1987–88 Hartford Whalers season

1987–88 Hartford Whalers
Division	4th Adams
1987–88 record	35–38–7
Goals for	249
Goals against	267
Team information
General Manager	Emile Francis
Coach	Jack Evans, Larry Pleau
Captain	Ron Francis
Team leaders
<1986–87	1988–89>

Regular season

The Whalers had the league's best penalty-kill percentage, with 84.27% (359 for 426).

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: 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.

Schedule and results

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

Transactions

• September 8, 1987 - Dave Semenko traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Bill Root.
• October 5, 1987 - Hartford claims Doug Wickenheiser from the St. Louis Blues and Brent Peterson from the Vancouver Canucks of off waivers.
• October 5, 1987 - Doug Wickenheiser and Bill Root claimed by the St. Louis Blues of off waivers.
• October 15, 1987 - cash traded to the Los Angeles Kings for Tiger Williams.
• January 3, 1988 - Shane Churla and Dana Murzyn traded to the Calgary Flames for Carey Wilson, Lane MacDonald, and Neil Sheehy.
• January 22, 1988 - Paul Lawless traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Lindsay Carson.
• March 8, 1988 - Steve Weeks traded to the Vancouver Canucks for Richard Brodeur.
• March 8, 1988 - Hartford sends their 1989 second round draft pick (Rick Corriveau) to the St. Louis Blues for Charles Bourgeois and Mark Reeds.

Roster

1987-88 Hartford Whalers
Goaltenders 1 – Mike Liut  30 – Peter Sidorkiewicz  31 – Richard Brodeur  31 – Steve Weeks		Defensemen 0 – Neil Sheehy  3 – Joel Quenneville  4 – Charlie Bourgeois  4 – Dana Murzyn  5 – Ulf Samuelsson  18 – Scot Kleinendorst  21 – Sylvain Cote  25 – Mike McEwen  25 – Brad Shaw  29 – Randy Ladouceur  35 – Mike Vellucci  44 – Dave Babych		Wingers 7 – Stew Gavin  8 – Mike Millar  11 – Kevin Dineen  14 – Mark Reeds  15 – Dave Tippett  16 – Sylvain Turgeon  20 – John Anderson  22 – Shane Churla  22 – Tiger Williams  23 – Paul MacDermid  24 – Tom Martin  27 – Scott Young  28 – Lindsay Carson  28 – Paul Lawless  32 – Torrie Robertson		Centers 10 – Ron Francis  - C 12 – Dean Evason  17 – Brent Peterson  22 – Gord Sherven  26 – Ray Ferraro  27 – Doug Jarvis  33 – Carey Wilson  Coach: Jack Evans (22-25-7) Coach: Larry Pleau (13-13-0) GM: Emile Francis

See also

• 1987–88 NHL season