1988–89 NHL season

The 1988–89 NHL season was the 72nd season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. The Calgary Flames won an all Canadian Stanley Cup final against the Montreal Canadiens four games to two. To date, this is the last time two Canadian teams squared off for the Stanley Cup.

Regular season

This season saw the Calgary Flames win their first Stanley Cup. They defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to two in a rematch of the Cup finals from the 1985–86 NHL season. Calgary was only the second opposing team in NHL history to win a Stanley Cup at the Montreal Forum (the New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Maroons in 1928) and the first to do so against the Canadiens. This was of particular significance for the proud Canadiens fans and the team's tradition of winning Stanley Cups on their home ice. In fact, in what proved to be an extremely classy situation, when the Flames team and staff paraded the Stanley Cup around the Forum ice at the conclusion of the game, the majority of the fans gave an extended standing ovation to the losing Montreal Canadiens, which is an extremely rare event in the Forum, especially considering that the Flames were the victors on their ice. The sportsmanship demonstrated that night by the home town fans brought back memories of 1986 when a standing ovation was given from the Calgary fans to the losing Calgary Flames after the Canadiens had won the Stanley Cup at Calgary's Olympic Saddledome. The Flames' NHL championship came on the heels of an extremely successful regular season, as Calgary also won its second consecutive Presidents' Trophy as the top regular season team. Al MacInnis was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy, and Flames co-owner Sonia Scurfield became the first Canadian woman to have her name inscribed on the Stanley Cup.

This year also saw the start of the great Wayne Gretzky's tenure with the Los Angeles Kings. Coinciding with Gretzky's acquisition, the team also changed its uniforms and colours for 1988-89, scrapping the purple and gold associated with its co-tenant at the Great Western Forum, the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers, in favour of black and silver. Gretzky's presence signaled a dramatic on-ice turnaround for the Kings. Prior to his arrival via trade with the Edmonton Oilers on August 9, 1988, Los Angeles had the fourth-worst record in the NHL at 30 wins, 42 losses, and 8 ties. After Gretzky's first season with the Kings, however, they moved all the way up to fourth-best in the NHL, with a record of 42 wins, 31 losses, and 7 ties for 91 points. They also managed to defeat Gretzky's former team, the Oilers, in seven games in the Smythe Division Semifinal before falling victim to a four-game sweep at the hands of the eventual Cup champion Flames in the Division Final.

Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Art Ross Trophy for the second consecutive season, leading the league with 199 points. Lemieux remains the only person other than Gretzky to approach the 200 point plateau. Gretzky, who had crossed the 200 point mark four times in five years during the 1980s, won his ninth Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP.

New York Rangers rookie Brian Leetch broke the record for goals by a rookie defenceman with 23. He finished that season with 71 points and easily captured the Calder Memorial Trophy.

On March 22, a horrific incident took place in Buffalo during a game between the Buffalo Sabres and the St. Louis Blues. During a goalmouth collision between the Blues' Steve Tuttle and the Sabres' Uwe Krupp, Tuttle's skate blade slashed the throat of Buffalo goaltender Clint Malarchuk, severing the latter's carotid artery. Thanks to some timely action by Sabres trainer Jim Pizzutelli, Malarchuk was able to quickly receive treatment and was even released from the hospital the next day.

Final standings

"Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes"

Prince of Wales Conference

"Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0"

Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins"Pittsburgh wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0"

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings"Calgary wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3"

Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings"Philadelphia wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3"

Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues"Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2"

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Calgary Flames

NHL awards

All-Star teams

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1988–89 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
*Don Sweeney, Boston Bruins
*Stephane Quintal, Boston Bruins
*Sergei Priakin, Calgary Flames
*Paul Ranheim, Calgary Flames
*Theoren Fleury, Calgary Flames
*Ed Belfour, Chicago Blackhawks
*Jeremy Roenick, Chicago Blackhawks
*Randy McKay, Detroit Red Wings
*Tim Cheveldae, Detroit Red Wings
*Martin Gelinas, Edmonton Oilers
*Mike Modano*, Minnesota North Stars
*Eric Desjardins, Montreal Canadiens
*Jyrki Lumme, Montreal Canadiens
*Mike Keane, Montreal Canadiens
*Eric Weinrich, New Jersey Devils
*Paul Ysebaert, New Jersey Devils
*Tom Fitzgerald, New York Islanders
*Tony Granato, New York Rangers
*Mike Richter*, New York Rangers
*John Cullen, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Mark Recchi, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Curtis Leschyshyn, Quebec Nordiques
*Joe Sakic, Quebec Nordiques
*Rod Brind'Amour*, St. Louis Blues
*Trevor Linden, Vancouver Canucks
*Bob Essensa, Winnipeg Jets

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1988–89 (listed with their last team):
*Mark Napier, Buffalo Sabres
*Hakan Loob, Calgary Flames
*Lanny McDonald, Calgary Flames
*Doug Halward, Edmonton Oilers
*Tomas Jonsson, Edmonton Oilers
*John Anderson, Hartford Whalers
*Ron Duguay, Los Angeles Kings
*Craig Hartsburg, Minnesota North Stars
*Dennis Maruk, Minnesota North Stars
*Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens
*Billy Smith, New York Islanders
*Marcel Dionne, New York Rangers
*Anton Stastny, Quebec Nordiques
*Mel Bridgman, Vancouver Canucks
*Bengt Gustafsson, Washington Capitals

1989 trading deadline

* Trading deadline: March 7, 1989. [ [http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/3969 NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out ] ]
*February 27, 1989: Peter Deboer traded from Toronto to Vancouver for Paul Lawless.
*March 4, 1989: Perry Berezan and Shane Churla traded from Calgary to Minnesota for Brian MacLellan and Minnesota's 4th round choice in 1989 Entry Draft.
*March 6, 1989: Ken Wregget traded from Toronto to Philadelphia for future considerations.
*March 7, 1989: Clint Malarchuk, Grant Ledyard and Washington's 6th round pick in 1991 Entry Draft traded from Washington to Buffalo for Calle Johansson and Buffalo's 2nd round pick in 1989 Entry Draft.
*March 7, 1989: Jim Pavese traded from Detroit to Hartford for Torrie Robertson.
*March 7, 1989: Lindy Ruff traded from Buffalo to NY Rangers for NY Rangers' 5th round pick in 1990 Entry Draft.
*March 7, 1989: Reed Larson traded from NY Islanders to Minnesota for future considerations.
*March 7, 1989: Claude Vilgrain traded from Vancouver to New Jersey for Tim Lenardon.
*March 7, 1989: Brian Wilk and John English traded from Los Angeles to Edmonton for Jim Wiemer and Alan May.
*March 7, 1989: Greg Gilbert traded from NY Islanders to Chicago for Chicago's 5th round pick in 1989 Entry Draft.
*March 7, 1989 - Washington Capitals obtain Dino Ciccarelli and Bob Rouse from the Minnesota North Stars for Mike Gartner and Larry Murphy.
* March 7, 1989: Jean Leblanc and Vancouver's 5th round pick in 1989 Entry Draft traded from Vancouver to Edmonton for Doug Smith and Greg C. Adams.

ee also

*List of Stanley Cup champions
*1988 NHL Entry Draft
*1988 NHL Supplemental Draft
*40th National Hockey League All-Star Game
*National Hockey League All-Star Game
*NHL All-Rookie Team
*1988 in sports
*1989 in sports

References

* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
* [http://nhl.com/ NHL.com]