C 20 0 4 4 2 61 2 0 0 0 −1 2
34, 48 Root, BillBill Rootdagger 28 D 24 1 2 3 3 16 2 0 0 0 0 2
36 Roberts, GordieGordie Robertsdaggerdouble-dagger 30 D 11 1 2 3 7 15
36 Hill, AlAl Hill 32 LW 12 1 0 1 0 10 1 0 1 1 1 4
11 Seabrooke, GlenGlen Seabrooke 20 LW 6 0 1 1 −1 2
29 Fotiu, NickNick Fotiu 35 LW 23 0 0 0 −9 40
33 Laforest, MarkMark Laforest 25 G 21 0 0 0 N/A 8 2 0 0 0 N/A 10
30 Young, WendellWendell Young 24 G 6 0 0 0 N/A 0
39 Fenyves, DavidDavid Fenyves 27 D 5 0 0 0 −1 0
37 Lamoureux, MitchMitch Lamoureux 25 C 3 0 0 0 −1 0
6, 40 Chychrun, JeffJeff Chychrun 21 D 3 0 0 0 −1 4
41 Stevens, JohnJohn Stevens 21 D 3 0 0 0 −1 0
44 Stothers, MikeMike Stothersdouble-dagger 25 D 3 0 0 0 −1 13
45 Freer, MarkMark Freer 19 C 1 0 0 0 −2 0
39 Murray, MikeMike Murray 21 C 1 0 0 0 0 0
6 Smith, SteveSteve Smith 24 D 1 0 0 0 0 0

Goaltenders

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 23 62 30 22 7 0 208 .885 3.51 3560 7 2 4 0 30 .847 4.75 379
33 Laforest, MarkMark Laforest 25 21 5 9 2 1 60 .874 3.70 972 2 1 0 0 1 .917 1.25 48
30 Young, WendellWendell Young 24 6 3 2 0 0 20 .865 3.75 320

Awards and records

Awards

League awards and honors
Award or honor Recipient Notes Ref
Lester Patrick Trophy Keith Allen [6]
NHL Player of the Week Ron Hextall (December 14) [7]
Mark Howe (December 28) [8]
Ron Hextall (January 18) [9]
Rick Tocchet (February 28) [10]
Rick Tocchet (March 10) [11]
Selected to NHL All-Star Game Ron Hextall Voted starting Goaltender [12][13]
Mark Howe
Mike Keenan (Coach)
Dave Poulin
Kjell Samuelsson
Team awards[14]
Award Recipient
Barry Ashbee Trophy Mark Howe
Bobby Clarke Trophy Ron Hextall
Class Guy Award Rick Tocchet

Records

Individual single season records
Record Total Player
Powerplay goals, defenseman 8 Mark Howe
(tied by Eric Desjardins in 1999–2000)
Goals against 208 Ron Hextall
Worst plus-minus, playoffs -9 Doug Crossman
Team single season records
Record Total
Fewest ties on road 3
(tied 1984–85 and 1985–86)
Individual regular season single game records
Record Player Total Date and opponent
Goals scored Rick Tocchet 4 February 27, 1988 at Los Angeles Kings
(tied 15 times)
Penalties Don Nachbaur 8 March 19, 1988 at Pittsburgh Penguins
Team regular season streaks records
Record Games Dates
Longest road losing streak 8 March 3, 1988 through March 29, 1988
(tied October 25, 1972 through November 26, 1972)

Transactions

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.[15]

Trades

Date Details Ref
June 13, 1987 To Philadelphia Flyers
Mark Laforest
To Detroit Red Wings
2nd-round pick in 1987
[16]
June 13, 1987 To Philadelphia Flyers
5th-round pick in 1989
To Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver's 5th-round pick in 1987
[17]
July 21, 1987 To Philadelphia Flyers
future considerations
To New York Rangers
Jeff Brubaker
[18]
August 26, 1987 To Philadelphia Flyers
1st-round pick in 1989
3rd-round pick in 1988
To Calgary Flames
Brad McCrimmon
[19]
August 31, 1987 To Philadelphia Flyers
Wendell Young
3rd-round pick in 1990
To Vancouver Canucks
Darren Jensen
Daryl Stanley
[20]
December 4, 1987 To Philadelphia Flyers
5th-round pick in 1989
To Toronto Maple Leafs
Mike Stothers
[21][22]
January 22, 1988 To Philadelphia Flyers
Paul Lawless
To Hartford Whalers
Lindsay Carson
[23]
February 9, 1988 To Philadelphia Flyers
Gordie Roberts
To Minnesota North Stars
4th-round pick in 1988 or 1989[a]
[24]
March 1, 1988 To Philadelphia Flyers
Willie Huber
To Vancouver Canucks
Paul Lawless
Vancouver's 5th-round pick in 1989
[25]
March 8, 1988 To Philadelphia Flyers
4th or 5th-round pick in 1989[b]
To St. Louis Blues
Gordie Roberts
[26]
Trade notes

Signings

Free agency

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

Date Player Previous team (league) Contract details Ref
July 21, 1987 Don Biggs Edmonton Oilers [18]
August 19, 1987 Mark Lofthouse Los Angeles Kings [28]
October 30, 1987 Nick Fotiu Calgary Flames 1 year [29]
April 20, 1988 Michael Boyce Merrimack Warriors (NCAA) [30]

Re-signed

The following players were re-signed by the Flyers.

Date Player Contract details Ref
November 17, 1987 Ron Hextall multi-year [31]

NHL Waiver Draft

The 1987 NHL Waiver Draft was held on October 5, 1987.[32][33] Each NHL team placed 17 skaters and 2 goaltenders on a protected list from which the other teams could not select.[32] First-year professional players were exempt.[32]

The Flyers left the following players unprotected:[34] Ray Allison, Thomas Eriksson, Ross Fitzpatrick, Al Hill, Ed Hospodar, Mitch Lamoureux, Mark Lofthouse, Kevin Maxwell, Kevin McCarthy, Steve Smith, and Tim Tookey.

Selections involving the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1987 NHL Waiver Draft[32]
Round Player Selected by Selected from Notes
4 Tim Tookey Los Angeles Kings Philadelphia Flyers
5 Ed Hospodar Buffalo Sabres Philadelphia Flyers Sabres removed David Fenyves from protected list
Flyers claimed Fenyves in lieu of cash

Waivers

The Flyers were involved in the following waivers transactions.

Date Player Claimed by Claimed from Ref
November 26, 1987 Bill Root Philadelphia Flyers St. Louis Blues [35]

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 (*).

Date Player New team (league) Via Notes Ref
June 1987 Glenn Resch Retirement No official announcement [16][36]
October 3, 1987 Steve Martinson Detroit Red Wings Free agency [37]
N/A Jere Gillis Brunico SG (Serie A) Free agency [38]

Draft picks

NHL Entry Draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan on June 13, 1987.[39]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1987 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 20 Rumble, DarrenDarren Rumble Defense  Canada Kitchener Rangers (OHL) 193 10 26 36 216 &
&
&
&
2 30 Harding, JeffJeff Harding Right Wing  Canada St. Michael's Buzzers (Toronto) 15 0 0 0 47 &
&
&
&
[a]
3 62 Hostak, MartinMartin Hostak Right Wing  Czech Republic Sparta Praha (Czech) 55 3 11 14 24 &
&
&
&
4 83 Eriksson, TomazTomaz Eriksson Left Wing  Sweden Djurgardens IF (Elitserien) &
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
5 104 Gall, BillBill Gall Defense  United States New Hampton School (N.H.) &
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
6 125 Link, TonyTony Link Defense  United States Dimond High School (Alaska) &
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
7 146 Strapon, MarcMarc Strapon Defense  United States Hayward High School (Wisconsin) &
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
8 167 Ingham, DarrylDarryl Ingham Right Wing  Canada Manitoba Bisons (CIAU) &
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
9 188 MacDonald, BruceBruce MacDonald Right Wing  United States Loomis Chaffee School (Conn.) &
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
10 209 Morrow, SteveSteve Morrow Defense  United States Westminster School (Conn.) &
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
11 230 Rusnak, DariusDarius Rusnak Center  Slovakia Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) &
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
12 251 Roehl, DaleDale Roehl Goaltender  United States Minnetonka High School (Minn.) &
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
&
Draft notes[40]

NHL Supplemental Draft

Philadelphia's picks at the 1987 NHL Supplemental Draft.[41][42]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1987 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 21 David Whyte Left Wing  United States Boston College Eagles (HE)

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Hershey Bears of the AHL[2] and the Flint Spirits of the IHL.[3] 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.[43] 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.

References

General
Specific
  1. "All Time Team Attendance". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "AHL Franchise Statistics". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Non-AHL Affiliates". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  4. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
  5. Fleischman, Bill (May 12, 1988). "'Toughest Decision' Dumps Flyer Coach". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  6. "Lester Patrick Trophy". National Hockey League. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  7. "BRIEFS". The Pantagraph. December 15, 1987. Retrieved August 7, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "FOR THE RECORD". The Washington Post. December 29, 1987. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  9. "Sports Digest". UPI. January 18, 1988. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  10. Fachet, Robert (March 1, 1988). "ARLEDGE SAYS NHL SHOULD SEND PROS". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  11. Parrillo, Ray (March 11, 1988). "Flyers Overcome The Caps, 5-2". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  12. "39th NHL All-Star Game". NHL.com. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  13. "NHL All-Star Game Starting Lineups by Year (since 1986)". NHL.com. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  14. "Flyers History – Team Awards". P.Anson. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  15. "Hockey Transactions Search Results". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  16. 1 2 Morganti, Al (June 14, 1987). "Flyers Acquire Goalie Laforest From The Red Wings". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  17. 2014–2015 Philadelphia Flyers Media Guide, p. 271
  18. 1 2 "Flyers Sign Center Biggs, Deal Brubaker To Rangers". The Philadelphia Inquirer. July 22, 1987. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  19. Fleischman, Bill (August 27, 1987). "Mccrimmon Isn't Caught Off Guard But Ex-flyer Refutes Clarke, Says He Didn't Request Trade". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  20. Greenberg, Jay (September 1, 1987). "Trade To Canucks Might Be Good Break For Jensen". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  21. "Michael Stothers - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  22. Missanelli, M. G. (June 22, 1988). "Flyers Trade For Stothers". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  23. Miles, Gary (January 23, 1988). "Flyers Trade Carson For Whalers' Lawless". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  24. 1 2 Parrillo, Ray (February 10, 1988). "Flyers Acquire Roberts From Stars". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  25. Parrillo, Ray (March 2, 1988). "Flyers Trade For Canucks' Huber". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  26. 1 2 Greenberg, Jay (March 9, 1988). "Roberts Shipped To St. Louis". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  27. "1988 NHL Playoff Summary". Hockey-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  28. "One-game Football Playoff On Ncaa Officials' Minds". The Philadelphia Inquirer. August 20, 1987. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  29. Greenberg, Jay (October 31, 1987). "Flyers Acquire Fotiu". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  30. "Paper Reports Tulane To Reinstate Basketball". The Philadelphia Inquirer. April 21, 1988. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  31. Greenberg, Jay (November 18, 1987). "Hextall Agrees To New Deal". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  32. 1 2 3 4 Parsons, Mark (November 30, 2013). "1987 NHL Waiver Draft". Historical Hockey Stats & Trivia. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  33. Morganti, Al (October 6, 1987). "Hospodar Taken By Sabres". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  34. Morganti, Al (October 5, 1987). "Hospodar Could Be Lost In Nhl Waiver Draft". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  35. "William Root - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  36. Hofmann, Rich (June 1, 1988). "Final Number: Resch Sings Hextall's Praises". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  37. "Steve Martinson - Notes". NHL.com. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  38. Jere Gillis's biography at Legends of Hockey, retrieved March 30, 2015
  39. "1987 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  40. "1987 NHL Entry Draft Pick Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  41. "1987 NHL Supplemental Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  42. "1987 NHL Supplemental Draft -- Round 2 Selections". HockeyDraftCentral.com. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  43. "AHL Season Overview: 1987–88". P. Anson. Flyers History. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
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