1987–88 Montreal Canadiens season

NHL hockey team season

1987–88 Montreal Canadiens
Adams Division champions
Division	1st Adams
Conference	1st Wales
1987–88 record	45–22–13
Goals for	298
Goals against	238
Team information
General manager	Serge Savard
Coach	Jean Perron
Captain	Bob Gainey
Alternate captains	Mats Naslund Larry Robinson
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Stephane Richer (50)
Assists	Bobby Smith (66)
Points	Bobby Smith (93)
Penalty minutes	Chris Nilan (209)
Plus/minus	Petr Svoboda (+46)
Wins	Patrick Roy (23)
Goals against average	Brian Hayward (2.86)
← 1986–87 1988–89 →

The 1987–88 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 79th season. The club qualified for the playoffs, defeated the Hartford Whalers in the first round, but were eliminated in the Adams Division finals versus the Boston Bruins four games to one.

Offseason

Canadiens General Manager Serge Savard was part of the four man committee that would select players and coaches for Team Canada at the 1987 Canada Cup. Canadiens head coach Jean Perron would be selected as one of the assistant coaches for Team Canada.

NHL Draft

for more information visit 1988 NHL entry draft

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (April 2017)

Regular season

Defensively, the Canadiens were the best team in the league, finishing the regular season with just 238 goals against. They also allowed the fewest power-play goals, with just 64

Final standings

Adams Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	80	45	22	13	298	238	103
Boston Bruins	80	44	30	6	300	251	94
Buffalo Sabres	80	37	32	11	283	305	85
Hartford Whalers	80	35	38	7	249	267	77
Quebec Nordiques	80	32	43	5	271	306	69

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.

Record vs. opponents

Adams Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Adams Division

1987–88 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	HFD	MTL	QUE	Total
Boston	—	4–3–1	4–3–1	3–4–1	5–3	16–13–3
Buffalo	3–4–1	—	3–4–1	3–3–2	5–2–1	14–13–5
Hartford	3–4–1	4–3–1	—	2–4–2	2–6	11–17–4
Montreal	4–3–1	3–3–2	4–2−2	—	6–2	17–10–5
Quebec	3–5	2–5–1	6–2	2–6	—	13–18–1

Vs. Patrick Division

1987–88 NHL records
Team	NJD	NYI	NYR	PHI	PIT	WSH	Total
Boston	2–1	1–2	1–2	1–2	2–0–1	1–2	8–9–1
Buffalo	2–0–1	1–2	3–0	0–3	0–2–1	2–0–1	8–7–3
Hartford	1–1–1	1–2	1–2	1–2	1–2	1–2	6–11–1
Montreal	1–2	3–0	1–1–1	1–0–2	1–2	1–1–1	8–6–4
Quebec	3–0	1–2	1–2	0–2–1	0–3	1–2	6–11–1

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Norris Division

1987–88 NHL records
Team	CHI	DET	MIN	STL	TOR	Total
Boston	3–0	1–2	3–0	1–2	2–1	10–5–0
Buffalo	2–1	1–2	1–1–1	3–0	3–0	10–4–1
Hartford	2–1	2–1	3–0	1–2	3–0	11–4–0
Montreal	2–0–1	2–1	1–1–1	2–1	3–0	10–3–2
Quebec	2–0–1	3–0	2–1	1–2	3–0	11–3–1

Vs. Smythe Division

1987–88 NHL records
Team	CGY	EDM	LAK	VAN	WIN	Total
Boston	2–1	1–1–1	2–0–1	2–1	3–0	10–3–2
Buffalo	1–2	0–3	2–1	1–1–1	1–1–1	5–8–2
Hartford	0–3	1–2	3–0	1–0–2	2–1	7–6–2
Montreal	0–2–1	3–0	2–1	2–0–1	3–0	10–3–2
Quebec	0–3	1–1–1	1–2	0–3	0–2–1	2–11–2

Schedule and results

#	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	Oct 8, 1987	2–2 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers	0–0–1
2	W	Oct 10, 1987	6–3	Buffalo Sabres	1–0–1
3	L	Oct 12, 1987	2–5	Quebec Nordiques	1–1–1
4	L	Oct 16, 1987	3–4	@ New Jersey Devils	1–2–1
5	W	Oct 17, 1987	3–2	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–2–1
6	W	Oct 19, 1987	5–1	Minnesota North Stars	3–2–1
7	W	Oct 21, 1987	10–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	4–2–1
8	L	Oct 23, 1987	3–5	@ Buffalo Sabres	4–3–1
9	W	Oct 24, 1987	3–2	@ Washington Capitals	5–3–1
10	L	Oct 26, 1987	3–5	Calgary Flames	5–4–1
11	W	Oct 28, 1987	3–1	Edmonton Oilers	6–4–1
12	W	Oct 30, 1987	5–4	@ Detroit Red Wings	7–4–1
13	T	Oct 31, 1987	3–3 OT	Boston Bruins	7–4–2
14	W	Nov 2, 1987	6–4	St. Louis Blues	8–4–2
15	T	Nov 4, 1987	4–4 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks	8–4–3
16	W	Nov 7, 1987	5–4	Philadelphia Flyers	9–4–3
17	W	Nov 9, 1987	3–1	Toronto Maple Leafs	10–4–3
18	T	Nov 11, 1987	0–0 OT	@ Hartford Whalers	10–4–4
19	L	Nov 12, 1987	2–3	@ Boston Bruins	10–5–4
20	W	Nov 14, 1987	3–0	Chicago Blackhawks	11–5–4
21	T	Nov 16, 1987	3–3 OT	Hartford Whalers	11–5–5
22	W	Nov 18, 1987	5–2	New York Islanders	12–5–5
23	W	Nov 21, 1987	2–1	New Jersey Devils	13–5–5
24	L	Nov 23, 1987	3–4 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques	13–6–5
25	W	Nov 25, 1987	6–5	@ Hartford Whalers	14–6–5
26	L	Nov 27, 1987	2–4	@ Minnesota North Stars	14–7–5
27	W	Nov 28, 1987	7–3	@ Winnipeg Jets	15–7–5
28	W	Nov 30, 1987	6–4	Boston Bruins	16–7–5
29	T	Dec 2, 1987	3–3 OT	Vancouver Canucks	16–7–6
30	W	Dec 5, 1987	6–4	Los Angeles Kings	17–7–6
31	W	Dec 8, 1987	3–2	@ New York Islanders	18–7–6
32	T	Dec 9, 1987	2–2 OT	@ New York Rangers	18–7–7
33	W	Dec 12, 1987	5–3	Detroit Red Wings	19–7–7
34	W	Dec 16, 1987	5–4	Quebec Nordiques	20–7–7
35	T	Dec 18, 1987	2–2 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres	20–7–8
36	L	Dec 19, 1987	1–2	Buffalo Sabres	20–8–8
37	T	Dec 23, 1987	2–2 OT	Washington Capitals	20–8–9
38	W	Dec 26, 1987	4–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	21–8–9
39	L	Dec 28, 1987	3–9	@ Calgary Flames	21–9–9
40	W	Dec 29, 1987	4–1	@ Vancouver Canucks	22–9–9
41	L	Jan 2, 1988	2–5	@ Los Angeles Kings	22–10–9
42	L	Jan 6, 1988	5–6	Buffalo Sabres	22–11–9
43	T	Jan 9, 1988	3–3 OT	Philadelphia Flyers	22–11–10
44	W	Jan 13, 1988	5–4	Boston Bruins	23–11–10
45	L	Jan 14, 1988	2–3	@ Boston Bruins	23–12–10
46	W	Jan 16, 1988	4–3	New York Rangers	24–12–10
47	W	Jan 18, 1988	6–4	Edmonton Oilers	25–12–10
48	L	Jan 21, 1988	1–4	St. Louis Blues	25–13–10
49	L	Jan 23, 1988	3–4 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins	25–14–10
50	W	Jan 24, 1988	5–3	@ Quebec Nordiques	26–14–10
51	W	Jan 27, 1988	4–1	@ Buffalo Sabres	27–14–10
52	L	Jan 29, 1988	3–4	@ Washington Capitals	27–15–10
53	W	Jan 30, 1988	6–2	@ New York Islanders	28–15–10
54	W	Feb 1, 1988	5–4	Hartford Whalers	29–15–10
55	W	Feb 3, 1988	5–2	@ Hartford Whalers	30–15–10
56	L	Feb 4, 1988	3–7	@ Boston Bruins	30–16–10
57	L	Feb 6, 1988	4–5	Detroit Red Wings	30–17–10
58	L	Feb 11, 1988	2–4	@ New Jersey Devils	30–18–10
59	L	Feb 13, 1988	1–4	Hartford Whalers	30–19–10
60	L	Feb 15, 1988	1–3	@ New York Rangers	30–20–10
61	W	Feb 17, 1988	3–2	Boston Bruins	31–20–10
62	W	Feb 20, 1988	5–3	Quebec Nordiques	32–20–10
63	W	Feb 23, 1988	3–1	@ Quebec Nordiques	33–20–10
64	W	Feb 24, 1988	5–4	Vancouver Canucks	34–20–10
65	W	Feb 27, 1988	6–0	Winnipeg Jets	35–20–10
66	W	Feb 29, 1988	2–1	@ Quebec Nordiques	36–20–10
67	W	Mar 3, 1988	4–2	@ St. Louis Blues	37–20–10
68	W	Mar 5, 1988	7–6 OT	@ Los Angeles Kings	38–20–10
69	W	Mar 9, 1988	4–1	@ Edmonton Oilers	39–20–10
70	W	Mar 12, 1988	5–0	Hartford Whalers	40–20–10
71	T	Mar 14, 1988	2–2 OT	@ Minnesota North Stars	40–20–11
72	W	Mar 16, 1988	4–1	@ Winnipeg Jets	41–20–11
73	W	Mar 19, 1988	3–0	Chicago Blackhawks	42–20–11
74	T	Mar 21, 1988	3–3 OT	Calgary Flames	42–20–12
75	W	Mar 23, 1988	4–1	Quebec Nordiques	43–20–12
76	L	Mar 25, 1988	2–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	43–21–12
77	L	Mar 27, 1988	2–4	@ Hartford Whalers	43–22–12
78	W	Mar 31, 1988	3–1	@ Boston Bruins	44–22–12
79	W	Apr 2, 1988	9–4	Buffalo Sabres	45–22–12
80	T	Apr 3, 1988	4–4 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres	45–22–13

April 3: Stephane Richer becomes the sixth player in Montreal history to score 50 goals in a season with two in the season finale against Buffalo.

Playoffs

Adams Division semi-finals

Hartford Whalers vs. Montreal Canadiens

The Habs almost squandered a 3–0 series lead. The deep Habs roster was the best team in the Wales Conference during the season, consisting of one 50-goal scorer, five 20–goal scorers and another six with between 10 and 20 goals. Their best assets were goaltenders Patrick Roy and backup Brian Hayward who won 23 and 22 games respectively. The Ron Francis-led Whalers went 2–4–2 against the Canadiens during the season, twice losing by just one goal.

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score
April 6	Hartford	3	Montreal	4
April 7	Hartford	3	Montreal	7
April 9	Montreal	4	Hartford	3
April 10	Montreal	5	Hartford	7
April 12	Hartford	5	Montreal	3
April 14	Montreal	4	Hartford	2

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–2

Adams Division finals

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

The Wales Conference's two best teams, and the NHL's two best defensive teams, met in this series with equal rest time. The Habs had beaten Boston in the Adams Division semi-finals four years in a row, sweeping the Bruins in three of the past four seasons, and beating them 3–2 in a best-of-five the other year. This time, the Bruins' defence would wear down Montreal, as Ken Linseman, Ray Bourque and Cam Neely provided the offence to finally conquer the Canadiens, this despite the fact that the Habs beat them in Game 1 by a score of 5–1. It was the first Bruins' playoff series win over the Habs since the 1942–43 season.

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score
April 18	Boston	1	Montreal	5
April 20	Boston	4	Montreal	3
April 22	Montreal	1	Boston	3
April 24	Montreal	0	Boston	2
April 26	Boston	4	Montreal	1

Boston wins best-of-seven series 4–1

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Bobby Smith	C	78	27	66	93	78	13	8	0	4
Mats Naslund	LW	78	24	59	83	14	17	4	0	2
Stephane Richer	RW	72	50	28	78	72	12	16	0	11
Claude Lemieux	RW	78	31	30	61	137	16	6	0	3
Chris Chelios	D	71	20	41	61	172	14	10	1	5
Mike McPhee	LW	77	23	20	43	53	19	0	2	4
Larry Robinson	D	53	6	34	40	30	26	2	0	1
Shayne Corson	LW	71	12	27	39	152	22	2	0	2
Guy Carbonneau	C	80	17	21	38	61	14	0	3	1
Ryan Walter	C/LW	61	13	23	36	39	12	6	0	3
Brian Skrudland	C	79	12	24	36	112	14	0	1	3
Petr Svoboda	D	69	7	22	29	149	46	2	0	1
Kjell Dahlin	RW	48	13	12	25	6	5	2	0	2
Bob Gainey	LW	78	11	11	22	14	8	0	0	1
Sergio Momesso	LW	53	7	14	21	101	9	1	0	0
Craig Ludwig	D	74	4	10	14	69	17	0	0	0
Rick Green	D	59	2	11	13	33	21	1	0	0
Chris Nilan	RW	50	7	5	12	209	-2	0	0	1
Gilles Thibaudeau	C	17	5	6	11	0	6	2	0	1
Mike Lalor	D	66	1	10	11	113	4	0	0	0
John Kordic	RW	60	2	6	8	159	0	0	0	0
Larry Trader	D	30	2	4	6	19	2	1	0	0
Serge Boisvert	RW	5	1	1	2	2	0	0	0	0
Jose Charbonneau	RW	16	0	2	2	6	1	0	0	0
Brian Hayward	G	39	0	2	2	24	0	0	0	0
Patrick Roy	G	45	0	2	2	14	0	0	0	0
Perry Ganchar	RW	1	1	0	1	0	-1	0	0	0
Gaston Gingras	D	2	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	0
Scott Sandelin	D	8	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Vincent Riendeau	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mathieu Schneider	D	4	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Patrick Roy	2586	45	23	12	9	125	2.90	3	1248	1123	.900
Brian Hayward	2247	39	22	10	4	107	2.86	2	1032	925	.896
Vincent Riendeau	36	1	0	0	0	5	8.33	0	22	17	.773
Team:	4869	80	45	22	13	237	2.92	5	2302	2065	.897

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Stephane Richer	RW	8	7	5	12	6	1	0	2
Mike McPhee	LW	11	4	3	7	8	0	1	0
Bobby Smith	C	11	3	4	7	8	1	0	0
Mats Naslund	LW	6	0	7	7	2	0	0	0
Gilles Thibaudeau	C	8	3	3	6	2	1	0	0
Kjell Dahlin	RW	11	2	4	6	2	0	0	0
Ryan Walter	C/LW	11	2	4	6	6	2	0	1
Brian Skrudland	C	11	1	5	6	24	0	0	0
Claude Lemieux	RW	11	3	2	5	20	0	0	2
Larry Robinson	D	11	1	4	5	4	0	0	0
Petr Svoboda	D	10	0	5	5	12	0	0	0
Chris Chelios	D	11	3	1	4	29	1	0	0
John Kordic	RW	7	2	2	4	26	0	0	0
Guy Carbonneau	C	11	0	4	4	2	0	0	0
Craig Ludwig	D	11	1	1	2	6	0	0	0
Rick Green	D	11	0	2	2	2	0	0	0
Sergio Momesso	LW	6	0	2	2	16	0	0	0
Shayne Corson	LW	3	1	0	1	12	0	0	0
Serge Boisvert	RW	3	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Bob Gainey	LW	6	0	1	1	6	0	0	0
Jose Charbonneau	RW	8	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Steven Fletcher	LW/D	1	0	0	0	5	0	0	0
Brian Hayward	G	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Lalor	D	11	0	0	0	11	0	0	0
Patrick Roy	G	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%
Patrick Roy	430	8	3	4	24	3.35	218	194	.890
Brian Hayward	230	4	2	2	9	2.35	85	76	.894
Team:	660	11	5	6	33	3.00	303	270	.891

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Frank J. Selke Trophy: Guy Carbonneau
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Mats Naslund
William M. Jennings Trophy: Patrick Roy/Brian Hayward
Patrick Roy, goaltender, NHL Second Team All-Star

Transactions

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2010)

Draft picks

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

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	17	Andrew Cassels	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
2	33	John LeClair	United States	Bellows Free Academy (USHS-VT)
2	38	Eric Desjardins	Canada	Granby Bisons (QMJHL)
3	44	Mathieu Schneider	United States	Cornwall Royals (OHL)
3	58	Francois Gravel	Canada	Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
4	80	Kris Miller	United States	Greenway High School (USHS-MN)
5	101	Steve McCool	United States	The Hill School (USHS-PA)
6	122	Les Kuntar	United States	Nichols School (USHS-NY)
7	143	Robert Kelley	United States	Matignon High School (USHS-MA)
8	164	Will Geist	United States	St. Paul Academy and Summit School (USHS-MN)
9	185	Eric Tremblay	Canada	Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)
10	206	Barry McKinlay	Canada	University of Illinois at Chicago (CCHA)
11	227	Ed Ronan	United States	Phillips Andover Academy (USHS-MA)
12	248	Bryan Herring	United States	Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)
S2	18	Wayne Gagne	Canada	Western Michigan University (CCHA)

Farm teams

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2010)

References

Gretzky to Lemieux: The Story of the 1987 Canada Cup, p.8, Ed Willies, McLelland and Stewart, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7710-8942-8
Gretzky to Lemieux: The Story of the 1987 Canada Cup, p.4, Ed Willies, McLelland and Stewart, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7710-8942-8
"1987-88 NHL Summary".
Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
"All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
Richer Pots No. 50. Our History – The Historical Website of the Montreal Canadiens. Retrieved 2013-June-19. Archived 2013-06-22.
"1987-88 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.

v t e Montreal Canadiens seasons
1900s	1900–01 . 1901–02 . 1902–03 . 1903–04 . 1904–05 . 1905–06 . 1906–07 . 1907–08 . 1908–09 . 1909–10
1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e Montreal Canadiens
Founded in 1909 Based in Montreal, Quebec
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season
History	History Original Six Centennial Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Molson family (Geoff Molson, chairman) General manager Kent Hughes Head coach Martin St. Louis Team captain Nick Suzuki Current roster
Arenas	Jubilee Arena Montreal Arena Mount Royal Arena Montreal Forum Bell Centre
Rivalries	Boston Bruins Quebec Nordiques Toronto Maple Leafs
Affiliates	AHL Laval Rocket ECHL Trois-Rivières Lions
Media	TV TSN2 (English) RDS (French) Radio TSN Radio 690 (English) 98,5 FM (French)
Culture and lore	Youppi! The Hockey Sweater Pour toujours, les Canadiens! Ginette Reno Tour des Canadiens The Punch Line Richard Riot 1938 European tour "Fix You" Good Friday Massacre 2003 Heritage Classic 2011 Heritage Classic 2016 Winter Classic 100 Classic Bell Sports Complex
Category Commons

v t e 1987–88 NHL season
Patrick	New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh Washington
Adams	Boston Buffalo Hartford Montreal Quebec
Norris	Chicago Detroit Minnesota St. Louis Toronto
Smythe	Calgary Edmonton Los Angeles Vancouver Winnipeg
See also	Entry draft Supplemental draft Waiver draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals

Categories:

Offseason

NHL Draft

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Campbell Conference

Schedule and results

Playoffs

Adams Division semi-finals

Adams Division finals

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Goaltending

Playoffs

Scoring

Goaltending

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

Farm teams

See also

References