1988–89 Edmonton Oilers season

1988–89 Edmonton Oilers
Division	3rd Smythe
Conference	3rd Campbell
1988–89 record	38–34–8
Home record	21–16–3
Road record	17–18–5
Goals for	325 (4th)
Goals against	306 (11th)
Team information
General Manager	Glen Sather
Coach	Glen Sather
Captain	Mark Messier
Alternate captains	Glenn Anderson Kevin Lowe
Arena	Northlands Coliseum
Average attendance	17,503 (100%)
Minor league affiliations	Cape Breton Oilers (AHL) Denver Rangers (IHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Jimmy Carson (49)
Assists	Mark Messier (61)
Points	Jari Kurri (102)
Penalties in minutes	Kelly Buchberger (234)
Plus/minus	Craig Muni (+43)
Wins	Grant Fuhr (23)
Goals against average	Bill Ranford (3.50)
<1987–88	1989–90>

The 1988–89 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' tenth season in the NHL, and they were coming off a Stanley Cup championship after defeating the Boston Bruins the previous season, which was their fourth Stanley Cup in the past 5 seasons. The Oilers would finish third in the Smythe Division with 84 points, their lowest point total since the 1980–81 season. For the eighth consecutive season, the Oilers had five 30-goal scorers.

Prior to the season, the Oilers would be involved in one of the biggest trades in NHL history, dealing Wayne Gretzky, Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, the Kings first round draft picks in 1989, 1991 and 1993, and $15 million.

Jari Kurri would lead the club with 102 points, while Jimmy Carson would score a team high 49 goals, and Mark Messier would have a team best 61 assists. Charlie Huddy would lead the defense with 44 points, while Kelly Buchberger would provide the team toughness, leading the Oilers with 234 penalty minutes.

In goal, Grant Fuhr would get the majority of the starts, leading the team with 23 wins, while Bill Ranford would have a team best 3.50 GAA.

The Oilers finished the regular season first in short-handed goals scored, with 27.

In the playoffs, the Oilers would face Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round of the playoffs. The Oilers would take a 3–1 series lead, however, the Kings would respond by winning 3 games in a row by a combined score of 16–6 to win the series, ending the Oilers bid at winning a third straight Stanley Cup and for the first time since 1982, Edmonton would fail to win a playoff round.

Season standings

Smythe Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Calgary Flames	80	54	17	9	354	226	117
Los Angeles Kings	80	42	31	7	376	335	91
Edmonton Oilers	80	38	34	8	325	306	84
Vancouver Canucks	80	33	39	8	251	253	74
Winnipeg Jets	80	26	42	12	300	355	64

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.

Schedule and results

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	October 7	New York Islanders	1–5	Edmonton Oilers	1–0–0	2
2	October 9	Winnipeg Jets	4–5	Edmonton Oilers	2–0–0	4
3	October 12	Vancouver Canucks	6–2	Edmonton Oilers	2–1–0	4
4	October 14	Edmonton Oilers	1–6	Calgary Flames	2–2–0	4
5	October 16	Edmonton Oilers	3–3	Winnipeg Jets	2–2–1	5
6	October 17	Minnesota North Stars	3–3	Edmonton Oilers	2–2–2	6
7	October 19	Los Angeles Kings	6–8	Edmonton Oilers	3–2–2	8
8	October 23	Edmonton Oilers	5–6	Vancouver Canucks	3–3–2	8
9	October 25	Edmonton Oilers	5–4	Los Angeles Kings	4–3–2	10
10	October 29	Washington Capitals	3–4	Edmonton Oilers	5–3–2	12
11	October 30	Chicago Blackhawks	5–2	Edmonton Oilers	5–4–2	12
12	November 2	St. Louis Blues	4–5	Edmonton Oilers	6–4–2	14
13	November 4	Buffalo Sabres	3–7	Edmonton Oilers	7–4–2	16
14	November 6	Edmonton Oilers	2–5	Detroit Red Wings	7–5–2	16
15	November 8	Edmonton Oilers	7–3	Pittsburgh Penguins	8–5–2	18
16	November 9	Edmonton Oilers	3–2	New Jersey Devils	9–5–2	20
17	November 12	Edmonton Oilers	6–2	Toronto Maple Leafs	10–5–2	22
18	November 13	Edmonton Oilers	5–4	Buffalo Sabres	11–5–2	24
19	November 16	Winnipeg Jets	2–1	Edmonton Oilers	11–6–2	24
20	November 19	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–9	Edmonton Oilers	12–6–2	26
21	November 20	Edmonton Oilers	4–7	Winnipeg Jets	12–7–2	26
22	November 23	Edmonton Oilers	3–3	Minnesota North Stars	12–7–3	27
23	November 24	Edmonton Oilers	4–2	St. Louis Blues	13–7–3	29
24	November 26	Edmonton Oilers	5–7	Montreal Canadiens	13–8–3	29
25	November 28	Edmonton Oilers	7–4	Quebec Nordiques	14–8–3	31
26	November 30	Vancouver Canucks	2–4	Edmonton Oilers	15–8–3	33
27	December 2	Calgary Flames	7–4	Edmonton Oilers	15–9–3	33
28	December 4	New York Rangers	6–10	Edmonton Oilers	16–9–3	35
29	December 7	Quebec Nordiques	3–8	Edmonton Oilers	17–9–3	37
30	December 8	Edmonton Oilers	3–5	Calgary Flames	17–10–3	37
31	December 10	Winnipeg Jets	7–6	Edmonton Oilers	17–11–3	37
32	December 14	Edmonton Oilers	8–2	Toronto Maple Leafs	18–11–3	39
33	December 15	Edmonton Oilers	3–4	Boston Bruins	18–12–3	39
34	December 17	Edmonton Oilers	4–2	Hartford Whalers	19–12–3	41
35	December 19	Edmonton Oilers	5–5	Buffalo Sabres	19–12–4	42
36	December 21	Vancouver Canucks	2–1	Edmonton Oilers	19–13–4	42
37	December 23	Calgary Flames	1–4	Edmonton Oilers	20–13–4	44
38	December 31	Montreal Canadiens	4–2	Edmonton Oilers	20–14–4	44
39	January 2	Edmonton Oilers	3–2	Minnesota North Stars	21–14–4	46
40	January 4	Quebec Nordiques	2–4	Edmonton Oilers	22–14–4	48
41	January 7	Edmonton Oilers	2–7	Calgary Flames	22–15–4	48
42	January 8	Calgary Flames	0–6	Edmonton Oilers	23–15–4	50
43	January 10	Edmonton Oilers	4–5	Los Angeles Kings	23–16–4	50
44	January 13	Edmonton Oilers	3–5	Washington Capitals	23–17–4	50
45	January 15	Edmonton Oilers	0–1	New Jersey Devils	23–18–4	50
46	January 16	Edmonton Oilers	2–2	Chicago Blackhawks	23–18–5	51
47	January 18	Edmonton Oilers	9–4	Winnipeg Jets	24–18–5	53
48	January 20	Philadelphia Flyers	1–1	Edmonton Oilers	24–18–6	54
49	January 21	Pittsburgh Penguins	7–4	Edmonton Oilers	24–19–6	54
50	January 23	New York Rangers	3–2	Edmonton Oilers	24–20–6	54
51	January 25	Chicago Blackhawks	6–3	Edmonton Oilers	24–21–6	54
52	January 28	Edmonton Oilers	7–6	Los Angeles Kings	25–21–6	56
53	January 31	Edmonton Oilers	2–6	Vancouver Canucks	25–22–6	56
54	February 1	Vancouver Canucks	3–4	Edmonton Oilers	26–22–6	58
55	February 3	Detroit Red Wings	5–8	Edmonton Oilers	27–22–6	60
56	February 5	New Jersey Devils	4–2	Edmonton Oilers	27–23–6	60
57	February 9	Edmonton Oilers	3–1	Philadelphia Flyers	28–23–6	62
58	February 11	Edmonton Oilers	2–5	Boston Bruins	28–24–6	62
59	February 12	Edmonton Oilers	3–1	New York Rangers	29–24–6	64
60	February 14	Edmonton Oilers	3–5	New York Islanders	29–25–6	64
61	February 17	Washington Capitals	8–2	Edmonton Oilers	29–26–6	64
62	February 19	Boston Bruins	4–2	Edmonton Oilers	29–27–6	64
63	February 21	Hartford Whalers	4–7	Edmonton Oilers	30–27–6	66
64	February 24	Los Angeles Kings	1–4	Edmonton Oilers	31–27–6	68
65	February 25	St. Louis Blues	3–5	Edmonton Oilers	32–27–6	70
66	March 1	Montreal Canadiens	0–3	Edmonton Oilers	33–27–6	72
67	March 3	Edmonton Oilers	7–4	Winnipeg Jets	34–27–6	74
68	March 5	Edmonton Oilers	4–2	Pittsburgh Penguins	35–27–6	76
69	March 7	Edmonton Oilers	4–4	Philadelphia Flyers	35–27–7	77
70	March 8	Edmonton Oilers	3–7	Hartford Whalers	35–28–7	77
71	March 11	Calgary Flames	5–5	Edmonton Oilers	35–28–8	78
72	March 12	Los Angeles Kings	6–3	Edmonton Oilers	35–29–8	78
73	March 15	Detroit Red Wings	8–6	Edmonton Oilers	35–30–8	78
74	March 16	Edmonton Oilers	0–3	Vancouver Canucks	35–31–8	78
75	March 19	New York Islanders	2–3	Edmonton Oilers	36–31–8	80
76	March 21	Los Angeles Kings	4–3	Edmonton Oilers	36–32–8	80
77	March 23	Winnipeg Jets	4–5	Edmonton Oilers	37–32–8	82
78	March 25	Edmonton Oilers	2–4	Los Angeles Kings	37–33–8	82
79	March 29	Edmonton Oilers	5–2	Vancouver Canucks	38–33–8	84
80	April 2	Edmonton Oilers	2–4	Calgary Flames	38–34–8	84

Playoffs

Los Angeles Kings 4, Edmonton Oilers 3

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 5	Edmonton Oilers	4–3	Los Angeles Kings	1–0
2	April 6	Edmonton Oilers	2–5	Los Angeles Kings	1–1
3	April 8	Los Angeles Kings	0–4	Edmonton Oilers	2–1
4	April 9	Los Angeles Kings	3–4	Edmonton Oilers	3–1
5	April 11	Edmonton Oilers	2–4	Los Angeles Kings	3–2
6	April 13	Los Angeles Kings	4–1	Edmonton Oilers	3–3
7	April 15	Edmonton Oilers	3–6	Los Angeles Kings	3–4

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Jari Kurri	76	44	58	102	69
Jimmy Carson	80	49	51	100	36
Mark Messier	72	33	61	94	130
Esa Tikkanen	67	31	47	78	92
Craig Simpson	66	35	41	76	80

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	Save %	GAA
Bill Ranford	29	1509	15	8	2	88	1	.877	3.50
Grant Fuhr	59	3341	23	26	6	213	1	.875	3.83

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Mark Messier	7	1	11	12	8
Jari Kurri	7	3	5	8	6
Steve Smith	7	2	2	4	20
Esa Tikkanen	7	1	3	4	12
Jimmy Carson	7	2	1	3	6
Normand Lacombe	7	2	1	3	21

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	Save %	GAA
Grant Fuhr	7	417	3	4	24	1	.894	3.45

Transactions

Trades

July 22, 1988	To Washington Capitals Geoff Courtnall	To Edmonton Oilers Greg Adams
August 9, 1988	To Los Angeles Kings Wayne Gretzky Mike Krushelnyski Marty McSorley	To Edmonton Oilers Jimmy Carson Martin Gelinas *1st round pick in 1989 – Jason Miller 1st round pick in 1991 – Martin Rucinsky 1st round pick in 1993 – Nick Stajduhar Cash
August 10, 1988	To Los Angeles Kings John Miner	To Edmonton Oilers Craig Redmond
October 27, 1988	To New York Rangers Ron Shudra	To Edmonton Oilers Jeff Crossman
January 3, 1989	To Detroit Red Wings 10th round in 1989 – Rick Judson	To Edmonton Oilers Miroslav Frycer
January 23, 1989	To Detroit Red Wings 12th round in 1989 – Jason Glickman	To Edmonton Oilers Doug Halward
February 7, 1989]	To Philadelphia Flyers Keith Acton 6th round in 1991 – Dmitri Yushkevich	To Edmonton Oilers Dave Brown
February 15, 1989	To New York Islanders 5th round pick in 1989 - Kevin O'Sullivan	To Edmonton Oilers Tomas Jonsson
March 7, 1989	To Los Angeles Kings Jim Wiemer Alan May	To Edmonton Oilers Brian Wilks John English
March 7, 1989	To Vancouver Canucks Greg Adams Doug Smith	To Edmonton Oilers John LeBlanc 5th round in 1989 – Peter White

*Later traded to the New Jersey Devils.

Free agents

Player Former team D Reed Larson Boston Bruins F Stan Drulia Pittsburgh Penguins F Nick Fotiu Philadelphia Flyers

Player New team F Shawn Evans New York Islanders F Dean Hopkins Quebec Nordiques D Reed Larson New York Islanders

Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
1	19	Francois Leroux	Canada	Saint-Jean Castors (QMJHL)
2	39	Petro Koivunen	Finland	Kiekko-Espoo (Finland)
3	53	Trevor Sim	Canada	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
3	61	Collin Bauer	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
4	82	Cam Brauer	Canada	R.P.I (NCAA)
5	103	Don Martin	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
6	124	Len Barrie	Canada	Victoria Cougars (WHL)
7	145	Mike Glover	Canada	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
8	166	Shjon Podein	United States	University of Minnesota-Duluth (NCAA)
9	187	Tom Cole	United States	Woburn Memorial High School (USHS)
10	208	Vladimir Zubkov	Soviet Union	HC CSKA Moscow (USSR)
11	229	Darin MacDonald	United States	Boston University (NCAA)
12	250	Tim Tisdale	Canada	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)

Roster

1988-89 Edmonton Oilers
Goaltenders 30 – Bill Ranford  31 – Grant Fuhr		Defensemen 2 – Chris Joseph  4 – Kevin Lowe  5 – Steve Smith  6 – Jeff Beukeboom  21 – Randy Gregg  22 – Charlie Huddy  23 – Tomas Jonsson  26 – Ken Hammond  26 – Craig Redmond  27 – Reed Larson  28 – Craig Muni  34 – Glen Cochrane  35 – Francois Leroux  36 – Selmar Odelein  37 – Doug Halward		Wingers 8 – John LeBlanc  9 – Glenn Anderson  10 – Esa Tikkanen  15 – Miroslav Frycer  16 – Kelly Buchberger  17 – Jari Kurri  18 – Craig Simpson  19 – Normand Lacombe  20 – Martin Gelinas  25 – Greg Adams  27 – Dave Hunter  32 – Dave Brown  32 – Nick Fotiu  32 – Alan May  33 – Kim Issel  34 – Michael Ware		Centres 7 – Mark Lamb  8 – Doug Smith  11 – Mark Messier  - C 12 – Jimmy Carson  14 – Craig MacTavish  23 – Keith Acton  24 – Kevin McClelland  GM: Glen Sather Coach: Glen Sather

External links

• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007