1988–89 Calgary Flames season

	1988–89 Calgary Flames
Division	1st Smythe
Conference	1st Campbell
1988–89 record	54–17–9
Home record	32–4–4
Road record	22–13–5
Goals for	354 (2nd)
Goals against	226 (2nd)
Team information
General manager	Cliff Fletcher
Coach	Terry Crisp
Captain	Lanny McDonald ; Jim Peplinski
Alternate captains	Tim Hunter
Arena	Olympic Saddledome
Average attendance	19,458
Team leaders
Goals	Joe Mullen (51); Joe Nieuwendyk (51)
Assists	Joe Mullen (59); Doug Gilmour (59)
Points	Joe Mullen (110)
Penalty minutes	Tim Hunter (375)
Wins	Mike Vernon (37)
Goals against average	Mike Vernon (2.65)
	← 1987–88 1989–90 →

The 1988–89 Calgary Flames season was the 9th National Hockey League season in Calgary. The Flames finished 1st in the Smythe Division and won the only Stanley Cup in their history, defeating the Montreal Canadiens in the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals 4 games to 2.

Regular Season[]

The Flames once again dominated the regular season, capturing their second consecutive Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's top regular season club, dropping only four games at home all year.^[1] The Flames capped off the season by capturing their first Stanley Cup championship, defeating the Montreal Canadiens in six games.^[2] In doing so, the Flames became the only visiting team to defeat the Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup at the Montreal Forum.^[3] Al MacInnis won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, and at 31 points, became the first defenceman to lead the NHL in post-season scoring.^[4] The win also gave Flames co-owner, Sonia Scurfield, the distinction of being the first (and remains the only) Canadian woman to have her name engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Calgary's only serious challenge in the playoffs came in the first round against the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks, who finished 43 points behind the Flames, took Calgary to overtime of the seventh game of the Smythe Division semi-final before the Flames finally eliminated their Western Canadian rival. Goaltender Mike Vernon's glove save off a Stan Smyl partial breakaway in overtime of the seventh game remains a defining moment in Flames history.^[5] Calgary would sweep the Los Angeles Kings to win the Smythe Division title, before defeating the Chicago Blackhawks in five games to win their second Clarence S. Campbell Bowl.^[6]

Lanny McDonald, the sentimental favourite to win the Cup, scored the go-ahead goal for the Flames in the clinching game, giving the Flames a lead they would not relinquish.^[3] McDonald, who scored his 500th career goal, and 1000th point during the season, announced following the season that he was retiring a champion after 16 seasons in the National Hockey League. McDonald would be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame three years later.^[7]

The off-season also featured the surprising retirement of former 50-goal scorer Hakan Loob, who announced during the season that he had chosen to return to his native Sweden so that his son could grow up in his homeland.^[8] On the flip side, however, Soviet star Sergei Pryakhin played three games with the Flames in 1988–89. Pryakhin was the first player from the Soviet national team to ever be permitted by the Soviet government to play in the NHL, helping to pave the way for the "European invasion" of the NHL that would follow.^[9]

Joe Mullen captured his second Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly conduct, while also being named an NHL First Team All-Star. Al MacInnis and Mike Vernon were named to the Second All-Star team. Four players represented the Flames at the 1989 All-Star Game: Gary Suter and Joe Nieuwendyk joined Mullen and Vernon on the Campbell Conference squad.^[10]

Final Standings[]

Smythe Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Calgary Flames	80	54	17	9	354	226	117
Los Angeles Kings	80	42	31	7	376	335	91
Edmonton Oilers	80	38	34	8	325	306	83
Vancouver Canucks	80	33	39	8	251	253	74
Winnipeg Jets	80	26	42	12	300	355	64

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[]

1988–89 Game Log

October: 6–3–3 (Home: 5–0–2; Road: 1–3–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
1	October 6	NY Islanders	4 – 4	Calgary	OT	0–0–1	1
2	October 8	Calgary	5 – 6	Los Angeles	OT	0–1–1	1
3	October 10	Detroit	2 – 5	Calgary		1–1–1	3
4	October 14	Edmonton	1 – 6	Calgary		2–1–1	5
5	October 17	Los Angeles	4 – 11	Calgary		3–1–1	7
6	October 19	Minnesota	1 – 2	Calgary		4–1–1	9
7	October 22	Calgary	3 – 3	Toronto	OT	4–1–2	10
8	October 23	Calgary	5 – 4	Philadelphia	OT	5–1–2	12
9	October 25	Calgary	1 – 6	Pittsburgh		5–2–2	12
10	October 28	Washington	2 – 2	Calgary	OT	5–2–3	13
11	October 30	Calgary	1 – 2	Vancouver		5–3–3	13
12	October 31	Chicago	3 – 6	Calgary		6–3–3	15

November: 10–1–1 (Home: 5–0–1; Road: 5–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
13	November 3	St. Louis	1 – 6	Calgary		7–3–3	17
14	November 5	Buffalo	0 – 9	Calgary		8–3–3	19
15	November 7	Hartford	3 – 6	Calgary		9–3–3	21
16	November 9	Calgary	2 – 3	Buffalo		9–4–3	21
17	November 10	Calgary	3 – 2	Philadelphia	OT	10–4–3	23
18	November 12	Calgary	2 – 1	Boston		11–4–3	25
19	November 15	Calgary	5 – 1	NY Islanders		12–4–3	27
20	November 17	Calgary	5 – 3	New Jersey		13–4–3	29
21	November 19	Calgary	5 – 2	Hartford		14–4–3	31
22	November 23	New Jersey	2 – 3	Calgary		15–4–3	33
23	November 26	Los Angeles	1 – 4	Calgary		16–4–3	35
24	November 29	Vancouver	3 – 3	Calgary	OT	16–4–4	36

December: 8–4–2 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 4–3–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
25	December 1	NY Rangers	3 – 6	Calgary		17–4–4	38
26	December 2	Calgary	7 – 4	Edmonton		18–4–4	40
27	December 4	Calgary	6 – 3	Winnipeg		19–4–4	42
28	December 6	Quebec	2 – 3	Calgary		20–4–4	44
29	December 8	Edmonton	3 – 5	Calgary		21–4–4	46
30	December 10	Calgary	1 – 4	Hartford		21–5–4	46
31	December 12	Calgary	4 – 4	Toronto	OT	21–5–5	47
32	December 15	Vancouver	0 – 2	Calgary		22–5–5	49
33	December 16	Calgary	5 – 3	Vancouver		23–5–5	51
34	December 20	Calgary	3 – 7	Los Angeles		23–6–5	51
35	December 23	Calgary	1 – 4	Edmonton		23–7–5	51
36	December 26	Calgary	3 – 2	Vancouver	OT	24–7–5	53
37	December 29	Montreal	4 – 3	Calgary		24–8–5	53
38	December 31	Winnipeg	4 – 4	Calgary	OT	24–8–6	54

January: 10–3–2 (Home: 6–0–1; Road: 4–3–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
39	January 3	Quebec	1 – 5	Calgary		25–8–8	56
40	January 5	Los Angeles	6 – 8	Calgary		26–8–6	58
41	January 7	Edmonton	2 – 7	Calgary		27–8–6	60
42	January 8	Calgary	0 – 6	Edmonton		27–9–6	60
43	January 11	Winnipeg	3 – 8	Calgary		28–9–6	62
44	January 14	Minnesota	1 – 1	Calgary	OT	28–9–7	63
45	January 15	Calgary	2 – 3	Buffalo		28–10–7	63
46	January 17	Calgary	7 – 1	Detroit		29–10–7	65
47	January 19	Calgary	7 – 2	Boston		30–10–7	67
48	January 21	Calgary	3 – 4	Quebec		30–11–7	67
49	January 23	Calgary	3 – 1	Montreal		31–11–7	69
50	January 26	NY Rangers	3 – 5	Calgary		32–11–7	71
51	January 28	Chicago	4 – 5	Calgary	OT	33–11–7	73
52	January 29	Calgary	4 – 4	Vancouver	OT	33–11–8	74
53	January 31	Calgary	8 – 5	Los Angeles		34–11–8	76

February: 10–3–0 (Home: 6–2–0; Road: 4–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
54	February 2	Detroit	2 – 3	Calgary		35–11–8	78
55	February 4	Vancouver	2 – 5	Calgary		36–11–8	80
56	February 5	Vancouver	4 – 5	Calgary		37–11–8	82
57	February 9	Calgary	5 – 3	St. Louis		38–11–8	84
58	February 11	Calgary	2 – 1	Washington		39–11–8	86
59	February 12	Calgary	4 – 2	Pittsburgh		40–11–8	88
60	February 15	Calgary	6 – 1	Winnipeg		41–11–8	90
61	February 18	Boston	4 – 3	Calgary		41–12–8	90
62	February 20	Washington	2 – 6	Calgary		42–12–8	92
63	February 22	Toronto	4 – 3	Calgary	OT	42–13–8	92
64	February 24	St. Louis	3 – 4	Calgary		43–13–8	94
65	February 26	Calgary	0 – 1	Winnipeg		43–14–8	94
66	February 27	Philadelphia	3 – 6	Calgary		44–14–8	96

March: 9–3–1 (Home: 5–1–0; Road: 4–2–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
67	March 2	Montreal	2 – 3	Calgary		44–15–8	96
68	March 7	Winnipeg	5 – 9	Calgary		45–15–8	98
69	March 9	Pittsburgh	3 – 10	Calgary		46–15–8	100
70	March 11	Calgary	5 – 5	Edmonton	OT	46–15–9	101
71	March 13	Calgary	3 – 4	NY Rangers		46–16–9	101
72	March 14	Calgary	5 – 1	New Jersey		47–16–9	103
73	March 18	Calgary	9 – 3	Los Angeles		48–16–9	105
74	March 21	NY Islanders	1 – 4	Calgary		49–16–9	107
75	March 23	Los Angeles	2 – 4	Calgary		50–16–9	109
76	March 24	Calgary	3 – 4	Winnipeg	OT	50–17–9	109
77	March 26	Calgary	7 – 5	Chicago		51–17–9	111
78	March 27	Calgary	3 – 2	Minnesota		52–17–9	113
79	March 31	Winnipeg	1 – 4	Calgary		53–17–9	115

April: 1–0–0 (Home: 1–0–0; Road: 0–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
80	April 2	Edmonton	2 – 4	Calgary		54–17–9	117

Playoffs[]

Calgary Flames 4, Vancouver Canucks 3[]

Calgary Flames 4, Los Angeles 0[]

Calgary Flames 4, Chicago Blackhawks 1[]

Calgary Flames 4, Montreal Canadiens 2[]

1989 Stanley Cup playoffs

Smythe Division Semi-final vs. Vancouver - Flames win 4–3
Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	April 5	Vancouver	4 – 3	Calgary	OT	Vancouver leads 1–0
2	April 6	Vancouver	2 – 5	Calgary		Series tied 1–1
3	April 8	Calgary	4 – 0	Vancouver		Calgary leads 2–1
4	April 9	Calgary	3 – 5	Vancouver		Series tied 2–2
5	April 11	Vancouver	0 – 4	Calgary		Calgary leads 3–2
6	April 13	Calgary	3 – 6	Vancouver		Series tied 3–3
7	April 15	Vancouver	3 – 4	Calgary	OT	Calgary wins 4–3

Smythe Division Final vs. Los Angeles - Flames win 4–0
Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	April 18	Los Angeles	3 – 4	Calgary	OT	Calgary leads 1–0
2	April 20	Los Angeles	3 – 8	Calgary		Calgary leads 2–0
3	April 22	Calgary	5 – 2	Los Angeles		Calgary leads 3–0
4	April 24	Calgary	5 – 3	Los Angeles		Calgary wins 4–0

Campbell Conference Final vs. Chicago - Flames win 4–1
Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	May 2	Chicago	0 – 3	Calgary		Calgary leads 1–0
2	May 4	Chicago	4 – 2	Calgary		Series tied 1–1
3	May 6	Calgary	5 – 2	Chicago		Calgary leads 2–1
4	May 8	Calgary	2 – 1	Chicago	OT	Calgary leads 3–1
5	May 10	Chicago	1 – 3	Calgary		Calgary wins 4–1

Stanley Cup Finals vs. Montreal - Flames win 4–2
Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	May 14	Montreal	2 – 3	Calgary		Calgary leads 1–0
2	May 17	Montreal	4 – 2	Calgary		Series tied 1–1
3	May 19	Calgary	3 – 4	Montreal	2OT	Montreal leads 2–1
4	May 21	Calgary	4 – 2	Montreal		Series tied 2–2
5	May 23	Montreal	2 – 3	Calgary		Calgary leads 3–2
6	May 25	Calgary	4 – 2	Montreal		Calgary wins 4–2

Player Stats[]

Skaters[]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

		Regular Season					Playoffs
Player	#	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Joe Mullen	7	79	51	59	110	16	21	16	8	24	4
Hakan Loob	12	79	27	58	85	44	22	8	9	17	4
Doug Gilmour	39	72	26	59	85	44	22	11	11	22	20
Joe Nieuwendyk	25	77	51	31	82	40	22	10	4	14	10
Al MacInnis	2	79	16	58	74	126	22	7	24	31	46
Gary Suter	20	63	13	48	62	78	5	0	3	3	10
Jiri Hrdina	17	70	22	32	54	26	4	0	0	0	0
Joel Otto	29	72	23	30	53	213	22	6	13	19	46
Gary Roberts	10	71	22	16	38	250	22	5	7	12	57
Colin Patterson	11	74	14	24	38	241	20	1	6	7	75
Jim Peplinski	24	79	13	25	38	241	20	1	6	7	75
Theoren Fleury	14	36	14	20	34	46	22	5	6	11	24
Mark Hunter	22	66	22	8	30	194	10	2	2	4	23
Jamie Macoun	34	72	8	19	27	76	22	3	6	9	30
Brad McCrimmon	4	72	5	17	22	96	22	0	3	3	30
Dana Murzyn	5	63	3	19	22	142	21	0	3	3	20
Lanny McDonald	9	51	11	7	18	26	14	1	3	4	29
Rob Ramage	55	68	3	13	16	156	20	1	11	12	26
Tim Hunter	19	75	3	9	12	375	19	0	4	4	32
Ric Nattress	6	38	1	8	9	47	19	0	3	3	20
Perry Berezan^‡	21	35	4	4	8	23	-	-	-	-	-
Brian MacLellan^†	27	12	2	3	5	14	21	3	2	5	19
Mike Vernon	30	52	0	4	4	18	22	0	0	0	14
Rick Lessard	3	6	0	1	1	2	-	-	-	-	-
Ken Sabourin	32	6	0	1	1	26	1	0	0	0	0
Brian Glynn	32	9	0	1	1	19	-	-	-	-	-
Rick Wamsley	31	35	0	1	1	8	1	0	0	0	0
Rich Chernomaz	33	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
Stu Grimson	18	1	0	0	0	5	-	-	-	-	-
Sergei Pryakhin	16	2	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0
Dave Reierson	8	2	0	0	0	2	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Ranheim	28	5	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
Shane Churla^‡	15	5	0	0	0	25	-	-	-	-	-

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Calgary. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
^‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Goaltenders[]

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

		Regular Season								Playoffs
Player	#	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Mike Vernon	30	52	2938	37	6	5	130	0	2.65	22	1381	16	5	52	3	2.26
Rick Wamsley	31	35	1927	17	11	4	95	2	2.96	1	20	0	1	2	0	6.00

Awards and Records[]

Stanley Cup: Calgary Flames
Presidents' Trophy: Calgary Flames
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: Calgary Flames
Conn Smythe Trophy: Al MacInnis
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Joe Mullen
NHL Plus-Minus Award: Joe Mullen
Joe Mullen, Right Wing, NHL First Team All-Star
Al MacInnis, Defense, NHL Second Team All-Star
Mike Vernon, Goalie, NHL Second Team All-Star

Transactions[]

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

Trades[]

September 6, 1988	To Calgary Flames Doug Gilmour Mark Hunter Steve Bozek Mike Dark	To St. Louis Blues Mike Bullard Craig Coxe Tim Corkery
September 6, 1988	To Calgary Flames 3rd round pick in 1989 (Veli-Pekka Kautonen)	To Vancouver Canucks Paul Reinhart Steve Bozek
January 6, 1989	To Calgary Flames Steve Guenette	To Pittsburgh Penguins 6th round pick in 1989 (Mike Needham)
March 4, 1989	To Calgary Flames Brian MacLellan 4th round pick in 1989 (Robert Reichel)	To Minnesota North Stars Perry Berezan Shane Churla

Free Agents[]

Player	Former team

Player	New team
C John Tonelli	Los Angeles Kings
LW Bob Bodak	Hartford Whalers

Draft Picks[]

Main article: List of Calgary Flames draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, held in Montreal, Quebec.^[11]

Rnd	Pick	Player	Nationality	Position	Team (league)	NHL statistics
Rnd	Pick	Player	Nationality	Position	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1	21	Jason Muzzatti	Canada	G	Michigan State (CCHA)	62	13–25–10, 3.32GAA
2	42	Todd Harkins	United States	C	Miami University (CCHA)	48	3	3	6	78
4	84	Gary Socha	United States	C	N/A
5	85	Tomas Forslund	Sweden	RW	N/A	44	5	11	16	12
5	90	Scott Matusovich	United States	D	N/A
6	126	Jonas Bergqvist	Sweden	RW	N/A	22	2	5	7	10
7	147	Stefan Nilsson	Sweden	LW	N/A
8	168	Troy Kennedy	Canada	LW	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
9	189	Brett Petersen	United States	D	St. Paul Vulcans (USHL)
10	210	Guy Darveau	Canada	D	Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)
11	231	Dave Tretowicz	United States	D	Clarkson University (ECAC)
12	252	Sergei Pryakhin	Soviet Union	RW	Krylja Sovetov (RSL)	46	3	8	11	2
S	26	Jerry Tarrant	United States	D	N/A

References[]

Player stats: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg 123
Game log: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg 139
Team standings: 1988–89 NHL standings @hockeydb.com
Trades: Individual player pages at hockeydb.com

↑ 1988–89 season, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg.123.
↑ Duhatschek, Eric, Stanley Cup: Ours at last, Calgary Herald, reproduced by collectionscanada.ca, May 26, 1989
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 McGourty, John, Lanny, Stanley into the sunset, nhl.com, May 23, 2001
↑ Flames rule Canadiens' Forum for first Stanley Cup, Greatest Moments in Calgary Flames Hockey History, pgs. 79–80
↑ McGourty, John, Talent, desire came in a small package in Vernon, calgaryflames.com
↑ 1988–89 season, calgaryflames.com
↑ Honoured Member:Lanny McDonald, legendsofhockey.net
↑ Hakan Loob, hockeydraftcentral.com
↑ Dolezar, John A., Sweeping changes, cnnsi.com, September 27, 2002
↑ All-Stars and Trophy Winners, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pgs. 22–23
↑ Calgary Flames draft history, hockeydb.com, accessed June 15, 2007

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1988–89 Calgary Flames season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).

[1] 1988–89 season, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg.123.

[oursatlast-2] Duhatschek, Eric, Stanley Cup: Ours at last, Calgary Herald, reproduced by collectionscanada.ca, May 26, 1989

[lanny-3] 3.0 ^3.1 McGourty, John, Lanny, Stanley into the sunset, nhl.com, May 23, 2001

[4] Flames rule Canadiens' Forum for first Stanley Cup, Greatest Moments in Calgary Flames Hockey History, pgs. 79–80

[5] McGourty, John, Talent, desire came in a small package in Vernon, calgaryflames.com

[6] 1988–89 season, calgaryflames.com

[7] Honoured Member:Lanny McDonald, legendsofhockey.net

[8] Hakan Loob, hockeydraftcentral.com

[9] Dolezar, John A., Sweeping changes, cnnsi.com, September 27, 2002

[10] All-Stars and Trophy Winners, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pgs. 22–23

[11] Calgary Flames draft history, hockeydb.com, accessed June 15, 2007

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Calgary Flames
Franchise	Seasons · Players · Coaches · General Managers · Records · Draft Picks · Award Winners
Lore	Atlanta Flames · Battle of Alberta
Affiliates	Calgary Wranglers (AHL) • Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL)
Arenas	Stampede Corral · Scotiabank Saddledome
See also	Calgary Hitmen · Ice hockey in Calgary

1988–89 NHL season by team
Patrick	New Jersey • NY Islanders • NY Rangers • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • Washington
Adams	Boston • Buffalo • Hartford • Montreal • Quebec
Norris	Chicago • Detroit • Minnesota • St. Louis • Toronto
Smythe	Calgary • Edmonton • Los Angeles • Vancouver • Winnipeg
See also	1988 NHL Entry Draft • All-Star Game • 1989 Stanley Cup Finals