1988–89 Philadelphia Flyers season

NHLTeamSeason
Season=1988–89
Team=Philadelphia Flyers
Conference=Wales
ConferenceRank=7th
Division=Patrick
DivisionRank=4th
Record=36–36–8
HomeRecord=22–15–3
RoadRecord=14–21–5
GoalsFor=307
GoalsAgainst=285
GeneralManager=Bob Clarke
Coach=Paul Holmgren
Captain=Dave Poulin
AltCaptain=Mark Howe
Rick Tocchet
Arena=The Spectrum
Attendance=17,405 [FlyersHistory.net, [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/attend.cgi All Time Team Attendance] ]
GoalsLeader=Tim Kerr (48)
AssistsLeader=Pelle Eklund (51)
PointsLeader=Tim Kerr (88)
PIMLeader=Jeff Chychrun (245)
PlusMinusLeader=Ron Sutter (+25)
WinsLeader=Ron Hextall (30)
GAALeader=Ron Hextall (3.23)The 1988–89 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers 22nd season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

In 1988–89, Tim Kerr and Rick Tocchet both scored 40 goals and despite finishing at the .500 mark, the Flyers made the playoffs for the 17th consecutive season. Facing first-place Washington in the first round, the Flyers pulled off the upset in six games. Ron Hextall managed to score another empty-net goal in the waning moments of Game 5, becoming the first NHL goalie to score a goal in the playoffs. The Flyers then defeated Pittsburgh in seven games to make the Wales Conference Finals before bowing out to Montreal in six games.

Regular season

With Mike Keenan's firing, the reins were handed off to Paul Holmgren, who presided over a club in flux with young players promoted to larger roles. The defense underwent a major overhaul, as Brad Marsh was let go to Toronto, and Doug Crossman was dealt to Los Angeles for Jay Wells. Gord Murphy and Jeff Chychrun cracked the lineup on the back line as well.

Kerr was fully healed from his shoulder surgeries and subsequent infections, while Tocchet, Scott Mellanby, Murray Craven, Pelle Eklund and Peter Zezel were counted on to carry the offense. After a promising 5–1–0 start, a 4–15–1 slide cost Zezel his job, shipped off to St. Louis for Mike Bullard after Thanksgiving.

Following the deal, the Flyers went 13–2–1 to climb back over .500 and into solid playoff footing. However, youth and inconsistency constantly derailed much progress to the top of the standings, and the team never went higher than three games above even. Mark Laforest was replaced in March as backup by Maple Leafs castoff Ken Wregget with the team reeling.

On the last day of the season, they fell 6–5 in overtime to the Penguins and into fourth place, as Mario Lemieux scored into an empty net. If the Flyers had won using the extra attacker, they would have leapt over the Rangers into third place in the Patrick Division. Despite their mediocre record, their positive goal differential was a positive indicator that the team still had some life left.

eason standings

Game log

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Playoffs

Game log

Player stats

katers

"Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes"

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions before/during the 1988–89 season.

Trades

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. [hockeydb.com, [http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1988e.html 1988 NHL Entry Draft] ] [hockeydb.com, [http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1988s.html 1988 NHL Supplemental Draft] ]

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Hershey Bears of the AHL. [FlyersHistory.net, [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/ml-season.cgi?1988-89 AHL Season Overview: 1988–89] ]

ee also

*1988–89 NHL season

References

*General: [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/season.cgi?1988-89 1988–89 Flyers season] on FlyersHistory.net
*Regular season game log: [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/games.cgi?1988-89 Philadelphia Flyers regular season game log] on FlyersHistory.net
*Playoffs game log: [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/poffs.cgi Philadelphia Flyers playoffs game log] on FlyersHistory.net