1988–89 Hartford Whalers season

1988–89 Hartford Whalers
Division4th Adams
Conference8th Wales
1988–89 record37–38–5
Home record21–17–2
Road record16–21–3
Goals for299
Goals against290
Team information
General managerEmile Francis
CoachLarry Pleau
CaptainRon Francis
Alternate captainsKevin Dineen
Dave Tippett
Joel Quenneville
ArenaHartford Civic Center
Average attendance13,821 (90.8%) [1]
Minor league affiliate(s)Binghamton Whalers (AHL)
Indianapolis Ice (IHL)
Team leaders
GoalsKevin Dineen (45)
AssistsRon Francis (48)
PointsKevin Dineen (89)
Penalty minutesUlf Samuelsson (181)
Plus/minusUlf Samuelsson (+23)
WinsPeter Sidorkiewicz (22)
Goals against averagePeter Sidorkiewicz (3.03)

The 1988–89 Hartford Whalers season saw the team finish in fourth place in the Adams Division with a record of 37 wins, 38 losses, and 5 ties for 79 points. They were swept by the Montreal Canadiens in four straight games in the Division Semi-finals.

Off-season

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On June 11, 1988, the 1988 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal. With their first round draft pick, the Whalers selected left winger Chris Govedaris from the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey League. Govedaris scored 42 goals and 80 points in 69 games with the Marlboros during the 1987–88 season. With their second round selection, Hartford selected Barry Richter from the Culver Military Academy, where he scored 24 goals and 53 points in 35 games.

At the 1988 NHL Supplemental Draft, the Whalers selected Todd Krygier from the University of Connecticut. In 27 games with the Huskies, Krygier scored 32 goals and 71 points to lead the team in scoring. Following his season with Connecticut, Krygier signed with the New Haven Nighthawks of the American Hockey League, where he scored a goal and six points in 13 games during the 1987–88 season.

The Whalers signed Bob Bodak as a free agent on July 1. Bobak appeared in three games with the Calgary Flames during the 1987–88, earning no points and 22 penalty minutes. He played a majority of the season with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the IHL, where in 44 games, Bobak scored 12 goals and 22 points.

On July 6, the Whalers acquired Grant Jennings and Ed Kastelic from the Washington Capitals in exchange for Neil Sheehy and Mike Millar. Jennings appeared in one post-season game with the Capitals, earning no points. He spent the rest of the season with the Binghamton Whalers of the American Hockey League, where he scored two goals and 14 points in 56 games during the 1987–88. Kastelic scored one goal in 35 games with the Capitals during the 1987–88 season.

On August 3, Hartford signed free agent Al Tuer. Tuer appeared in six games with the Minnesota North Stars during the 1987–88 season, scoring one goal. In 68 games with the Kalamazoo Wings of the IHL, Tuer scored two goals and 17 points, while racking up 303 penalty minutes. The Whalers also signed Larry Trader, who scored two goals and six points in 30 games with the Montreal Canadiens during 1987–88.

At the waiver draft held on October 3, the Whalers lost Stew Gavin and Tom Martin to the Minnesota North Stars.

Draft picks

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Hartford's selections at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft:

Pick # Player Position Nationality College/junior/club team
11 Chris Govedaris Left Wing  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHL)
32 Barry Richter Defense  United States Culver Military Academy (USHS-IN)
74 Dean Dyer Center  Canada Lake Superior State University (CCHA)
95 Scott Morrow Left Wing  United States Northwood School (USHS-NY)
116 Corey Beaulieu Left Wing  United States Northwood School (USHS-NY)
137 Kerry Russell Center  Canada Michigan State University (CCHA)
158 Jim Burke Defense  United States University of Maine (Hockey East)
179 Mark Hirth Center  United States Michigan State University (CCHA)
200 Wayde Bucsis Left Wing  Canada Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
221 Rob White Defense  Canada St. Lawrence University (ECAC Hockey)
242 Dan Slatalla Center  United States Deerfield Academy (USHS-MA)
S Todd Krygier Left Wing  United States University of Connecticut (ECAC East)

Regular season

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The Whalers finished the regular season with the fewest short-handed goals scored (3) and the most short-handed goals allowed (18).[2]

Final standings

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Adams Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Montreal Canadiens 80 53 18 9 315 218 115
Boston Bruins 80 37 29 14 289 256 88
Buffalo Sabres 80 38 35 7 291 299 83
Hartford Whalers 80 37 38 5 299 290 79
Quebec Nordiques 80 27 46 7 269 342 61

[3]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

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Vs. Wales Conference

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Vs. Campbell Conference

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Schedule and results

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No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 L October 6, 1988 2–5 Quebec Nordiques (1988–89) 0–1–0
2 L October 8, 1988 2–6 Boston Bruins (1988–89) 0–2–0
3 L October 9, 1988 1–3 @ Boston Bruins (1988–89) 0–3–0
4 W October 12, 1988 4–3 @ New York Rangers (1988–89) 1–3–0
5 W October 15, 1988 7–5 Chicago Blackhawks (1988–89) 2–3–0
6 L October 19, 1988 4–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89) 2–4–0
7 W October 22, 1988 8–6 Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89) 3–4–0
8 W October 26, 1988 7–1 @ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89) 4–4–0
9 L October 28, 1988 3–5 @ New Jersey Devils (1988–89) 4–5–0
10 W October 29, 1988 3–0 New Jersey Devils (1988–89) 5–5–0
11 L November 1, 1988 3–5 Montreal Canadiens (1988–89) 5–6–0
12 W November 3, 1988 5–3 @ Boston Bruins (1988–89) 6–6–0
13 L November 5, 1988 2–3 OT Vancouver Canucks (1988–89) 6–7–0
14 L November 7, 1988 3–6 @ Calgary Flames (1988–89) 6–8–0
15 T November 9, 1988 1–1 OT @ Vancouver Canucks (1988–89) 6–8–1
16 L November 10, 1988 2–7 @ Los Angeles Kings (1988–89) 6–9–1
17 W November 12, 1988 3–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1988–89) 7–9–1
18 L November 16, 1988 3–4 Detroit Red Wings (1988–89) 7–10–1
19 L November 18, 1988 2–3 @ Washington Capitals (1988–89) 7–11–1
20 L November 19, 1988 2–5 Calgary Flames (1988–89) 7–12–1
21 W November 23, 1988 4–3 Quebec Nordiques (1988–89) 8–12–1
22 W November 26, 1988 4–2 @ Quebec Nordiques (1988–89) 9–12–1
23 L November 30, 1988 3–6 Montreal Canadiens (1988–89) 9–13–1
24 W December 2, 1988 6–1 @ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89) 10–13–1
25 L December 3, 1988 2–4 Minnesota North Stars (1988–89) 10–14–1
26 W December 6, 1988 9–0 Buffalo Sabres (1988–89) 11–14–1
27 W December 8, 1988 5–4 New York Rangers (1988–89) 12–14–1
28 W December 10, 1988 4–1 Calgary Flames (1988–89) 13–14–1
29 L December 14, 1988 3–4 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1988–89) 13–15–1
30 T December 15, 1988 3–3 OT @ St. Louis Blues (1988–89) 13–15–2
31 L December 17, 1988 2–4 Edmonton Oilers (1988–89) 13–16–2
32 L December 19, 1988 1–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89) 13–17–2
33 L December 21, 1988 3–4 Boston Bruins (1988–89) 13–18–2
34 L December 23, 1988 4–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89) 13–19–2
35 L December 26, 1988 3–4 OT Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89) 13–20–2
36 T December 28, 1988 4–4 OT @ Quebec Nordiques (1988–89) 13–20–3
37 W December 30, 1988 4–3 Detroit Red Wings (1988–89) 14–20–3
38 W December 31, 1988 3–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1988–89) 15–20–3
39 L January 2, 1989 4–5 @ New York Rangers (1988–89) 15–21–3
40 W January 4, 1989 5–4 OT @ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89) 16–21–3
41 W January 10, 1989 2–1 @ Winnipeg Jets (1988–89) 17–21–3
42 L January 14, 1989 6–9 @ Los Angeles Kings (1988–89) 17–22–3
43 L January 16, 1989 3–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1988–89) 17–23–3
44 L January 18, 1989 1–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89) 17–24–3
45 W January 19, 1989 6–4 Montreal Canadiens (1988–89) 18–24–3
46 W January 21, 1989 5–4 Los Angeles Kings (1988–89) 19–24–3
47 W January 23, 1989 5–0 @ Quebec Nordiques (1988–89) 20–24–3
48 T January 25, 1989 3–3 OT St. Louis Blues (1988–89) 20–24–4
49 W January 27, 1989 8–6 @ New Jersey Devils (1988–89) 21–24–4
50 L January 28, 1989 2–3 OT Quebec Nordiques (1988–89) 21–25–4
51 L January 31, 1989 3–5 Buffalo Sabres (1988–89) 21–26–4
52 L February 3, 1989 0–1 @ Washington Capitals (1988–89) 21–27–4
53 L February 4, 1989 3–5 @ New York Islanders (1988–89) 21–28–4
54 W February 9, 1989 5–2 Buffalo Sabres (1988–89) 22–28–4
55 W February 11, 1989 7–3 Winnipeg Jets (1988–89) 23–28–4
56 W February 15, 1989 4–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1988–89) 24–28–4
57 W February 18, 1989 4–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1988–89) 25–28–4
58 L February 19, 1989 6–7 OT @ Winnipeg Jets (1988–89) 25–29–4
59 L February 21, 1989 4–7 @ Edmonton Oilers (1988–89) 25–30–4
60 W February 23, 1989 4–2 Quebec Nordiques (1988–89) 26–30–4
61 L February 25, 1989 1–9 Boston Bruins (1988–89) 26–31–4
62 W February 26, 1989 8–6 Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89) 27–31–4
63 W February 28, 1989 3–1 @ New York Islanders (1988–89) 28–31–4
64 W March 2, 1989 2–1 Vancouver Canucks (1988–89) 29–31–4
65 L March 4, 1989 1–6 Montreal Canadiens (1988–89) 29–32–4
66 W March 5, 1989 3–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1988–89) 30–32–4
67 W March 8, 1989 7–3 Edmonton Oilers (1988–89) 31–32–4
68 L March 11, 1989 3–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89) 31–33–4
69 T March 12, 1989 3–3 OT Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89) 31–33–5
70 W March 14, 1989 8–2 New York Islanders (1988–89) 32–33–5
71 L March 16, 1989 1–6 Buffalo Sabres (1988–89) 32–34–5
72 L March 18, 1989 2–8 Washington Capitals (1988–89) 32–35–5
73 W March 19, 1989 3–2 @ Boston Bruins (1988–89) 33–35–5
74 W March 22, 1989 4–2 Boston Bruins (1988–89) 34–35–5
75 L March 23, 1989 3–6 @ Quebec Nordiques (1988–89) 34–36–5
76 W March 25, 1989 4–0 St. Louis Blues (1988–89) 35–36–5
77 L March 28, 1989 2–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89) 35–37–5
78 W March 30, 1989 9–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89) 36–37–5
79 W April 1, 1989 6–1 Chicago Blackhawks (1988–89) 37–37–5
80 L April 2, 1989 2–3 @ Boston Bruins (1988–89) 37–38–5

Playoffs

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Division semi-finals

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Canadiens 4, Whalers 0

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Adams Division Semi-finals

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(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) Hartford Whalers
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April 5 Hartford Whalers 2 – 6 Montreal Canadiens Montreal Forum Recap  
Ferraro (1) – (MacDermid, Babych) – 14:59 First period 12:09 – ppKeane (1) – (Svoboda, Chelios)
16:24 – Smith (1) – (Svoboda)
Young (1) – (Peterson, Quenneville) – 16:55 Second period 3:59 – shWalter (1) – (Carbonneau)
No scoring Third period 6:25 – McPhee (1) – (Skrudland, Svoboda)
8:02 – ppNäslund (1) – (Smith)
17:50 – Skrudland (1) – (McPhee)
Whitmore (0-1) (27 saves / 33 shots) Goalie stats Roy (1-0) (25 saves / 27 shots)
April 6 Hartford Whalers 2 – 3 Montreal Canadiens Montreal Forum Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 0:36 – Skrudland (2) – (Green, McPhee)
17:02 – ppSmith (2) – (Näslund, Svoboda)
18:25 – McPhee (2) – (Gilchrist, Carbonneau)
Young (2) – (Quenneville, Turgeon) – 7:03
MacDermid (1) – (Anderson, Samuelsson) – 14:10
Third period No scoring
Sidorkiewicz (0-1) (14 saves / 17 shots) Goalie stats Roy (2-0) (27 saves / 29 shots)
April 8 Montreal Canadiens 5 – 4 OT Hartford Whalers Hartford Civic Center Recap  
No scoring First period 17:00 – ppJennings (1) – (Francis, Babych)
Smith (3) – (Näslund, Chelios) – 10:47 Second period 0:56 – Dineen (1) – (Evason, Quenneville)
Courtnall (1) – (Carbonneau) – 4:10
Durfresne (1) – (Courtnall, Carbonneau) – 4:38
Carbonneau (1) – (Unassisted) – 15:28
Third period 12:52 – shEvason (1) – (Tippett, Samuelsson)
15:54 – Shaw (1) – (Babych, Turgeon)
Richer (1) – (Skrudland, Corson) – 5:01 First overtime period No scoring
Hayward (1-0) (23 saves / 27 shots) Goalie stats Sidorkiewicz (0-2) (23 saves / 28 shots)
April 9 Montreal Canadiens 4 – 3 OT Hartford Whalers Hartford Civic Center Recap  
No scoring First period 19:04 – Ferraro (2) – (Babych)
Näslund (2) – (Smith, Keane) – 1:59
Richer (2) – (Walter) – 7:08
Second period No scoring
Smith (4) – pp – (Svoboda) – 2:56 Third period 5:29 – Babych (1) – (Côté, Evason)
14:55 – Lawton (1) – (Francis, Babych)
Russ Courtnall (2) – (Unassisted) – 15:12 First overtime period No scoring
Roy (3-0) (43 saves / 46 shots) Goalie stats Whitmore (0-2) (36 saves / 40 shots)
Montreal wins series 4 – 0


Player statistics

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Forwards

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Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player GP G AST PTS PIM
Kevin Dineen 79 45 44 89 167
Ron Francis 69 29 48 77 36
Ray Ferraro 80 41 35 76 86
Scott Young 76 19 40 59 27
Paul MacDermid 74 17 27 44 141
Dave Tippett 80 17 24 41 45
John Anderson 62 16 24 40 28
Jody Hull 60 16 18 34 10
Sylvain Turgeon 42 16 14 30 40
Dean Evason 67 11 17 28 60
Brian Lawton 35 10 16 26 28
Carey Wilson 34 11 11 22 14
Brent Peterson 66 4 13 17 61
Don Maloney 21 3 11 14 23
Tom Martin 38 7 6 13 113
Torrie Robertson 27 2 4 6 84
Ed Kastelic 10 0 2 2 15
Mark Reeds 7 0 2 2 6
Dallas Gaume 4 1 1 2 0
Terry Yake 2 0 0 0 0
Jim Thomson 5 0 0 0 14

Defensemen

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Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player GP G AST PTS PIM
Dave Babych 70 6 41 47 54
Ulf Samuelsson 71 9 26 35 181
Norm Maciver 37 1 22 23 24
Sylvain Côté 78 8 9 17 49
Grant Jennings 55 3 10 13 159
Joel Quenneville 69 4 7 11 32
Randy Ladouceur 75 2 5 7 95
Brad Shaw 3 1 0 1 0
Scot Kleinendorst 24 0 1 1 36
Al Tuer 4 0 0 0 23
Adam Burt 5 0 0 0 6
Jim Pavese 5 0 0 0 5

Goaltending

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Note: GP= Games played; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

Player GP W L T SO GAA
Peter Sidorkiewicz 44 22 18 4 4 3.03
Mike Liut 35 13 19 1 1 4.25
Kay Whitmore 3 2 1 0 0 3.33

[5]

Awards and records

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Transactions

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The Whalers were involved in the following transactions during the 1988–89 season.

Trades

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July 6, 1988 To Washington Capitals
Neil Sheehy
Mike Millar
To Hartford Whalers
Grant Jennings
Ed Kastelic
October 6, 1988 To Chicago Blackhawks
Future Considerations
To Hartford Whalers
Mark LaVarre
December 26, 1988 To New York Rangers
Carey Wilson
5th round pick in 1990Lubos Rob
To Hartford Whalers
Brian Lawton
Don Maloney
Norm Maciver
March 6, 1989 To Washington Capitals
Scot Kleinendorst
To Hartford Whalers
Jim Thomson
March 7, 1989 To Detroit Red Wings
Torrie Robertson
To Hartford Whalers
Jim Pavese

Waivers

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October 3, 1988 To Minnesota North Stars
Stew Gavin
October 3, 1988 To Minnesota North Stars
Tom Martin
December 1, 1988 From Minnesota North Stars
Tom Martin

Free agents

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Player Former Team
Mike Tomlak University of Western Ontario (OUAA)
Ross McKay University of Saskatchewan (CWUAA)
Bob Bodak Calgary Flames
Al Tuer Minnesota North Stars
Larry Trader Montreal Canadiens
Chris Lindberg University of Minnesota-Duluth (NCAA)
Player New Team
Gord Sherven Sportbund DJK Rosenheim (Germany)
Mike McEwen EHC Olten (Switzerland)
Shawn Cronin Washington Capitals

Farm teams

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References

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  1. ^ "Hartford Whalers Yearly Attendance Graph". hockeydb.com.
  2. ^ "1988-89 NHL Summary".
  3. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
  4. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  5. ^ 1988-89 Hartford Whalers at Hockey Reference