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 Forum ice. In fact, in what proved to be an extremely classy situation, when the Calgary Flames team and staff paraded the Stanley Cup around the ice in The Forum at the conclusion of the game, the majority of the Forum home fans stood and cheered and clapped for the Flames for an extended period. This clapping was extremely rare and virtually unheard of in The Forum for a visiting team – especially considering that the Flames were the victors on their ice. In 1986, when the Canadiens had won the Stanley Cup on Calgary's Olympic Saddledome, the majority of the hometown Flames fans also stood and cheered and clapped for the Canadiens as well. The Flames also won their second consecutive Presidents' Trophy as the top regular season team.

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 Wayne 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 defenseman with 23. He finished that season with 71 points and easily captured the Calder Trophy.

This year also featured the "new look Kings" as the Los Angeles Kings changed their uniform design and team colours after Wayne Gretzky was added to their line-up, ditching the purple and gold that was largely associated with their co-tenants at the Great Western Forum, the Los Angeles Lakers, to black and silver. Prior to Gretzky's arrival, the Kings had the fourth worst record in the NHL at 30 wins, 42 losses, and 8 ties. After Gretzky's first season with the Kings, they moved all the way up to fourth best in the NHL with a record of 42 wins, 31 losses, and 7 ties.

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.

Scoring Leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Leading Goaltenders
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage

Stanley Cup Playoffs
The 1989 Stanley Cup featured two Canadian hockey teams, the Montreal Canadiens and the Calgary Flames. Montreal finished the regular season with 115 points, only two behind the league leader Calgary. It was the second time in three years both teams faced each other, with Montreal winning a five-game series in 1986. The Flames also made history in the Forum by becoming the only visiting NHL team ever to win a Stanley Cup on Forum ice.

Flames defenseman Al MacInnis won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, while Lanny McDonald, who ended the regular season with exactly 500 goals, got his name on the Cup in his last ever NHL game.

On their way to the Finals, Montreal lost only three games while eliminating the Hartford Whalers, Boston Bruins, and Philadelphia Flyers. Calgary survived a seven-game series with the Vancouver Canucks before rolling by Los Angeles and eliminating the surprising Chicago Blackhawks in five to reach the Cup Finals.

One of the interesting stories of these playoffs, though, was Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings meeting the defending champion Oilers in the first round. The previous season saw the mighty Edmonton Oilers sweep the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals as Gretzky earned the Conn Smythe Trophy setting playoff records for playoff assists, assists in a finals series and points in a finals series.

On August 9, 1988 the Oilers traded Gretzky to the Kings. The Gretzky-led Kings and Oilers (with many veteran super-stars) met in the first round of the Smythe Division playoffs, which made for an exciting "return" of Gretzky to Edmonton. In a tough seven game series, Gretzky and the Kings took down the defending Stanley Cup champions after falling behind 3 games to 1. In the second round Gretzky and the Kings were no match for the Calgary Flames, who swept them in 4 games.

Events of note in the postseason, were that Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall became the first netminder to shoot and score a goal in the playoffs, a shorthanded, empty-net score in Game 5 of the Patrick Division semifinals against the Washington Capitals. One round later, Mario Lemieux torched the Flyers for an NHL-record five goals and eight points in a 10-7 Pittsburgh win in Game 5 of the Patrick Division Finals. Hextall then made headlines in the Wales Conference Finals, attacking Montreal's Chris Chelios in the late stages of Game 6 as retribution for Chelios' brutal and unpenalized hit on Flyers forward Brian Propp in Game 1. Hextall received a 12-game suspension at the start of the 1989-90 NHL season for his actions.

Also, former Flyers head coach Mike Keenan led Chicago to the Campbell Conference Finals in his first year behind the bench. The Hawks, with 66 points, had the fewest points of any playoff team that season (and tied in the overall standings with New Jersey, a fifth-place team in the Patrick) yet played a fierce defensive and energy game which saw them upset first-place Detroit and then St. Louis before bowing to Calgary.

Division Semi-finals
Hartford Whalers vs. Montreal Canadiens Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins Boston wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers Philadelphia wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2

New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings Chicago wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2

Minnesota North Stars vs. St. Louis Blues St. Louis wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Vancouver Canucks vs. Calgary Flames

Coming into this series, many people expected that the mighty Flames would defeat the Canucks in 4 or 5 games, due to Calgary having a 43 point edge in the regular season. Instead, Vancouver would take Calgary to a thrilling seven game classic. The seventh game would go into overtime, both teams having great chances, the best being a breakaway chance for Vancouver Canuck's captain Stan Smyl, only for Mike Vernon to make the unbelieveable save. Unfortunately, Vancouver couldn't pull off the upset, as Joel Otto scored the winner (via a deflection from his skate) with :39 seconds left in the first overtime to send the Calgary Flames into the Smythe Division Final. Calgary wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3

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

Division Finals
Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Philadelphia wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3

Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues Chicago wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Los Angeles Kings vs. Calgary Flames Calgary wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

Conference Finals
Philadelphia Flyers vs. Montreal Canadiens Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Calgary Flames Calgary wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Finals
Montreal Canadiens vs. Calgary Flames

The Stanley Cup Finals was decided between the top two teams during the 1988-89 NHL regular season. Captain Lanny McDonald scored the second Flames goal in Game 6. This turned out to be the last goal in his NHL Hall of Fame career because he retired during the following off-season. Doug Gilmour scored two goals in the third period, including the eventual game and Cup winner to cement the victory for the Flames. Calgary wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2

Playoff Scoring Leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

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