Ice Hockey Wiki
Register
Advertisement
87-88BosBru
1987–88 Boston Bruins
Division 1st Adams
Conference Prince of Wales
1987–88 record 40-30-6
Goals for 300
Goals against 251
Team information
General manager Harry Sinden
Coach Terry O'Reilly
Captain Ray Bourque
Rick Middleton
Alternate captains Keith Crowder
Arena Boston Garden
Team leaders
Goals Cam Neely (42)
Assists Ray Bourque (64)
Points Ray Bourque (81)
Penalty minutes Jay Miller (304)
Wins Reggie Lemelin (24)
Goals against average Andy Moog (2.83)

The 1987–88 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 64th season. The Bruins finished 1st in the Adams Division and lost in the 1988 Stanley Cup Finals to the Edmonton Oilers 4 games to 0.

Off-season[]

Draft Picks[]

See also: 1987 NHL Entry Draft

Regular Season[]

The season will forever be remembered when on the night Phil Esposito's number 7 would retire, captain Ray Bourque went from wearing uniform number 7 to wearing uniform number 77.

Final Standings[]

Adams Division
  GP W L T GF GA PTS
Montreal Canadiens 80 45 22 13 298 238 103
Boston Bruins 80 44 30 6 300 251 94
Buffalo Sabres 80 37 32 11 283 305 85
Hartford Whalers 80 35 38 7 249 267 77
Quebec Nordiques 80 32 43 5 271 306 69

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.


Game Log[]

1980s Bruins logo Regular Season Results 1980s Bruins logo
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 8, 1987 4–3 Washington Capitals (1987–88) 1–0–0
2 L October 10, 1987 5–6 OT @ Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 1–1–0
3 W October 11, 1987 5–2 Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 2–1–0
4 W October 15, 1987 3–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1987–88) 3–1–0
5 L October 17, 1987 3–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1987–88) 3–2–0
6 W October 18, 1987 6–5 OT @ Calgary Flames (1987–88) 4–2–0
7 W October 21, 1987 5–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1987–88) 5–2–0
8 L October 24, 1987 0–4 @ St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 5–3–0
9 L October 29, 1987 2–4 Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 5–4–0
10 T October 31, 1987 3–3 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 5–4–1
11 L November 1, 1987 5–6 OT New York Islanders (1987–88) 5–5–1
12 T November 4, 1987 2–2 OT @ Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 5–5–2
13 L November 5, 1987 6–7 Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88) 5–6–2
14 W November 7, 1987 4–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–88) 6–6–2
15 L November 9, 1987 4–6 @ Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 6–7–2
16 W November 11, 1987 3–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88) 7–7–2
17 W November 12, 1987 3–2 Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 8–7–2
18 W November 14, 1987 4–1 Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 9–7–2
19 W November 17, 1987 6–3 @ Calgary Flames (1987–88) 10–7–2
20 W November 18, 1987 4–3 @ Winnipeg Jets (1987–88) 11–7–2
21 W November 21, 1987 7–5 @ Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 12–7–2
22 W November 22, 1987 1–0 @ Detroit Red Wings (1987–88) 13–7–2
23 L November 25, 1987 1–4 @ Washington Capitals (1987–88) 13–8–2
24 W November 26, 1987 5–3 Winnipeg Jets (1987–88) 14–8–2
25 L November 28, 1987 2–3 OT Detroit Red Wings (1987–88) 14–9–2
26 L November 30, 1987 4–6 @ Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 14–10–2
27 W December 2, 1987 5–3 @ Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 15–10–2
28 W December 3, 1987 4–3 New York Rangers (1987–88) 16–10–2
29 W December 5, 1987 7–3 Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 17–10–2
30 L December 8, 1987 2–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88) 17–11–2
31 W December 10, 1987 4–3 Los Angeles Kings (1987–88) 18–11–2
32 T December 12, 1987 3–3 OT Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 18–11–3
33 W December 17, 1987 3–2 OT Vancouver Canucks (1987–88) 19–11–3
34 L December 19, 1987 5–7 St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 19–12–3
35 W December 20, 1987 4–2 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 20–12–3
36 W December 22, 1987 9–0 Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 21–12–3
37 L December 26, 1987 1–2 @ New York Islanders (1987–88) 21–13–3
38 L December 27, 1987 1–4 @ New York Rangers (1987–88) 21–14–3
39 T December 29, 1987 4–4 OT @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–88) 21–14–4
40 W December 31, 1987 2–0 @ Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 22–14–4
41 W January 2, 1988 5–1 Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 23–14–4
42 T January 4, 1988 2–2 OT Edmonton Oilers (1987–88) 23–14–5
43 W January 7, 1988 3–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–88) 24–14–5
44 W January 9, 1988 2–1 OT @ St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 25–14–5
45 L January 11, 1988 3–4 Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 25–15–5
46 L January 13, 1988 4–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 25–16–5
47 W January 14, 1988 3–2 Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 26–16–5
48 W January 16, 1988 5–1 Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 27–16–5
49 L January 20, 1988 3–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 27–17–5
50 W January 21, 1988 6–1 Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 28–17–5
51 L January 23, 1988 4–6 Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88) 28–18–5
52 W January 28, 1988 3–0 Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 29–18–5
53 L January 30, 1988 2–4 New York Rangers (1987–88) 29–19–5
54 W February 1, 1988 5–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 30–19–5
55 W February 4, 1988 7–3 Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 31–19–5
56 W February 6, 1988 3–2 @ Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 32–19–5
57 W February 7, 1988 6–3 New Jersey Devils (1987–88) 33–19–5
58 W February 12, 1988 7–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1987–88) 34–19–5
59 L February 13, 1988 5–6 @ Vancouver Canucks (1987–88) 34–20–5
60 L February 17, 1988 2–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 34–21–5
61 W February 21, 1988 4–1 @ New Jersey Devils (1987–88) 35–21–5
62 L February 23, 1988 2–3 @ Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 35–22–5
63 W February 25, 1988 5–2 Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 36–22–5
64 W February 27, 1988 7–4 Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 37–22–5
65 W March 3, 1988 5–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88) 38–22–5
66 L March 5, 1988 6–7 OT New Jersey Devils (1987–88) 38–23–5
67 L March 6, 1988 0–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 38–24–5
68 L March 8, 1988 0–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1987–88) 38–25–5
69 T March 10, 1988 3–3 OT Los Angeles Kings (1987–88) 38–25–6
70 W March 12, 1988 4–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 39–25–6
71 L March 13, 1988 0–3 Washington Capitals (1987–88) 39–26–6
72 L March 17, 1988 5–7 Calgary Flames (1987–88) 39–27–6
73 L March 19, 1988 3–4 Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 39–28–6
74 W March 20, 1988 6–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 40–28–6
75 W March 22, 1988 3–0 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88) 41–28–6
76 W March 24, 1988 4–3 OT Winnipeg Jets (1987–88) 42–28–6
77 W March 26, 1988 6–2 Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 43–28–6
78 L March 31, 1988 1–3 Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 43–29–6
79 L April 2, 1988 2–4 @ Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 43–30–6
80 W April 3, 1988 3–2 New York Islanders (1987–88) 44–30–6

Playoffs[]

Boston Bruins 4, Buffalo Sabres 2[]

The Boston Bruins were led by team co-captains Ray Bourque, Rick Middleton and the goaltending duo of Reggie Lemelin and the newly acquired Andy Moog. The Buffalo Sabres returned to the playoffs thanks to added depth provided by rookie Ray Sheppard.

Date Away Score Home Score
April 6 Buffalo 3 Boston 7
April 7 Buffalo 1 Boston 4
April 9 Boston 2 Buffalo 6
April 10 Boston 5 Buffalo 6
April 12 Buffalo 4 Boston 5
April 14 Boston 5 Buffalo 2

Boston wins best-of-seven series 4–2.

Boston Bruins 4, Montreal Canadiens 1[]

The Wales Conference's two best teams, and the NHL's two best defensive teams, met in this series with equal rest time. The Habs had beaten Boston in the Adams Division Semi-finals four years in a row, sweeping the Bruins in three of the past four seasons, and beating them 3–2 in a best-of-five the other year. This time, the Bruins' defence would wear down Montreal, as Ken Linseman, Ray Bourque and Cam Neely provided the offence to finally conquer the Canadiens. It was the first Bruins' playoff series win over the Habs in 44 seasons.

Date Away Score Home Score
April 18 Boston 1 Montreal 5
April 20 Boston 4 Montreal 3
April 22 Montreal 1 Boston 3
April 24 Montreal 0 Boston 2
April 26 Boston 4 Montreal 1

Boston wins best-of-seven series 4–1.

Boston Bruins 4, New Jersey Devils 3[]

The Devils would take Boston to the limit, but their offence couldn't compete with the Bruins, who would make their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals since consecutive appearances in 1976–77 and 1977–78.

This series would also have the infamous confrontation between Devils coach Jim Schoenfeld and referee Don Koharski after Game 3, when, during an argument in the tunnel after the game, Koharski tripped and fell, accusing Schoenfield of pushing him. Schoenfield famously responded, "You tripped and fell you fat pig!" Then, he yelled "Have another doughnut! Have another doughnut!" The incident was played repeatedly on ESPN and has become part of NHL lore.

Schonefeld was suspended by NHL president John Ziegler for Game 4, but the Devils received an injunction from a New Jersey court, allowing Schoenfeld to coach the fourth game. In protest, the officials scheduled to work that game in the Meadlowands refused to take the ice, forcing the NHL to scramble for amateur officials to call the contest. The injunction was lifted and Schoenfeld served his suspension during game five in the Boston Garden.

Date Away Score Home Score OT
May 2 New Jersey 3 Boston 5
May 4 New Jersey 3 Boston 2 (OT)
May 6 Boston 6 New Jersey 1
May 8 Boston 1 New Jersey 3
May 10 New Jersey 1 Boston 7
May 12 Boston 3 New Jersey 6
May 14 New Jersey 2 Boston 6

Boston wins best-of-seven series 4–3.

Edmonton Oilers 4, Boston Bruins 0[]

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
May 18 Boston Bruins 1 Edmonton Oilers 2
May 20 Boston Bruins 2 Edmonton Oilers 4
May 22 Edmonton Oilers 6 Boston Bruins 3
May 24 Edmonton Oilers 3 Boston Bruins 3 Game suspended at 16:33 of 2nd due to power failure.
May 26 Boston Bruins 3 Edmonton Oilers 6

Edmonton wins best-of-seven series 4–0.

Player Stats[]

Regular Season[]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Bourque, RaymondRaymond Bourque D 78 17 64 81 72 34 7 1 5
Linseman, KenKen Linseman C 77 29 45 74 167 36 7 0 5
Kasper, SteveSteve Kasper C 79 26 44 70 35 -1 9 3 5
Neely, CamCam Neely RW 69 42 27 69 175 30 11 0 3
Courtnall, GeoffGeoff Courtnall LW 62 32 26 58 108 24 8 0 4
Burridge, RandyRandy Burridge LW 79 27 28 55 105 0 5 3 3
Sweeney, BobBob Sweeney C/RW 80 22 23 45 73 11 6 0 7
Crowder, KeithKeith Crowder RW 68 17 26 43 173 14 6 0 3
Wesley, GlenGlen Wesley D 79 7 30 37 69 21 1 2 0
Kluzak, GordGord Kluzak D 66 6 31 37 135 18 0 1 0
Larson, ReedReed Larson D 62 10 24 34 93 3 5 1 1
Middleton, RickRick Middleton RW 59 13 19 32 11 3 2 3 1
Thelven, MichaelMichael Thelven D 67 6 25 31 57 12 1 0 1
Byers, LyndonLyndon Byers RW 53 10 14 24 236 10 0 0 2
Miller, JayJay Miller LW 78 7 12 19 304 -5 0 0 1
O'Dwyer, BillBill O'Dwyer C 77 7 10 17 83 -3 1 0 1
Janney, CraigCraig Janney C 15 7 9 16 0 6 1 0 1
Markwart, NevinNevin Markwart LW 25 1 12 13 85 4 0 0 0
Joyce, BobBob Joyce LW 15 7 5 12 10 4 2 0 0
McCarthy, TomTom McCarthy LW 7 2 5 7 6 3 1 0 0
Pedersen, AllenAllen Pedersen D 78 0 6 6 90 6 0 0 0
Simonetti, FrankFrank Simonetti D 30 2 3 5 19 1 0 0 1
Plett, WilliWilli Plett RW 65 2 3 5 170 -10 1 0 0
Lehman, TommyTommy Lehman C 9 1 3 4 6 0 0 0 0
Keans, DougDoug Keans G 30 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0
Shoebottom, BruceBruce Shoebottom D 3 0 1 1 0 -3 0 0 0
Carter, JohnJohn Carter LW 4 0 1 1 2 3 0 0 0
Campbell, WadeWade Campbell D 6 0 1 1 21 1 0 0 0
Stevens, MikeMike Stevens LW 7 0 1 1 9 0 0 0 0
Blum, JohnJohn Blum D 19 0 1 1 70 -5 0 0 0
Nienhuis, KraigKraig Nienhuis LW 1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Hawgood, GregGreg Hawgood D 1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Lemay, MoeMoe Lemay LW 2 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0
Cote, AlainAlain Cote D 2 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
May, AlanAlan May RW 3 0 0 0 15 -1 0 0 0
Beraldo, PaulPaul Beraldo RW 3 0 0 0 0 -3 0 0 0
Reid, DaveDave Reid LW 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hall, TaylorTaylor Hall LW 7 0 0 0 4 -3 0 0 0
Moog, AndyAndy Moog G 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lemelin, ReggieReggie Lemelin G 49 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Lemelin, ReggieReggie Lemelin 2828 49 24 17 6 138 2.93 3 1244 1106 .889
Keans, DougDoug Keans 1660 30 16 11 0 90 3.25 1 751 661 .880
Moog, AndyAndy Moog 360 6 4 2 0 17 2.83 1 181 164 .906
Team: 4848 80 44 30 6 245 3.03 5 2176 1931 .887

Playoffs[]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Linseman, KenKen Linseman C 23 11 14 25 56 4 4 1 0
Bourque, RaymondRaymond Bourque D 23 3 18 21 26 16 0 0 1
Neely, CamCam Neely RW 23 9 8 17 51 1 2 0 2
Janney, CraigCraig Janney C 23 6 10 16 11 -1 4 0 1
Joyce, BobBob Joyce LW 23 8 6 14 18 -2 3 0 1
Sweeney, BobBob Sweeney C/RW 23 6 8 14 66 9 1 1 1
Wesley, GlenGlen Wesley D 23 6 8 14 22 5 4 1 0
Kasper, SteveSteve Kasper C 23 7 6 13 10 9 0 1 0
Kluzak, GordGord Kluzak D 23 4 8 12 59 6 0 1 1
Crowder, KeithKeith Crowder RW 23 3 9 12 44 0 1 0 0
Burridge, RandyRandy Burridge LW 23 2 10 12 16 9 0 0 0
Middleton, RickRick Middleton RW 19 5 5 10 4 4 0 1 3
McCarthy, TomTom McCarthy LW 13 3 4 7 18 0 0 0 0
Lemay, MoeMoe Lemay LW 15 4 2 6 32 1 0 0 0
Thelven, MichaelMichael Thelven D 21 3 3 6 26 4 1 0 0
Plett, WilliWilli Plett RW 17 2 4 6 74 5 0 0 1
Byers, LyndonLyndon Byers RW 11 1 2 3 62 1 0 0 0
Hawgood, GregGreg Hawgood D 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Shoebottom, BruceBruce Shoebottom D 4 1 0 1 42 4 0 0 1
Blum, JohnJohn Blum D 3 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0
Johnston, GregGreg Johnston RW 3 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0
Larson, ReedReed Larson D 8 0 1 1 6 -2 0 0 0
Lemelin, ReggieReggie Lemelin G 17 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Markwart, NevinNevin Markwart LW 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0
O'Dwyer, BillBill O'Dwyer C 9 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Miller, JayJay Miller LW 12 0 0 0 124 2 0 0 0
Pedersen, AllenAllen Pedersen D 21 0 0 0 34 2 0 0 0
Moog, AndyAndy Moog G 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Lemelin, ReggieReggie Lemelin 1027 17 11 6 45 2.63 1 430 385 .895
Moog, AndyAndy Moog 354 7 1 4 25 4.24 0 166 141 .849
Team: 1381 22 12 10 70 3.04 1 596 526 .883

[1]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage

Awards and Records[]

Trivia[]

References[]

  1. 1987-88 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-05.
  2. 2.0 2.1 National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 237, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5.
Advertisement