1987-1988 Season - Description, pictures, highlights and more | Historical Website of the Montreal Canadiens

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1987-1988

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season card

Coach

Jean
Perron

Captain

Bob
Gainey

Trophies

Frank J. Selke Frank-J-Selke-Trophy

Guy Carbonneau

Lady Byng Lady-Byng-Memorial-Trophy

Mats Naslund

William M. Jennings William-M-Jennings-Trophy

adams

TEAM	GP Games played - Number of games the team has played	W Wins - Games the team has won, either in regulation or in overtime	L Losses - Games the team has lost in regulation	T Ties - Games that have ended in a tie	PTS Points - Team points, calculated from W, L, T, OTL and SOL; used to determine standings	GF Goals for - Number of goals the team has scored	GA Goals against - Number of goals scored against the team
Montreal Canadiens	80	45	22	13	103	298	238
Boston Bruins	80	44	30	6	94	300	251
Buffalo Sabres	80	37	32	11	85	283	305
Hartford Whalers	80	35	38	7	77	249	267
Quebec Nordiques	80	32	43	5	69	271	306

Roster 32 PLAYERS

PETR
SVOBODA

CRAIG
LUDWIG

CHRIS
CHELIOS

GILLES
THIBAUDEAU

LARRY
ROBINSON

PATRICK
ROY

Season's leaders see the complete stats

#	SKATERS	GP Games played - Number of games the player has set foot on the ice	G Goals - Number of goals the player has scored	A Assists - Number of goals the player has assisted in	PTS Points - Scoring points, calculated as the sum of G and A
15	Bobby Smith	78	27	66	93
26	Mats Naslund	78	24	59	83
44	Stéphane Richer	72	50	28	78
32	Claude Lemieux	78	31	30	61
24	Chris Chelios	71	20	41	61

#	#1 GOALIE	GP Games played - Number of games the player has set foot on the ice	RECORD Record - Goalie record (W-L-T)	SO Shutouts - Number of games where the goaltender has not allowed a goal	GAA Goals against average - Mean goals-per-game scored on the goaltender
33	Patrick Roy	45	23-12-9	3	2.90

Season results

DATE	AWAY		HOME

8/10/1987	MTL 2	vs	PHI 2
10/10/1987	BUF 3	vs	MTL 6
12/10/1987	QUE 5	vs	MTL 2
16/10/1987	MTL 3	vs	NJ 4
17/10/1987	PIT 2	vs	MTL 3
19/10/1987	MIN 1	vs	MTL 5
21/10/1987	MTL 10	vs	TOR 3
23/10/1987	MTL 3	vs	BUF 5
24/10/1987	MTL 3	vs	WAS 2
26/10/1987	CGY 5	vs	MTL 3
28/10/1987	EDM 1	vs	MTL 3
30/10/1987	MTL 5	vs	DET 4
31/10/1987	BOS 3	vs	MTL 3
2/11/1987	STL 4	vs	MTL 6
4/11/1987	MTL 4	vs	CHI 4
7/11/1987	PHI 4	vs	MTL 5
9/11/1987	TOR 1	vs	MTL 3
11/11/1987	MTL 0	vs	HFD 0
12/11/1987	MTL 2	vs	BOS 3
14/11/1987	CHI 0	vs	MTL 3
16/11/1987	HFD 3	vs	MTL 3
18/11/1987	NYI 2	vs	MTL 5
21/11/1987	NJ 1	vs	MTL 2
23/11/1987	MTL 3	vs	QUE 4
25/11/1987	MTL 6	vs	HFD 5
27/11/1987	MTL 2	vs	MIN 4
28/11/1987	MTL 7	vs	WPG 3
30/11/1987	BOS 4	vs	MTL 6
2/12/1987	VAN 3	vs	MTL 3
5/12/1987	LA 4	vs	MTL 6
8/12/1987	MTL 3	vs	NYI 2
9/12/1987	MTL 2	vs	NYR 2
12/12/1987	DET 3	vs	MTL 5
16/12/1987	QUE 4	vs	MTL 5
18/12/1987	MTL 2	vs	BUF 2
19/12/1987	BUF 2	vs	MTL 1
23/12/1987	WAS 2	vs	MTL 2
26/12/1987	MTL 4	vs	TOR 2
28/12/1987	MTL 3	vs	CGY 9
29/12/1987	MTL 4	vs	VAN 1
2/01/1988	MTL 2	vs	LA 5
6/01/1988	BUF 6	vs	MTL 5
9/01/1988	PHI 3	vs	MTL 3
13/01/1988	BOS 4	vs	MTL 5
14/01/1988	MTL 2	vs	BOS 3
16/01/1988	NYR 3	vs	MTL 4
18/01/1988	EDM 4	vs	MTL 6
21/01/1988	STL 4	vs	MTL 1
23/01/1988	PIT 4	vs	MTL 3
24/01/1988	MTL 5	vs	QUE 3
27/01/1988	MTL 4	vs	BUF 1
29/01/1988	MTL 3	vs	WAS 4
30/01/1988	MTL 6	vs	NYI 2
1/02/1988	HFD 4	vs	MTL 5
3/02/1988	MTL 5	vs	HFD 2
4/02/1988	MTL 3	vs	BOS 7
6/02/1988	DET 5	vs	MTL 4
11/02/1988	MTL 2	vs	NJ 4
13/02/1988	HFD 4	vs	MTL 1
15/02/1988	MTL 1	vs	NYR 3
17/02/1988	BOS 2	vs	MTL 3
20/02/1988	QUE 3	vs	MTL 5
23/02/1988	MTL 3	vs	QUE 1
24/02/1988	VAN 4	vs	MTL 5
27/02/1988	WPG 0	vs	MTL 6
29/02/1988	MTL 2	vs	QUE 1
3/03/1988	MTL 4	vs	STL 2
5/03/1988	MTL 7	vs	LA 6
9/03/1988	MTL 4	vs	EDM 1
12/03/1988	HFD 0	vs	MTL 5
14/03/1988	MTL 2	vs	MIN 2
16/03/1988	MTL 4	vs	WPG 1
19/03/1988	CHI 0	vs	MTL 3
21/03/1988	CGY 3	vs	MTL 3
23/03/1988	QUE 1	vs	MTL 4
25/03/1988	MTL 2	vs	PIT 5
27/03/1988	MTL 2	vs	HFD 4
31/03/1988	MTL 3	vs	BOS 1
2/04/1988	BUF 4	vs	MTL 9
3/04/1988	MTL 4	vs	BUF 4

THE REGULAR SEASON

After scoring 21 and 20 goals in successive seasons, Stephane Richer begins the 1987-88 season on fire, scoring goals at a pace unseen since Guy Lafleur’s heyday. He helps the Habs quickly establish their position atop the Adams Division.

The team has to make do without Larry Robinson for the first two months of the season after the veteran defenseman breaks his leg while playing polo in August.

At the end of October, goalie Patrick Roy is handed an eight-game suspension by the league for slashing Warren Babe of the Minnesota North Stars.

Things start to get rough for the team in late December. Wins are hard to come by and there is grumbling in the dressing room. The team drops to second place in the division behind Boston.

Several players, including Robinson and Chris Nilan, openly criticize Jean Perron’s coaching style. Tensions are particularly strained between Nilan and Perron. It comes as little surprise when Nilan is traded at the end of the month to the New York Rangers. After several players-only team meetings, the Habs rediscover their winning ways in February.

In March, with the team back in first place and firing on all cylinders, Richer suffers a hand injury while he is just five goals shy of a 50-goal season. He returns to the lineup for the final two regular season games.

In the first game of a two-game set with the Buffalo Sabres, Richer records his third career hat trick to draw within two goals of the milestone. The following day, in the final game of the season, Richer adds a pair to become the sixth Canadiens player to reach the 50-goal mark and claims the Jaguar he was promised by a Montreal car dealer if he accomplished the feat.

THE PLAYOFFS

In the first round, the Canadiens face the Hartford Whalers, one of the best defensive teams in the league.

While the Habs appear to be headed to a quick series win with two straight victories, the Whalers, still led by Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen and Ray Ferraro, win two of the next three games. Montreal finally ends Hartford’s comeback bid with a 2-1 win in Game 6 to claim the series.

In the division final, the Canadiens are looking to claim their 19th straight series win over Boston, with Perron’s squad having gone 4-3-1 against the rival Bruins during the regular season.

After winning the series opener, 5-2, the Habs watch as veteran goalie Rejean Lemelin takes charge on behalf of the Bruins. Lemelin holds the Canadiens to five goals over the next four games as Boston roars back to win the series in five. The Bruins celebrate the end of their lengthy playoff series losing streak against the Canadiens, a winless drought that dates back 42 years.

The playoffs roadmap

Adams Division semi-finals - Hartford Whalers
Date	AWAY	HOME
April 6th, 1988	HFD 3	MTL 4
April 7th, 1988	HFD 3	MTL 7
April 9th, 1988	MTL 4	HFD 3
April 10th, 1988	MTL 5	HFD 7
April 12th, 1988	HFD 3	MTL 1
April 14th, 1988	MTL 2	HFD 1
Canadiens won best-of-seven series 4-2

Adams Division finals - Boston Bruins
Date	AWAY	HOME
April 18th, 1988	BOS 2	MTL 5
April 20th, 1988	BOS 4	MTL 3
April 22nd, 1988	MTL 1	BOS 3
April 24th, 1988	MTL 0	BOS 2
April 26th, 1988	BOS 4	MTL 1
Boston won best-of-seven series 4-1

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Roster 32 PLAYERS